by B R Flores
twenty three
EUROPA SOLIST ANTRO
AZHA guessed they’d been in the cave for a couple of days. His wounds were barely visible anymore, and he was getting antsy to rescue Ginger. However, spending time with Quetzal had been a pleasant surprise. She was fun, interesting, and intelligent. Azha couldn’t have asked for a better match for Ginger.
“Quetzal, I’m strong enough to go. That is, if you’re ready?”
“I’m ready, but I was thinking we could have our ceremonial Owari bond before we leave?”
“Ah, now?” Azha stammered.
“I think it’s important that we keep our Quizan tradition sacred,” she said nervously.
“I understand, but I’m worried that Ginger will think I cheated on her if we bond.”
“That makes no sense. I thought you liked me? What’s wrong?” Quetzal asked.
“Nothing’s wrong. I just want to wait until you’re merged with Ginger or she’ll know I cheated.”
“What about Rodia?” Quetzal countered.
“Rodia and I never bonded after I became a Trekachaw. I was afraid I’d hurt her.”
“What about Phera? I know you and Phera had lots of bonding. Everyone talked about it.”
“Phera doesn’t count.”
“Why doesn’t Phera count?” Quetzal snapped.
“I was confused,” replied Azha.
“That’s ridiculous. If Ginger believes that… she’s a Bodo.”
“She’s not a Bodo. Quetzal, that’s not nice. Can we please wait? I’ve made so many mistakes, I just want to do this one right.”
“When you put it that way, okay,” she said with a fake smile.
“Thank you.” Azha was glad that was over.
Azha kissed the top of Quetzal’s head. She giggled and pinched his stomach.
The shuttle was docked inside the entrance just where he’d left it. Quetzal was buzzing next to his shoulder, excited that today she was to become a Trekachaw. It felt strange returning to Earth with just himself and the little Quizan. For the moment, he’d found peace between his two souls. Since his encounter with Zeta and proving his determination to rescue Ginger, Cole was content to leave him alone.
Earth was growing larger on the monitor along with his anxiety. He didn’t want to hurt Quetzal’s feelings, but he cringed at the thought of being Owari bonded again. The old winery was in view and the coast was clear to dock. Azha turned into energy and headed towards his mom’s house with Quetzal by his side.
It was just past midnight and the house was quiet as they floated down the hallway towards his son’s bedroom. Azha could see the top of Cole Jr.’s fuzzy little head. His hair was sticking straight up from static electricity. The queen bed was far too big for the little bump beneath the race car blanket. Amused, Azha had lit up the house before he realized it. Frank came storming out of the master bedroom yelling, “Who’s there?!”
Azha morphed into body form, “Frank, it’s me Azha, I mean Cole. We’re back for Ginger.”
“Good, great. Shit you scared the crap out of me. Let me get some pants on. Who’s the light up there with you?”
“Quetzal, she’s here for Ginger.”
“Man, I was beginning to think you weren’t coming back. Ginger’s still incarcerated in the county jail. I’ve tried everything to get her out. A friend in Detectives told me a top-secret agency took jurisdiction of her and are scheduled to pick her up on Monday for transport to who-knows-where.”
“What’s today?” Azha asked.
“Monday morning? Let me look, yeah, it’s 12:15 am. You’d better hurry while she’s still there. Can Cole Jr. and I go with you?” Frank asked.
“Sorry Frank, not this time,” shaking his head.
“My lawyer is handling your mom’s estate. According to law, Cole Jr. is the rightful heir. I’m not sure where we’ll go.”
“Are you able to care of Cole Jr.?” Azha asked.
“Legally I’m his father. Don’t worry, Cole Jr.’s safe with me. I love him just as much as you do.”
“I know Frank, and I’m grateful for that. How will I find you if you move?”
“I’ll keep the same cell phone number until you return,” assured Frank.
Frank wrote down his cell number on a piece of paper and handed it to Azha.
“I’ll memorize it, can’t carry anything while in energy. I’ll never forget this number or what you’ve done for me.”
Azha turned into energy and disappeared with Quetzal. Frank stood in the hallway thinking there was no way he could sleep now, wondering how long it would be before Cole came back, and hoping it would be soon. Frank headed for the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.
