by James Palmer
“Now what?” Eddie looked around the room from under the brim of his hat.
“Now we wait.” Mark Johnson answered.
They did not have to wait long. A waitress finally sauntered up to the table they were sitting at, an electronic pad in her hands. She spoke in a tongue no one understood, but after a second the translators within their suits compensated and the words she spoke were finally heard in English.
“Whadaya wanna drink?” She asked in a surly tone.
“You have ale?” Mark asked.
She laughed sarcastically, “Yeah I got twenty seven different kinds.”
“Give us the most popular one. Five mugs.” Mark ordered.
She nodded, smiled, and walked off.
“Not sure if she was friendly or not.” Dan commented.
“She was indifferent, as in just doing her job.” Ariel replied.
“I guess that’s better than the alternative.” Red commented.
“So what now?” Red asked in a conspirational whisper.
“Now we wait and take in the show. Have patience. Someone will be interested in us soon enough.” Mark Johnson replied.
“I hate it when you’re right.” Ariel replied, as she turned her head towards the bar itself where two men sat trying not to act like they were staring at the newcomers.
“What have you got?” Mark asked.
“Those two have been watching us the last few minutes. They followed us in from the street. They must have been tailing us for a while, but with all the white noise out there I only heard them clearly when they came in here.”
“That’s funny, I’d a thought it would have been worse in here.” Eddie smirked.
“No it’s more condensed in here. Actually there are less people in here than on that street and the ones here are all interested in finding a mate for the evening.”
“In other words, hooking up.” Eddie finished.
“You got it ace.” Ariel smiled and nodded.
“So what are they thinking about us?” Red asked.
“They know what we are, where we’re from. I distinctly heard the word ‘Earth’ in my mind. Right now they’re just curious it seems, but I do sense malevolence on their parts.”
“Okay, let’s see how long it takes them to come over and say hello.”
The two men were humanoids, but not from the planet they were all currently on. Both were big beings, with flat faces and bald heads, soft ridges started at their brows and went over the tops of their heads to their necks. Their skin color was a dull red. They each wore a dull brown coverall.
The waitress returned with the mugs of ale. Mark paid her in a few gold coins. A moment later she returned with change in a coin of a smaller size, then disappeared into the crowd.
“I have no idea what we just paid for these drinks but I have a feeling it was too much.” He commented with a slight laugh as he took a sip and shook his head up and down on an angle. “Not bad actually. I think this’ll do for now, gents.”
“How long do we wait for our admirers to join us?” Red asked as he drank his ale.
“As long as it takes, we’re explorers enjoying some down time out of our ship. Remember, we’re Earthmen who knew of alien life before but never met anyone of other worlds ourselves.”
Sledge looked at Mark “That is the truth you know, boss.”
“I know Danny. Let’s just keep all our cards hidden for now and play this hand warily.”
Red shook his head and scowled, “I hate poker analogies.”
“That’s ‘cause your poker game sucks.” Eddie chided Red, with a quick smirk.
“Quiet,” Ariel hissed, “they’re coming over now to find out about us.”
“Ari if you hear anything underhanded in their minds while they’re talking to us, tell us through your telepathy.”
‘Will do, Mark.’ Her mental voice rang through their minds in a bell-like tone.
The two burly aliens walked to the end of the teams table and stood there, with what looked like an attempt at a smile on each of their faces. Finally, the one on the right started to speak.
“Greetings, I am Endorf and this is Credom. We noticed you sitting here but were unaware of your species. We have never seen anyone that looked exactly like you do. Where do you hail from?”
‘That’s a lie, they know exactly where we’re from.’ The bell-like mental voice of Ariel pinged through their minds.
“We’re explorers from a small planet several light years from here. What about you two gentlemen? Where are you from?”
“We are from a world known as Tanzi-7. It is some light years from here. What brings you beings to this place?”
Mark held up his mug and smiled, “The ale. We heard it was good here and decided to check it out for ourselves.”
