My Friend is an Alien (niklas and friends)

by Niklas Edlund

  The group moved through the airlock and into the space station. It smelled like a gym locker. Keith wrinkled his nose, and Niklas looked nearly ready to gag. Davy scowled. Their illusions of the wonders of space were taking a bit of a beating just now. Morik looked nervous to be in such enclosed spaces as this. Jahv was amazed at how badly the place had indeed deteriorated. His and his parents had stopped here, as he had said, about five years ago, for emergency repairs. It had been a nasty place then. Now it looked downright vicious.

  The walls were grimy, and so were most of the rather unpleasant-looking aliens they passed as the boys wandered through the corridors which led to a central section where Jahv knew the station's directory was. It was sort of a hub from which many corridors branched. They were all following Jahv's lead, and sticking close.

  "This place is disgusting." whispered Davy.

  "Yeah, I know, guys." said Jahv. "I didn't think it would be this bad, but we're kind of stuck. We've got to get the parts we need."

  "Let's do it quickly, okay?" suggested Niklas, who, like Davy, had come to the realization that looking out the window of a nice clean shuttle at all the wondrous stars and phenomenae of space flying past was a far cry from dropping in on some remote outpost. Even Keith seemed cowed, thinking to himself, "I wanted a reality check, but not something this bad. I'm glad Martin's not here."

  They soon came to the Core, as it was called. Several stories in height, there were wide corridors on every level, leading to all manner of shops and kiosks. An incredible array of alien life, very little of it pleasant-looking, milled around, conducting assorted business.

  "I hope Karak is still here." said Jahv. "He's the parts dealer my parents dealt with years ago. Honest enough — for this place. He'll be on the second level if I recall." Jahv consulted the directory. "Thank the Creator. He's still here."

  The group ascended a nearby stairwell that took them to the next level. "By the way," said Niklas, "I'm understanding a lot of the words I'm hearing around me. How is that possible?"

  "There's a translation field in effect throughout the station." said Jahv. "Probably one of the few things anybody bothers to maintain properly, because the commerce of the station is so dependent on it. You think most of these spacers speak more than their own language?"

  "Good point." said Niklas, surprised that some of what he was seeing was even capable of speech.

  They came to an entrance to an obvious bar which spread across the width of the entire corridor. "Do we have to go through there?" said Niklas, suddenly fearful.

  "I'm afraid so." said Jahv, wincing himself. As with the rest of the station, this place looked worse than ever.

  "Are we even allowed in a place like that?" exclaimed Davy. "That's a bar, for heaven's sake!"

  "Terrific." muttered Keith. "Only thing worse than these ugly aliens has gotta be these ugly aliens — drunk."

  "Age isn't a factor." said Jahv. "There is a detour, but.

  "But what?" said Niklas. "It's gotta be better than this!"

  "It would take three hours, and I don't think any of us want to put on the breathing gear necessary to get through the Methane Zone." stated Jahv. "It doesn't do much to cut the smell."

  "Bar." said Keith.

  "Yep, bar." added Davy.

  "I suppose so." said Niklas.

  "Whatever." concluded Morik.

  The group approached, but Jahv suddenly put his arms out and halted everyone. His eyes were the most sensitive of anyone's in the group, and he'd just seen trouble. "Now what?" exclaimed Keith.

  "There's two Soluans in there." said Jahv grimly. "Right along the main walkthrough."

  "Soluans?" asked Davy, then he realized. "You mean those aliens who — " He looked at Morik and stopped himself.

  "Precisely." said Jahv. "And they are not going to be pleased to see Morik."

  "What are Soluans?" asked Morik.

  Jahv frowned. It was time to tell a story he would have prefered to avoid. "Morik, do you remember why your parents left your home planet?"

  Morik scowled. He tried to call up memories from those very young years. "I — no. All I seem to recall is — lizard-men."

  "You do know what those lizard-men did, don't you?" asked Jahv, very gently.

  Morik nodded. "Destroyed the planet. I remember that." Then realization kicked in. "The lizard-men are here!?" His face changed to utter fury. "I'll —!" Davy and Keith restrained him.

