Galileo (Battle of the Species) (17 page)

Renn walked out of the simulation room, allowing his vicom to start buzzing with messages full of the latest ship gossip. Two messages were from Leo and Dylan, who were both heading towards the mess hall.

“Meet you there,” Renn replied back.

When the three arrived, they sat down and discussed what planets they were going to eat from. After about a week, they had begun the habit of each choosing from a different planet and trying each other’s plate, in an attempt to avoid going hungry if they didn’t like something. A lesson learned the hard way when Renn ordered too many replacement dishes and was denied dinner for exceeding his allotted calorie intake for the day.

Dylan and Renn were able to eat all of the same foods, but they had to be careful sharing with Leo, who could only stomach cold food, and usually only shared their salad with him.

“So…was the entire class just…you two staring at each other?” Leo asked.

“No, not at all. We still spoke, but most of it’s just communicating through imagery,” Renn explained.

“Wish I could do that,” Leo said.

“Well, technically you can, it’s just that I’d be doing all the pushing and pulling,” Renn replied.

“Hey, do it to me,” Dylan said.

“What? I did it to you a couple hours ago and you just about pissed your pants!” Renn replied laughing.

“I wasn’t expecting it!” Dylan protested. “It was this random voice, like the sound of doom, ‘Is he human?’” Dylan said in a mock tone.

Renn laughed and then pushed an image into Dylan and Leo’s heads of Renn eating.

“Oh…you just want to eat now,” Dylan said, smiling.

“Yeah, but we just communicated through telepathy,” Renn replied.

“That’s cool,” Leo said, digging into a blue shellfish from Ellite.

Renn sat there eating a citrus fruit from Athlart, when a human caught Renn’s attention and he almost choked on the fruit. Out of the entire Federation, Jonah Price, Camden’s town bully, had to go to school on this ship, Renn thought.

Jonah stepped on a Janiun’s tail and pushed a tablet out of a Zorgre’s hand while he walked through the mess hall. He walked up to Etienne, who was sitting alone, studying and eating a piece of bazzirot pie, until Jonah put his finger in the middle of the pie and asked Etienne if he was going to eat it.

Jonah’s face registered surprise when he was hit in the shoulder by an invisible fist.

Renn looked over to see Desh and Kia walking towards Jonah, with Desh’s cat eyes fixated on him. He walked up until he was inches from Jonah’s face.

“You got a problem?” Desh asked.

“What’s it to you?” Jonah replied in defiance.

Desh was tall, able to look Jonah straight in the eyes, and he fished around Jonah’s head, looking through the mess inside. “You think Etienne’s going to do your homework for you.”

“No, I don’t,” Jonah replied, as if Desh were being absurd.

“That wasn’t a question,” Desh said.

Jonah took another invisible punch to the shoulder, as Desh stood there staring him down, unmoving. “You’re not on Earth anymore. Daddy can’t help you here.”

Renn couldn’t help but grin. It only took Desh seconds to figure Jonah out and call him on it.

A crowd gathered around them, anticipating a fight. On Earth, Jonah was the tormentor and could take anything he wanted without fear of reprimand. On the Galileo, however, he was at the bottom of the food chain; he just hadn’t figured that part out yet.

Jonah threw up his hands and gave a snotty “whatever” to Desh before walking away. Desh threw in one last warning punch to the back of Jonah’s shoulder as an exclamation point before he and Kia sat down for lunch.

Etienne looked down, unable to make eye contact with Desh, and mumbled, “Thanks.”

Desh fed Etienne silly images of Jonah looking like an idiot, until Etienne couldn’t help but laugh. Desh smiled back, until Renn caught his eye.

Desh looked over, glaring at Renn from across the room and a crystal clear voice sounded in Renn’s head. 

This is none of your business,
Desh projected.

Renn looked away, going back to his lunch. He wanted to have as much control over his powers as Desh had over his. He wondered how weak he must look to the other Mindeerians and wondered if that was the reason why none of them seemed to want anything to do with him.

