by Rena Marks
She’d dropped into bed last night exhausted. They’d managed to work for twenty hours straight creating a synthetic blood formula compatible for Covet. She was pushing herself hard—and it was to save his friend.
Joseph and Marjorie Trask had been escorted through the gates by the human security team. Joseph had on his Sunday best, and Marjorie was dolled up with bright spots of pink on her cheeks to match the incongruously pink lipstick that looked almost garish with the white of her hair. Instead, she managed to look rather adorable.
“Joseph. Marjorie. Thank you for coming,” Blaze said as he touched down and tucked his wings. He shook Joseph’s hand and brought Marjorie’s hand to his for a kiss.
The old woman tittered.
“Thank you for the invite, son. We’re so excited to see your city,” Joseph said.
“Will Irina join us?” Marjorie asked.
“If she can get some time later. I have a friend who’s ill. He’s been hospitalized, and she’s the primary physician for his care.”
“You’re such a good-looking couple. Couples need to make time for themselves, no matter what the situation,” Joseph said.
“Now, Joseph,” Marjorie said. “Irina’s a doctor. Not a stay at home housewife. It was easy for me to make time to be a couple.”
“True,” he agreed, his heart in his eyes.
They followed Blaze as he began to walk them toward a small shuttle bus where they took the seat next to him. Joseph looked at it appreciatively, staring at the rubber wheels.
Blaze smiled at his reaction. “You made it just in time to see the fights—if that won’t be too shocking for you. Xeno Sapiens use what our human friends call the gladiator pits to fight against each other. It’s a form of releasing aggression for our people…but it also serves to hone our skills. I realize the violence may not be appropriate for some, but if you wanted to catch a couple of fights, it will show you the diversity of Xeno Sapiens in all their glory. A lot of times, some of the Xenos who avoid humans because they have more alien features than the rest of us will come out to play. To enjoy the camaraderie of the ring. It’s a great place to meet a lot of us at once.”
“We used to enjoy wrestling matches in our day,” Marjorie said. “It sounds wonderful.”
“Good.” Blaze smiled. “I employed some of our teens to treat it as a human event. They will serve human junk food.” He was rather proud of himself for thinking of that. It should make the older couple quite comfortable.
“Well, you didn’t have to do that on our account,” Joseph grumbled.
“We wanted you to feel at home.”
“Is that a throwback redhead?” Marjorie sounded excited as she pointed to Heather—the mother of the new twins—who climbed up the steps to the main hub. From their higher vantage point on the bleachers, they could see in the distance.
“Heather? A throwback? Yes, I believe that is what she called herself once.”
“It’s very unusual, you know. We ourselves have a throwback grandchild. Ava Trask. She’s absolutely beautiful, but lives on Earth-Ground, in the sector called Newasia. Where her mother is from. But when Ava was born, she had throwback eyes. They’re dark, and she has hooded eyelids, the way some humans used to be when the continent she was born to used to be called Asia.”
“I think I recall those features,” Blaze said. “We have classes teaching us about humans, how they evolved, past legends, all that kind of stuff. In fact, it was why Robyn insisted on having these shuttles with real rubber tires to travel over the terrain.” Blaze stopped the shuttle.
“I love it,” Joseph said. “There’s nothing like old things.”
Blaze exited the shuttle, coming around to help Marjorie. Then he gave a hand to Joseph and looked over his shoulder, muffling a small curse.
“What’s wrong, son?” Joseph asked looking at a couple of approaching Xeno Sapiens. Then he took a second look and stared in shock.
Blaze groaned. “I told them to dress up a little, so we wouldn’t scare you with so much skin. But to wear business suits? I don’t know what they were thinking.”
The two approaching Xeno Sapiens waved happily. They looked rather incongruous, one with red skin and yellow hands that were shaped like lobster claws. His suit was a bright green color, which made him look rather like Christmas.
His friend wore a tuxedo though he was barefoot. It was already dusty at the bottom from the male traipsing through the area. He looked somewhat human-like, save the eye located in the center of his head.
