Nervously, Maisie cleared her throat and decided to keep things as short as possible.
“Thank you everyone for this great honor. I am so grateful for the admiration you all have shown me, and I hope that you know that both myself and the rest of my human crew have the best interests of Zocrone at heart. Although I have been called a heroine many times in the last day, I’m not sure that’s an exactly accurate statement. I think I’m someone who wants to always do my best. It just so happens that the task I needed to do my best at yesterday was fixing a rover in order to save the city dome. I’m glad I was able to complete that task successfully, but I know any of you would have done the same in my situation. When we all work together and try our best, we can do great things. Impossible things, even. So thank you for this honor, and I look forward to many more opportunities to do great things with you together in the future.”
Maisie’s voice was shaking with nerves by the end, but if the crowd noticed, they didn’t care. As she stepped back from the podium, they began the same chant as the day before outside the spaceship.
“Maisie! Maisie! Maisie!”
Maisie felt her cheeks heating up, and she knew her face was going to be bright red within a matter of seconds. But there was nothing she could do about it. She stepped aside quickly for Jarmuk, hoping that he would quickly start his speech and take the focus off of her.
Jarmuk squeezed her arm as he walked past her to the podium, and she felt another rush of electricity. Her heart was in so much trouble, and she knew it. But now was not the time to dwell on the problem of what she was going to do about her out-of-control feelings for Jarmuk. Now was the time to get through this sludging ceremony and away from this crowd.
Did I just think the word “sludging?” I guess I’m adapting to life in Zocrone better than I thought. Maisie had always thought the Zocronians’ favorite curse word was a bit strange, but apparently her brain was starting to adapt to it as well. Maybe there was hope for her to become a well-adjusted citizen here after all.
Jarmuk stood in front of the microphone with a broad smile on his face, looking much more at ease than Maisie had a few moments ago. She noticed that his hands weren’t shaking in the slightest. She told herself that he had probably made many speeches before. After all, he basically served as Daxar’s right hand man. He was bound to have been in the public eye quite a few times. He was experienced at this sort of thing.
And his experience showed. Within moments, he had the crowd roaring with laughter. Maisie had been so caught up in her nerves that she had missed whatever his first joke had been, but apparently it had been a good one.
“But seriously,” Jarmuk was saying now. “I was happy for the chance to drive that rover back to the mines in such awful condition. Now no one can say that I’m not the best driver in Zocrone. Not even Chief Daxar can argue with me. Do you know what kind of man cred that gives you? Being the indisputable best driver around? It’s like winning the man cred lottery.”
Roars of laughter came from the crowd.
“Besides, I’m pretty sure I can’t get pulled over for traffic violations anymore. Any traffic cops out there today? Just remember before you try to give me a speeding ticket: the fact that I know how to speed well saved the city dome. You sure you want to keep me from practicing my skills? You never know when the next super-tornado might show up, after all.”
The crowd laughed again. Jarmuk’s joke was made even more ridiculous by the fact that hardly anyone ever drove anywhere in Zocrone. Most people walked, or rode hover boards. The industrial section of the city housed several rovers and spaceships, but in the main business and residential areas, people’s modes of transportation were quite relaxed. Maisie supposed it was possible that people were stopped for traffic violations now and then, but the Zocronian police probably didn’t spend much time on that sort of thing. Still, the crowd loved Jarmuk’s joke. They were laughing again at something else that he had said, and Maisie found herself breathing a sigh of relief. Jarmuk was stealing the spotlight here, and that was just fine by her. She’d be able to fade into the background, and everyone would remember him as the hero of the day.
It’s not that Maisie wasn’t proud of herself, or everything she’d accomplished. She knew she was good at repairing spaceships and rovers. It’s just that she didn’t think those skills were worth a whole planet cheering her on. She was much more comfortable out of the spotlight and behind a wrench. That’s the way things had been back on Earth, where she’d worked repairing spaceships for a large spaceship manufacturer. And it’s the way things had been when she worked on the Starburst when it was still going on smuggling runs. She’d loved spending her days traveling through space, never in the same place more than a day, and always with plenty of repair and maintenance work to keep her busy. It had been a good, anonymous life. One where she didn’t feel like she had to constantly prove herself.
