by Eric Vall
It was all an incredibly impressive display.
I stood at the window for a moment, just watching the workers of the refinery go about their day, but Akela could only stand still for so long.
“CT,” she called, and I looked over to see her ardently waving me over to one of the tables she stood before. “CT! Come here and look at this!”
I ambled over to the mechanic. Neka was a little more awake now and had dropped her tail from my wrist when we entered the lab, but she still trailed after me out of curiosity.
When I reached the table, I peeked over Akela’s shoulder and rolled my eyes with a soft smile.
The silver-haired woman stood before a transparent box made of some kind of material akin to glass. Inside the box, which looked to be about a cubic meter, was a patch of blue-tinged grass, planted in rich black soil. Akela had her hand stuck through the open top of the box and was running her fingers through the meter high grass and, wherever her fingers touched, blue and green lights danced.
The silver-haired mechanic looked up with her face split in a beatific grin, and her amethyst eyes reflected the flaring lights from below.
Hell, she was gorgeous.
Neka came around the table’s other side, and I watched as she narrowed her yellow eyes and tried to track the racing colors. Suddenly, her small hand lashed out, and she batted at the grass. She missed the tracers Akela had left but made her own kaleidoscope of lights instead. The cat-girl mrowled in delight and started to play in earnest, her pupils dilated in pleasure, her ears strained forward, and her tail lashed back and forth friskily. I took in her sweet, heart-shaped face, and the orange hair that framed the soft curve of her chin and fell into her sparkling eyes.
Goddamnit, she was beautiful too.
I shook my head and torn my gaze away from the two now-entertained women and cast my eyes about to find something to distract me.
Cy’lass was the first thing to catch my eye. The prince hadn’t said a word since we’d entered the refinery. He stood off to the side now and seemed to be watching Akela intently. Slal’ops notice the prince’s attention, as well, and looked... almost uncomfortable.
Or worried.
A red flag started to rise in my mind, slowly, but I forced myself to remain aloof, casual, and unconcerned. The Almort prince could be behaving weird for any number of reasons.
Oblivious to it all, Akela continued to caress the blades of grass using various speeds and pressures. “Well, it seems like one of my theories was correct,” she declared a little smugly. “The lights are produced across species lines. It seems like anything with an electrical pulse, or a similar life force, will react and cause the bioluminescence.”
“Well,” Cy’lass interjected with a hiss. “Not everything.”
I saw the prince’s gaze dart to me, but when he saw me watching him, he averted his gaze back to the mechanic.
“What do you mean?” Akela questioned with her brow furrowed. She had withdrawn her fingers from the grass, but Neka still nimbly batted at the blades.
Cy’lass rolled his neck from side to side, his version of a shrug it seemed. “There are some beasts that do not produce the lights,” he explained. He tried to look nonchalant about it, but I caught him glancing at me again.
What the hell was going on here?
“Really?” the silver-haired mechanic questioned. Her eyes were wide and curious, and I could practically hear the wheels turning behind them. “How many species? What kind of species are they? Is this ability rare?” she rattled off.
Akela was both fascinated and oblivious. I was neither. All I could notice was how Slal’ops kept covertly trying to catch the eyes of his prince, which wasn’t likely to happen because Cy’lass was too busy covertly trying to spy on me.
That sharp intensity was back in the prince’s face, too. Slal’ops seemed to see it as well because he opened his mouth to interject, but Cy’lass beat him to it.
“Around C’eka, there is only one beast like that,” the prince responded. His voice seemed slightly over loud, his words nearly rushed like he was trying to get them out in a hurry. At last, the prince brought his eyes to mine, and we locked gazes. The hair on the back of my neck stood up at the look in his flat blue eyes.
“And what beast is that?” Akela pressed when Cy’lass didn’t immediately respond.
Without blinking or taking his gaze from mine, the prince said softly but curtly, “The Malog.”
I furrowed my brow at the semi-familiar word. The Malog. Where had I heard that before? My brain was a swirling welter of newly acquired data, and I hadn’t had time to process or sift through any of it. Hell, we haven’t had a moment to ourselves since we first stepped foot on the sands of this planet however many hours or days ago that was. This perpetual twilight thing was really hard to adjust to.
Before I could remember anything useful, a knock sounded at the lab door. Slal’ops actually gave a start and shot a worried look at Cy’lass, but the prince merely clicked his tongue and the door opened.
Another Almort stood in the threshold, and he inclined his head to the prince and his advisor. Slal’ops walked over to the doorway, and the other Almort hissed something quietly to him. The chief’s advisor dipped his head once and clicked a response. The third Almort left without saying another word.
“What is it?” I found myself asking Slal’ops. “Is everything alright?”
It may be hard to learn the intricacies of other species’ facial expressions, but even with the translator box, I’d know if someone outright lied to me.
But the advisor merely smiled, perhaps a tad too wide, and said, “Apologies, but the prince and I must go now and prepare for the feast.” He turned to Akela then. “Would it be agreeable with you, machine-healer, if we returned another time? I promise to demonstrate the more intricate processes that occur below.”
