The Project

Chapter 28

The Project Chapter 28

When Alex finally crawled into his bunk sleep came almost instantaneously.

There were no weird dreams, or lying in bed half asleep thinking of the day's events. BAM! He was out like a light. However, at some point the thought he heard voices, the feeling that someone was poking him, but maybe it was just a dream. Gradually however, he began to slowly wake up, achieving that transitional state between "dead to the world" sleep and a state of consciousness where you hear things and realize their not a part of a dream.

"Get the hell up Alex! What'd you do get drunk again?" It took him a moment to realize that the demanding voice belonged to Kelly. Still thinking it was a dream he continued to remain motionless hoping the voice would go away.

"Christ!" He thought, "I just went to bed, I know I haven't been asleep that long."

For a couple minutes, nothing happened causing him to think he must have been hearing things, but when a small fist rammed into his back he immediately came awake rising up in his bunk and hitting his head on the bottom of the upper berth.

"What the f**k!" He shouted, "Goddamn cant' a guy get any sleep around here? Hells Bells! I just went to bed!" Rubbing his head, he turned to see Kelly, and Bria standing next to the bed glaring at him, but standing in front of them was the Moriedian boy Navek getting ready to punch him again.

Alex then realized they were moving.

"Are we in flight?" He asked,

"Well if you had woken from your drunken stupor you'd know we left Fort Kamata over two hours ago," stated Kelly. Alex sighed, and settled back in his bunk.

"I wasn't drunk Kelly, I was up late talking to Arna and Garmik, now why is this kid punching me?"

He didn't get an answer to his question, as Bria and Kelly quickly bored of tormenting him and went to talk with Arna and Garmik, however Navek, and now Marga continued to stare at him. Ignoring their strange behavior, he put his pants and socks back on and while he laced up his boots, he glared back at Navek, asking,

"Why are you staring at me?" The boy remained silent for a moment then replied.

"Did you really kill those raiders?"

"Why do you care?" asked Alex.

"They killed my mother and father, also my Uncle."

"Kids your age shouldn't think about things like that replied Alex. He sat on the edge of his bunk for a moment looking at the sad faces of the two children.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you it must be tough loosing your folks like that.

But I told you all I know, all of the raiders are dead, their ship was sold for scrap, case closed."

As he continued to stare at them Alex thought to himself how freakish they looked, pale skin, pure white hair, the all black eyes, probably giving everybody they came in contact with the creeps. Hell! It wasn't their fault, poor kids. Not really knowing what else to say, he pulled his new knife out of it's sheath and showed it to Navek who was immediately drawn to it like a moth to flame.

"Careful there Navek you'll cut yourself." The boy said nothing but carefully inspected the knife and tested it for balance. Then looking up at Alex he said,

"Whoever made this is a true master, this looks like Duranix, and I can see that it's layered, what is the mating metal?"

"I think Yufic said it was mekkarion steel," said Alex. Navek nodded,

"Good choice, however on Moriedia Derion steel is preferred."

"How do you know so much about knife making?" Asked Alex.

The boy gave him a very strange look, the kind of look that told Alex it was better not to ask. As Navek was examining the knife he suddenly turned and threw the knife straight at a square yellow foam pad used for protecting fragile cargo. His throw was swift and accurate, the blade sinking right up to the hilt dead center in the pad. Marga who up to this point had just been watching went over and pulled the knife out, came up to Alex, and smiled. She then turned and threw the knife directly at the pad. He watched as the knife entered the pad although not quite to the hilt but dead on target. Alex just looked on stunned. Navek retrieved the knife and handed it back to Alex,

"Nice knife." He quickly returned the blade to its sheath as the two children sat down nearby, and started doing something on a small tablet computer.

He then made his way up to the bridge where Kelly and Bria were talking to Arna and Garmik, who were sitting in the pilot and co-pilot's seats. Bria turned to him long enough to ask,

"How's that hangover?" His worst fears were being realized Bria's domineering attitude had now infected Kelly, and unless he took immediate action they would continue to "bully" him. Interrupting the conversation he exclaimed.

