The Conundrum, page 4
“I will watch you carefully.”
“Thanks. That’s weird that I don’t remember this feeling last time. Now that I think about it, I don’t remember returning to the ship after leaving here. I’m happy that you’re here with me.”
Kisha grabs Adam’s arm and leads him down the path by all the fountains and waterfalls. Adam watches Kisha as they walk. He feels weird about all of this. He wishes he understood all these feelings that come to him in these different experiences.
KISHA WALKS OUT INTO an opening in the center of the forested area, and there are storefronts with soft glowing signs above them. Each sign depicts the different services of the respective place. Kisha leads Adam to a storefront with the sign of a waterfall. She feels slightly better now, but a weird feeling still grips her mind. She shakes her head again to remove the cobwebs. She doesn’t like being this vulnerable.
She leads Adam into the massage parlor. There are different forms of machines and equipment everywhere. Kisha walks over to a large, nondescript machine and waves her wrist over the screen. The device reacts to her by forming a comfortable table for her to lay on.
“I’m going to get in this machine for a bit—will you be okay sitting out here?” She climbs inside the giant machine and lays on the table. It conforms to her body and the top of the machine lowers onto her back. Kisha starts to moan as the machine works on her.
“ARE YOU OK?” ADAM MOVES closer to the machine, preparing to rip the device off her.
Kisha lets out a small laugh. “I’m great, it’s releasing all of my tension. This feels magical. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Adam steps back from the machine. He doesn’t understand what she means but looks inside his memory to search for the meaning of tension and massage. And now Adam understands Kisha’s need to release her tension. He wonders if he’s building tension inside of himself. Most humans need some kind of release from the stress that builds up in their muscles and minds. Is his stress accumulating, and someday he’ll snap like the videos inside his memory?
Adam watches the machine work its magic on Kisha. Other beings walk into the parlor and pass him on their way to other devices. All the faces and body language of those leaving the devices are calm and peaceful. Adam stands guard and wonders how to release his tension. He starts to think about what his new name could be. He dives deep into his memory banks and loses himself in all the names he could pick.
SYLER SITS INSIDE THE archives lounge, a library that holds all the information the Aleudians are willing to share with the rest of the universe. The chair forms comfortably around his human rear end in front of a holographic screen. He searches the Aleudian’s known star systems and keeps to himself. Syler’s never felt comfortable with other intelligent beings. He likes the science of knowing that other life forms exist, but that doesn’t mean he wants to meet every one of them.
He keeps a bare minimum of human friends as it is. He doesn’t care to be around a lot of people. It’s one of the main reasons he studied the JumpDrive and took off on a starship—to be away from people, and to give him time to learn more about the universe without being interrupted by friendships. His only friends consist of his shipmates.
It was hard for him to accept Adam and Caleb when they came aboard. He would’ve preferred if they already left. He tries to accept them because Kisha and Olivia seem to have taken to them. Syler wishes everything would go back to the way it was before. Until then, he’ll study more about the universe. He peruses star systems as he sips the fermented drink he got from the automated drink machine.
CHAPTER 5
Olivia’s drink is almost gone while I nurse mine. I don’t want to get too far gone with all these new people around me. I’ve never been good around people to begin with. Plus, I might have to help Olivia return to the ship. Speaking of which, I could use a little pampering after sleeping in that hammock for so long. There’s nothing wrong with it, but a bed sure sounds like a luxury right about now. After what we’ve been through, I deserve to sleep on a comfortable bed.
“Do they have rooms we can rent here?”
Olivia raises her eyebrows. “Well now, what are you implying?” She starts laughing out loud. Heads and appendages turn my way, and I slink back into my chair.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” I try to explain, but she laughs even harder.
She finishes her drink with one last swallow. She raises the glass, as if someone will notice it’s empty and fill it up. Well, at least she’s not laughing anymore.
It feels like the whole cantina is staring at us. Not all of them are enjoying her laughter. The cat people at the table beside us don’t look like they appreciate it. But what do I know? Maybe that stink eye is their way of laughing. I nurse my drink a little more.
“I know what you meant—I was just having a laugh. This drink, what do they call it? I can’t say it, but it tastes good and gets you where you need to be quick. To answer your question, they do have rooms to rent out. I’ll show you after a few more of these.”
Olivia gets up and walks over to the bar. The bartender, who I learned is a Gurentinornenian—you try pronouncing it, I sure can’t—is busy. They had already made her next drink, and hands over her peach-colored drink. I don’t know what’s so great about it—I tried it, and it was a little too sweet for me, but Olivia seems to think it’s the most incredible drink in the universe. I prefer whiskey, neat.
The room is full of different languages and sounds. I try not to stare too long at any particular table or person. It’s fascinating to me that there are this many different types of intelligent beings that have interstellar space flight. It’s beginning to sink in that I’m sitting here on a space station that another species of beings made, inside a bar with over twenty different types of people, having drinks. It’s overwhelming to think about. Not long ago, I was alone in the darkness of the Metro. Now I’m so far away from that, both mentally and physically.
