Aliens from Arapholanx: The Burn of Magic

by Adam Sipperly

  They had first proven their combined might on Neptune, plowing across battlefields to take an untold number of lives. When the King ordered them to stand down for the invasion of Uranus and refused them the powers of the orb, they turned on him. Together with thirty of their most trusted soldiers, they stormed the King’s castle on Pluto. They were stopped before they reached the King’s quarters, but not before they had taken over four hundred lives. The only thing Punx and Krick gained was a new nickname, the Deadly Duo, and a life sentence in the deepest, darkest prison the King could find.

  All of that changed when Patrick took the King’s orb. He now had a need for their brutality and was willing to take the risks associated with freeing them. Together, the two made quick progress on their plans for Earth. Within days of being released, they had pulled together the most fearsome and rugged crew of soldiers any had seen before. The prisons were emptied as they requested some of the most feared and brutal to ever live on Pluto. Twenty-three of the soldiers who had fought for their rebellion were still alive and were the first requested. Wanting an even larger force, Punx and Krick held brutal tryouts, allowing only those who were in prison to even participate. Three hundred and seventeen prisoners had signed up, and by the end, less than half would remain.

  ◆◆◆

  “Patrick!” He jumped from the fire where he had dozed off. “I’m glad to see you’re awake!” Flupotia emerged from the darkness, her clothes plastered to her body with thick mud.

  “I’m glad to see you’re doing alright as well.” He gave her a once over and raised his eyebrow at her. “Where did you run off to?”

  “You should still be sleeping. You need as much rest as you can get after that stunt you pulled.” She sat down across the fire from Patrick and filled a bowl of food for herself.

  “I promise I’ll head back to sleep as soon as you catch me up. The last thing I remember is being thrown into the water.”

  “Fine,” she placed her bowl down next to her, “I suppose that’s fair.”

  For the next half hour, Flupotia relived everything that Patrick had missed. As she told her story it was clear that yet again, the lack of communication had led to Patrick’s near-death experience. He tried not to read too much into it, but couldn’t help and take note of the fact she had jumped into the water for him before worrying about anyone else.

  While she had been dragging his body back to the surface, it had been the Pintlupus that came to the rescue. In the chaos of battle, the creature had made its way off Patrick’s ship and dug its fang into the large bird. Within seconds, the venom reached the creature's heart and it collapsed. Flupotia found the Pintlupus lying next to the creature with a gaping hole where its fang had once been.

  The Petros had then helped to explain what had happened. They had spent some time on Venus as prisoners and knew something of the creatures that lived there. The large bird, which they referred to as a brithog, was a creature of water. They were immensely powerful creatures that were near impossible to kill. Their bodies, the Petros explained, were surrounded by a microscopically thin layer of water. This layer of water is capable of hardening and acting as a shield if needed. Luckily, the pintlupus was one of the only creatures on Venus with the capability of killing a brithog. In saving Patrick, it had given up its greatest weapon. Flupotia had set off in the jungles with it then, in the hopes of finding others like it. She had been successful and the Pintlupus was now recovering with his own kind.

  “Gin-us is right, we’ll end up killing each other long before we reach Flaca if we continue on like this.”

  “Agreed.” Flupotia locked eyes with Patrick for just a moment, but it was enough that all past arguments and anger were forgiven. “On that note, I implanted a PTD while you were passed out.”

  “You did what now?”

  She laughed at the look on his face and picked her bowl back up to continue eating. “Planetary Travel Device. They were developed by my fa…” she paused for just a moment and held up her hand.

  “Are you okay?”

  She cleared her throat before continuing. “Sorry, think I swallowed that the wrong way.” She forced another cough out. “As I was saying, the scientists on my home planet developed the device. They have quite a few useful functions. They’ll regulate your body no matter what planet you happen to be on. From now on, no matter where we go the climate and gravity will feel the same for you as it did back on Earth. The device also can regulate the air you breathe, pulling what it can from the environment and making up the difference to keep your body functioning. The coolest thing about them though?” She smiled coyly. “They’ll allow you to communicate with any intelligent species without knowing any different.”

