Galileo (Battle of the Species)

by Meaghan Sinclair

  “Like ‘the’,” Dylan replied.

  After a moment, Professor Ozrot looked up and saw a room full of blank faces staring back at him. “Oh dear, I might be going too fast.”

  “You think?” Renn said, under his breath.

  The professor looked down at the call sheet on his tablet. “Etienne Durrant. Can you please explain to me what I just said?” Professor Ozrot asked.

  “Sure, you’re explaining how to isolate a quark,” Etienne replied, causing the professor to beam with approval.

  “Good, good. I just wanted to make sure you all understood before we proceeded,” the professor said with a smile, as if the mere thought of someone not understanding the simple formula was ridiculous.

  Desh and Kia looked over at Etienne as if wanting to strangle him like the rest of the class.

  “Hey, I like this guy,” Etienne whispered with a shrug.

  Desh shook his head grinning, until he realized Renn was watching him and the smile disappeared.

  Renn looked back at the board, but couldn’t help but think about the last BOTS game and the odd relationship between Desh and Kia.

  Mind your own business, suddenly rattled in his head, and Renn tried to clear his thoughts when he realized Desh was listening.

  After physics, Renn parted ways with Dylan, who was taking a language class in Pathorian, and Leo, who was headed to an Eilex language class.

  Renn walked into the simulation room, finding Paro standing there, waiting to teach him Mindeerian.

  “Let’s begin,” Paro said, clapping his hands together when the bell chimed.

  Renn looked around the empty room and couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t we going to wait for the other students?”

  “What other students?” Paro replied, amused by the question. “The Mindeerian language isn’t a spoken language, it’s based on telepathy. The only reason we speak is to communicate with non-telepaths, since most non-telepaths think in a language, as opposed to through imagery. Since you are the only telepath on the ship, unable to communicate through telepathy, the answer is no. There are no other students who will be joining us.”

  “Oh,” Renn muttered, making a mental note to try to stop asking stupid questions.

  “Now, this shouldn’t take too long to learn. I expect you should be able to understand and communicate in Mindeerian by the end of the lesson today,” Paro said, thinking about it.

  Renn’s stomach lurched, thinking that might be a little ambitious, but tried to keep an open mind.

  “For the rest of the year, we will be using this room for fighting practice, since I don’t see how else you will learn to fight like a Mindeerian. Like telepathy, you have many strengths, but they are useless if you don’t use them for their intended purpose,” Paro continued. “For now, however, let’s start with communication.” Paro looked up and commanded, “Ava, please give us two comfortable chairs for this lesson,” and with that, two plush armchairs appeared behind Renn and Paro, facing each other.

  “Okay,” Renn replied, flopping into one of the chairs. He set his tablet next to his feet, but suddenly got an image projected into his head of him setting it on his lap.

  “Uh…” Renn said, not sure what Paro wanted him to do. “Do you want me to pick up the tablet and set it on my lap?” Renn asked.

  Paro smiled. “Yes, that is what I just asked you to do. Now let’s try something else…” Paro went through a series of scenarios, communicating with imagery, until the Professor noticed the furrow getting deeper between Renn’s eyebrows. Paro projected the image of Renn back to Renn, so he could see what a quizzical expression he had, making Renn laugh.

  “I’m sorry, I’ve got a question,” Renn said.

  “Good, I expect questions,” Paro encouraged.

  “We’ve been communicating with one another for the last half hour or so and I don’t really feel like I know you any better than when I first got here. If we were talking in English like humans…I don’t know, I think I would have learned more about you by now.”

  Paro smiled and nodded at the observation. “Mindeerians are inordinately secretive. We don’t share with each other like humans do. We all seem to try, when we meet someone from another species we develop feelings for, but we are by nature a very reticent species. Do you find it natural to open up to others?” Paro asked.

  “Very,” Renn replied, not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, just the truth.

