“Support myself as in making money and paying for things on my own?”
“There’s that word again. I feel like etymologists and linguists would have a long day ahead of them if they talked to you with your little Earth phrases.”
“I’d probably drive them nuts trying to figure them out, and how our languages are so similar.”
“You might want to read up on Plau’s Theory someday. It’s a favorite among scientists and philosophers regarding the subject of shared linguistics. You’ll also want to be careful how deep you go in reading about it, because it spawned a lot of debate that has actually resulted in a couple bar fires.”
“Something tells me I should blame some college kids trying to sound smarter than they actually were until they were too drunk to prove any smarts at all.”
“It was three professors and a groundskeeper at one of those fires. I couldn’t tell you with the other one I heard about.”
They nodded at one another for a moment before Zoey once again asked, “What were you working on before I walked in here?”
“Oh right, this thing! It’s for a final essay for one of my classes at the university Tonny and I both go to. Since we’re in Hoshi-Lacartan Alliance territory, I was able to message my two professors, and one sent me a short list of topics and related questions. It’ll be due a day or two after we get back to Elysium IX, depending on how quickly we get there.”
“That sounds like a fine way to spend however long we have to go.”
“It should be about six light-spans and half a billion kilometers to go before we get home.”
“So you’re telling me you have time to take a break.” Her left hand was on her hip, and her right out to the side. “If we were back on Earth I’d say to climb out of bed already so we can get a pizza.”
“A what now?”
“I . . . honestly don’t know what I was expecting, bringing that food up.”
Now Dasos was laughing incredibly hard. Zoey wasn’t sure she’d ever seen the young Aelf laugh like this. A few laeknir and patients looked their way briefly. One head that Zoey saw peeking around a curtain was Tong-Chang.
She said a few words to whomever was behind the curtain still—Zoey imagined that it might have been that young woman officer with the baby—and then strolled over to Zoey. Her strut caused a number of conflicting thoughts to creep into the back of Zoey’s mind, but she shook it off as her friend came closer.
Zoi’ne said, “Hey, is that one officer alright? I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“She’ll be fine with time and rest,” Tong-Chang said, “This whole thing is tough on her, but she’ll be OK. I also needed to ask one of the laeknir something else for my own sake. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“I’m glad.”
“So I understand you went exploring in the station today. Did you go anywhere fun?”
“Sort of. Our parents took me clothes shopping, as you can see.” She raised her forearms and twisted her hips.
“You’re looking good.”
“After that we went to a local restaurant owned by a friend of mom and dad’s. We wanted to bring Das along, but may go back tomorrow when he’s out of bed.”
Das said, “You went to Uncle Aren’s? Damn, forget this sitting around waiting to walk.” He lifted himself up.
Tong-Chang said, “Is that all you did before the rites of interment happened? I kind of hoped you went out and looked at places like the hotels and chapels around the station.”
“What’s special about those?” Zoey asked.
“The hotels are great for couples who come out this far on vacation. The chapels cater to several dozen faiths, including many from fictional shows or novels. Really, this station is great for kidnapping ex-boyfriends and getting hitched.”
With a loud thud, Das’ithrios collapsed on the other side of his bed, out of Zoey’s view. Zoey noticed this and ran over to him, at least one laeknar coming along as well.
[ 12]
The laeknar on the scene hurried to him expecting Dasos to be hurt, but it had turned out that he was doing the irrational thing and hiding from Tong-Chang. When Tong-Chang rolled her eyes and left, Dasos stood and spent half of an hour convincing the laeknar that he was able and ready to walk around without aid. The laeknar told him that the medical staff was watching him and didn’t want him falling over again, whether or not it was a joke. Zoey volunteered to walk with him to the residential area of the ship.
“Fine,” said the laeknar. “If he can make it that far without falling over then we will release him. If he doesn’t make it then we’re holding him for another day, and then confining him to a wheelchair for the remainder of the journey home. If Das’ithrios has the strength then this shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Thank you, laeknar,” said Dasos.
Zoey walked out of the Medical Bay and escorted her brother. They had entered the residential area when he rested a hand on her shoulder. He needed to breathe before they could proceed any further. Once he was ready they continued onward to the door of the suite that his parents were staying in.
“That’s one way of getting released early,” Zoey said entered the room. “You worried me, you know.”
He nodded to her and walked to a case away from where Zoey had stopped. Das was wearing the medical gown and a pair of disposable underwear. It was a good thing that he still had a couple changes of clothes of his own packed away in here.
“So where are Mom and Dad?” he asked.
“They’re helping Aren’oro with fixing something in his kitchen since he didn’t want to pay for it himself.”
