Phoenix

by S. F. Said

  She shook her head. ‘Look at the way he’s dressed. He’s not in their army. He’s a civilian. A peaceful refugee.’

  ‘The only peaceful Alien’s a dead Alien,’ growled the man.

  ‘For your information,’ she said, very softly, ‘his people have a name. They call themselves the Axxa—’

  ‘His people eat eyeballs! They worship the stars! They’re not even people!’

  Lucky’s mother shook her head again. ‘Sometimes,’ she said, ‘I’m ashamed to be Human. Now leave him alone!’

  There was silence for a moment. Then the man stood up, fist clenched, face red. ‘You’re a devil-lover, are you?’ he spat. ‘Then you’ll get the same as they do!’

  He drew his fist back to hit Lucky’s mother – but she moved first. She moved faster. A blur of motion, she arced aside at exactly the right moment, and the man’s fist smashed into the electrified fence behind her. He collapsed in a shower of sparks.

  The second man swung at her. But already she was rolling away and coming up again, her long red hair flowing behind her in the night. Moving with astonishing speed, she flicked her feet out, like a scorpion flicking its tail, and unleashed a devastating kick that hit her attacker squarely in the solar plexus. He dropped to the dirt and lay there, pole-axed.

  Lucky could barely believe his eyes. His mother was fighting! He had no idea why she was doing it, but she was so good! So fast and skilful. And the way she moved – it was like nothing he’d ever seen.

  Another man rose to face her. In that moment, the Alien seized his chance. There were only two men left on top of him now, and they were distracted by Lucky’s mother. With a mighty roar, he lifted them off his limbs and hurled them into the crowd. Then he grabbed the gun she’d thrown away, and held it up in the air.

  The crowd broke up as people fled, screaming, from the huge horned beast with the cannon in his hands.

  The Alien fired a shot into the air above his head. In the chaos and confusion, Lucky rushed to his mother’s side as the last of the crowd escaped, shrieking. And now, for the first time, he could clearly see where they were.

  It couldn’t have been more different to the clean white spaceport terminal. Behind the electrified fence, the only buildings were some filthy-looking shacks and warehouses. There was a big red warning sign on the fence – DANGER: ALIEN REFUGEE CAMP! It looked like the poorest part of town.

  Lucky’s heart thudded in his throat. Every instinct told him to follow the crowd away to safety, but his mother held him there as the Alien advanced on them. His massive hooves thumped on the ground as he came. His horns glinted in the floodlights; blue fire burned in his eyes.

  ‘It’s OK,’ Lucky’s mother said calmly. ‘You’re going to put that gun down now, aren’t you? Because from the stars we all came . . .’

  ‘. . . and to the stars we return!’ said the Alien. He stared at her, the fire in his eyes flashing. ‘How do you know that? Who are you?’

  ‘Let’s just say I’m a friend,’ she replied.

  Lucky gaped at them both, speechless. He’d never heard an Alien voice before; you never heard them on the news. He’d always imagined they just roared and snarled like animals. Yet this one sounded very Human. And for her part, his mother was acting so strangely, he barely recognized her.

  ‘Where’s your ship?’ she asked the Alien as he put the gun down. ‘You still have a ship, don’t you?’

  ‘Best ship in the galaxy . . . except she’s stuck in Aries, like we are.’ The Alien wiped his bloody nose, and retrieved his mirrorshades. ‘We can’t leave this poxy system without our navigation! They took it away from us!’

  Lucky’s mother nodded. She peered thoughtfully at the refugee camp behind the fence, in the floodlights’ glare. ‘If someone could help you with that problem,’ she said, ‘if someone could give you what you need, would you leave Phoenix?’

  ‘Course! Like a shot!’

  ‘Even though the government just suspended space travel? You’d take off without clearance? You’d risk Shadow Guards coming after you?’

  ‘Hell yeah!’ roared the Alien, stamping the ground with a hoof. ‘Anything to get out of this hole! After what just happened – I wouldn’t care who came after me – I’d be gone!’

  ‘Very good,’ she said, with quiet satisfaction. ‘So here’s the deal. We’ve got what you need. We’ll let you use it if, in return, you give us a ride off Phoenix.’

  All this time, Lucky had been struggling to understand. How did his mother think they could help an Alien? But this last part was all too clear, and he couldn’t believe his ears. ‘Whaaaat?’ he cried. ‘Is that your plan? You’re saying we should go with him?!’

