Galileo (Battle of the Species) (25 page)

           “…yes,” Renn said, about 70% sure that he did.

           Paro smiled. 
Don’t worry child, you will with practice. Sit,
Paro projected, then sat on the ground, cross-legged.

Renn followed suit, sitting opposite his great uncle.

“Let’s begin,” Paro said.

For the rest of the class, Renn tried to think of nothing but blackness and silence, and then imaged different people behind it. Whenever Paro saw or heard something, he would say the name, “Meta…Dylan,” …nothing…, “Leo…,” until Paro was silent and a grin crossed his face.

When it was time to leave, Paro walked Renn out of the simulation room. “Just remember that you can’t mask a projection. Once it’s in the open, any telepath can hear it.”

“When do I learn how to take over someone’s body?”

Paro stopped and looked at Renn, a little taken aback. “You don’t learn how to take over someone’s body,” Paro replied. “Why would I teach you something so barbaric?”

“Wh…I…,” Renn stuttered. “It’s just that, at Searsmont…there were a couple of minutes where my mom fought the enemy alone. She cut off their thought blockers, entered their minds, and then used their bodies as puppets to fight the enemy. It was kind of brilliant actually. I just assumed it was a Mindeerian thing.”

“No, that’s not a ‘Mindeerian thing’,” Paro replied. “That’s a warrior tactic when he or she is horribly outnumbered and ready to kill every last one of their enemy. Taking over someone’s mind and body takes every last choice away from them. There’s no mercy in that.”

“But they do that at Styx, don’t they?” Renn said, thinking about the Federation’s prison.

“Yes. They do take over the prisoners’ bodies. Their minds, however, are left untouched. Forget about mind and body control. If Hollen wants you to learn that, she’ll have to teach you herself.”

Renn and Paro separated in the hall, leaving Renn to think about Searsmont and his mother. He was so focused that he hadn’t noticed a ship android trying to walk beside him and having a difficult time keeping up.

“Sir…” the cheap robot said, trying to pick up its metal feet and increase its speed. “Sir…” the android persisted, “Sir…sir…” The android finally gave up and tapped Renn on the shoulder as a last resort, making the young Mindeerian jump.

“I’m so sorry to startle you, sir. You have a phone call trying to connect from Earth,” the automaton said.

“Oh! Thanks,” Renn said, running back to his dorm room.

He walked in and flopped himself on the bed, clicking “Accept” on his computer screen.

Adam’s face lit up when he saw Renn appear. “Hi, I got your message. Are you all right?” Adam asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Renn replied. “There’s just one thing though, Dad.”

“What’s that?”

“I need some money.”

“Go ask your mom,” Adam replied, attempting to keep a straight face.

Renn laughed. “Seriously, how long have you been waiting to say that?”

“Your entire life. What do you need money for?”

“Well, we’re going on a field trip and everyone’s talking about shopping, getting souvenirs, and eating at restaurants and I can’t do any of that without it.”

“Yeah, all right. I’ll send some silver quints. Where are you going on this trip?” Adam asked.

“No clue, they’re very mysterious about it.”

“That's Galileo for you. The entire ship’s a mystery.”

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Adam said.

Adam attempted to change the subject, when something finally occurred to Renn. “Dad, where did you go to school?”

Adam forced a smile. “The Galileo, all right? Now, no more questions about my past.”

Renn smiled back, but tried not to gloat in his minor victory.

They spent another few minutes talking until the bell chimed and Renn had to go to his next class. It was hard to say goodbye, not knowing when they’d talk to each other again, feeling the distance between them in spades.

***

When the bell chimed in English class, Professor Nicita looked around the room. “Who’s up next?” she asked.

All the students looked around, in every which direction, avoiding eye contact with her. A large Zorgre, named Grus, hadn’t yet learned that evasive technique, and looked Professor Nicita straight in the eyes.

“Grus, let’s hear your speech,” Nicita said.

Grus flustered, unprepared to be called up. He fumbled for his tablet and held on tightly for fear of dropping it in front of the class out of nervousness. He made his way to the front of the class and stood before them, shifting his weight on the heels of his feet.

“What’s your speech about Grus?” the Professor asked in a soothing voice.