  Paro nodded. “It’s okay, I do expect you to display some human traits under the circumstances. I don’t think that one is necessarily a bad one unless you open up to the wrong person. You just need to be careful. Mindeerians are well trusted, but we are very cautious of others. I’m sure you can understand why, considering recent events.”

  “What happened to all the Mindeerians?” Renn asked in almost a whisper, understanding the answer would hurt Paro more to say than for Renn to hear.

  Paro took a deep breath, shaking his head, as if fighting the memories the question evoked. “Some escaped,” he answered. “The Federation sent as many ships as they could to help when the Eminites attacked. When the Mindeerians realized they were going to lose the battle, they used the ships to evacuate as many people as possible.”

  “Where are the ships now?” Renn asked.

  “Hidden until the war is over. All that is known is that Mindeerians are refugees, and will remain so until the Eminites are defeated. Don’t worry, we don’t expect you to do anything about them yet,” Paro said.

  “I’m sorry, ‘yet’?” Renn asked, curious what he was expected to do to help. “What would I…”

  The bell chimed and Paro stood up without clarifying the statement, then projected an image of Renn wearing his simulation suit to class, and entering through the door to the simulation room, over and over. “Understand?”

  Renn nodded. “You want me to wear my battle suit from now on.”

  Paro smiled in approval. “Good.”

  Renn walked out of the simulation room, allowing his vicom to start buzzing with messages full of the latest ship gossip. Two messages were from Leo and Dylan, who were both heading towards the mess hall.

  “Meet you there,” Renn replied back.

  When the three arrived, they sat down and discussed what planets they were going to eat from. After about a week, they had begun the habit of each choosing from a different planet and trying each other’s plate, in an attempt to avoid going hungry if they didn’t like something. A lesson learned the hard way when Renn ordered too many replacement dishes and was denied dinner for exceeding his allotted calorie intake for the day.

  Dylan and Renn were able to eat all of the same foods, but they had to be careful sharing with Leo, who could only stomach cold food, and usually only shared their salad with him.

  “So…was the entire class just…you two staring at each other?” Leo asked.

  “No, not at all. We still spoke, but most of it’s just communicating through imagery,” Renn explained.

  “Wish I could do that,” Leo said.

  “Well, technically you can, it’s just that I’d be doing all the pushing and pulling,” Renn replied.

  “Hey, do it to me,” Dylan said.

  “What? I did it to you a couple hours ago and you just about pissed your pants!” Renn replied laughing.

  “I wasn’t expecting it!” Dylan protested. “It was this random voice, like the sound of doom, ‘Is he human?’” Dylan said in a mock tone.

  Renn laughed and then pushed an image into Dylan and Leo’s heads of Renn eating.

  “Oh…you just want to eat now,” Dylan said, smiling.

  “Yeah, but we just communicated through telepathy,” Renn replied.

  “That’s cool,” Leo said, digging into a blue shellfish from Ellite.

  Renn sat there eating a citrus fruit from Athlart, when a human caught Renn’s attention and he almost choked on the fruit. Out of the entire Federation, Jonah Price, Camden’s town bully, had to go to school o
n this ship, Renn thought.

  Jonah stepped on a Janiun’s tail and pushed a tablet out of a Zorgre’s hand while he walked through the mess hall. He walked up to Etienne, who was sitting alone, studying and eating a piece of bazzirot pie, until Jonah put his finger in the middle of the pie and asked Etienne if he was going to eat it.

  Jonah’s face registered surprise when he was hit in the shoulder by an invisible fist.

  Renn looked over to see Desh and Kia walking towards Jonah, with Desh’s cat eyes fixated on him. He walked up until he was inches from Jonah’s face.

  “You got a problem?” Desh asked.

  “What’s it to you?” Jonah replied in defiance.

  Desh was tall, able to look Jonah straight in the eyes, and he fished around Jonah’s head, looking through the mess inside. “You think Etienne’s going to do your homework for you.”

  “No, I don’t,” Jonah replied, as if Desh were being absurd.

  “That wasn’t a question,” Desh said.

