Rebellion in the Shadows

The rest of the crowd scattered back towards the building. I watched them leave, disappointed by their lack of enthusiasm. Notawa was waiting for me, but I wasn’t ready to deal with her chipper attitude. Arwago didn’t look like he had moved, since the race began. He was as buried in his calcumat as when I had left.

“Hey,” I said to him and his head snapped up.

“Yes?”

“Nothing. Did you even saw the race?” I said. He chuckled but his head dipped back down to his calcumat.

“It was good. Leave it up to Tesser to come up with a way to win like that,” he said. He adjusted a large black book that was tucked under his arm.

“Doing some studying?” I asked. He shook his head.

“No, actually this is for you,” he said. He swiped whatever was on his screen away and looked up flashing his bright white teeth with a big smile.

“Give it back when you’re done with it. OK?” He held it out to me. A very thick, very old book with a faded title.

“You serious?”

“Sure, why wouldn’t I be? Congratulations on the race by the way,” he said. The book was heavier than I thought it would be. As soon as I took it, he walked away.

“What did he want?” Notawa asked, with a quick glance his direction.

“He gave me this book and said congratulations,” I said. She took the book and opened it to the first page. The title read, Journey from Earth. I laughed. A history book, the perfect gift. Notawa didn’t look amused. Her face went white for a second before she shut it and handed it back. My face scrunched at her but she had already turned away.

“He is so weird.” She shook her head and took a deep breath. “But that was some great flying Talaya, really great.” Notawa wore a sympathetic smile on her face. Her fake excitement didn’t fool me, and my shoulders slouched.

“I get the feeling they wanted me to lose,” I said. Winning had made me feel more isolated. It must have showed on my face because Notawa changed her tone while we walked back towards my room.

“They’ll come around, don’t worry. Everything will look better after a good night’s sleep.”

“Yes, wouldn’t want to be tired for all the glares from everyone tomorrow, now would I?” Her hand stopped me before I could walk through the door.

“I know people don’t seem to expect much from you, but keep doing what you are doing. It will get easier, I swear.” She walked away, and I stepped into my room. The book of flight codes I had hit Kirtis with sat open on the floor. Fresh guilt hit me.

He wasn’t going to quit, was he? If people hated me now, just wait until he was gone because of me. It would be impossible to live that down.

I tossed Arwago’s book onto my nightstand with the flight codes and collapsed onto my air mattress. The pipes pumped cold air to laser guided points on my body, giving my body much needed relief. My dad always joked that it was an old person’s mattress. Thinking about him and the jokes he’d make, made me even lonelier. Tomorrow would be an excellent time to call him. At least he didn’t hate me.

***

“Good morning Talaya.” Notawa’s voice shrieked into my ear four short hours later. She went straight to my scherlot and gave him a piece of bread.

“No. I’m not getting up.” I put the pillow over my head.

“Yes, come on. I brought a bare nutrient bar and… ” Her sing-song voice got my attention. She didn’t need to say what else she had brought. I smelled it all around me and shot out of bed.

Coffee.

One steaming, beautiful cup was held under my nose, as warm as it was delicious.

“Is everyone talking about last night?” I asked.

“No.” She was lying.

“Do they hate me?”

“Of course not.” She was lying again. I handed the coffee back over to her, then threw myself back onto the bed.

“Physical Conditioning in 15 minutes and you’re lucky I didn’t wake you at zero-five for your laps.” She strode out of my room with my cup. That was pure bribery.

“Ugh,” I whined as I rolled out of bed.

As I walked through the oversized doors to the training class, my eyes searched the room for Kirtis. He was nowhere to be seen. Notawa and I shared a look. She knew what we were both thinking. I stayed near the back, but she went to find out what was going on. People around me mumbled, a few pointed. This was going to get old fast.

“Inverted for two-point-three seconds!” I heard one of them say in excitement. I turned on my heels.

“Two-point-six, actually,” I bragged.

“How did you counter act the blow-back?” the young girl asked.

“Used the pedal to stall out the right rotors.”

“The gods that’s crazy,” she said. Notawa came back before I could agree. The tallest, biggest, scariest-looking man I’d ever seen was with her. He scowled at everything around him, including me. The young girl that was talking to me shied away at the sight of him.

“Talaya, let me introduce to you Zarleque, he will be your new partner,” she said. My eyes traveled over him, which took quite a while considering his height.

“Where’s Kirtis?” I asked.