Das barked a laugh as he entered the restroom with a handful of clothes. “It’s probably one of the fans inside his walk-in refrigerator. One of them keeps breaking down. I always thought it funny that it happens around the time my . . . our parents visit him. One of these days I’d love to know how or why that is.”
“Where I come from? That’s probably drugs.”
“I doubt that. Did they say when they would be back, or when to meet them?”
She checked the main clock in the suite as she answered. “They said they would pick me up for dinner in about two hours from . . . a little over an hour ago, actually. I’m sure you’re more than welcome to come along now that you’re out of the Medical Bay sooner than expected.”
Once Das left the bathroom he finished pulling down his shirt. Zoey was able to note that her brother was at least fit and took care of himself. She was grateful that she only felt appreciation for the fact, unlike what she’d felt so far for Tong-Chang and the commander. Das sat on a chair in the dining area to put on his shoes when he continued the conversation.
“They should still be at Uncle Aren’s, right?” he said.
“Is he really our uncle?” asked Zoey.
“No, he’s just been a close friend of the family since Mom and Dad each had a turn arresting him for minor offenses. He aided a small-time smuggling ring, and he once got in a bar fight when he was only sixteen. They both tried separately to turn his life around for the better, and he introduced them to one another in an attempt to get away. Well, they knew one another beforehand, but it didn’t stop him from trying.”
“Let me guess, sparks flew between them before they settled their differences somewhere.”
“Drinking game in college, actually, but don’t tell them we know that.”
“They did become disgustingly loving and sweet towards one another when we had cerveza earlier; especially Mom.”
“You had alcohol today?”
“Only a little. Why the frightened look on your face? I feel fine.”
“I’m trying really hard not to imagine what you’d do if you were full-on drunk.”
“Look, the one time I had a lot of alcohol I kissed my ex-girlfriend right in front of my then girlfriend. Then I had no girlfriend because no amount of explaining was good enough for either of them. I didn’t drink anywhere near enough today to feel a buzz
. Mom wouldn’t let me, not that I’d trust myself to go that far again.”
“Do you . . . ? No, never mind. Let’s get going. If we hurry we can make it to Aren’oro’s place before our parents leave. I have my cell-comm in case we miss them.” He waved the familiar device in the air.
“You mean your cellphone.” Zoey grinned at Das, and he shot a narrow glare at her.
* * *
The station as a whole was two moving rings interconnected with tubes that reached the central power generator. The tubes appeared to move to anyone inside of the station, but not to anyone who was floating stationary outside, because the ground of either ring moved. In the two places where the rings met there were elevators that allowed for transportation between them, and a series of conveyors buffered the motion of the rings from the stationary elevators.
Zoey had seen the tubes and elevators when she had ridden a train twice earlier in the day, but she still couldn’t wrap her head around all of the motion working together as well as it did. She didn’t even want to start thinking about the fake sun above her, or whether or not she was right in referring to its position. There was so much going on that it made her head spin.
She and Dasos passed the lowered-gravity garage space where the Marslou was docked behind a physical, transparent barrier, and they turned toward the nearest train platform that ran overhead through the commercial districts and toward the restaurants. Das took a lift up to the platform without saying that he was still in a little pain in the chest when he stood, yet it was obvious that the wound still held him back from being fully mobile. Whenever Zoey didn’t look directly in her brother’s direction he massaged the spot where the injury had been taken.
Once they sat in the first train that came their way, the false sky turned orange in a simulated sunset. Das said, “It’ll be safe to look up soon. Just as soon as we pass the second ring we’ll be able to see the central reactor and light filters without risking eye damage or blindness.”
The train, however, moved away from the ring overlap that he had pointed out. It moved little faster than the ring’s rotation around the central reactor, so his point still stood in how much longer they had until evening hours. Still, it amused Zoey to see the train distance itself from the other ring.
The fake sky once again turned to its sunset orange as Zoey and Das left the platform near the street of eateries that she had visited earlier. This time, however, Zoey was not being led around by Keft’aerak and Bon’sinne, so she tried to remember which way was which.
She could have had it, she figured as Das beckoned the right way a couple times.
Zoey opened the door to the restaurant and held it for Das. Their mom was immediately present and giving them a look like they’d done the most bizarre thing she had witnessed in ages.
“Hey, Mom,” said Das.
“It totally smells like someone lit up in here,” Zoey joked. No such smell was apparent, but she had to see the look on Bon’sinne’s face. The modest crowd of people filling up most of the seats were the ones who gawked at her, instead.
