Galileo (Battle of the Species)

by Meaghan Sinclair

  He followed the fluorescent blue arrow, blinking on Ava’s white floor, pointing the way towards the fighter's holding tank. When he got to the holding tank, he looked back and saw the simulation like everyone else saw it, the wall of water a foot in front of him.

  Desh and Kia walked up behind him. “You did good, Grus,” Desh said, while he unstrapped the back of Grus' shoulder pads.

  “Yeah, Portau's a nasty planet,” Kia added. “Everyone dies on that planet.”

  Grus nodded. Desh and Kia were his roommates and they were very strong fighters. He admired them. He liked them. But they were both very blunt. They wouldn't have said such things if they hadn't meant it and it made him feel a little better knowing that.

  He continued to watch the simulation from the outside, watching Jonah, Renn and Dylan ― piecing together what had happened. Jonah had let him suffer. His teammate, who was supposed to have had his back, had left him behind. He felt more alone than ever before until he realized that Renn had sacrificed his legs and 1,000 game points to end his suffering. He was Grus' opponent and shouldn't have cared. Grus gave a deep sigh. He wasn't alone; he had just been paired with the wrong partner. He sat down in the holding tank, waiting for Jonah to finish, wanting to look him in the eyes.

  Renn and Jonah took aim at one another with Renn firing first, allowing himself enough time to dodge Jonah's blast. Jonah took the blast in the chest, but not before telling Ava to eliminate the pain.

  Renn thought the squid were multiplying, but they were the same amount, only instead of being divided amongst four players, they were now divided between two. Renn lost too much blood and fell to the white surface. He rushed to the holding tank to finish watching Dylan, who was still alive, alone in the deep blue water.

  Renn looked up at the scoreboard. They had already won, but Dylan continued fighting to end the game with more points, until squid finally overwhelmed him. He died moments before the level ended.

  Dylan walked to the holding tank, grinning at their win.

  “Sorry I went down,” Renn said. “I know you would have lasted longer if I hadn't.”

  “Don't apologize,” Dylan replied, shaking his head. “There are no words for what Jonah did.” He looked around. “Where are they, anyway?”

  “Grus just got sent to the principal’s office and Jonah was taken to the medical bay. I don't know what happened,” Renn said.

  “Excuse us boys,” came a feminine voice from behind them.

  Renn and Dylan looked over their shoulder to see Lux and Joss walk up in full battle gear.

  “Ahhh, the ladybots,” Dylan said with a flirtatious smile. “Now here come the bad-asses who are gonna show us how to get it done.”

  “You know it,” Joss said, as she punched fists with Dylan.

  Renn reached behind Lux, brushing her hair out of the way so he could tighten a strap on her shoulder pads. He had an uneasy feeling and looked behind him to see Desh glaring at him.

  What? Renn projected.

  Nothing, Desh replied, walking away.

  Joss and Lux competed against two strong female Zeanups that game, but fought a good fight, until all four died in level three.

  Renn and Dylan walked onto the battlefield after Kia and Desh were announced.

  “Forget about them. Let’s just do this,” Dylan said, “Stay focused. We can beat these guys!”

  Renn nodded, not taking his eyes off Desh.

  The four fighters separated, readying themselves.

  “The planet is Rellain,” Ava announced, while a city of white buildings ascended from the ground.

  “Fighters, prepare.”

  Kia and Dylan ran up stairs, over bridges and around buildings to get a feel for the area. There were Tallele scattered around, frozen in time. Tallele was the dominant species on that planet, and most people in the Federation knew what a kind and gentle species they were, but the dangers on the planet remained a mystery to the fighters. They didn’t know what aggressive species were going to come their way, and without weapons, running away had to remain an option.

  Renn and Desh circled a large majestic fountain in a city square. They scowled at each other, never leaving each other’s sight. Desh broke off a white branch from a tree and beat it against his hand. In response, Renn scraped the ground, picking up handfuls of sand and created two fists.