The alien on the left stared on with a perplexed look upon his face.
“Seriously?” He asked.
His companion nudged him with an elbow, and then resumed smiling at the team, “I beg your indulgence, you must ignore my friend here, he does not get out much.”
“That’s quite all right, Endorf.” Mark replied congenially, “Why don’t you and your friend sit down and join us for a drink.”
Both aliens nodded, after looking to the other and sat at the end of the table, each ordering a flagon of the ale everyone else was drinking.
“So I’m curious, what do you two gents do here? You both have what appear to be work coveralls on, at least to my untrained eye. Are you ship mechanics?” Mark asked.
“Yes that we are. We actually saw you land here earlier today.”
“Ah okay, so how’d you like our ship? It’s the first of its kind.”
“It’s very nice.” Credom replied enthusiastically enough that Endorf gave him another nudge in the ribs immediately.
“We like it just fine,” the seemingly more intelligent of the two replied.
Mark leaned forward, almost surreptitiously, and then asked,. “Have either of you ever seen anyone like us before? We’re looking for a lost friend. He’s going to look very much like us, with our skin tone and hair type.”
“No, I cannot say that we have, I must apologize. You are the first of your kind we have ever seen.”
‘Another lie.’ Ariel’s voice rang in their skulls.
Mark shrugged and smiled, “Ah well, it was worth a try. So let me ask you two, what passes for entertainment on this world? Is there anything worth seeing here, while we relax for a few days?”
“Well the matches here are really fun.” Credom answered dully.
“What matches?” Dan replied.
“Those matches.” Endorf replied.
‘It’s some kind of gladiatorial events within this bar.’Ariel’s voice sang lightly across their minds.
As she replied, two bruisers made their way into the ring that was on the left of the bar itself, which had been hidden the whole time by the mass of bodies within the place. Now it was clearly visible as people cleared out of the way to let the two fighters through. Both were surly looking louts. Big and angry with plenty of scars and tattoos across their bodies which could be seen plainly as they entered the ring, pulling the ropes down as they stepped over them on opposite sides of the ring.
“These guys are big.” Red offered.
“That means they really are big, if you’re saying so.” Eddie smirked.
Red shot him an annoyed look that clearly said ‘shut up’.
Sitting back in his chair Mark kept one eye on his guests, and another on the ring behind them. The combatants were clearly two different races. One was a scaled lizard man from God only knew where. The other looked almost like a bear, with a thick coat of fur covering his body from head to toe. His arms were longer than the lizard mans by almost a foot, but the lizard seemed somewhat bulkier looking.
“This should be interesting.” Red sneered.
“Yeah, I’m kinda looking forward to this myself.” Dan agreed.
‘Don’t lose track of what we are here f
or.’ Ariel’s thoughts chimed in everyone’s mind.
‘No chance of that Ari.’ Mark replied mentally, knowing by her smile that she heard him.
Within the ring the two big combatants circled each other, each looking for an opening.
Suddenly the lizard-man lunged at his hairy opponent, who met the charge head on with a savage grunt. They grappled momentarily, until the bear-like creature ducked below the reptilian one’s slashing arms and caught his foe in a crushing embrace, then stood up quickly and heaved his enemy into the air. As the reptile came down haphazardly the bear-like creature lashed out with two quick blows, left-right in the blink of an eye, even before the reptilian landed upon his back on the canvas of the ring.
Now everyone at their table, including the two strangers were totally engrossed in the battle.
The hairy behemoth charged the reptile again, just as he was getting to his clawed feet, when the reptile grabbed his enemy by the throat and spit some vile venom into his foes eyes. The bear-man stumbled backwards, frantically clawing at his eyes in pain, as he lizard attacked again, biting the bear-like creature on the shoulder, spraying its blood across the ring as the hairy brute howled in pain and dropped to the mat, unconscious.
