My Friend is an Alien (niklas and friends)

by Niklas Edlund

  * * *

  The eight boys were being led by large armed and armored Botaran guards through the corridors of a rather nondescript vessel. Keith had only stopped swearing a few seconds ago, Arion was still muttering under his breath, Martin was clinging to Niklas and Davy for all he was worth, Morik looked almost as petrified, and Jahv and Keyro looked all of betrayed, angry, and scared.

  "Where the hell are we, anyway?" said Keith. Apparently the guards didn't have any argument with the boys conversing. Either that or they didn't understand what was being said.

  "On board a Botaran Judicial Vessel." explained Jahv. "There's hundreds of ships like these. Justice is swift in my culture, and the Magistrates make all the decisions. They're generally the most honest and honorable people in our society. But I guess there's exceptions."

  "Why vessel?" asked Morik.

  "My people travel a lot, to many worlds." said Jahv. "If there's a legal problem, it's easier to send a ship to the problem than to bring the problem to the homeworld."

  "But we were on Earth!" protested Niklas, his voice shaky. "Why would your people be that close to our world?"

  "I'm not sure they were, and I'm not sure we are anymore." said Jahv. "That was a massive transmat platform, even bigger than the one Keyro and I used when we traveled to Earth when we first left home. If the underlying power grid was as immense, we could've been shot halfway across the galaxy."

  "Why do you people even have ships if you can do that?" asked Davy, trying to keep his mind off of what was happening.

  "The transmats take a LOT of power," said Jahv. "Ships are easier, and better, for large cargo transportation as well as general exploration. Pol probably blew out half the power grid of Keisner Park sending us here."

  "Who cares!" wailed Martin. "I wanna go home! What's gonna happen to us!?"

  The group passed a lone window in the corridor. Keith looked out. "Aw, man, I don't believe it!"

  "What?" asked Niklas.

  "Look out the window." said Keith. "Recognize that mess out there?"

  The boys looked as they walked by. "Garboris?!" exclaimed Davy. "Oh, brother."

  "What's Garboris?" asked Martin.

  "Remember that smelly junkpile of a space station we told you about?" remarked Keith. "I think this fancy Botaran Justice Ship or whatever is docked there."

  "This makes no sense." commented Jahv. "This is non-aligned space. No Botaran Judicial Vessel should be out here!"

  "No ethical Botaran Judicial Vessel, you mean, brother." added Keyro.

  "It still makes no sense." said Jahv. "Pol couldn't've known we were coming to his park. He couldn't've alerted the Magistrate who runs this ship in time to head to such a neutral location."

  "Unless this Magistrate has been at this neutral location for some time anyway." suggested Keyro. "Possibly waiting for some fancy case to come along — or avoiding something."

  The boys approached the end of the corridor, and two vast doors opened. The boys were prodded into the room by the guards, who then took up stations around the interior of the room. The room was circular, featureless, and dark. The only shaft of lights came down on the direct center of the room where the boys were standing, and to a high podium along the edge. At the base of that podium stood Pol, now dressed in a basic grey Botaran jumpsuit. Seated at the podium was an older-looking Botaran, with reddish skin and black flecks in his hair. This, Jahv would explain later, was a sign of aging among Botarans. This older brother of Pol's was probably on the high side of 200.

  "Process them." said the Magistrate. Three guards stepped forward with long staffs with glowing spheres at one end.

  "Is this gonna hurt?" asked Keith.

  "Just your pride." replied Jahv.

  "What do you —?" started Keith, but there was a sudden flash of light and a vague sizzling noise. When the light faded, all eight boys were stark naked.

  "Hey!" snapped Arion. "I'm no Botaran! What's the idea!?"

  "What use have children — or prisoners — for pointless coverings?" sneered one of the guards.

  "I am Magistrate Varek." said the red-hued Botaran loudly. "Jahv and Keyro, sons of Amshat, son of Lemoy, son of Dekel, son of Gershon. You are charged with the high crimes of family separation and treason against the Botaran Republic by sharing advanced technology with known primitives, specifically these four from the planet designated Earth."

