Adrift (The Sirilians Book 1) (14 page)

Karo smiled at the jab. It was clear Deian would be playing for the other team. He stood. “I’m in.”

People cheered and clapped Karo on the back, while he was ensconced within a group of bodies and led from the Dining Hall.

“Are you sure you can handle this, Sirilian?” The jab came from a woman with green scales covering her body and a smile on her face.

“Can
you
?” he retorted.

Her reply was to laugh and skip ahead of the group. She disappeared through a large set of double doors which were marked with the words “Recreation Center.” Lukas, Karo, and the rest of the group followed after her.

Inside was a large space that was sectioned into several smaller areas. Karo saw equipment that looked vaguely similar to the type used for exercise and entertainment on Siril.

Lukas led him past the machines and into a smaller room with lockers and showers. Inside were at least twenty other men, all changing their clothes and getting ready for the match. Lukas opened a locker and tossed him a set of loose-fitting shorts and a sleeveless shirt.

“You won’t want to play in what you’re wearing,” Lukas assured him.

Karo quickly changed into the borrowed clothes, and stashed his in one of the empty lockers. After glancing around and seeing everyone barefoot, he also removed and stored his boots.

“So, how do we play this?” he asked.

“It’s not too hard to learn. We’ve had to change the format because, obviously, we’re onboard a ship and aren’t able to have a full-sized field. But there are still three teams and two balls in play at a time. Each round players try to grab a ball and throw it through a goal at the other end of the field. First team to make twelve points wins.”

“Doesn’t sound too hard.”

Lukas chuckled. “That’s the easy part. The hard part is getting past everyone on the opposing teams. It’s a full contact sport. Of course we tone that down a little, since we are on a ship and everyone is expected to report for their next duty shift. Injuries during the game can’t be used as an excuse for missing work.

An alien called from down the bench, “Yeah, we can’t ruff up the Arathians too badly.”

Another added, “Guess that means I can’t use my fangs on them, huh?”

The group laughed and Lukas shook his head in mirth. “We’ve never had an entire team of non-natives before; the Arathians aren’t going to know what hit ‘em.”

Karo looked around the room at the many different races. Lukas was right; this should be
very
interesting.

When he and Lukas were done, they walked out of the locker room and back into the Rec Center. It was completely empty except for the sound of loud voices. Lukas led him off to the side, where an archway led into a much larger room. This was where everyone was gathered.

Long sets of benches lined four walls, and all were packed with people who’d come to watch the match. In the center was the large field, upon which the game would be played. Some of the players had already gathered into three groups—two were made up of Arathians—but their group headed towards the non-natives, as Lukas had called them.

As they walked, Deian jogged by and slapped Lukas’s ass. Lukas spun around to retaliate, but Deian was already out of reach. He turned and winked at his mate before joining one of the other teams. He had on a blue armband that matched the other player’s. A moment later Jayda emerged from the women’s locker room, passed both of her men, giving them heated looks along the way, and joined the third team.

She had changed into black shorts, bare feet, and a snug-fitting long-sleeved white shirt. Her long hair was gathered securely at the top of her head, so as to not impede her movements, and she wore a red armband to match her team.

As she past Deian, his arm shot out and banded around her waist. He pulled her close and whispered something into her ear. Her eyes went wide in shock, and she pushed him away as her cheeks turned pink. She quickly joined her team before he could snag her again.

“…you listening?”

Karo swung his attention back to Lukas. “No, sorry. What did you say?”

The other man grinned. “I was saying that you can feel free to hang back and watch for a bit before joining in. Once you get the gist of how the game’s played, your job will be to get the ball in the goal, defend any of our players that have the ball, and block the others from making a goal. Got it?”

Karo nodded.

Gone was the apprehension he felt earlier. Now he was excited to get the match started. Lukas gave him a quick rundown of the rules, then whistled to gather their team. Karo glanced around at the others he’d be playing with; all were bipedal, although some looked like they could walk on all fours, or on their hands. They were an array of colors, sizes, and two individuals of the same race had spikes around their heads instead of hair.

All were psyched and ready to begin.

They stood in a circle and raised their hands to each other’s shoulders. Karo mirrored their stance. He had a woman on his left who was covered in green scales—the same woman who’d teased him earlier—and if he wasn’t mistaken, she also had a forked tongue and tail. On his right was a rotund male that only came up to Karo’s hip. His skin was a deep black, eyes of the same shade, but he wore a wide grin showcasing pointed, double rows of teeth.

