Galileo (Battle of the Species)

by Meaghan Sinclair

  Their faces were dripping with sweat. They lay on the white floor, unmoving, trying to catch their breath. Kia’s wing had instantly healed and the mud vanished from their suits once the simulation had disappeared, but their exhaustion was real and therefore remained. They tried to conserve their energy as the time clock on the scoreboard counted down in silence.

  Desh turned his head and looked at Kia who was lying on his stomach with his eyes closed, both of them with their cheeks against the cold floor, cooling them down.

  “I’m gonna eat the biggest steak after this,” Desh said, making his mouth water. “I don’t care what species it is.”

  Kia didn’t open his eyes, but a grin spread across his face. “I’ll be right there with you, Brother.”

  Desh looked up at the clock, displaying twenty seconds, nineteen, eighteen…“We’re so going to die in the next level. I’m so tired.”

  “Whatever. Even one second in, and we’re still the first team of First Years to make it to level four this year. That’s something at least.”

  “Yeah…” Desh said.

  The buzzer rang to signal the break was over and Ava wasted no time in announcing, “The planet is Elright.”

  Desh and Kia couldn’t help but laugh at their misfortune, having reached a point where their exhaustion made everything seem funny.

  “Oh, nooooooooooo,” Desh said, grinning.

  “Ava, eliminate the pain,” Kia said, making them both laugh harder while the planet rose around them. A cloudy lilac sky finished forming above hills of dark brown mud as far as the eye could see.

  “Pain eliminated,” Ava complied, deducting the points. “Fighters, choose your weapons.”

  They both slowly got up and stood there with grins on their faces while Ava’s clock counted down.

  “Aren’t you going to choose a weapon?” Desh asked.

  “Nah, I’m going to fight them with my fists like a real man,” Kia said, evoking laughter from Desh.

  “The game will begin in five, four, three, two, one.” On “one,” all of the hills of mud rose from the ground, revealing grimy beasts so large, that Desh and Kia only came to their ankles.

  They both looked up.

  “Sick ‘em, Kia!” Desh said, before they were both picked up and swallowed whole.

  ***

  Renn sat in robotics class, casting occasional glances at Meta. He listened to her thoughts, hoping they would be about him, but she seemed more focused on the professor and the class.

  Professor Tamar advised the students that they were now ready to begin assembling robots. They were each allowed to choose from a series of basic designs, depending on what their previous experience had been. If they had none, they could build a small robot with wheels, passing the lesson if they could make it move in any direction. If they had some to a lot of experience, they could choose from a variety of robots that could perform multiple functions ― anywhere from walking to war combat.

  Renn scrolled through his tablet, choosing a basic mobile surveillance-bot as his first project. Seemed simple enough, he thought, looking over the design. He walked back to the work tables, where Dylan had already blocked off a large section of a work table and was running around getting large parts for who-knows-what. Whatever it was, Dylan couldn’t wait to put it together, since this was the moment he had been waiting for since he boarded the ship.

  Renn, however, had been waiting for a different moment — a moment when he could talk to Meta. She seemed to be sharing every class with Remi though, making it difficult to get a moment alone with her. If gossip was to be believed, they weren’t a couple, but Remi persisted in his attempt to remedy that.

  If Renn was going to do it, this was going to be the time, since robotics was the only class Meta and Remi weren’t sharing. He just wasn’t sure how to go about it. He didn’t want it to seem like he was trying to pick her up…yet. They had been glancing at each other for a couple weeks, however, and it was starting to get awkward.

  He finished mounting a tilt servo onto the back of a pivot plate and then came up with what to say. He put his tools down, ran his fingers through his hair, hoping it was all pointing in an attractive direction, and walked over to her table. The second he got there, she looked up at him with her big brown eyes, and he forgot what he had come up with…he was pretty sure it began with “Hi” though.

  “Hi…uh, do you have a…” He looked in front of her and said the first thing he saw, “shim?”

  “A shim? What’s that?” Meta asked, looking perplexed.

