John made himself at home in a small guest room while Amerta helped her uncle prepare a meal. As he lay back on the bed, he thought of Smithville and his mother and father, wondering if he would ever see them again. Just as he was beginning to drift off, Amerta came into the room taking him by surprise.
“Oh I’m sorry to disturb you, but your- what do you call it- dinner is ready,” she said with a smile. John smiled back taking a moment to admire her. With each passing day, he could feel himself growing increasingly fond of her, but he would do his best to put these feelings out of his mind knowing that it wasn’t likely to ever work out between them.
“Thank you,” he said. “So, how long do we plan on staying here? We can’t wait too long. Sergeant Miller and the others are going to reach the mines soon enough.”
“I know, but we have to let the excitement surrounding our escape die down a bit. I just checked the mind web and we are all over it,” she said as she took out a remote control-sized panel and projected a story onto the wall. It showed an image of the two of them escaping from the prison compound.
“Wow, we’re celebrities.”
“What’s a celebrity?”
“Someone who is famous.”
“I suppose we are. You should read some of the stories. This one made me laugh,” she said as she scrolled through the stories and got to a headline that John couldn’t read. Harignot writing looks like a series of random scribbles to humans.
“What does it say?” he asked.
“It says ‘Rogue Harignot Takes a Human for a Mate’.”
“I see,” he said.
Would it be so terrible if it were true? He thought, knowing what his answer was.
“Many citizens have written all sorts of comments on here- some of them think that it’s very sweet and wish us all the best others are cursing us and calling me a traitor,” she said.
“Well, it seems the opinions about us are divided. At least we have some supporters.”
“If they knew what we were trying to do, there would be more support for us.”
“We need to discuss the next phase of our plan. We will need to disguise ourselves and obtain another hover car if we are going to stop Sergeant Miller.”
“I’m way ahead of you. Uncle has a vehicle that we can use that he’s equipped with a special cloaking device. During his years of isolation, he’s perfected his means of coming and going undetected. After all this time, he is still in danger for trying to stage an uprising.”
“Great! When do we leave?”
“In a day or two.”
“We can’t afford any more time than that,” John said. Amerta was about to leave the room when John spoke again.
“What was your life like before you began working in the prison?” John asked. Amerta turned to look at him.
“We were happy, before the human invasion. Mother stayed at home with me while father worked as a supervisor at one of the smaller mines.”
“Do Harignots go to school?” She looked puzzled at the mention of the word.
“I mean, do young Harignots go somewhere to be taught by older Harignots?” Amerta laughed at his attempt to communicate his ideas.
“Yes, we call it Fekilot- we attend for the first sixteen years of our lives and then begin training for our careers,” she said.
“I see. Did you enjoy Fekilot?”
“You sure are asking a lot of questions,” she said.
“I’m sorry- it’s just that, well, I feel like I want to get to know more about you.” She came back inside the room and sat down on the bed next to him.
“When I attended Fekilot, I really didn’t enjoy it. It was so rigid and most of what they taught you was how to accept your station in life.”
“I know exactly what you mean. I had the same experience in what we humans refer to as school. It was boring and soul-killing. I longed to be outside in the natural world discovering things for myself.”
“Me too,” she said. John put his hand on hers as they locked eyes. Something began to pull them closer together until their faces were almost touching. John dared to gently put his lips on hers, prompting her eyes to grow huge with surprise. At first, her lips went stiff, not knowing how to respond to this odd show of affection. However, in a few seconds, Amerta relaxed her face and received his kiss, closing her eyes as a strange sensation flowed from her lips down through the rest of her body like a sudden warm surge.
She pulled away for a second and opened her eyes. John smiled and took her hand.
“That was called a kiss. It’s something that we use to express affection that goes beyond mere friendship.”
“It was very nice. Can we do it again?” she whispered.
“There is nothing that I would like more,” he answered. Their lips touched again for longer this time. John even dared to intertwine his tongue with Amerta’s. Again, her pupils enlarged with surprise at this new form of affection. She gave into the sensations that danced within her having experienced nothing like them before. Just as John began to put his arms around her, Uncle Larig suddenly knocked on the door.
“The meal has gone cold. Would you come on?” he said, shocking the two of them back to reality. They giggled quietly like two giddy teenagers and hurried towards the door. Before they left the room, they exchanged one last glance- each one noticing that the other’s cheeks were flushed: John’s was a pinker color and Amerta’s a lighter shade of blue.
It took a few minutes for John to get used to the acrid taste of the food they ate. It was a casserole of sorts with bits of leaf from some unknown vegetable and the tough flesh of some unidentified beast. There was a cream-like sauce covering the whole thing.
“What are we eating- it’s delicious!” John said, not telling the whole truth about his gustatory experience.