COLE KNEW THE COUNTY JAIL like the back of his hand. He guided Azha to an area where prisoners were housed in a single-cell before transport. This was good. Ginger was alone. Outside the cell, a camera was monitoring every move she made. Ginger’s head moved ever so slight when she saw the floating lights. She smiled at them and closed her eyes. Quetzal’s light turned to silver and disappeared into the top of Ginger’s head. The concrete cell flashed into a blinding silver light. When the light faded, the cell was empty, and another mysterious missing persons’ report had to be filed.
twenty four
SERVO QUAD NAVIS
“INNOVATION MAKES UP FOR EDUCATION”
FOR Atue, waiting was worse than being punished. He never asked to be a Battleship Captain. He was an Engineer Officer and a darn good one. Being responsible for the Human Trekachaws wasn’t something he wanted, either. They were curious to the point of being exhausting. Maybe this was a Human trait, their nature, or perhaps it was simply bad manners. In any case, he’d given them strict orders not to touch anything and not to explore the cargo ship without permission. Of course, two of the Trekachaws’ curiosity got the best of them and they wandered off into the belly of the ship. Hours passed and neither one wanted to admit they were lost. Every corridor looked alike and every corridor led to the same thing… enormous, empty, dark, cargo bunkers.
Duroc talked too much and rambled on about nothing. Ajax, on the other hand, said almost nothing and communicated with grunts. He stopped listening to Duroc and figured grunts were safe, whether a yes or no response was correct. After a few more hours of wandering aimlessly around the ship, Ajax decided to have an actual conversation with Duroc as he’d started asking more than a grunt could answer.
“We could turn into energy and fly out,” suggested Duroc.
“That’d be no fun. Let’s not give up,” replied Ajax.
“I’m from Arkansas. How’d you get a name like Ajax?” Duroc asked.
“I’m from southern California. My parents are computer geeks. Brother’s name is Fax. The word Ajax is a method of building interactive applications for the web. Never heard the name Duroc, either.”
“Yep, me neither. My parents run a big pig farm. Duroc’s a red pig, good bacon and ham. Guess we’re from different parts of the country. No matter. I like ya anyway,” smiled Duroc.
A loud thud followed by a crash came from inside a closed door down the corridor. Something large had fallen and was rolling across a floor. Duroc ran to the door and pulled down on a handle to open it. The door must have been spring-loaded because it slammed shut.
“That was weird. None of the other doors did that,” said Duroc.
Ajax stepped to the right side of the door, “Get on the other side. I’m gonna try to open it again.”
Duroc stepped to the left side of the door and gave the ‘Ok’ sign. Ajax reached out and pulled the handle down, then pushed on the door. It opened a few inches than slammed shut again. Of course, whatever had rolled across the floor must be blocking the other side.
“Help me push it open. Something blocked it,” said Ajax.
Duroc and Ajax put their shoulders to the door and shoved it open. A large bulky silhouette ran across the room and disappeared behind a stack of crates.
“Did you see that?” Aja
x asked.
“What do ya think it is?”
“I have no idea. Did you get a look at it?”
“No. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it looked like a Grizzly Bear,” said Duroc.
“Have you ever seen a real Grizzly Bear?” asked Ajax.
“You’re asking a country boy if I’ve ever seen a Grizzly Bear?”
“What would raising pigs have to do with knowing what a Grizzly Bear looks like?” Ajax quipped.
“You’d know if you were a country boy. How bout we check this thing out?”
Ajax found a small crate to prop the door open, providing some corridor light into the bunker. Hundreds of crates filled the dark room. Some were at least twenty-feet tall and roughly as wide. Ajax was beginning to believe they’d seen nothing more than a shadow, but that didn’t explain why the door keep shutting. Another minute and they would’ve given up. Something moved, and a scratching noise came from within one of the huge crates. Duroc searched the edge of the crate with his hands for a way to pry it open. Ajax knocked on the crate to determine if it was empty or full. Something inside returned the knock. Duroc and Ajax jumped back and ran to another crate for cover.
“Did you hear that?” Duroc asked.
“How could you not hear it? What do you want to do?”
“If we leave we’ll look like lily-livers,” said Duroc.
“What is a lily-liver?” Ajax asked.
“You know a coward,” replied Duroc. “Right. How are we going to open it?” Ajax asked.
“Captain Atue ordered us not to be down here,” said Duroc.