  Jahv spoke calmly but quickly. "It's not likely they're the SAME lizard-men, and you can't win a fight against them. They'll kill you on sight, even if it meant being arrested themselves. This place is not without some security. They hate you as much as you hate them because your people destroyed all of the ships that were sent to your world. We have to get you past them unnoticed."

  "How do these Soluans feel about Botarans?" asked Keith.

  "They're not too crazy about us, either, because they know they can't beat our technology." remarked Jahv.

  "But they've probably never seen anyone from Earth, right?" added Keith.

  "No, I'm sure of that." replied Jahv. "What are you getting at?"

  "You want a distraction, you'll get one. Can I see your backpack?"

  Jahv handed Keith the backpack. Keith started fishing around and came out with a can of bathroom deodorizer. "How did that get in there?" asked Jahv.

  "I saw the plumbing facilities on board the shuttle before we took off." said Keith.

  "Next question — when did you get so brave?" inquired Davy.

  Keith sighed. "Look, I'm a bundle of nervous energy right now, and if I don't do something to blow off some steam, I'm gonna pop. I figure if nothing else, those guys are probably half-drunk and we can outrun 'em if we have to."

  "'We'?" asked Davy suspiciously.

  "I want back-up. You in?"

  Davy groaned. "I suppose, if only to see what you've got in mind."

  Keith turned to Jahv. "All right, you'll have your distraction in a minute. Get through the bar and we'll meet you on the other side."

  "I hope you know what you're doing." said Niklas.

  "Yeah, me too." replied Keith, as he and Davy walked off.

  The Soluans were huge beings, easily over seven feet tall. Their bodies were powerful but their limbs were rather slender. Their heads looked vaguely like several species of dinosaur Keith could think of offhand. Both were scaly green, but one of them, who also had a badge on his metallic tunic that the other did not have, had some orange around his face. Keith assumed it was probably because he was just older. He looked more scaly, too. The two reptilian men were talking about something, but Keith couldn't quite tell what. The translation field was working in here, but it was crowded and noisy.

  Keith took a deep breath and stepped right up to the table, Davy in tow. "Good afternoon, gentle — uh — men."

  "Grife, now what." rumbled one of the Soluans. "Getting so you can't get quietly drunk anywhere in the cosmos anymore."

  "And what manner of pathetic mammals are these?" said the other. "You ever see anything like these things before?"

  "Not sober, I haven't." replied the first. "Maybe we're more drunk than we think."

  Keith kept going, bringing out the spray can. "Gentlemen, I have a wonderful offer for you today. For just a — a small amount of whatever you use for money, you can own this wonderful new freshening product."

  "'Freshening product'?" repeated the elder Soluan.

  "Absolutely!" proclaimed Keith, trying to keep his knees from knocking. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jahv and Niklas flanking Morik and making their way through the bar as quickly as they could without being too obvious about it. It was slow going given the crowd of patrons milling — and in some cases staggering — and in at least one case oozing — around. "Kills germs in the air!" Keith shot some of the spray into the air, and the Soluans waved the spray away from them. "Kills bad breath, too!" continued Keith. "Open up, llama-lips." Keith reached for the younger Soluan's face and pried
his jaw open and shot some spray in. The Soluan stared choking. "Makes a great flavor additive, too!" Keith shot some of the spray into the older Soluan's drink, and the force of the spray splashed some of the purplish liquid out of the glass.

  "Enough!" roared the elder Soluan. The younger one was still coughing. "Begone!"

  Keith backed off, and Davy was clearly ready to run. "Well, I can see you're just not interested, but I tried. Bye!"

  Keith and Davy skittered for the exit on the far side of the bar, where the others waited. "I don't believe what you did back there." wheezed Davy. "Grabbing that thing's mouth!?"

  "Got on a roll and couldn't stop myself. And brother, he needed the spray, trust me."

  "Well, after that stunt, I hope they're gone by the time we get back, because if they're not, Niklas and I are going to have to conceal three of you, and I'm not sure we can." said Jahv. "I didn't pack the cloaking field that I used that day in the mall."

  "What now?" asked Niklas.

  "Now, we find Karak." said Jahv. He led the group further down the corridor and through several turns. Finally they arrived at their destination. "Thank the Creator!" sighed Jahv. "Karak is still in business."

