Theodore

by Marcus LaGrone

  Theodore shook his head, “Not a thing, sir. I'm just a student. Only one of a handful of Taiks, granted, and I am young compared to most of my peers... But it's quite a busy but simple life: lectures, labs, homework, a few sports... Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  The agent cocked his head and grinned, “I noticed you seem to be a bit of a ladies man. Any of that cause any problems back at the university?”

  “Um!” Theodore's ears flared painfully red as his fur stood on end. “Uh...”

  “Articulate, isn't he,” grinned his First Mother.

  “No!” barked Theodore, fearful that his First Mother might make a production of the more recent situation. “I've no relationships back at school, nor have I interrupted any that I know of... Anna... well...”

  “You do seem to like her,” teased his father.

  “Dad! I mean really!” This wasn't fair!

  His father sat back and smiled broadly, “It's alright, nothing to be ashamed of. It was obvious she means something to you: you were able to extend your armor to cover her. Had you ever done that before?”

  Mercifully the agent laughed and closed the subject, “I think we all have embarrassed the poor boy enough. It will be a day before we have transport arranged off planet. If you think of anything, no matter how trivial, please contact me.”

  Theodore nodded, grateful to end the interview. He smartly shook the agent’s hand as did his father.

  “Oh, one last thing,” the agent fired of his shoulder. “Are you open for visitors?”

  “Sure,” offered his First Mother with a smile. “Always glad to meet people.”

  The agent smiled as he nodded and then turned his attention to the couple outside, “You may go in now.”

  Theodore grinned broadly as Anna and her mother entered the room. Awkward social situations or not, he was happy to see such a friendly face. Anna beamed at Theodore and gave him a big hug before giggling and turning to face his First Mother. “Good morning, Mrs. Foxdale, I'm delighted to meet you,” she carefully spoke in the Highland Old Tongue. Someone had been practicing! She giggled as she faced Theodore again, “Sorry, that's about all I know in your language.”

  Janice smiled at her daughter and continued in the Old Tongue, “We were delighted to have had Theodore and your two daughters visit us.” With that the rest of the pleasantries and small talk erupted. His family was more than happy to meet them and they were tickled that she knew their language. Theodore just smiled and sat to the side talking with Anna; time passes quickly in the company of friends! In a few hours he'd be heading back to school and his parents would be heading home. Maybe time was passing too quickly...

  7

  “Game point, Blackford,” barked the intercom high overhead. “5-0, 5-0, 5-0 game and match to Team Phillips-Grauer for 'Open class, Open form, Heidelberg Rapier' round. Five points awarded for Open Class. Two additional points for the shutout. End of tier one. Phillips-Grauer University-37, Mikaer Military Academy-23. Next tier starts in 45 minutes.”

  Theodore grinned broadly as he peeled off his mask and rubbed his ears. The masks were modified from human masks, but even then he knew there was only so much one could do to make one's ears comfortable. Even his sparring equipment with his father suffered the same problem. With his mask tucked under his arm and his pair of blunted rapiers in his left hand, he smiled and shook hands with the two line judges and offered his hand to his hulking human opponent. No handshake was coming...

  The human just glared at him as the pair walked off the mats to the sidelines. “If that had been a real fight, it would have ended very differently pussy cat,” he snarled.

  “Cadet Burges!” snapped the coach from the visiting military academy. “If you wish to continue in elective sports, proper sportsmanship will be expected!”

  “Yes, Major,” growled the youth.

  “You are four years older, 30kg larger, 35cm taller, and you have a 20cm longer reach. Do you know why you lost? Because he is better than you! He probably started fighting with swords at age eight or nine. Practice! Experience! Discipline! He has those in spades! He has 67 unanswered points in competition. If we exclude points awarded by fault, he has 120 unanswered points against him. He keeps losing points for improper strikes, strikes designed to kill. He was holding back out there because he is still trying to learn the sport of fencing rather than as a fight to the death. You were competing in 'Open' class... what would you have done if your opponent had been a Kiarazar or a Shukurae? Would you be smarting off to them?”