  He grimaced at her and tilted his head to the side.

  “Wait.” She covered her mouth as her grin spread wide. “You didn’t think we’ve all been speaking your language this whole time? Have you?”

  Patrick felt his face flush red as laughter escaped Flupotia’s covered mouth. He was now fully aware of how ridiculous it was that he hadn’t thought to question this sooner.

  “Well…” He pursed his lips tightly. “How do you explain my understanding everything you’ve said so far then?”

  “The base on Earth, and the ships, they all have a broadcasting field of sorts.” She was still chuckling between words. “As long as you were within range, you wouldn’t need a personal PTD. Now that we’re out here, you’re going to need one.”

  “And why are we just doing this now?”

  Probably would have been helpful to have sooner. Patrick was wise to leave his last comment unsaid.

  “In all honesty we just got lucky. Zinta found a large supply on my ship.” She shrugged her shoulders, clearly not bothered by the fact that she hadn’t even told anyone about the devices.

  “You do realize this is exactly what we’re talking about, right? Not communicating? Not sharing our secrets or technology?”

  “No, I get it. I should have said something sooner. It just sort of slipped my mind given everything else going on.” She looked up to Patrick and made strong eye contact. “Look, we all have secrets and we all know things that we don’t necessarily feel like sharing freely. That doesn’t make us bad people and it doesn’t make us liars. We may look different on the surface, but we’re all the same when you look deeper. We all have our own insecurities, reservations, regrets, hopes, wishes, and dreams. All I can say is there is nothing I’m keeping to myself that would aide or harm us right now. If that changes, you’ll be the first to know.”

  Patrick felt the urge to reply back with something snarky but knew better. Just like with Gin-us, it was time to repair and strengthen this relationship, not damage it further. Instead, he bit his tongue, shrugged his shoulders and broke the eye contact.

  “We should leave this clearing as soon as it's light again.” She paused and looked up at the sky. “That is, assuming its light soon. Did you know it takes Venus almost two hundred and fifty times as long as Earth to rotate?”

  “So we could be sitting in the dark for a hundred days?”

  “Earth days, I’d say yes, but something else is at play here. The clouds,” she pointed up to the sky, “don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they seem to carry the light themselves.”

  “Hmm.” He looked up to the clouds and sure enough saw a faint glow emanating from them. “So we wait a couple of hours and see what happens? If there’s no light, we’ll just have to make do.”

  “I like that plan. The Plutonian troops here have clearly made it work for them. There’s no reason we can’t.”

  “Plutonian troops? Did you see something out there in the woods?”

  “No. But we know they’re here somewhere.”

  A shiver ran down Patrick’s spine as he continued, “guess that means we’re really behind enemy lines now?”

  “That we are.” Flupotia stood up to leave, gently brushing her pants in a futile attempt to remove the dirt gathered there. “You should
get some rest now, while you’ve got the chance.”

  Flupotia paused just before entering the grass where the light of the fire couldn’t reach. Shadows danced across her face as she turned back to Patrick.

  “We need to stick together while we’re here. While I was bringing Peanut back, we crossed paths with some very interesting creatures.” Her shoulders shuddered. “The thing of nightmares. We have to have each other’s backs at all times. My recommendation, groups no smaller than six.”

  “We can make that work.” Patrick wanted to say more but couldn’t find the right words.

  “Goodnight Flupotia.”

  “Goodnight Patrick.”

  As she walked away, she could not believe how heavy her heart felt. She wanted to tell Patrick everything, to explain her true motivation for starting this rebellion with him. But she knew that she couldn’t, at least not yet.

  “Flupotia, wait!” Her heart skipped a beat as she turned around to Patrick who was now standing over the fire his arm reached out to her and his face visibly flushed.

