Kaianan

  “Welcome to ‘A Day in Pompeii,’” he said happily, adjusting the spectacles sliding down his crooked nose. “We will go on an adventure through the origins of this ancient civilisation, and view artefacts and images that have been brought in from the city of Pompeii.” He rubbed his hand together in glee. “My name is Professor Jenkins. Any questions during, just raise your hand.”

  Professor Jenkins began motioning the students around—past preform humans dressed as white-robed Greek gods and goddesses and armoured Greek soldiers, he advised as they passed—until they reached the first artefact: a round decorated shield of bronze and silver. Kaianan let out a noise of bother watching Reddy in the distance lift up an actor’s robe and parade around underneath it.

  “Get out of it, kid!” The man cursed. He lifted his legs up and around like a court jester.

  Kaianan could not help but chuckle loudly. She looked back to the group and the Professor, who were now staring at her. “Oh, sorry … he just …” she fumbled, pointing toward Reddy. “Never mind.”

  The Professor gave her a stern look and continued. “A hoplomachus, hoplon meaning ‘shield’ in Greek, was a category of gladiatorial weaponry in ancient Rome, armed to bear a resemblance to a Greek hoplite, fought with a lance and a small shield just like this one.” He pointed to the object in front of him. “Encircled by laurel garlands for triumph, the ornament right in the centre there bears the head of the legendary Gorgon, Medusa, whose look is said to have turned men into stone.”

  Kaianan froze at the words, going back to her first night on Earth.

  “Greek mythology …” The Professor went on but Kaianan zoned out, considering the preform assumptions about her race. She stared at the shield, with its nostalgic feeling of home and her smile increased at the shine of the medallion. It seemed strange. Why was the Euclidean Vector closed to others on Earth? Her people had come here, why would they have shut off the Siliou-built travel?

  Her concentration was broken when a streaming bright light prickled against her eyes. Through the museum entrance on the right she watched the light joining the group. She peered past the humans looking for it. She noticed the illumination was surrounding a person, a young man. He was mesmerising with his curly, ash blonde hair falling like a round scoop down his forehead. When he met her stare with his light blue eyes, she looked away almost immediately. No-one else turned their heads toward him and Kaianan tried, with difficulty, to set her concentration back on the Professor. Who or what was he?

  “… the story of Medusa is intriguing to say the least; she was loved by her people, beheaded by Perseus. An iconic legend to many.”

  “Legend? She was a crazy monster.” The boy of light chuckled, twirling a finger around his ear and gawking directly at Kaianan.

  “The Gorgons are a primitive race, and Medusa was a clear representation of the capacity of such a race.” Kaianan interjected. “She was sanctified with exceptional qualities and for her life to come to an end so abruptly was mythology in itself. Gorgons are blessed to have her as such a legendary icon in their history.”

  “Did you say Gorgons are? Don’t you mean to say were?” He glared at her, “Because I’m pretty sure this story is past tense.”

  “I said what I meant. Speaking from a historian’s point of view, aren’t all mythologies someone’s real beliefs? It is written, who is to say it didn’t actually happen?” She was stretching and she realised she should not be so outspoken—Euclidean Vectors were outlawed here for a reason.

  “I don’t know what world you’re living on, but a myth is a myth.”

  “Clearly we have two students very passionate about Gorgon mythology,” the Professor said excitedly, “… and it’s interesting to note both your opinions on the story,” he waved his hand, “moving along to the next piece …”

  The rest of the group walked on. Kaianan was angry that boy had spoken to her like that, who was he—a sudden jostle knocked her against a wall and she fell to the floor. “I wonder if your vision deceived you to my presence!” She spat, wiping the side of her cheek.

  “Apologies.” Without her permission, the boy of light seized her hand tight and yanked her up on her feet. “I’m Chase,” he said with a grin—as if this would confound her to the fact, he had knocked her. She wasn’t stupid. Kaianan’s lack of expression showed him she didn’t buy his apology.

  When she had her balance, she wrenched her hand from his, aware the group was moving through the corridor into the next room and she needed to keep up.