“It’s called karithlom and you don’t have to pretend you like it,” Amerta said with a laugh. She couldn’t help but notice the pained expression on his face as he ate.
“It’s one of my best recipes. I can’t help it if the human has poor taste,” uncle Larig grumped.
“It’s just different from what I’m used to. Believe me, I’m quite grateful not just for the food, but for everything you’ve done,” John said with a polite grin.
Uncle Larig relaxed his forehead and bushy eyebrows.
“I must say you humans are much more polite than I ever expected. Just shows that you can’t believe everything that you read or hear,” he said.
“Uncle, Humans can be good or bad just like any other beings. Goodness knows, we have enough evil in our own society,” Amerta added.
“You don’t have to tell me, Amerta- why do you think I live like I do? It’s because of the evil rulers that seek to subjugate us,” he said. “So….. when do you mean to try and head off these fellow soldiers of yours?” he asked.
“In a day or two. By now, they are probably only a few day’s journey from the mining operation.”
“I take it they must have some sort of cloaking device to disguise their movement.”
“Yes, but it’s primitive compared with your technology. The main thing that will keep their mission from failing is the weapon that they have in their possession.”
“Ah, the anti-matter cannon. All of these years I knew that such a weapon would be developed, but I have to admit that I thought it was going to be us or the Loomandians that would come up with it first, not the technologically inferior Earthlings.”
“Uncle, that sounded too insulting,” Amerta said, correcting him.
“No offense taken. I will be the first to admit the shortcomings of my people,” John added.
“You really are nothing like what I expected and not as ugly either,” Uncle Larig said, allowing a slight chuckle to escape his lips. John and Amerta couldn’t help but laugh along with him at this comment.
After dinner, they discussed the differences in their cultures until well into the night. Afterwards, John went back to his room and tried to sleep. Instead
of thinking of home, Amerta consumed his thoughts- he kept replaying the scene of their first kiss over and over again in his mind. It seemed like a dream because it was so unlike any kiss he had ever shared with the two girlfriends he’d had in his lifetime. He quietly chastised himself for falling for an alien girl.
I can picture mother now saying, “What couldn’t you have fallen for a nice human girl?”
He began to wonder if it could ever be possible for he and Amerta to be together and build a life with one another either here or back on Earth. It seemed like some impossible fairy tale. They couldn’t stay here because both of them would have to live a secretive life like Uncle Larig, and they couldn’t settle on Earth because Harignots are treated like criminals and terrorists on Earth.
It’s a pipedream John. Keep your mind on the mission ahead of you. You’re being selfish.
Amerta was thinking similar thoughts in her own bedroom as she gazed up at the ceiling.
I can’t let myself feel this way about an Earthling. It will put me in too much danger. Oh, who am I fooling- I’ve already decided to take a dangerous path by helping him. I can hear mother now telling me how foolish it was to help free the human. Still, it was the right thing to do and I don’t regret it
This reassurance was enough to relax her mind into a deep sleep. Harignots, like humans, experience multiple dreams each night. In fact, their dreams are even more lucid and life-like than our own. Amerta dreamt that she was walking through a green landscape with soft grass tickling her bare feet. It was an odd sensation that she’d never experienced living on a gas giant planet where the only stable surfaces were the ones that had been built. Next to her, holding her hand was John. They laughed together as they ran across the field. Turning around, Amerta noticed two small children with a very slight blue tinge to their skin. She didn’t have to guess who they were; she instinctively knew that they were her children. One was a petite girl missing some teeth with long flowing hair. The other child was a tall boy with short brown hair and a smile that looked exactly like his father’s. Amerta awoke from the dream with happy notions about the future although they still seemed fantastical considering their present circumstances.
Chapter 9
Knowing that they couldn’t afford to spend too much time hiding out with Uncle Larig, Amerta and John began to prepare for the journey to cut off John’s old comrades. Uncle Larig offered them his fastest hover car, the Hador 1200 that could reach speeds of over 350 miles per hour. It was sleek and red and came with a cloaking device, which made it popular for Harignots seeking to elude the patrols. The patrols made it a point to try and stay ahead of the game and were working on de-cloaking technology that had yet to be perfected. This meant that an underground economy was thriving in the nether regions of the planet.
Amerta took out a tiny image projector from her pocket, pushed the activation button and a three-dimensional map of the western region of Harignot came into view.
“Can you tell on this map where you think your old comrades might be at this point so that we can figure out the quickest route to cut them off?” she asked John.
John took a minute to study the network of crystalline roadways that connected the various settlements. It took him quite a while to orient himself as he retraced their journey from the old mining site and on to the various military guard towers.
“They would be about here by now,” he said, pointing just south of a settlement called Reginot that was located next to something that translated roughly to ‘great gap’ in English.
“That means we could cross the great gap and cut them off,” she said.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” John responded.
