The Arrival (2 page)

Jake Melkins did not want to go to a breeding camp. Going directly into slavery was not high on his list either.

His head rested on his left hand as he sat in a dining booth. He looked out the window of the floating space station turned rest stop named Jells, after his foster dad. The stars in the distance looked so peaceful and serene, like the empty and quiet dining room he was in. He imagined one of the stars going supernova, and compared it to what was coming on his twenty-first birthday in a few months.

His athletic build, fair skin, jet-black hair, and blue eyes were highly prized by the Seceltor Empire, and they controlled his fate. A brief thought of standing up and saying no to them crossed his mind. It exited as fast as it came. Death was always an option. Being free and in control of his life seemed so far out of reach. He sighed as he exited the booth and grabbed the broom that rested nearby. Time to get back to work. At least there was a cargo run coming up in a few days. It gave him a chance to interact with others, even if they were not human.

Jells walked into the room. “Daydreaming again?”

Jake glanced at Jells. It had taken him a while back when he was six to get used to Jells’s bug-like face. Large, oval-shaped black eyes and two slits for a nose sat on a four-foot-tall, gray-skinned, plump humanoid body. Small eyebrows ringed the top of the eyes. A small mouth and two big elephant-like ears that could flap rounded out the face. The ears gave Jells superior hearing, something quite useful in a rest stop. “Nah. Just thinking is all.”

“About your upcoming birthday, I suppose.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, if we had working robots, you could think about it while not having to sweep the floor.”

Jake sighed as he looked at the broken-down cleaning robot at the far end of the room. It had served them faithfully for a long time, but they could not keep up on the maintenance. Most of the manual work had to be done by him now, between flying cargo routes.

At least he did not have to be around when those damned slavers stopped in. They were rowdy and disruptive and never paid for the damage they did. Challenging them was out of the question.

Jake shook his head. It was just him, Jells, and a small army of service robots that were slowly beginning to fail. What would happen if they could not keep the place going? Jake wondered if Jells would ever sell. Jells had run this station for almost thirty years now, and when Jake left, how would Jells maintain it? The thought of leaving all of this for Jells to handle filled Jake with dread. He sat down on a bar stool and looked around the large rectangular room. He was going to miss it.

Jells studied Jake. “Is something else bothering you?”

“Was just thinking about … my fate.”

“I understand. It’s the system, though. I hate it.”

“Yeah, I know. There’s nothing that can be done. The day will come, and I’ll be gone. I
won’t
go to a breeding farm, though, and I
don’t
think I will be a good slave either,” said Jake with a raised voice.

Jells sighed and put a hand on Jake’s shoulder. “You know I’ll try my best to get you out once you’re in the system.”

“I know,” said Jake, nodding. He gritted his teeth. “Why do they get to choose my fate for me? Why can’t they just leave me the hell alone?” He slipped his head into his hands and sighed.

“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off. I’ll … take care of this room.”

Jake slid off the stool and hugged a startled Jells. “Thanks, Dad.”

Although Jells was officially a caretaker, he was all Jake knew growing up after six. Jells was patient with him, taught him how to do many things, and, more importantly, treated him like a son. A lump formed in Jake’s throat as he stepped back.

“Go,” said Jells, pointing off toward the room entrance.

Jake nodded and exited the dining room as thoughts of how he could change his situation swirled in his mind.

Several hours later, Jake returned to the dining room to have dinner. He had gone and practiced the ancient Seceltor martial art known as guudinka. It involved a lot of grappling and strikes, and he found it to be an excellent stress reliever. He had showered and cleaned up, and the pit in the bottom of his stomach from earlier was gone.

Jells was in the bar area, looking at an embedded console. A red light beeped above it.

Jake ran over and studied it. The screen showed a round spacecraft on one of the landing pads.

“You’re the ship expert. What is it?” asked Jells, pointing at the screen.

Jake scrutinized the ship. “Dunno. I’ve never seen a ship like that before. It’s round. That’s not too uncommon, but the thrusters are on the back, and the sides have a door. Huh. Looks like the front top half of the ship is covered in glass or something. There are black panels all over the ship. I’m guessing those are adjustment thrusters. What a weird setup.”

The screen showed a human and a humanoid female robot walk out of the ship and toward the dining hall.

“A male human and a female robot! And they’re on their way in!”

“Great.” Jells strode over to the central bar and stepped into the open central area. He reached underneath the bar and pulled out a laser rifle. After priming it, he looked at Jake. “Just being cautious. At least it ain’t Greecho. Don’t really feel like dealing with him right now. You sure you ain’t ever seen that design before?”

“Nope. Never seen it before,” said Jake, shaking his head.

Jells reached under the bar again and pulled out a small laser pistol. He tossed it to Jake. “All right then. Conceal this.”

“Why’re you being so cautious?”

“An unusual ship, a male human, and a female humanoid robot. You know as well as I do there shouldn’t be any humans flying around out here, other than you.”

“Yeah, but maybe it’s a freed slave,” said Jake with his hand out. “And his suit is pretty cool too.”

Jells narrowed his eyes. “Well,
cool
suit or not, we need to be careful. Get inside the bar area. Just in case.”

Jake understood Jells’s concern. Freed human slaves were rare, and they would definitely not have a ship. He moved into the bar and stood next to Jells. The memory of installing the security measures popped into his head as he ran his hand along the fiberglass-like counter. An energy-beam-proof barrier would shoot up from the bar to the ceiling, effectively sealing up the central bar area. They had only used it once, and he was hoping this encounter would not need it.

He had always wondered what it would be like to be free, to come and go without the worry of being enslaved. Maybe this new stranger would give him some insight, or hope, that maybe there were other options available. This could be a life-changing event. Or it could just be someone who was lost.