  ‘Lucky,’ she said sharply. ‘Enough.’

  ‘But we’re at war with them!’ he protested. ‘They’re the enemy! My father’s—’

  ‘Lucky! I said, that’s enough.’ She turned to the Alien. ‘I’m sorry.’

  The Alien shrugged. ‘Kid’s right,’ he said. ‘What you asking me for, when there’s all these Human ships in port?’

  She glanced up at the night sky. ‘This place will be crawling with Shadow Guards in a minute,’ she said. ‘We need to get out of here, and so do you. I swear, we’ll help you get your ship off the ground, but by all the stars, we need your help.’ And then she looked the Alien straight in the eye and asked the question: ‘Well? Have you got room for a couple of passengers?’

  ‘Aaaah,’ groaned the Alien, wiping blood off his face with the back of his hand. ‘Look, if it was up to me . . .’ His words tailed off. ‘But I’ve got a captain, see, and my captain . . . he won’t like this. He won’t like it one bit. But seeing as you helped me out – seeing as you just saved my skin – well, I guess you better come with me.’

  Chapter Five

  The Alien led them to a grim-looking bar on the perimeter between the refugee camp and the rest of the spaceport. Through the door, Lucky could hear people shouting, and the sound of breaking glass.

  ‘I don’t think we should go in there,’ said his mother, but the Alien had already pushed open the door.

  ‘It’s one of the friendlier places in town for people like me,’ he said. ‘Plus, it’s where I’m meeting the Captain. You want a ride, or not?’

  They walked into a thick fug of smoke. The bar was full of rowdy drunken Humans. There was a fistfight going on in one corner; an arm-wrestle in another. A wall-sized vidscreen was showing more images of the bombing on Aries One. Great clouds of smoke hanging above a city. Crying children. Firefighters struggling to extinguish the blazes.

  ‘Casualties now number in the thousands, and still the fires burn on,’ said a voice from the screen. ‘Theobroma’s army has claimed responsibility, and vows to continue the War indefinitely.’

  The image changed to show the Alien King. With his horns and hooves and flaming red eyes, he looked utterly terrifying.

  Everyone in the bar turned to stare at the Alien in the doorway, and Lucky and his mother behind him. In the sudden silence, dozens of hostile eyes were upon them.

  Lucky looked down, heart in his mouth. He was ready to turn and flee, but the Alien walked right in, and Lucky’s mother followed without hesitation.

  There was a wave of anger around the bar. Some foul curses for the Alien. The Alien didn’t respond, or meet any of their gazes. He just kept walking. So did Lucky’s mother, dragging Lucky along behind her.

  Lucky held his breath as one of the Humans stood up –

  – but the man just changed the channel on the vidscreen. Loud thumping music came on. One by one, the others returned to drinking and fighting each other.

  ‘I thought you said this was one of the friendlier places?’ muttered Lucky’s mother.

  ‘It is,’ shrugged the Alien. They made their way to the counter, where the barman eyed him with obvious disgust.

  ‘Is this space devil bothering you?’ the barman asked Lucky’s mother.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘And please. They’re not devi
ls. They’re people, just like you and me.’

  ‘People?’ spat the barman. ‘Look at him! We don’t serve their kind of food. No eyeballs here.’

  ‘I don’t want eyeballs!’ said the Alien. ‘But I’d sure like to sample your finest brew – OK, chief?’ He slapped some credits down on the counter.

  The barman bit his tongue, pocketed the money, and started pouring some rusty-coloured liquid into a glass.

  ‘I’ll have the same,’ said Lucky’s mother. ‘And a glass of milk for the boy.’ Lucky cringed with embarrassment, which only got worse when he saw the Alien grinning.

  Once the drinks were poured, the Alien led them to a table in the corner, by the curtained back wall of the bar. They sat down, and he raised his glass in a huge hand.

  ‘Cheers!’ he said, over the pounding music. ‘My name’s Frollix.’

  ‘Ashbourne,’ said Lucky’s mother. ‘Diana Ashbourne. And this is my son, Lucky.’

  Frollix laughed. ‘What kinda name is that?’