  “So,” just say it! He screamed at himself but still couldn’t put the words together. “So does this device you installed mean I won’t be able to float around on the moon or other small planets? I was really looking forward to getting free of the tether at some point.”

  She laughed a mixture of amusement and disappointment. “I suppose that is a downside. But on a positive note, you won’t be crushed the second you step off the ship onto Jupiter.”

  She winked to Patrick and took her leave. His limbs went heavy as he watched her walk away. She was just a shadow in the distance, hidden within the long strands of grass when he finally closed his eyes and sighed. Flupotia turned around and considered returning to the fireside with him. Instead, she balled her hands into fists, stood up straight and continued walking away.

  Both left the conversation with mixed feelings. Apologies hadn’t been given, secrets were still hidden, and answers withheld. Yet, at the same time, both of their hearts ached as they realized how distant they had grown. The hours of silence flying to Venus had been far from pleasant. They sorely missed the company of one another and their conversations full of laughter and joy. They both made silent vows to themselves to continue to repair their relationship with each other, even if that meant avoiding the secrets that hung between them.

  While this would prove effective for the short term, this plan was eventually going to blow up in their faces.

  ◆◆◆

  It was the sound of something sizzling in a hot pan that awoke Patrick the next morning. It was the smell that followed that got him on his feet. He stood up in the tall grass and spotted a small trail of grey smoke rising from the water’s edge. The rest of the fires had been extinguished with the light of a new day now upon them. Following his nose to a large fire, Patrick wasn’t surprised to find almost everyone else already there.

  The campfire was one of the biggest Patrick had ever seen. There was a large, flat stone resting precariously on top of three pillars of rocks. Two of the Martians were managing the cooking. Noca was pulling massive steaks from an ammunition box and tossing them onto the stone. They landed with a satisfying smack and instant sizzle. Next to her was Avido who was grabbing handfuls of spices from a nearby bag to heavily coat the meat. Over half the occupants near the fire were already digging in. Patrick’s mouth watered as he saw them tear into the meat with ease.

  The plates were an interesting rainbow of colors. The long strands of grass had been chopped into smaller pieces and mixed with large sparkling blue salt crystals. There were also dozens of small yellow and orange leaves along with purple colored powder. The result was a slab of meat that almost looked like a child’s art project. Despite all of that, the smell was irresistible.

  Noca noticed Patrick standing with his nose in the air and waved until she had his attention. Once their eyes were locked she gestured to an open seat next to her.

  “Next one is for you boss.” She pulled a small rock from a pile next to her and dropped a charred piece of meat on it.

  Patrick nodded his thanks and took the plate. He was surprised by the weight of it and almost dropped his meal to the ground. Recovering silently, he took his leave from the fireside and found a clear spot to sit. Cross-legged on the ground he balanced his plate on his knees and dug in. It was an explosion of flavor the likes of which he had never experienced before. There was a wave of savor that rushed through his mouth which quickly morphed into something sweet. Underneath that was a slow heat surrounded by a smoky oak flavor. All of this was further amplified by whatever salt they had used, literally out of this world, well my world. Patrick thought as he dug in for another bite. Before he even had time to really explore all the flavors in his mouth, the steak was gone. Patrick looked back over to the campfire and saw a large pile of uncooked steaks still waiting. He made his way back over to Noca, ready for seconds as it was clear they were not rationing the meat.

  “Noca.” Patrick bumped her shoulder lightly, “Avido,” he nodded to him, “nicely done. Had no idea you could both cook like this!” He handed his plate over for seconds, his stomach hardly satisfied.

  “Us either.” Noca laughed as she shrugged her shoulders. “All thanks go to the Petros really. They’re the ones who passed along the recipe.”

  “Wait,” Patrick was in slight disbelief, “you’re telling me with everything going on, they took the time to get us meat and pass along a good recipe? They aren’t even from Venus!”

  “They sure did! Guess they picked up a few things from the locals when they were stuck here. Crazy world we live in, isn’t it?” Noca smiled up at Patrick then turned to the flames to flip over a few more steaks.