"Let's get one thing straight right now, and I'm looking at you Bria, that "spoiled" snotty attitude isn't going to fly around here. And you Kelly, ever since she came on board, you've picked up her attitude; don't forget it was I who invited you along on this adventure." The next think Alex knew Bria was up out of her seat, and her fist was crashing into his face.

The suddenness and shock of her action sent Alex flying backward, but he quickly recovered launching himself towards Bria who easily dodged his fist punching him on his arm.

"Jesus," he thought this b***h can hit, damn!" By now Navek and Marga had appeared, and were enjoying the action. Everything was happening so fast all he could think was,

"If she wants to play it that way tough s**t if she's a girl, I'm taking her down."

The fight immediately turned into a wrestling match something Alex had a little experience in having been on the high school wrestling team in his sophomore and junior years. Calling on his memory of moves Alex was quickly discovering that they weren't working for him. He wondered to himself,

"Am I that weak, or is she that strong?" He was able to throw her to the floor before something literally grabbed him and tossed him like a rag doll against the bulkhead. As he recovered, he could see Bria had been tossed as well, with Arna standing where he and Bria had been tussling.

"THAT WILL BE ALL OF THAT!" Loudly announced Arna. "I don't know what your problem is, but you two will cease and desist immediately, is that understood?" All Alex could think of was how fast Arna had picked him up and tossed him like a basket ball. Looking around he saw both Bria and Kelly giving him truly evil looks, while the Moriedian children looking rather indifferent.

Obviously Arna was expecting an apology which he grudgingly gave, while Bria hardly said a word.

"f**k this," He thought, as he returned to his bunk to brood. Instead of lying in his bed, Alex sat down at a small table and proceeded to clean his AR. Before long, Navek joined him then started asking questions about the strange weapon.

In the middle of asking questions about how the rifle worked and what it killed with Navek said matter-of-factly,

"If you like I could kill her for you." The boy's statement was so surprising Alex dropped the bolt he had been cleaning.

"What? No, oh hell no, what makes you think I'd want you to kill her?" He gasped. "What's the matter with you?" Navek shrugged,

"I don't know, I just thought…Well if you don't want me to kill her, I can plant a fist in her face so hard she'll carry the mark for the rest of her life." Alex looked at Navek with horror.

"What the f**k's the matter with you Navek, she's a princess, you can't do that to her, I'd bee in all sorts of trouble with her parents, her dad would probably have me killed, have all of us killed. Is that the way you people handle things on your planet?" Navek just looked at him with a funny grin, but said nothing. Moments later, he got up and left, leaving Alex to wonder what sort of homicidal maniac this kid was.

One thing was for sure, this situation simply couldn't continue. Alex finished assembling his rifle, then returning it to the arms locker; he sighed, and made his way to the bridge again. As soon as he appeared, Bria snarled,

"Stay the jank away from me or I'll kill you!" Kelly looked equally menacing, giving him the stink eye.

"EVERYONE JUST SETTLE DOWN!" Ordered Arna,

"What is the matter with all of you?" Alex could clearly see that Arna was caught in the middle of something she neither understood, nor cared to take a stand on, Garmik looked equally perplexed. Alex now realizing he would be no help.

All Arna could do was ask that he return to the area of the ship where his bunk was. As he lay on his bed, Alex started to seriously wonder about calling this whole thing off and asking Arna to return him back to earth. If Kelly and Bria wanted to continue well fine, they could do it without him. He also tried to figure out what he had done to piss off Bria and Kelly so much, especially Bria.

"Was she still mad at him over the comments he had made on their aborted hike?" If so, then she really did have a problem. As he lay on his bunk thinking, Navek and his sister appeared again,

"What are you kids doing sneaking around here? Why don't you go up front and hang around with Bria and Kelly."

"They are no fun," said Navek, "Everyone's talking about dumping you off with us." This didn't sound right, even if they were mad at him, Arna and Garmik certainly wouldn't go along with anything like that.

"What are you talking about? He growled, "Nobody's dropping me off anywhere."