A few tense minutes later, the human walked in with the female humanoid robot to his right. The human looked around and, after spotting Jells and Jake, walked over to the bar. He bowed with his left arm across his stomach. “My name is Evaran.” He gestured toward the robot. “This is my friend U4.”

Jake studied Evaran. Evaran had on a light-gray, lightly armored, advanced-looking suit. Multicolored lines of blue, white, orange, and silver outlined the various armor-padded areas. Gadgets hung off a metallic belt that Jake had never seen before. One of the items was a small cylinder with elaborate designs. He squinted at the reflection from the shiny forearm bands. Evaran’s neck had a guard that seemed to conform to his body. It was obvious that Evaran was not a freed slave. His suit looked like it was geared toward combat or survival. The multiple pieces of Evaran’s suit stood out in contrast to the one-piece suits typically worn by visitors.

Jells cleared his throat. “Name’s Jells.” He then pointed to Jake. “This is my son, Jake.”

Evaran eyed Jake. “Your son?”

“I know, he’s human. Long story.”

Evaran narrowed his eyes. “I see. Interesting.”

“You’re human too by the looks of it.”

Evaran extended out his right hand, palm up. “I am not a human, although I may look like one. I am, however, a traveler. May I borrow some of your time to answer a few questions?”

Jells nodded and gestured at one of the stools across the bar from them. “As long as you’re not here to cause trouble, take a seat. Do you want anything to eat or drink?”

Evaran tilted his head at Jake. “What do you recommend?”

“I’ll get you something,” said Jake, nodding at Evaran. “Oh, and good to meet you. I’ll be back in a bit.” He walked to the other end of the bar and accessed a console. As he prepared something to eat, he tapped at a small device in his ear. It was a hearing booster he had picked up on one of his cargo runs. Jells did not know about it, but Jake had found it very useful when negotiating with others.

Jells laid the laser rifle beside him, where it rested against the bar. He pointed at U4. “You said that was your friend?”

“Statement. I am a utility artificial intelligence, version four. My shortened name is U4.”

Jells chuckled as he raised both hands out in front of him. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” He faced Evaran. “If you’re not human, what species are you exactly?”

“Not one you would be familiar with. I am unique.”

“Uh-huh. Well, you’re a spitting image of a human. You also speak fluent Oakarish. I’m impressed.”

“One among many languages I am familiar with.”

Jake chewed the inside of his lip as he pondered how Evaran could speak Oakarish. It was the native language of the Seceltor Empire and hard to learn. It had taken Jake many years to learn it, and even now, he did not consider himself fluent.

Jells snorted. “Anyways … what brings you out here?”

“Information. That is all I seek.”

“Such as …”

“Star charts. Histories of any civilizations in the area, your thoughts on current events, and the location of Jake’s home world.”

Jells drew his lips flat. “What do you want with Jake’s home world location?”

Evaran extended his hand, and a projection shot up from his ring. It showed a male and a female humanoid. “I am looking for a planet inhabited by these specific humanoid forms. The planet would have … unusual characteristics in the native population. Jake appears to fit this visual profile.”

Jells crossed his arms. “Uh-huh. So you’re not looking for slaving opportunities then?”

“No. I do not agree with slavery in any form.”

Before Jells could respond, Jake returned from the other side of the bar with three plates. He placed one plate of French fries and a burger in front of Evaran, and another where he planned to sit. After handing a plate of purple mush to Jells, he pulled up a stool and sat on the inner side of the bar. He glanced at Evaran. “Not quite the real thing, but popular on Earth from what I’ve studied.”

Evaran nodded and ate a fry. “Interesting texture.” He tilted his head at Jake. “Earth. Is that what you call your home world?”

Jake bit into his burger. After swallowing, he gestured at Evaran. “Well, it’s a protected planet in Kreagan space. They call it some weird name, but it’s Earth.”

“I am not familiar with the Kreagans.”

“Wow, you really are new out here,” said Jake as he cocked his head. If Evaran did not come through Kreagan space, he must have come through from the Chorignal collective. Even then, everyone knew about the Kreagan Star Empire. Maybe there was more to it. He took another bite out of his burger.

Jells exhaled slowly and looked at the bar momentarily and then looked back up at Evaran. “The Kreagan Star Empire controls a lot of systems, including the one Earth is in. Earth is about twenty light-years away or so.” He tapped at a screen embedded on the bar and then gestured at it. It lit up with an option menu. “All that general information is here.”

“Excellent,” said Evaran. He placed a razor-thin rectangular device on the screen. It hovered an inch off the screen while emitting an unstable blue light, and after a few moments, it stabilized.

Jells stepped back a bit and pointed at the device. “What exactly is that?”

“Ahh, it is my universal interface card, or UIC, as I call it. It allows me to access this system,” said Evaran. He tapped at the air in front of him.

“Now what’re you doing?”

“Accessing the system via my augmented reality interface, or ARI. I am downloading information.”

“What information are you downloading?”

“Everything.”

Jake chuckled as he scrutinized Evaran. Jells’s reaction to Evaran was not unexpected. Jake did not think Evaran was a slaver, criminal, or other type of lowlife. The thought that maybe Evaran was undercover law enforcement did cross his mind. Maybe Evaran was there to check up on him since his birthday was approaching, but he knew of no law enforcement agency that would take in a human-looking agent. He did notice that he felt calmer around Evaran. Meeting travelers was not unusual in itself, but Evaran’s technology was. Although augmented reality was not new, the UIC being able to access everything was unlike anything he had ever seen.

“If this is a problem, I will stop,” said Evaran.

“No … go ahead,” said Jells, waving a hand in the air. “I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“I assure you, I only seek information.”