  Renn smiled, thinking she looked adorable when she got confused. It made her eyes bigger and her lips pucker slightly. He looked to her left and picked up a wedge, holding it up. “A shim.”

  “It’s a wedge…why not just call it a wedge?” Meta asked amused.

  Renn couldn’t help but laugh. “Because it’s a shim.”

  An image of Renn throwing the wedge at her, popped into Meta’s mind and she stepped back, looking frightened.

  Renn saw the image as it happened in her head and looked at her in disbelief. “Why did you think that?” he asked, hurt.

  “I didn’t…I…” Meta stuttered, looking down, embarrassed. “I mean, I thought it…but I…I’m sorry.”

  People around them looked over, curious about what was going on.

  Renn turned around to walk back to his worktable, until he saw Desh watching them from across the room. Renn’s hands illuminated when he realized Desh had projected the image into her head, ruining the moment with Meta he had been waiting for. He didn’t know what he had done to Desh, but as far as Renn was concerned, it was on now.

  Back off, Renn projected, glaring at Desh.

  Desh glared back, until Renn walked away.

  ***

  Dylan and Renn walked into the empty dorm room, putting their tablets on their desks, and lay down on their beds, falling into a familiar routine. The door opened and a ship-bot walked in, carrying clean towels for the bathroom. Tom followed the bot through the doorway, finding the open door as good as an invitation.

  He looked over at Renn with a good-natured smile. “How was your day, Sport?” Tom asked.

  Renn laughed at the android's enthusiasm. “Pretty good, thanks,” he replied, watching the android shuffle about the room.

  Tom didn't seem to have anything to do; rather he was just looking for an excuse to interact with the students.

  “Hey Tom, what's your purpose?” Renn asked.

  Tom paused to think about it.

  Very convincing, Renn thought, imagining the robot maker deciding how long to make a pause to a question, so the android would appear more human.

  “To oversee the emotional transition of the students from parental dependents to independent adults, and support their general well being.” Tom said.

  “So you're a baby sitter?” Renn asked.

  “I prefer compassion surrogate,” Tom replied with a wink.

  Renn grinned. “Nice touch, Tom.”

  “Thank you, Renn,” Tom said.

  Rudy walked in the dorm and flopped onto his bed.

  “Hey Rudy, what's your purpose?” Renn asked.

  “To make it through physics class without flunking and to get laid,” Rudy replied.

  “Way to reach for the stars, man,” Dylan said, not bothering to look up.

  Renn continued watching Tom for a while, until Dylan looked over. “What?” Dylan asked.

  “How can you even tell if someone's an android?” Renn asked. “I mean, you can ask them, but they could outright lie about it, or if their consciousness was transferred, they may not even know they’re an android.”

  “The trick is to ask for their manufacture date,” Dylan said. “Most android makers won't erase that, just because if the android gets sent back to them for repairs, and there are parts missing, they need to know which replacement parts to get,” Dylan looked over at Tom. “Tom, what's your manufacture date?”

  “02.12.6129,” Tom replie
d.

  Renn noticed he didn’t even pause.

  CHAPTER 9

  Portals

  Professor Nicita looked down at her call sheet towards the end of English class, no longer in the mood to wait for volunteers. “Leothin Antalia Epsin, please come up and give us your speech,” she announced.

  Leo walked up to the front of the class, avoiding eye contact with everyone, and instead continued staring at his tablet. “Leo,” he corrected, sheepishly. “Just call me Leo.”

  “Okay, Leo,” the professor replied. “What did you write about?”

  “I wrote about the day I came to the Galileo,” Leo said, looking up at the professor for reassurance.

  “Very good,” she said, encouraging him to continue.

  Leo took a deep breath and began. “I kissed and hugged my mom goodbye outside the portal station on Crystalline. She couldn't stop crying and said, ‘Space isn't made for Crystallians. Crystallians rarely leave Crystalline and when we do, we either die or come back sick.’

