Chapter 5
Progress
So here it was two weeks later and she was about to go stir crazy. Glint wouldn’t allow her or Sandria to do hardly anything. If Berri was free, he would escort them shopping or out to eat. He didn’t mind, he had a crush on Sandria and liked to stare at her no matter what else was happening. The male treated her as a boy which is what he thought she was.
It bothered her to be viewed as a boy by everyone but Glint, who was too busy to give her the time of day. It wasn’t that she was interested in Berri. That male was attractive enough, she supposed, but there was no fire there. There was no fire on Sandria’s part either, but she‘d told her that she didn’t know how to break it to him.
They’d discussed it and decided when they left the crush would die a natural death. The problem was they’d expected to be long gone by now. Staying so long was dangerous to all concerned. She’ also worried about her growing feelings for Glint. Sharing a bed at night didn’t help her keep her feelings under control.
“George, what are you thinking about?” Sandria asked. She turned red as fire. “Is there a young girl on your mind?”
George choked. “No.”
“Is it a more mature lady?”
“There’s no lady at all.”
“Do you like males?”
“I don’t like anyone right now. I just want away from here.” She replied grumpily.
“I know what you mean. This place has bad memories for me.”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s okay. You’re very thoughtful for a young boy.” Sandria observed.
Of course she was. It was because she wasn’t a young boy but had to pretend to be. She was trapped in a lie of her own making. There was no one to blame but herself. Shutting down, she said no more. As sharp as Sandria was in so many ways, how could she not see that she was as female as she was?
Berri was escorting them to the bar where they often ate lunch. He said they had to stagger days so no one would be certain when they might show up. As soon as they entered, she was aware something was wrong. There was a group at a table in the back watching them with interest. Five males, she would guess. A rough group staring at them with too much interest.
“Hey there. Who might you be?” Their leader asked.
“We are just a local and some friends visiting from off world.” Berri replied.
“I like the look of that female you have.”
“Thank you. I do too.” Berri said as they sat down and a waitress came to them to take their orders. The male didn’t like being dismissed.
He got up and walked over to their table. “Hey sweet thing. Why don’t you lose this guy and come with me?”
“No thank you.” Sandria replied.
“Maybe you don’t realize it, but I don’t take no for an answer.” He said as he reached for Sandria’s wrist.
She’d had enough. Reaching for his arm she stood as she did. With his forward momentum turned slightly, she stepped under his arm and flipped him. “Damn George. Why did you do that?” Berri asked.
“He had no intention of quitting.” She replied.
“Neither do they.” Berri pointed out as the other four moved in on them.
Then she stepped up to them before they reached Berri and ducked as the first male tried to punch her. As she stood back up her knee hit him between the knees and when he bent over she smashed his head onto her other knee. He began to puke. The others stepped back in shock then the three of them rushed the three of them.
Sandria, surprisingly, could fight just fine in her humanlike form. A couple punches and the male lay on the floor dazed. Her attacker was cautious and she had to go after him, but he had no taste for the fight and he turned and ran.
Berri was barely holding his guy off and when he saw Sandria and her converging on them, he too took off at a run. “I had no idea you two could fight.” Berri admitted looking quite stunned. “What are you?”
“I’m Mazlan.” Sandria admitted.
“I’m just a plain old human.” She replied.
“Nothing plain about you.”
Their food came and the waitress had packed it up for them. It was an invitation to get the hell out of the bar because they wanted no trouble. Besides, the males on the floor were about to come around. No point in pounding on them anymore. Berri grabbed the food and they left.
Back at the room, Berri stared at her as if trying to decide what the hell she was. “I’ve just had training. I have no superpowers.”
“A human boy wouldn’t be that strong.” Berri insisted.
“Training makes a huge difference as does surprise. Those guys were cowards at heart picking on those they saw as weak. They felt Sandria and I couldn’t help you so that made it one against five.”
“I’ll admit they were surprised, but so was I.” Berri said.
“She’s human, I can smell it.” Sandria said.
“She?” Berri turned stunned yes toward her. One more secret unveiled.
Looking at him, she just grinned and shrugged. “It’s best hidden.” Sandria added.
Glint entered in the midst of the conversation. “Anything exciting happen today?” He asked casually.
“Not really. We have food.” She observed.
“I’m glad to hear that because I heard about a fight that just occurred. It was a man, a woman, and a boy taking on five large males. Apparently the three kicked ass.” Glint said. His face was grim. “They say the boy started it.”
She pressed her lips together refusing to be baited. Glint turned and stared at her waiting for an explanation. No one said anything as the quiet grew uncomfortable. “Fine. I already knew it was the three of you, I just hoped you’d be honest.”
“Why when you already judged us?” She asked.
“I did no such thing.” He denied.
“You already said the boy started it.” She observed.
“No, I said that was what I was told.” Glint explained. “I’d like to know what happened.
“The leader of the group tried to grab me and George took offense. He grabbed his arm as he reached for me and flipped him. The method was perfect and the guy didn’t get back up. Unfortunately his crew took offense.” Sandria explained.
“I didn’t know you could fight. It’s not in your file.” Glint said.
“I didn’t get the training at work.” She admitted.
“What else don’t I know about you?” He asked. Nothing she felt like sharing. Seeing her blank look. He realized she wasn’t going to say a thing. “I should have sent both of you on ahead to Oison. This place will be more dangerous to you than ever now.”
“You could let us help you.” She declared.
“Didn’t you see the danger today? Neither of you are safe. No one with you is safe either. There’s a ship leaving in two days. I’m sending you two on it.” Glint insisted.