“You must be the humans who helped Blaze and Irina get away. We will forever appreciate your bravery.” Vien, the alien with a Cyclops eye, bent to one knee. Now, Blaze knew why his tux was so dusty. The male had been practicing some kind of old-world human tradition he wasn’t aware of.
Joseph cleared his throat. “It was our pleasure. And just being able to view this wonderful city is reward enough.”
“I like your outfits,” Marjorie said shyly.
“Do you?” Vien rose suddenly. “I had a hard time ordering this in my size. Finally, Robyn took pity on me and pulled the seams about to give me more room.” He shifted his junk, completely unaware of how inappropriate it was.
Blaze sighed.
Marjorie giggled, her hand pressed over her mouth.
Joseph gaped. “How much extra room did you need in there?”
His friend, in the green suit, clasped his claws on Vien’s shoulder. “Hung like a horse, he is. I am Potierre.”
“Where in the world did you find a green suit, son?” Joseph asked.
“Special made,” Potierre said proudly. “I took a suit of Jason’s—he’s our security guy—over to Winnie in the clothing division. I told her to copy it but give it some life! I wasn’t too sure about it when she handed it to me, but I couldn’t really say much to her because of her condition. But as soon as I put it on, I realized it made my skin glow.”
“Red and green do blend well,” Marjorie murmured.
“What’s her condition?” Joseph asked, curious.
“Winnie? She’s a wisp.”
At Joseph’s blank look, Blaze intervened, glaring at Potierre. “She’s blind. She can’t see with the human eyes she was born with.”
Joseph snorted and Marjorie elbowed her husband delicately. “You look very unique. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the fights as much as we will.”
“I think so, too,” Vien said, pulling his tight neckline away with a finger. “I was hoping we could sit with you. We don’t get to see many humans. We have some workers that come out on Tuesdays, but a lot of us stay away from them so as not to scare them. They’re single females,” he said. “But if we had human friends, we would have someone to ask things. Like what sort of gifts they would like for holidays that wouldn’t seem disrespectful. What type of conversations to hold so we won’t bore humans. All that stuff.”
“We’d be honored to have you sit with us,” Marjorie said.
“Shall we?” Blaze murmured, indicating the bleachers that were filling up.
As they made their way into the bleachers to sit, one of the other Xeno Sapiens muttered loudly. “Were we supposed to dress up? I didn’t get that memo.” He tossed his feathered mane over his shoulder, letting it trail down the middle of his back.
“It is fine,” Blaze said, rolling his eyes. Irina was so much better at soothing ruffled feathers—so to speak—than he was.
Another one elbowed his friend. “Vien and Potierre get to sit with the human couple because they dressed up.”
“I don’t have anything like that in my closet,” his friend whispered, studying the atrocious wear.
“We need Winnie to get us something like that for emergencies.”
“Kill me now,” Blaze muttered.
“At least wait ‘til they all get their dress-up duds. Your funeral will be a colorful affair,” Joseph snorted, his hand on Blaze’s shoulder. “Hey, you got the boniest back.” Joseph squeezed him again, lower this time.
; Blaze laughed. “Those aren’t bones. They’re my wings.”
“Is it painful when they come out?”
“No, not anymore. It was the first few times.”
“That feller down there seems to have wings, too.”
Blaze turned somber. “Unfortunately, everyone who was born naturally with wings had them clipped in captivity. Because mine manifested later, they were left alone.”
“That’s infuriating,” Marjorie gasped.
Blaze nodded. “It’s made some a little bitter. They can’t help but feel jealous. Flying is second nature to those with wings, and to be clipped is horrifying. A couple of our guys are developing non-detectable jet packs for the winged Xeno Sapiens. The first one was tested this weekend.”
“I’ll tell you what, son,” Joseph said. “They won’t resent you if you were the one to volunteer to teach them to fly. To be the one to describe it to them, to teach them what to watch for…”
“Like that first time when you swallowed that big yellow bug.” Vien snorted. “It smeared on his teeth as he tried to spit it out. So gross.”