  “The game will begin in five, four, three, two, one.”

  On “one,” Renn and Desh charged each other. Desh raised the branch, ready to strike, but closed his eyes at the last second to avoid the sand that was thrown in his face.

  Renn blocked the branch and took a swing, hitting him square in the jaw.

  Desh lunged at Renn, hitting him in the stomach with his shoulder, and the two went down. They kicked and hit, pushed and pulled, creating a cloud of white dust that loomed around them, releasing all the pent-up energy and frustration they had been harboring for one another for months.

  The students watched from the stands, yelling, “Fight, fight, fight!”

  Kia and Dylan stopped where they were, hearing the sound of the crowd filtered through the simulation. They ran back to their friends when the scoreboard blinked. The city froze, lowering itself back into the ground from which it came, while the crowd booed.

  Dylan stopped as he watched Rellain disappear and looked up at the scoreboard. “Son of a …” but was interrupted by a loud squawk. Dylan looked over at Kia, who was glaring at him. “Yeah, all right,” Dylan muttered, rushing towards Renn and pulling him off Desh.

  Kia got there just in time to help pull Desh off Renn. “Calm down,” Kia whispered to Desh as he braced his arms back.

  “Fighters have been disqualified,” Ava announced. “Please proceed to the holding tank.”

  They walked off the field as “Disqualified” blinked across all four of their pictures and the crowd booed louder.

  Paro watched from the stands, unmoving. Only his pursed lips, squinty eyes, and snapping palms revealed how angry he was. He stood up, making his way out of the stands.

  A ship-bot was already waiting for Renn and Desh when they stepped foot into the fighter’s tank. “Renn Andreas and Desh,” the automaton said. “You have both been requested in the principal’s office. Please follow me,” it said, motioning with its hand to follow.

  Desh and Renn obeyed, wiping the blood off their faces. There was nothing Ava could do about the real blood, scrapes, and bruises.

  It was a long walk down the corridors, following the robot. Cheap ship-bots were burdened with a slow gait, clunking their metal feet on the floor with each step. The brothers didn’t bother looking at each other, having released a lot of anger, for the moment at least. They took off their simulation gloves and walked into a small lobby with a female android sitting behind a desk in front of a hall, leading to Lockrin’s office. Two benches aligned the walls between the lobby and the office, and the android motioned the boys towards them.

  They sat down, on opposite benches, looking anywhere but at each other, both bruised and bleeding. Desh glanced over to Renn and shook his head.

  “Now what?” Renn asked, not bothering to hide his aggravation.

  “Your blood's red,” Desh replied in disgust.

  Renn noticed the blood drying on Desh's lips was blue, and threw up his hands. “Yeah, okay, so I'm half human and I was raised as a human, but I'm still half Mindeerian and I'm still your half brother, so get over it and stop whining about it.”

  “I'm not whining about anything,” Desh said. “I just don't think you should be able to show up one day and take everything I have.”

  “What are you talking about? I haven't taken anything from you!” Renn couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You’re delusional!”

  “I'm supposed to take over the Quintessence when my mother…when our mother, dies. That's my destiny. It’s what I’ve been told since birth and what I've been training for as long as I can remember. I didn't even know you existed until a few months ago. Then o
ne day I'm told that not only do I have a brother, but that he may be taking over the Quintessence instead of me. And who is it? Some…half breed Earthling, who wouldn't know what an Egar was, if it bit him on the ass!”

  Renn lunged for him.

  Desh put up his hands, throwing a wave of energy into Renn, sending him into the air, until his body slammed into the wall behind him.

  Renn fired back, concentrating all of his energy into a small, solid area across Desh's jaw, creating a huge punch, hard enough to knock him over.

  Desh threw himself on top of Renn, as they hit each other over and over. They were too busy fighting to hear Paro walk up, until the old Mindeerian boomed, “ENOUGH!”

  Renn and Desh froze, looking up at him.

