Chapter 19

Back in the classroom, the sound of more pounding feet came from the hallway. Then a big green and red blur flowed into the room, stopped, and appeared as a gigantic male Verdante. But Antaska didn’t pay any attention to that. All her attention was on Tilde’s rage-fueled fist. Frozen in time, Antaska watched the fist move as if in slow motion toward her face. Antaska knew there was no escape this time. She closed her eyes and waited.

“Thud!” Antaska heard the sound of Tilde’s fist hitting something hard. But she didn’t feel anything. Not even the slight thump she would have felt in a virtual game. Antaska opened her eyes.

M. Hoyvil was standing between her and Tilde. He rubbed a big green hand on a spot in the middle of his chest.

“Ouch!” he said loudly but telepathically.

Antaska heard but pretended not to. She peered around M. Hoyvil and saw Tilde standing there rubbing her bruised fist with her other hand. Tilde’s mouth was clenched shut, and a drop of wetness appeared in the corner of one eye.

Eegor was still sitting on the floor looking up with wide eyes and a wide-open mouth.

A loud, deep male voice came from the middle of the room. “What is going on here?” demanded Master Mytaar.

The gigantic green man stood there dressed in the usual bright red ship suit worn by Verdante adults. He’d arrived in the room just in time to watch Tilde throw her punch. Master Mytaar towered over them all in the middle of the room.

“Master Mytaar!” said Eegor and Tilde out loud.

And M. Hoyvil said the same thing telepathically.

“Tilde! Why did I just see you aiming a punch for this human’s face?” Master Mytaar said with a gesture toward Antaska. “And Eegor, why are you there on the floor? And you, M. Hoyvil, what are you doing here?”

Tilde and Eegor both lowered their heads, but M. Hoyvil, even though he was two feet shorter than the big man, kept his head high.

This was all very dramatic, but Antaska looked over to the front of the room and saw someone who was even more important.

Potat stood on the desk where M. Hoyvil had carefully placed her when he dashed into the room. Her back was still arched to its highest, and her fur extended in sharp spikes. She hissed and spat.

When Potat saw that Antaska was safe and finally noticed her, she started to calm down. She sat down on the desk and began smoothing down her fluffed up gray and white fur. Good. Antaska was on her way over.

“Are you OK?” asked Antaska. “What are you doing here? This isn’t a safe place for a little cat like you.”

Potat was happy to see that her pet Antaska had the right priorities.

“I’m fine,” Potat answered her telepathically. “Can you hear me now?”

Antaska didn’t answer, she just winked at her. Potat knew why. If the Verdantes found out Antaska was telepathic, they wouldn’t let her travel to outer space with them.

Potat looked back over at the others. M. Hoyvil stood with arms across his chest glaring down at the two big humanoids.

That’s good too, thought Potat.

Then more pounding feet were heard outside in the hallway. Everyone turned to look at the door. An Earth human male of Antaska’s size rushed in. He braked to a stop in the middle of the room.

“Pablo!” said Antaska and Tilde at the same time.

“What’s going on in here?” asked Pablo, looking around the room.

He walked over and stood next to Antaska.

“Yes, what is going on in here?” asked someone else.

Another large presence had entered the room unnoticed by everyone except Potat. A cat notices everything.

Master Mytaar’s life partner, Mistress Moneeka, stood just within the doorway. Standing in the dimly lit room, Mistress Moneeka seemed to be surrounded by a golden aura, perhaps caused by the soft shine of her lime green skin and hair against the glow of her shiny red ship suit. Her large eyes scanned each person in the room as if seeking the answer to her question.

Mistress Moneeka’s large-eyed gaze moved around the room from Eegor to Tilde to M. Hoyvil to Pablo and then to Potat. All the others looked down under the almost supernatural force of Mistress Moneeka’s stare, but Potat stared right back at her.

Of course, the giant humanoid woman looked away first.

When the heavy weight of Mistress Moneeka’s probing gaze settled on Antaska, she felt as if all her deepest and darkest secrets were being revealed and judged. Antaska looked up at the large Verdante woman with confused feelings of shame, fear, and resentment. Mistress Moneeka met her eyes and held them, and for a few moments, Antaska was unable to look away. After what seemed like an eternity, the huge emerald green eyes released their hold on her.