This was
really
going to be interesting.

He looked around at the others. They came from at least a dozen different worlds, but all of them now called Arath home. It was reassuring. Suddenly his future seemed a lot more optimistic than it had before. Others had chosen to make their lives here, why not him? He could be part of something.

Actually, I already am,
he thought. Now he was the one grinning.

Behind them they heard the Arathian teams give battle cries, then his team did the same, the aliens’ voices raising as one. The three teams came to the center of the field to face off.

Karo hung back around the edge of the group, taking Lukas’s advice about watching how the game was played before jumping into the fray.

Anticipation thickened the air as everyone waited. For a moment the room was silent, then a ball was thrown high into the air signaling the start of the game.

Everyone at the center of the group jumped, but it was the rotund alien who’d been standing next to Karo that soared the highest and caught it.

Someone must have thrown him in the air!
Karo thought, amazed.

He hit the ground and rolled, his limbs snug against his body, securing the ball against his chest. The Arathians fumbled in shock when he rolled through their legs. Suddenly he uncoiled and threw the ball to a teammate, who stood directly under a goal. She caught the ball, and just like that his team had their first point.

There was no rest; another ball was already in play. Karo wasn’t sure which one to focus on, but the Arathians were having more trouble than he was. They were quickly learning that they couldn’t play this runkall match like normal, since each race had vastly different strengths.

Now I just have to figure out what my strengths are.
 

He focused on watching the Arathians who were clearly the largest race on the field. Their bodies were packed with muscle, but Karo knew that strength was relative to the size of the planet where they’d all been raised. Siril was larger than Arath; he’d grown up on a planet with more gravity, therefore—even though he didn’t look it—he was stronger than the Arathians.

The corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. He knew what advantage he possessed.

Karo ran into the fray. He quickly caught up to a ball as it arched through the air, heading for the Arathian’s goal. He leapt, high above everyone’s heads, and intercepted it.

He dimly heard the gathered crowd cheer, but his eyes quickly scanned the mass of players for an open teammate. He saw the scaled woman down the field, and threw the ball. His aim wasn’t perfect, but she had plenty of time to change her position and leap to catch it, using her tail for balance. She threw it into their goal, and a buzzer sounded.

His teammates all clasped him in encouragement. Karo’s smile was broad.
Oh, how I’ve missed this!

Before they could regroup to strategize, Gerad barreled into a non-native player, knocking him over, and stealing the second ball. He held it securely in the crook of his arm and rushed towards the goal, pushing anyone who was in his way.

Karo watched the next few plays, and noticed that it wasn’t just Gerad who relied on brute strength. Many of Arathians made their way towards the goals forcibly, but the problem with their larger builds was that it made them slower to react. They had a lot of muscle mass to move, after all.

At the next short break, Karo addressed his team. “We need to keep the balls moving. The faster they change hands, the better.”

On the next play, their team got possession of both balls at the same time, and repeatedly passed them from one player to another. The Arathians were overwhelmed with seeing them fly so quickly, and before they knew what was happening, the non-natives had scored another two points.

Karo’s team continued to use each individual’s unique skills; Lukas had an uncanny ability to perceive where each player was on the field, which was perfect for passing and intercepting, and there were a few of the aliens who were able to move incredibly fast.

Soon, out of frustration the two Arathian teams began working together in a combined defense.

“I think we’re winning and it’s pissing them off,” a teammate commented as he ran past Karo.

Probably.
He’d never seen them this frustrated. The two teams yelled out strategies to one another from across the field, focusing their defense on the non-native’s strongest players.  

Karo, who’d become his team’s leading strategist, had a huge target on his back. He suddenly had three or four Arathians players guarding him at a time. They were also ganging up on Lukas, and a couple other players who had made the majority of the points.

They just needed to get the ball to one of their open players. During their next break Karo related his plan, and a teammate eagerly volunteered to run the ball. 

When the play began, the roly-poly alien snatched a ball right out of an Arathian’s hand. He quickly tucked and rolled to the unguarded teammate with spikes covering his head. A quick exchange, then he ran straight towards their goal with his head down. No one dared step in front of him for fear they’d get gored. He easily got their twelfth point, and the final buzzer sounded.

