by Barry Solway
“Okay, turn it off,” Evan said. “I don’t think it’s helping.”
“Poor fish,” Beats said.
“A bit melodramatic,” Riley said. “Death and destruction? All we did was blow up the shopping district… okay, never mind.”
“Did you catch that about three Asadharans?” Mel said. “They aren’t saying we’re humans.”
“The Order doesn’t know what you are,” Simon said. “And likely isn’t willing to broadcast the existence of an unknown alien race.”
Sheila sniffed. “Wonderful. I must say that is NOT who we are, and the Order well knows it. We have never engaged in acts of violence, and never would. This stunt of yours is going to give the Order an excuse to crack down. It will make our lives much harder.”
“It wasn’t intentional, Sheila,” Evan said. “You would have done the same in their shoes.”
Sheila’s eyes darted between Evan and Mel, but she didn’t respond. Mel looked away, unable to meet her gaze. Looking for an excuse to change the subject, she turned to the others. “We should talk about the gauntlets. Have you all thought about it?”
“I’m in,” Riley said. “And Gorgeous is too, so that’s three of us. We need six to form a team. Evan, have you decided yet?”
Evan pushed the food around on his plate with a two-pronged fork. He finally put it down and looked up at the others. “I’ll help you. We’ll have to talk about strategies. I want to be conservative. I’d rather lose than have anyone killed. But I’m in.”
“Alright,” Riley said, giving Evan a high five. “Glad to have you join the team.”
“I wasn’t sure if you would help or not,” Mel said. “I’m glad you’ll be with us. Beats, have you decided?”
“I shouldn’t… I don’t believe in violence. But it’s okay to fight to protect ourselves and the people we care for. I’m willing to try the gauntlets again, to help you get home. I’ll fight, but I won’t kill anyone.”
Riley threw a fist in the air. “For the record, that was my argument. I would have totally made a great lawyer.”
“You’re a better lawyer than a singer,” Beats said.
“Harsh. But true,” Riley sighed. “So that’s five. Did anyone hear from Jon?”
“He was upset, so I told him to go chill out,” Mel replied. “I haven’t seen him since. He’ll do it, in the end. He doesn’t want to, but he knows it’s the only way to get home.”
“That gives us a full team, then.” Riley ticked off the team on his fingers. “Beats, Gorgeous, and me. That’s some very solid offense. Jon is good as a sniper, and Mel is our strategist, not to mention a dead shot with her pistols. With Evan around to blow things up, that makes a pretty solid team. Are you thinking of starting level two again?”
“We’d have to,” Mel said. “Beats and Gorgeous are too high to go level one again. You too, probably. Not sure about Evan, but it doesn’t really matter. We’ll talk to Anna in the morning about what games are available. Maybe we can turn the stable or the garage into a training area. Evan, is there any chance of getting some robots or something to practice sparring with?”
“The garage might be better, since it’s attached to the house. You can get basic robots that do menial labor, but the AI is really rudimentary. But… maybe we could hook it up so Anna provides the smarts? That could work. I’ll take a look at it in the morning and see what I can put together.”
Mel nodded. The training wouldn’t be as good as what they had with Kathor, but on the positive side, they wouldn’t have to worry about being experimented on, either.
“By the way,” Evan said. “Simon and I are heading to the town market after dinner. We need to pick up supplies. Anyone else want to come along?”
“I’d like to!” Gorgeous said, waving her hand.
“Is it smart for us to go out?” Riley said.
“I don’t think it’s much of a problem in Chosba. There are about three thousand people here, mostly Latanua, but some other alien races. But it’s too small a town to have cameras at every street corner. It’s part of the reason for going to the market in the evening. It will be dark, and there will be a fair amount of people around if we don’t go too late. I’ve managed it okay so far.”
“It’s going to be tough to never leave the compound, possibly for months. But we can’t afford another disaster like the space station,” Mel warned.
