Galileo (Battle of the Species) (30 page)

The Odra filled its mouth with Renn’s neck, sucking his blood. Renn became dizzy, feeling
the blood rushing from his body, as he heard the sucking sound.
This isn't real, this isn't real
, he thought.
Dylan, help,
he projected.

Dylan turned around and jumped into the swamp, heading for Renn. He didn’t have to run far into the cave to see the Odra, yet he couldn’t get good aim. Without hesitating, Dylan turned the gun around and hit the Odra with the butt of his gun. The Odra fell to the floor, giving Dylan perfect aim before he fired.

Renn fell to the ground, feeling like he was going to pass out.

“Snap out of it!”  Dylan said, seeing the Risshions land outside the cave. “I can’t do this on my own,” he said, firing.

Renn got up and created a wall of energy, pushing them back, before releasing it so the fighters could fire.

A black serpent ascended from the water, opening its jaw towards Dylan’s head.

Renn put up his hands, penetrating the serpent with an electrical blast, killing it within seconds.

Dylan turned around, looking at the slimy corpse as it fell back into the swamp. He looked back at Renn and nodded, acknowledging they were even.

The four fighters worked in unison, not having a choice if they wanted to survive the level.

At the end of the five Federation minutes, the swamp receded back into the ground.

 “Fighters have advanced to level four,” Ava announced.

Renn gave an involuntary shiver, thinking about the Odra, and continued to rub his neck, thankful that Ava had once again cleared the wound.

The scoreboard counted down a minute to catch their breath, then on “one,” Ava’s voice resonated through the arena, “The planet is Portau.”  

The white arena floor changed to dark blue water, frozen in time, while Ava began building the sky.

Renn and Grus ran around, looking for land, rock, anything to stand on to stay above the water once the level began, but there was nothing. 

“Fighters, prepare,” Ava advised.

“Where are you going?” Dylan yelled after Renn. “Come back!”

“To find land!”

“There is no land, it’s Portau! Renn? Ah, hell. Ava, give us wetsuits and flippers.”

Flippers instantly appeared on Renn’s feet and he fell to the ocean top, sliding a few feet on the glass-like surface.

“There we go,” Dylan muttered, walking patiently towards Renn.

“Fighters, choose your weapons.”

“Give us Temian F-3 water guns,” Dylan said.

As Renn stood up, a gun appeared before him, large enough to require two hands to catch it. “Wow, that’s really heavy. Dylan, we’re going to sink!”

“You don’t say,” Dylan replied with a grin.

“The game will begin in five, four, three, two…”

“Ava, give us oxyg…” Renn beckoned, but not before Ava had finished counting down.

On “one,” all four fighters fell into the ocean without oxygen tanks.

Renn tried to hold his breath and swim for the surface, but the weight of the gun pulled him down.

Dylan!
Renn projected.

Inhale the water,
Dylan thought
. Portau's oceans are full of perfluorocarbons. Just breathe normally.

Renn held his breath while he watched Dylan inhale the water.

Dylan thrashed and kicked, his face scrunched in pain, until he finally relaxed, breathing the water with ease. He looked Renn in the eyes.
It’s okay, just breathe,
Dylan thought.

 Renn opened his mouth and let the water enter his lungs. His lungs ached and contracted at the feeling. Shooting pains tightened his chest, but he continued to breathe, each breath getting easier and easier.

He finally understood why points were deducted when one asked Ava to eliminate pain. Part of the battle was to survive on planets that didn’t follow the same rules as the planets the students were familiar with. One was taught from childhood on Earth that humans drown in water. It took practice to register that the same rules might not apply on another planet, when one feared an imminent death. Their minds kicked into survival mode and rejected it, trying to find a way out.

Renn continued breathing, while Dylan held on to him, waiting. After a moment, Renn nodded, ready for the battle. He looked over at Jonah and Grus and waited for Grus to stop kicking and thrashing, but the more time went on, the more hysterical the Zorgre became.

Dylan, I think something’s wrong with Grus,
Renn projected. 

Audmin are coming,
Dylan thought.
They’re cool, don’t shoot them.