“My God!” Shouted Eddie, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that incredible before.”
“At least not that brutal.” Ariel replied, disgusted.
“That was…interesting to say the least.” Dan added.
Mark shook his head with a slight smile, “Mmm-hhmm.”
“There are no rules here,” Endorf began, joining the conversation, “Short of killing, which is not allowed. It is a brutal sport, but the people like it.” He shrugged as he finished his comment.
“Yes we like it, we even fight sometimes ourselves.” Credom added.
“You don’t look any worse for the wear of it.” Red noticed.
Endorf smiled and leaned forward at this, displaying a tightly packed row of small, sharp teeth, “That is because we win.”
‘Watch it; I’m getting all kinds of thoughts from both of them, images of them brutally beating opponents.’ Ariel’s mental voice sang.
“Well, why doesn’t one of you fight the winner here, and give us newcomers a show?” Mark asked with a genial smile.
“What do we get when we win?” Credom asked.
“I’ll wager a few gold pieces on you.” Mark replied, leaning in.
“Not enough, we want your ship.” Endorf sneered. “We win, we get your ship.”
“That’s crazy.” Eddie replied, leaning back in his chair.
“Not gonna happen.” Dan answered, grim faced, Red nodded in agreement, as both stared menacingly at the two aliens seated with them.
“What’s in it for us?” Mark prodded, with his eyes slit, and his lips set grimly.
“We have much information you might want.” Endorf smiled again in answer.
‘Watch it, he’s baiting you Mark. I can’t get a clear read on his alien mind but there is something there. Something he feels we’d want to know.’ Ariel mentally informed the crew.
“It had better be very important information if you think I’m willing to lose the only means we have of getting off this sandbar,” Mark answered in a hiss.
“It’s very big; you would want to know what we know.”
“You’re asking a lot to expect me to trust your word about some nameless information and wager it against my ship.”
“What I have you want, I promise.” Endorf replied, almost greasily.
‘Mark, you can’t seriously be thinking of taking this guy at his word can you?’ Ariel hissed mentally.
‘Relax,’ He replied through her mind-link, ‘Worse comes to worse the Cag comes and gets us all after a few days, I have no intention of letting the Stargrazer fall into anyone’s hands. Let alone these two morons.’
He turned back towards Endorf, “You have to give me something up front so I know your information is worthwhile. If it’s not worth my time, I’m not going to be bothered.”
Endorf smiled then and leaned towards Mark to whisper something to him. Mark’s face shifted almost imperceptibly at the red brute’s words, then he sat back in his chair, his brow furrowed in thought. Next to Mark, Ariel did her best to hide what she had mentally heard, as she shifted her head towards the arena once again, her blonde hair trailing after her turned face in one quick motion. Her face, now hidden from the rest of the table showed immediate concern.
Mark faced Endorf, and his face was unreadable, merely set, as he began to speak. “All right your terms are fine, but hear me and understand what I’m saying here; if you try to cheat us, well, it will not be a good move on your part. That’s something to think about before we enter into this little wager, and be assured we will know if there’s any deception on your part.”
The big alien nodded slowly and grinned, relaxing back in his chair, as the ring announcer continued to call out for challengers to the reptilian who had just beaten the bear-like creature.
Endorf raised his hand and whistled so that he drew the announcers’ attention, “Credom will battle the Zrigg. He will challenge him.”
‘Mark, this is bad, terribly bad.’ Ariel warned through the mind link, ‘The crowd is already getting worked up at Credom’s name alone.’
Credom stood up and grinned at the group seated with him, it was not a pleasant site. It bespoke more of “I got you” then anything pleasant.
Ariel again broke into their thoughts, ‘Mark…’
‘Ssshhh.’ He replied in a mental hiss the team all heard.
The red skinned brute walked up to the ring and pulled the ropes down, stepping over them. The Zrigg, if that was his name or race, no one among them but the two strangers knew, merely snorted contemptuously at his new enemy.