  Jahv led the group to a medium-sized storefront with alien lettering above the entryway. But there was no denying the purpose of the store. Holographic images of spaceship parts were on display in the windows. Niklas theorized that this was probably some sort of universal symbology that practically anyone would understand. The translation field could take care of spoken words, perhaps, but not images.

  A chime went off as soon as the youngsters entered. A deep, accented voice boomed from the back. "Yah, yah, I be coming!"

  "Sometimes the translation field is — somewhat less than perfect." remarked Jahv, noticing the curious expressions on the other boys' faces. Even Morik stuck a finger in one ear as if to make sure it was working properly.

  A huge specimen of alien life emerged from a back room. He was more or less humanoid, well over six feet tall, with light blue skin bordering on pale turquoise, thick black hair and a beard, bald on top with a ridge of skin or bone running from the bridge of his nose well over his forehead, disappearing into his hairline. And either his species was naturally predisposed towards a huge gut, or this being had not missed very many meals in his life, all of which had been considerable. He was dressed in a worn brown shirt, and equally worn grey coveralls with a variety of stains on them from assorted mechanical fluids. Davy, Niklas, and Keith backed off a few steps. Morik looked slightly nervous. Only Jahv seemed unfazed. "Whataya kids want?" said Karak, roughly but not unkindly. "The simulator arcade is on the next level!"

  "We know that. We need a part for our shuttle." explained Jahv.

  "YOUR shuttle?" Karak's reddish eyes went wide. "You five kids is on your own? Hokay, I'm impressed. Whataya need?"

  "Hyperwarp stabilizer coil for a medium-sized shuttle of Botaran design." explained Jahv.

  "Lemme see specs." said Karak. Jahv withdrew a small device from his backpack, which displayed an image of the shuttle, and handed it to Karak. "Hunh. Built this yourself, didn't you?"

  "Yes, why?"

  Karak shrugged. "Overall, you did good job. Followed specs almost precisely. But I see problem. Your regulator coil to your stabilizer isn't tight enough. That's why your stabilizer blew. I can give you new coil and new stabilizer. If you need me to do work, that'll be extra."

  "We can do the work." said Jahv.

  "I think you can." said Karak, grinning. "But you still need parts. What you have for trade?"

  "I can offer you a Botar-Tech Mark 5 Food Replicator." said Jahv.

  Keith grabbed Jahv's arm and whispered, "You're giving him the food replicator? I just got that thing to do cheeseburgers and pizza!" "And we're on our way directly home after this, and there's still the replicator back in the dome tent." replied Jahv. The replicator on the shuttle was one which Keyro had brought with him, and they were working on building more such equipment. "Besides, we don't have any currency, and can you think of anything else to better offer Karak?"

  Karak stroked his chin. "Hokay. I like you kids. I make you deal. Replicator for coil and stabilizer. But you better throw in some food programs."

  Jahv grinned. "Deal!"

  "You go get replicator. I will have parts when you get back." said Karak. "Hey, one question. You I know as Botaran, and him I think is Dorrian, though I haven't seen one since — well, in years. What you other three?"

  Jahv smiled. "They're from a planet called Earth."

  Niklas almost panicked. "Jahv," he whispered quickly, "should you have told.

  He was interrupted by a derisive snort from Karak. "Earth. Silly name for a planet. Never heard of it. Whatever. You get replicator, I have parts."

  The youngsters moved off and headed back towards the stairwell. "It's like I said, Niklas. Nobody on this station is going to care, and Karak's one of the nicer guys around here."

  "I have to say, that deal went easier than I guess I thought it was going to." remarked Davy, as the group headed down.

  "I'll just be glad to be out of here." said Keith.

  "I gotta admit, I'm thinking that watching the universe through a telescope from now on might not be such a bad idea." said Niklas.

  "Guys, I really am sorry about this." said Jahv. "But we'll be out of here soon enough."

  "May I ask, do any of you know a Prince Arion?" said Morik abruptly.

  Jahv immediately turned. "What? Prince Arion? Of Korras? Why?"

  "Those two Soluans in the bar have him prisoner on their ship." explained Morik. "That's what they were talking about when Davy and Keith walked up. He's been giving them a lot of trouble."