He gestured out the window to the factory floor. Akela pouted slightly as she looked out the glass, but she acquiesced.
“Fine,” the mechanic sighed and then yawned. She blinked her violet eyes a few times and then chuckled. “I guess I could use a nap now.”
“Me too, me too,” Neka mrowled tiredly. She had grown bored with the glowing grass and had started rubbing her eyes again.
“Then let us retire to your pod,” Slal’ops said encouragingly as he began to usher my assistant and mechanic back down the hallway we had come through.
Cy’lass made to follow them, but not before I caught his eye one last time. I wanted to ask him what was going on, but something about his expression stopped me. His eyes bored into mine for one more moment, and then he was turned on his heel and disappeared into the shadows of the hall.
I stood there for a moment and considered everything that had just transpired. I could only come up with one explanation.
Cy’lass was trying to tell me something.
I just didn’t know what yet.
I took a deep breath and plunged into the dark hallway after my crew and our hosts.
Thankfully, it seemed we didn’t have far to go because less than five minutes after we left the refinery, Slal’ops drew up to a building not far from the tower we started at. It seemed we had made a lap around C’eka.
The building was a low, flat, and circular building, made from grayish-white stone and dark swatches of X’ebril. It wasn’t very large, and then I realized there were multiple copies of this same building scattered around us. I turned in a circle, and it looked like these small, flat buildings ringed the base of the tower.
“These pods are usually used for visiting chieftains and their families,” Slal’ops explained to me. “I believe you and your tribe will be comfortable here.” The Almort then stepped up to the nearest pod door and laid his hand flat against its surface. His scales flared and lights flashed along the door in response before a panel slid to the side. Slal’ops gestured for me to enter, and I did after only a moment’s hesitation. Neka and Akela followed at my heels, both of them now yawni
ng freely.
When we were all through the threshold, the chief’s advisor touched something along the inside of the doorway and a moment later, pale light flooded the room as threads of blue and green and yellow flared brightly along the ceiling and the base of the walls.
The center of the pod seemed to be a communal living area. There was a small, sunken pool in the very middle of the room, big enough for three or four people. I couldn’t see a source for it, but the water gurgled quietly and was midnight blue. Every so often, there was a flash of movement that disturbed the dark surface, so I guessed there was fish in there, too.
Around the pool were a gathered bunch of silver cushions that served as a seating area. Tucked in the opposite end of the room was a high table next to what looked like a stone oven. I guessed that was the kitchen.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cyl’ass gesture to a series of doors that branched off in different directions around the room. “Through there you will find your sleeping quarters,” the prince clicked flatly. He refused to meet my eyes. “Is there anything else you require?”
Before I could respond, Neka walked up to the piled silver cushions near the pool and plopped down with another huge yawn. She sat up for a moment, pulled one of the pillows into her lap, and kneaded it with her sharp claws as she purred. Then, she tucked the pillow underneath her head, nuzzled against it once, and promptly sighed.
A moment later the cat-girl was fast asleep.
On my left, Akela chuckled at my assistant and turned to Slal’ops. “Thank you for showing us your city,” she said with a tired smile. “It’s... beautiful and breathtaking and just... it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
Honesty rang true in her voice, and Slal’ops could hear it. “Thank you, machine-healer,” the advisor said. “That is a great honor you bestow upon us.”
The mechanic’s grin widened, but she couldn’t stifle another yawn. “Can’t wait to see more,” she mumbled as her eyes began to droop. She brought two fingers to her temple in a mock salute and then stumbled over to where Neka slept peacefully. The silver-haired woman considered the pile of cushions and picked her way around the sleeping cat-girl. When Akela had found space enough to lay down, she did so and then flopped over on her stomach, one of her hands trailing toward the edge of the pool.
In no time at all, the mechanic was snoring, too.
For a moment, I stood there in silence with the two Almort. I opened my mouth to apologize for my assistant and mechanic, but before I could, Cyl’ass had already moved to the door. He chittered lowly at Slal’ops, and the other Almort joined him.
“We must go prepare for the feast,” the prince said to me. “I will have some of my men remain outside if you need anything more. We will return for you when everything is ready.”
Cyl’ass laid this hand against the wall, and the door slid open with a brief flicker.
“Wait,” I called out, and the two Almort paused halfway over the threshold. Four, dark blue eyes turned and blinked at me in unison.
“Thank you,” I echoed my mechanic and gestured to the lavish if sparse room around me. “For the tour, these accommodations, and your hospitality.”
Cyl’ass blinked at me again and then clicked at his companion. Slal’ops slid out the door with only a slight nod to me. When the prince and I were alone, he looked me up and down, from feet to crown.
“Do not thank me yet, CcccccT,” his hissed softly. “I fear you do not understand just what you have agreed to.”
I knew it. So the prince was trying to tell me something.
With no further explanation, the prince turned and walked out the door and I was left alone in the room, the quiet gurgle of the pool behind me the only sound other than Akela’s snores and Neka’s soft mewls.
“Well, that wasn’t weird,” Omni suddenly whispered in my ear.
I let out an explosive sigh and scrubbed a hand through my hair as I let out a dry laugh. “Tell me about it,” I muttered.