Renn looked around while they continued to sink and saw swaying vegetation and coral columns surround them. He made eye contact with a female Audmin swimming near them and smiled at the closest thing to a mermaid he had ever seen.

Dylan waved, catching the Audmin’s attention and pointed to a bush of seaweed behind them.

The Audmin nodded.

Dylan looked at Renn and thought, W
hen you see more Audmins, have them get behind the algae
.
The squid are blind; they hunt by feeling for vibrations in
the water. They won't be able to feel the difference between the seaweed swaying and the Audmins swimming when they're that close together.

Can’t we just hide behind the seaweed too then?
Renn asked, glancing back at Grus, who continued thrashing and screaming.

We can either hide or fight,
Dylan explained.
If we shoot from behind the seaweed, it will lead them to us and the Audmins. We’ll get more points for fighting though. What do you want to do?

Fight of course
, Renn replied, looking around. 
Where are the squid? I don’t see them.

They live in the aphotic zones below. They're swimming up,
Dylan replied.

Renn looked beneath him and saw pairs of red fluorescent eyes coming towards them. He heard the muffled sound of a gun firing and looked over in time to dodge a large bullet gliding through the water. Renn shook his head, annoyed that Jonah was now shooting at them. Renn fired back, but Jonah was too far and able to dodge it with seconds to spare.

Save your blasts for the squid. They'll get you before the other team does,
Dylan thought.

Renn looked down and saw they were almost upon them. He and Dylan fired. Renn watched the squid swim towards the bullets, feeling the vibrations and mistaking them for food.

Renn looked over at Grus who was still flailing, while he sank lower and lower into the ocean. He had dropped his gun long ago and the squid went right for him, biting him over and over. He cried out in pain as green blood filled the water around him.

Grus, tell Ava to eliminate the pain!
Renn shouted in Grus’ head, but Grus wasn’t thinking straight enough to comprehend
.

The crowd stood up and booed through the simulation. Some students yelled, “Turn off the pain,” while others covered their mouths, watching the horror.

Renn looked at Jonah.
Tell Ava to turn off the pain, you ass! Grus is in agony!

I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you? I’m not losing 1,000 points for a Zorgre,
Jonah thought, sneering at Renn through the water. Jonah fired at Renn again, but the water slowed the bullet down enough for Renn to dodge it.            

Renn went after Grus first. If he killed Grus, the pain would stop and Grus would fall to the ground when the simulation disappeared. Renn got a clear sight of him, but more squid were closing in on Renn's legs. 
Grus or the squid?
He could only choose one. He lifted the gun up towards Grus, letting the enemy tear open his own legs. It was torture feeling the flesh rip open and his muscles torn to pieces. Renn screamed through the water. “Ava, eliminate pain!”

“Pain eliminated,” Ava complied, deducting 1,000 points.

The pain vanished, leaving a numbing sensation in its place so he could still tell when and where he was wounded.
I won’t last long
, he projected to Dylan.

Do what you gotta do
, Dylan replied.

Renn swam closer to Grus and took aim. He shot Grus in the head, as the water around Renn filled with crimson blood. He went for Jonah while there was still time left. Blasts came from across the water and Renn glanced back to see Dylan trying to shoot the squid off Renn's legs.

Grus had fallen to the ground in the white simulation room, seeing everything without the holograms. He could see the students in the stands, cheering and booing at the remaining fighters. He patted his legs, trying to find the wounds that had disappeared the moment he was shot. No one could see him in that space. He just sat there a moment where he could be alone, where no one was able to see him cry. There was no forest he could go to, to wait for death, so he could be reunited with his brother. There were no parents to kiss him on the cheek and tell him that everything was going to be all right. The only thing he could do was to wipe his tears on his sleeve, sniffle, and get up.

He followed the fluorescent blue arrow, blinking on Ava’s white floor, pointing the way towards the fighter's holding tank. When he got to the holding tank, he looked back and saw the simulation like everyone else saw it, the wall of water a foot in front of him. 

Desh and Kia walked up behind him. “You did good, Grus,” Desh said, while he unstrapped the back of Grus' shoulder pads.