  "Are you kidding?!" exclaimed Jahv. "This Pol here has been sharing technology with a couple'a million 'primitives' for the past several YEARS on that planet!"

  "Actually," said Pol, "I've only built an amusement park that utilizes certain technologies which remain hidden and concealed. There is no crime in that. You're the ones that gave these four transmat discs, and Creator only knows what else. You've been missing for close to a year."

  "Nor is he on trial here, nor did he willingly abandon his family." emphasized Varek. "However, we should get down to specifics. Prince Arion of Korras. You are not charged in any of this. How you came to be among these people is neither our business nor our concern."

  "You couldn't've figured that one out before you blasted my clothes away?!" snapped Arion.

  "We must follow procedures." said Varek. "We are aware of your — situation. However, we of course have no extradition treaty with the Soluan Empire, nor is returning you to Korras an option, since that would be a violation of their treaty with the Soluan Empire. You are free to go. In fact, we insist. Remove him to the space station."

  "Oh, yeah, right!" yelled Arion. His temper got the better of him and he probably should've flown, but before he could react, two large guards grabbed him. "Like tossing me naked onto that dungpile is an improvement! Hey, you white-haired antennae-eared freak! I'm…

  Whatever else Arion had to say, which if anyone had bothered to listen would have included a number of colorful comments about the Magistrate's age, possible ancestral peculiarities, and the fact that he was probably hatched from a particularly rotten egg (a devastating insult but generally only applicable to Arion's people), were lost as the massive doors of the courtroom closed.

  "Morik." said the Magistrate. Morik tried to look defiant and glared at Varek. "You present a difficult situation. You are not charged with any crime, but we have no contact with any known Dorrian colonies."

  "I stay with my friends." said Morik.

  "You realize that by doing so, you will share their punishment." said Varek.

  "I stay with my friends." stated Morik.

  "Very well. Judgement proceedings will be in five hours. Take them to their holding cell." The light went out above the podium, and the boys were led from the room.

  * * *

  Arion found himself unceremoniously dumped just outside the docking hatch of the Judicial Vessel. "And your mother breeds in a hatchery!" screamed the indignant youngster as the doors closed behind him.

  Arion snarled and stood. He was already getting stared at by several passers-by. Arion was not in the least bit comfortable naked, nor did he like getting tossed around. There wasn't a lot he could do about that right now, but he needed to find some clothes before he could even think about doing much of anything else.

  He kept to the shadows as much as possible, which wasn't too hard in a place like Garboris. Finally he came across an isolated replicator unit. Hopefully it was capable of making some basic dry goods. He scrolled through the menu until he reached a listing for clothing. There wasn't much available. Of course not, Arion realized, because it would cut too much into any clothing businesses that happened to set up shop here. There was, however, a basic one-piece jumpsuit that frankly looked to be of Botaran design, except it was dark blue instead of silver, with white boots. It was listed as "one size fits all". Arion pressed the button to order one, and was presented with a message. "YOUR GENETISCAN REVEALS NO EXISTING ACCOUNT."

  Arion swore. He had no way to pay for the suit. If the device couldn't take a decent DNA reading from him, it wouldn't process. And he doubted anyone aroun
d here was likely to extend him charity. Then he noticed something. On his shoulder, a single white hair from one of the guards that had tossed him out. Would it work?

  Arion re-did the order, and found a scrap of paper on the floor. When it was time to place the order, he placed the hair on the paper and the paper on his finger. Sure enough, the machine took a DNA reading from the hair. "APPROVED. THANK YOU, SENTRY HOLK."

  The folded fabric suit appeared in the processing bin. "With a little luck," thought Arion as he extracted the suit, "this thing was real expensive." Arion unfolded it and donned it. It was, indeed, a perfect fit. "One of these days, I gotta find out what fabric those people use."

  Now clothed, Arion was still faced with a problem. What to do about his — his — okay, he had to think about that. Were Jahv and the others his friends? He didn't really get along with them all that well. He'd simply taken up with them because they'd rescued him from the Soluans — on this very station in fact — and he honestly had no other options. But except for one party, that ridiculous Halloween affair — he hadn't really spent that much time with Jahv and the others, or with the humans. But now he was back on Garboris, freed from both the Soluans and from Earth. The question, he realized, was not so much what to do about Jahv and the others — but whether to do anything at all.

