by Marcus Sloss
As I glanced at her I could hear Beth’s voice in my head about our birds and the bees lecture. “Mack, you are going to learn about porn, sex, and naughty things eventually if you have not already. I want you to understand a few things. Yes, sexually transmitted diseases have been cured and removed from the population for a while now. And yes you can choose to turn your sperm off of active status simply by inputting a setting in your sleep pod. Rule number one, before any situation develops beyond a handshake get consent. Rule number two ensure you state none of your sperm will be frozen. Young men have had sexual encounters that haunt them later in life. So before anything adult like happens triple verify you have checked your legal boxes with a valid contract of consent.” The vivid memory of that horrifying discussion sped through my mind.
I stole another glance and tried to find something wrong with her. The only thing I noticed was her blonde hair clashed with her brown eyebrows. I really wanted to avoid becoming a gibberish speaking buffoon.
“Welcome, you must be Mack, I am Starla. Pleasure to meet you. I am a big fan of your step father’s work.” Starla said.
“Nice to meet you, Starla. I am going to have to be honest with you, it always works for me. I am out of my element here on Earth.” I anxiously shifted. “I got tossed into the deep end on this fancy social event and I am afraid I will not learn much due to your allure. On Versi where I am from, women wear less revealing clothing and are not as gorgeous as you are… Not even close.” I lifted my eyes to watch her frown at my declaration.
She retreated a step, placed her juicy booty on the table, and fished out a sweater from a pink bag. She eased my tension with a light smile and soft chuckle.
“I always keep one handy, these private rooms can get chilly at times. Thank you for the fine compliment, not every day I get a handsome man being shy and direct at my appeal. Normally I get ‘here is my contact buzz me’ or ‘here is my consent form… let’s get naked at my place later’. I was hoping my appearance would ease the situation. I apologize. Your biography had me thinking you were a ladies man, but I am much more pleased to learn you are a gentleman. There is so little about you I could research. You are a straight-A student, you stay off social media completely, which is strange for a man your age, and you are one hell of a ZBall player. Your stats are off the charts. If it was not a frowned upon sport here on Earth I bet even the Ivy leagues would be keeping an eye on you next year.” Starla was a fast talker. She covered up her amazing assets with her sweater. As I relaxed she eased back into her lounger and continued. “So you are attending a gathering with a Lancer Ambassador. That would… Yeah…” She was pausing while she talked. Probably combing the fabric for information. I decided I hated that term, she was searching the net.
I helped her out because the statistic did not matter to me. “The lucky few to feel the pressure of entertaining a sixth stage species, an ambassador no less. Trust me, the pressure is on. Why I was so upfront with you cleavage, as mighty appealing as you are I do need to focus here. I have never failed anything I set my mind to before.”
A wide smile crossed her cute face and she blushed. “Please Mack, no need to flatter a girl. How about we get started?!” She said with enthusiasm.
Starla was utilizing very limited data for our study session. Apparently, lancers locked all the war records, technology, cultural aspects, and conquests behind special access. What was public knowledge was gambling records. I studied more about the gambling habits of the lancers than the actual species. When you did gamble, which any lancer could, their bets were tracked. Betting records is where we got the majority of information from the Onatics. It was the one thing we figured out we had unlimited access to.
I learned the lancers generated lots of income from their gambling. They knew how to bet more accurately than other species. It was astonishing the amount they hauled in from the Onatics’ pools. They wagered on everything too – races, deathmatches, survival timelines, battles, corporate profits, and even on statistics of gambling. It was a lot to take in.
I pondered on what I would do if I achieved immortality and had immense wealth. I quickly realized it would take a while for me to resort to getting my thrills from the rush of the win or the loss. I knew I was young with lots to learn and experience.
When I left the private room Starla gave me a long tight hug. I wondered if she did it to bother me or because she enjoyed our time together today. I broke the embrace and caught a flicker of sparkle in her eye when she said goodbye. I blushed the entire way home and thought of little else.
CHAPTER 4
I found myself eating a light evening meal with only Beau. The twins and both parents found more important things to attend to. We finished our six p.m. meal and hired a shuttle to meet Starla at a zero gravity training center for a friendly ZBall scrimmage. I had inquired if Beau could come and Starla instantly thought it was a good idea. Beau was pumped to finally see a ZBall game. Technically league oriented games were illegal in New York but never enforced. While it was legal in the Empire, this city considered itself a bastion of early change. I was told since this was only a fun match between strangers and that we would be fine. I reflected on the past two weeks while being flown to the training center.
Starla and I ran out of lancer knowledge to discuss by day three. She related how frustrated she was with the lack of proficiency even her professor had. There was only so much readily available information out there to study. Things progressed into talks of ZBall, college life, my background, and her upbringing.
Those were my favorite two and a half hours every day. I told Arenus that we had analyzed all we could and the tutor was more of a friendly talk session. He shrugged and figured to keep at it in case she could uncover something. The priority was still the diplomatic hosting event, and if new information arose then it may be too late to get me another tutor. Secretly, I think he knew how hard I was crushing on Starla and enjoyed seeing me squirm when I talked about her.
