Galileo (Battle of the Species) (21 page)

Sally broke into a fit of giggles and waved her hand. “Oh, I’m just teasing you!  Come on,” she said, motioning them to follow. “Meta said you two were coming.”

Renn and Dylan smiled and followed her as she waddled up the spiral staircase. Renn couldn’t help but look at her shoes, noticing that they were flat and made for comfort, like older humans on Earth seemed to always wear. The detail was impressive, he had to admit.

         When they had reached the top level, Sally opened the second door, and asked if the boys could enter. Carmen unfortunately roomed there too, and told her “No” and to tell them to “Get lost.” The boys heard Joss reply something to Carmen about who should get lost, and Sally motioned to the boys to enter.

Renn and Dylan walked in as Carmen stormed out of the room.

“Remember, boys,” Sally said, shaking her finger and continuing to smile, “door stays open. No hanky-panky,” she said.

“Yes, ma'am,” Renn said.

Renn stared at the open doorway after she left, then looked over at Dylan. “Seriously?” he asked a bit flabbergasted.

“Yup,” Dylan said. “Don’t mess with Sally and Ava. They’re determined to keep us sexually repressed throughout puberty, and you don’t want them zapping off your pecker while you sleep.”

Dylan walked around giving the girls kisses on the cheeks, but Renn just waved, a bit shaken up by the thought of Ava zapping off beloved body parts.

“Do you guys want to go ice skating in the simulation room?” Meta asked.

The others thought about it and looked at each other, able to be persuaded either way. “I’ve never been ice skating,” Renn said, then wasn’t sure if he wanted to see Meta on skates, seeing as how accident-prone she was.

“Great. Let’s go,” Meta said, jumping up.

The others hesitated, as if unsure of whether the invitation included them, until Meta waved for the girls to come.

When they got to the simulation room, they opened the door, looking out into space. Their hearts stopped and they froze in the doorway until Meta, who of course wasn’t watching where she was going, bumped into Renn and Dylan, causing them to fall forward into the room. They fell into space, floating in the direction Meta had pushed them, yelling that they couldn’t grab onto anything.

“Hey, I can breathe,” Renn said.

“Yeah and I can hear you,” Dylan replied laughing.

For a few moments, they were enjoying floating in space, until a fighter ship flew passed them, and they realized a couple Fourth Years were practicing dog fighting.

“Ava, turn the gravity back on for just me and Dylan,” Renn shouted.

“Gravity initiated,” Ava complied.

Renn and Dylan fell to the invisible floor and stood up in the middle of space, ready to eliminate pain if Ava had misunderstood the command and initiated gravity altogether, thereby crashing the ships into the floor. The ships, however, kept flying.

Renn and Dylan walked out of the room to find the girls in hysterical laughter, and then proceeded to drag them towards the mess hall, until they could walk for themselves. When they got there, the girls ran to one of the tables near the faux windows just as a couple of Third Years abandoned the coveted seating.

Desh watched them sit down from the other side of the mess hall, then turned his attention back to Etienne and Kia, who sat beside him, playing Battle of the Species - War Games. It was a mobile hologram game that simulated war, testing the players’ strategies. Etienne chose Mindeerians, Torans and humans, to go up against Kia’s Eminites and Aranea.

Etienne had uploaded new war robots that could outrun the Aranea and wanted to see them in action. They often changed their location, from their dorm room, to the mess hall, to the observation deck, but one would usually find them doing the same thing. Endlessly playing war games in hopes of one day figuring out the best strategy to beat the Eminites and anyone they forced to help them
.

Etienne’s new designs were surpassing their expectations, but Desh couldn’t take his eyes off Lux. He noticed she wasn’t wearing thought blockers, despite sitting with Renn. He fed her an image of Renn reaching over and pulling her hair. Lux looked around and saw Desh staring at her from across the room.

Knock it off, Desh,
Lux thought, staring him down.

Desh looked away in embarrassment as she dug into her pocket and pulled out her thought blockers, putting them on while she continued to glare.

Renn looked at her, not having noticed the exchange, and looked a little hurt.

“They’re not for you,” Lux said, motioning to Desh.