“I mean, you know. He was reassigned this morning,” she said.

“Great. Another thing people can hate me for,” I said. Zarleque smiled. “I thought we were supposed to be matched based on size and personality?” I asked.

“Master Guardian thought it was best to challenge you more physically due to your future situation and quick advancement in training,” Notawa said. Zarleque smiled again but crossed his giant arms. They were as thick as tree trunks.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t broken anyone yet,” he said. His voice was softer than I thought it would be, and what I thought was a bald head, turned out to be very short, very blonde hair.

“Guess I don’t have a say in this right?” They both shook their heads.

“Let’s get to it then,” I mumbled. No way was I going to show how much his size scared me.

We spent two hours training. Zarleque was quick and powerful. No surprise there. Afterwards, every muscle burned, and every tendon groaned with each careful movement I tried to make. Sure, Zarleque was nice enough but he was three or four times stronger than I was and he’d hurt me several times on accident. Still, it was almost easier sparring with him than it had been with Kirtis. At least Zarleque kept an even temper and apologized each time he almost broke my arm.

Notawa met me at break time. My mind was already set on grabbing snacks from my room and eating alone. I tried to hurry out the door, but she followed right behind me.

“Wait up!” she said. “Talaya! We need to keep up with the studying.” The sound of feet scurrying behind me made me turn around.

“Fine Notawa, but not right now. I want to eat in my room.” I rubbed at my shoulder where Zarleque had almost ripped it out of its socket. She kept following me towards my room.

“Of course, let me grab some food and some more study materials.”

“Alone, Notawa. For today, please?” Her face registered hurt but I wasn’t in the mood for studying. My body ached, I was tired, and there was the guilt over Kirtis making me extra grumpy. She persisted.

“But Master Guardian insists that you not miss any study sessions. He told me that himself. I am required to be with you at all times during non-training,” she said, her voice soft.

“Fine!” I slammed my hand on the door as I unlocked it. Notawa stepped into my room behind me.

“You think I want to be here like this? That I wouldn’t rather be at home with my family?” she said. Her voice squeaked throughout the room. She stomped her foot and her tiny hands were balled into fists.

“Woah! Notawa, I didn’t mean anything by it.” There was a wild look in her eyes. She’d never lost her temper like this before.

“Everyone has to make sacrifices, everyone has to do what he says. None of us has any choice! We don’t run around groaning about it all the time. You’re the only one, and to be honest Talaya, you have it a lot easier than 90% of the people here.”

“Sorry! The gods Notawa, you’d think it was me ordering you around.” She paced the room until she turned to me, resolve in her narrowed eyes.

“No. You know what? Study by yourself. I’m going home.” She stomped out of my room, barely waiting for the auto-door to open all the way for her to leave.

“What just happened?” I whispered to myself. I looked around my room eyes wide, as if the answer was going to jump out from behind a book of flight codes.

Notawa wasn’t at breakfast the next morning. I sat at a table, alone. After a few minutes of eating alone, someone dropped their tray on my table. Zarleque towered over me.

“Can I sit?”

“Um, sure.”

“I’m supposed to run with you after breakfast,” he said between bites.

“Where’s Notawa?”

“She’s taking the day off,” he answered before he shoveled another large spoonful of oats into his mouth.

“Is that allowed?”

“We’ll see.”

Zarleque didn’t get winded at all as he sprinted up and down the long track with me. There I was panting like a smoker after eight laps, and he was as spry as a young purthis.

“How the hell do you run like that?” I gasped.

“I like running.” He turned around and jogged next to me backwards, showing off.

“You know, you could be a much better runner if you pushed a little harder every day. Then one day, it wouldn’t be so tough.”

“I refuse to believe that. Running will always be a painful experience,” I said, panting between every few words. Sweat covered every inch of my tired body.

“You really going to be Master Guardian?” he asked.

“I guess so, that’s what they tell me anyway.” He laughed and I scrunched my face at him. “What’s so funny?”

“You. If I was going to be in charge of the whole planet one day, I would probably complain a little less.” I stopped running and bent over with my hands on my knees. He stopped with me.

“No one asked if I wanted it. Or even cares that I don’t.” I said, gasping for breath.

“Still. Is it really so bad?” he asked, looking down at me. Maybe he was right. My attitude managed to isolate me from most of my peers, including the one person that was nice to everyone. At least if I was in charge, I could outlaw running.

“Come on, two laps left,” he said and sprinted away from me.