Cheers arose from the spectators—they’d just watched an unprecedented match—but Karo noticed that the Arathian players seemed to be disappointed. Grumbles eminated from the field.

—“We need to change the rules the next time we play them.”

—“It was over too quickly.”

—“I didn’t even work up a sweat.”

—“Did you see how fast she moved?”

—“I wonder if her tail is as strong as it looks?”

Karo’s chuckle lodged in his throat when he saw Gerad approaching him. But the male didn’t seem upset that his team had lost; instead he was smiling from ear to ear. When he got close enough, he clasped Karo’s forearm and gave it a few pumps.

“That was something!” he exclaimed. “I’ve never seen anyone jump that high for an interception before.”

Karo returned his enthusiasm. “Thanks. I’ve never seen anyone barrel through that many players before.”

“Yeah, seemed to be the only way to win against your team, although you still ended up trouncing us. We might need to have a native vs. native game just to get in a decent work-out!”

“We had to do something to compete with all your strength.”

“Still didn’t help us win. You guys move pretty damn fast, which is amazing considering your scrawny Earther legs, over there,” he gestured toward Lukas, “and the rest of your tiny, child-like physiques.”

Gerad didn’t wait for a reply, but laughed heartily at his own joke, and pulled Karo towards the locker room. All of the men were showering and changing, so Karo followed suit. He was just pulling on his normal clothes when Lukas and Deian hurried towards him.

“Jayda just got a message from the Grays. They’ve agreed to meet with us regarding Siril.”

Karo stared at Lukas. “The same Grays who have taken possession of my homeworld?”

Lukas nodded. “One and the same. They’re on their way here now, so we need to hurry.”

The men immediately stripped their athletic gear, and without showering, put on their uniforms. Karo wasn’t sure if he was happy about the Gray’s willingness to help, or if he dreaded the encounter. Lukas studied his expression as he laced up his boots.

“No matter what, we’ll get some answers,” he reminded Karo.

The man was right—either way they’d know more than they knew now.

Karo followed Lukas and Deian through the ship, further into its interior than he’d previously been. The halls were silent except for the sound of their boots. Karo looked at his companions, grateful that he wouldn’t be entering into this meeting alone.

Lukas, Jayda, and Deian were the closest things he had to friends. LINK was the sole exception, although Karo wasn’t sure if anyone else would count an AI system as an
actual
friend.

The men arrived outside a set of doors and waited silently. A moment later, Jayda joined them.

Instead of the black uniform Karo was used to seeing her in, she now wore a sleeveless blue tunic, and white flowing pants. Karo was awestruck—not only did her hands have golden tattoos, but the designs covered her arms, shoulders, and even stretched across her clavicle. The designs were graceful, elegant, and captivating.

She noticed him staring, and seemed to make an effort to not cross her arms. Was she embarrassed? Her markings were amazing, and Karo would bet that each one held a meaning. He realized that she was dressed for her role as the Arathian Princess, not as a member of the Defense.

Lukas cleared his throat, and Karo shook himself. Deian tucked her under his arm, and bent to place a kiss on her bare shoulder.

“Amazing aren’t they?” Deian asked.

“Ahhh, yes. They’re beautiful.” Karo was very embarrassed to be caught openly staring at their mate. He looked straight at Jayda. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’ve just never seen anything like your markings before.”

She smiled at him. “It’s alright Karo. They’re called oriaglyphs. Most Arathian women get them tattooed.”

Lukas tucked her other side against his. “Jayda is one of the most beautifully decorated women on Arath.”

By his tone it was obvious that he was immensely proud of his mate. There was probably a lot more to the oriaglyphs than they were saying, but unfortunately now wasn’t the time to discuss them. The Grays were waiting. 

“We’d better go in. You ready?” Jayda asked. Karo nodded and she opened the door.

The room beyond was inviting, and unlike any other he’d seen onboard. It had loungers and overstuffed chairs set into a round conversational space. There were side tables at each seat, and a spherical piece of technology in the center. Walls adorned with art and colorful rugs added life to the space. It was certainly different than the monochromatic gray seen in the rest of the ship.

“What is this place?” Karo asked as they entered.

“A meeting room,” Jayda answered. “I prefer it because it’s more informal than others onboard.”

