* * * *
Flip still felt too fuzzy in the brain to realise that they were walking in an entirely different direction than the one to the restaurant. Nor did he notice that the houses in this area were very run down and the streets not very well cared for. He was too bemused to do anything but let 22 lead him onward by the hand.
She led him to a large wire gate with a compound behind it where blue faced guards were checking everybody who came in and out. They had huge wooden clubs in their hands and they did not look friendly.
As Flip and 22 approached they pointed the weapons straight at them but 22 didn't even hesitate as they suspiciously barked, “ What do you want here?”
“ We have come to see Eomor335535.” 22 stated firmly. Flip swayed a little, frowning as he tried to take in what she was saying. He looked down at her, puzzled, as the guard answered her.
“ We told you to never come here. You are an even and your companion is an alien. Leave and do not return.” He jerked his head to the side, his eyes scornful.
But 22 was made of sterner stuff and was determined not to be put off. “ My friend here needs to meet with Eomor335535. He is expecting us,” she stated calmly.
“ Are you telling the truth?” The guard didn't believe her.
“ Of course I am. I do not lie.”
The guard considered her. “ It would not go well for you if I discovered otherwise. We do not have to bow down to your kind in our own place. I do not think you should be here, but if he asked for you... you may proceed.” He lowered his weapon and let them into the compound. He watched them with a most unfriendly expression as they passed through the entrance.
Flip was thinking carefully and he finally realised something. In spite of his lightheadedness he wasn't stupid.
As they walked inside the compound, he said to her. “ You didn’t tell me your boyfriend is an odd person. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.”
“ Shh! Keep your voice down.” She jerked his hand. “ Do not say this in the hearing of the guards. It is dangerous. Would you have come here if I had told you he was of the other numerical designation? He is the brother of one of the chef’s at the eating place. It is not done for odds and evens to mix socially.”
Flip thought for moment. “ I suppose I still would have come. It makes no difference to me what numerical designation he is.”
There was a house inside the compound that looked bigger and better than the rest. It was at this house that she knocked on the door. A large blue faced woman opened the door a few minutes later.
“ Is 35 here? We need to see him.” 22 said without the customary greeting.
The woman frowned at her. “ You are an even. What do you want with him?”
22 stared steadily into her eyes. “ It is of no concern to you. He is expecting me. Stand aside and let us enter.”
“ You should not be here. In this place I am not your servant. Are you sure he is expecting you? An even?”
“ Yes. He is.”
The woman sniffed and disappeared inside and few minutes later a large blue faced man appeared on the balcony above them.
He looked down at her and hissed: “ 22! You should not have come here! It is not done... and why did you bring this alien with you?”
She stepped back to look up at him properly and Flip did the same, he grinned and lamely waved a hand up at the boyfriend.
“ Come down here so we can talk,” 22 suggested, “ We need to see you. It is not fitting to speak from down here.”
He disappeared from the balcony and Flip grinned down at her. “ Are you going to have to bathe again?”
She glared at him. “ Evens do not bathe in the houses of odds. But the custom is observed among our own numerical designation.”
“ So he won't bathe in yours either?”
“ Correct.”
“ I'll say it again. You lot sure do have strange hospitality customs.”
22 frowned at him and then smiled when the large man appeared and
joined them on the street.
Flip looked at him with interest. He was a huge and well-proportioned tall male, with dark hair fastened at the nape of his neck with a silver cord of some kind. His eyes were direct and expressionless.
22 did the introductions. “ 35 this is Flip from the planet Earth, his people are visiting Tarrago. His space vessel is orbiting our planet.”
“ Flip is a funny name.” He mocked. “ Flip? Who would name their offspring Flip?”
He stood staring at Flip as he crossed his arms across his massive chest. Flip stared warily back. He decided to be very friendly in response to what he recognised as male possessiveness.
“ Flip is not my real name, it’s a nick-name. My real name is Steve.”
“ Steve? That is a weak sounding name. There are not even any numerals in it. I think I like Flip better.” He was definitely mocking him now. 22 was looking a little impatient but she said nothing.