We’ve got nothing against you
, said a voice in Renn’s head. Renn looked behind him and saw Tabit
waving to him from across the room.
You should really learn to hide your thoughts though
, he projected with a smile and a wink.

Yeah, thanks
, Renn replied, and went back to eating while he tried to clear his mind. Soon his mind wandered back to Jonah and the irony that he was there. Renn had thought he would never see him again.

“What are you thinking about?” Dylan asked.

“What?”

“You’re frowning.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize. It’s just that guy that almost got in a fight with Desh,” Renn explained. “He came from my hometown. There are so many schools in the Federation. How is he here?”

“That’s actually common. Schools are more likely to accept students from the same region in order to help with the transition from their planet to space. It’s to help avoid getting culture shock. Like it’s supposed to be rehabilitating being around others you can identify with. That’s why you’re rooming with so many humans. Actually, he probably would have been rooming with us if you two hadn’t enrolled so late.”

“But, then I would have been out!” Leo exclaimed.

“And we would have been stuck with Jonah Price! Oh my gawd!” Renn said, realizing they had just dodged a flaming bullet.

When the bell chimed, they headed to topography class and waited while everyone filtered in. Jonah walked in following a blue arrow on the ground, moments after the second bell had chimed. He froze when he saw Desh staring at him from the back row. There was nowhere to go. The two of them would be bumping into each other in classes, at the dorms, in the mess hall…it was a ship.

“Please take a seat,” the professor said. “Since this is the first day, I will excuse the tardiness, but going forward, no excuses will be tolerated.”

Renn tried to cover his face, not wanting Jonah to recognize him and sit near him.  Unfortunately, he took the only other empty seat in the room, sitting next to Meta.

 Renn spent the rest of the class watching Jonah and focusing on his thoughts. Meta had caught Jonah’s attention for the mere fact that she was the only person sitting near him. He took advantage of the situation by trying to turn her tablet off when she wasn’t looking, which Renn telekinetically turned back on before she noticed. Jonah then moved her chair back when she got up for a second, which Renn pushed back before she sat down again. But when Jonah untied a ribbon on her braids, Renn couldn’t retie it without Jonah noticing someone was counteracting his bullying, so the ribbon draped down her back for the rest of the class.

Luckily, neither Jonah, nor Meta had noticed what was going on, but towards the end of class, Renn realized that Desh was watching him.

What?
Renn projected.

Nothing. Just noticing how passive-aggressive you are
, Desh replied, before looking back towards the professor.

Their botany class was the next period and Renn, Dylan, and Leo had no time at all, walking from one side of the ship to get to the other.

When they walked into the class, they found plants scattered around the room and hundreds of jars of herbs lining an entire wall. Heat lamps gave warmth to young buds nestled in flowerbeds, and strong cages secured aggressive plants that snapped when someone came near them.

Professor Skat, a beautiful Lucian female in her early thirties, stood at the front of the class, smiling at the students when they walked in, encouraging them to look around until the bell chimed.

Lucians were the species most often mistaken for humans, but Renn had met Lucians before and knew the only way one could tell they weren’t human, was by their jet-black hair and lavender eyes. They also had two predominant characteristics: they were herbivores, completely unable to digest meat, even if they wanted to, and were a very attractive species (if humans were to judge), ranking right up there with Mindeerians in beauty. As Mindeerians were known for being warriors, Lucians were known for public speaking, modeling, and entertaining, holding outer appearance at a higher value than what lay within.

Being a vegan species, they used vegetation from hundreds of planets to create meat-free meals that were delicious enough to make anyone salivate. It therefore wasn’t surprising when Lucians became botany professors, combining their love for plants with their love for attention. This one, however, seemed a little flighty, as if she were on a very happy medication.

Dylan leaned over to Renn and Leo, whispering, “One of the Third Years said that she eats most of the homework.” Leo and Renn tried to muffle their laughter when the professor picked up a Bathlitine plant, closed her eyes and inhaled, savoring the smell.