She took a seat on a lounger, and was flanked on either side by her mates. Karo sat in a chair to the left of Lukas and pretended to admire the art on the walls. In reality he was doing his best to calm the anxiety he felt; for the first time he had the opportunity to have his questions answered. The most crucial: where were his people? 

They didn’t have long to wait. An adjacent door opened and two aliens were escorted inside. Unlike the Sirilians and Arathians that looked very similar to each other, the Gray’s anatomy was unique.

They stood at least two and a half feet shorter than Karo, with slender arms and legs. Their heads were disproportionally large with almond-shaped black eyes, and their skin was a sallow gray color.

Karo stood with the others to greet them as Jayda made the introductions. “Karincin of Siril, may I introduce Ambassador Lear, and Rowe, Chairman for the Council of Science.”

Karo bowed politely as the two inclined their heads. “Thank you for meeting with us,” he greeted.

“You are welcome,” Ambassador Lear replied in a melodic voice. “It is truly remarkable to be meeting you Karincin.”

They chose seats across from the three mates, and everyone sat. Karo tried to not stare at the duo, but he hadn’t seen another alien race for a long time, Arathians not included.

A hazy image flashed into his mind. It was of the same Sirilian woman he’d seen before in his dreams. She was babbling happily about something, and pointing to a console that showed an alien species that Karo didn’t recognize. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he could feel her exuberance at locating an unfamiliar race. It bled into him, and suddenly, even though he had no background in biology or anthropology, he was just as excited about her discovery.

He felt a pull towards her.
A connection.

The images began to fade, and Karo inwardly cursed. The woman was lovely and vibrant. He wanted to keep watching her, even if this was another hallucination. But the harder he tried to hang on, the quicker it vanished, until there wasn’t a trace of the woman.

He suddenly realized that people were talking nearby, and shook his head to get it back into the present. Thankfully no one seemed to notice that his mind had been occupied. He forced himself to focus. These two had come a long way to help him find his people. That, at the very least, warranted his undivided attention.

“May we get you some refreshments?” Jayda offered to their guests. Karo was grateful that at least one of them was able to focus and remember the most basic of etiquette. Good thing his parents weren’t around to see him now, staring off into space instead of being a host to people who were only in this system to help him.

“No, thank you.”

There was a moment of awkward silence as the two Grays looked Karo over from head to toe. Their large black eyes moved over his body and made him feel very exposed. He felt as though they were looking
into
him, not just at his appearance.

“We appreciate you coming here to help us unravel this mystery,” Jayda said.

“Your inquiry is truly unique, and therefore warranted the trip to Arathian space,” the ambassador replied.

“Do you have information on the Sirilians?” Jayda queried.

The Grays looked at each other for a silent moment before Ambassador Lear spoke, “It is best that we speak to Karincin alone.”

Karo found his voice and interjected before anyone else could. “No. I prefer that they stay.”

Everyone sat silently. Karo held the aliens’ gaze until the ambassador gave a single nod. “Very well.”

They turned their bodies and attention to Karo, and he felt a little uneasy. “Your observations of Aeonas and Siril are accurate; they are the same planet.”

Silence greeted his words.

Lukas asked the question everyone was thinking, “How can that be? I’ve been to Aeonas and there are no signs of Karo’s people.”

“You are incorrect,” Rowe stated frankly, speaking for the first time. “The entire planet shows signs of its previous inhabitants.”

Lukas’s brows were knit together in confusion, obviously not understanding the link Rowe was trying to make.

“During your time on the planet you surely saw the diamond-shaped continent, the perfectly sculpted mountains, and the remnants of cities?”

Lukas nodded, but it was Karo who spoke. “Wait, they’ve shown me images of Aeonas, and there’s no way the only remnants of my people are ancient ruins; I’ve only been gone twenty years!”

The two Grays shared a look and Karo’s anxiety rose.
Something was very wrong.

“You are mistaken,” Ambassador Lear remarked. “You have been gone from Siril for nearly eight millennia.”

*****

Eight
thousand
years…

“That’s not possible,” Karo emphatically denied, shaking his head. “I left on a mission only twenty years ago.”

“You’re incorrect,” Rowe replied calmly. “We theorize that each time you were in stasis, hundreds of years passed, seemingly without your knowledge.”

Karo stared at the aliens in shock. There was no way.
Eight thousand years?!