35 stared him down and Flip was too lightheaded to let himself worry too much about it. He felt safe enough. 22 was a determined girl and he was sure she wasn't going to let anything happen to him, even if the guards were within sight, if not sound. He also was certainly not going to mention those kisses on the DVD with this feisty little alien to the giant standing before him.
“ Enough of this.” 22 sighed, after about a minute. “ Are you going to invite us inside?”
“ No. The hour is late. I could not come up with a good excuse for your presence here if asked. You are not here to work thus your visit will be construed with suspicion should I invite you inside.” He looked down at her and his eyes softened. “ I am sorry.”
She shrugged. “ I understand. But we must talk. Now.”
“ Nevertheless you can not come in. We can go down the street to talk.” He started to guide then down the street when she broke away and ran back to the house and opened the door. Inside she could see an arsenal of weapons and at the sight of this she was shocked.
“ What is going on here?” she demanded.
35 hissed. “ What are you doing? Are you mad? You were not supposed to see all that.”
“ 35, what are you up to? This is a serious offense. Odds are not permitted weapons of any sort.”
“ Quiet 22! You must swear that you will say nothing of this. It has nothing to do with you. You must say nothing of this to a single soul. Your companion must also be silent. This knowledge could be very dangerous for you.”
He pushed her outside and shut the door. He looked at Flip. “ You must also forget what you saw.”
Flip held up both hands. “ I'm not interested in getting into any more trouble believe me.”
Before anyone could say another word the guards were standing behind them.
“ Did she just go into your house?” asked one angrily.
35 defended her. “ She saw the weapons but she won’t say anything. I know her and she is loyal to me.”
He moved slightly in front of her. Flip watched the guard warily. Oh boy, this was not going good. He knew he should have stayed on the ship. This girl had brought him nothing but more trouble.
The man snapped back at 35. “ What are you talking about? She’s an even. Evens are not loyal to odds. Of course she’ll tell them about us. You can't trust any of them.”
22 spoke up. “ I am a friend to 35. Do not worry, your secret is safe with me.” She nudged Flip and whispered. “ Tell them you won’t say anything.”
Flip was just about to say something when an older man stepped in.
“ My name is Noskcaj797575 and you two are not going anywhere.”
“ We cannot stay,” 22 protested immediately and with some authority. Flip reasoned that she was using being an even to her advantage. The old man seemed to realise it too for a faint smile touched his lips and he bowed as he answered her courteously...but firmly.
“ It is too late. Events are transpiring right now that your very presence could jeopardize.”
<
br /> “ They are harmless,” 35 stated. “ There is no need...”
“ Please 35, silence. We shall have to up act quickly. Once even a few know we lose our advantage.”
“ Weapons mean war,” 22 said bravely. “ You are acting in a war-like manner. That is an offense which could get you locked away for life, or even killed.”
“ 22!” 35 groaned, “ Why can't you ever learn to be quiet.”
The old man nodded. “ They already know too much so it won't hurt to tell you what we plan to do.” He looked at Flip. “ It is worse, since you are an alien. But there is no hope for secrecy now.”
“ We mean you no harm,” Flip said. “ We don't want to know what you are doing anyway...”
“ That does not matter at this stage. You may as well know the rest. We were waiting for a good opportunity to rebel against the evens, we have the weapons and we have the manpower, so now we are going to do this much sooner than planned. In fact this will happen tonight as soon as it is dark.”
22 was shocked. “ You mean a coup? You cannot be serious and there is no way you could accomplish this successfully. You must desist at once. It is madness to continue. You cannot prevail.”
Noskcaj797575 shook his head. “ Your protests mean nothing. The time has come for us to act. Nothing will stop us. We are being persecuted daily. Our history as inferior beings on our own home world has been a long and painful one. We demand equality.”
22 shook her head. “ No, it won't work. You don't know what you are doing. 35 how could you be a part of this? This isn’t the way, please believe me.”