  Lucky wanted to ask what kind of name the Alien thought ‘Frollix’ was, but he didn’t dare. He felt completely out of his depth here. He couldn’t even look up for fear of seeing those burning eyes, those glinting horns, those hooves that could smash his skull with a single kick. He wished they could just go home.

  But his mother smiled. ‘It’s what I wanted him to be,’ she said softly. She reached into her bag, and pulled out a package. ‘Here,’ she said, passing it to Lucky. ‘I thought you might want something to eat.’

  He unwrapped the package. Inside was a stack of brownies. Chocolate fudge brownies, homemade. The ones she’d been baking. She’d brought them with her.

  ‘I’m not hungry,’ he made himself say as he pushed them away. He couldn’t let the Alien see him eat something so childish. It was too humiliating – no matter how much he loved their smell, their sweetness, their freshly baked sticky softness—

  ‘Well I sure am!’ said Frollix, helping himself to a brownie, and taking a big bite.

  Lucky’s mother looked a little hurt, but she fixed her attention on the Alien. ‘So what’s your position on this ship of yours?’ she asked. ‘Are you a fighter?’

  ‘Nah! I’m ship’s engineer. I mean, I can handle myself. But if there’s serious combat, the person to do it ain’t me.’

  He leaned back, and scratched the base of his horns. Lucky felt disgusted, but couldn’t help looking, despite himself. Up close, he realized he couldn’t see the actual surface of the horns. They were wrapped in black velvet cloth, bound with silver thread, twining around in a crisscrossing pattern.

  The Alien saw him looking, and his eyes glinted behind his shades. ‘You ever flown in a starship, kid?’ he said.

  ‘No, but I want to, more than anything!’ The words came out before he could stop them.

  ‘Oh yeah?’ Frollix drained most of his drink in one great glug. ‘Well, there’s nothing finer. Not even another round of this fine brew, though I wouldn’t say no to that. Your round, right?’

  ‘I’ll get it,’ said Lucky’s mother. ‘Wait here. Don’t go anywhere without me.’ She went over to the counter, leaving Lucky alone with Frollix. His stomach lurched. He clutched his kitbag close, with the astrolabe inside it, protecting it from danger.

  ‘So . . . you wanna try the brew?’ Frollix asked him. ‘It’s not much, but it’s better than milk and cookies.’

  Lucky’s face flushed. ‘No.’ He didn’t want a space devil to look at him like that, like they knew each other or something. He didn’t want Frollix to look at him at all.

  Raucous cheers exploded across the bar. One of the men had arm-wrestled another into submission. The Alien eyed them from behind his shades, flexing his massive fists as if preparing for a challenge.

  ‘You Groundlings . . .’ he muttered. He cracked his knuckles.

  ‘Groundlings?’ said Lucky, flinching at the awful sound. ‘What’s a Groundling?’

  ‘You are,’ said Frollix. ‘You Humans, you call us weird names, like Aliens and Devils and Scum.’ He shrugged. ‘That’s ’cos you’re ignorant. Still living on the ground. You don’t know nothing about the stars. So we call you Groundlings, ’cos we’re the People of the Stars, and you’re the People of the Ground.’

  Lucky stared at the Alien, outraged by these words, but before he could say a thing, there was a commotion at the door. Another pair of Aliens stormed into the smoky bar. They were wearing the same mirrorshades and liquid metal coats as Frollix, but they looked even fiercer and wilder.

  One of them was an older male. He was very tall – even taller than Frollix – and he had great grey horns and a braided beard.

  The other was a female, about Lucky’s age and size. She had long black hair, tied up above her head in a nest. There was something moving in this nest of hair. Several things. Sharp pointy things. Needles, it looked like, sticking out of her head at odd angles, bristling like quills. Electric neon needles, flashing every colour from ultra-violet to infra-red.

  She saw him staring at her, and stared right back, fearless and self-assured.

  ‘Captain! Bixa!’ called Frollix. ‘Over here!’

  The two new Aliens approached the table. Some Humans swore at them as they came, but the tall one lowered his mirrorshades, stared down at them with eyes the colour of volcanic lava, and the jeering died away. This crowd seemed tough, but he seemed tougher. Not one of them could hold his fiery gaze.