Here, she constantly felt like she didn’t measure up. Oh sure, everyone loved her at the moment. But once this moment faded, she’d once again be one of the humans in town—the weak ones, who were just taking up space on Zocrone. She knew Daxar was right when he said that there were still Zocronians who didn’t accept the humans. Many Zocronians were happy to finally have the city opened to outsiders, but many others thought that humans were so inferior to Zocronians that their presence would only drag Zocrone down. Sometimes Maisie felt like every move she made was scrutinized. She tried to let it roll off her shoulders, but it wasn’t always easy. And now, she knew she’d always be wondering whether Jarmuk thought she was dragging the city down. Sure, he’d slept with her, so he must find her physically attractive, at least. But that sort of attraction was fickle, and not enough on which to build a true relationship.
The crowd began cheering at a thunderous volume once again, bringing Maisie’s attention back to the present moment. Jarmuk was stepping aside to give Daxar one more chance to speak to the crowd, but Maisie’s part in this over-the-top ceremony was done, at least. She and Jarmuk waved to the crowd and smiled, but a few moments later when Daxar was done speaking, Maisie was able to retreat back into the city headquarters building. Once she was finally back inside, safe behind the closed doors in the empty lobby, she sank into one of the plush chairs in the reception area and covered her face in her hands.
“Oh god. I’m glad that’s done.”
Jarmuk chuckled and sat beside her. “Oh, come on. It wasn’t that bad, was it?”
Maisie groaned. “Maybe not for you. You know how to work a crowd. Me, on the other hand? I must have looked like a total idiot out there.”
“You were great. Didn’t you hear them chanting for you? They all loved you. Seriously, you put too much pressure on yourself. You could have gotten up there and just said ‘banana, banana, banana’ over and over and they would have cheered. They don’t care so much what you said. They just wanted to see you.”
Maisie looked up from her hands and raised an eyebrow. “Banana? You guys don’t even have bananas here.”
Jarmuk grinned. “I know. But I learned that English word this week and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to use it in a sentence around one of you humans. Are you impressed?”
Maisie couldn’t help but laugh. “Um, I guess so. It would have been more impressive if you used it in a real sentence. Something along the lines of ‘I like bananas.’”
“Well, yes. But I’ve never tried a banana. So I’m not sure if I do, in fact, like them.”
Maisie smiled. She already felt more at ease than she had even a minute ago. Something about Jarmuk calmed her, and she loved that. He’d turned her thoughts from her worries over her speech to something as ridiculous as bananas, just like that. Sometimes his goofing off was a bit too much for her, but she had to admit that she was grateful for his sense of humor right now. She was also grateful for the warmth of him sitting next to her. He wasn’t actually even touching her at the moment, but his body next to hers practically emanated warmth and strength. How
he did that, she wasn’t sure. But she felt happier, more secure, and more at ease with every passing moment. She even gave him a playful poke in the arm.
“I think you’d like bananas if you tried them. They’re quite good. I’m surprised you don’t have them here, actually. Zocrone’s city dome has the perfect climate for bananas. And all your crazy wild monkeys would love having banana trees around.” Zocrone’s treetops were filled with monkeys, another reason Maisie thought it was strange that no one had ever tried to grow a banana tree here.
“Monkeys like bananas?” Jarmuk looked surprised.
“Monkeys love bananas. How did you not know that?”
Jarmuk shrugged. “I only learned that bananas even exist a few days ago. I don’t know that much about them. But from what I understand, they’re not very common outside of Galaxy Two.”
“Well they should be, because they’re awesome. In fact, there are a lot of things about Galaxy Two that are awesome. I know that you Zocronians all think humans are a waste of space, but Earth is actually a pretty cool place, if you give it a chance.”