* * *
Bon’sinne set down another emptied bottle with a different brand and label. The family sat at another restaurant, one that was as outdoors as the station could allow by design, while they ate dinner together. Laughter passed her lips before Bon’sinne could speak up.
“Is that what you thought we were up to?” she said.
“The thought crossed my mind. I wasn’t going to judge you for it, but the idea was amusing.”
“The plant you’re describing went extinct on Elysium Prime before the place became damn near uninhabitable. I wish I could try it, since it was declared legal after the last known specimen burned with the lab that tried to protect it. You’re telling me that, in all of the galaxy that we’ve explored so far, Earth has it or something similar?”
“It’s also illegal in most places there. How are you so chill with the idea of it?”
“It’s really complicated and simple all at once. People make bad decisions for bad reasons, and we Aelfs realized how mistaken we were with handling kannabael and other substances too late to do any real good. We didn’t even get to catalogue the whole plant for synthesis. So here we are, with one less experience to enjoy during our short lives. One hundred and seventy revolutions average life expectancy; what a joke!”
Bon’sinne grabbed another bottle of beer and began draining it. Aerak tried to put a hand on her shoulder and say something, but she brushed his hand off.
A moment later, Captain Druvvin came to their table with a coffee mug in his hand. He smiled and said, “Good evening, everyone. It’s a pleasant surprise meeting you here.”
“Hello, Ren’baek,” said Bon’sinne, a slur weighing ever so slightly into her voice.
The captain cleared his throat. “Mister Thalassas, I see you’ve made a speedy recovery. That’s good.”
“You aren’t taking him away now, are you?”
“I really think you’ve had enough, love,” Keft’aerak said.
“You’re right, darling, I have had enough. The good captain here has told us in the past what he plans to do with Zoi’ne here.”
Captain Druvvin said, “I thought I made it perfectly clear that standard protocol involves sending people back to their worlds the way they came if they’re not ready to join the rest of us.”
“You can go ahead and try.”
Their voices were getting louder, or their words were simply hurting more and more for Zoey to hear. As her parents and the captain continued with their heated discussion, Zoey decided that she wasn’t going to keep listening to this. So she slammed her fists on the table and shouted at them.
“That’s enough!” she said. “You’re all trying to decide things for me without talking to me, and I’m sitting right here. I’m right here. The last thing anybody needs is for you all to be making a scene.”
Lots of people in the open restaurant were looking their way now, particularly at her. She was the loudest, Zoey only now realized.
“You need to calm yourself and sit down, young lady,” said Captain Druvvin.
Then she slapped him.
Zoey didn’t even realize she was about to do it until the deed was done. Every uniformed person, and her parents, looked on in shock. The captain, however, stiffened his lip, nodded at her, and then walked away.
While her mom gave her a wordless glare that said she was in trouble, Keft’aerak said, “You really shouldn’t have done that.”
“And do what?” Zoey asked. “Sit here having an anxiety attack as you all decide what to do with me?”
“We’ve already lost one daughter,” Bon’sinne said.
“So you keep reminding me. I’m not her. Who am I really? Who do you see when you look at me?”
“We took you in. We clothed you.”
“At what cost? At what point do I begin?” Neither of them had an answer for her. Zoey shook her eyes at them and left the table. She burned with frustration and felt wrong, so horribly wrong. She needed to get as far away from this family as possible. She had to get away from everything.
Then a man’s arm grabbed her by the arm. It surprised her, and her heart stung like rapier had pierced her chest. Her only reaction she had available was to turn and swing her fist. She stopped it when she saw Das standing there. It was hard.
“Don’t go,” he whispered.
Zoey said, “I have to. Please let go.”
He did. His saddened expression burned in her mind as Zoey fled into the night, neither knowing nor caring where she ended up next. If she’d woken up as Dylan, she might have welcomed it.
[ 13]
The air rumbled above, within the primary ring. A voice rang out across the intercom system.
“Good evening, Natt Grans Alpha,” said the voice. “This is Councilor Khao. The weather pattern scheduled for tonight has been triggered an hour earlier than intended. We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope you are all able to stay dry.”
Mere moments had passed when light rainfall came down upon Zoey. It came down harder than drizzle, but less than a shower. She wished she had the hoody with her tonight. More than that, she wished she knew where to go. She’d messed up, but there was no way she could go back and say that. There was no way that they would listen to her, was there? She didn’t know, and her hands shook after realizing what she had done now that the droplets of water fell on her head.
Zoey walked from tree to tree in hopes that the leaves might shield her from the rain as she tried to think about this. The station was a big place, and now she had to figure out what to do until this nightmare ended.
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