by Edward Brody
“Right…” Mich said and focused attention back on his glass of water.
A minute later, Tristyn returned with the shirtless boy in tow. The bearded man looked sternly down at the boy and asked, “Did you take something from this man Jimmy?”
The boy replied, “I ain’t got nothin’! Honest!” Jimmy had a buzzed haircut and only two upper teeth were visible when he spoke.
“If we find you’re lying, Jimmy, we’ll make you empty the disposal hole every day for the next two weeks. If you give what you took back now, you can go and play with your friends.”
The boy crinkled his nose and bit his bottom lip as he considered the two choices. “Alright… here ya go. It’s just a piece of junk anyway.”
The boy walked to the bearded man and placed the phone in his hands. “Can I go now?”
“Go ahead.” The bearded man nodded, and Jimmy ran out the door.
The chubby stranger looked closely at the unusual device, turning it over several times and pressing the power button in anticipation of a response. “Where on Rashada did you get this thing?” he asked as he walked over to Mich and handed him back the phone.
“You guys knocked me out cold, and now you want me to sit here and chat? I’ve got what I need, and now I need to get back home,” Mich said as he stood up.
“We’re sorry about the bump on your noggin’. There were guards chasing you, and we couldn’t let them see you or Jimmy come inside here.”
“Where is here?” Mich asked.
“You’re in The Crawlspace,” The man replied. “I guess you could call this our little rebel base of sorts.”
“The Crawlspace? Rebel base?” Mich questioned with brows arched in confusion.
The man’s eyes glared suspiciously at Mich. “How is it that you haven’t heard of the Rebellion?”
Mich glanced to the pair at the door. Earl was still wiping his blade, and Tristyn was standing with her arms crossed and dangerous, green eyes burning a hole through Mich. He was not in the mood for any more bumps or bruises.
He considered playing dumb, but he knew that he would most likely get caught in a lie. He also considered the fact he had yet to make any friends on the planet besides Carl who he already loathed just the thought of. This trio of humans seemed as good of as any set to try his luck with.
“I’m from Earth… E-17.”
Earl stopped wiping his blade and raised his head attentively to Mich. Both Tristyn and the chubby man’s eyes grew wide with disbelief.
Mich sat back down on the bed and told the tale of how he was frozen in the Cryonics chamber 70 years ago and woke to find himself in this strange new universe. He told them about the salvagers that found him, how he met the Queen, and how he was now the newest inhabitant of Rashada.
“A little far-fetched,” Earl snarled.
“If you really lived on E-17, then you know the importance of freedom. Out rebellion should be easy for you to understand,” Tristyn said.
“I don’t understand. Weren’t humans saved from their own extinction and brought here to Rashada as favor? What’s this talk about freedom and rebellions?”
“Yes, we were saved from our own extinction,” the chubby man explained. “Humans made a lot of grave mistakes while we were living on E-17, and we should be thankful that the galaxy was looking out for us.”
“So then what’s this rebellion all about?”
Earl chimed in, “You’ve seen Rashada, haven’t you? This place is virtual hell hole.”
“I’ve haven’t seen much yet,” Mich said.
The bearded man explained, “When humans were brought to Rashada, most who were eligible to work had been working on E-17 in offices, malls, and shops. Stock brokers, businessmen, and nannies that didn’t have any real skills that applied here on Rashada. They had no credits to get them started, and had no other option but to work for other species–in the mines, or work in the factory building bots for a couple credits per day. Barely enough to feed their families.
“The infrastructure on Rashada was built with loans borrowed from the wealthy. With the exception of a handful of humans with special skills, or a few smuggler types who’ve managed to establish themselves in other parts of the galaxy, most humans have pretty much lost hope beyond working borderline slave jobs until they die.”
The bearded man sighed.