Both alien creatures circled each other menacingly, and then Credom charged, right into the right fist of the Zrigg, who knocked him over like a bowling pin. Credom shook his head and fought to his knees as the Zrigg suddenly streaked up to him and kicked him in the gut, sending him sprawling again.
‘He’s desperate.’ Red said, through the mind link.
‘Who? Credom?’ Eddie replied mentally.
‘No, the Zrigg. He’s trying to end this as fast as possible.
They said nothing verbally, but sat stone still watching as Endorf merely grinned.
Credom was on one knee now as the Zrigg continued to pound at him, raining blows continuously on the red skinned powerhouse, and changing his position every few seconds, just staying out of reach as his downed foe tried and failed repeatedly to get to his feet.
The Zrigg reached in to punch Credom in the head once again, when suddenly the kneeling red skinned alien caught the hand before it could descend upon him once more, and he grinned. A heartbeat later he twisted the hand ruthlessly, and stood up, shoving the bewildered Zrigg away from himself, as if he were but a child.
Then, with a maddened howl, Credom charged forward and attacked the Zrigg, who ran to meet the charge head on, literally. The two smashed heads together with a loud bang. The lizard man stumbled feeling his forehead, as he woozily backed away. Credom merely laughed as he leapt atop the wounded Zrigg and hammered him with powerful, unrelenting blows that literally shook the arena with their thunder.
The Zrigg tried to spit his venom into Credom’s face, but the red skinned brute merely lowered his head so that the venom splashed across his ridged skull.
Credom had the Zrigg pinned on the mat floor when he raised both hands together above his head in twin fists. He brought them down atop the defenseless Zrigg with such explosive fury that the ring they were standing in collapsed from the power of the blow. Dust and sand filled the bar, obscuring the vision of everyone. The ventilation system quickly kicked into high gear, fighting to clear the air.
Finally, from within the cloud of dust a shadowed figure could be seen holding another in one hand above its head triumphantly. As the fans sucked the dust and sand fr
om the air, Credom contemptuously tossed the prone form of the Zrigg to what was left of the arena mat, like so much garbage.
Endorf turned towards Mark with his hand extended and a smile from ear hole to ear hole,
“Your ship, please?”
Chapter 5
Ariel, Eddie, Red and Dan sat there tensely, as if they were controlled by a hair trigger. Each was ready to spring to the attack in their own manner. Mark merely smiled at the big red skinned alien before him who continued to hold his hand out before him.
“What? You expect me to just hand you the keys to the ship without us having a chance to win it back first?”
“You made a deal.” Endorf grunted angrily through gritted teeth.
“Yes and we’ll abide by it, but you are going to at least give us a chance to go double or nothing, right?”
“What else have you got to wager?”
“What else do you want?” Mark replied with a slight grin.
Endorf thought a second, then with a twisted grin replied, “The Female. She will bring good credits in the slave market.”
Ariel leaped up from her chair, almost at the same time as Red and Dan, “Are you kidding me? I’m not even going to listen to this garbage,” she barked.
“Relax, Ariel. Sit down.” Mark ordered, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
‘You’re okay with this?’ She asked him incredulously with her telepathic voice.
‘Trust me, I’ve never let you down, I won’t now. This creep is not getting his greasy paws on you, I promise you. Trust me.’ He replied through the same mind link.
‘Why do I always dread those words?’
“So you want Ariel, eh?”
Endorf nodded slowly, “As humans go, she is comely. Not to my eyes, of course but as far your species, she is…adequate.” He grinned now.
“I don’t like this, but very well. So how do we go about this then?” Mark asked. Eyeing the red skinned mountain of muscle before him warily.
“How else? You fight! Credom awaits!” Endorf spread his right arm and aimed it wide at Credom who stood by the ring as it was being repaired, and the unconscious Zrigg carried off.
“You want me, to fight him?” Mark asked, wide eyed.