“Hey, I never said that humans are a waste of space. And I don’t think that’s what most Zocronians think. I mean, sure, there are some Zocronians who are prejudiced and will never like humans, or any other outsiders, no matter what. But most of us are more open-minded than that. I’d love to visit Earth someday.”
Maisie widened her eyes in surprise. “You would?”
“Sure. Why not? I’d like to see more planets and Galaxies someday. I’ve spent most of my life in the mines and haven’t had much of a chance to travel.” Then his eyes took on a mischievous glint. “Besides, what better way to feel good about yourself than to visit a planet like Earth, where you’re guaranteed to be stronger and smarter than all of the natives?”
“Ugh.” Maisie slapped him. “Just when I thought you really were one of the open-minded ones.”
Jarmuk roared with laughter, pleased that his little joke had gotten such a reaction from Maisie.
“You’re driving me bananas!” she said without thinking about it.
Jarmuk stopped laughing and furrowed his brow. “Huh? What the sludge does that mean?”
“Oh. I forget sometimes that expressions don’t always translate well into Universal. It’s an expression we use on Earth. When you’re driving someone bananas, it means you’re driving someone crazy. Or you can even say something like ‘you’re bananas’ if you want to say that someone is crazy.”
Jarmuk frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would a random fruit signify craziness?”
Maisie lifted her hands in a gesture of surrender. “I don’t know. I didn’t make up the expression. I just like to use it.”
“Hmm. Interesting.” Jarmuk thought about this for a moment, then turned to look at her. “You’re a banana!” he declared with gusto.
Maisie dissolved into giggles. “No, no, no. That’s not right. You don’t call some a banana. You say that they are ‘bananas.’ Or that they’re driving you bananas.”
“Right,” Jarmuk said winking at her. “That’s what I said. You’re a banana.”
Maisie sighed and flopped dramatically back against the cushions of the couch. “I give up.”
“Good, that means I win and get to call you a banana. So, my banana, what time should I pick you up for our little date at Black Hole Brews?”
Maisie groaned. In all her nervousness over the ceremony, she’d forgotten about her promise to go to the pub with Jarmuk tonight. “Do I really have to do that?”
“Yes. A promise is a promise. Besides, it’ll be good to get out. No one is going to bother you as much as you think they are.”
“I think we’ll be mobbed by fans. And if we are, I can guarantee you we aren’t going to stay very long.”
“Fair enough. I promise if people start driving you bananas, you can leave.” Jarmuk dissolved into laughter again at his clever quip. Maisie just rolled her eyes.
“If you keep using that expression, you really are going to drive me bananas. And you don’t have to pick me up, by the way. This is not a date. It’s just something I owe you because you agreed to do this stupid ceremony with me today.”
Jarmuk never stopped grinning. “Call it whatever you want, my little banana. But I promise you, you’re going to have a better time tonight than any other date you’ve ever been on.”
Maisie punched him in the arm again, and he just dissolved into laughter. His inability to take anything seriously both impressed her and, well, drove her bananas.
It would be interesting to see what a night at the pub with him would bring.
Chapter Eight
Jarmuk hadn’t seen Black Hole Brews this crowded on a weeknight in a long time. The place stayed busy enough during the week, but it never got to the point of standing room only. Luckily, Jarmuk had managed to snag a seat at the bar with an open seat next to it. He was saving the second seat for Maisie, and, thankfully, no one was giving him too much shit about it. There were some perks to being a hero, like no one questioning when you saved a seat for thirty minutes in the middle of a busy night at Black Hole Brews.
Maisie was thirty minutes late, and Jarmuk was beginning to worry that she wasn’t actually coming. She wouldn’t just stand him up like that though, would she? He knew she wasn’t excited about coming out tonight, but she’d given her word. She didn’t seem like the type to break her word. He was just wondering if he should try to give her a call when a low murmuring started over by the bar’s front door. He turned to look, and saw the crowd parting to let Maisie through. There were a few cheers, and Maisie’s face started turning red, but no one bothered her too much. Other than a few friendly pats on the back as she walked through, no one even touched her. She quickly spotted Jarmuk and, with a relieved look on her face, started hurrying toward him.