“Surely you’re mistaken,” Jayda interjected. “Can you check again?”

“I assure you that our information is accurate.”

Was it possible? How could thousands of years feel like twenty?

Karo knew from his abundant use of his stasis chamber that once inside, time felt warped. When he awoke, he never knew how long he’d been inside, and had to rely on LINK to tell him the information. If something had caused the AI to give him an incorrect time frame… then what the Grays were telling him was indeed possible.

If it were true…

Karo sat back in his chair while his mind drifted, then clung to the people he’d known from home—his parents, Reus, his friends and co-workers—they were all long gone.

He pictured the bustling city, where he’d lived his entire life. All of those people, the buildings, the culture—they were all ancient history now. They’d been reduced to ruins and a list of facts in a historical database.

“How did this happen?” Karo thought aloud. “Why was I put into stasis for so long? Who did this to me?” Even he heard the hint of panic in his voice.

“We are not certain,” Rowe answered. “You know much more about your mission and people than we do. We
can
tell you that nowhere in the historical record is it mentioned that this sort of time delay would occur. We believe that it’s an effect your Department of Space did not initiate.”

It was only a small reassurance to think that his own department hadn’t manipulated his stasis chamber, but if they hadn’t done it, then who had?

“It is worth mentioning that the historical record from that time is minimal,” Rowe added. He reached forward to touch the sphere that sat in front of them all. He held his fingers against the surface, and images were illuminated midair.

Karo didn’t recognize the language at first, but his ocular implant had no trouble translating the dialect. The image read as a factual list of historical events. The record from his time was indeed very sparse.

“This is all you have?” Karo clarified.

“Unfortunately yes. We do know that twelve ships were sent out; only six returned.”

Only half returned to Siril?
“And the rest?” He was afraid to hear the answer.

“Two ships were found roughly two centuries later; both had crashed on uninhabited planets. Yours is the third missing ship ever found.”

Which meant that two were still missing. Even with the Sirilian’s less-efficient propulsion drives, they could still be anywhere in the galaxy.

Karo’s eyes scanned the historical list, but the names of the Scouts weren’t included.
What happened to Reus?
Karo wondered. He couldn’t bear to picture his closest friend floating through empty space—trapped, unsuspecting, in his stasis chamber, as Karo had been. Had all of the Scouts had the same problem? Is that why some never made it back to Siril?

His mind was on a downward spiral, and Karo forced his thoughts onto a better possibility; perhaps Reus had been one of the Scouts to return home. He would have been welcomed as a hero, and been able to live the rest of his life. Maybe he was even Pair Bonded with a woman, and they’d had a family.

The mental image of Reus happily living his life was far better than thinking that he had crashed, and was long-since dead on an alien world.

“Why do you have Sirilian historical data?” Lukas asked the Grays suspiciously. “Do you keep records like this on all races in the galaxy?”

The two shared a look. It was the ambassador who answered. “We do not. This information is from our own historical database.” He turned back towards Karo. “The Grays are the descendants of your people, the Sirilians.”

Karo exchanged looks with the Arathians, but all three mirrored his expression of shock. It was clear that they were just as surprised as he was. Perhaps Karo had heard them wrong.

“You’re not suggesting that my people evolved into you?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what we’re saying.”

Karo sat back hard in his chair again, and looked at the two aliens with renewed interest. If they’d told him that the Sirilians had evolved into the Arathians, he would have thought it plausible. But that they had evolved into the tiny species in front of him… that was a
lot
to accept.

“How is that possible?” Deian asked, talking for the first time since the meeting began. “I thought that evolution took tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years. You’re saying that only eight-thousand years ago, the Sirilians went from him,” he gestured towards Karo, “to you? That’s a lot of change in a very short amount of time.”

“Not to mention the fact that your kind has been studying Earth for a few thousand years,” Lukas interjected in a voice that sounded none too pleased.

Karo barely remembered that Lukas had claimed Earth as his homeworld. That conversation felt so long ago now.

“That means that you must have evolved into your current… ah,” Lukas waved his hand at their bodies as if to prove his point. They understood.

“You’re correct, natural evolution takes far longer than a few millennia. The changes made to our DNA were deliberate, and thus we were able to evolve into our current race within a few short centuries.”

“You
purposefully
altered your DNA?” Deian clarified.