Desh suddenly heard,
Unbelievable
, projected into his head, and looked over to see Renn staring at him in disbelief
.
Desh returned the look with a scowl and then went back to the war game.

***

When the bell chimed, Professor Zaneer called Dylan to give his speech about the species of his choice. He jumped up in front of the class, initiating the projector with his tablet and illuminated a hairless alien with large black eyes, oval shaped head, and a short, skinny body.

“I did mine on Regnums,” Dylan began.

“Regnums got off on the wrong foot with humans long before the exodus, when all humans were still on Earth. They would abduct people at night and take them back to their ship to perform experiments, in hopes of learning more about our species.

“Regnums were so clever at hiding themselves and any evidence of their existence, that anyone who had been abducted was instantly considered crazy, because they couldn’t get any proof. So the Regnums continued poking and prodding until the day came when humans joined the Federation.

“When we met them, the human ambassador told them to knock it off, attempting to end their experimenting. But my grandpa says that not only are they still experimenting, but they experimented on him on Temin!” Dylan paused for a second, thinking about it. “Though just for the record, he really is crazy. Like he always gets the holidays wrong. For Christmas, he’ll hide Easter Eggs around the back yard and for Halloween he’ll yell, ‘Happy New Year!’ He’s really cool though…”

“Dylan?”  Professor Zaneer interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“Digression…”

“Oh! Sorry. Regnums are telepathic and unlike other telepathic species, they have no vocal cords, relying on telepathy alone. After the portals were opened, they were the lead species to study the anatomy of new species, cataloging their findings for Cybernex
.
This was the only way they could continue experimenting without breaking Federation law.”

When Dylan finished his speech, he was followed by a series of knocks on the desk for praise, and a “Who’s next?” from the professor.

At that moment, Kia got a shiver and ruffled his feathers, catching the professor’s eye. She called his name and Kia walked to the front of the class, initiating the projector.

“I did mine on humans because I was hoping to find out why they smell so funny, but I couldn't find anything,” he said with the utmost sincerity.

The class laughed, even the humans, but Kia looked up, missing the joke.

Etienne smelled himself out of paranoia. It wasn’t as if Kia hung out with a lot of humans.

“Humans originated on Earth as monkeys,” Kia continued, with the utmost of earnestness, “though many humans said they came from God. The species however, believed in different gods and killed each other for not believing in the same one.

“They have a reputation in the Federation as a species that devours the planets they inhabit. For centuries the Federation refused to invite their species into the Cybernex system, out of fear that they would take over and destroy other planets like they did their own. A couple thousand years ago, the Earthlings discovered a planet called Temin and all but a few relocated to that planet. They ravished the new land, again draining the planet’s resources, and required assistance while their civilization was once again on the verge of imploding. The Federation granted them admittance, and now both Temin and Earth provide the humans we know today.

“They do have is intelligence that exceeds many of the other species and are able to survive pretty well off their wits alone. Though many species exhibit the same behavior consistent with their race, humans’ behavior and character are all across the board, depending on the human you come into contact with. It makes them risky crewmembers to have until you get to know them and decide whether to put your faith in them or not.”

***

Later that day, Renn walked through the sliding door into his dorm room, finding the room empty, except for Rudy and Ivan. Rudy sat in the middle of the floor with enough wires, fuses, and hubs spread about to make it look like a robot had just thrown up in front of his bed. Ivan sat on his bed, watching Rudy mount a shaft to a metal plate.

“How's your robot coming along?” Renn asked.

“Horribly!” Rudy replied, throwing down the shaft and grabbing another size. “Why do I even have to learn this stuff? I'm not going into engineering. I want to be an explorer. Explorers don't have to build robots!”

“You'll have to take robots with you on expeditions though and what if one breaks? It might be good to know how they work so you can fix them,” Ivan said.

“Whatever, professor,” Rudy grumbled.

“If you’re going to mount the shaft to a flat surface, use the two-bolt flange,” Ivan said, as if he were an expert.

Rudy looked around at the parts scattered across the floor. “A two-bolt what?”

“Have either of you seen Leo or Dylan?” Renn asked, throwing his school tablet on his bed.

“I think they’re still in the medical bay,” Rudy replied, not taking his eyes off his robot parts.