My NEAD tries to pick out one language to decipher, but there are so many it’s having difficulty. I apply a filter to the cat people’s conversation, hoping it has the translation language loaded. Their hissing language morphs into Standard Earth. They’re talking about Olivia and laughing about how funny she was to make a scene. They would never have that much confidence or be that silly to make a scene like that in public. I let out a small laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Olivia asks while taking another sip of her sweet peachy drink.
I lean across the small table. I don’t want the cat people to hear me.
“I was listening in on a conversation and thought it was funny what they were saying.” I look out of the corner of my eye to see if they heard me. But they are now talking about their next stop after this station.
“What’d they say?” Olivia asks with a slight slur to her words.
She is getting warmed up. I hope she’s only planning on having two of those. I’m already afraid it will be on me to get her out of here. The weird part is she can handle her liquor, so this stuff we’re drinking must be pure alcohol or something else entirely. That could be the case—maybe there’s something in it that humans can’t handle.
This whole adventure hasn’t been easy for us, and if this is her way of letting off steam, then so be it. I’m not going to be the party pooper here. I’ll deal with whatever happens when and if it does. We all have different ways of dealing with the crazy in our lives. Olivia starts to hum to herself. She looks at me and shrugs. We don’t have to talk to one another just because we share the same table.
I continue scanning the room and try to absorb everything around me. I don’t know if I’ll ever experience anything like this again. My anxiety level might be through the roof right now, but it won’t stop me from enjoying the sight of these colorful and slimy-looking slug people a few tables away. I bounced off one of them at the market—they’re not as slimy as they look. They move to leave the cantina, and even though they don’t have any legs, they still move faster than I thought they could. They pass by a table of pasty pale-skinned bipedal beings sitting against the wall.
They almost look human, but everything about them is thinner and taller. They have to be over seven feet tall and couldn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds. Maybe I’m exaggerating a tad, but they look that way to me. I quickly turn my attention to my glass—I don’t want to offend them by staring.
I feel like Adam did when we were escaping from Earth, and he was smiling and staring at everything. I know the feeling now. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be so naive and open to new experiences. I have to say I don’t hate it.
Olivia finishes her second drink and raises the glass again. I want to say something, but I don’t want to piss her off. If she has another one, I will most definitely be carrying her out of here. I glance at the bartender, and they’re looking at her with this strange face. I don’t know what it means.
Olivia stands up with her empty glass, and weaves unsteadily towards the bar. I’ve seen her drink a lot before, so I know she can handle her drink. But can she handle this drink?
The bartender fills the glass halfway and gestures to Olivia, like they cut her off—good. She walks back to the table and slumps down into her chair, almost like she’s sulking. I turn my attention to my glass to give her some space. She takes a slow sip of her drink, finally taking the time to savor the moment. Olivia is comfortable with a drink and a story on her lips.
I may feel like I’m on some grand adventure, gawking at everyone and everything, but she’s already seen it all. She has this air about her that makes it seem like she doesn’t care, and that whatever happens, happens. I can tell she’s still on alert, but she hides it well. I only notice because I’ve gotten to know her, but if you didn’t know her, you might think she was a little out of control. I’ve grown to admire her even if she is crazy at times. Olivia might be getting nice and toasty, but she can handle more than she lets on.
I’ve let my guard down quite a bit since the Metro. I had to be on my toes in the pit, but it was definitely different than being on your toes on a planet where everything wants to eat you. On Earth you have to watch out for thieves and knuckleheads, but at least they didn’t have fangs and weren’t ten times larger than you. Just like anything you’ve learned before and stopped using, my skills have muscle memory—once you use them again, your body remembers what to do. I know I’ll need them in the future. I’ve been practicing in the shuttle bay, sparring to regain some of my fighting skills. I’ve been trying to show and train Adam, but he’s already so strong and the skills he needs aren’t really in the fighting department.
Olivia is enjoying her drink, but I see her checking out the room. I’d say she’s quite the actor. I now see in her eyes she isn’t as drunk as she’s letting on. I try to see or hear what she’s listening to. I look around the bar again to see if we’re being watched. Then she catches my eyes and looks at me intensely—she’s concerned. I look at her, and she winks with her right eye. I look over her right shoulder. These burly hairy beings are sitting a few tables away, subtly keeping their eyes on us. She must be listening to their conversation. I send her a NEAD message.
“You worried about the burly bear people?”
She nods at me, but she’s still paying attention to them. I stop talking and pretend to drink my drink. We don’t need any more trouble out here. We’re already on the run. I hoped we could catch a break, but my luck doesn’t run that way. Someday, I’ll figure out why my luck is so bad. Or maybe I should stop thinking and just live.
The burly bears leave the cantina, staring at us as they lumber by. I watch my drink very intently. But I saw how huge the two were when they stood up. I hope they were just curious about us, because I’m not really in the mood to fight. I also hope everyone is civilized around here, since we’re all these advanced spacefaring beings.