“Sure. But security in the station is way higher than planet-side,” Evan said. “They have to because if anything goes wrong, then everyone could potentially die. That station is also the most technologically advanced city there is. Well, some of the big cities, like Svarga, are maybe close. Just keep your head down and don’t make a fuss, and you should be fine.”
“Can we wear masks or something? I’d feel better if our faces weren’t exposed,” Mel replied. “We should at least wear the hoods we have from the station.”
Simon made a barking sound the translator said was laughter. “Wear veils. Like Ghor Water Dancers.”
Mel shrugged. “Veils could work. What’s a Water Dancer?” Gorgeous choked on the bite she was taking while Evan winced.
“He’s joking,” Evan said, kicking at Simon under the table. “Remember the Whale? His race is the Ghor. The Water Dancers are… well, either exotic dancers or prostitutes, depending on the context.”
Mel nodded, keeping her face deadpan. “That could be a good look for Beats.” Beats roared in disapproval as the others burst out laughing.
Chapter 17
Gorgeous tried to lead Riley away, towards a cart that sold some kind of fruity dessert. Mel warned him to keep a low profile and be careful of what he ate. As far as she could tell, he was completely ignoring her as he followed behind Gorgeous, laughing at something she said, and not doing a very good job of keeping the hood covering his face. Mel felt an odd sensation she couldn’t quite explain.
She walked on with Simon and Evan, visiting several different vendors. It was set up like a farmer’s market back on Earth, except dirtier. Another strange juxtaposition of being on an alien planet that felt like a Midwest farm town.
The Latanua were mostly friendly and didn’t give their group much attention. The crowd was almost entirely natives, although there were a few other Chaturee, like Simon, and Mel spotted at least one Asadharan. She pulled her hood up more. If she kept her expression neutral, didn’t smile much, and kept her hair covered, she could pass for an Asadharan in a pinch.
“I need to pick up some supplies for Sheila and I,” Simon said. “I’ll be a moment or two. I know you tall people are always eager to get in trouble, but do try not to for a few minutes.”
“We’ll behave, Simon. Promise,” Evan said.
Simon walked off, shaking his head and muttering about how much trouble aliens were, as Evan led Mel to a stand. He bought a bright yellow squishy fruit and gave it to her. “It tastes like watermelon. Pretty sweet. I’ve eaten them before, they’re good.”
She took a bite out of the fruit and her eyes opened wide in delight. It was like watermelon ice cream, but not as weird as that actually sounded. The taste was somewhere between watermelon and orange, but the texture was smooth and creamy, almost like yogurt.
“Oh, that’s delicious. Get some more! I am so tired of the oatmeal porridge crap. I think I could live off these.”
Evan laughed. “Not exactly a balanced diet, but I feel your pain. They do have some side effects, so go easy on it.”
Mel smiled back. “I’ll trust you on that. It’s good to see you laughing.”
“Yeah, it feels good to me too,” Evan said. “I actually can’t remember the last time I felt this good.”
“Even back on Earth? Why is that?”
Evan grabbed a half dozen of the yellow fruit and put them in the bag he was carrying. “I honestly don’t know. I just never felt like I fit in. Around other kids I always felt too… grown-up, I guess. Or mature. But adults always treated me like a kid. I was never into sports, but never really jell
ed with the geeky crowd either. You’d think I would, but I… I don’t know. They just always talked about weird things I didn’t really care about. I can’t explain it. Here, though, it feels like I’ve found a home.”
“I wish I could say the same. It would make all this a lot easier,” Mel said. She sighed. “You sure came a long way to find it.”
“You will too, eventually,” Evan said. He glanced at her sideways. “I’m glad you came out tonight. I miss having other people… other humans around. It’s nice to have you here.”
Mel smiled and grabbed Evan’s arm in hers as they walked through the market. She felt a bit lightheaded, but also relaxed and free for the first time she could remember. “The feeling is mutual. Are there any other yummy treats I should know about?”
“Mmm…” Evan said. “The berries. I think of them as choco-berries. Like raspberries with a hint of chocolate.”