“Most humans will never own speeders or starships. We’ll never see other parts of the galaxy. Hell, the majority of humans will never even own a nice pair of clothes. The old depend on their children to feed them, and the children can barely take care of themselves. Our women would sell themselves off to a rothor for a nice meal.”
“What’s a rothor?” Mich asked.
“You don’t want to know,” Earl interjected.
Tristyn added to the explanation, “All we want is a better chance. A chance to do more than rot away in the mines or the metal factories.”
The bearded man continued, “We’ve attempted to obtain a spot on the Galactic Council, but many other species objected to having us ‘savages’ in a position of power. Even if we did manage to get a spot on the lesser junior council, it could be decades before we could make any significant change. All that’s left to do is organize and fight and hope that our message will be heard by someone.” Walter leaned forward. “It would be inspiring to the others if we had a human who’s experienced E-17 in our ranks. Some may even view it as a symbol to take action.”
Mich couldn’t process the overload of information as the three eyed him, waiting for a response. Eventually he said, “I don’t know what to say. This is all so new to me. Right now, I’m just thankful to be alive…”
The bearded man looked down at unfinished floor. “I understand. I can only imagine what it’s like to be in your shoes. Enough with the serious talk. Tristyn why don’t you show our new friend around? Perhaps we could introduce Mich to the elders. I’m sure they would be interested in his tale.”
The bearded man stood up and extended his hand with a smile. “By the way, my name is Walter St. James. But you can call me Walt.”
The pair shook hands.
Tristyn took Mich outside the room and began showing him around. He was a bit surprised to find that the underground city was called The Crawlspace because it had been an underground mine– one of the first mining operations on Rashada that had since been abandoned when all the resources ran out. It was now only accessible via trapdoors hidden throughout the surface.
The humans had carved the mine into several different sections and outfitted it with different rooms, stairs, living quarters and any and everything required to survive underground.
They passed a room, and through a window, it appeared to be filled with weapons similar to the ones the guards carried. Tristyn commented, “Only guards are allowed to have these type of weapons on Rashada. These are what have been siphoned from their supply over the years.”
To the left of the supply room was a large opened area where several men were fighting each other with blunt-edged swords and one was standing out of the way, shooting a pellet gun at a target at the far end of the room. “Over there are the sparring grounds. We don’t have anyone who could take on a Keeper, but a lot of our men could hold their own against a guard.”
“What’s a Keeper?” asked Mich.
“I keep forgetting you don’t know anything,” Tristyn snickered. “Keepers have learned to use the untapped portion of their mind and can harness their own life energy in battle. They can even meld that energy into a sort of electricity around their blades. They got the name “Keepers” because long ago, a group of beings who had learned this power saved the galaxy from those who wanted to destroy it.”
Mich remembered the stained-glass windows he had seen in The Queens court and assumed that they were related. “Are there any human Keepers?” Mich inquired.
Tristyn paused as if recalling an old memory. “There’s only been one human Keeper, and he left Rashada long ago.”
&nb
sp; They climbed a ladder and were in front of a large, windowed room that looked down on a large portion of The Crawlspace. “Over there is our tech room. Our man Scraggs can fix up just about anything, no matter how bashed up it is.”
“Do you think he has something that can charge my phone?”
Tristyn shrugged and walked over to the tech room door, motioning for Mich to follow.
Inside the room were several miniature bots scurrying around the floor and a couple of small flying devices hovering around the room effortlessly. One of the devices, a tiny sphere with a helicopter blades, immediately zoomed down to Mich’s face as if examining his eyes. Instinctively, Mich tried to swat the device away like a fly, but it dodged each swat with ease.
Sitting in a chair, facing a large control panel with hundreds of buttons and multiple large monitors was a skinny man wearing a long, white coat. He had a short thick mowhawk which was bleached on the longer portion, but had grown out brown on the sides. Covering his eyes were thick, black frames.
“Tristynnnn…” He smiled and looked her up and down, clearly checking her out. “You are lookin’ mighty fine today!”
