Heaven Saga 2: Sands of Aquarius (5 page)

Celi
gathered the four of them together, seeing that Daes was at her console working
on something. “Now that he’s gone, what are our plans?”

“Seles
is supposed to get the information we need during her meeting,” Baed said.

“What
information?” Mira asked.

“Where
his apartment on is,” Celi answered. “Since the greeting ritual is
inappropriate onboard a vessel we’ve had to wait this long. Now we can finally
get what we want from him.”

Daes
laughed in the background. “Do you have any idea how weird that sounds?”

The
others laughed with her while Celi turn red. Seles turned to her. “He deserves
a proper greeting ritual.”

“What
I want to hear are the stories from his home,” Mira said. “In all the time
Brian’s been here we haven’t gotten much out of him about Earth.”

“It’s
all up to you Seles,” Celi said. “Get what we need and he’ll have a surprise
waiting for him when he goes home tomorrow night.”

Brian
stepped into his green exoskeleton armor. Looking at the stand nearby him grabbed
his helmet before checking that his
rakna
was on his belt. He turned to
the bed and threw a stuffed shoulder bag over his shoulder when a ring came
from the door.

“Brian,
its Kivi.”

“Come
in,” he said as he turned to the door. Kivi stood in the door dressed in her
blue exoskeleton armor. The armor was similar his, though it matched her feminine
figure. On her belt was a pair of
rakna
blades.

“That
looks fine on you,” he said, moving closer. “Fits like a glove.”

“Thanks.
After the debacle with our first generation suits, Daes took her time reworking
this armor.” She noticed Brian was staring at her. “What?”

“That
armor really does suit you.”

OH!
Now I get it.
She thought to herself.
She noticed the four girls hiding around the
corner, spying on them. She turned back to Brian. “Let’s go.”

“Sure.”

They
left the ship and walked down a ramp onto a flat dock. The sun glared off their
armor. Ships of every shape and size flew through the air with sky scrapers
reaching to the sky. They stepped onto a massive elevator that led to ground
level. With them were Kalaidians who hadn’t seen Brian up close. He breathed
the air in, savoring it.

“This
is the first time I’ve breathed this air without my helmet blocking the way,”
Brian remarked.

“We’re
being followed,” Kivi said.

He
nodded. “I noticed that too. I’m just going to think of it as if we had four
secret bodyguards.”

“True,”
Kivi said. “This will be the first time the public gets to see you. Are you
sure you’re okay with this?”

“I’m
not a kid. I can handle myself and anyone who tries to mess with us.” He
couldn’t help but still notice that many of the Kalaidians nearby stared at
him. “I hope they don’t start dropping to their knees and praying.”

When
the massive elevator touched ground level the pair headed into the streets.
Scores of Kalaidians were in awe as he passed.

“They
look happy Brian.” Kivi noted the smiles and shouts aimed towards him. “I’ve
never seen this in my life.”

“When
I first talked with Seles about the Kalaidian system of rule I had a feeling
this would happen once I did what I did,” he said as he smiled and nodded back
to them. “The people of Kali no longer live in chains. You and the rest of your
people have been set free. Free to dream, free to hope, and free to live the
way you want.”

“You’re
sounding sentimental,” she said as the pair walked through the middle of the
Kalaidian district, with merchants and workers all around showing their respect
to the Terran.

He
looked to the sky and took a deep breath. “Before I was taken I was on the path
to become a writer. In my heart I’m a dreamer whose mind always resides in the
clouds. I wear the armor of a knight but in my heart I’ll always be that
storyteller.” He turned to Kivi, seeing the look on her face. “What?”

She
laughed. “It’s not like you to be so serious.”

“I
feel relaxed. The Avoni’s my home now. You and the others are like family.”

When
they reached the outer reach of the Kalaidian district Kivi stepped in front of
Brian and faced him.

“What
is it?”

“It’s
time to stop this kind of talk,” she said. “Let’s have some fun. And to suit
your Terran tastes I have the perfect thing in mind.”

* * *

“What
are they talking about?” Jesela asked as the four shadowed Brian and Kivi.

“It
seems pretty casual for a conversation with Kivi,” Mira answered.

“Why
don’t we ask Seles?” Baed asked, looking to her cousin.

Seles
stared for a moment. “My guess is he’s talking about his past, probably about
being a dreamer.”

“How
do you know that?” Jesela asked.

Seles
pointed at him. “He’s walking at a slow pace and is looking at the sky. He
always gets sentimental when he looks like that.”

“I’m
impressed,” Mira said before stopping the group. “By the way, were you able to
get what we needed from the captain?”

Seles
pulled a metal card key from her belt pouch. “Valis was quite cooperative. I’m
supposed to give it back to her by the last day of leave.”

“Why?”
Baed asked.

Mira
sighed. “You sound like a naive girl.”

“What’s
that supposed to mean?” Baed asked.

Jesela
whispered into Baed’s ear. “It means that the captain wishes to have a night to
herself with our dear Terran.”

Baed
blushed. “Oh.”

“Alright,
enough of this,” Mira said. “We need to find his place. Seles, do you know
where it is?”

“Of
course,” Seles said as she flipped open her wrist scanner. Calling up an image,
she pointed to a dot on the map. “It’s only a few blocks from here.”

“Let’s
go then,” Mira said as they headed towards a large apartment complex at the end
of the road. It was a massive metal and concrete complex standing ten stories
in height. Windows and small balconies lined the complex.

Mira
glanced around. “Where have Jesela and Baed gone off to?”

