by Eric Vall
“It wasn’t,” Neka agreed, but already glee was beginning to creep into her voice. “First, he greeted CT, but in a really fake way, like he was being polite, but underneath I could tell he was spitting on us.”
“Ugh, I know that type,” Akela sympathized.
“It gets better, or worse for Warrick,” Neka giggled. “After he stumbles out his insults, he turned to me, and he dragged his disgusting little eyes all over me. Then, he tells CT, not even addressing me, that he’d heard CT had gotten a pretty little gen-mod pet, but he had nooooo idea how pretty.”
Even years later, the words set my blood to a boil. Neka’s tail bristled, too, against my cheek, and I fumbled in the dark to squeeze her hand. She squeezed back and continued.
“CT told him to shut his mouth,” Neka said proudly, “but the stubborn idiot wouldn’t listen. He then proceeded to ask how much CT would charge for him to borrow me for the night.”
“No,” Akela gasped, enraged, and I could just picture the fury that burned in her amethyst eyes. “The fucking prick!
“Yup,” Neka responded. “CT didn’t even say a word, he just pulled back his fist and smashed it into Warrick’s face. Warrick wailed and cried like a baby when the blood spurted from his nose. I don’t think he’d ever had a scrape or bruise in his life before that.”
I recalled the moment with satisfying clarity. The bastard’s nose had given like wet clay under my fist. I could still feel the crunch of cartilage.
“Oh god!” Akela burst out laughing. “Serves that asshole right. I would have paid to see that. Please, oh please can we have a round two?”
As the two women began to hash out plans for my ultimate showdown cage match with Warrick, my eyes fluttered and drifted shut, and I took a deep breath. Then another. My heart beat steady and true in my chest and, for just this moment, I didn’t have to run or fight or think. I could just lay here and be content. More than content even. I was… happy, a foreign concept and a crazy notion given that I was in the middle of a series of deadly trials, and my arch nemesis hung in orbit plotting my demise this very moment.
However, after I’d passed the second trial yesterday, and after Warrick disappeared back into the stars, I was given a brief reprieve. There was no ceremony or feast to attend. I had managed to go a whole day on this planet without accruing another injury, so I didn’t have to make a pit stop at the hospital. Cy’lass and Slal’ops went straight to meet with U’eh, presumably to discuss the impending threat of Warrick and the other starmen. So, in the end, I was left with a free evening, and I took full advantage of that when I came straight back to our pod and fell into bed.
I must have dozed off for a few minutes, because the next thing I knew, Neka was shaking me awake and waving a plate of fish in my face. The three of us sat cross-legged on my bed while we ate dinner, and when we were finished, Neka took our plates back to the central living area, and Akela stretched out beside me with a sigh.
My heart had skipped a beat as my eyes traveled up the smooth and elongated curve of the mechanic’s neck, but a moment later, Neka bounded back into the room and jumped back on the bed, causing all three of us to bounce and laugh.
Somehow, I ended up flat on my back with Neka on one side and Akela on the other, both facing but not touching me. It seemed like none of us wanted to be alone after the last few days, but we were all a little shy and unsure as to our new dynamic, so I did the only thing I could think of to put the two women at ease.
I started talking, and talking, and talking.
I told them everything I had seen during my day trip through Ka’le. I told them about the different tribes I saw, and the wildflowers that skirted the city. I told them about the marketplace and the vendor who had given me food and how many hours I spent churning answers to U’eh’s riddle through my head.
“It really took you that long to solve it?” Akela teased, her lilac eyes bright and mirthful. I pouted and rolled away from her, which caused the mechanic to laugh and pull me back, insincere apologies falling from her still smiling mouth.
We had talked well into the perpetual night, and it was easy, light, fun, not awkward at all. We didn’t talk about our confessions outright, but they underscored every conversation and gesture, like when Neka finally dropped her head to my chest with a yawn, or when Akela drowsily reached out and squeezed my hand that lay between us. We all fell asleep like that, physically connected in some way, and I hadn’t slept so good in… well, my whole life honestly.