  "How could you know that?" asked Davy.

  Morik brushed his long hair past his tapered, pointed ears. "Not much gets past these."

  "What are you guys talking about?" asked Keith impatiently.

  "Korras is a gorgeous planet. Very mountainous. The people are a peaceful and elegant race, but not someone that you want to pick a fight with." explained Jahv. "They consider combat an art form as much as painting or dancing. And they can fly, on their own, so they're also pretty good at developing flying machines and spacecraft."

  "They can fly?!" exclaimed Davy, stunned. Davy loved to climb in trees and up hills and pretend that he could swing through branches like Tarzan or even fly like a superhero.

  "Prince Arion wouldn't be any older than any of us." remarked Jahv. "Taking him prisoner makes no sense. He can't possibly be a threat."

  "He could be a hostage." said Keith.

  "We should rescue him." said Morik.

  "Whoa, hold it!" exclaimed Keith. "Do we look like a SWAT team!? Come on, guys, we're five kids with a broken-down shuttle that we'll be lucky to limp home in, and camo-face here wants us to go play commando!?"

  "There may be a way that doesn't require us to actually go up against the Soluans." pondered Jahv.

  "Guys, the shuttle repair?" urged Keith.

  "It's going to take some time for Karak to get the parts ready, anyway." said Jahv. "And there's really not much to do here otherwise. Not for kids, anyway."

  "I'm not sure about this." said Niklas gently. "I mean, suppose they come after us?"

  "As soon as we've managed the rescue, we'll get the parts and be out of here." said Jahv. "I know Soluan ships. They rely on brute force. They don't have the subtlety to track us once we're in hyperwarp."

  "I hate to say this, but this really isn't any of our business." said Davy.

  Jahv frowned. "Look, guys, we're talking about a kid just like us. The Soluans' reputation tells me they're either going to execute him, imprison him indefinitely, or brainwash him."

  Niklas and Davy looked hesitant. Finally Niklas said, "What's your plan for rescuing him?"

  "Aw, for —!" started Keith, but a glare from Niklas and Davy silenced him, admittedly into a scowl.

  "This station has a working transmat unit on the fourth leve
l. It's similar to what Keyro and I used to arrive on your world." explained Jahv.

  "I hope it's a darn sight quieter!" sputtered Keith.

  Jahv nodded. "It is. That was an older unit, and we were using it over a vast distance. I'm even working on a mid-range unit for myself and Keyro back on Earth. But never mind that now. Anyway, considering the specifics of Soluan ships, they're not really well shielded against energy intrusions. If we find the transmat console, we can — I think you would say 'beam' Prince Arion right out of the Soluan ship, get our shuttle parts, and get underway before the Soluans even know what happened."

  Niklas and Davy looked at each other, thinking about the rescue. Finally they shrugged and nodded. "Okay. We can try it."

  Keith let loose a few choice expletives.

  "But if it starts getting too messy, we'll have to break it off." added Davy. "One thing we're all agreed on — we want to get home. Safely."

  The five boys found a nearby staircase and scooted up the steps to the fourth level and down a short corridor. As Jahv had recalled, there was a transmat station. There was also a guard, or operator, at the console. He wasn't much taller than any of the kids, and was in fact thinner. But his rather wrinkled facial appearance, which was moderately human through greyish skin, indicated that this was an adult. "Can I help you kids?" he said in a bored but slightly suspicious voice.

  Jahv tried to bluff it through. "We have some cargo we need transported here."

  "Yeah, I'll bet you do." said the operator, approaching Jahv as the five boys spread out somewhat. "G'wan, get out of here. I have no time for pesky kids. Whataya doin' on this station, any —!"

  The operator's eyes bugged out, then closed, and he slumped to the ground, Niklas bracing him to keep from falling too hard. But it was impossible not to notice Niklas' hand on the alien's shoulder. "I'll be darned — it worked!"

  "You gotta be kidding me." said Keith, trying not to laugh. "You pulled a Vulcan nerve pinch!?"

  "Just don't think it's going to work on anybody else." said Jahv, not quite stifling a giggle. It was rather funny. "That race is known to be susceptible to that sort of thing."