  “No, sir...”

  “And to answer the question hanging in the air: had that been a real fight, the Mountain Taik would have run you through! He would have invoked Live Steel, closed, cut your rifle in half, all in the blink of an eye. On the return stroke you would have been dead, your feeble body armor would have been worthless.”

  The cadet broke eye contact, “Yes, sir. I understand...”

  The coach glared at him, “Get out of here!” He paused as he regained his composure and turned with a broad grin, “Well, let me shake your hand. You did an excellent job out there. On any other day I would have challenged your third point in the last round, but that seemed moot and it would have only prolonged the inevitable. He was thoroughly outclassed out there.”

  Theodore smiled broadly as he shook the coach's hand, “Thank you, sir.” At least some people were both good sports and professional.

  The coach cocked his head as he looked Theodore square in the face, “I know that look, I've made some faux pas.”

  Theodore laughed out loud, he was amazed that the human could read him so well. Quite obviously he had served alongside Taiks for some time. “It was only minor, sir, and I'm sure it's just a language game. We prefer the term 'Highlander or Highland Taik' over 'Mountain Taik.'”

  He laughed back, “My apologies! 'Highland Taik' it is!” The man beamed as Theodore's own coach came over and the pair shook hands. “You had another ringer this year! Can't complain, you had him competing in the Open Class!”

  “I thought you had a couple Old World Taiks this year, too,” his coach grinned back.

  The opposing coach shuddered, “I've fought alongside Shukurae, T'Konzeg, as well Taiks from the Highlands, Kulpugrie Republic and Altshea Confederation. I like to think myself a practical and open minded individual, but the two Taiks from Afon we briefly had were both Draeka. Ugh... One was dismissed for espionage, I kid you not, and the other had a nervous breakdown.”

  Theodore cringed. The Draeka were a secretive people, but what little he did know made his blood churn. They lived in a strict militaristic society where backstabbing was an occupation, not just a metaphor. The people... well, they had genetically modified themselves to create a perfect and equitable race... there was very little difference between males and females and they were about all the same size, strength and intelligence... They were also paranoid and prone to serious psychological issues. “The one that had a breakdown, was he sent back?”

  The coach smiled, “Even after all the hostilities between you people, you still look out for the individuals! One of the Highlanders' most enduring characteristics... No, she was granted asylum and has transferred to a different school... with a bit of medical support...”

  “My turn to misspeak,” grinned Theodore.

  The coach just laughed, “Hey, if someone hadn't told me, I would have had no idea she was a girl. Those Draeka are just... weird...” He beamed as he changed subjects as he faced Theodore's coach, “Bring your team to the canteen this evening. Whoever loses a tier buys a round!”

  “Do you think you can afford to buy my kids three rounds?”

  “Cocky, aren't you? I like that!”

  Theodore just laughed, his tier was over and he had done his part quite admirably.

  8

  Theodore laughed to himself as he looked up from reading a letter from his Second Mother. He could hear the d'Evelston twins approaching. They were a delightful if not mischievous set o
f human twins on the floor of his dorm... always up to something.

  “Oh, look, there he is!” mused Maurice d'Evelston. “Kicking back, lounging on his bed, completely oblivious to the certain doom that waits silently on the wind.”

  “Evert is going to shave you bald, you know that,” grinned Marcel d'Evelston.

  “Oh, poor, poor Evert. What horrible wrong have I committed this time?” asked Theodore in mock despair.

  “You went and clogged the impeller on the hot tub again, that's what you done!” grinned Maurice.

  “Just when, old Evert had invited his lady friend in for a dip!” finished Marcel.

  “Not my fault,” laughed Theodore. “I changed the filter when I left. It's not my fault that the maintenance people keep putting the wrong mesh size filter in there!”