“Visiting Ea...Earth,” he said, fidgeting with his baggy pants and looking around.

“Good,” the Professor said, encouraging him to keep going. “What did you do while you were there?” she asked.

Grus looked down at his tablet, stuttering and stammering, then looked up at the professor.

“It’s okay, Grus. Let’s just talk for a moment, all right?” she said. “Did you do anything fun?”

Grus nodded again. “We went on a…picnic.”

“Great. Keep going.”

“…and we had…” He looked down at the tablet. “…crab cakes and mashed potatoes, cookies and chicken,” he stopped reading, thinking about the chicken. “…but I didn’t like chicken. The feathers kept scratching my throat and the feet got stuck in my teeth when they kicked.”

Some of the humans giggled, causing Grus to fluster even more.

“Quiet down, class,” the Professor said. “Go ahead, Grus. You’re doing great.”

He went back to the tablet, ignoring the laughter. “I especially liked the hot dogs…” but the professor stopped him.

“That’s good Grus, but how did you feel?” she asked, in an attempt to avoid the laundry list of food Zorgres always seemed to give in their speeches.

Grus thought about it for a moment. “Hungry,” he said, making the class laugh again. He looked around the room, missing the joke.

“Okay,” the professor replied with patience in her voice. “What else did you feel?”

He thought about it a moment. “Frustrated,” Grus said.

“Good!” Nicita exclaimed.

Grus smiled at finally getting something right.

“What were you frustrated about?” she encouraged.

“Not enough food,” Grus replied.

“Oh,” the professor said, as her smile faded. “Was it a good trip?” she continued.

“No,” Grus said.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because Achim died.”

“I’m sorry? Who's Achim?” the professor asked.

“My brother,” Grus said, looking away.

It was the first time he had spoken about him since he passed away, and Grus felt overwhelmed with emotions he wasn’t prepared for.

It explained why Grus was always alone and sometimes walked around, looking lost. Zorgres were always born as twins. If one died before the other, the surviving twin usually wandered off into the forest, sat down, and waited to die, unable to handle the loss.

Not long after his brother died, Grus' parents had sold their family business to pay for his tuition to the Galileo. It was their only hope for saving his life. On the Galileo he would be around species who fared better alone, learning to become whole again without Achim by his side. Either it would work or it wouldn't. Only time would tell, but it was the only thing his parents could think of when they found Grus walking towards the forest one cold morning.

“How did he die?” Professor Nicita asked.

“We sat near a…” he stopped, shook his head, and looked over at the Zorgre brothers. “Dupaka?” he asked.

The Zorgre brothers looked at each other whispering for a second, till one said, “River.”

“River,” Grus continued, “and we were eating. Achim wanted something to drink, so he went to the river for some water. But something came out of the water and dragged him under. Zorgres can't swim, so we waited for Achim to come back out. If he needed help, Grus would have helped Achim, but Zorgres can't swim. So we waited until it got dark, but Achim never came back.” Grus looked away, shifting on his feet.

“How did that make you feel?” the professor asked.

“Sad,” he said. “Grus misses Achim.”

“You did very well, Grus,” Professor Nicita said with a warm smile.

Grus sat back down while the students knocked on their tables and patted him on the shoulder, causing him to beam from ear to ear.

***

Because of the twelve-day school week, the students got one day off every three days, which Renn preferred to the weekends off on Earth. This way, there was always a day off a couple days away. It didn’t take long before the First Years figured out how to relax during the time off, and would often gather in the boys’ common area to watch an Intergalactic Battle of the Species Championship game.

They all stocked up on food from the mess hall and brought it back to the dorms to eat, while they watched on the large screen. They sat on hovering chairs and couches, and then gathered around on the floor, whooping and hollering at the species tearing each other apart.

Desh looked up to the fourth floor and projected,
Grus, you're missing it, come on!

Grus popped out of one of the doorways with a big bowl of food, hurrying so he wouldn’t miss the match. He ran down the spiral staircase, and took a seat next to Desh and Kia, watching the screen and gobbling his tasty snack.

Desh got a bowl of fresh slugs stuffed under his nose, and looked over to see Grus offering to share his favorite treat.