“We can’t just leave. If both of us grab the edge of the crate; we might be able to pull it open,” suggested Ajax.
They tiptoed over to the crate and pulled on an edge until a side-wall broke away and crashed onto the floor. Inside, a brown, furry animal with black spots was hiding in a corner. Whatever it was, it was big, and had its backside towards them with its head tucked between its knees. It whimpered and was shivering, scared to death. Duroc, being a farm boy, figured he could sooth the animal by talking to it, “Hey boy, it’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you.”
Ajax had an epiphany from his Quizan-half and remembered it was a Gystfin.
“Duroc get back, that’s a Gystfin. They’ll bite your head off and suck out your grey-death energy.”
The word Gystfin was like a slap to Duroc’s face. “Holy cow, you’re right. It is a Gystfin. What’s it doin down here?”
“I don’t know. But we need to kill it,” said Ajax.
The Gystfin started crying and pleaded for mercy.
“I think he’s harmless. Maybe some of them are friendly. I don’t want to kill him if he’s friendly. Do you?” Duroc asked.
“No, I don’t either, but what if he’s playing us?” Ajax questioned.
“Na… I think he’s really scared, I can tell,” said Duroc.
“You stay then, I never even had a pet cat. I’ll ask if we can get linguistic chips, so we can speak Gystfin. Atue said whoever wanted one, could have one.”
“You want me to stay by myself with a Gystfin?” Duroc asked surprised.
“You’re tough. Don’t Arkansas people ride cows?” Ajax said with sarcasm.
“Bulls, stupid, we ride bulls. You think you’re smart, but to me you’re an ignorant city boy. I told you, my parents are pig farmers. Geez, just go.”
Ajax turned into energy and flew the through cargo ship into space. Outside, he made a mental reference to a portal and reentered near the bridge. Atue was repairing a computer thing. Ajax thought he was smart on Earth; being here, not so much.
“Excuse me, Captain Atue, I was wondering if the linguistic chips are still available?”
“Over there, inside the top drawer next to my chair. The injector looks like a pen.”
“I found the pens. Now what?” Ajax asked.
Atue laid his instruments down on a cart. “Give it to me and stick out your arm.”
Ajax balked at Atues bluntness. ‘Stick out your arm’ to do what?
“Give me your arm, I’m busy.” Atue grabbed Ajax’s wrist and injected the chip.
“Done. Now go away unless there’s something else.”
“No sir,” replied Ajax.
Ajax turned into energy and sped outside the ship. After a quick check to get his bearings, he found the portal and reentered. Nothing had changed. The Gystfin was still sobbing in the corner and Duroc was squatted on the floor watching the Gystfin cry. The crate was well lit from Duroc’s glowing orange stripes, making it easier to see the Gystfin.
“You know, all we had to do was make our stripes glow to see in the dark. I’ve been practicing while you were gone.” Duroc boasted dimming his stripes, then making them bright again.
“If you’re finished, I couldn’t bring you a chip. Let’s find out if mine works?
“Gystfin, what are you doing down here?” Ajax asked.
The Gystfin was afraid to face the mighty Trekachaws. His words were muffled from his face being tucked between his legs.
“No diieeey. Transmit Ryquats, save Quizans… not bad.”
Ajax and Duroc had no idea what he meant about transmitting the Ryquats. However, that justified their excuse not to kill him. Besides, Captain Atue would want to interrogate the Gystfin for information.
“What’s your name?” Ajax asked.
“Boo,” said the Gystfin.
“Boo, like when a ghost jumps out to scare you, Boo?”
“Don’t know ghost. Boo is my name.”
“Why are you on the ship, Boo?”
“Azha Trekachaw stole ship. Hiding here. Kogbor search Palatu to kill me. Kogbor knew Boo transmit to Zaurak tell them many Quizans die for grey-energy. Other Ryquat lie for Kogbor.”
“Who’s Kogbor? Why did he want to kill you?” Ajax asked.
“Kogbor is Dux Ducis, rule Palatu. Ryquat Captain Smyth told Kogbor, Boo transmit Ryquat Counsel Fidus Achates explain lies told about Quizan deaths. Captain Smyth is a Crozin ally.”
“What about Smyth?” Ajax asked.