  “That filter, it’s good for a run of fifty of us, or two of you.”

  “One, if you've been gett'n all botched up fighting.”

  “How are you so sure it was I that clogged the filter and not Tolvesk?” asked Theodore with a grin. Tolvesk was a Taik from the Kulpgurie Republic. A first year, but a big lad!

  “Oh, that's easy, as far as Evert is concerned...”

  “Tolvesk is two heads taller than him. You are the safer one to harass... well, that and you are a better sport about it all!”

  “Oh-my-word!” began Maurice as he looked over Theodore's desk. “He's got another photo of that hot chick he met the other month.”

  “Anna! That's her name, yes?” prodded Marcel.

  “Not right, you with a girl like that. She might do proper and better alongside me, for example,” kidded Maurice.

  “She's sixteen, you two letches. She's just a good friend,” smirked Theodore. He'd gotten no end of razzing for the pictures she had sent. But he displayed them proudly in spite of the jibes.

  “That's like a portrait photo, an original, not some printout,” grinned Marcel. “She spent good money to send a hard copy like that. Post isn't cheap!”

  “No, but you two are! Cheap, that is!” grinned Theodore. “What scheme has you two all wound up and down here knocking on my door, rather than mooching off the others on a Friday night?”

  “Mooch? I feel offended! We are just...”

  “Spit it out, Marcel, or I'll lock the door.”

  “Pushy! Quite pushy! Especially after all we were about to do!”

  “Pushy indeed! Called us letches, you hear that did you! Verbally abused, I am!”

  “Your coach, the one from that match today, he wants us to come find you and bring you down to the canteen. Proper party going on down there, and you should be there, too!”

  “I don't drink,” replied Theodore with an honest laugh.

  “Doesn't drink? That's beside the point, my lad! They have other things to drink than just a fine pint!”

  “You did proud for your team! You should be there with them, basking, being social and all!”

  “If you two shut up, I'll agree to go. How's that!” laughed Theodore as he got up from his bed.

  The twins grinned at each other as the grabbed Theodore's arms, “Fair enough!”

  9

  Theodore gritted his teeth as they climbed the third flight of stairs of the Student Union and entered the canteen. He'd been there a few times before with friends for a quiet place to relax, but there was nothing quiet about the room this evening. Both fencing teams were there plus another thirty or so regular students enjoying the party-like atmosphere. He didn't mind parties, it was just there were so few people he knew well and this crowd tended to party a little harder than he really cared for. There were smiles all around, even for the visiting team that ended up losing two of three tiers. What caught him completely off guard, however, was the smiling form of 'Cadet Burges', his opponent from earlier match. He wore a bright and honest smile as he approached Theodore and offered his hand.

  “Sorry I was a jackass earlier today. It wasn't my finest hour... Bill Burges, is the name,” he apologized with a grin. “Care for a house pint?”

  “Theodore Blackford,” he smiled back, happy for the change in attitude. “I appreciate the offer, but I don't drink.”

  “Well what would you like instead then?” he offered with a smile. “Just please don't make me order a milk in front of all these people...”

  Theodore laughed, “Lemonade, if you would please.”

  Bill rolled his eyes and laughed, “A lemonade for my worthy opponent, if you would please!”

  There was a small cheer as the rest barked out their approval at seeing Theodore arrive. There were a few grins and minor laughs as to the drink, but Bill let it roll. “I'm sorry again for how I acted, I was just caught completely flat footed. I'm used to playing a rough game in the Open Class... you know, throw my weight around... heck, even the Shukurae like that! I should have reviewed who you were before I stepped out there. Coach always said to do that, but, no, I got cocky! There was no way I was expecting an ambidextrous, lightning fast, cat fighting with two rapiers! I'd try to throw my weight and presence around and you just, zooop!, sidestep and tag me. By the third set, I was beyond flustered. Coach said he would have questioned that third or fourth point... pshaw! You nailed me! I should have fought a range game with you and then try and press hard on the parries, but no! Once I lost my rhythm, I lost my cool and then I was toast! Live and learn.”

