Andrea Höst - The Touchstone Trilogy

The Touchstone Trilogy is a diary in three parts, commencing in Stray, continued in Lab Rat One, and concluded in Caszandra.

A glossary of terms and phrases, and a character list, have been included at the end of the volume.

On her last day of high school, Cassandra Devlin walked out of exams and into a forest. Surrounded by the wrong sort of trees, and animals never featured in any nature documentary, Cass is only sure of one thing: alone, she will be lucky to survive.

The sprawl of abandoned blockish buildings Cass discovers offers her only more puzzles. Where are the people? What is the intoxicating mist which drifts off the buildings in the moonlight? And why does she feel like shes being watched?

Increasingly unnerved, Cass is overjoyed at the arrival of the formidable Setari. Whisked to a world as technologically advanced as the first was primitive, where nanotech computers are grown inside peoples skulls, and few have any interest in venturing outside the enormous whitestone cities, Cass finds herself processed as a stray, a refugee displaced by the gates torn between worlds. Struggling with an unfamiliar language and culture, she must adapt to virtual classrooms, friends who can teleport, and the ingrained attitude that strays are backward and slow.

Can Cass ever find her way home? And after the people of her new world discover her unexpected value, will they be willing to let her leave?

Friday, November 16

WTF?

Where the FUCK am I????

Writing that down wont give me an answer, but at least therell be a record of what happened. Not that I know what happened. I only know what happened to me and, yeah, Im not making much sense.

My name is Cassandra Eloise Devlin. Cass for short. Never Cassie.

I was walking home from school. I turned a corner, and I was here. No flashing lights, no warning, no zoomy wormhole: nothing but me one minute in Sydney and the next here.

Here ishere is the problem. Its definitely not Sydney. I dont think its Australia, either, unless its Tasmania. But Im sure theyd have gum trees in Tasmania, and thats the thing. The trees are all wrong. Hills covered in trees, too many to describe but none of them remotely like Eucalypt. The birds sound wrong too.

No signal on my mobile. I cant spot any buildings or power lines. No planes have flown over. I havent been able to see anything at any distance, so Im trying to get out of these trees, or at least to a lookout. Ive been walking for maybe half an hour. My watch says its 3.30 but the sky thinks its later. Ive found a thread of a track and Im going to follow it.

I need new feet

Trees, trees, and, oh look, more trees. Green hills in every direction, severely lacking in distinctive landmarks.

All those stories where people navigate by the sun dont take into account crazy, crisscrossing animal tracks being the easiest way to get through all the trees and bushes. I wandered around until I found an overhang of rock, and decided to collapse for the night.

Still no signal on my mobile.

My watch says 6pm. It should be full light, but the suns fading fast, so Im not even in the same time zone. An hour or two ahead would put me where? New Zealand? How far ahead is New Zealand?

Of course, having been raised on a diet of Doctor Who, Buffy and Stargate, Ive no need to stop at New Zealand. I could be in an alternate Australia, any part of the planet at any time, or a different world entirely. Another planet. Or in a mental asylum, strapped in a straight jacket, giggling.

Since I really dont like that last option, Im concentrating on gathering details. I was hoping to try and spot the Southern Cross when the sun went down, but its cloudy. And cool: colder than it should be for nearly Summer. So Im in a different time zone, in a different climate or possibly at a different time of year.

Today was the last day of exams. History. We were going to go out to dinner to celebrate. Mum will be so worried. Will she have called the police? What will I say, if I get back? No-one will believe I just walked to anothersomewhere.

There was a stream a while back, so Im not dying of thirst, and I filled up the Fanta bottle left over from lunch. The water was probably full of bugs and Ill end up sick, but I was so thirsty and its not like Im a smoker conveniently carrying a cigarette lighter so I could make a fire and boil drinking water.

A fire would be damn nice.

A quick catalogue of my wilderness survival gear:

- School uniform: blouse, skirt, blazer, stupidtie, socks, shoes, underpants, bra.

- Ponytail band and butterfly hair clip.

- Backpack.

- Pencil Case of Doom, chock-full of writey stuff.

- 30cm ruler

- Modern history notes useless (or toilet paper).

- Jennas birthday present, a blank-paged book with a blue and green patterned cover, which Im writing in. I was going to give it to her this morning, but she was sick again and didnt come to the exam.

- Little packet of tissues (definitely toilet paper).

- Mobile close to useless, especially once the battery runs out.

- Wallet about $20, mostly in coins, and other bits of paper and plastic.

- 600 ml Fanta bottle, full of suspect water.

- Half a forgotten muesli bar, going musty in the bottom of my bag! Yay! (Gone now.)

No knives, no matches, no blanket. No shoes good for walking for miles. This isnt fun. It isnt exciting. I walked into adventure and adventure has given me blisters. I have to try and go to sleep sitting in the dirt in a forest full of things making noises, and I dont know where I am, I dont know why Im here, andI dont want to think about it.

Saturday, November 17

SO hungry

How do you tell whats poisonous? Now that would have been a useful thing to learn at school. Ive found a couple of trees covered in fruit which look like red pears, and I dont know if eating them will make me drop dead.

The birds seem to like them, anyway. It was hard to find any that hadnt been pecked to death. So here goes

Floury, but its been a few minutes and I dont feel any odder than I was before. Ive only eaten one, and Im going to wait a while before eating any more in case theres a delayed effect. Ill take the least pecked with me, since they might be the only thing I can find thats edible.

Last night was a black eternity. I dont feel like I really slept, just dozed, constantly starting awake. Im heading in the direction the sun rose because it looks flatter that way. No mobile signal. No buildings, powerlines, planes, etc, etc.

Ive never walked so much in my life.

Camp

Its an hour or two before sunset, but Ive reached a clearing with a stream and stopped to sit with my feet in the water.

It looks like there might have been a fire here a few years ago: the entire slope of this hill is covered in grass and burnt-out trees. The clearings given me my best view yet of Planet Endless Green Carpet. Its all so empty and untouched. Im still not 100% certain whether this is or isnt Earth. Ive scared off a few animals walking along, but the only one I caught a good look at was a deer, which doesnt exactly narrow things down continent-wise, and I guess there could be deer on other planets.

Theres a curving glint of water down below which Im hoping is a river. I mightnt be able to see any fields or signs of settlement nearby, but I figure if I follow a river Ill find a lake or the ocean and then I dont know.

My school uniform is nothing but sweat and itches, so if ever a rescue plane wanted to fly over, Im about to wash everything while the suns still strong. Never thought to pack a spare pair of undies when getting ready for the exam. Theres no cloud today, so at least I can hope to try some star-spotting tonight. Astronomys not my thing, but the Southern Cross is the easiest constellation in the world or off it! Too much cloud last night to even see if theres a moon.