Chapter 19 – Celebrity Janitors

            Xri stood with a puzzled expression staring at the four in the docking room. He looked at Zephay, the brunette, then Wander, the redhead and then over at Alos and Dardaños. His eyes squinted, unsure of what to make of the two new people on board his ship.

            “My name’s Wander. Thanks for bailing us out back there and everything, but uh, if you could just drop me off, that’d be great.” He stepped into the main hull of the ship stretching out his arms over his head, his uncaring sarcastic smile pinning up the corner of his mouth.

            As Wander was about to walk past Xri, Xri’s hand snapped outwards, catching Wander by the chest. With the slight movement of his fingers collapsing, Xri forced Wander back, causing him to stagger backwards and back into the docking room. Xri retracted his hand, placing it back into his coat pocket.

            “My name is Xri, I am the captain of this ship, if you could stay still for a few minutes that would be great.” Xri’s head rolled over to Alos, his keen violet eyes piercing through and into his soul. “Obviously Zeith was not on board, did you get the data?”

            “Zeith was never on that ship.” Alos said, unintentionally becoming defensive. When he realized his tone, Alos tried to take a deep breath, relaxed, and then continued. “These two said the only other people that they saw on that ship were Lycanians.”

            “How do you know he was not disposed of before these two were brought on board?” Xri’s voice cut through the air like a cracking whip. “You two; when were you picked up?”

            “Last week sometime,” Zephay said, “I’m not exactly sure though, it’s hard to tell sitting in a windowless prison cell.”

            “Yeah see, they would have seen him.” Alos added trying to affirm his decision, “and besides, if Captain Van’s as important as you say, and he specifically went after Zeith, I don’t think he would’ve trusted the Hawk’s to process him through their standard method. He probably took him straight to the Sovereign or whatever.”

            There was a slight pause in the room.

            “The kid’s right, when I was in the Rashakaan, we brought targets back without processin’ all the time.” Levitas tilted his head to his left shoulder, grabbing his neck with his right hand. Then with a sudden jerk, he whipped his head over to his right shoulder releasing a loud pop. “Especially since it’s Zeith, Van would’ve kept him locked down tight.”

            “This was a waste of time.” Xri exhaled a deep exasperated sigh, shaking his head in disbelief. “Do you know where else Van would have taken him?”

            Levitas shook his head. “There are hundreds of secret prisons in Divimatia, and that was over twenty years ago; who knows how much has changed since then. I’m sorry Xri, but I have no idea.”

            “Then it is settled.” Xri turned, flat faced back to Merick. “Set a course for my home.”

           Merick's eyes widened in surprise. “Yuh can’t be sehrious Xri, if we geht even a smidgen tuhoo close, we’ll be raided by bluhdy dragoons. Frackin’ beasts can’t tell one ship from another.” Merick’s pipe wagged from side to side in his mouth with his shaking head.

            “Then we will land early to minimize that chance. Since Alos here was only able to find these two scoundrels.” Xri swiped his hand over at Zephay and Wander and then continued, “and since we have no clue as to where to even begin searching, I must pay a visit to my Shaman.” Xri, released a second exasperated sigh turning back around to Levitas. “As much as I do not want to deal with those Magnams conceited enough to challenge me, the Shaman will be able to locate Zeith’s EMF signature, and he will be happy to help.”

            Merick turned away and marched off into the ship, his mumbles trailing off as he went down, “Wants meh tuh fly ohver intuh god damned Magnam territohry, crazy bastard… and all dese damn kids! Aye Iuh swear we’re runnin a frackin daycare…”

            “Now the question of what to do with you two.” Xri said, taking a step toward Zephay and Wander.

            “Dropping us off along the way sounds pretty good to me.” Wander reiterated, shrugging his shoulders with his suggestion.

            Zephay turned to Wander with his brow pressed down into bewilderment. “Why so we can get snatched up again? You can’t be serious Wander.”

            “I don’t know about YOU,” Wander nodded towards Zephay and then with assure tone said, “but I think I’ll be fine.”

            “You were picked up by Crusaders and once they figure out you're missing, they'll be coming back for you,” Xri pulled his hand from his coat. Squinting with sly fox like eyes, Alos could tell he was palming something behind his fingers, “and when they do, there is nothing you will be able to do about it.”

            “I’ll take my chances.” Wander replied, flipping long wavy strands of hair out of his eyes.

            “That is awfully presumptuous of you to think we will just let you go to be captured again.” Xri said, a smirk rising across his mouth. “Presumptuous indeed.”

            “What? Are you going to hold us here like they were? Why even bother rescuing us to begin with?” Wander scoffed at Xri clenching his jaw rigidly.