          When the bell chimed, Professor Skat welcomed the students and hoisted herself up onto her desk to sit facing them. All professors wore the same styled robes, regardless of what species they were, so the only way a Lucian could accessorize (which they loved to do) was through their hair and fingers. Professor Skat took full advantage of this with barrettes and rings adorned with flower buds.

Renn could hear the thoughts of the girls in the class, and could tell they felt a bit threatened by her. He empathized after sitting through Professor Hevia’s class.

Professor Skat went on to describe the principles of botany and that they would be learning the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the different vegetation. Renn thought he was going to ace the class with his eyes closed, until the Professor talked about plants from worlds other than Earth, which so far had been every one of them.

          He scanned the lessons on his tablet, noticing that the plants were categorized by medicine, poison, edibility, and weapons, rather than by kingdoms, divisions, classes, and so on. He sunk down in his chair, realizing that regardless of how much agricultural studies he had taken on Earth, he was going to have to start all over again.

          Renn heard the class giggling, and looked up to see Professor Skat pinching the leaves off a plant she was carrying, and nibbling on them as she walked around talking. She had digressed from the lesson, rambling on excitedly about a newly discovered flower that changed the color of its blossoms based on its mood. Renn loved it when the professors were passionate about what they were teaching; it didn’t matter the subject, passion was always such a beautiful thing.

***

Renn, Leo, and Dylan walked into the language wing while Renn’s stomach growled.

“Do you guys want to eat after this?” Renn asked.

“No, I thought I might ekwatta piquar voot…” Leo said.

Renn looked at him as if he had just sprouted antlers.

“Ulitx?” Leo asked.

“We can’t understand you, man,” Dylan said. “You have to switch to English.”

“Switch?” Renn mumbled.

“Oh, sorry,” Leo said, with the thickest accent Renn had ever heard.

Renn looked at Dylan. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“They turn off the translator in the language wing.”

Renn turned to Leo, looking at him, as if for the first time. “You’ve been speaking Crystallian this whole time?” Renn asked.

“Well, yeah,” Leo replied. “So have you. Your Crystallian’s great, by the way,” he said with a grin, making Dylan laugh.

“What, did you think that all the species on the ship speak English?” Dylan asked Renn.

Renn felt like an idiot for not questioning how that could possibly be. “Pfsh, no…yeah. Yeah, okay, I did.”

They walked into their English class and took seats in the back. When the bell chime stopped, Professor Nicita introduced herself to the class. Jenn Nicita was a petite, human female with thick wavy silver hair pulled back from her face. A blue blood from somewhere, the professor’s voice was soft and cultured, making Renn want to sit up straighter.

After summarizing the history of the English language, the professor read aloud an excerpt from a classic speech by Patrick Henry, a politician from Earth.

Renn had always loved English class. It was the only class where a student could hear words so powerful, they could bring violent men to their knees, or in this case, peaceful men to the resolution of war.

“Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace − but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

The professor looked up from her tablet when she was done. “I want everyone to write an essay, which you’ll read aloud in class,” she said, prompting muffled groans from the class. “You can choose the topic, but I want you all to think back to a moment of time that changed your life, or made you alter the way you see the world.” The class became quiet, lost in their own personal thoughts.

***

Renn and Dylan took the elevator up to the eighth floor for their next class and found Rudy trying to hit on Menkar on the way there. Menkar was a knockout for a Janiun, but Renn and Dylan were having a hard time getting past the white and yellow scales to see it.

“So, maybe we could…I don’t know, go to the observation deck some time,” Rudy said, as Menkar’s Janiun friends giggled next to her.

“Eew,” Menkar replied. “I don’t date humans…that’s so gross,” she said, exiting the elevator.

Rudy looked at Renn and Dylan for support, having had his feelings hurt, but Renn and Dylan didn’t know whether to laugh or throw up and decided to just walk to class and bite their tongues all together.