  Jonah took another invisible punch to the shoulder, as Desh stood there staring him down, unmoving. “You’re not on Earth anymore. Daddy can’t help you here.”

  Renn couldn’t help but grin. It only took Desh seconds to figure Jonah out and call him on it.

  A crowd gathered around them, anticipating a fight. On Earth, Jonah was the tormentor and could take anything he wanted without fear of reprimand. On the Galileo, however, he was at the bottom of the food chain; he just hadn’t figured that part out yet.

  Jonah threw up his hands and gave a snotty “whatever” to Desh before walking away. Desh threw in one last warning punch to the back of Jonah’s shoulder as an exclamation point before he and Kia sat down for lunch.

  Etienne looked down, unable to make eye contact with Desh, and mumbled, “Thanks.”

  Desh fed Etienne silly images of Jonah looking like an idiot, until Etienne couldn’t help but laugh. Desh smiled back, until Renn caught his eye.

  Desh looked over, glaring at Renn from across the room and a crystal clear voice sounded in Renn’s head.

  This is none of your business, Desh projected.

  Renn looked away, going back to his lunch. He wanted to have as much control over his powers as Desh had over his. He wondered how weak he must look to the other Mindeerians and wondered if that was the reason why none of them seemed to want anything to do with him.

  We’ve got nothing against you, said a voice in Renn’s head. Renn looked behind him and saw Tabit waving to him from across the room. You should really learn to hide your thoughts though, he projected with a smile and a wink.

  Yeah, thanks, Renn replied, and went back to eating while he tried to clear his mind. Soon his mind wandered back to Jonah and the irony that he was there. Renn had thought he would never see him again.

  “What are you thinking about?” Dylan asked.

  “What?”

  “You’re frowning.”

  “Oh. I didn’t realize. It’s just that guy that almost got in a fight with Desh,” Renn explained. “He came from my hometown. There are so many schools in the Federation. How is he here?”

  “That’s actually common. Schools are more likely to accept students from the same region in order to help with the transition from their planet to space. It’s to help avoid getting culture shock. Like it’s supposed to be rehabilitating being around others you can identify with. That’s why you’re rooming with so many humans. Actually, he probably would have been rooming with us if you two hadn’t enrolled so late.”

  “But, then I would have been out!” Leo exclaimed.

  “And we would have been stuck with Jonah Price! Oh my gawd!” Renn said, realizing they had just dodged a flaming bullet.

  When the bell chimed, they headed to topography class and waited while everyone filtered in. Jonah walked in following a blue arrow on the ground, moments after the second bell had chimed. He froze when he saw Desh staring at him from the back row. There was nowhere to go. The two of them would be bumping into each other in classes, at the dorms, in the mess hall…it was a ship.

  “Please take a seat,” the professor said. “Since this is the first day, I will excuse the tardiness, but going forward, no excuses will be tolerated.”

  Renn tried to cover his face, not wanting Jonah to recognize him and sit near him. Unfortunately, he took the only other empty seat in the room, sitting next to Meta.

  Renn spent the rest of the class watching Jonah and focusing on his thoughts. Meta had caught Jonah’s attention for the mere fact that she was the only person sitting near him. He took advantage of the situation by trying to turn her tablet off when she wasn’t looking, which Renn telekinetically turned back on before she noticed. Jonah then moved her chair back when she got up for a second, which Renn pushed back before she sat down again. But when Jonah untied a ribbon on her braids, Renn couldn’t retie it without Jonah noticing someone was counteracting his bullying, so the ribbon draped down her back for the rest of the class.

  Luckily, neither Jonah, nor Meta had noticed what was going on, but towards the end of class, Renn realized that Desh was watching him.

  What? Renn projected.

  Nothing. Just noticing how passive-aggressive you are, Desh replied, before looking back towards the professor.

  Their botany class was the next period and Renn, Dylan, and Leo had no time at all, walking from one side of the ship to get to the other.