  “I wanted to make something of myself and go on adventures and knew I wouldn’t if I stayed. My parents forbade me to go, but I appealed to the council to override their decision. They agreed, saying that it promoted the advancement of our species and would be worth the risk.

  “My dad told me I would fail; that this was suicide and I was going to die. I so much wanted to prove him wrong, and walked through the portal, exhilarated about what was to come. When I stepped into the port junction, I was instantly overwhelmed by the heat. I felt so sick. My head ached and I felt nauseated and weak.

  “Other species were walking around me like mobile furnaces and I wondered whether I had made a fatal mistake. I turned around, ready to walk back through the portal where the cool breeze on Crystalline awaited, but then thought of my dad on the other side of the portal, and I stood there, not wanting to give up.

  “A human boy walked passed me with his family, then looked at me and asked if I was going to the Galileo. When I said “Yes,” he introduced himself as Dylan and talked to me all the way to the ship. At that moment, I didn’t care how sick I felt; even meeting him had been an adventure.

  “By the time we got to the Galileo, I felt like I was going to pass out, getting sicker by the minute. Principal Lockrin came up and introduced himself with a smile. But his smile went away and he asked if I was feeling all right. When I said “No,” he took me to the dorm room where he had a special bed waiting for me. I lay down on the bed of ice and started to feel better.

  “I so much want to be around others my age and to hang out with the friends that I’ve made, but their heat makes me sick. All I can do is wait for the coolness of the bed at night and hope I can make it through one more day.”

  Leo looked up, looking vulnerable after revealing so much. The students knocked on the desks to express praise, when Leo sat down next to Renn and Dylan, avoiding their stare. He hadn’t told them that their heat was making him ill, out of fear that they would stop hanging out with him. Leo wanted to be near them, enjoying their company, but he was right, they didn’t want to make him sick; a conundrum that would bother all three of them, every time they hung out.

  The bell chimed and the students shuffled out, heading to their next class.

  Desh and Etienne walked to the elevators, not paying attention to those around them, until they realized they were standing alone in an elevator with Lux.

  Etienne looked at Desh and smirked. “I think I forgot something, I'll meet you there,” he said and rushed out of the elevator, right before it closed, leaving Desh alone with the beautiful blonde.

  The elevator stopped at each floor with more and more students climbing in. Lux stood closer to Desh, making room for the others.

  He wished she wasn't wearing thought blockers so he could tell, if she could tell, that he was getting nervous. She was standing close enough for him to smell oavish blossoms in her hair. He took a deep breath and tried to pass it off as a lazy sigh.

  “Something wrong?” she whispered, almost inches from his face.

  “No…you just…smell like oavish blossoms,” he said, causing everyone in the elevator to turn around and look at the boy talking about flowers.

  Desh felt his cheeks burning, and when the elevator finally reached his level, he rushed out, almost bumping into Etienne who had beaten him there by taking the next elevator.

  “What took you so long?” Etienne said, while they walked into the defense class.

  “The elevator kept stopping,” Desh said, irritated.

  Did you feel her up? Etienne asked. Desh whirled around, but realized Etienne’s lips weren't moving and he had only thought it.

  “Not funny,” Desh said, trying to hide a smile.

  “Oh come on, it was a little funny,” Etienne replied.

  ***

  The next team of players in BOTS ran out to the arena floor as Ava announced that the first team was Lux Eirian and Joss Gabriel, two humans, and the second team was Carmen Thomas, an unpleasant human girl, and Menkar Xal, a quiet, but strong, Janiun.

  Renn looked at the only non-human on the floor, trying to file it to memory, that that was what the odd looking species was called. Janiuns looked like tall lizards with humanoid faces, covered in yellow and white scales from head to toe, with long yellow hair. They had big blue eyes and stood upright with muscular tails, which swayed back and forth — ready to knock over any enemy who came up behind them. The only thing Renn knew about Janiuns was that they were considered to be strong fighters and loyal friends, with the occasional exception, of course.

