Joe Greer's Blog

Two spins later they were meeting Beeyorn and his Centaur navigator in a small park where all the species of the Galaxy seemed to be represented. Some were mixed groups, some only of one species. A Centaur with a group of Humans would not be out of place. Misha had bought food from one of the many kiosks. They had a blanket spread out and were literally having a picnic. Beeyorn sat and waved at the Centaur on the other side of the park looking for him. It came over and settled, legs underneath.
“I am Celestaire and will have my copper first,” the Centaur said simply.
“First, tell us about this Forbidden Zone. We were unaware of it and do not wish to offend.” Misha started out offering Celestaire the remaining copper on a plate as was custom for their species. Her knowledge of Galactic would keep confusion down.
He paused a moment and pulled out a device that was an equivalent to a hologram. A quarter of the galaxy appeared starting with the Sagittarius spiral arm. The next volume, the Orion spur has a red hue. Earth was almost in the center of it. “The red marks the Zone. Do not go there, as it means death from the Tellurians. Do not be deceived about their disappearance. They are alive and well and protect this zone. How is it important to you?”
“The zone itself is not, but I was carried there to pull scrap copper by Centaurs from Muturi. A human in that group has family who were stolen. We seek that family. No one came back from the expedition. I guess I was lucky to be injured and recovering somewhere else. Can you load the coordinates on my chip?”
“Yes, easily and I will put the coordinates for Muturi as well. Be careful of Muturi. The only Humans there are slaves. They consider it their right to take Humans if you are on their planet. You have been warned. Anything else?”
“You have been most kind in sharing. Thank you,” Misha said. Celestaire took his device and pointed at Misha’s arm for a moment and without another word got up and left.
“That was painless,” Beeyorn said then “Oh no, that Shaitan is staring at us.”
“How can you tell?” Elle asked giggling at their eyes, all four of which seem to be looking in different directions.
“If it comes over to us, then it will try to kill you Marco. You are the biggest male in the group and claim me as a slave since I am the smallest. If you draw blood, we will be attacked from the other species around the park. Guns are a last resort. Yell something if you think you are going to lose,” Misha was talking rapidly as the evil looking lizard was rising. “A blow to the solar plexus will stun it. Then break its back,” Misha stood along with Marco as the monster approached. It dropped its robe on the ground.
‘Crap’ thought Marco, ‘it has a harness holding a small shield over it’s chest’
“I claim the small female puny Human. The Centaur is no longer here to protect you,” it said going from a dull red to a brighter color. The Shaitan was a little shorter than Marco with conical horns sprouting from its forehead. It sported a prehensile tail and was very narrow at the waist. The thick thighs thinned down to a triple split hoof. There were no obvious sex organs in the expected places.
“And what do we get if my male wins?” Misha shot back.
“He will not win.”
“Do you have a shuttle? That will be enough,” Misha insisted there be a counter risk.
“Yes, I have a shuttle at the port. That will be my risk,” and it grabbed at Marco depending on superior strength.
The struggle was epic. Marco was an experienced grappler from his years of Jujitsu, but the creature was much stronger. Finally, Marco had nearly stripped off the thing’s harness and was holding near the base of its tail. That tail had given him fits during the wrestling. At times grabbing a wrist or ankle, other times trying to poke him in the eye. Marco was thoroughly tired of this tail.
With a strong pull on the tail it and the harness both came free, exposing its chest and leaving a tail in Marco’s hand. He quickly whipped it back and forth on the Shaitans face distracting it enough to rise and throw both away. The Shaitan knew he had a vulnerability now and became more cautious as he stalked on stiff legs toward Marco again.
Marco started moving with the ginga rhythm of capoeira, Brazilian slave fighting style. The lizard had no rhythm and now without its tail lacked balance. Capoeira has some of the strongest kicks in martial arts and Marco spun a heel kick with the momentum of his whole mass into the creature’s solar plexus. It dropped. Marco didn’t hesitate to roll it on its belly, put his knee on its spine and pull for all he was worth holding one of the horns. Crunch, crunch, crunch went at least three vertebrae. The surprised look stayed fixated on the dead lizard.
The Humans that had gathered around with the rest of the park gave polite applause. ‘Well done’ was shouted out a few times in Galactic from various species. Misha calmly walked over and manipulated the things arm next to her own. She drained its account and got the ownership rights to a shuttle.
“Time to walk away slowly,” declared Beeyorn. There may be others nearby.
Daniel gave a shoulder to his friend and they casually walked away.