“That was kind of invasive, don’t you think?” Antaska heard M. Hoyvil say telepathically.

Mistress Moneeka ignored his question. She walked over to stand next to Master Mytaar.

“Come over here and join us,” said the gigantic lime-green woman out loud to Antaska. Her voice was gentle but compelling. “We must hear from you what happened, and then we’ll decide what to do about all this.”

Antaska walked over and stood next to M. Hoyvil.

“I’m fine. I’m not harmed,” Antaska insisted in a calm but shaky voice.

“You say you’re fine, but in this situation, we must find out what happened. If someone broke our laws and the galactic laws, that must be punished,” said Mistress Moneeka.

She looked down at Antaska from four feet above.

“A record must be made for legal purposes. Luckily, there are many witnesses here. We will hear everyone’s stories, starting with yours,” said Mistress Moneeka.

Master Mytaar remained silent and stood with downcast eyes, apparently letting his mate handle things.

Antaska didn’t argue with Mistress Moneeka. She told them all what had happened, starting from when Eegor grabbed her in the hallway.

Pablo gasped when Antaska got to the part about Tilde swinging her fist toward her face. He didn’t say anything. But Antaska saw Tilde turn to look at him with an expression that Antaska couldn’t read. Antaska ended the story when she opened her eyes and saw M. Hoyvil standing in front of her.

“Thank you,” said Mistress Moneeka . “You may wait with your friend over there.”

She gestured with a gigantic green hand toward Pablo and Potat. Antaska wasted no time in going back to them. Wiry, dark-haired Pablo was leaning against the big desk that Potat was on, and Antaska joined him there.

“Are you OK?” he asked in a whisper. “You didn’t show up for practice, and I got worried.”

“Yes,” Antaska whispered back.

Then they both turned and listened to Mistress Moneeka.

“Eegor, your turn is next,” the big alien woman said. “You know I care about you, and I don’t mean to sound harsh. But if you lie to me, I’ll know, and your punishment will be worse.”

Eegor frowned, but he stood up. His thoughts about Antaska were resentful.

I don’t see why we have to wait here talking about a foolish Earth woman’s so-called ‘injuries.’ A scar will form on my skin if it isn’t seen to soon. She won’t have any scars. Surely they can see who’s the real villain here. We all know that Master Mytaar and Mistress Moneeka won’t interfere with my mating habits. They’ll let me keep doing what I’ve always been doing. What a joke this is!

He knew he had to tell the truth though. Eegor had lived with Mistress Moneeka all of his life, and she wasn’t kidding about knowing when someone was lying.

But how can I make them understand my side of the story? he wondered.

“Well, it’s like this,” said Eegor. “This Earth female acted like she was interested in me. She kept looking at me in the dining hall, you know. So even though she’s not up to my usual standards, I decided to give her some attention since she wanted it so bad.”

Eegor heard some gasps and grumbles from Tilde and others around the room. He didn’t look at Tilde. It was awkward. He’d always lied to her in the past, but that wouldn’t work this time.

Instead, Eegor looked up at Master Mytaar. He expected to see the usual amused but understanding look on his master’s face. The look Master Mytaar always had when Eegor told him about his exploits. But Master Mytaar wasn’t looking at Eegor. He was looking down at the floor.

Odd, that, thought Eegor.

He continued his story.

“I asked her if she wanted to meet outside of class, and she said ‘no,’ but you know how females always say ‘no’ when they mean ‘yes,’ right?”

Eegor looked at Master Mytaar again for confirmation, but the big alien still didn’t look back at him.

“So anyway,” said Eegor, “I heard she was going to the gym tonight, so I waited in here for her. Then when she walked by, I grabbed her and pulled her in. Because like I said, we all know Earth females want it, but they always say they don’t. It’s part of their species mating habits. I mean my species. Right?”

He looked again at Master Mytaar. Still not looking back.

Could he be acting like this because Mistress Moneeka is here? Eegor wondered. He’s always fine with whatever I do with these females. He always says, “The mating habits of your species are very interesting, Eegor,” or something like that. But now he’s not backing me up. Hmm.