“Not right now Scraggs,” Tristyn snarled, clearly unenthused.
“Cmon, when are you gonna lighten up? A girl like you… A guy like me–”
“Will never happen,” Tristyn finished the thought.
Scraggs threw Tristyn a frown before focusing on Mich who was still swatting at the flying machine that was circling around his head.
“Who’s this?” he asked.
“He’s a survivor from E-17.”
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Quit fucking with me,” Scraggs said with his mouth open wide.
“We’ll explain later, but right now we need your help.”
“Anything for you, baby.” Scraggs raised his eyebrows at Tristyn then turned to Mich. “Lucy stop it. He’s okay.”
Immediately, the flying bot flew away from Mich and went about hovering aimlessly in the air. Mich straightened his jostled clothes, and pulled his phone out of his pants, trying to look unaffected.
“Whao! Is that a cellular telephone? Those things are ancient. I’ve heard about them, but haven’t actually seen one in person.”
“The battery is dead. I was hoping you’d have something that I could charge it with,” Mich said as he handed Scraggs the phone.
“What do you wanna do? Call back to E-17?” Scraggs asked sarcastically.
“It’s got some pictures and a few other things on it. It’s all I’ve got left from my home.”
Scraggs flipped the phone on all sides and shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do.”
He placed the phone down on the control panel beside a metal box filled with what appeared to be grey-colored eggs, just as one of the eggs let out a wild spark that caused them all to jump.
“Sorry about that,” he said as he picked up the culprit egg. “This one appears to be unstable.”
“What are those?” Mich asked.
“Disrupters. One of the challenges we face are those huge mechs that guard the port and some of the government-owned buildings. Those things could take down a speeder with a single shot. They’re well-armored, so our weapons wouldn’t be effective against them. Only chance we have is to get inside one or nullify them somehow. These babies contain massive shocks of static energy. I’ve yet to test them on something the size of the mechs, but I suspect that the burst of energy would shut down their systems for long enough that we could make a move.”
“If we ever get to the point we’ve got enough force to take action, let’s hope you’re right,” Tristyn said.
The pair left the tech room and passed a dining hall. “Over there, we make all the food by hand. No bot food down here. Only the chefs finest.” Tristyn waved across the room to a man wearing all white garb and a chef’s hat. The man nodded and smiled as his hands were busy kneading some sort of dough.
The smell of fresh food made Mich’s stomach growl loudly.
“You haven’t eaten yet?” Tristyn asked?
“Not yet. How long was I out? Carl might be getting worried.”
Tristyn froze. “Carl? Slicked back hair and looks like he’s got a stick in his ass, Carl?”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“Shit! It totally didn’t cross my mind that the Queen probably had Candy’s crew looking after you. They’re probably scouring the city for you now. We’ve gotta go!”
Tristyn grabbed Mich’s hands and started running wildly down the corridor. As they were running, they came across Walter who was simultaneously walking and reading a few papers in his hands.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” Walter asked with a concerned look on his face.
“The Queen put him under Candy’s care. If they think he’s gone missing his first day here, they’ll be kicking down doors and questioning everyone in the city soon.”
“Damn, you’re right.” Walter looked at Mich sternly in the eyes. “Go back to your room, and If Candy or anyone else asks where you went, tell them you got lost or something. Whatever you do, don’t speak about us or the Crawlspace.”
Mich nodded, and the two humans started running again.
They reached a small ladder, and the pair climbed up into a small room of a house.
“Do you know how to get back to your room?” Tristyn asked.
“No, but I’ll figured it out.”
“Okay, be careful out there. When you’re alone and can return to The Crawlspace, go back to the poor corner and find Jimmy or one of the other children and whisper ‘Do you believe in freedom?’ They’ll bring you to where you need to go.”
Tristyn leaned in to Mich and briefly looked into his eyes. For a moment, Mich thought she was going to kiss him on the lips, but instead, he received a peck on the cheek and a pat on his shoulder. “We’ll be waiting for you.”