Starla and I had grown closer, ever since that first day I knew we had a connection. The two of us were in an enclosed space for hours, and we enjoyed every minute of it. I learned she was a genebabies child, and she had two brothers. Frank, and Woodrow who were both older. She had always been fascinated by alien culture. Her parents supported her in attempting to major in alien anthropology. Starla mentioned how she always wanted to visit a lancer planet. The only other thing that got her eyes to light up more was talking about possibly finding an abandoned seventh stage planet and doing Xeno-archaeology. We would endlessly discuss the ‘what ifs’ of both.
Our daily goodbyes from tutor time had become more and more… sincere. Even I struggled to wrap a finger on what was happening. One afternoon she asked to see after dinner during my free time. Last night we had gotten a really expensive coffee together on what I would, and maybe she also considered a first date. I think we were building up to the point of becoming a couple and I was a tad nervous.
During our talks she would delve into all things ZBall. When she would casually toss around incorrect stats or facts I would politely correct her and tell her how adorable she was for trying. I got to learn Starla’s brother was friends with an avid fan of the championship team The Griffins that beat my Elephants. Apparently, she mentioned me to her brother about my love for ZBall. One thing led to another and eventually to this friendly game.
Beau and I found ourselves excited and ready to have some fun when we arrived. I paid the travel fee and held the door open for Beau as we exited the aircar. We stood before a seventy meter tall, by ninety meters wide warehouse. I felt small in front of the goliath sized building. I hoisted Beau over my shoulders as if she were a little kid, and walked to the entrance. The extra time at the gym was paying off, an additional hour slamming weights did more than an hour of cryo pod muscle stimulation.
“I am so thrilled to finally get to see you in action for real,” Beau told me from her perch.
“Wait… How can you watch my games?�
�
“Not at home, mom has Butla restrict my access and I can never get around his blocks. School library… Can you believe that they still allow you to stream content from their databases? I only get to see highlights and the image quality isn’t perfect, but I do watch.” Beau said, to which I shrugged. She quickly balanced herself from my jostling shoulders as we proceeded forward.
“That is awesome, I always wished that you could see an actual game. I promise not to tell mom you are breaking her rules.”
There we were, my eight year old sister on my shoulders so tall she ducked under the door frame by bending in half until her chin touched my head. I was greeted by Starla and introduced to her brother Frank. Frank was another perfect version of his parents and the resemblance was clear.
“Thanks for the invite Frank, I am Mack and this is Beau. I have missed being able to play. Where have you guys set up the arena?” I asked. He spun around waved for me to follow so he could walk and talk.
“Nice to meet you both. Starla talks of you nonstop.” This earned him a swat from his sister. “In the middle here we have an older model zero gravity generator. Procured by a retired hauler, it works, and serves its purpose for this but is terribly inefficient. The legit purpose of the unit is as a backup zero-g trainer that rarely sees use. Hence why we got it here and not sold for some ship.
“Tonight we only have enough for a seven vs seven. We are lucky though, word of you got around and we doubled our normal numbers. I even was enticed into watching some videos of you playing by Star here.” He threw a thumb gesture at his sister. I saw her frown at the nickname, it was probably only done by him.
“Excellent, I assume no contact and friendly rules?” I asked this because it was important. Things could get heated and rough in real games, we would be doing a much milder version.
“Correct, and here we are.”
The setup was budget and a dozen men of varying ages were already at it. There was one bleacher section I guided Beau to. She promised to behave and cheer me on.
I went back to Starla and Frank and prepared myself for entering the ‘pit’ as I liked to call it. A few stretches, some limbering jumps, and I was ready. I rapidly removed my track pants to reveal tight spandex shorts. I then unzipped my warmer jacket until I was in a matching black skin tight spandex top. I felt a bit awkward in my outfit in front of Beau and gave her a shy wave.
Starla prohibited me from entering the arena cupping one hand around my bulging triceps and another over my peck. She traced her fingers over my physique and then swiped her hand away with a twirl. “I am so not wearing a sweater tomorrow. My goodness Mack!”
“I have been meaning to ask you something Starla, can we have a moment Frank?” I said turning to Frank.
He rolled his eyes and entered the arena to wait for me.
“Starla, I would like to make us a thing… Assuming you will have me, I am new to dating but here is my contract.” I said and mentally sent her a ping of my sworn word not to romantically see other people while the contract was valid.
“Of course you big goof,” She reached around my neck, pulled me down and deposited a long tender kiss. “It will be fun telling my girlfriends I got offered a contract for dating, so archaic it is beyond cute. You are delightfully adorable Mack.”
“Hey, I was raised this way. I mean it though, I have really grown fond of our time together and I know how badly you want to see me naked.” Her first reaction was a laugh until she thought about it and blushed. When she sauntered away I watched each shapely butt cheek bounce as she went. Beau gave her a high five as she planted herself beside my adorable waving sister.
Game time… Starla was not going to distract me, I was focused on my ZBall. I stepped into the transition chamber and within moments was weightless. “What took you so long?” I sarcastically called out to Frank as I anchored on a waiting handheld that was inserted into the clear acrylic. My body wanted to drift off as I watched Frank fidget for an item while weightless. The man was clearly not a natural in zero-g like I was.