She was still wearing the same dress she’d worn to the awards ceremony, but instead of having her hair up in a tight, professional bun, she wore it down around her shoulders in loose waves. She’d also added jewelry, and her diamond bracelet shimmered as it caught the light. Jarmuk felt his chest tightening at the sight of her. She was a vision.
“Hi,” she said, sounding nervous as she sidled up to his barstool and sat in the one he’d been saving for her. “Sorry I’m late. Ashariz had an issue with one of the spaceships that he couldn’t figure out, so he called me. I was able to diagnose the problem over the phone, thankfully, but it took a little longer than I thought. It was a job for a big client, so it really needed to get done.”
Jarmuk shook his head. “You repair spaceships over the phone? Is there anything you can’t do?”
Maisie waved her hands dismissively. “Repairing spaceships is pretty much the only thing I do. So yes, there are plenty of things I can’t do.”
Jarmuk stared long and hard at her. “Why are you so hard on yourself? Since the moment you got into that rover with me in the middle of the super-tornado storm, you’ve made constant excuses about why you’re not awesome. But I actually think you’re pretty awesome. And I think you should own that.”
Maisie shrugged. “It’s just easy to feel intimidated when you’re surrounded by a bunch of Zocronians. You guys are all good at everything.”
Jarmuk laughed. “Now that is definitely not true. I know a bunch of Zocronians who aren’t good at much. We’re just like any society. We’ve got our superstars and our bums.”
Maisie gave him a long, hard look. “Hmm. And which one are you?”
“You’ll have to decide that for yourself.” Jarmuk winked at her and turned his attention to the menu screen displaying on the bar top in front of him. He already knew what he wanted to order—he got the same thing every time he came here. But he needed an excuse to look away from Maisie before she saw the worry in his eyes.
The truth was, he wasn’t exactly sure where he landed on the spectrum of superstars versus bums. Sure, he was doing alright. He was one of the best miners in Zocrone, and he was friends
with the Chief. But was that really enough to make him a worthwhile citizen? If Maisie really thought about it, would she still like him? Would she still think he was worth sleeping with? Jarmuk wasn’t quite sure, and so he did what he always did when he felt threatened: he put up a tough guy wall. He acted like nothing was wrong, and like he was the most macho Zocronian there ever was. Maisie wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, right? After all, she didn’t have much experience with Zocronian men. At least she better not. Jarmuk felt anger burning in his core at the thought of her with another Zocronian. But she’d had a few weeks here already. Plenty of time to meet a few guys at a bar and go home with them for the night.
Jarmuk clenched his fists tighter as he stared unseeingly down at the menu screen. Get a grip, man. Her past is none of your business. Then he remembered that she’d been surprised that his dick was ridged, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t been with any other Zocronians, then. If she had, she would have known that they all had ridged dicks.
“That’s quite an intense face,” Maisie broke into his thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”
Jarmuk looked up at her, startled. There was no way he was going to tell her what he was really thinking about, so he grinned and tried to play it cool. “My dick.” Technically, this was the truth.
Maisie rolled her eyes. “Men. The same seven galaxies over.”
Jarmuk’s grin widened and he lowered his voice a bit. “What? You have to admit it’s a pretty nice dick, don’t you?”
Maisie turned bright red and looked down at her menu. “You’re horrible.”
“Am I? Because you were singing a different tune when we were alone together in the mines yesterday.”
Maisie punched him without even looking up at him, but he only laughed harder.
Maisie wasn’t laughing, though. “Seriously, if that’s the way you’re going to act, I’ll go home. I didn’t say how long I was going to come out to the bar with you. Only that I would come. So I came, and fulfilled my promise. I could leave at any time now.”
The Alphas of the Seven Galaxies Page 25