She opened the door and peeked outside of the house to make sure the coast was clear, and then motioned for Mich to go outside. Mich slipped out the door and immediately started strolling down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets as if he had been walking there all along.
It was nighttime, and he had no idea where he was or how to get back home. The streets were dimly lit, and stars were shining bright in the sky, but he saw no other people anywhere in sight.
Within a few minutes, a vehicle flew in the opposite direction of Mich and stopped slowly beside him. He could tell it was some sort of taxi by the brightly lit sign on the top of the cab.
The driver threw Mich a curious glance. “Where ya headed?”
“I’m not sure the exact location, but I think it’s near the Community Hall.”
“1 credit to Community Hall,” The taxi driver said.
“I don’t have any credits on me right now. How about just some directions?” Mich asked as he scratched the back of his head.
“Fuck off!” the taxi yelled and sped away.
Mich sighed. He continued walking and rounded a sharp corner, almost crashing into a pair of guards who happened to be turning the corner at the same time.
“Hey!” one of the guard snapped. “Aren’t you the human who was just brought into the city?”
“Yeah, the name’s Mich.”
“Why are you all the way out here?” The guard pointed at Mich’s chest.
Before Mich had the chance to reply, the guard lifted his hand and spoke into the back of the wrist. “Send a speeder to District 15. Tell Candy we’ve found the stray.”
The speeder that came had all the characteristics of a motorcycle, but without the wheels. Mich didn’t want to admit his fear, but his legs were a bit shaky when he got on.
As the guard whipped the speeder around corners and through the streets, Mich’s fear was neutralized as his mind was captivated by thoughts of Tristyn. Why was he thinking about this about this girl? He recollected Amy and the slew of girls he had conquered back on E-17, but Tristyn had a completely different effect on him.
She was certainly attractive,
but she did not have the insatiable sex appeal that he normally looked for in women. Her red hair, freckles, and small breasts were all things that usually did not rouse him, but when he was close to Tristyn, his blood stirred. Maybe it was her strength, her attitude, or the way she looked him in the eyes. Maybe it was the tight fitting leather. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew he needed to see her again.
As the speeder neared Mich’s building, he could see Carl standing with a group of guards beside a hovering craft that was shooting multi colored lights in every direction. The speeder pulled up directly beside Carl, and Mich hopped off.
Carl ran up to Mich, and his eyes looked him up and down as if searching for damage. “Mich, where have you been? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sorry… um… I went out for a walk and kind of lost track of time.”
“You’ve been gone all day. We messaged all the nearby guards to look out for you a couple hours ago. Candy almost had me send out a special OPS unit to find out where you’d gone.”
“First day on a new fragment-planet,” Mich smiled. “I wanted to see as much as I could. Sorry I made you worry.”
“But where–”
“I’m tired and hungry,” Mich interrupted and patted Carl’s shoulder. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow. And in the meantime, don’t worry about me so much. I think I’ve got the hang of things now.” Something about meeting the rebel humans gave him a surge of confidence.
Mich turned to the guard sitting on the speeder and yelled, “Thanks for the ride!” before walking to towards the building. Behind him, Carl was debriefing the remaining guards and releasing them back to their command posts.
When Mich was inside his room, he opened his refrigerator and took a swig of a reddish liquid that reminded him of fruit punch. He pulled out a package that was labeled “roasted korg” and remembered that the korgs legs he had back on Nerria had been rather delicious. He wondered what a live korg could possibly look like.
He opened the package and placed the slivers of meat between two slices of bread and threw himself on the bed while he finished his boring meal. He again thought of Tristyn and the feeling of her soft lips on his cheek as she kissed him goodbye. He remembered the warmth of her tiny hand holding on to his as they ran through the halls of The Crawlspace. “Damn, she looked good in that bodysuit,” he whispered to himself.