I took another deep breath and let it out slow as I wandered around to the other side of the pool so as not to disturb my sleeping crew. I collapsed on my own pile of cushions there and almost immediately let out a quiet moan. Whatever these pillows were made out of, I’d never felt anything softer. No wonder Neka and Akela almost immediately passed out. I burrowed down deeper and let my head flop to the side. I was less than a meter away from the lip of the pool, and I watched as the water rippled and fell placid again as the fish swam down below the surface.
“What do you think was up with the prince?” Omni questioned in my ear. We were so far from the ship his voice sounded tiny and soft, like he was my conscience speaking.
I groaned and pulled a cushion over my face. “I don’t know, O, but I can’t worry about it now. I need to get some rest or I’m going to pass out at this feast tonight, and I’m pretty sure U’eh will find a way to use that against me.”
“And are we going to address these mysterious but apparently lethal trials that you so intelligently agreed to?” the AI questioned me. “You heard what Cyl’ass said. He and Slal’ops both seemed unhappy with your decision as well.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to make sure not to die then,” I grumbled into the pillow.
“Pride comes before the fall, Colby.”
“I think I’ve fallen as far as I can, O,” I mumbled as my eyes began to flicker. I tried to fight it, but my eyes drifted shut of their own accord. These pillows really were comfortable as hell.
“We’ll see, Colby,” Omni whispered in my ear. “We’ll see.”
Chapter 13
The next thing I knew, someone was shaking my shoulder, and I blinked open my eyes to see silver cushions... and webbed feet. I slowly dragged my groggy gaze upward to find an Almort standing above me. From the lack of straps across his chest, I could tell he wasn’t Cyl’ass, and I was pretty sure he wasn’t Slal’ops.
“Slal’ops sent you these for you and your tribe,” the Almort clicked at me as he proved my assumptions correct. He held out a stack of fabric, and when I only continued to blink at him in a stupor, he set it on my chest. “He and the son of the chief will arrive soon to escort you to the feast.”
With a dip of his head, the Almort walked back out of the door... presumably to resume his post as our guard. I shook my head and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
“How long was I asleep?” I yawned as I glanced around the room. I sat up further in my nest of pillows and glanced to the other side of the pool. Neka still slumbered peacefully, nestled in silver cushions, her tail twitching back and forth in her sleep. The perpetual state of twilight this world lived in had my biological clock out of whack.
“A few hours,” a voice that was not Omni’s responded.
I whipped my head around to see Akela perched on the tall kitchen table in the corner. Her feet kicked slowly back and forth about a meter and a half off the floor. The mechanic’s black coat that she had been wearing all day was nowhere to be seen and her arms were wrapped from shoulder to wrist in what looked like... seaweed?
I frowned at the mechanic and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes. “What are you doing up?”
“I’m used to a lot of manual labor,” the mechanic muttered with a shrug. “Lots of hours with power tools and molten metal has built up my stamina, I guess. I don’t need a lot of sleep.”
And despite my own personal fitness regimen, I had still been a paper pusher for the better part of a decade. I suddenly felt old.
To ignore the looming specter of my mortality, I gestured to Akela’s arms. “What’s that you have wrapped around you?”
The silver-haired woman glanced down and turned one of her arms this way and that. “A salve of some sort.” Akela shrugged. She seemed wide-eyed and bushy-tailed once again, her violet gaze sharp and attentive on my face. “One of our guards came by not long after we fell asleep and brought one of their doctors. Apparently, their marshes toward the north are full of medicinal herbs for al
l sorts of ailments.”
I didn’t miss the way she said ‘guard.’ She knew what position we were in too, it seemed.
“Do they hurt?” I rose to my feet and slowly made my over to her.
Akela shook her head, and her silver hair glinted in the low light of the room. It might have been the shadows of the sleep in my eye but it looked like the mechanic was blushing again. “Eh, not really,” she muttered. “It stung for a moment when they put it on, but it’s been mostly numb ever since then.”
With that, she slid off the table and landed nimbly back on the ground. She made her way over to the spot I had slept in, bent down, picked through the fabric there, and then stepped around the pool to where Neka still slept.
“Neka,” the mechanic said softly as she shook the cat-girl’s shoulder. “It’s time to wake up. We gotta get dressed.”
My assistant sleepily blinked open her yellow eyes. “Mrowl?” she yawned as she stretched, her whole body arching against the silver cushions, her orange hair stark against the metallic color of the pillows and her clothes.
I felt something twitch below my belt and quickly turned away. Stupid, waking body.
My two crew members, thankfully, stepped into one of the bedrooms to get changed for the feast. I washed my face in the pool and, when I was sure I’d be alone for a minute, I stripped off the rest of my sand crusted clothes and slid into the midnight blue water. The fish tickled as they nibbled at me, but the water was colder than I liked, so I bathed pretty quickly and efficiently.
I didn’t see Akela or Neka again until Cyl’ass and Slal’ops knocked on the door about half an hour later. When they heard the Almort arrive, my assistant and mechanic finally slipped out of their room and came to stand beside the pool.