For spacer’s sake, listen to me, I’m hoping again. I know we didn’t do anything to offend them, unless they don’t like laughter. I try to go back to being open to my new adventure, but it’s not the same anymore. I’m nervous now that something will happen. I try to relax by taking deep breaths, but my heart is racing. I slide the drink away from me and sit back in my chair.
“You alright?” Olivia sips from her glass.
I shrug—it’s not always easy to calm down after getting myself worked up. I wasn’t always like this; the war really did a number on me. It just takes me longer to calm myself than it used to. And I have tricks, but of course, they don’t always work.
“It’ll be okay, Caleb.” Olivia winks at me.
“You’re not nervous about those bears? I mean, you were the one listening to them—what did they say?” I move forward in my chair.
“They were just talking about how much they hate us. It doesn’t mean all that much. They just don’t like humans. Something to do with a planet war. I didn’t get everything, but it wasn’t us—it was all of humanity.”
“Oh great, I might’ve been a part of that planet raid.”
“They don’t know that, so calm down. It’ll be okay.”
What planet and when? My heart picks up the pace and my mind goes a mile a minute. My vision clouds over and my mouth dries up. I feel something gently touch me on my shoulder, and I look up to see Olivia.
“Come on, let’s get out of here and head for a room,” Olivia whispers in my ear.
She didn’t say it as if she wanted to get into my Felder suit—she said it like she was a sister and wanted to ensure I was safe. She pulls me out of my chair and leads me out of the cantina. I don’t know exactly where she’s leading me—I’m along for the ride at this point. I give in to the panic attack and let it course through me. I’m tired of feeling like this all the time. Why can’t I get a grip on myself? I just want to be normal if there is such a thing—I want to be my old self before the war. But I’m not that person anymore. No matter how much I wish to turn back the clock, I can never be him.
Olivia leads me down corridors of strange lights and plants and even stranger beings. But I can’t think or see straight when I get like this. This is exactly why I hid myself away in the pit of the Metro—it’s easier to hide this part of me in the darkness. But here I am out in the open, living life as a fugitive. I better get used to this and figure out how to deal with my past.
The surroundings change as we turn a corner—bright and shiny turns to dark and relaxing. Even the plants are more calming, if that’s possible. It’s enough to pull me out of my panic attack and ease the rush of thoughts. The corridor opens into another open space with windows going all the way up about twenty stories. Each one has a light on, with something different happening behind every window. I stop and take a deep breath, and Olivia loses her grip on me as I look around. Hundreds of windows reach for the geometric-shaped glass ceiling. It’s wild to look at all the different beings and think about their lives, where they came from, and what they’ve done. Then, circle back, look at my life, and think about how I got to this place. How did we all end up here at the same time? It really is unbelievable to think about how so many different paths have converged here in this place. My brain is overloaded—I’ve got a splitting headache.
Olivia grabs my arm again and drags me into a lobby, full of the same plants from outside. She swipes her wrist over the floating screen, and the screen shows us our room number and directions to get there. I hope it’s a private room and not some hostel where I’ll have to share a bunk bed with some being that snores loudly.
“Come on, I got you,” Olivia says with a comforting voice.
I’m finding out this pilot of ours is more than a crazy loon that loves getting us out of trouble. She’s also a very kind person, and she knows how to handle many different situations. Getting to know the real Olivia has been surprising, just based on how we met. But we do that as humans, don’t we? We put everyone into categories and then they can’t be anything else—but people are complicated and have many sides. People are more than they appear, no matter where they come from. I am gaining so much respect for this person standing before me.
Olivia drags me to a lift—she’s following a map floating in front of her left eye from her NEAD. The lift door slides shut behind us. I don’t even feel the lift move, but suddenly, the door opens seconds after closing. I walk out of the lift and suddenly there’s a tangible space between the stress of my panic attack and this new feeling of calm and relaxation. I take a deep cleansing breath, and notice the hallway is lined with more of the same plants. It feels like the plants are calling me again. That is most curious.
“Olivia?” I ask as she drags me down the hallway.
She stops and turns to me. “What’s up?”
I gesture to the plants on the wall. “Are you feeling any different since we entered this place?”
She looks at me, turns her head a bit, and gives it a thought. I watch her process my question in slow motion. She looks over at the purplish flowers and touches the nearest one.
“Maybe these flowers are giving off some kind of pheromone or something?” She pulls her finger back from the flower, looks back at me, and shrugs her shoulders. She looks down at the map and starts to walk away.
“Does that concern you at all?” I ask nervously. I look up and down the hallway.
Olivia keeps walking without looking back. I can turn a mountain out of a molehill if I allow my brain to. I finally realize that it doesn’t matter what these flowers are giving off, if it gets rid of my panic attack. So, I pull up my big britches and follow after Olivia, who is walking through the door that just slid open. I catch the door before it slides shut on my face. Olivia heads for the corner by what I’m guessing are two non-descript beds waiting for our touch to define themselves.
