Radioactive Read online

  “Excuse me; have you ever seen me fight? I’m pathetic!”

  A350 just shakes her head relentlessly. “Then you’ll just have to train.”

  “Alone?”

  A350 grins. “Of course not. You have one of the best fighters of the third generation in front of you and I have been told your new watch, C515, isn’t so bad himself.”

  15. WITH FRIENDS

  As I enter my room, Asha is already in our bed. A350 had the scanner adjusted so that it now also responds to Asha’s fingerprint so she can come and go as she wants. We are now officially roommates. Never before has a D-Class person had a private room in the Legion commander sphere. The circumstances that brought this honor to Asha are much too cruel to be happy.

  Even now her gaze is directed to the ceiling almost absently. She had seemed to be more optimistic than before during the first two days after she had returned from the sickbay. But that state has gone and left and now she is back to her negative self. Asha sees everyone as a potential traitor and fears an ambush. She trusts no one anymore, not even me.

  “Hey, how was your day?” I ask her in a friendly manner and realize immediately that it was a stupid question. Asha does not like to talk about her work. Basically, she talks about nothing. She prefers to listen.

  “Same as every other day,” she replies in a monotone. “And so will every day of the rest of my life.”

  I can hear the regret in her voice. Sometimes I think she regrets that her suicide attempt failed. While A566 may not bother her any longer, her life is far from exciting or different. Whenever I see her looking through the large windows, I see the longing in her eyes like a fire blaze. It makes me think of a daring idea, maybe that’s what Asha needs right now.

  “Are you ready for a little trip?”

  Curious, but the same time wary, she turns her head in my direction. “An excursion?”

  “It’s nothing dangerous,” I assure her, without mentioning that it’s forbidden.

  “Where are we going?” She asks doubtfully.

  “That’s a surprise!”

  “Can you just tell me where we’re going?” She asks, annoyed, but has already sat up to leave the bed.

  “Then it would not be a surprise. Just trust me!”

  I know that’s easier said than done. Asha has so far had little of the good in life. Nevertheless, she gets up and follows me out the door toward the elevators. Although she now has permission to open our common room, permission for use of the elevator is still solely in the hands of the Legion commanders. I quickly place my thumb on the scanner and look happy while the door opens before our eyes.

  Asha and I enter. However, unlike the other times I have entered this elevator; my finger does not go to the button labeled “S” for safety zone, but the button between the safety zone and the Legion commander sphere labeled “O.” O for outdoors. Open terrain. Earth. The button should be marked “F” for “Freedom.”

  “I told you it’s a surprise,” I grin.

  Once the doors open, a completely different smell hits us. Throughout the Legion, it often smells of nothing, or the sterile smell of disinfectant. Outside the elevator, the nose is almost overwhelmed by the many different smells. The aroma of red sand, which heats up in the day and cools at night, also the smell of engine oil and gasoline from the vehicles of the Legion. The metal and steel of the housings is in the air and the cool scent of the night, the wind blows in my face. I only now realize how much I missed it all. I only lived outside of the safety zone for a few months. How does it feel for Zoe and Finn, who grew up outside the Legion?

  Asha carefully places one foot outside the elevator, as if she was afraid she would burn on the red sand. Her boots would gain no heat from the red sand as it has already cooled for the night. But something about her caution touches me deeply. When I woke up after my abduction in the cave with the rebels, my panic at dying from radioactivity was too large to perceive the many different scents. Asha has next to no fear; of course, she knows the air is no longer contaminated.

  Once she has her second foot outside the elevator, she breathes, relieved. It seems that she enjoys the foreign air. She slowly inhales and exhales several times, and finally closes her eyes. She raises her hands and enjoys the gentle touch of the warm night wind. Finn once confessed to me that he had fallen in love with me on a night like this. Only he was too proud to admit this to himself.

  Asha has not only fallen in love with the moonlight and the red desert, but has longed for them ever since the first day she saw them through the Legion commander sphere. Her longing was so strong it could have killed her.

  Reluctantly, I pull Asha from her stupor. Unfortunately we did not have as much time outside the Legion as I would have liked to have given her. However, we are already breaking the rules. That is why I now reach for Asha’s hand and pull her with me to one of the smaller driving vehicles. It is a desert drifter, a blending of old Earth’s motorcycle and Jet Ski. The fighters do not use them often because their protective uniforms take a lot of space.

  I’ve never driven one, but I observed a few fighters a few days ago and it looked easy. I do not want to frighten Asha, so I sit down unerringly on the dark green saddle of one of the desert drifters and knock on the seat behind me. Hesitantly Asha sits on the saddle and gently lays her hands around my waist.