  Lux and Joss made one last check to the bionic braces on their arms and legs, making sure they were securely strapped in, while Carmen and Menkar looked around, waiting for Ava to begin the game.

  Renn noticed Lux and Joss wore identical earpieces with a thin black wire running down the side of their cheeks to their mouths, enabling them to communicate with each other, even from long distances. It showed they had not only fought in battle simulations before, but that they had fought together as a team.

  “The planet is Murrian,” Ava announced, prompting large stone mountains to rise from the ground, leaving the players at the base of a deep, pebbled ravine. Huts were carved into the sides of the mountains on either side of the gorge, creating massive steps up the mountains. Above them, two large moons hovered under a gloomy gray sky with swollen clouds, hinting at the planet’s predictable weather.

  “Fighters, prepare,” Ava advised.

  The players walked around, scaling the small huts, and looked behind them to make sure there weren’t any predators hiding in nooks and crevasses.

  “The game will begin in five, four, three, two, one,” Ava announced, as Desh walked up to the edge of the fighter’s tank, with his eyes fixated on Lux.

  On “one,” the fighters had only a moment before they were pummeled with a ferocious stream of rain, drenching their suits within a matter of seconds.

  Lux glared at the sky, grumbling, “Thanks, Ava,” and continued to climb up the huts to get a better view of the area.

  “I don’t get it,” Lux said into her earpiece while she looked around. “Don’t Respyn live in Murrian huts?”

  “Yeah, so?” Joss replied.

  “So, I’m surprised they’re not inviting us out of the rain. They’re usually so sweet.”

  “Uh, Lux?”

  “Yeah?”

  “The Respyn are already dead,” Joss replied, looking inside one of the huts. “This place is crawling with Cynads! Run!”

  Lux looked over in time to see a pack of large, saber-toothed creatures run out of one of the huts after Joss. Cynads poured out of the huts with fresh blood all over their teeth and muzzles from having recently ravaged the tiny Respyn.

  The Cynads couldn’t get good traction with their wet paws, giving Joss the split second she needed to climb to another row of huts.

  Lux jumped down three flights below, running towards Joss, and lay down on her stomach with her
hand out.

  Joss came running and jumped up fifteen feet into the air towards Lux’s hand, before the Cynads could overtake her. Lux used Joss’ momentum to swing her up four flights of huts before letting go. The Cynads raced up the steps after them, as Joss and Lux used flips and kicks to avoid the animals.

  Joss ran around a corner and found Carmen there, holding onto a Cynad by the back of its neck.

  An evil smirk spread across Carmen’s face as she threw the Cynad at Joss’ face.

  Joss screamed as the creature dug its nails into her cheeks, and threw it into a pack running towards her.

  “What’s happening?” Lux asked, too far away to see her.

  “Carmen just threw a Cynad at my head!” Joss said, incensed.

  “Bitch!” Lux replied through gritted teeth.

  Carmen jump across the ravine and Lux went after her, dodging the Cynads on the way, while they snapped at her heels. Lux backed up behind a stack of huts as Carmen came whipping around the corner.

  “Oh no, oh no,” Dylan said, watching from the stands with Renn.

  Lux took a running start and kicked Carmen in the stomach so hard with her bionic braces that it sent Carmen flying twenty feet into the air, slamming her into the side of the cliff.

  “OH!” Renn said, standing up, along with everyone in the stands, then watched Carmen fall to the ground with a huge thud.

  “Oh my gawd, did you see that?” Dylan asked, and then looked up to the scoreboard to see it blink.

  “Remind me never to piss her off,” Renn said to Dylan, laughing. He followed Dylan’s gaze up to the scoreboard. “Hey, why’s it blinking?”

  “Lux is about to be disqualified,” Dylan replied. “The rules are, you can only fight other players with simulations. Like the Cynad was a simulation, so Joss’ wounds will disappear when it’s over, but Lux kicked Carmen with her leg, which could cause permanent damage to the player. Lux could not only be disqualified for it, but if she keeps doing it, she could be expelled.”