Alex, Chapter VII

Chapter VII

Planet Bae, Hidden Galaxy

I was jolted awake. My light was on. The door was ajar. Blake was asleep on his bed. A girl stood in my room, glaring at me as she set down a metal bucket.

It was then that I realized my clothes and bed were soaked and I was freezing. "I yelled for you to get up three times. I had to soak you and I’m not apologizing. I’m just here to give you this letter," the girl said, throwing an envelope at me angrily. For someone who I didn’t know, she was awfully hostile. Without waiting for me to say anything, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"What?" Blake said sleepily, under his blanket. He shifted about and uncovered his head. Then he quickly covered it again, shouting. "Damn that’s bright! Can you turn it down!?" I did as he asked, still half-asleep.

"What time is it?" I said aloud. Blake shrugged.

The door to Mage’s room opened and she said cheerfully. "Seven fifteen! And the day’s already looking good." Blake groaned and covered back up and muttered that he was going back to sleep. Mage looked at me and said, "Why’re you wet?"

"Some girl came in and soaked me. She threw this at me and left." I held up the letter.

Mage took it and opened it. She read the letter and smiled. "Congratulations! We’re going on the same task. It’s why she was mad. You just got here and you already have a class six task to do."

"Task? Class six?"

"High level hostility recognizance. We’re going to look for something in a dangerous territory. We have until 7:30 to respond and accept the task. I wonder where we’ll be going."

I felt my eyes widen. I had fifteen minutes?! I rushed to my dresser and quickly grabbed my clothes before rushing into my bathroom to change. None of these small bathrooms had showers, so I couldn’t wash my hair.

I came out wearing a pink t-shirt and a pair of grey jeans. The shirt was a gift from Greavus, but it wasn’t a color I liked much, but it would have to do. I dabbed some perfume on and deodorant, though Mage said I was fine.

We had ten minutes left, so we rushed out of the room, leaving Blake asleep on his bed.

 

The task office was a crammed space, full of computers, desks, people and filing cabinets. We headed to a room, in the far back, a very special area for class five and higher tasks.

The room was dim, just light enough to make out some things. There was a wide desk with two chairs in front of it and one behind. The big chair behind the desk swiveled around and an Arachnid man faced us. Arachnid men all looked very similar. Six arms growing out of their sides, a big round head with four red glowing eyes. Their bodies were covered in a thick exoskeleton which was very cold to the touch. They were human-ish, as in they could walk on two legs, but many preferred to move on all eight limbs.

"Letters." He said. It was obvious that he knew very little of the human language, and very few of the words could be pronounced through his strangely cat-like muzzle. All Arachnids had a cat-like muzzle, which creeps me out.

We handed him our letters and he read them over. He took out a pen and crossed some things out in our letters.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Mage said, slightly angry. I was surprised she chose to speak to the Arachnid.

"Seven, no six. Seven. No six." He said. At first, I thought he was changing his mind on something completely different. It took me a couple seconds to realize what he meant. Not six, but seven. We were going on a class seven task.

"She’s not ready for that!"

"What aren’t I ready for?" I asked Mage.

"Class seven is engaging hostiles in deep enemy territory, usually to recover something. Sometimes to protect someone. Expected fatality rates are always above sixty percent," Mage explained.

"Bia. Obelisk. You go. Two our." The man needed to learn to speak better. "You. Go! Now!"

We had received two envelopes to be opened once we were on the shuttle that would take us to Bia, in the Obelisk Galaxy. Mage opened hers in my room. It said we were going to retrieve a crystal from Bia. So, Mage packed for both of us, as only she had ever been there before. "Usually, we’re given supplies on the shuttle, but I always end up short on their rations. We should always pack rope and medical stuff anyways."

 

"Mage, do you think we should tell Blake we have a task?" I said as I looked at the credit card I was given along with my envelope. My own Beta Card.

 

"Speaking of Blake and telling him, I have a question. Do you want him to come with us?" Mage said.

 

"It doesn’t bother me. And if he comes, he could be a big help. But isn’t he nocturnal? Wouldn’t it be bad to wake him up?"

 

"What would be bad is if we die and he’s trapped in our rooms after they seal them off." After someone dies, they seal the rooms to keep trouble-makers out.

 

So, Mage packed our bags, two bags each. One would be clothes, the other medical stuff and supplies. We woke Blake, who yelled about being awake in the middle of the morning, but agreed to come with us.

 

Together, after going to the showers, we headed off to be taken to the shuttle.