Eegor got a bit nervous. Would he really get some kind of punishment for this? He finished his story in a rush.

“So I pushed her down on the floor and tried to give her what I know she wanted. And then she bit me! Can you believe that? If anyone needs to be punished, it’s that bit… inferior female.”

He looked up at Mistress Moneeka. But she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at Master Mytaar. That tall, skinny adolescent troublemaker M. Hoyvil was staring at Master Mytaar too.

Then Mistress Moneeka turned to Eegor.

“You may go back to your room and tend to your wound, Eegor,” she said. “We’ll let you know what we decide to do about this.”

That’s a relief, thought Eegor.

He was eager to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere of the room. On his way out the door, that bitch Antaska and her stupid human friend and her stupid cat all moved sideways away from him. Eegor glared at them. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t with the master and mistress standing there. The stupid cat hissed and waved a tiny sharp-clawed paw at him.

Ha! Like that could hurt me, Eegor thought.

Then weirdly, he thought he heard a tiny female voice speaking in his head.

“I will hurt you,” said the voice.

Eegor shook his head and kept going down the hallway. Thoughts of Antaska returned. The feel of her shiny pink hair, her soft tanned skin pressed against his. He shook his head again.

No. After what she did, that inferior female doesn’t deserve any more of my attention. I’ll have to pick a new one, he decided.

With that decision made, Eegor cheered up. He mentally reviewed the various charms of the other women in the gym class.

Yah, things will be back to normal by tomorrow, he thought.

Back in the classroom, Potat listened and watched with interest as Tilde told her version of the story. Tilde looked Mistress Moneeka in the eyes as she spoke. A pinkish tinge bloomed under her pale skin.

“I was in my room waiting for Eegor to come visit,” said Tilde. “I knew Antaska was ignoring him in class, so I didn’t think he would be meeting her. Then he told me he wanted to go to the gym and work out alone. But something about him seemed weird. One of his eyes kept twitching. I wondered if he was lying to me.

“So after he left, I kept thinking about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Then I thought maybe it was just an act. Maybe they were trying to trick me, and Antaska was just pretending she didn’t like him. I got mad, and I ran down the hall looking for them. And then I found them.”

Tilde stopped and hung her head down.

Well, at least she seems to know she did something wrong, thought Potat.

“And then what, Tilde?” Mistress Moneeka pressed her to go on.

“Then I came in this room and found Eegor on the floor holding his neck, and Antaska standing there over him. I didn’t know what happened. But I knew someone had insulted me, and I just lost it. I had to punch someone. So I tried to punch her, but M. Hoyvil got in the way.”

She turned and looked up at M. Hoyvil. He was shorter than the big adults but still a foot taller than her. He looked down at her with huge eyes that were stony green slits.

“I’m sorry, M. Hoyvil,” said Tilde. “I’m very sorry that I hit you and that I tried to hit Antaska. I’m just glad that you stopped me.”

M. Hoyvil’s expression softened only a bit. Potat knew he was waiting for something more. Tilde turned around slowly to face Antaska.

“I’m sorry, Antaska,” Tilde’s words stuttered out. “I’m very sorry for everything I’ve done. I blamed you for something that wasn’t your fault. I hope I’ll know better in the future, and I hope you’ll forgive me some day.”

Potat noticed Tilde looking from Antaska to Pablo as she spoke.

I think she’s more worried about what Pablo thinks, Potat thought.

But Antaska didn’t seem to care about that.

She smiled at Tilde and said, “Yes, I forgive you Tilde. Thank you for apologizing. And thank you for inspiring me to get in shape and learn martial arts.”

Oh, sheesh! thought Potat. No cat would ever be that forgiving. Well, at least Tilde apologized.

Tilde turned back to face the three giant Verdantes.

“Thank you, Tilde,” said Mistress Moneeka. “I appreciate your honesty. Now the three of us need to discuss this.” She indicated the other Verdantes. “You can go join the others. I see that you want to.”

Pale-skinned Tilde flushed pink again. She turned awkwardly and looked at Pablo. He smiled at her.

Humanoids! thought Potat.

Potat sat on a big Verdante desk between Antaska and Pablo. Tilde walked over with slow steps and stood facing Pablo. Potat listened to their conversation. Of course Antaska was listening too.