  * * *

  "Unbelievable." muttered Keith. He and the others had been tossed into a holding cell with a forcefield at the front. Except for a toilet and a pathetically basic food replicator that only offered something that looked like powdered rice and smelled like dirty socks, the room was featureless. "Why is it every time we head into space with you two, we end up naked sooner or later?"

  "Count your blessings." said Jahv.

  "What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Keith.

  "Judicial processing used to include shaving heads." replied Jahv.

  "I can't believe they put us all together." said Niklas.

  "You see that as an advantage?" asked Jahv.

  "Well, it gives us time to think and plan together." commented Niklas.

  "Yes. We have been stripped — literally — of every conceivable resource. There is nothing within this cell we can use as either a weapon or a means of escape. And even if we could get out, there's plenty of armed guards." said Jahv. "Now, what do you propose we do?"

  "You're giving up?" asked Davy.

  "I'm facing facts." said Jahv. "Keyro and I never should have run away. If we'd stayed put, this never would have happened. And all of you wouldn't have been dragged into it."

  "Don't talk like that," said Niklas. "You're wonderful friends."

  "Friends don't get their friends imprisoned." said Jahv.

  "Without you," said Morik, "I never would have been rescued from that jungle planet."

  "No, but you weren't that badly off there." said Jahv.

  "Tell that to the dinosaur in the lake." muttered Keith.

  Martin, who had pretty much curled up into a ball in the corner of the room near Davy and had said nothing, except for sobbing, finally said, "What's going to happen to us?"

  Jahv sighed. "Well, we're all underage, so we'll probably be remanded over to the Procyon Institute. It's a — school of sorts."

  "Like our school, Glenwood School," suggested Niklas. "Uniforms and discipline all the time."

  "Eh — far worse than that, I suspect, although I've never seen your school." said Jahv. "Think of it as — what would the right terms be — somewhere between a military school and a juvenile prison. It's not very large, since crime on our world, at least among young people, is virtually unheard of. But what there is of it is dealt with, as all crime is, decisively. Hence the Procyon Institute."

  "Please tell me we wouldn't be forced to be naked ALL the time." said Keith.

  "In fact, wearing uniforms is considered part of the discipline." remarked Jahv. "The one curious factor is that as far as I know, you four and Morik would be the first offworlders there. I'm not sure what that will mean."

  "Look, we've got to find some way home!" insisted Davy. "Sooner or later my parents — and all of yours — are going to realize we're not just out camping in the woods!"

  "Right now, I'm afraid, that's the least of our worries." said Jahv. "The only other thing is that something just isn't right about all this. Magistrates don't advance their careers by tracking down unusual cases. They advance their careers by maintaining law and order."

  "Hey, he's related to Pol, and we've already found out what kind of creep he is." remarked Niklas.

  "What about Arion?" asked Keyro. "He's free! Maybe he can find some way to help."

  "I hope so." said Jahv. "Because for the first time, I'm out of ideas."

  * * *

  Arion walked into the bar on Garboris and shoved his way through to the counter, and caught the eye (one of eight) of the bartender. "Yeah?"

  "You got Argelian tea?" said Arion.

  "Green or pink?" asked the bartender.

  "Green." said Arion.

  "Hunh. Wouldn't figure a little runt like you could handle the strong stuff. Here." he handed Arion a cup. "That one and the next one are on the house if you can down that one in two gulps."

  Arion did so. He'd had stronger stuff than this on his homeworld, but wasn't about to ask for a beverage from a planet he'd been banned from. "Next." he said.

  The bartender raised four of his eyebrows and handed Arion another cup. Arion took it to the end of the counter where he hoped he wouldn't be noticed too much.