35 sighed. “ 22 the world such as it is here, is not just. Odds and evens are separate. We hope to join the two, so that we are equal. Then those such as you and I...” he trailed off as he realised he couldn’t reveal their real relationship. But he could see from her eyes that she understood but she still frowned anxiously.
“ It has never been done 35. I can't see it working. In time, perhaps there may be some small changes but an outright revolt... people are going to be hurt, perhaps killed. You cannot do it, please!” She was begging now, frantic to stop this foolish plan.
Flip cleared his throat. “ I know I am a stranger here. But 22 is right. My home planet has had a similar history and if I could perhaps tell you some of it?”
The guard snorted. “ Do we look like we have time for a history lesson? Don't interfere Other Worlder.”
“ Its because I am an Other Worlder that you should listen.”
The older man nodded. “ We will listen.... it is always wise to take counsel.”
The guards grumbled and 35 and 22 waited expectantly for him to continue.
“ In the history of Earth...which is my home world… there have been revolutions from time to time. It always ends up with many people being killed on both sides and nine times out of ten the problems are not solved. What you have in place of the old hostilities are a whole lot of new problems to contend with. The only way to effect real change is with patience and time... you must find a way to meet with the higher authorities and tell them you need change.” He looked around at their stony faces and continued earnestly.
“ I understand how difficult it must be. You want to be equal with the evens and live in a world with no compounds and no threat of violence for enjoying an equal existence. This can only be done if they will sit down with you and work these things out. Violence has only ever brought about more violence.”
There was grumbling at this and Noskcaj797575 answered. “ Don’t you think we have tried that? It is no use. All the evens want are slaves to do their bidding. We will not be their slaves any longer. We want our own homes where we can live in peace. We want to manage our own finances. We want to be able to choose our professions. We want to be able to have a say in the running of our governments. We realise that there will be some unavoidable losses. But it must be done this way.”
35 spoke up. “ I agree we need to act on this. But perhaps we should reconsider…tonight is not a good time. All the moons around this planet will be full. We need a night when there is no moonlight. We need to remain undetected.”
They all looked up at the night sky and several men began to nod.
“ Perhaps you’re right 35.” Noskcaj797575 nodded. “ If we can secure these two… then we will wait a few more days.”
“ What should we do with them?” One of the guards asked, flashing Flip a look of dislike. Flip’s stomach churned. He sure hoped this didn’t mean an early grave for him and 22.
Noskcaj797575 considered them thoughtfully and his answer relieved Flip’s mind. “ Take their communication devices and lock them up somewhere. We can not risk them talking to the authorities. But do not hurt them. It is not our aim to hurt innocent beings if we can prevent it. Our coup is necessary but we don’t like violence for it’s own sake. We need time, even though we are ready. We need to surprise these evens, this will be our greatest advantage. But it must be at the right time.”
35 and one of the guards grabbed hold of Flip and 22 and took them to a small house, which resembled a jail cell. They were pushed inside. From the moment 35 had grabbed 22’s arm she was protesting and he was ignoring her. But he didn’t look happy.
The guard scowled at her and left. 35 stood with the key in his hand, looking very unhappy. Flip knew he wasn’t worried about them making a break for it, he was too massive for them to take him on. He stood back and tried to give them some privacy. 22 tried again, this time she ruthlessly used their secret relationship.
“ 35 you’re not going to treat me like this are you? I am your female. I can’t believe you are locking me up like a common prisoner.” Her tone was creeping up to one of outrage.
35 eye’s considered her seriously. “ You have never known what it is to be a prisoner, 22,” he said evenly. “ That is the whole point. You will never know what it is like to be an odd. A slave. Subject to another’s will. Another’s law. You have not even tried to imagine it. You are in fact an even who will have odds as work slaves in your father’s business. You are one of them.”
22 jerked back with a look of shock, as though he had struck her.