“Shut up.”
“That’s a good point,” Joseph said. “You can stress the importance of closing their mouths in certain positions.”
“I think I know what you mean,” Blaze said.
“My Joseph knows,” Marjorie said, squeezing her husband’s hand. “He had to overcome a lot of bitterness when our son passed.”
“I’m sorry,” Blaze said. “I didn’t know.”
“Thank you. It was a long time ago. He wanted to marry a young gal from Earth-Ground that he’d met at a charity event. Vivien. Of course, after they met and fell in love, we realized she was from Earth-Ground. She wasn’t just present for the event like he was. We were from Theta Eight, so imagine the scandal. We weren’t as open regarding differences back then. She got pregnant, and we felt like she tried to trap him to further her status. But before they could get married, Jeffrey was attacked. Killed.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Joseph shrugged. “For a long time, I blamed Vivien. It took me years before I realized how foolish that was. How I deprived myself of my own granddaughter because of my stupidity. Ava is a schoolteacher now. We helped with her education, and she also has a private nannying degree. We’d hoped that one day she’d accept a job on Theta Eight, but she never wanted to leave Earth-Ground, or her mother, behind. So we visit them whenever we can. We’ll probably see them before we head back to Theta Eight.”
“What does a nannying degree entail?”
“She’s licensed to care for children from birth. She’s skilled in health care, nutrition and exercise. That combined with a teaching degree? My little Ava is liquid gold. I’m so proud of her.”
A teenaged Xeno Sapien strolled by dressed in stripes with a white cap. “Peanuts! Popcorn! Wiener dogs!”
Joseph held his hand up. “Popcorn, please. All of us. I got this, guys.”
He tipped the kid well because her eyes grew large. “Thanks, Mister Human!”
Marjorie whispered to her husband. “Do you think they eat dogs?”
Chapter Fourteen
Blaze:
The fights were going well. Thankfully, Tempest wasn’t present, instead working out elsewhere with her human trainer, Sam. She was known to break her own bones and pop them from her skin, which would have been too horrifying for the elderly couple.
Blaze. The communication echoed in his head, sent from a Xeno Sapien near the front of the pits, and he turned toward the side gates.
The beautiful blond mate of his was making her way toward them.
“Ahh, my love is here.” He stood, waving at Irina as one of the Xeno Sapiens on the lower bleachers extended a hand and pulled her up so she could walk the bleachers toward them.
“Hi, Joseph. Marjorie,” she said as he pulled her onto his lap. Then she settled her sweet mouth to his for kisses.
He’d missed this woman.
“Were we only apart for a few hours?” she murmured.
“Feels like half my life,” he whispered back.
Vien rolled his third eye. It was rather magnificent that he could operate that one separately from the other two. “It was three hours and forty five minutes, to be exact.”
A hush rolled over the crowd.
“What is it?” Joseph squirmed. “What’s going on?”
“The finale for today. The biggest, most vicious, badass Xeno Sapien there is. Beast.”
Last minute whispers rolled over the crowd as the huge man walked into the gladiator pits. His skin was dark black, threaded through with thick stripes of gold, made all the more shiny with the sheen of sweat from working out. His claws were sharp and his teeth, fanged.
Promise notes began exchanging hands in the bleachers.
“What’s going on?” Joseph asked curiously.
“They’re placing bets on the winner.”
Irina gaped. “Illegal gambling? Robyn’s not gonna like that.”
One of the Xeno Sapiens collected the money at the end of each row.
The fighting began and lasted all of ten minutes before the opponent to Beast conceded. Several of the Xeno Sapiens in the bleachers cheered, and Blaze was sure it was because they’d doubled their money. Many began clapping each other on the shoulders, and the excitement in the air felt thick enough to taste.
“One last bonus fight!” The announcer called over the speaker. “Five minutes and a new challenger will take on the reigning champion, Beast!”
An excited cheer roved over the crowd, and more promise notes were hastily scribbled out and frantically collected. Everyone wanted to make easy money.