  “Nice necklace,” he said. Kaianan looked to him. He was staring at her Serpent locket. She shielded it and turned away. “I’ll see you soon?”

  She said nothing and hurried after the group, realising in her fingers, she was clenching on a piece of material that he had left in her hand after he’d helped her up. She stood at the back of the crowd and opened the crumpled piece of paper:

  Meet me at Illusions bar at 11pm tonight.

  Kaianan frowned. Illusions bar? 11pm? Tonight? What was he thinking? Who in Giliou’s name was he? She didn’t understand. She tried to look for him in the rows of people, painstakingly searching the room but all she could see were vacant faces—he was gone.

  Chapter Seventeen: Against Better Judgement

  “Reddy, Reddy.” Kaianan whispered in the lamp-lit darkness.

  “Zac …” he muttered groggily.

  Kaianan screwed up her face. He made a funny sound and then turned under his bedsheets. “Reign, then?” She uttered at his half-asleep expression.

  “Huh? Kate? Is that you?”

  “Yes, it is, Reddy. Who is Zac?”

  Reddy rubbed his eyeballs and yawned. “Oh, Zac Efron. Look.” Reddy said, pulling out the device every preform seemed to have, and started showing her pictures of him.

  “Is he a friend of yours?”

  “No, I don’t know him.”

  “Oh,” she replied. “But you like him?”

  “Oh, yes.” Reddy’s face lit up in glee. “I know everything about him.”

  “Fair enough,” Kaianan commented. She could not understand why in holom’s name he would like someone he doesn’t even know. “Well, anyway, it’s my turn to disrupt you. I need your help. I need to get to a certain place and don’t know how to get there—well, without the transport operating this late.” She shrugged, looking around at his room, which was just as painstakingly sterile as hers.

  “I can give you my iTouch this time. It has Maps on it? Will that do?”

  Kaianan furrowed her eyebrows and he smirked.

  Escaping out her window, Kaianan felt a sense of nervousness wash through her as her feet landed on the gravel. Why was she doing this? A part of her couldn’t believe it. She had thrown away Julius’ offer of help to chase someone who seemed more an enemy than anyone else. But she was intrigued. She’d watched him glowing. What was that about? She wanted to find out. On top of that, she was bored and was trying to do everything she could to take her mind off of Julius.

  “Can’t I at least come with you?” she heard from behind and froze on the gravel.

  She spun round and muttered under her breath: “he’s going to be the death of me this redheaded boy …” Then lifted her head up in a fake smile and said, “Reddy, please go back to sleep. You can come visit me tomorrow, okay?”

  Half of his body was still hanging out of her bedroom window, he called out to her again, “you promise?”

  “Yes, Reddy. Now go inside,” she ordered. He nodded and disappeared back into the building. She groaned at her own stupidity and pulled out the rectangular iTouch, clicking to the icon Reddy had pointed out earlier and punched in the name written on the piece of paper Chase had given her. It was a timely trip on foot. With a few looks left and right, and cautious to use as little Siliou as possible, she sped her way into the heart of the city in minutes, knowing if Xandou ever found out, he would kill her.

  The city streets were filled with lively, youthful humans. They wandered around happ
ily, women in dresses and heels, men in suits and slacks, others in more casual wear. In search of Kings Street, she tightened her black overcoat, took her eyes from gawking at the humans and pressed on, down a Latrobe Street. Finally, she found her destination. The black building, with a flashing pink sign of illusions was occupied by two male humans at the door. She made her way for them, scanning the line next to her, full of well-groomed, attentive humans, talking loudly in their glittery dresses and colourful fabrics, trying not to give away their sly narrow glances in her direction.

  They should be curious; she was a foreigner, an outerworlder, but that didn’t make her feel any more relaxed, the sooner she was inside, the better. The black suited security guards, oddly, didn’t greet her. They simply looked to each other and then back at her as she came to a stop in front of them.

  “The line is behind them,” the bulkier one of the two said, pointing to the fifty-metre line of human bodies.