On the other side of the room, Potat could hear the three Verdantes arguing telepathically. But she was more interested in the vocal conversation of the nearby humans. So Potat recorded the Verdantes’ conversation in one part of her brain. She’d listen to it later if she wanted to.

“Are you mad at me?” Tilde asked Pablo. “Will you ever want to talk to me again?”

“I’m a little mad,” said Pablo. “But I’m glad you apologized, and I still want to talk to you, yes.”

Potat heard Tilde breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

“But I’m really glad you didn’t punch Antaska. If you had, I probably wouldn’t want to ever see you again,” Pablo said.

Tilde was silent for a few seconds.

“Does that mean you like her? Like Eegor, you like her too? Is that why?” Tilde asked him.

“No! I don’t like her like Eegor does!” Pablo insisted. “She’s my friend. We train and fight together, but I’m not romantic about her. Right, Antaska?”

He turned toward Antaska.

“Right,” Antaska said. She made a thumbs up gesture.

Pablo turned back to Tilde.

“Actually, there’s someone else who I feel romantic about,” he said.

“Really?” asked Tilde in a breathy voice.

Oh no, thought Potat. I know what’s coming now. That nasty mouth rubbing stuff humanoids do.

“Yes, really,” said Pablo.

Pablo and Tilde moved in closer to each other. But lean-muscled Pablo was a foot shorter than the beautiful seven foot tall Tilde.

Phew! I guess that’s not going to happen, thought Potat.

But Pablo was resourceful. He grabbed the high Earth human chair from the side of the desk and put it next to Tilde. Then he climbed up two of the steps. When his face was at the same height as hers, he leaned forward. Tilde leaned forward too. Their lips met and locked. Their arms encircled each other. Their firm, fit bodies pressed together. Hairless skin rubbed against hairless skin.

Ew! thought Potat.

Then there was a lot of groping. Potat heard some funny noises like sighing and moaning.

“Aw! That’s so sweet!” said Antaska.

Potat didn’t share her opinion.

“Would you mind? Would you please stop that? There are others here who don’t need to see this!” Potat protested in her loudest telepathic voice.

“Who said that?” asked Mistress Moneeka telepathically from across the room. “Did someone say, ‘you stop?”

The gigantic green woman stared over at Antaska and Tilde with disturbing curiosity in her eyes.

“Oh, that was Potat the cat,” said M. Hoyvil. “Cats are sentient and telepathic, you know.”

“Really?” said Mistress Moneeka. “That tiny thing? I didn’t know that. But I guess Tilde wouldn’t have said ‘you stop.’ And of course, it couldn’t have been Antaska.”

What’s that supposed to mean? Potat wondered. She’d better not be putting my pet Antaska down!

“In any case,” said Mistress Moneeka, “maybe they are getting a bit out of control over there.”

She spoke out loud to Tilde from across the room. “Tilde! I think it’s time for you to go to your room now.”

Tilde let go of Pablo and turned around to face her. She brushed a hand though her long blonde disheveled hair.

“Yes, mistress,” she said demurely.

“We’ll let you know later what we decide. I’m afraid there will have to be some punishment for you as well, but yours will be lighter than Eegor’s. Especially since you seem to understand that you did something wrong. Most likely it will be some amount of confinement in our residence on the Verdante home planet when we get back,” said Mistress Moneeka.

“Thank you, mistress,” said Tilde.

She started walking out of the room. As Tilde passed from the dim classroom into the brighter hallway, Potat saw a faint glow of green in her skin tone. Pablo followed her.

What kind of punishment is that? Potat wondered.

After Tilde and Pablo left the room, the Verdantes’ telepathic conversation caught Antaska’s attention.

Master Mytaar spoke to M. Hoyvil.

“Nice block, by the way,” said Master Mytaar.

“Thank you, instructor,” answered M. Hoyvil in a respectful telepathic voice.

Mistress Moneeka spoke up again. “I think we’ve all agreed about Tilde’s punishment, but what about Eegor? M. Hoyvil wants the heaviest punishment possible, but you want the lightest, Master Mytaar. In this case, you know that’s not possible. To sexually violate another person or attempt to do so is one of the highest crimes of galactic law. I know he’s more than just a pet to you, but why do you insist we let him go unpunished?”

