14
“You may rest here for the night,” Ragnar said.
An hour had passed, filled with discussions of culture and customs, a comparison of Earth and Ansara. Liam was fascinated by the aliens, but redirected the conversation whenever Ragnar asked too many piercing questions about their technology. Liam was wary not to portray humans as weak or incapable, lest the aliens decide they be better off conquered. Liam felt the weight of being the first human to interact with another intelligent form of life and was determined to keep it civilized, despite his deeper inclinations.
Ragnar gestured to their sleeping quarters, a plain room with several thin mats laid out on the floor just a few stories below Ragnar’s chamber. The spiraled window crossed the quarters along the right wall, a few meters of clear material between them and a very long drop. Liam was reluctant to call the material glass. It was more of a metal with a low opacity that allowed them to see through clearly. From a certain angle, it was apparent that the window was in fact a solid wall.
Ragnar continued, “I would ask that you not leave this spire for the time being. Tomorrow night, we are hosting an event in your honor and we will have much to do in the time leading up to it. Diplomats from around the colony will want to meet you.”
Liam bowed his head slightly, mirroring Ragnar’s posture but keeping his gaze firmly planted on the alien’s mostly black eyes.
“We thank you,” he said awkwardly. It was difficult for Liam to sound high-class, but he gave it his best shot.
“Humans are the first species we’ve encountered from beyond our own system,” Ragnar said. “This is cause for celebration.”
“We are in agreement. It will be history being made.”
“A strange expression,” the Caretaker said, “But fitting.”
Ragnar turned and started down the hall, stopping after a few steps and rotating his pale face to the side, the thin scales clearly visible from Liam’s viewpoint. The alien opened his lips and said in a near whisper, “Do not fear the night.”
With that he turned and made his way down the long corridor toward the lift. Saturn leaned against the entryway to their quarters and crossed her arms. She had an expression of distrust across her face.
“What do you suppose he meant by that?” Saturn asked.
“An event in our honor?” Ju-Long mused. “It sounds like they’re going to eat us or make a sacrifice to the gods.”
“We don’t even know if they worship any gods,” Liam replied. “And Saturn, I’m sure it’s just an expression.”
Ju-Long brushed past Saturn into their room. “Well, I hope we get to eat before this event because I’m starving. What do you think they eat around here?”
“Let’s talk inside,” Liam said, ushering Saturn through the entryway and sliding the smooth metallic door closed behind them.
The room was small but adequate when compared with their sleeping arrangements on the Asteroid Belt. The mats laid out on the ground were about two meters long and much thinner than even the mattresses he was used to. Liam guessed the Ansarans didn’t require much by way of comfort. The floor was the same light marble as Ragnar’s chamber and the walls a smooth stone interspersed with a metallic support structure. It was that mix of ancient beauty and contemporary functionality that intrigued Liam.
Saturn plopped down on one of the mats, immediately complaining about the level of comfort. Liam took the mat beside hers, wriggling his body trying to get comfortable and decided it was impossible. The material had little give and was scarcely softer than the floor.
Ju-Long was at the window, or the wall disguised as a window, looking out over the city. From his mat, Liam could see the lights from the other spires, each glowing with a faint purple iridescence that was at first eerie to the eye. Ju-long pressed his nose against the wall in awe. Liam thought it a strange sight to see such a muscular man staring off in wonder like a child. Liam pondered if there was more to Ju-Long than he previously thought.
“Let’s recap,” Saturn said. “We spend an hour talking with this Ragnar guy and when we come out of it, we’re no closer to getting a ship, no closer to getting off this planet, in fact, we might as well be prisoners here.”
“We’re not prisoners,” Liam replied.
“Why wouldn’t he want us to leave the spire, then?”
“Think about it. If this was Earth and an alien species crash landed, would you let them run amok?”
“So you admit it, we’re prisoners.”
“If you see a shadow behind every corner you’re going to drive yourself crazy.”
“In our line of work I would have thought you’d learned to do the same. What were our rules back then? Always cautious. Always vigilant. What happened to you?”