“Captain Smyth kill more Quizans than Gystfins. Kogbor exiled me to cargo ship long ago, Boo refused to kill Quizan. Boo hide from Kogbor.”
“My name is Ajax, and this is Duroc. We won’t hurt you.”
“Scared to die. Can never return to Gardux.”
“What is Gardux?” Ajax asked.
“Boo’s home.”
“Duroc, this Gystfin is the reason Victis was sent to Palatu. I’ll go explain everything to Atue, if you’ll stay here with Boo. If I’m not back in twenty minutes, it’s because Atue plans on hurting Boo. Leave Boo here and meet me in the corridor outside the bridge.”
Ajax flashed into energy and was gone. Duroc sat across from Boo, unable to communicate. His Human-half saw Boo as a magnificent Beast, beautiful and strong, like a Hyena crossed with a Grizzly Bear. His Quizan-half wanted to turn into red-energy and hide. Gystfins were evil monsters. Protecting one was ludicrous.
HE GUESSED IT HAD BEEN thirty minutes since Ajax left. Boo rotated his head sideways and peeked out from underneath his fury arm at Duroc. Slowly, he inched his way out of the corner and twisted just enough to see the Trekachaw. The mighty Trekachaw stood up. Boo’s eyes widened with fear and he crawled back into the corner. Duroc raised both his hands into the air showing that he meant no harm. For Boo, the Trekachaw was challenging him to fight. Boo sprung to his feet looking for an escape. There was none, and the crate opening was blocked by the devious Trekachaw. Boo hissed and peeled back his lips revealing yellow-stained fangs. This was a Gystfin’s true nature. Duroc’s Quizan-half screamed inside his head to turn into energy and hide.
Two lights flew between them and morphed into Ajax and Atue.
Atue screamed, “Stop, or I’ll kill you where you stand. Did you contact the Fidus Achates and report the slaughter of Quizans?”
Boo retreated into the corner and squatted against the crate.
“Did you
contact the Fidus Achates?” Atue demanded.
“Yes!” cried Boo.
“What happened? Why was Boo going to attack you?” Ajax asked.
“I don’t know. You saw him, he went crazy,” replied Duroc.
Boo snarled, “No, Trekachaw lie.”
“Then you tell me what happened?” Atue asked.
“Trekachaw raised arms. Challenged Boo to fight.”
“Duroc was not challenging you. That’s how Humans demonstrate compliance,” explained Ajax.
“Chip for Duroc necessary. Boo learn Human traditions.”
“Did you contact the Fidus Achates regarding Gystfins killing Quizans?” Atue asked.
“Yes, Boo contact. Refuse to bite off Quizan head for grey-death energy. Kogbor exiled Boo to cargo ship. Boo premier engineer reason Kogbor spare life. While Boo alone on ship, Boo contact Fidus Achates. Kogbor hunt Boo to kill. Hide on ship. Trekachaw Azha stole ship from Kogbor.”
“I believe you. We were wondering who notified the Fidus Achates. I am Atue, Captain of this ship. Anything you can tell me about this Cargo Ship would be greatly appreciated.”
Boo smiled and took a couple of steps forward leaving his stronghold. “Boo honored. Know ship well.”
“Guide us to the bridge. We’re lost in this maze of corridors,” admitted Atue.
“Boo guide Trekachaw Captain Atue.”
The corridors echoed with laughter as they made their way to the bridge. Boo was funny how he told the stories of others being lost in the belly of the cargo ship. Captain Atue promised to keep Boo safe and that every Trekachaw on board would be injected with a linguistic chip. Boo’s selfless act helped save the Quizan species from extermination. Word spread quickly about the hero Gystfin called Boo.
FOR FIFTEEN DAYS, THE UMDUL Regents and Ryquat Counsel had been in a heated disagreement regarding the Trekachaws’ acceptance as a viable new species. Negotiations were exhausting, and they were no closer to a resolution than day one. Captain Pify was given full support by the Umdul Regents to protect the Trekachaws by any means necessary. The Fidus Achates threatened to intervene until the Umduls advised their intent to secede if they interfered with the negotiations. The Ryquat Counsel were split in their decision, therefore making no official recommendations. Captain Pify was given command and a new agenda to redirect the Umdul fleet, from Zaurak to Palatu. The Ryquat Counsel refused to reconsider even when it meant jeopardizing the safety of their own planet.