Seles
did likewise. “I’ll bet their off following the other two.”

“Well,
we did need someone to lure him back to his apartment.”

“True,”
Seles said as the pair stopped in front of the massive apartment complex.
“Valis really went all the way for Brian.”

“No
kidding,” Mira responded. “These apartments are the best in the Kalaidian
district.”

Seles
took out the metal key card. “Well let’s go and see if our plan will work.”

Mira
sighed. “I sure hope it does, we had to do a lot of research to get it right.”

* * *

Standing
outside the Kritkar; Brian smiled and shook his head. “I thought when you said
you were taking me somewhere special it would be…well, actually, I wasn’t
sure.”

Kivi
slapped him on the back. “It’s not the locale that defines special. It’s the
drink and food.”

“I
guess you’re right,” he said. He noticed the stares from alien in the bar.

“Are
you coming or not?” Kivi asked while standing in the doorway, looking
impatient.

“Sure.”

She
led the way. At the far end of the bar they saw a pair of Minans grappling and
pounding on each other while a number of patrons cheered. The old Malcovin
bartender, Grig, saw the pair and immediately recognized both of them. He waved
to Kivi and pointed to a pair of open seats. When they went to sit down Grig
went to Brian.

“You
were in here a few months ago, weren’t you Terran?” the old birdman asked. He
poured something into a tall glass and slid towards Kivi.

Brian
nodded. “I apologize for any damages. But I want to apologize more for the fact
I didn’t order anything while I was in here.”

Grig
pointed to Kivi’s glass. “So what’ll you have?”

“I’ll
have the same thing she is.” Grig handed Brian a drink. He took a sip of ale
and savored it.

“How
is it?” Kivi asked.

He
drank some more. “It tastes a hell of lot better than the stuff I drank on
Earth.”

“I
hope that means you like it,” Grig said.

“It
tastes great,” Brian said after enjoying another gulp. “I haven’t had a beer in
a while.”

“Well
then, I’ll leave you two to yourselves.” Grig turned to attend to other
patrons.

“Well,
is this what you needed?” Kivi asked, drinking some of the dark ale.

“Did
Valis tell you to do this?”

“You’re
game to our plan,” she answered. “But truth be told I’d prefer companionship to
going it alone.”

“I
know how it feels.” He watched the Minans pound each other more. He also noticed
a pair of Ick-Tckt staring him with their ant-like eyes.

“You
don’t like them very much do you?” Kivi asked.

He
turned back to the bar and sipped his drink. “They give me the creeps.”

“If
you think drones like them give you the creeps, wait until you see a Duchess, a
Princess, or their Queen.”

“Wait,
so those two are just drones?”

“Yeah,
Ick-Tckt are ruled by their females.” She glanced back at them. “I wish they’d
blink. I’m sure that’s why most races don’t like them.”

He
finished his drink and tapped the counter to call over Grig. “Alright Kivi, I’m
going to keep drinking until I forget about this conversation.” Grig poured him
another glass.

“Agreed,”
Kivi chimed glasses with him.

* * *

A
while later Brian sat back from his meal and groaned, feeling content. Kivi
stared at him.

“How
can you eat that?” she asked, pointing to his empty plate.

“I
was doing something Seles suggested.”

“She
told you to eat that kind of food?” Kivi took a sip from her drink.

He
waved for the bartender. “Grig, what exactly was that?”

The
old Malcovin bartender came over and took the plate. “We call it
Raksha
.
It’s a specially spiced dish that consists of fried vegetables and meat from a
Rak
.”

“What
exactly is a
Rak
?” he asked.

Grig
flipped out a small tablet and called up an image. “This is what one looks
like.”

Brian
stared at the picture. The animal shone looked similar to a flat nosed deer,
minus the antlers. He sighed in relief. “I’m glad it wasn’t something gross.”

Kivi
stared at him. “Eating meat is gross.”

“By
your standards,” Grig squawked. He looked at Brian. “So your species eats
meat?”

“We’re
actually omnivores,” Brian answered. “But to be honest that’s the best food
I’ve had in over a year.”

“Thank
you, I appreciate the compliment. Can I get you anything else?”

Brian
took up his drink and sipped. “No thanks, I’m full. What about you Kivi?”

“I
lost my appetite watching you eat.”

“If
you need anything, just call.” Grig headed to the other end of the bar.

Brian
noticed the pair of Ick-Tckt walking over to them. He turned and gulped the
rest of his drink. Kivi did likewise. The two creatures stood behind them.

“Are
you Brian Peterson?” the first one asked.

“Yes.”

“May
we have a word with you?” the second asked.

Brian
looked the Ick-Tckt in the eye. They stood a little shorter than an average
human, with four back legs and two limbs for use as hands. Most of their
ant-like bodies were covered by a dull brown cloak, although their insect eyes
and antenna showed through their hoods. Their mouths were ant-like as well,
causing their speech to be screechy with clicks and whistles.

“I’m
off duty right now, but I’ll listen to what you have to say,” he said.

One
of the Ick-Tckt stood close to Kivi while examining her closely. “Have you
chosen this one to be your mate because of her physical superiority?” he asked.

Kivi
choked on her ale, coughed, and turned around to shoot him a nasty look.
“What?”

Brian
shook his head. “No my interested ant-man, Kivi’s not with me for that reason.
We’re just friends.”

“What’s
an ant-man?” the one in front.

“An
ant is an insect from my homeworld you resemble,” Brian explained.