Now, morning was here, but I still clung to the vestiges of that contentment, just for a few minutes longer. I breathed in Neka’s sweet scent and worked to memorize the sharp and spicy aroma that was Akela’s signature smell. I felt both of the women breathe against me, and I tried to match my rhythm to theirs. Screw Warrick and Terra-Nebula and even the Akornath. I wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment, with these two women, forever.
However, the real world doesn’t work like that, no matter how hard I wished it to be. Time marched on, as it always did, and before I knew it, a knocked sounded on the door of our pod.
We all held our breath for a moment as the echoes of the intrusive noise dissipated like we all thought if we were quiet enough, life would just leave us be.
After a moment, we heard the front door open. “CccT,” Cy’lass clicked from the living room. “You must awaken. It is time for the final trial.”
I exhaled harshly and closed my eyes for just an instant. I tried to memorize the feeling that surrounded me, this happiness, this joy, and then I opened my eyes and let the real world in.
“Time to get up, it seems,” I said gently to Neka as I scratched at the cat-girl’s ears. My assistant pouted and nuzzled into my chest one last time with a sigh.
“I know,” I whispered in sympathy, and I leaned forward to press a kiss to the top of her head.
From my other side, Akela rolled away with a groan as she stretched, and I heard her joints give a satisfying crack. “At least this is the last trial,” the mechanic muttered as she sat up. I could just make out the line of her silhouette on the edge of the bed. “I’m looking forward to getting some actual rest tonight.”
Before she stood up, Akela leaned back over the bed, a darker shadow in the night, and pressed a soft kiss to the curve of my cheek. I followed the caress instinctively, but the mechanic had already pulled away.
“Come on, sleepy heads,” she teased as she slid to her feet and over to the wall. She tapped out a sequence, and a moment later, dim light suffused the room. The mechanic’s silver hair shone faintly in the low light, and her eyes twinkled like purple stars.
“Oh no,” Neka mewled from where she had tried to burrow herself into my armpit. “Are you a morning person?”
I let my eyes widen and I pulled Neka closer to me as I looked at Akela in faux horror. “Dear God. Don’t worry, Neka, I’ll protect you,” I stage-whispered to my assistant.
Akela rolled her eyes and threw open the bedroom door. “He’s all yours,” she called out to Cy’lass.
The prince of the Almort filled the doorway, Slal’ops a step behind him. I waved awkwardly from the bed. Neka still pouted beside me, her face mashed into the pillows I had just vacated.
“Morning,” I said.
“We must leave soon,” Cy’lass responded. “Please get dressed.”
I sighed as the prince disappeared back into the living room, and Akela turned to face me, her hands on her hips and an expectant expression on her face.
“He’s always telling me to get dressed and go,” I muttered petulantly as I referred to the Almort prince. “It’s never ‘Good morning CT, here’s the delicious breakfast we’ve brought you, oh take your time.’”
“Maybe he’ll say those things once you finish these trials,” Akela prompted. “Come on, you don’t want to keep U’eh waiting, do you?”
I blanched at the prospect and swung my legs over the side of the bed.
“Alright, alright.” I sighed. “I’m up.
You, too,” I directed at Neka as I gently pulled the cat-girl after me. “I don’t want to suffer alone.”
Akela rolled her eyes again, but this time, she couldn’t hide her grin.
Fifteen minutes later and I walked out of the pod, yawning as I trailed after Cy’lass and Slal’ops. The Almort pair hadn’t said much since their arrival, and as I started to wake up more, this began to worry me. I glanced at each male in turn, but they kept a few steps ahead of us, their faces turned away.
I hoped their palpable concern was in response to Warrick’s impromptu visit yesterday, and not the trial we now headed toward. I couldn’t get a read on them though. It could be Warrick or the trial or both. I just couldn’t be sure.
Thankfully, at least I was given back my flight suit and coat, although the latter looked a little worse for wear, stained with blood, both mine and the Malog’s, and scuffed from my tussle with the beasts. However, the Odrine laced material had withstood the worst of the damage, and I was able to shrug it on with minimal complaint.
Since I was given back my clothes, I assumed that whatever the third trial was, Omni’s presence and assistance wasn’t an issue. That both soothed and worried me. What could this last test possibly be?