Ju-Long turned around and raised his voice, “Enough. I’m tired of your bickering. Yes, Saturn, we’re probably being held here for the time being. That doesn’t mean we need to be hasty drawing conclusions. I say we learn as much as we can about these people and wait for our opportunity. And Liam, grow a pair and realize that there’s more to our situation than playing the explorer. None of us were meant for this kind of role so let’s take it down a notch and figure this out logically.”
Liam and the rest of the crew were silent for a while. Ju-Long plopped down on his mat and put an arm over his eyes, shielding them from the single orb of light floating near the ceiling. Liam imagined that what was going through Saturn’s head was similar to what was going through his own. Ju-Long made too much sense. They needed to work together and make a united front. Whatever decisions they made might have larger ramifications for their race down the road. But the moment things went south, they would have to be ready to act.
A few minutes later, Liam asked, “Ju-Long, you never told us how you came to be on the mine.”
Ju-Long kept his eyes covered with his arm, his bloodied hand hanging limply over his equally damaged face. His hand bore a crude bandage where Saturn had tried to make up for stabbing him. His jaw tightened as he prepared to speak.
“Vesta Corporation had a hand in a lot of industries back on Earth. I worked for a company that was building a new propulsion system meant for interstellar travel. Vesta bought the company and put a stop to my research.”
“Wouldn’t interstellar travel be a boon to Vesta’s bottom line?” Saturn asked.
“Yes, but they didn’t want the technology to proliferate. They stole my research and gave it to their own team to develop. I was already so close. We were running simulations with great success. Once their team had control of my research, there was no need for me. Agents from the corporation came after me, tying up loose ends I guess. I escaped for a while to the Martian Colony, but that didn’t last long. Soon, the agents found me and I was sent to the Asteroid Belt. They would have killed me, but if something went wrong with their research they needed to have me available as a backup. Captain Truong didn’t want to waste my talents, so he put me in charge of the mining ship’s engine room.”
“So, under all that muscle you actually are some kind of genius?” Liam asked.
Saturn snorted. Liam knew what she thought of Ju-Long, but underneath that ego he might not be as vapid as they had originally thought. Ju-Long might have been a chauvinist at times, but they were lucky to have him on their ship when they escaped. He’d already proven his usefulness once.
“Call me what you want, but I always thought of myself as more of a mechanic anyway.”
Ju-Long turned his head toward Saturn and added with a smile, “I’m good with my hands.”
Liam tried to stifle a laugh and was rewarded with a solid punch on the arm from Saturn. She was stronger than he remembered. “Hey, he said it, not me.”
Saturn cracked a smile and they all shared a brief laugh that marked the first time they’d all been cheerful since they left the Asteroid Belt. It felt good for Liam to laugh again. Even Saturn seemed to be in a better mood. However, their moment was interrupted by a series of quiet knocks on the
door. Liam’s eyes shot across the room and he rose up from the mat and padded toward the door, looking back at his crew over his shoulder. The night had come for Garuda quickly, leaving Liam wondering how many hours there were in a day on the planet, or even how time was measured on Garuda.
As Liam approached the door, he tripped some sort of security measure and the door became nearly transparent like the windows. Through the door Liam saw a manner of creature he could only describe as lizard-like. The alien was the same height as Liam and covered in tan scales more coarse than the Ansarans. His eyes were smaller than the other aliens and bore vertical slits and a golden hue like a snake. His head was bald like the Ansarans, but with more pronounced cheekbones and ears that were just holes off to the side of his eyes.
The alien seemed to know he was being watched, because his thin mouth curled up at the edge, much farther than a human’s could, which somehow made him appear more predatory. Over his hardened tan scales he wore a dark cloak that was hard to make out in the low light of the hallway.
Liam’s hand hovered over the panel for a moment before pressing down on it. The door opened and Liam subconsciously puffed out his chest to make himself appear bigger. The alien folded his scaled hands together. His pupils grew when they made contact with Liam, giving him the feeling he was being examined by a doctor.
“Inside, quickly,” the alien implored. “Before we’re seen.”