  She smiled. “Oh no, I don’t wait.”

  The guards looked at each other and couldn’t supress their own laughter.

  “You don’t wait?” One guard chortled to the other.

  “She doesn’t wait.” They continued to shriek with ridiculously loud amusement.

  “What’s so funny?” She said, “I demand to know—”

  “Leave her. She’s with me.” A voice emerged from behind them. The mysterious Chase had appeared and as soon as they saw him, the guards stopped laughing. The intimidating grey-suited figure gripped Kaianan by the hand.

  “Ha.” She poked her tongue out at them and followed Chase through the roped-off entry. Well, from two clowns to a complete stranger, things were looking up, right? She silenced the judgemental voice in her head and walked quietly behind Chase, down stairs, through a blackened entrance hall and into a high-ceilinged room with thumping noise. Humans were everywhere; standing against the wooden bar that ran right along the west wall of the place, leaning against high tables and on stools, and more prominently, on a ballroom-sized space of dancefloor, moving about to the beat heavy music.

  “Let me take your coat.” Chase said.

  “SORRY, WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

  “LET ME TAKE YOUR COAT!”

  Kaianan nodded. He stood behind her and lifted the garment from her. The inquisitive eyes that had left her outside seemed to return to her inside, much to her dismay, she was receiving attention every which way she turned. Great, was something on her face? Did they not like her preform clothes of a low-cut black top and jeans?

  “You seem to fit in well,” Chase smirked, breaking her from her worry.

  “Hmmm,” Kaianan deliberated. Maybe she could get used to playing preform. Then she thought of Reddy and the crazy couple, Eleni and George … Perhaps not.

  “Come, this way.” He steered her out of the room, through a small purple-draped foyer and into a smaller club room labelled VIP. He gestured her into a side booth, then left her on the black-padded couch seat and walked to the small bar on the left, far less crammed than the main room. This gave her the opportunity to assess her new environment. Training 101. The room was filled with purple-curtained booths, each boasting a candle-lit chandelier that hung low from the booth ceiling and a metre up from a black table, not only giving the room a dimming and tranquil feel but fogging it with burning intoxicating aromas too.

  Kaianan could feel the muggy air against her skin and watched the lighting flicker against the tense faces peering at her from each booth. There was only two ways out and she was positive half of the people in here were wise enough to know which the better option was. Her guard was up and her intuition told her this could be a possible trap.

  “Trust you to cause trouble.” Chase said, breaking her thoughts. He sat down at the table and handed her a drink with a sly grin.

  “I haven’t done anything. What’s this?” she said, looking at the green liquid.

  “Drink it. You’ll like it.”

  She took a sip out of it and tasted a mix of bitterness and tang. “Err, what is that?”

  “The humans mix drinks to feel …” Chase started, smug at his knowledge, but then looked to her perplexed face and smirked. “It’s just alcohol.”

  “Tastes like poison.”

  “It is.”

  Kaianan glowered and she put the glass down and slid it away from her. Damn humans, she thought, they purposefully poison themselves. Geez … Maybe just one more sip.

  “So you made it. Entertaining so far?” Chase raised his eyebrows, watching her take another mouthful.

  She wiped her face. “Yes, it has been.”

  “You clearly like it here.”

  She smiled sheepishly. “Perhaps. I want to explore more.”

  “Explore what?”

  “Everything.”

  “You may need to be a bit more specific.”

  “Well for starters, who are you, Chase? And why do you glow?”

  “Glow?” he sniggered.

  “I saw you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She studied his face. Was he telling the truth? Who knows …. The alcohol wasn’t so bad after all.

  “Demanding times for the Ministry of Earth. It seems they have much bidding to do to sway opinion. The Minister should not be here,” Chase stated, casually changing the subject.

  Kaianan skimmed over the overwrought faces of the preforms around her. “Where is he?”

  “She’s right behind you.” He motioned to a big woman in black with long, braided hair standing at the bar.

  Kaianan turned to get a detailed look. “What’s her role?”