  “If it helps your feeling any, on the second round I was feeling a lot of pressure from you. Your parries were savage and your follow through was perfect.”

  “Yeah, but you were just a lot better and faster than I was!” Bill laughed. “I was about half a step away from a technical foul that entire second match: my strikes were out of place! I was almost chopping! That isn't right!” He grinned as he accepted the lemonade and passed it to Theodore. “Seriously, though, you've been fighting rapier since you were eight years old?”

  Theodore grinned, “Sword, long sword, side sword, rapier, ax... you name it. I had the advantage that my father both taught me the basics and he was also the advanced instructor for the town. He is very good! I've only been doing sport rapier for a year. My first semester they tried to get me to fight épée. That... that was just silly! That's a game not a sport! I was sixteen so they were worried about liability and all if I fought rapier. That made my dad laugh.”

  Bill grinned, “I'm pretty sure next week the Major is going to give us a long and glorious lecture about Live Steel! Apparently, you Taiks made quite an impression on him earlier in his career. He served in the 798th CSOG--Combined Special Operations Group with the Shukurae.”

  “My father never served off planet. He'd never even left the Highlands until my family visited me at school a year ago. I've a few distant cousins that served off world, but no one that I ever really knew growing up.”

  “Never left planet...” Bill grinned, “To me that sounds quite odd! I've bounced around so many different planets, I can't even keep track. Must be a very different lifestyle.”

  Theodore shrugged, “Eh, it's about the same most places: get a job, raise a family...”

  Bill shuddered, “Don't say 'raise a family' too loud, my mother might hear! And she's 200 light years away!”

  Theodore laughed, “See, things aren't so different after all! My Second Mother keeps pestering me to find a nice girl and at least be social...”

  “Oh, he's found a girl,” smirked Maurice over Theodore's shoulder. “She's...”

  Bill drew himself up to his full, and quite substantial height and glared at Maurice who suddenly went very quiet and dismissed himself.

  “Wow! I think that's the first time I've ever seen him shut up quite so quickly!”

  “You're welcome!” grinned Bill.

  “Excuse me,” interjected an older man in a rather elegant business suit, “but you are Theodore Blackford that fought so well at today's fencing match, aren't you?”

  Bill rolled his eyes and laughed while Theodore just smiled, “Yes, sir. I am. What can I do for
you?”

  “I have a business proposition for you... Now, yes, I know you are a minor and any official business arrangements will require involving your father, but I think you will be very interested in what I have to say,” he finished with a grin. This human was a consummate professional: sharp and with a polished grin that was hard to read.

  “My First Mother will be more interested in the final details than my father,” grinned Theodore. “But I'm perfectly willing to hear what you have to say.”

  “Excellent! If you would please, I have a table by the window,” he gestured to the far wall and lead the way while still bantering on, “You have poise, presence, speed and skill. Top all that off with an old world charm and humility... Oh dear... 'Humility' doesn't come across as too race-centric does it?”

  Theodore smiled as he shook his head, “We are working across languages and cultures; I find no offense in the word. In fact, just the opposite: it implies a level of comfort of association not normally offered to outsiders.”

  “We will have to add 'eloquent' to that list,” he replied with a broad smile. “Sit! Sit! Relax while I try to bring you up to speed.”

  Theodore smiled as he sat in the seat opposite to the man, “But, if you could please... You do have the advantage of me...”

  A good gut laughed came as a reply, “There is that old world charm I mentioned! And yes, bad my manners: my name is Alexandre Phebeson. I would offer you a drink, but you hardly seem to have put a dent in your present lemonade.” He paused as he collected himself, “You are a unique young lad; you are an off-worlder with both scholastic and athletic talents far in advance of your age. You are in the unique situation to act as a goodwill ambassador across a great many star systems.”