“This isn’t going to go well. And it sure doesn’t set a good example for Joseph and Marjorie,” Irina said.
“There’s no one that can beat Beast,” Potierre said, scribbling out his note anyway. “It’s an easy win. Quick cash for a new suit.”
Joseph snorted. “There’s a lot more crap I did in my day. Let them learn their lesson.”
“Betting is closed,” someone in the bleachers called out. The notes were collected at the end of each row and held by the people standing in the aisles.
Drums sounded as Beast walked round the pit, flexing his muscles for the crowd. His name was announced again as he roared, and then everyone waited to see who his challenger would be.
“Who’s that?” Joseph muttered, craning his neck.
The beautiful Xeno Sapien dressed like a warrior princess was gold. Literally. Her skin glittered as rich as the precious metal itself and matched the stripes on Beast.
Groans rang over the crowd.
“Not Sunny!”
“No! Sunny go home!”
Beast turned to the crowd and snarled at them.
Irina began to giggle. “Sunny is Beast’s love.”
“Oh, no,” Marjorie said. “She’s gonna walk all over him, isn’t she?”
“Not this time,” Vien said, his fingers crossed. “Surely this time he’s learned. Come on, Beast,” he whispered. “There’s lots of money on this.”
Sunny narrowed her eyes and struck a fighting stance, forcing Beast to crouch lower. She struck swiftly and powerfully, a series of roundhouse kicks, the last of which centered in his chest.
With an oomph, he flew backward as she landed on top of him, breaking her fall.
“Baby, are you hurt?” he asked frantically. He leaned up slightly and glued his lips to hers.
There was silence for a few moments while the speakers picked up the sounds of their kissing.
The announcer sounded disgusted as he rang the bell.
Sunny was on top.
“Sunny wins.” His voice was flat.
A groan echoed through the bleachers, and then all went silent as Robyn approached the pits.
The spectators grew quiet suddenly.
Robyn spoke into the microphone, clear as a bell. “Money forward, please.”
The Xeno Sapiens at the end of each r
ow deposited the notes into the basket at her feet. Her mate, Renegade, calmly picked it up and smiled broadly at her.
She spoke again. “I hope you all see the other side of gambling now. It all begins with a sure bet. It’s so easy to make money on a sure thing, and that’s where you’re roped in. You’ll bet against any odds because who cares what they are? There’s no way you’re going to have to pay the interest rate of the person loaning you money, are you? Not when a bet is a sure thing.” She leaned in closer to the mic. “Here’s the thing, folks. There’s no such thing as a sure thing. That’s how gambling has existed for hundreds of years. Loan sharks take advantage of people by allowing them a few easy wins, and then blam. They’ve got you. In this case, we got you.”
She paused a moment to look at Renegade, who’d been riffling through the notes, counting them up. He grinned at her.
“On behalf of Xenia, we’d like to thank you for funding project Jet Pack. Thanks to your generosity, several more of the experimental flight vests will be created for the Xeno Sapiens who had their wings clipped. Thank you to Reson for the testing of the original product, who isn’t here right now, but be sure to let him know of your gratitude.”
Blaze raised his hand. “I’d like to volunteer my time to show the new people how to fly.”
“Excellent! We’ll take you up on that offer,” Robyn said. “Now, in other news, Dr. Irina? You’re needed in medbay for an emergency scheduled surgery. It’s Covet.”
Irina gasped, scrambling off his lap.
“I’m coming, too,” Blaze muttered, before remembering Joseph and Marjorie. He turned helplessly. “He’s my best friend.”
“Go ahead,” Potierre said. “Go grab Reson and be there for him. We’ve got Joseph and Marjorie. We’ll show them around the city for you. Have some lunch. Probably introduce them to Nanna Elsa.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Marjorie said. “We’ll be fine with Vien and Potierre.” She patted their shoulders.
“Thanks,” Blaze said. “I’ll find you all later.”
He grabbed Irina by the waist and let his wings erupt, flying them through the skies in the direction of the medical wing.
* * * * *