“Yes, why?” said M. Hoyvil.

Antaska was curious too, but she pretended she didn’t hear their telepathic speech. She didn’t know everything about the Verdantes, but one thing she did know was that they took humans along to space with them only because they weren’t telepathic. Trying to look casual, Antaska leaned back against the desk and scratched Potat behind the ears. The small cat purred and leaned against her.

Master Mytaar sighed telepathically and answered the question with partly shut eyes.

“Eegor doesn’t deserve this punishment because it was also my fault. I must take part of the blame. I failed in my responsibility to control my human pets. Yes, I know that Eegor will have to be confined at home for some amount of years, but I will stay confined too.”

“Well, in that case, M. Hoyvil is to blame too,” said Mistress Moneeka. “Because he didn’t control Antaska. She flirted with Eegor.”

Potat growled, and Antaska twitched a bit, but no one seemed to notice.

“What? That’s ridiculous!” said M. Hoyvil. “Since when is flirting a crime?”

“Well, it can’t be Master Mytaar’s fault,” said Mistress Moneeka.

“Yes, it’s both of your faults because you not only allowed this behavior, you encouraged it, both of you,” said M. Hoyvil.

“What are you saying, young man!” said Mistress Moneeka.

But Master Mytaar, still with downcast eyes, said nothing.

“You treat Eegor and Tilde like pets,” said M. Hoyvil. “You command, and they do your bidding. But when they misbehaved, you accepted that. You said, ‘That’s just how Earthlings act. They’re an inferior species.’ But they looked to you for guidance because you took away their ability to act as individual sentient beings by making them your pets. And your guidance was bad.”

Mistress Moneeka gasped. “How dare you speak to us this way! We’re adults, and you’re just an adolescent! I will report this behavior to your primary gene contributors!”

Antaska’s eyes widened, but still no one noticed her.

“No. No. He’s right,” said Master Mytaar, finally speaking up. “As I said, this is partly our fault. It’s true that we accepted behavior we knew was wrong. We could have easily put a stop to it.”

“But they’re only Earthlings! They’re like barbarians compared to us,” said Mistress Moneeka. “And that’s how everyone treats them, all the Verdantes, not just us.”

“If they’re like barbarians compared to us, it’s because we’ve kept them down,” said M. Hoyvil. “We say we don’t want to interfere with their evolution, but almost everything we do keeps them from evolving. Why is that? Is it because we’re so dependent on them? Because we can’t travel in space without them along? Are we afraid that they’ll become telepathic too, and then we’ll be stranded?”

For several moments, there was complete silence in the room.

Finally Master Mytaar spoke again. “Young student, it’s true that we failed to provide proper guidance to our human pets, but what you’re suggesting is preposterous. Do you really think there’s some kind of conspiracy among our race to keep the Earthlings from evolving and becoming telepathic? So we can make use of them to meet our needs?”

“No. I don’t think it’s necessarily a conspiracy,” M. Hoyvil answered. “People might be doing this without thinking much about it. But it’s happening. And it’s wrong. I don’t like it, and I’m not going to treat Antaska like that. She’s just as sentient as any of us.”

Antaska hid her smile. She was impressed by M. Hoyvil.

Mistress Moneeka gasped again.

“I think we’ve talked enough about this tonight,” said Master Mytaar. “We’ll punish Tilde and Eegor, and I’ll stay at home for some time too. That’s all you need to know. Your behavior has gone beyond what’s acceptable for a student speaking to a master. But I’ll let it pass this time because of the upsetting circumstances that were partly my fault. Besides, you’re only 650 years old. People your age sometimes have wild imaginations.”

He paused as if waiting for M. Hoyvil to say something.

Like an apology? Antaska wondered.

But M. Hoyvil stayed silent.

“Anyway,” said Master Mytaar, “You won’t see me or Eegor again on the trip to the space station. I wish you the best of luck on your voyage. But I must warn you that your troubles with this Earth human may just be starting. Beware, and be safe!”

That was kind of rude, thought Antaska.

“Thank you, instructor,” said M. Hoyvil.

Then he walked over to Antaska and Potat, and the three of them left together.