            “Well as you may have ascertained, we have recently encountered an unfortunate loss. A loss we are looking to return.” Xri smiled, grabbing the two by the shoulder. “Wouldn’t it be fortunate for us to come upon two people able to help us do just that?”

            “And if I don’t want to?” Wander’s brow arched.

            “Then you will be dumped off by a Crusader station, bound, gagged, and with the time and date you escaped their ship burned into your forehead,” Xri said sarcastically clutching Wander’s shoulder, reached up with his other hand and gave him a little pat on the cheek, “or maybe we will butcher you here and now and sell your parts. Your bodies are very valuable.”

            Levitas nodded toward Xri, “So I’m not the only one who feels their EMFs then.”

            “Quite the contrary, I have noticed them since the moment they entered the room back on the Hawk’s ship. Very peculiar, very valuable."

            Wander pushed Xri’s hands off of him and then pushed Xri back. Xri didn’t so much get pushed backwards, as he instead complied with Wander’s motion and then stepped back giving him space.

            “Because everyone so desperately wants ginger parts right?” Wander said pointing his hands towards his body. He smacked his lips, shaking his head, blowing air out the side of his mouth.“I guess we don’t have much of a choice do we?”

            “Now you're getting it.” Xri smiled looking at the two of them.

            “How do you even know we’re competent enough to help? For all you know we fight like drunken monkeys.” Zephay added, holding back a smile.

            “Alos, Dardaños, do you vouch for their abilities?” The way in which Xri asked, led Alos to believe he was being rhetorical, that he was just trying to make a point in front of the two. Alos smiled and played along.

            “Yeah they were on that TV show we watched. I thought it was just a show at first, but apparently it was an actual combat arena being filmed in real time.” Alos laughed looking at Zephay and Wander, who stood staring back in astonishment.

            “You mean we ARE celebrities?” A smile was beginning to creep across Wander’s face.

            “Prettyee much lad.” Dardaños said, snickering at the reaction.

            “Well that changes everything!” Wander’s fake enthusiasm was only matched by his excessive sarcasm.

            “Before I let you two do anything else though,” Xri opened his hand revealing his Orb. It levitated into the air and then projected a holographic display reading: “THE CONTRACT", and a small line underneath saying, “sign x_________________”. Xri motioned with his hand towards the line and then said, “I am going to need you to sign this.”

            Zephay’s eyes scrolled up and down over the hologram, looking at the (1 of 2734 pages) in the bottom left-hand corner, eventually eyeing back over to the signing line. He stared at it, his green expressionless eyes glazed over, lost in contemplative thought. His mouth opened as if to talk, and then his lips pressed together tightly. Bringing his hand up, Zephay’s fingers curled inwards to allow his pointer finger to sign, when Wander grabbed his hand, interrupting him.

            “We don’t have time to read twenty seven hundred pages, but could you at least do us the favor of giving us an idea as to WHAT we are signing?” Wander said, releasing Zephay’s hand.

            With no hesitation Xri responded, “It is your slave contract. You sign it, and I legally own you.”

            “At least he’s not beating around the bush,” Alos added, trying to comfort his two peers, “if it makes you feel any better, I had to sign one myself and I’m still here.”

            Zephay was staring at Wander skeptically, who looked over returning the same stare.

            Xri smiled at the two, but with a genuine empathetic kindness. “The lot of us were all slaves at one point. Working onboard this ship will provide you with compensation for that work, which will, in time, be enough for you to buy your own freedom.”

            Zephay and Wander still stood unwavering.

            “Signing this just provides me with the insurance I need to ensure you will not run off at the first given opportunity.”

            “What kind of insurance?” Zephay’s voice was flat, echoing frustrated disbelief.

            “As in every bounty hunter in the Non-States would be looking for your globally recognizable faces.”

            Wander laughed, curling his face up into a sour expression. “Being a celebrity does have its downsides.” Lifting his hand up and shaking his head, Wander wrote his name on the holographic contract. “Fuck it.”

            The Orb announced “Recording Saved”, and then refreshed the display to an empty contract. Zephay looked at it, still hesitating, the fingers on his right hand drumming across the leggings of his bright yellow suit. Then with a raised hand, Zephay pointed his finger out and wrote his name on the contract.

            “Yep, fuck it.”

            The Orb announced a second time that the recording had been saved. Xri looked down at the two, his brow raised, the purple warmth of his eyes radiating out a peaceful smile.

            “Thank you gentlemen, I ensure you will both be treated well.” Xri took his Orb and placed it back into his coat, tipping his hat to his crew before turning around and exiting back into the ship.

            “Can we get some grub?” Wander asked aloud to no one in particular.

            “I’m pretty hungry too.” Alos added.