  “But where did we actually get…” his voice trailed off as he spotted the dead brithog lying just a few hundred yards away “… the meat from.”

  “The brithog, of all things!” Avido shook his head as he laughed to himself and Patrick’s stomach did a flip. “Believe it or not, this great recipe mix also doubles as an antidote to the Pintlupus’ poison!”

  Noca was holding out Patrick’s plate with another piping hot steak sitting on it.

  “All the same,” Patrick pushed the plate back to her as he recoiled, “I think I’m done eating for now.”

  “Suit yourself,” Noca shrugged. “But I’d work on getting over your aversion to eating the thing. We’re going to take as much of the meat with us as we can. Be a waste to let it sit there and rot away.”

  “How about next time, you just don’t tell me where the meat came from?”

  Noca laughed again. “Sure thing boss.”

  It’s no different than a turkey on Thanksgiving, it’s no different than a turkey on Thanksgiving, it’s no different than a turkey on Thanksgiving… Over and over again in his head, Patrick tried to convince himself it was perfectly normal to be eating the brithog. But try as he might, he just couldn’t get over it. He kept his hand firmly planted over his stomach, sure he was going to be sick.

  “Patrick!” Flupotia waved him over and he was glad for the distraction. “Looks like I was right about the cycle around here. Don’t know if the sun is up or down, but we have daylight!”

  “Time to head into the jungles then?”

  Patrick peered off over her shoulder to the vast jungles that surrounded them. Until that moment, he hadn’t really taken in their magnitude.

  “I’d say it’s time for our first exploration. Obviously, you and I are going on this one,” she nodded her head back to the campfire, “Gin-us too. Want to make sure we have a well-balanced team going out. I’ve got my finest ready to go. I leave it up to you and Gin-us to decide who to bring. Good?” She gave him a sly smile and two thumbs up.

  “Sounds great.” Patrick laughed at her attempt to adopt human mannerisms. “I’ll bring along Roger and John. Jane is best suited to handle the ship repairs and keep this place running smoothly in our absence and I don’t think Oliver or Elise is ready for this. I re
ally want to test out John’s limits, see what he’s capable of. And I’ll bring Roger, want to keep an eye on him after that stunt he pulled with the orb.”

  Patrick regretted mentioning this the second it had left his mouth. Flupotia’s eyes narrowed and cut away from him. It was clear that this was a delicate territory. Flupotia bounced back quickly and kept the conversation flowing.

  “Perfect. Should check in with Gin-us, see how he wants to handle his people. We should talk to Frize too.” Flupotia felt small guilt having almost forgotten their fourth leader.

  “I can go check in with Frize, you want to follow up with Gin-us?”

  “No,” she said too quickly, “why don’t I talk to Frize and you go find Gin-us.”

  “I’m not avoiding him you know. We did talk the other night.”

  “I never said you were.” She saw a look of disappointment on his face. “Hey,” she lifted his chin up to meet her eyes, “I just want you to know I think you’re doing a great job. I know this isn’t an easy thing to have thrown at you. But I’m proud of who you’ve become as a leader.”

  He felt his face flush quickly and turned away as if looking for Gin-us. “I appreciate that, but some of the credit definitely falls to you and Gin-us. Which speaking of, did you see where he went?”

  “He was just over by the fire. Can’t have gone far.”

  “Right. Well, I think that’s enough chit chat. Gather back up around the brithog in twenty?”

  “I can make that work.” She nodded and smiled at him.

  While Patrick went to find Gin-us, Flupotia took off to find Frize. Patrick soon found Gin-us by the waterside where he decided to bring along Avido, Zolay, and Bruish. Flupotia had recruited Yuzar, Tect, and Zinta to travel with them. She then found Frize in the engine room of her ship looking over the mechanics of it all. He was overly excited when she told him she had thought to include him on their expedition. Frize also had the idea to include the Firemen and Petros.