  Paro raised his hands, lifting both of them to their feet. Lockrin's office door opened with a startled Olerian looking between the three of them.

  Lockrin looked back at Grus who was standing in his office, looking dejected. “You may go, Grus,” Lockrin said. Grus walked out, with his head held low, and Lockrin gestured for everyone to come in, including Paro, who followed with his arms crossed.

  The boys entered the office and sat in two chairs, facing Lockrin's desk. Both of them kept their heads down, occasionally wiping the fresh blood from their lips and noses.

  Lockrin sat behind his desk, pulling up his sleeves in a calm manner. “There are two types of rules all students must abide by: The ship's rules and their species' rules. You boys have broken them both and will be punished accordingly. Fighting is not permitted aboard this ship, unless it’s part of a simulation. If you have a problem with another student, then you are to see a mediator like myself, who will peacefully settle the dispute one way or another. Having ignored this policy, you are both to serve detention tomorrow at fifteen hundred hours and help repair a panel on the ship's outer shell.”

  “You’re sending us into space?” Desh asked in shock.

  “Detention is the step right before expulsion. We can go straight to expulsion if you wish, Desh,” Lockrin said, looking at him, with no sign of bluffing.

  Desh shook his head and mumbled, “No.”

  Renn didn't get it. He had never been in space. A space walk sounded kind of fun.

  “As for the Mindeerians,” Paro began, “I shouldn't have to remind you two that we are an endangered species and that you two are brothers.”

  “Half brothers,” Desh corrected.

  “One more word out of you and you will be sent home this minute. I dare you to test me on that,” Paro said as his palms illuminated with a bluish tint.

  Desh closed his mouth, looking down.

  “If you two don't learn to protect each other, you will both die, and sentence those around you to the same untimely death,” Paro said. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of your relationship. From now on, at every school battle, you two will be paired together.”

  Desh opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. Renn and Desh listened, furious at their sentence, their hands glowing blue.

  “If this ever happens again, I swear you two will be bunking together, eating together, and sharing each other's air, every minute of the day. The further you two push each other apart, the closer I will push you two together.” Paro sighed, hearing the electricity snapping from their hands. “Oh, will you two calm down before you set your pants on fire!”

  Renn and Desh clenched their fists, trying to stop the electricity from sparking, and left the office, without making eye contact.

  They walked down the hall until Desh heard four footsteps turn to two. He glanced behind him to find Renn had stopped a couple feet from the door, with one hand on the wall, as if bracing himself from falling.

  Desh watched him a moment and then walked up to Renn, offering him his water bottle. “Drink this,” Desh said.

  “I don't want it,” Renn snapped. “Go away.”

  Desh’s sore jaw clenched while he spoke through gritted teeth. “You're sick because you keep using energy and lightning and it drains your body of sodium and potassium.”

  Renn looked at the bottle. “What is it?”

  “Mindeerian water. It’s water with electrolytes, just more than humans need.”

  Renn looked away. “I'm already drinking water with electrolytes.”

  “What, human water?” Desh scoffed. “Fine.” He walked away, then stopped and turned back around. “Look, you don't have to trust me, but try to at least listen to me for one second. If you want to live like a human, then act like a human. If you want to fight like a Mindeerian, then take care of your body like a Mindeerian. Otherwise you're just going to keep ending up in the medical bay after every battle.”

  “What do you care?” Renn asked.

  “Honestly, I don't. I just couldn't face my…” Desh stopped to correct himself, “…face our mother if you died while I was around.” He offered Renn the bottle again. “Just take it.”

  Renn accepted it, managing to mumble something resembling “Thanks.”

  “Yeah,” Desh said, walking away.

  Renn thought about the water. Taking too many electrolytes could put him in the medical bay just as fast as not taking enough. He contemplated going to the medical bay and letting Ava decide how much he needed. It had, after all, never been researched whether his body was more Mindeerian than human or the other way around. His blood was red. But like it or not, Desh was right. He couldn't allow himself to keep getting admitted after every battle. Not if he knew there was a way to avoid it.