“You had better take plenty of fuel. You will need to stop somewhere to purchase it. I don’t have enough for you here- I would certainly give it to you if I did,” Uncle Larig said.
“So what’s this great gap?” John asked, trying to pry information from them.
“It’s a vast area where there are no connecting roadways. Even the crystal that we use to construct the pathways can’t withstand the gas plumes in that region. There is a reaction between two specific gases that produces violent eruptions of acidic gas that can eat through anything in their path.”
“I REALLY don’t like the sound of that.”
“You will be alright- you are in good hands. Amerta is not only beautiful and intelligent, she is one of the most skilled drivers I know. She has navigated the great gap before so not to worry, human. Just please bring my Hador back in one piece,” Uncle Larig begged.
“Don’t worry, uncle. We are going to obtain the anti-matter weapon and get it back to you as soon as possible. I swear,” Amerta answered.
“Are you sure you don’t want to try and organize a force to help you?” Uncle Larig suggested.
“There’s no time. Besides, extra numbers won’t help against the weapon we’re up against. Stealth is the only thing that will work,” John said, surprising himself with his own bravery.
“Please take care. It’s not likely that either side will want to have mercy on the two of you if you’re caught,” Uncle Larig pointed out.
“Thanks for reminding us,” Amerta said. Amerta and Uncle Larig closed their eyes at the same time, and suddenly two hazy regions of color began to form in front of the both of them. Then, the colors mixed for a moment and disappeared.
“Eh, what just happened?” John asked.
“We just shared what might be equivalent to what you humans call hugging,” she answered.
“Ah, I knew that,” John joked.
As Amerta and John began their journey, it started out quietly enough. The roadways appeared to be largely free of other cars. Amerta took the first turn driving while John looked out at the sulfuric clouds around them.
“I have to say- there really is a certain monotony to this planet,” he said after a while.
“What do you mean?” Amerta asked, preparing to defend the only planet she’d ever known.
“I don’t mean it as an insult. I just wish that you could see Earth and experience a solid ground beneath your feet. There are mountains, forests, deserts…”
“I have no idea what those things are, so I can’t be envious of them,” she said.
“True, but if you saw the Rocky Mountains or the redwood forests you would truly be in awe- they are quite a sight to see.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like our people are going to be able to get along anytime soon so I don’t see how it would be possible.”
“Let’s look at it this way, though. Before you met me, did you ever think it would be possible for you to be on friendly terms with a human?”
“Of course not.”
“Well then, if you and I can get along, why can’t all the others?”
“That’s because of the entrenched beliefs that people cling to. They hear what humans or Harignots are like and that’s good enough for them. Unfortunately, they will never go so far as to want to actually meet someone they’ve been told is their enemy. It’s only under special circumstances that a relationship like ours could be forged,” she said.
“So you’re saying we’re in a relationship?” he asked as he smiled at her. She looked away from the windshield at John and smiled back.
“Let’s just see where things take us,” she said.
“Good enough for me,” he answered.
Just as Amerta looked ahead of her, she spotted a patrol some distance away that was headed in their direction.
“Alright, time to test the cloaking device to see if it truly works,” she said as she entered the cloaking sequence on the control panel. A group of about ten blue and white hover cars moved in formation towards the west. They didn’t appear to be in any hurry and continued their course as Amerta and John came closer to them. Soon, the patrol had moved out of view and Amerta switched off the cloaking device.
“Well, that appears to have worked,” Amerta said as John took a deep breath.
“Yes, thank goodness. So, where are we going to stop for fuel and what’s the plan when we do?” he asked.
“The closest settlement is Reginot, but I have to warn you- it’s not a safe place to be even under ordinary circumstances,” she allowed.
“How do you mean?”
“It’s a place where lots of criminal types go to let off steam. It’s a refueling station, but it’s also a place where lots of less than savory businesses have opened to take advantage of the bustling crowds. It’s not uncommon to see citizens of several nearby planets there either. In fact, you can find more diversity there than any place besides the larger cities. There’s a lot of illegal trading going on. If you wish to obtain something rare from different corners of this galaxy, Reginot’s your place,” she said as she shook her head.
“Sounds kind of exciting,” John said. Amerta looked at him with an amused grin.
“I don’t think that you would want to get into the middle of the kind of excitement that people seek there. You strike me as, how do I say this, a bit too nice for such things?”
“Too nice,” John said as his mouth fell open. “I’ll have you know I’ve sought out excitement like that many times in my day.”
“Alright, tell me about a time John Norman did something really daring, exciting and even bad,” she said. John began to think very hard, but no matter how deeply he concentrated, he couldn’t remember a time except for one.”
“Oh, there was the time that Jason Newman and I stole some liquor from his mother’s liquor cabinet. It was just enough for both of us to catch a buzz and he got busted for it as well.”
A New Reason To Fight: An Intergalactic Romance Page 44