Office for Suspicious Soldiers

"I've never heard of Drocknine," the soldier didn't even try to hide his suspicion. "How far did you say you travelled?" He said as he motioned for a couple of soldiers to join him.

My tongue felt too big for my mouth, and my limbs went all wobbly, like they were made of jello. It's a good thing Alora can't panic – being an android and all – because God knows I'm doing enough for the both of us, and the soldier sees it.

"A month," Alora calmly answered.

"That's a long way," the soldier began rifling through our sacks. "What brings you to Lithia?"

We created a cover story before leaving our wrecked star cruiser in case we ran into any inquisitive locals. We came here to buy seeds because four years of drought dwindled our supply to almost nothing. We couldn't say why we were really here, to find dylanium to power our wrecked star cruiser.

This explanation didn't convince the soldier. He pointed to a room built into the massive entrance to the city. I'm sure he must have heard my heart beating a thousand miles per hour. It's my fault we're in this predicament. I can't help it. I'm a stinking surveyor for crying out loud, not a spy.

A belief in providential help came young in life, and what happened next only bolstered that belief. A woman intercepted us on our way to the jail, or barracks, or office for suspicious soldiers —I'm not sure which —but I knew I didn't want to go in there. She commanded respect and politely asked the soldier for a minute of his time.

"What are you doing with my guest?" She asked.

"This one," the soldier pointed to me, "Is all jittery and nervous. I'm about to find out why."

"Perhaps I can help."

Her demeanor and grace mesmerized me. My heart slowed, and a strange tranquillity overcame me. Her purple robes and white silk scarf – or sash – suggested wealth, and she had to be an important person by the way the soldier treated her.

She continued, "They wrote to me about a room for them to stay in before leaving. I'm sure they told you about buying seeds? Well. It's true. Now this gentleman here might be behaving a bit odd, but you must admit, you can be intimidating."

The smile she gave him could have melted the hardest heart. It definitely did something to my heart.

"I suppose I can be a bit intimidating," the soldier said, barely masking his masculine pride. He nodded, and the soldiers released us. "You need to be careful," he said to me. "I've got my eyes on you. Don't get out of line, or else."

We left with her without knowing why she helped us or how she knew our cover story. She said nothing, but quickly led us from the main road, through several side roads, and finally into a narrow alley.

"We're not out of the woods yet," the woman said as she began feeling along the building wall. "It's here somewhere." Her hands pressed and rubbed along the wall like she was trying to find something. "Ah, there it is." She pressed firmly, and an unseen door opened. She held it for us to enter.

"Who are you?" Alora asked. "And why should we trust you?"

"I'm Freena, and you should trust me because I know you're an android."

Androids might not get shocked, but I was shocked all over the place. How in the world did the primitive woman know? And what do we do about it? Do we pretend not to know what she's talking about, or go inside?

"Explain what you mean?" Alora asked.

Okay, we're going with the pretend scenario.

"I've seen your kind before: shallow breathing, expressionless face, unnatural blinking. It's alright. I'm a friend."

Alora pulled me aside out of earshot. "Drew, I need your human intuition. Do we trust her?"

She needed me? The power went straight to my head as I straightened to my full six feet, one inch, pulled my shoulders back, and acted like a pompous windbag, "I believe we can."

We entered through the hidden door into a large room. A table sat in the middle with several chairs around it, and large overstuffed pillows lined the walls.

"Have a seat," the woman pointed to the pillows. "I owe you an explanation."

"It would be nice," I said. "Starting with how you knew we came here to buy seeds, oh, and that you know about androids."

She laughed, "A reasonable request." She sat on a pillow. "I saw you before you entered the city. When I noticed your features," she looked at Alora, "I knew you had to be an android, so I followed you until the soldiers began pestering you. I overheard your seed story. When they began to haul you away, I knew I had to do something. I own two inns, so the soldiers had no problem believing my story."

"And the android part?" Freena could hear my impatience.

She flashed me that melting smile, "My friend is an android."

And the shocking continues. My jaw dropped. This world hasn't developed past swords and animal transportation. I can't say horse-drawn carriage, because they don't have horses. And yet Freena has an android friend?

She was just about to explain when a thunderous pounding echoed from the hidden door.

"The soldiers must have followed us," Freena said. She jumped up and climbed onto the table. A lantern hung from the ceiling. She pulled it, and an attic door swung down. "You must leave. I'll take care of them."

"We all go or none of us go," I said in a moment of chivalrous emotion that I almost immediately regretted when I heard another thunderous boom that threatened to knock down the door.

"That's very sweet of you, but they won't hurt me, but I can't say the same for you. They must have figured out who you are."

"You mean others know?" Alora said.

"I'm not sure how much they know, but the Elite Guard have been hunting my android friend for months. They definitely know something." She practically pushed us up into the attic. "Don't say a word." She swung the door closed.

We could hear the door open while we sat in darkness. Freena acted surprised, explained why her door was so tricky to find, something about a place to be left alone. The soldiers began banging things around, knocking over chairs, and threatening to take her if she didn't tell them where we were.

She continued to play dumb, but I knew the soldiers weren't buying it. Suddenly, she shouted in pain. One of them slapped her. I felt for the door, but Alora prevented me from opening it. Instead, she pushed me over, and she opened it.

I heard punches and shouts, then nothing. It happened so quickly, I couldn't even get to the door before it was all over.

"Hey, let me have one!" I said. But it was too late. Four soldiers lay crumpled and scattered throughout the room.

"You got them all? You could have saved one for me."

Freena looked scared. "You attacked the Elite Guard. They'll put you to death for that."

"I wasn't going to let them slap you around," Alora said. "We need to find a better hiding place."

"I know a place the Elite Guard would never dare enter. How do you feel about Shamans?"

We stared at each other, unable to answer such a strange question since neither of us had ever met a shaman.

"He's a nice one, if that helps."

"If you feel that's the safest place, then lead the way," I said.

She took us to a large temple-like building near the center of the city. Two bald men wearing deep green ropes met us at the gate and escorted us inside. They told Freena the Shaman would not be back for a couple of days, but they would put us up until he returned.

Alora and I had our minds on something entirely different. Before we entered the temple grounds, we spotted an unmoving storm cloud in the distance with a ladder extended to the ground.

Alora's dylanium scanner went off. The storm cloud contained the power source we needed to get off this planet. But how were we going to get up that ladder without the entire Elite Guard seeing us?

I put it out of my head for now and focused on our current situation. We escaped the Elite Guard, found a friend – and a beautiful one at that – and had a safe place to sleep. For right now, that will have to be enough. The dylanium isn't going anywhere. I lay my head down and fell asleep, dreaming of a melting smile.