  Renn took the cap off and drank. After a few minutes he felt better and walked back to the dorms. By the time he got there, he felt as well as he did any other day, except for the cuts and bruises on his face.

  CHAPTER 14

  Unwanted Projections

  “So what happened?” Leo asked when Renn walked in. “Dylan said you punched Desh! Man, I wish I could have seen it!”

  “I got detention,” Renn replied. “I have to help fix a panel on the outside of the ship.”

  They all cringed. “Oh, sorry,” a couple of them said.

  “I don't get what the big deal is. I've never been out in space. I'm kind of looking forward to it.”

  “Sure you are, because you've never been out in space,” Dylan replied.

  “You're not afraid of heights are you?” Ivan asked.

  “Well…no, but even if I were, there is no height in space. There's no top, no bottom,” Renn said, not sure whether he was missing something or if they were.

  “That's it exactly,” Ivan continued. “Even if you’re standing on a surface and bracing yourself, you have this constant feeling like you’re falling. And if you float away, you just keep floating until you run out of oxygen.”

  “That's not even what scares me the most,” Rudy said. “It's that even a piece of dust traveling too fast, or in your case, you get scared and your hands spark, it could puncture your suit. Then space will suck everything out of it, through that tiny hole and I'm not just talking about the oxygen,” Rudy continued, talking faster and faster as he went, “it'll suck you, your flesh, your blood and your bones out, until you're nothing but a string of frozen syrup floating through space, because it's like, -400 degrees below out there.” Rudy finished shaking his head. “You are so going to die.”

  “That’s not what happens, Rudy,” Renn replied. “You suffer from decompression sickness, then you either suffocate or have a heart attack.”

  “Damn, I didn’t think you knew that,” Rudy said.

  “Nice try, man,” Dylan said to Rudy, as Renn headed to the bathroom.

  ***

  The next morning, while Renn and the others were making their way down the spiral staircases, they saw a group of Second Years making fun of Tom. Tom tried different strategies to get them to stop, but after Jonah had managed to humiliate the android, the majority of the students had lost respect for him and he was having a hard time gaining it back.

  Tom always said “Hi,” as sociable as he c
ould, but the students just ignored him, as if he were some old toy they had outgrown. Renn tried not to think about it, but it bothered him nonetheless.

  He and his friends said “Hi” to Tom on their way out, hoping that would make up for some of the others’ behavior. They liked Tom, android or not, and wished everyone would treat him better.

  They went to breakfast, feasting on argols from Labtist and toast from Temin before leaving for class. Renn lagged behind, ordered Mindeerian water, and poured it into two water bottles before he left.

  When they got to philosophy class, Renn walked by Desh, dropping off one of the water bottles without stopping or saying a word.

  Without looking up, Desh picked it up and set it beside him, while Kia and Etienne watched the exchange.

  “That was weird,” Etienne said when Renn was out of earshot. “You two making friends?”

  “Nope,” Desh replied.

  ***

  At fifteen hundred hours sharp, Renn arrived in the cargo bay to serve his detention as ordered. The only people there were two Fourth Years, a male and female, waiting while they had what appeared to be a lover's quarrel.

  Renn had heard the gossip around school. Fleeting thoughts he overheard in the hallways, about a couple of Fourth Years who got caught attempting to perform some “hanky panky” (as Sally put it) in one of the dorm rooms.

  Sex was forbidden on the Galileo, despite the hormonal protests of some of the species who developed earlier than the others. Mindeerians could read minds, Omites could see through walls; there was simply no privacy on the ship with so many species walking around with various powers. Ava monitored the contact between students whether a door was closed or not. The Galileo wasn't willing to risk traumatizing students like the Omites, who wouldn't sexually develop until they were in their fifties, still quite young considering their 200 year old lifespan.