“Oh my God! Chocolate? Are you kidding me?” Mel stepped back and slapped Evan on his metal arm. “I haven’t had chocolate in ages. Why didn’t you say something about this before?”
“We were being chased by evil government agents,” Evan teased. “It slipped my mind.”
“You need better priorities,” Mel said. “I would totally have gone to jail for chocolate. Stop teasing me and lead the way.”
Evan laughed and led her down to another stall. As they waited in line, Riley and Gorgeous came up behind them, still laughing.
“And then I told him that he’d have a better chance with a Dayalu
Riley laughed loudly. “A goat-frog and a Dayalu princess!” Whatever that meant, it made both Gorgeous and Riley double over in laughter. Mel thought Gorgeous might fall down.
Mel sighed. “Do you two have to be so loud? We’re trying to be ineato… incognition… whatever that word is.”
“Incognition!” Riley blurted out, laughing even harder. Gorgeous laughed, too, although she had a faint look of bewilderment, and Mel suspected she had no idea what Riley was laughing at.
“Incog… in… dammit, why can’t I remember the word?” Mel muttered.
“Incognito,” Evan said clearly. “Um. Riley, did you eat any of the yellow fruit?”
Riley straightened up, a look of bliss on his face. “Did you try those? Aren’t they amazing? It’s like ice cream fruit.”
Gorgeous made a face when Riley said ice cream. Mel’s face brightened. “Yes! We got like a hundred of them. Right, Evan? We got a hundred, right?”
Evan suppressed a smile, while looking somewhat embarrassed. “I got six.”
“Six hundred!” Riley said, laughing.
Evan sighed. “How many did you eat, Riley?”
“I can’t count that high. Maybe three.” Riley and Gorgeous burst out laughing again.
“I had six!” Gorgeous said. Her eyes shone brightly, and the skin under her fur had a slightly red tint. The translator seemed confused, toggling between saying that Gorgeous was being shy and sick.
“Right…” Evan said. “So, Mel, about those side effects. The yellow fruit can be a little intoxicating.”
“I need to get more!” Gorgeous said.
“We should get six hundred,” Riley sputtered.
Mel’s head swam slightly. “Okaaaaay. I think you could have mentioned that. No more yellow fruity bits for you two.”
Riley stared at Mel for two seconds with a straight face, then burst out laughing again.
“This isn’t a laughing matter,” Mel said sternly. “Evan was trying to get me drunk and you two ruined it all.”
“I was not,” Evan said quickly. “Honest, I would never do that.”
“Really?” Mel said, giggling. “That’s kind of disappointing.”
Evan blushed, stammering for a moment. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I just forgot how strong the fruit can be. Although some of us can apparently hold our yellow fruit better than others. We should find Simon and head home.”
Mel pouted. “I want coco-berries. That sounds like a cereal.”
“They have coco-berries?” Riley said. “I want coco-berries. I’m starving.”
By this point, the line for the berries had shortened and the shopkeeper, a rotund Latanua, was waiting for them to order. “Okay, let’s be quick. And, please, try to act normal,” Evan said. Passing the shopkeeper a credit disc, he asked, “Can we get a pound of the berries, please?” As the man took it, he looked intently at Gorgeous. Turning around, he called a smaller Latanua forward.
Gorgeous had already spotted the man’s odd behavior. She stopped laughing and looked away. Mel couldn’t believe the Latanua actually cared that Gorgeous was too thin for her race, and the thought upset her.
The smaller Latanua barely came up to the man’s waist and Mel realized with surprise that it was a child. The man said something to him and the child’s face tentacles started to wave in excitement. He pointed at Gorgeous and nodded to the older man.
“Leave her alone,” Mel said. She wasn’t appreciating the slight amount of intoxication she was feeling from the fruit. It made it hard to think.
The man turned to her and bowed slightly forward, his tentacles all waving slowly side to side in a motion the translators said was one of apology. “The Ankhen. She is a gladiator, no?”
Gorgeous’s mouth came open in surprise as she stared at the vendor. She nodded yes, while Mel shook her head in an emphatic no. Gorgeous stared at Mel for a second, her eyes glowing, then made an expression of dismay as she shook her head no as well.