  When they walked into the class, they found plants scattered around the room and hundreds of jars of herbs lining an entire wall. Heat lamps gave warmth to young buds nestled in flowerbeds, and strong cages secured aggressive plants that snapped when someone came near them.

  Professor Skat, a beautiful Lucian female in her early thirties, stood at the front of the class, smiling at the students when they walked in, encouraging them to look around until the bell chimed.

  Lucians were the species most often mistaken for humans, but Renn had met Lucians before and knew the only way one could tell they weren’t human, was by their jet-black hair and lavender eyes. They also had two predominant characteristics: they were herbivores, completely unable to digest meat, even if they wanted to, and were a very attractive species (if humans were to judge), ranking right up there with Mindeerians in beauty. As Mindeerians were known for being warriors, Lucians were known for public speaking, modeling, and entertaining, holding outer appearance at a higher value than what lay within.

  Being a vegan species, they used vegetation from hundreds of planets to create meat-free meals that were delicious enough to make anyone salivate. It therefore wasn’t surprising when Lucians became botany professors, combining their love for plants with their love for attention. This one, however, seemed a little flighty, as if she were on a very happy medication.

  Dylan leaned over to Renn and Leo, whispering, “One of the Third Years said that she eats most of the homework.” Leo and Renn tried to muffle their laughter when the professor picked up a Bathlitine plant, closed her eyes and inhaled, savoring the smell.

  When the bell chimed, Professor Skat welcomed the students and hoisted herself up onto her desk to sit facing them. All professors wore the same styled robes, regardless of what species they were, so the only way a Lucian could accessorize (which they loved to do) was through their hair and fingers. Professor Skat took full advantage of this with barrettes and rings adorned with flower buds.

  Renn could hear the thoughts of the girls in the class, and could tell they felt a bit threatened by her. He empathized after sitting through Professor Hevia’s class.

  Professor Skat went on to describe the principles of botany and that they would be learning the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the different vegetation. Renn thought he was going to ace the class with his eyes closed, until the Professor talked about plants from worlds other than Earth, which so far had been every one of them.

  He scanned the lessons on his tablet, noticing that the plants were categorized by medicine, poison, edibility, and wea
pons, rather than by kingdoms, divisions, classes, and so on. He sunk down in his chair, realizing that regardless of how much agricultural studies he had taken on Earth, he was going to have to start all over again.

  Renn heard the class giggling, and looked up to see Professor Skat pinching the leaves off a plant she was carrying, and nibbling on them as she walked around talking. She had digressed from the lesson, rambling on excitedly about a newly discovered flower that changed the color of its blossoms based on its mood. Renn loved it when the professors were passionate about what they were teaching; it didn’t matter the subject, passion was always such a beautiful thing.

  ***

  Renn, Leo, and Dylan walked into the language wing while Renn’s stomach growled.

  “Do you guys want to eat after this?” Renn asked.

  “No, I thought I might ekwatta piquar voot…” Leo said.

  Renn looked at him as if he had just sprouted antlers.

  “Ulitx?” Leo asked.

  “We can’t understand you, man,” Dylan said. “You have to switch to English.”

  “Switch?” Renn mumbled.

  “Oh, sorry,” Leo said, with the thickest accent Renn had ever heard.

  Renn looked at Dylan. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

  “They turn off the translator in the language wing.”

  Renn turned to Leo, looking at him, as if for the first time. “You’ve been speaking Crystallian this whole time?” Renn asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Leo replied. “So have you. Your Crystallian’s great, by the way,” he said with a grin, making Dylan laugh.

  “What, did you think that all the species on the ship speak English?” Dylan asked Renn.

  Renn felt like an idiot for not questioning how that could possibly be. “Pfsh, no…yeah. Yeah, okay, I did.”

  They walked into their English class and took seats in the back. When the bell chime stopped, Professor Nicita introduced herself to the class. Jenn Nicita was a petite, human female with thick wavy silver hair pulled back from her face. A blue blood from somewhere, the professor’s voice was soft and cultured, making Renn want to sit up straighter.