Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (49 page)

“Beth
,” she answered
annoyed
.

Drababan merely grunted.

“Beth
,”
s
he repeated much softer,
as if
hoping
the big brute didn’t hear her and would now just ignore her completely.

Drababan stared intently at
me
, to Beth
I think she thought
that he was sizing
me
up for a snack. But when
I
answered him with an ‘It’s alright’ she knew
it was more,
she saw that we
were communicating by
our
expressions,
I think
Beth was astounded. Not only had
I
made a friend of one of the things
I
was close enough to it to understand its facial expressions as minute as they may be. And what was more astounding was once Drababan had made clear he wasn’t comfortable talking in front of her, he still deferred to
my
will. She
seemed to feel
a little safer all of a sudden.
“I’ll come back later
,” Beth said
looking over
toward
me.

I hoped I’d be gone, just being in her presence threatened to pull my heart from its location in my chest. Drababan paid her no attention as she departed.

“Mike
,
I smell fear.”

“Yeah
,
that’s probably me
,” I answered
in all seriousness.

“No
,
Mike, I smell anxiousness on you sometimes, but never fear.”

“What? You can smell anxiousness? What else? Forget it
,
I don’t want to know. Could you clarify who you are smelling the fear from?”

“That’s the problem
,
Mike
.
I
t
is coming from so man
y sources and it is such a deep-
rooted fear
,
I know that something is happening, but I barely get these silly little hu-mans to talk to me
,
much less tell me what is going on.”

“Not to make you feel bad
,
big guy
,
but do you think that it is just the fear when they spot your huge ass walking down the hallway
?
” If Drababan caught the slight he ignored it completely.

“That is part
o
f it, as it should be
,” he said
and I would swear he was bragging a little.
“But not all
of it
,”
h
e added gravely. “It is the smell of the defeated
.
I
t is a desperate fear. As a commander of shock troops
,
I have smelled it from many different races.”

“I didn’t know.”

“How could you
?
Y
our small hu-man noses are not as adept at smelling as ours.”

“Not that, that you were a leader of men
.
I mean Genogerians.”

“My unit was among one of the most decorated in all the galaxy
,” he said
proudly, his chest puffing out.

“Fuck
,
you’re huge
,” I said
looking up to him. “What are your concerns
,
Dee? And please sit down, all the blood
rushes
out of my head when I have to look up that high.”

Dee did as I asked. “You must find a way to give your people hope
,
Michael. Desperate people will do desperate things.”

“When did you become a psychologist?” I asked him, semi-seriously.

“Living sentient beings are strikingly similar when threatened
,
Mike.”

“I think it’s anything living
,
Dee. It’s just that sentient beings have more ways to express their feelings. Even a lowly rabbit will bite in the end
.
I
t probably won’t be able to gnaw through a neck or anything but it could still draw blood.”

“I do not know of this ‘rabbit’ but I would fear anything that could chew through my neck.”

I laughed. “I’m sorry
,
buddy
,” I told
him. “I was referring to an old movie we used to watch.
Television? The signals your ship intercepted.
”
I clarified when Dee looked like he didn't know what I was referring too.

“You will have to show it to me someday.”

“I hope we have that chance
,” I told
him in earnest.
“Now back to the infusing of hope. One of our patrols came across some truly detrimental information.”

Dee closed his eyes.

“You tired
,
my friend?” I asked sarcastically. “Am I keeping you up? You want a pillow?”

“I know you jest with me
,
Michael, I am merely concentrating
.
I find that your fluorescent lights disrupt my ability to do that effectively.”

Now he had my interest. “You know sarcasm? I thought that was lost on your kind.”

Dee snorted. “Most of them
,
perhaps. But I have spent more time with your kind than any other, at least while they are not comatose.”

“Experimentation? Are you talking
experimentation? Forget I asked—
I don’t want to know.”

“I am beginning to understand that the tone in which one utters words has much more to do with the meaning than the actual words themselves. It is a form of deception? Correct?”

“I think it’s more a form of rudeness.”

“Yet you do it all the time
,” Dee said
,
calling me out.

“Maybe we should move on to another topic.”

“That is not sarcasm.”

“Nope, that’s avoidance.”

“We will revisit this topic, I think.”