After my shower, I hurried to my least favorite class: artificial gravity mechanics. My attention didn’t stray from the material even once. Zarleque’s words stuck with me and I was determined to prove my worth.

“How many rotations does it take before the effects of the artificial gravity will be felt on board a spaceship?” My hand shot up.

“It is immediate,” I answered.

“Excellent! Moving on.” The guy next to me mumbled to his neighbor, something about ‘two-point-six minutes.’ I couldn’t stop the smile that stretch across my face.

The rest of the class passed in much the same way. More than half the questions had easy answers, but I took it as a win.

When class was dismissed, Notawa was waiting outside the classroom with several books. They looked too heavy for her to carry. She shifted the weight, even using her thigh to try and prop the books up.

“These are some more study materials,” she said. Two books fell off the top of the pile. “I also downloaded several digi-records for review.”

“Want me to carry some?” I asked.

“Don’t bother I got it,” Zarleque said, seemingly materializing next to us. He bent over and grabbed the two textbooks, then took another two off her pile, carrying them comfortable in one of his huge hands.

“Yes, because the twenty books in my room aren’t enough.” She laughed, but I was still wary.

“Are we good?” I asked.

“Of course! I am so glad that Zar was able to assist you this morning.” She wouldn’t meet my eyeline. My heart slid out of my chest and down into my knees.

“Notawa, I’m sorry.”

“Nonsense, let’s get to studying!” Her enthusiasm wasn’t as frenetic as usual. Walking this close to her, I could see how red her eyes were. My heart dropped farther into my legs.

“Sure, let’s get to studying.” I trailed behind them both, lousy with guilt.

We spent the rest of the day in my room. Crumb-covered plates, wrappers, half-drunk drinks, and books were scattered through the room with no rhyme or reason, almost as if a tornado had plowed through a University. We were busy eating some old wild rice when my calcumat rang. It was my dad trying to catch up after weeks of short talks and digi-comms.

“Dad, can I talk to you later? I’m studying,” I said.

“I am sure that a lot of studying is happening at 2330,” he said. The video comm was on and he could see that there were other people in my room.

“Is that a boy?!” Fumbling with my calcumat, I switched it to voice comm only.

“Sorry dad, we’re studying. Talk soon, bye!” With that I hung up on him. My red face took a careful glance at the two in my room that were already stifling laughter.

“Oh, please. He’s my dad!”

“No, no. I would be livid if my nieces had boys in their rooms, but they are six, not twenty-four.” Zarleque couldn’t hold in his chuckles anymore. His rich laughter echoed off my walls.

“Stop it, it’s sweet. He seems like a good dad,” Notawa said but her smile gave her away.

“He’s a tiny bit overprotective. He hates that I’m in the Flying Force.”

“Why? It’s a good job, pay’s great and you get to see a lot of the planet,” Zarleque asked.

“I dunno. I think he blames them for my mom’s death,” I said, flipping through the textbook. They stopped their laughter. Zarleque shared a side look with Notawa before she cleared her throat.

“That’s unfortunate,” she said. Zarleque took the book from my hand.

“Maybe we should call it a night?” His eyebrows were up high on his forehead, making his eyes full of fear that I didn’t understand.

“Sounds good. We will pick it up tomorrow.” Notawa said. She grabbed her things, eager to leave the awkward room.

“No, really. Sorry. I mean I know that’s ridiculous. She was killed by a purthis,” I said. It was too late. Notawa picked up a few pieces of garbage and started towards the door.

“It’s fine. See you tomorrow,” she said. They both scurried from my room like it was full of poisonous gas.

Even with my study partners gone, I sat at the desk with a text book. Three times I read the same paragraph before I slammed it closed. Their reaction to my mom’s death didn’t sit right.

What the heck was that about? They were too sensitive. It was twenty years ago for heaven’s sake! I shrugged off their weird actions and got up for a snack.

Two hours later, I was still pacing my room, thinking about it.

“She was killed by a purthis,” I whispered. The strongest, most terrifying creature on the planet. Sharp-toothed, covered in silent feathers, with razors for claws, and as big as a drone. The beast was a force to be reckoned with. They killed people once or twice a year, and my mom had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“She was killed by a purthis.” No matter how many times I said it, the looks on Notawa and Zarleque’s faces popped into my head. Sleep deprivation had a way of creating these paranoid thoughts. That was all this was. I needed sleep. Everything would look better in the morning.