“No, thanks. It’s all you, Buddy,” Desh said, trying not to dry heave.

The guys placed bets, arguing about which species would win, and yelling when their alien scored or lost a handful of points.

Renn heard a familiar voice behind him and turned around, waving Meta, Lux, and Joss over from the doorway.

Desh followed his gaze and straightened up when he saw Lux cross the room. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying his best to brush it all in the same direction. He looked up at the screen, a little annoyed, not having expected the girls to walk in.

Renn’s eyes widened when a Mindeerian fighter chose S-shaped swords identical to the weapons he not only saw his mother fight with in Searsmont, but was the weapon Desh used to kill him in the dream. He watched in awe as the fighter spun them around with ease while electricity sizzled and snapped around the metal.

“We’re going to go swimming in the simulation room and wanted to see if you guys want to come,” Meta said to Renn.

“What?” Renn asked, unable to take his eyes off the Mindeerian swords.

“Swimming?” Meta repeated, a second before Renn stood up, cheering when the Mindeerian fighter sliced his opponent in half, winning the game.

Meta looked over at Lux and Joss, smiling. “They’re not going anywhere,” she said. The girls laughed and nodded. “Do you want to stay here or go swimming?” Meta asked.

“What do you want to do?” Lux asked.

Meta glanced over at Renn, and then gave a pleading look to her friends.

“All right,” Lux said. She and Joss settled in.

Joss sat on the floor, finding a bowl of popcorn offered to her. She looked up and saw Kia, though he wasn’t able to take his eyes off the screen. She took a handful of the popcorn, with a “Thanks” and stuffed her mouth with the warm, salty puffs.

“Un-hunh,” Kia mumbled, cramming a handful of popcorn into his own mouth.

Joss and Kia fell into conversation about techniques and strategy, both realizing that they could make a good fighting team. She glanced up at him a few times, noticing for the first time that Kia was a rather handsome guy, and then tried to think of something else, knowing that Torans never mated outside of their species.

Desh kept looking over at Lux, trying to come up with an excuse to get her to sit near him, but couldn’t think of anything. Once or twice, he could swear she looked over at him, but he kept looking at the screen, not wanting it to look too obvious that he was interested in her.

Lux kept trying to think of an excuse to sit near Desh, but couldn’t think of anything. Every time she thought of something to say, she’d look over, but it didn’t look like he seemed to care and she decided against it.

***

The students walked into the robotics’ room to find two dozen men in silver suits standing motionless in the back of the room, in perfect rows.

           “Sit down, class. Come on, take your seats,” the Professor said, attempting to stop the door jams the students were causing.

Renn listened to the whispering and the thoughts dancing about the room. “They’re real,” one student said.

“They are not, stupid. This is robotics; they’re androids,” said another.

They’re not moving
, one thought.

           When the class began, all the students were so alert and excited for class, Professor Tamar couldn’t help but laugh. “As I’m sure you’ve all noticed, the Autobotica Corporation
was good enough to loan us a couple dozen of their androids to practice on. We’re not going to take any apart…”

The students slumped down in their seats in disappointment.

“…you will, however, learn to turn them on and off today. In case you find yourself fighting androids, which, if you’re going into the military, you inevitably will, you need to know how to disable them without much thought. Tomorrow, we will discuss strategies for fighting opposite android armies, but for now, let’s start with the basics.”

           Professor Tamar looked down at her tablet and commanded android Bagrot 3L-88 to come forward. One of the male androids from the back of the room animated and walked to the front of the class.

           “Now then,” the Professor continued, “Federation law states that all android manufacturers must place the on/off switch of the automaton at the back of the neck on all models. Any android found to have the switch in another location will be immediately destroyed and the manufacturer will receive life in the Federation prison. And though androids may be purchased from species who are not in the Federation, one would have a difficult time finding a skilled android maker who would risk disobeying this law, considering the consequences.”
           “To access the controls, one would need to remove a portion of the husk, which requires a magnet to unlock,” Professor Tamar explained, pointing to the spot on the android. “But if you're fighting one or need to have it power down without a key, then you're going to have to feel around for the off button. I want you all to feel around and practice turning them on and off. Their eyes will open when they’re on and close when they’re off, making it easy for you.”