"Don't know about that," replied Navek, "Those two women are pretty angry at you, the heavy one is all for leaving you on Moriedia with us. Hey, it's not so bad, it's our home, my uncle Sarmek could probably find a job for you, and the females are a whole lot friendlier than those two." Alex couldn't believe the crap coming out of this kid's mouth, what was his problem?

"I'm sure Moriedia is a wonderful place Navek," he replied, "But it's not my home, but you say they're up there plotting against me?" Navek shrugged,

"What can I say, are you sure you don't want Marga and I to teach them a lesson for you? I mean you couldn't even beat that girl up." This kid was really starting to scare him, what the hell kind of kids were they?

"No thanks Navek, I'll take care of the problem in my own way, you and your sister just stay out of this OK?"

"Suit yourself," replied the boy, turning to his sister, he said,

"Come on Marga, let's go get something to eat, this fellow just wants to lie on his bunk and wonder how he got beat up by a girl." Alex dug an MRE out of his pack and ate a cold supper rather than join the others.

As time wore on, the tension aboard ship only got worse, Kelly accused him of rifling through her things; Bria accused him of stealing her credit card, although when it appeared to have been simply misplaced, she refused to apologize. The Karla-Ann was really too small for Alex, Bria and Kelly to avoid each other for long. Each encounter became tense with friction, scowls, names called under the breath, snarling. Finally they reached Moriedia, setting down at a small landing field, where they were met by a group of adult Moriedians. They looked especially dour, and if they were anything like these kids, Alex was prepared for anything to happen.

A male stepped forward and briefly talked with Arna and Garmik. While they spoke, Alex's first impression of them was,

"These people are f*****g gangsters, no wonder Navek and Marga acted screwed up. One of the women who was apparently some sort of government official and introduced as Istell Clon, reminded him of the "Bride of Frankenstein" although not as severe. He felt guilty for thinking that, but it couldn't be denied. The others were introduced as Uncle Sarmek, Aunt Einam, their daughter named Holliqua, someone named Mion Krarr, and the family councilor Tyreik Vott. Now he was certain these people had to be gangster types, Hell! Maybe they were the Moriedia mafia didn't they always have "Consigliere" hanging around? Lost in all his speculation and day dreaming, Alex missed Uncle Sarmek directing them to a boxy looking craft, but was rudely reminded by Kelly smacking him on his head,

"Pay attention i***t!"

The craft turned out to be the Moriedian version of a large passenger wagon equipped with several bench seats. Sliding in the third seat, all the way to the end, he was immediately followed by Holliqua who wore the strangest smelling perfume, and kept giving him strange looks. The craft was unmanned flying all by itself, with Sarmek announcing that they were going to the family compound, and would arrive in about an hour or milacenton as they called hours. While they traveled through the air Alex kept his eyes focused forward afraid of making eye contact with anyone however he could sense Holliqua staring at him out of the corner of his eye. At one point, he thought he could hear someone whispering in his head, then he remembered that these people were supposed to be highly telepathic, jeezist! The quicker they could get back to the ship and get off this planet the better.

The family "compound" was just that, a scattering of buildings along with one large house in the middle surrounded by a high wall. He only caught a glimpse of the place before they landed, but it reminded him of a World War Two fort, it looked like concrete was the only building material these people were familiar with. The shuttle craft was connected to a long tunnel that took them to a reception area that looked rather futuristic decorated in various shades of blue and gray, along with colored glass, chrome, and something that looked like wood, but upon closer examination turned out to be something else. Their hosts seemed to be friendly enough especially Holliqua who kept insisting on sitting next to him. When he was offered liquid refreshment, Alex turned it down although he noticed Kelly and Bria chugging down whatever it was they were drinking. As for those two, Alex did his best to avoid them, for every time he glanced their way they were glaring at him.

This was also something Holliqua readily picked up on. Alex knew exactly what she was up to, as he studied her; he decided that she didn't look as bad as he originally thought.

"Oh what the hell, this dumb b***h wants to have her fun who am I to argue with that? If it pisses off Bria and Kelly so much the better, f**k it, I don't even give a s**t anymore."