  “She keeps the Underworld from gaining access to illegal transportation, which means she protects Rashid.” Chase said, not taking his eyes off Kaianan’s chest, to where her swinging silver necklace sat.

  Kaianan pondered. Underworld. Illegal transportation. Euclidean Vectors. “Who is Rashid?”

  “I’m surprised you don’t know all about it …”

  Kaianan frowned. “Why would I?”

  “You know about the Underworld—about Julius?”

  “Yeah, so what? They’re after me.”

  “Yes, and the Ministry and Underworld don’t get along you see.”

  “Why not?”

  “Not everyone wants to stay on the same planet forever.”

  She glowered. The Underworld were after her, and there was a Ministry trying to stop people, the Underworld specifically, from accessing Euclidean Vectors on Earth. Maybe if she sided with the Ministry, maybe she could speak to the Minister, and get the Minister to ask the Underworld for clemency—or better yet, protect her from the Underworld. Maybe the Ministry of Earth could prevent her prosecution?

  She felt something touch her fingers. Chase was holding her hand, and glaring at her. “… now Kate, was it? Why are you on Earth?”

  She released his hold in surprise. “How odd a question, Chase.”

  He slid closer to her in the booth seat. His bright blue eyes held her strangely, like beams of sunlight. Then, suddenly and without warning, he seized the snake necklace right off her chest. She gasped and tried to stop him but he had clicked open the lock before she could get a grip on it. Squeezing her evading hand tightly in his, Chase stared at the small picture in the locket. Chituma’s smiling face looked up at him. “Who is that?”

  “No-one,” she brushed off, now furious.

  “Nonsense, Kate. This girl looks similar to you. She’s a relative; a sister perhaps?”

  “No-one you need to concern yourself with, Chase.”

  He did not want to let go of the locket. Kaianan placed her fingers on it, covering Chituma’s face. “Where is she? With you?”

  “No,” Kaianan said, half-quietly, half-aggressively.

  “Then where?”

  “Why the interest, Chase?”

  “No interest, the more ties you have, the more leverage you have, that’s all.”

  “You have no family then?”

  �
�No, not a soul,” he breathed out.

  “Your situation breaks my heart.”

  “No, Princess Kaianan, yours breaks mine,” he said coldly.

  Holy Seevaar! He knows who she is too?! “Maybe it’s best I go,” she said as she rose.

  “I don’t think so.” He grabbed onto her arm, yanking her back down and on descent, she stuck her elbow out, somehow connecting it with his jaw. Perfect. He fell back, looking slightly stunned, and as quick as blinking, unsheathed a blade from somewhere Kaianan couldn’t see. He grabbed her wrist and squeezed, and Kaianan squirmed under him. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

  Hurt her? As if she would permit that. She was the most dangerous person in this room and possibly, at this stage, she considered herself also the most gullible. She rolled her eyes at that thought, got her strength back and twisted his arm against him not allowing his blade to come near her. His eyes shot with pain and he let go at the worst possible moment; her instability from tugging backward with force and then losing the weight she had been pulling on, had her tripping over across the table and into the chandelier like a court jester.

  The burning candles flew through the air and directly at her, shooting past her ducking head and landing against the surrounding purple curtains of the booth.

  Within a few seconds, the curtains had ignited in flames, the ropes across the surrounding booths were burning and people were screaming.

  What the holom had she just done? A riot had broken out in the small room with shouts and swings of fists.

  The only good thing was, Chase was caught up in it, giving her ample time for escape. When Kaianan noticed two pairs of eyes directed at her from the bar—someone with a sling around a broken arm who she knew almost immediately as Jax—she ran. Headed for the door, she suddenly heard growling, from where? Somewhere behind her. Rotating, she was shocked to witness the Minister of Earth being savagely bitten by a hairy four-legged animal.

  “What the holom?” Instinctively, she whipped out her hand and a violet beam shot from it right into the animal gnawing at the woman’s neck, scaring it off. “I wasn’t expecting that… Minister?” She knelt down next to the woman who was bleeding profusely and held her hand.