“Yay
,
I can’t wait
,” I said
clapping my hands together lightly.

Drababan opened up o
ne large eye even sitting he had to look down at me. “I see that we have already come back to it.”

“Sorry
,
as a Bostonian, it’s ingrained. It’s as much a part of me as your green skin is to you.”

“You are saying it is genetic?”
h
e questioned.

I thought long and hard, I wanted to be
as truthful as possible. “Yes-
yes
,
it is.”

“Funny
,
the scientists never spoke of this sarcasm gene
,” he said
, his eye closing again.

“Can we move on?” I asked.

“I am aligning my chakras so that they might better help me to understand your words.”

“Chakras?”

“
That is your hu-man word for it;
it is a similar concept to our sepitars, I figured you would know ‘chakras’
,
those are points of energy…”

“I know what chakras are, I just didn’t know you did and that you would know what to do with them. Although
,
why wouldn’t you
?
Y
ou are one of the most spiritual beings I have ever met.”

“I am ready to accept your words
,”
Dee told me.

I more than half expected him to pull his massive legs up
in the Indian style of sitting with his hands folded in his lap. I would have had to hunt down a camera if that came to fruition.

“I’m still waiting
,” he said
when I didn’t immediately speak.

“Right. I’ve got a plan.”

This time both of Dee’s eyes opened in surprise.

“I get that a lot
,” I said
wonderingly.
I spent about ten minutes laying the whole thing out for him.

“That will not work without me
,” Drababan said
as I wrapped up.

“I know. I could not volunteer you for something so dangerous
,
though
,
Dee. I wanted to ask you after I told you the whole thing.”

“We wi
ll probably die in this
attempt,”
Dee said, not out of fear
.
H
e had been processing the information and that was the obvious conclusion of the facts given. “We must go as soon as I have had a chance to commune with my god.”

“Are you sure
,
Dee? I mean
,
you just got your freedom and I am asking you to essentially die for a different species.”

“I will fight and I will die
,
Michael
,
because I now have my freedom. There is no power on your
E
arth that will prevent me from giving that up. I would rather die free than any other alternative. Wouldn’t you?”

“We’re a lot alike
,” I told
him.

“Except for the green skin and I am much
,
much stronger than you
.
Y
es
,
we are very similar.” He snorted again.

“You’re the funniest alien I know.” And I meant it.

I could hear footsteps going past my
door
.
T
hey had in
itially slowed and then picked
up when they heard the raucous, human
-
alien laughter that ensued, a pack of in heat cats
must have been
a more welcome sound, and still we roared.

***

“This was a lot funnier, when we were in my room
,” I said
to Drababan, as we got all our gear together in the long tunnel
leading
out to the western exit.

Dee snorted, thinking back a mere hour ago. Now he was all business. He looked a lot more intimidating now that he was out of his slave tunic and in full Genogerian shock troop regalia.

“You scare the shit out of me dressed like that
,” I told
him honestly.

“These are merely clothes
,
Michael, I am the same Genogerian underneath.”

“Thank you for that
,
Dee. That means a lot.”

“Sarcasm
?” he asked
trying to discern my true meaning.

“Not at all my friend, that was genuine.”

He pulled his maw back in his
reasonable facsimile of a smile.
I
t was terrifying to the uninformed and it wasn’t much better to those who knew it for the gesture it was.

Dee and
I
were closest to the exit hatch but we were by no means alone in
that large tunnel. Although I wish we had been
,
it would have been much better than having to say the multitude of goodbyes that I was expected to go through
. 
I
t added a finality to the event that I just wasn’t willing to accept
,
even if on some level I knew the inevitability of it.

“I’d like to come with you
,” Dennis said
as he grasped my hand.

“I don’t even want to go with me
,” I told
him.

“I’m serious
,” he said
sternly.

“So am I
,
my friend.
Another person does not increase the odds of success. Stay here and do what you can if this doesn’t work.”

He nodded tersely and gave me a big hug
.
H
e pushed through the crowd before the tear that threatened to fall could be witnessed.

Paul came up next.

“I feel like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz
,” I said
.

“What? What are you talking about
?” he asked
,
clearly confused.

“You know at the end when she’s saying all her goodbyes
?
I
t has such a finality to it, like she won’t be back.”