“What? As in, they went to get something, or someone's hurt?” Renn asked, annoyed that neither of them had said anything since he got there.

“I don't know…” Rudy said, concentrating on his project.

Renn looked over at Ivan.

“He just fainted. He’s fine,” Ivan said, waiting for the next moment when he could impart his robotic wisdom.

Renn bolted through the corridors and into the medical bay until he finally got a whiff of that hospital smell that all medical bays seemed to have. He looked around, but only found a Second Year female Zeanup on one of the beds, while Ava scanned her body. A ship-bot walked up to Renn so quietly, Renn gave a start at the sound of its voice, causing his hands to spark and give himself a light shock.

“Can I help you, sir?  Are you feeling ill?” the robot asked.

“No, I'm fine. Have Leothin Antalia Epsin or Dylan Heisner been admitted?” Renn asked, still scanning the room, but not seeing either.

“Yes, Mr. Epsin was admitted just an hour ago. Right this way, sir,” the robot said, shuffling towards a hallway. Renn followed the automaton down a corridor into a large room full of aquariums and saw Dylan standing next to a large tank, filled with a light pink liquid, in the far corner for the room.

Dylan wrote something on his tablet and held it up to the tank, where Leo floated, nodding weakly at the tablet.

“Thanks,” Renn said to the bot, prompting the automaton to go back to its routine.

“What the heck happened?” Renn asked, walking up to Dylan.

Leo peered back sullenly at Renn, and waved through the thick liquid, as the tubes connected to his arm followed obediently.

Renn frowned and waved back.
Hey, Buddy,
he projected.

“He got stuck sitting between a Zorgre and a Zeanup during language class,” Dylan explained. “He passed out from the heat before the class was over.”

“Just from sitting between them?” Renn asked.

“Man, his body's not made for this place,” Dylan said. “The professor put cold packs all over his body, but he was still unconscious by the time they got him to the medical bay. It doesn't matter how much he wants to be here. It's like a fish wanting to fly or a bird wanting to swim,” Dylan said, staring at Leo. “I hate to say it, but maybe his father was right. It's just a matter of time before he dies here.”

Renn watched Leo floating in the tank of pink liquid and looking as miserable as a Crystallian could. They stayed with him the rest of the day, while Renn projected Dylan’s jokes into Leo’s head. After a while, Leo felt a little better and laughed, shaking the tubes running down his body when he couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer.

Dylan and Leo nodded off, trying to make themselves as comfortable as they could outside the warmth (and coolness) of their beds. Renn saw Leo’s face contort and looked into Leo’s head to see what he was dreaming about when he began twitching and wincing in the water.

In Leo’s mind, he was back on Crystalline, in an ice hut with an older Crystallian; Renn could only assume it was his father. Leo was on the ground crying as the man stood above him yelling, “You’re so stupid! You’re not going to make anything out of your life. You’re worthless!”

“I am not!” Leo cried.

The father continued yelling, until Renn took over the dream. The old Crystallian was suddenly unable to speak, and Renn guided Leo outside.

Leo looked around and saw that the ice hut was gone, along with his caustic father. A warm breeze hit his face and for the first time, the warmth was comforting. There was a bright sun that didn’t hurt his eyes, and an unbroken blue sky that seemed to stretch on forever. It was a peaceful scene he had only seen in books.

He heard a grunt behind him and the unfamiliar sound of hooves thrashing through dry brush. He whirled around and saw a boar charging him. Leo jerked back, starting to reject the dream.

Renn handed Leo a large silver sword, fit for a warrior, and a big dose of courage, causing Leo to smile when he realized what he was about to do. He impaled the boar with his sword, easily overpowering the beast. He heard more grunts, and turned again to see a pack of four, running towards him. He overtook the boars one by one, as a village of helpless Crystallians stood behind him, cheering for their savior.

He turned around, wearing a tux, and found himself standing on the edge of a red carpet. Two beautiful Crystallian vixens wrapped their arms around his and escorted him to throngs of people who oohed and awed at the sight of him. Paparazzi from every intergalactic network in the Federation ran up to snap his picture, while hovering mics flew under his chin.