  “Hold on tight! These are extremely fast,” I remark and wonder if this was perhaps a mistake. The fighters not only wear protective gear, but also gloves and helmets. We, however, are only clothed in our thin suits. Should we crash, they will provide no protection. But I will not back down now because Asha seems to really come to life and even smiles as the wind rushes by.

  I put my hands on the handlebar. To start the desert drifters, a key or a code is not needed. Anyone can jump on and ride. It amazes me that the rebels have never tried to steal them, but maybe they will one day.

  I breathe once heavily in and out to calm my heartbeat.

  “Is everything okay?” Asha asks, worried. As soon as she says it I press the handlebar forward and away we go at an incredible pace. We are both thrown back by the sudden jolt. I can just barely hold on. Asha presses against my back and slowly exhales in fright. We are literally flying over the red sand, the headlights of the desert drifter dance across the land. Our ride is bumpy and reminds me very little of the quiet whoosh these machines make when the fighters ride them. The handlebar is shaking like crazy so I can hardly keep it steady. Then, from out of nowhere a hill appears in front of us. I lose control of the vehicle and finally we fall off the drifter to the ground.

  Regrettably I landed on top of Asha. I quickly roll off of her. “I’m sorry,” I apologize immediately with a red face. “Are you okay?”

  A smile spreads across Asha’s face and she begins to laugh a laugh so carefree and full of soul that I have never seen with her before.

  “I bet that was the first time you drove one of those things,” she teases me with a grin.

  Guiltily, but also grinning, I reply, “It always looked so simple!”

  “That was so much fun,” Asha wipes her face off, her face beaming with unusual optimistic cheer. “May I try it?”

  “Go ahead,” I urge her to sit down on the front of the vehicle, and I sit behind her. Without hesitation, she starts up the motor and then we’re away with the same rapid pace we were going before. Initially her driving is jerky and bumpy, but after a short time we glide over the sand like dragonflies over the water of a lake. Asha seems to be a true natural talent. The speed causes her no problems. On the contrary, her smile gets wider the faster we go. Soon the bright ball of light from the Legion commander’s sphere is only a small light on the horizon. I have no idea where we are, but I do not care as long as Asha is cheering, full of joy and shouting toward the heavens. She is acting like a completely different person. I have never seen anyone as happy is this, not even Iris when I gave her Dumbo for her birthday.

  We ride all through the desert. Up a
hill and down again. Asha manages to take curves so sharp that we practically touch the ground, but do not fall off. Only when we see the first rays of dawn over the horizon do I realize how quickly time has passed. We have driven through the night and that means it is high time for us to return. I can only hope our disappearance was not noticed.

  “Asha, we must go back,” I call to her against the wind. The desert drifter abruptly comes to a halt. I force forward and hit my chin on Asha’s shoulder. With a pained face I rub my chin and let my mouth open a little bit.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask her, confused. But Asha is sitting transfixed in front of me. Her hands are clawed around the handlebar so tight that the knuckles of her already pale hands turn whiter.

  “I will not return,” she admits softly.

  I should have expected that. “I know. I would prefer to travel with you through the day, but there are tasks that must be done.”

  “They will find someone else to serve the Legion commanders,” Asha snarls unexpectedly.

  I’m trying to repress my feelings, but I feel attacked. After all, I’m also a Legion commander.

  “The mating battles are imminent. There is a lot to organize,” I try to explain to her, ignoring her answer. But later she whistles through her teeth.

  “That’s the limit. I cannot let the sperm of some other idiot in me after the seeds of the last monster were just removed,” she replies sarcastically. So she knows about the pregnancy. We never talked about it.

  “The rules have been changed. Women will now participate in the battles and you will know with whom you will be paired,” I try to cheer her up, but I can clearly see it’s having the opposite effect.

  “Do you think that makes it better? Before I would not have known whose seeds are growing in me like a parasite. Also, I have no chance anyway. In the performance tests my opponent defeated me in a few seconds. I am an absolute failure!”

  “Welcome to the club,” I reply in jest, but it does not phase her.

  “What would happen if we simply did not return? We might join up with the rebels,” she suggests and I feel that she is completely serious. Pleadingly she turns to me. I cannot do this. Firstly because Finn and Zoe need my help, and on the other hand, I do not want to leave the Legion. I will not be a rebel. My place is in the Legion. It is my job to protect and guide the people of the safety zone and I can only do that as long as I am part of the Legion.

  “The rebels live a dangerous life,” I warn her, but she does not care.

  “A dangerous life is better than a life in captivity,” she replies. She reminds me of the old Finn. That sounded like something he would have said.