Whatever it was, it looked like it was going to be held, or at least began, at the tower again. Cy’lass guided us into the courtyard where yet another crowd had gathered, this one so large it spilled out of the plaza and into the side streets that ran to the rest of the city. The Almort chittered and hissed as we passed, but I was surprised to find more than a few inclined their heads to me as well as Cy’lass. I did my best to reciprocate the respectful gesture, but we moved so fast that my head was on a constant bobble. It must have looked like I was frantically nodding.
We came out of the crowd and into a cleared and empty square, about ten meters by ten meters. On the other side of this no-man's-land stood U’eh, flanked once more by his daughter. When Sef’sla caught sight of me, she grinned fiercely, her opalescent teeth reflecting the lights that flickered sporadically around her facial scales.
Lines of drummers stretched out to either side of the chief, and when U’eh raised his arms, they began a low, percussive beat. Nothing like the raging rhythm they had played when I began the Akornath, but somehow it sounded more urgent. My heart began to thump in my chest, and adrenaline already threaded through my veins.
I followed Cy’lass to the center of the courtyard. Once we were five meters away from U’eh, the prince turned to me and extended his arm. I blinked but took his hand, and Cy’lass clasped my forearm tightly.
“Remember what you have learned and been told about my people,” the Almort prince hissed, his flat, blue eyes now intense and piercing. “Look deeper, as you did yesterday. Good luck, CcccT.”
With one last firm squeeze of my hand, Cy’lass withdrew and moved to follow Slal’ops, who now stood behind U’eh. The prince beckoned for Neka and Akela to follow him, but the two women turned to me first.
“Be careful,” Neka whispered to me, her eyes wide, and her ears flat with anxiety. The cat-girl pushed up on her tiptoes and gently pecked a kiss on my chin.
“I will,” I promised her with a quiet smile.
“Try not to do anything stupid,” Akela added, but I could see in her eyes she was worried, too.
My smile widened into a grin. “Stupid? Me? Never,” I joked.
Akela smirked but also leaned forward and brushed a kiss against my cheek.
“Knock ‘em dead,” she whispered with a wink before she and Neka withdrew to stand beside Slal’ops.
I tore my eyes away from the two women and took a deep breath to fortify myself.
This was it.
This was the moment.
All my struggles, from Proto to T-N, had led me here.
If I could complete this trial, U’eh would sign my contract.
If U’eh signed my contract, not only would I have helped to save this planet from Corporate abuse, I would have done the impossible.
I will have brokered Proxima V, home of the Almort, the Holy Grail of the Icarius System.
Not bad for a man who got fired from his job less than a month ago.
But first, I needed to get through the last hurdle of this Akornath. I lifted my eyes to Chief U’eh’s and squared my stance as I braced myself for whatever the Almort had planned for me next.
As he met my gaze, U’eh stepped forward, and the drums quieted until they were barely louder than my heartbeat. The chief looked around at his people and raised his voice to address them one last time.
“We have come to the end of this starman’s Akornath,” U’eh declared and gestured to me with an outstretched arm. “He has not only proven himself strong of body and of mind but has also demonstrated his ability to provide for and understand our people. Now, only one trial stands between him and triumph. We shall see if, during his week among us, he has learned the skills necessary to win our favor.”
The Almort in the courtyard let out a cry in unison and stomped their feet. The drums echoed them. I felt their vibrations reverberate up through my feet, and my heart pounded in a harmonized symphony. I clenched and unclenched my fists, took several deep breaths. I was ready. I could do this.
However, just as I thought that, I happened to glance behind U’eh’s shoulder to see Cy’lass staring at me intensely. The prince did not cheer with the crowd. He did not flare his gills or scales, and he did not stomp his feet. He stood stock still in a sea of undulating Almort and his eyes bored into me.
I had played this game long enough now that I knew he was trying to tell me something, but as the drums grew louder, the voices of the crowd rising in turn, I couldn’t focus.