“Yeah, Portau's a nasty planet,” Kia added. “Everyone dies on that planet.”

Grus nodded. Desh and Kia were his roommates and they were very strong fighters. He admired them. He liked them. But they were both very blunt. They wouldn't have said such things if they hadn't meant it and it made him feel a little better knowing that.

He continued to watch the simulation from the outside, watching Jonah, Renn and Dylan ― piecing together what had happened. Jonah had let him suffer. His teammate, who was supposed to have had his back, had left him behind. He felt more alone than ever before until he realized that Renn had sacrificed his legs and 1,000 game points to end his suffering. He was Grus' opponent and shouldn't have cared. Grus gave a deep sigh. He wasn't alone; he had just been paired with the wrong partner. He sat down in the holding tank, waiting for Jonah to finish, wanting to look him in the eyes.

Renn and Jonah took aim at one another with Renn firing first, allowing himself enough time to dodge Jonah's blast. Jonah took the blast in the chest, but not before telling Ava to eliminate the pain.

Renn thought the squid were multiplying, but they were the same amount, only instead of being divided amongst four players, they were now divided between two. Renn lost too much blood and fell to the white surface. He rushed to the holding tank to finish watching Dylan, who was still alive, alone in the deep blue water.

Renn looked up at the scoreboard. They had already won, but Dylan continued fighting to end the game with more points, until squid finally overwhelmed him. He died moments before the level ended.

Dylan walked to the holding tank, grinning at their win.

“Sorry I went down,” Renn said. “I know you would have lasted longer if I hadn't.”

“Don't apologize,” Dylan replied, shaking his head. “There are no words for what Jonah did.” He looked around. “Where are they, anyway?”

“Grus just got sent to the principal’s office and Jonah was taken to the medical bay. I don't know what happened,” Renn said.

“Excuse us boys,” came a feminine voice from behind them.

Renn and Dylan looked over their shoulder to see Lux and Joss walk up in full battle gear.

“Ahhh, the ladybots,” Dylan said with a flirtatious smile. “Now here come the bad-asses who are gonna show us how to get it done.”

“You know it,” Joss said, as she punched fists with Dylan.

Renn reached behind Lux, brushing her hair out of the way so he could tighten a strap on her shoulder pads. He had an uneasy feeling and looked behind him to see Desh glaring at him.

What?
Renn projected.

Nothing
, Desh replied, walking away.

Joss and Lux competed against two strong female Zeanups that game, but fought a good fight, until all four died in level three.

Renn and Dylan walked onto the battlefield after Kia and Desh were announced.

“Forget about them. Let’s just do this,” Dylan said, “Stay focused. We can beat these guys!”       

Renn nodded, not taking his eyes off Desh.

The four fighters separated, readying themselves.

“The planet is Rellain,” Ava announced, while a city of white buildings ascended from the ground.

“Fighters, prepare.”

Kia and Dylan ran up stairs, over bridges and around buildings to get a feel for the area. There were Tallele scattered around, frozen in time. Tallele was the dominant species on that planet, and most people in the Federation knew what a kind and gentle species they were, but the dangers on the planet remained a mystery to the fighters. They didn’t know what aggressive species were going to come their way, and without weapons, running away had to remain an option.

Renn and Desh circled a large majestic fountain in a city square. They scowled at each other, never leaving each other’s sight. Desh broke off a white branch from a tree and beat it against his hand. In response, Renn scraped the ground, picking up handfuls of sand and created two fists.

“The game will begin in five, four, three, two, one.”

On “one,” Renn and Desh charged each other. Desh raised the branch, ready to strike, but closed his eyes at the last second to avoid the sand that was thrown in his face.

Renn blocked the branch and took a swing, hitting him square in the jaw.

Desh lunged at Renn, hitting him in the stomach with his shoulder, and the two went down. They kicked and hit, pushed and pulled, creating a cloud of white dust that loomed around them, releasing all the pent-up energy and frustration they had been harboring for one another for months.

The students watched from the stands, yelling, “Fight, fight, fight!”