“We recognize you. From the gauntlets. You are a favorite of my son. He has your card from when you fought Wicked on Sor Asthona.” Mel’s translator told her that was the city where their third game took place. “My son was wondering… he would very much like to get your autograph, if you would be so kind.”
Gorgeous and Riley both looked stunned. A deep sense of paranoia enveloped Mel, and she wanted to grab Gorgeous and run away. She started to turn to her, when Evan grabbed her arm. “It’s okay. It would be rude not to. Gladiators are kind of like sports heroes. These people don’t get to see real gladiators, not in person. It’s kind of a big deal.”
Mel shook her head, confused. “I don’t like the attention.”
“It might create more attention if she doesn’t do it,” Evan whispered. He waved Gorgeous up to the counter. Gorgeous swallowed and hesitantly took a step forward.
“It’s so nice of you to recognize me,” she said. Mel could tell she was overwhelmed. “I’m glad you liked the gauntlet.”
The little boy almost vibrated with excitement. “You were amazing! Wicked was my favorite but you beat her in combat, fair and square. I really like the Maneshee, too. I didn’t think they ever fought in the gauntlets. He’s kind of small for a Maneshee, isn’t he? And I’ve never heard of a white one. My friend thought he was sick, but he beat up that big, ugly Ghor! What’s his name? What’s your name? No one knows your names! But I still have your card.” The boy drew out a small plastic card that had a picture of Gorgeous on it. The background looked like the courtyard in Sor Asthona, where Gorgeous and Wicked had fought.
Mel’s head spun, whether from the yellow fruit or the situation, she couldn’t tell. Fighting in the gauntlets had been a low-grade version of hell for her and her friends. But for this alien boy, Gorgeous and Beats were heroes.
“What is your name?” Gorgeous asked.
The boy’s tentacles waved, in a pattern the translator indicated was shyness. Mel thought she heard a rustling sound, but the translator didn’t immediately provide a word. She realized Gorgeous would have the same problem they did when they originally named Beats and Gorgeous, because names typically didn’t translate. The usual solution was to make up a name in English that the translator could use. A moment later a few words flitted through Mel’s mind — air, bird, hardy, brave. She guessed that’s what the boy’s name meant in hi
s language. It merged in Mel’s mind and she came up with the name Ari. Gorgeous took a pen from the vendor and scribbled something on the plastic card. Mel looked down at the florid writing. It was all circles and curly-q’s, but words floated above the card as the translator told her what it said: “To my friend, Ari. With love, Gorgeous.”
The boy’s eyes grew wide when he took the card back. “Wait until I show this to my friends. Thank you, Gorgeous!”
Gorgeous smiled, then looked at Mel with a dazed expression. Mel raised an eyebrow.
“I remember you, too,” the boy said, looking at Mel.
“Me?” Mel said, pointing at herself in alarm. She was afraid her voice had squeaked when she said it.
“I haven’t been able to find your card yet. My friends were arguing whether you were an Ankhen or an Asadharan. I said you weren’t either one. But you were pretty awesome in that gauntlet, even though your team lost. And there was the whole scandal about you pretending to be Harkin. I never liked Harkin, anyway, but that was pretty cool. Are you an Asadharan?”
Mel took a deep breath. She was getting a better idea of how Gorgeous must be feeling. “Um. No. Tell your friends you were right. I’m not an Ankhen and I’m not an Asadharan.”
“Well, what are you then?”
“It’s a secret,” Mel said, holding a finger up to her lips. “In fact, the whole reason we’re here is a secret. We came here to train in privacy. It would be very helpful if you could keep it a secret.”
The vendor was beaming through it all, apparently very pleased to have famous gladiators talking to his son. He gave a bag of berries to Evan and waved away the credit disc. “Please, take it, take it! You are all so nice, such nice people. I’ve heard many gladiators are surly and not kind, but you prove them wrong. Thank you so much for signing my son’s card, Lady Gorgeous.”