            “Alright let’s get you out of those jumpsuits and then we’ll go get some food.” Levitas said, stepping into the main hull of the ship in front of the others. He led the three out of the room, up the elevator, and back into the main room. Alos turned to Zephay along the way.

            “So where are you guys from? Before the whole slave thing I mean.” Alos asked, hoping to form friendships with people he could actually somewhat relate to.

            “We actually didn’t meet until we were captured.” Zephay responded, walking with Alos on his left, and Wander on his right. “We met on that slave transport ship, and were thrown into the same cell.”

            Wander laughed. “Then we were sold to the arena.”

            “When you guys found us we had just been taken from the arena and then brought back to that same prison ship. We had no idea what was going on.” Zephay was angry, that much was evident to Alos, but he seemed to be choosing not to express it.

            “What can we say? The whole world wants us.” Wander said, smiling in jest. A laugh escaped Alos, but Zephay continued walking unaffected.

            “I’m honestly just glad to be away from that slave ship again. It is beyond depressing to be in a cell like that.” Zephay’s flat face was staring at the ground, his lips mouthing the words but his face remaining focused. “A person isn’t supposed to be away from daylight for that long.”

            “That's for sure.” Wander agreed.

            The four had reached the main room and were led off to the side to a door Alos never been introduced to. The doorway did not have the indicator above, and the door handle which had been on the others was also missing. Levitas approached the door and placed his hand where the doorknob would be. A scanning display rolled under his hand on the door, signaling with a dinging noise that it had been accepted. The door slid into the ship, opening and revealing an entire room covered with random pieces of equipment.

            Racks of guns hung from the left wall, no two of which were the same. Below them was a line of cabinets forming a counter, inside of which was a sink sided by towels, and adjacent to that a washing machine. Along the far counter, random soaps, detergents, cleaning products and chemicals littered the counter top. On the right, the counter top was parted by another doorway with a sign above that read, "Conditioning Room."

            Alos had completely forgotten how long it had been since he had last showered until he saw the soap. Reaching up, Alos could feel his short brown hair clustering into greasy clumps. It felt disgusting. Embarrassed, Alos pull his hood over and wiped his hands on his sweatshirt, hoping no one noticed.

            “Alright boys, let me see if I can find you some fittin’ clothes.” Levitas bent down to one the cabinets, opened it, and then began to rummage through it.

            “I actually have a stash of my stuff at a place in the Non-States. I’d be able to do my job a lot better if I had it.” Wander said, flipping his red hair out of his face.

            “Talk to Xri, we might be headed that way after we drop by his tribe anyways.” Levitas’ body turned around towards them, standing, in both his hands folded one piece green suits. He raised his arms up towards them, offering the suits to the two.

            “Hooray, from yellow to green,” said Wander, grabbing the suit out of Levitas’ hand, “What’s Xri’s deal about going to this Magnam tribe?”

            “He’s their Mahaijin, or warlord in their tongue. He’s supposed to lead the soldiers if ever necessary, though Magnams usually stay out of Human politics.” Levitas walked over to Alos, before dragging him out of the room and turning back in. “The only way the rank is achieved is if someone challenges the current Mahaijin to a duel and then kills him. Magnam culture is just brutal like that. They want the strongest to lead.”

            “That is harsh.” Zephay said, cringing his face at the thought of the Magnam he had had to fight. “And Xri is going to subject himself to that?”

            “Don’t worry about him, he will be fine.” Levitas smiled. “Anyways, you two should get dressed. This’ll be your room so make yourselves comfortable and get used to it.”

            Levitas placed his hand beside the door, causing it to slide shut. He turned in towards the couch, walked over to it and then collapsed down onto it. His body lay sprawled out across the couch waiting for the two to get changed, when his attention was pulled to Alos.

            “How do you guys keep clean without a shower?” Alos asked, pulling his hands from his oily hair, and then rubbing his fingers together in display to Levitas.

            “Most of us have products that we use, and every once in awhile we’ll stop somewhere with an actual shower.”

            “Do you have anything I can use then?” Alos face curled inwards. “This is starting to get pretty gross.”

            “Yeah sure,” Levitas’ gritty voice forced his way through his clogged throat. With a powerful grunt, he cleared his throat, swallowed, and then continued, “I’ll get it for you after they finish.”

            Just then, the door slid back open and out walked Zephay and Wander in their new green suits. The suits were full body, with an elastic waistband segmenting the torso from the legs. The shoulders of the suits had small straps that folded inward fastening in with snap buttons. Each suit had breast pockets on both sides, and a long strip of magnetic Velcro running from the neckline to the waistband. The leggings had the normal hip and back pockets, but also were accompanied by four cargo pockets on both legs, extending down almost to the ankles. Alos’ immediate first thought was that they looked like the janitors that cleaned his house.