  Argelian tea did not make one drunk. It tended to clear the head, if anything. Arion had pretty well decided to help Jahv and the others, although he didn't necessarily intend to return to Earth with them. The two could be separate issues. What he lacked was any sort of plan. Just transmatting them out wouldn't work. Even assuming the ship wasn't shielded, which it probably was, that would just get the Botaran Security forces on their tail and accomplish nothing. What was needed was a way to get them free in such a way that they would not be chased down again. And that was going to be the hard part.

  "Aren't you Prince Arion of Korr-aacckk!" Someone had approached Arion from behind, and Arion has whipped around and grabbed the speaker by the throat. It was a Botaran. A young one, too, about Arion's own age — same age as Jahv. Light blue skin, about the color of the sky on Earth. Presently was he turning slightly purple from Arion's grip.

  "I've had about enough of Botarans for one day." said Arion. "I just got kicked off a shipload of them that are messing with some friends of mine, which happen to include the only two Botarans I find tolerable. That doesn't include you. Do yourself a favor and run home."

  Arion released the grip, but the young Botaran didn't move. "There's a Botaran ship here? I mean, besides my own?"

  Arion turned to look at the Botaran again. And this time, he took the time to look. The boy was the same age as himself or Jahv, but there were certainly differences. The hair was not as well groomed, and was distinctly longer, almost shoulder length. The boy was dressed in what looked like a spacesuit that was almost as cobbled-together as this space station. The white boots and the olive green undergarment were of obvious Botaran design, but the boots were scuffed and there were a few tears in the undergarment, at the knees and elbows. The boy was wearing a padded vest not unlike what Morik had worn at the Halloween party, except this one was dark grey. The boy also had a thick holster strapped to his right leg, which barely concealed a fairly sophisticated-looking blaster pistol.

  "Your ship?" asked Arion derisively, releasing his grip on the strange youngster, but not taking his eyes off of him. "Right."

  "It was my father's until recently. He died from Graydon's Blight. I took over."

  "Doesn't your planet have any child labor laws?" scoffed Arion. "Who are you and why are you pestering me?"

  "My name is Toben. And I spoke to you because I figured you for Prince Arion. There's two Soluans on this station that have been looking for you for months."

  Arion glared.
"Those two losers are still here!?" This could be a further problem.

  "Seems someone destroyed their engine core. No one's inclined to help them." replied Toben. "Now you said there was another Botaran ship here. I wasn't aware of any. What is it?"

  "One of your Magistrate ships." said Arion. "Some friends of mine got tricked and captured."

  "No Magistrate ship should be here, and no Magistrate would use methods like that." said Toben. "Hold it. Is the Magistrate's name Varek?"

  Arion downed the last of his tea. "Yeah. Why?"

  "He's a renegade." explained Toben. "I don't get back to the homeworld much, but I keep track of the news. Decided to start implementing his own form of justice on offworld cases. He's been disbarred and disgraced. So he fled to the outer realms looking for a way back. But it won't happen. He needs to be stopped."

  "He thinks he's got a case that'll put him back in the good graces of your legal system." said Arion. "Ever hear of a couple of runaways named Jahv and Keyro, news-boy?"

  "He has them?" asked Toben. "Of course I've heard of them! Their father — Amshat — is a quite popular scientist and the case of his vanished sons caused a big stir. Amshat lost his reputation and there's no doubt that only a heavy penalty for his sons can re-establish him. No wonder that a rogue like Varek took the chance to get them. In a way, they inspired me to strike out on my own after my father died. I should have returned to the homeworld and turned the ship over to my uncle. But the ship is the only real home I've ever had! All my life I've been taught how to run it and how to do business."

  "What is your business, anyway?" asked Arion.

  "Merchant, trader, mercenary — little bit of everything." replied Toben.

  "Somebody would hire a kid as a mercenary!?"

  "Well, that part hasn't been going as well. But the merchant and trader parts. I just say I'm handling the deal for my family." Toben switched back to the previous subject. "Look, Varek needs to be stopped, and I'm not about to let him take a couple of heroes like Jahv and Keyro back to the homeworld. It wouldn't do him any good, and it wouldn't do them any good. And you shouldn't hang around on this station, either! If those Soluans see you…!"