“ I… I… 35! You know I am kind to the odds at the restaurant…”
He stood there just looking at her. She was hurt but Flip, watching from behind her, couldn’t help feeling that 35 was right. 22 was a young, determined but foolish girl, who probably had never given much of a thought to her father’s workers.
22 shook her head. “ You are wrong about me. I am not like them. I would not have an association with you if I was.”
35 sighed. “ But you think you are superior to me, don’t you?”
22 couldn’t answer but the flush in her cheeks was his answer. Still, it was not in her nature to just give up.
“ 35. You know you cannot lock up an even. It is against the law to lift a hand against me.”
“ I haven’t lifted a hand against you.”
“ Not yet, no. But your friends might. We are your prisoners and that is against the law. I would not give evidence against you, you must know that. If you let us go, you have our word we shall not reveal what we have seen and heard tonight. Please, don’t lock us up. I am your female.”
“ No, you are not,” he said, to Flip’s shock. “ We are friends. But we cannot be more. It cannot work. I have a mission to complete and you are on the other side, no matter what I may feel about you. But officially, we cannot be partners or bonded for life either. It will never happen. So, please stop saying you are my female.”
She protested once more but he cut her off. “ As to the other, 22… you must think us naive to think you would keep quiet. As an even you are required by law to report any unlawful activity of an odd. We cannot trust you. I cannot trust you. I thought at first I could… but once Noskcaj797575 outlined our plans, I knew that we could not let you go until we finished our mission. You know too much.”
“ 35 why does it have to be this way?” she
wailed. Her hand reached for him but he stepped back shaking his head.
“ 22. You are an even and I am an odd. Soon my people and yours will be at war. At the moment you both know too much so you must stay here until we attack the evens.” With that he slammed the door, locking it from the outside.
It was very small and cramped inside the room. There was a small window that was high on the wall, one chair and one single bed. The walls were made of clay and the floor was dirt. One very narrow door led to a cupboard-sized room where the facilities were primitive but at least they could relieve themselves if they had to.
Flip looked around the room for a way out but with no success. He watched as 22 sat down on the bed, her head was down, her expression forlorn and tears brimmed in her eyes.
“ I can’t believe he did it. I thought…”
“ 22 I am beginning to think your thoughts are dangerous ones. You don’t seem to think quite like other people. For a start, you make too many assumptions. I think that’s because you are really very inexperienced with handling people. You took a lot for granted with 35 I think.”
She shook her head. “ No. I know he had feelings for me. I only just realised however that my feelings for him are much stronger than I thought. Now that he is rejecting me as his female I am finding it very hard to accept. He must see that he is wrong! They must let us out.”
Flip sighed. “You might as well get used to the fact that we are stuck here for quite a while.”
Flip looked at the bed and remembered how tired he was feeling. “ If you don’t mind I would like to lie down. I could really use some sleep.”
“ There is room.” She shifted to the chair and he thankfully lay down.
She smiled at him through her tears. “ I am tired as well. We can both share the bed. It may be snug but we will both be warm.”
Flip remembered how he had shared a bed with his brother when he was a child.
“ I will lie at one end and you lie the other way. Then we will have no problem.”
“ Flip I would like it if you held me in your arms like you did in your quarters. I know I would sleep well that way. I am feeling very…worried.”
Flip looked into her hypnotic eyes again and was very tempted to say yes. Then he thought about the situation they were in and the fact that 35 could open the door anytime.
“ No, we had better not chance 35 seeing us together that way. I think he may not be indifferent to that. We will sleep the way I suggested. If you can’t be happy with this arrangement I will sit in the chair and try and sleep there.”
“ Oh very well. But Flip you are a strange being. I want the pillow.”
He didn’t argue. He rolled up his jacket and tucked her feet under his arm. She sighed. He stared at the ceiling through he dark, listening to the night noises.
In spite of her anxiety 22 seemed to be one of those females who could fall fast asleep within seconds. She gently snored from the other end of the bed. Flip smiled. She was the most unusual female he had ever met, that was for sure.
Flip didn’t even notice when his eyes grew heavy and he fell fast asleep…
* * * *