She exchanged looks with Sandria. It was clear she didn’t like it either. Two days wasn’t very long to change his mind. Not that they wanted to stay here, but they did want to help and make a difference. Right here was the place to do that. This was where the future would be decided.
They sat down to eat supper and no one had much to say. Glint was clearly agitated over what had happened and they were aggravated about his desire to send them away. Berri probably didn’t want Sandria to leave without him. Everyone had their mind on something that they didn’t care to discuss.
Once they were done eating, she and Sandria cleaned up. When that was done, they had little to entertain themselves with. They slipped into the bedroom to talk. “So when did you know I was a girl?”
“Right away, but I wasn’t sure you wanted it to be known to anyone, even Glint.” Sandria explained.
“I didn’t, but someone told him. I’m a member of the crew on the ship he was working on. My specialty is communications and he needed my skills for the first part of the mission. Looks like he doesn’t need me anymore.”
“Or he does and he refuses to admit it. Males are stubborn creatures.” Sandria said.
That was certainly true. On a usual world a boy her size could find out much. Here, with everyone being stuck inside, slipping around with the security in place was much harder. She had a feeling tomorrow they might attempt it. There was no reason for them to be left out of the investigation.
“Let’s plan to go out tomorrow.” She said and Sandria nodded.
Later as she lay in bed next to Glint, she wondered if things would work out for them. Having more information would help and she had a plan. Rolling over on her side, she fell asleep quickly. It was many hours later that she felt Glint leaving to do his work. Breathing deeply and lying motionless, she waited until he left before she got out of bed.
Once breakfast was cooked, Sandria came out dressed and ready to go. “Let’s eat and then I’ll get us some information.”
They sat at the table eating their breakfast. “How will you get us what we need?”
“You’re looking at a communications expert and I have a com and a computer with me. There will be no secrets if they are on a computer or sent out over the airwaves or the wires.”
“That’s amazing. Isn’t that hard to do?”
“Once I get started, you can watch and be amazed.”
They finished eating and cleaned everything up. Now she got her computer bag and began to pull her equipment out and set it up. She hooked up a printer too. That would only work on the computer. The com would record those discussions she selected. First she got into Glint’s com and computer to find out who she needed to observe.
“The list is rather long.” Sandria commented.
“No wonder he’s having a hard time working it. Look at this. They are carrying on discussion over their coms. That’s not smart. Damn! They are discussing us and they plan to come after us, Berri, and I suspect Berri’s brother-in-law. He was right to want to keep him out of this altogether. We should get a hold of Berri and warn him.”
“I can do that while you monitor more discussions.”
“Are you sure that’s wise with the way these males respond to your presence?” She asked.
“I have a robe Berri got for me and a scent to wear that they don’t care for. They’ll be stepping away from me and not near me. It’s the scent of a race that is cannibalistic.”
“Oh, God! They allow them on this planet?”
“Open borders. They have no choice.” Sandria explained.
“They didn’t think that out at all. Hurry back so I don’t worry.”
“I will.” Sandria said as she fetched her robe. The scent was hideous.
“I hope that washes off.”
“It will. See you shortly.” Sandria was gone.
The information she was getting and sending straight to Razar was damning for many of these businessmen. It was sad that when Razar had helped them so much they paid him back with traitorous behavior. She began adding names to the list. It was almost as if the whole planet was on the other side.
It was a relief when Sandria made it back. “I told him and he’s preparing to catch a ship with his family. Razar offered him sanctuary.”
“That’s good. Once he’s gone their eyes will turn to us. I hope Razar cleans out this nest of vipers.” She admitted.
“I believe it’s his intention. According to his talk with Berri, he’s going to station soldiers on each planet at the edge of their space. It’s sad how many are acting against Mazlan’s best interests.”
“I think if Mazlan’s lose this area they will sadly regret it. These new guys that are calling themselves Thespers aren’t nice. According to this message, they intend to take over and control the planets they are currently on. The Viewers aligning with them may deserve it, but the others do not. These new guys are predators and thinking you can control them is foolish.”
“Mazlans are predators too.” Sandria pointed out.
“True, but not all predators try to take over everything. Razar seems pretty cool about letting them keep control of most things. It’s a shame they don’t seem to appreciate it.”
There was a sound at the door. “Damn it! What have you two been doing now?”
“What do you mean?” Sandria asked.
“Berri and his family have left and we need to get the hell out of here too. Get packed and we’ve got to go. Now!” He demanded. She and Sandria packed the little they had and at the door he gave them each a gun. “Use it if necessary.”
“What are we leaving here in?” She asked.
“We need to get to the ship we came in on and then meet the warship Night Song.”
“I’ve not been on that one before.” She said as they walked down the hall and through the lobby. So far so good.
“Watch out!” Glint yelled. There were males headed toward them trying to cut off their escape. “Run to the shuttles.”
She hoped the males weren’t armed since they hadn’t shot at them. The three of them ran sticking close together. The shuttle stop wasn’t far and shuttles left every ten minutes or so. If they made it there, they might escape quickly.
The row of shuttles waiting to be boarded was in sight. Sandria yelled as she fell. She couldn’t see what had happened and she stopped to help her. Sandria limped, but still moved quickly with help. The males trying to catch them kept about the same distance behind unwilling or unable to catch up.
They made it to the shuttle and got on just as it filled up. The doors close and they looked at the males that had been chasing them as the shuttle took off. She realized they weren’t worried because there would be more of them waiting for them at the station.
Now she was worried and she realized Glint had never calmed down. He was wondering who would be waiting for them and how they would deal with them.