I tried to think back to the warning he gave me when he shook my hand a few minutes ago. Remember what I had learned? I looked to U’eh. He had also mentioned me learning something in his speech. What did that mean? Was I to repeat a trial? No, that didn’t make any sense. The Almort would never release a beast like the Malog in their city, and it would be rather anticlimactic to make me answer another riddle. So, what then? And what have I learned that’s going to help me here?
Before I could contemplate the thought further, U’eh held up his arms again, but this time he stepped to the side. For a moment, I thought Cy’lass had moved up to speak, but then I realized the prince still stood beside Slal’ops, Neka, and Akela. My gaze darted back to the Almort male that now stood beside the chief. He was taller than both U’eh and his son, broader through the chest as well. Scars as thick as my fingers scored from his shoulders down to his abdomen. When I caught his eye, his hissed and clicked at me, and raise his spear above his head, which caused the crowd behind me to roar.
Wait. Why did he have a spear?
“This is K’lox,” U’eh exclaimed when the Almort had quieted enough for him to be heard. The chief gestured to the male beside him, and K’lox stomped his feet. “He is our strongest hunter. As your final challenge, Cccolby Tower, you must best him in combat. The victor will be decided by the killing blow.”
This time, Cy’lass did step forward, but only to toss another spear into the dirt at my feet. I stared down at the weapon and then back up at the chief and his son. K’lox hissed at me and motioned for me to pick up my spear.
My mind scrambled. Best him in combat? What the hell? And did he just say “killing blow?”
I opened my mouth, but before I could get a single question out, K’lox launched himself forward and brought his spear down to club me in the head. I dove forward, rolled at the last second, and snatched up my spear from the dirt as I landed in a crouch.
“Whoa, wait!” I exclaimed, but my voice was drowned out as the crowd let out a thunderous cheer. The Almort stomped their feet, the drums crashed, and bioluminescent scales flashed like a kaleidoscope of color all around me.
“The third trial has begun,” U’eh bellowed, and I spun to face him, but he didn’t even give me a moment to argue before he continued, “and the s
tarman must prove his honor! If he can survive, let us see what he is worth.”
I gaped at the chief, but I didn’t have time to argue or be confused. The fervor of the crowd grew behind me, and I whirled around to see K’lox pacing a few meters away, his eyes fixed on me like a predator would stalk its prey. I shifted my grip on the spear in my hand and turned to face him fully.
K’lox flared his gills and slid into a hunting crouch. He moved laterally, his body sinuous and lithe. His eyes reminded me of the Malog, flat and lethal and out for blood.
As we circled each other, looking for weaknesses, I forced myself to contemplate this new paradigm shift. Think, I told myself, think.
Cy’lass told me to remember what I had learned about the Almort. U’eh, too, had emphasized my knowledge. So, what have I learned?
As I racked my brain, K’lox used my moment of distracted contemplation to make his move. The larger Almort charged me and lashed out with his spear, which was nearly a meter and a half long. I dodged the pointed edge of his jab, but K’lox used his momentum to dart behind me. I tried to keep him out of my blind spot, but I wasn’t minding my feet, which he noticed. While he flared his scales to distract me again, K’lox swung his spear at my feet. I managed to jump at the last second, but my toe caught the side of the shaft. I stumbled as I landed and tottered forward a few steps toward the edge of the crowd.
I looked up to see Neka and Akela’s anxious faces. The blood pulsed too loudly in my ear for me to hear the words they mouthed, but I knew they were shouting me on, encouraging me. Akela’s might have had a few choice words involved, but the fire that burned in her eyes was the same that burned in Neka’s.
I thought of this morning, how it felt to wake up between them, to feel their ribs expand against mine as they breathed. I thought about their lips and how I wanted to know how they each individually tasted. I wanted more, more of them, more of us, which meant I had to win this trial.
There was no other choice.
I whirled back around and bared my teeth at K’lox, who hissed at me in return from five meters away. I waited until the Almort male grew impatient and charged me again and then, at the last second, I spun out of his path, spear held tight against my body. As he barreled passed me, I jabbed at his back, and my spear tip caught the edge of his shoulder. Bright blue blood arched through the air before it dashed against the dirt below our feet, and the Almort around us cried and jeered for more.