  ‘Lucky,’ said Frollix, as the Aliens pulled up seats at the table, ‘meet Captain Ozymandias Nox. He’s captain of my ship: best ship in the galaxy. And this’ – he gestured to the girl – ‘is Bixa Quicksilver, who shoulda been there to help me earlier, but obviously had more important things to do—’

  ‘And who is this, Frollix?’ she demanded, her voice cutting sharply through the music.

  ‘The kid’s OK,’ said Frollix. ‘Him and his mom, they saved my skin when some Groundlings were about to kill me.’

  ‘Is that right?’ Bixa peered at Lucky over the rims of her shades. Her eyes were pure silver fire, like the stars themselves. ‘Why would a Groundling do a thing like that?’

  ‘I – well – uh . . .’ Lucky didn’t know what to say. The needles in Bixa’s hair seemed to change colour, shifting from blue to purple to danger-signal red. The Captain was even worse: he just sat there in smouldering silence, glowering at Lucky. His horns were immense, though now he was up close, Lucky realized again that he couldn’t see their surface. Like Frollix’s, they were wrapped in velvet, bound with silver thread.

  ‘So here’s a coincidence,’ said Bixa. ‘We just saw a lynch mob, looking for an Axxa who they say attacked them. That wouldn’t be you, would it?’

  Frollix coughed. ‘The point is, the kid and his mom need a ride, and I said maybe we could help ’em.’

  ‘You did what?’ said Bixa. ‘What kind of moonbrain are you?’

  ‘Moonbrain?’ spluttered Frollix. ‘Why, I oughtta throw you into the nearest black hole!’

  ‘That just proves you’re a moonbrain. If we were anywhere near a black hole, we’d all be sucked in and destroyed, wouldn’t we?’

  ‘Both of you – enough!’ commanded the Captain. Frollix and Bixa fell silent at once. The Captain turned to Lucky, horns glinting. ‘Whatever Frollix told you – forget it. We can’t give you a ride. We can’t even get out of this system ourselves.’

  ‘But that’s the thing, Captain,’ said Frollix. ‘They’ve got what we need. That’s why I brought them to meet you – because they’ve got one!’

  ‘You do?’ said the Captain, staring at Lucky with new intensity. ‘Show me.’

  ‘Uh – show you – what?’ he stammered, sweating under the Captain’s gaze.

  At that moment, his mother returned to the table. ‘From the stars we all came . . .’ she said to the Captain.

  ‘. . . and to the stars we return,’ he replied. ‘And who might you be?’

  She leaned in close, and said something in his ear. To L
ucky’s surprise, the Captain didn’t just dismiss her. The two of them turned away from the table, and talked quietly between themselves. Lucky caught only the occasional word: names of people he’d never heard of, places he’d never been.

  ‘It’s looking good!’ whispered Frollix. ‘I think she might do it!’

  ‘They’d better hurry up,’ said Bixa. ‘There’s trouble coming. I can feel it.’ She unbuttoned her coat. Underneath was a suit of body armour. It looked seriously professional – except where it was sprinkled with glitter and fur. A small hand cannon was slung on her hips; it too glittered brightly.

  As her hand curled around its barrel, Lucky couldn’t help noticing her fingers. They were long and slim and beautiful. He glanced down at her feet, and immediately wished he hadn’t, because instead of feet, there again were those huge black cloven hooves. Just like those of the Captain and Frollix.

  He turned away, and stared at the wall of the bar. But there was a shadow on the wall that gave him the strangest feeling. As if it was looking back at him. As if it was watching him, somehow. Hair prickling, he leaned forward to see it better – but at that moment, his mother and the Captain stood up, and he forgot all about the shadow.

  ‘Very well,’ the Captain was saying. ‘If it’s true, then we’ll take you on board. But I need to see the proof.’

  Lucky’s mother smiled. ‘Thank you, Captain,’ she said. ‘I knew we could do business.’ She turned to Lucky. ‘Show him the astrolabe,’ she said, very quietly.

  ‘What?’ He couldn’t believe it. ‘I thought you told me—’

  She pulled him to one side. ‘Why are you arguing with me?’ she said, over the thumping music.

  ‘Why do you keep changing your mind about everything? You got angry last time I looked at it – you didn’t even want me to bring it in the first place – and now you’re all Show him the astrolabe? Why do those devils want to see it, anyway? What’s it got to do with them?’

  She took a deep breath. ‘It’s what they need,’ she said. ‘It’s what they need to fly their ship.’