“Here take this blue bandana, and Mack, go easy on us. Friendly game.” Frank said as he handed me a blue strip of cloth I wrapped around my forehead. He dressed his head in red, and we were off. It was now a seven vs seven.
ZBall was an oval shaped game in zero gravity where the main goal was putting a handball in the opponents net. Typically two teams of nine vs nine battled it out. A goalie protected each endpoint of the ovals. This game was occupied by fewer players but it was also considerably smaller than an actual arena. Official sized arenas were a hundred meters long, and the middle was forty meters wide and tall at the central point. At the goal zones, it was down to ten meters by ten meter square nets. This arena was only half that size. It would make things interesting. We were bound to collide in the confined space with extra people.
I tossed that thought aside and frog leaped into a spinning bullet. I yelled with joy at the freedom of no gravity. I was the happiest kid in the proverbial candy factory. An errant pass ponged off a wall at an advantageous angle. I knew where it would end up before the others realized it was going that direction. My initial leap was arrested as I flipped, lined my legs up for a course change and bounded for the ball. The goalie was the first to react thinking he had an easy toss out to a teammate coming his way. I snatched the ball midflight and curved it into the goal behind him.
Goal! The crowd went wild… Well, Beau and Starla were clapping. My sister gave me a thumbs up that I returned as I pinged off the wall to reset back on my team’s side. I decided these guys were here to improve and have fun so I focused on assists, and even let some opponents get by me.
When it dinged for the third period I removed the bumper guards. I spun, twirled, and even air dance my way around the arena as I racked up a dozen goals. When both sides realized I had been holding back earlier you could see them deflate. It was okay, I lived, breathed, and on occasion bleed for ZBall.
At the end of the game, we shook hands and traded stories of good plays. We filtered out of the pit of zero gravity and I was the last to exit.
The moment my feet touched Earth’s inevitable pulling force we were swarmed. And not by adoring fans, but by police with weapons in tactical gear. To say I was pissed off was an understatement. I bit my tongue so hard holding back comments that it was cut.
There I was being booked at the precinct with my eight year old sister for misdemeanor violations. She was released because of her age. I, on the other hand, was handed a citation for three hundred E-bits that I immediately paid. That was not the issue though, the Empire was in a dire situation. They were unable to maintain the Empire Defense Force (EDF) on the outer worlds through volunteers. The core worlds’ population refused to enlist for the military type service on underdeveloped worlds. It was considered beneath them to police the bumpkins. Outer worlders viewed the practice of being policed from a distant planet ridiculous and none supported it. Even a more developed world like Versi shunned the Empire’s guards. So if you happened to love ZBall, get caught in an illegal game, you get a fine and a three month term of service. To be completed within a year of the sentence or a year of turning eighteen. Since I was already eighteen I had to serve my time within twelve months or forever be banned from New York City. This was the Empire’s answer, send misdemeanor trouble makers to the frontier worlds to fill the required recruitment numbers. If that wasn’t a kick in the teeth getting picked up by your mother from a police station with your little sister in tow only made matters worse.
That was the first night I ever intensely fought with Maranda. When we got home we waited until Beau was properly scolded and behind a closed door. The moment that happened we went at it like two raging bulls locked in a battle for dominance. It is not even illegal on Earth, it was a city ban, as New York normally had additional nanny laws on the books. So we fought, logic never won, only emotion and the endless ‘what ifs’. There was no dissuading and no point being accepted by either side. The ar
gument deteriorated so thoroughly that eventually Arenus stepped in and separated us. He sided with neither and played the referee. It came out at that point that the real foe was the city mayor, who had political aspirations. Arenus speculated that I was followed and an example was made for leverage against my mother. He did mention that our arrests were the only of their kind ever in the city. It indicated a motivated move of opportunity. The combination of the ridiculousness of my sport being outlawed, coupled with my mother arguing on its merits was too much.
My anger seethed with rage and I beat the feathers out of my bed. No one came to try to soothe me. Vivian who had followed me to Earth played classical music and stayed silent. I calmed enough to not break anything and inserted myself into my sleep pod to let the shitty night wash away.
CHAPTER 5
Time rushed by until the big day arrived and I was shocked a month had passed since my arrival to Earth. I was nervous about the lancer meeting. My mother and I had never reconciled. We gave each other the silent treatment every opportunity we had. We were both content with the arrangement. This was my last year where I would summer here. I knew she was grateful for that fact, it was sad but we had never been close. I think she dropped the subject when our arrests gave her a bump in the polls. It was positive attention for her while exposing the major of the city as overreaching by arresting an eight year old for spectating a friendly game. It was funny how people would vote for stricter controls then quibble when enforcement of those policies were enacted.
Starla had endlessly apologized to me and I reassured her it was not her fault. I figured Arenus would remove me from the event’s roster and exclude the influence that led to my troubled evening. He did neither. I was shocked and pleased by his faith in me. I had kept my head down for the remainder of my time choosing to focus on my studies and improving my relationship with my tutor.