            “God, I can’t wait to get out of these rags.” Wander said as he pulled on some of the flaps of his cargo pockets.

            “We look ridiculous.” Zephay added, shaking his head, the slightest smile creeping across his face.

            “Those suits are all the rage in the Slimepunk scene.” Levitas laughed.

            Wander’s brow slanted, “Is that supposed to make me feel better? Only thing those dirty, drugged up, slimewads are good for is taking money from.” He walked back over beside Alos and Levitas before adding, “So how long again until I can get my stuff?”

            “Look, after we drop by Xri’s tribe and get the info we need, we’ll probably head over to check in with the Resistance in the Non-States. You should be able to get whatever then.”

Levitas stood up, patted Wander on the back, and then walked over to the storage room again. Alos followed behind hoping to finally get some shampoo or something, he didn’t care what he just wanted to be clean. Inside the room, Levitas walked over to the back with all the cleaning products, sorted through several, and then picked up an oblong purple bottle.

“Here kid, rub this into your hair and then wipe it off with a towel,” said Levitas, throwing the bottle over to Alos followed by a towel. “You can use it on the rest of your body when you get a chance.”

            “Thanks a ton,” Alos said, as he turned the bottle over, popped open the cap and then squeezed the clear liquid into his left hand. With no hesitation, Alos pulled his hood off and slopped his shampoo containing hand onto his head, massaging it into his scalp and through his hair. The liquid felt like it was reacting with the pores in his head, releasing a cool prickly sensation. Alos grimaced; his head feeling like someone dumped a bucket of chilled alcohol over it. When he felt enough time had passed, Alos reached up with the towel and began drying the solution from his hair.

            “So Levitas,” Alos began, talking through the muffled patting of his head, “why did Xri ever challenge the old Mahaijin to begin with? He doesn’t seem like the type to want that position, and it seems like it would conflict with his other stuff.” Alos finished pulling his now wet towel down, running his fingers through his once again soft, clean hair.

            “Magnam’s stay out of the Human’s political realm and any interaction with it is seen as provocative. They want their space to be their space and the Human’s space to be theirs. So when Xri felt compelled to go join the rest of his people, Human people, the other Magnams were obviously not too happy.”

            “So he became the Mahaijin to persuade them?” Alos asked, still unsure. “That doesn’t make sense.”

            “Not quite kid. He became the Mahaijin so that when he left, they would have no authority to dishonor him. They can’t banish their general, you know?” Levitas exited the storage room, passing Alos, Zephay and Wander. “C’mon let’s get some food, I’m hungry.”

It had been awhile since Alos had eaten a solid meal, and he could begin to feel the effects on his stomach. Churning gurgles of hunger growled at Alos to be satiated.  The emptiness of his stomach, coupled along with the overall fatigue from the nonstop travelling left Alos running on empty.

            Levitas walked over to the other side of the main room, where a portion of the room was segmented into a cutout kitchen, followed by the other three. Inside the tiny kitchen was a single burner stovetop with a microwave under it, a small countertop with a cabinet under it labeled “pantry”, and a two door freezer refrigerator. At the end of the kitchen, Xri stood leaning against the wall, fizzy bottled beverage in hand.

            “Mr. Captain-man sir, are we by chance paying a visit to the western Non-States after this?” Wander said, without hesitation. “Around the Alarcin bazaar more specifically.”

            Xri’s overbearing hat hung over his face, blocking any line of sight, and casting a shadow over his chest. The hat sat without budging, Wander’s question only being answered with the slight movement of Xri’s arm, raising his beverage below his hat, and then back down to his side. Then, with a brief snicker, Xri brought his foot down from under him, and walked over to Wander, placing his empty hand on his shoulder.

            “Yes, we are going to that exact bazaar. Lucky you.”

            Xri, raised the bottle up under his hat again, and then released his hand from Wander’s shoulder, beginning to walk back off into the ship. Before exiting the room he stopped,

            “I know you are all hungry, but you should wait. Magnams get very offended if you do not finish your food and there will be a lot of food.” Then with a second snicker, Xri exited the room.

            “Ugh, we’ll all have to wait.” Levitas said grabbing his stomach. “The last thing we want to do is piss off any more Magnams.”

            “You’re killing me pops.” Wander said, also grabbing his stomach, giving off an exaggerated frowning face.

            Alos couldn’t help but laugh, they were all starving, and it was more than evident by the scrunched pouting faces of his crewmates and their stomach clenching hands. Except for Zephay that is. Zephay stood seemingly unaffected by his hunger, watching the others squirm and trying not to laugh.

            “Don’t worry lads, we should arrive within the hour.” Levitas said, still clutching his stomach. He walked back out into the main room, collapsing back onto the couch, and after only minutes began letting out congested nasal snores.