  “I do not know if the rebels would even accept you,” I say. It is hard to say if she would be welcomed with open arms or not. It would depend on their emotional level, how they feel about the Legion right now. Perhaps they wouldn’t even take me back.

  The statement seems to unsettle Asha. The dark blue sky slowly turns purple. Time is running out.

  “Please, we must go back.”

  Asha shakes her head and rises from the desert drifter.”

  “Go without me, I will stay here.”

  Alarmed, I shake my head and climb off the vehicle. It would backfire on me if I were to come back without it, but that’s not what I’m doing.

  “Asha, please. We’re friends,” I implore her.

  Doubtfully she looks up to me and eyes my face. She never had a friend. The concept of friendship is as alien to her as it was to me for a long time.

  “I need you!”

  Her eyes widen in disbelief. “You need me?” She says with a shaky voice.

  “Of course! More than anyone else. If it were not for you, I would have simply pulled the blanket over my head and cried until no more tears would come out. But you were always there to comfort me.”

  “I was never needed for anything by anyone,” she admits thoughtfully.

  “A350 will train me for the mating battles. You can join in. That way we both will have a better chance. Please Asha! I promise I will not let anything happen to you.”

  Hesitantly, she grabs my outstretched hand. Our hands are wrapped around each other. They are virtually indistinguishable from each other.

  Finally, she nods. “Okay, I will come with you, but only for your sake. And I want you to promise me something.”

  “Anything you want!” I shout relieved.

  “If you ever leave the Legion, you cannot leave without me.”

  I squeeze her hand a little tighter. “Promise!”

  A350 and Clyde are waiting in the center of the arena for me. Her eyes widen in surprise as Asha, Ruby, Finn, and Zoe enter the sandy floor of the arena along with me. But unlike A350, Clyde smiles when he sees that I’m not alone. I have a feeling that his eyes linger a moment longer on Zoe’s face than necessary. She reciprocates his smile immediately, but then turns back to Finn who is staring fascinated at the ceiling of the arena. He is the only one of us who has never been here before. The size of the building is impressive, considering that the entire safety zone is underground. It is so bright that one might think that the light is really the sun and not particularly strong ceiling lights.

  “Can you explain what you’re doing?” A350 asks angrily.

  “I’m not the only one competing in the mating battles, so I should not be the only one trained for it.”

  A350 presses her lips together and her eyes form narrow slits. She seems to think about whether she should accept my decision and instruct everyone or to leave the arena in disgust.

  Finally she groans, annoyed. “A couple of exercise opponents certainly will not hurt.”

  She breaks us up into three groups. Ruby and Clyde form the first group; they’re both fighters and thus already know a lot about combat. The next group, Zoe and Finn, somehow seem to be regarded as the two most vulnerable and spar against each other, while they want to practice with Asha and myself in the third group.

  A350 gives each of us a laser device that we strap to our right arms. The arena is so large that all three groups and practice at the same time. First, Asha and I fight each other so that A350 can watch us in order to gauge our weaknesses. However, I fear she will be paying more attention to Asha than to me.

  We introduce ourselves a few meters away from each other. Asha immediately goes into an attack position by standing with her legs slightly apart and standing firm. Simultaneously she bends her torso forward and raises her right arm with the laser in my direction. Asha’s simple show shows that she is grateful to be allowed to train with me. So I take my position. A350 nods and begins the countdown.

  “Okay. Three, two, one... Go!”

  As soon as the match is on, Asha shoots and hits me in the middle of the chest. If we were playing with loaded devices, I’d be dead. The battle is terminated before it has even begun for me. I never expected that Asha would shoot immediately. Normally the opponents circle some time before anyone dares to shoot.

  “Damn A518, are you asleep? What’s going on?” A350 yells angrily. “As soon as you enter the field you have to expect an attack. Once again!”

  Again, we take our starting positions.

  “Okay. Three, two, one... Go!”

  Again, Asha fires a shot at me, but this time I’m prepared for it so I dodge to the side. Without pause, she fires again as though this were a real life and death situation. Her shot misses. I haven’t been able to shoot back; I’ve been too busy dodging her shots. I actually thought we would have some fun with each other before firing, but Asha is taking this deadly seriously.

  “Shoot!” A350 shouts while I counter another of Asha’s lasers. How? I would love to shoot back, but I’d be a sitting duck while aiming. Asha rushes me; I flee, and in quickly out of breath, while Asha continues to fire relentlessly at my retreating self, dodging from one location to the next.

  “This is not a game!” A350 grumbles angrily. The longer the fight, the angrier she seems to be. I had indeed warned
her that I’m not good, but she probably did not expect me to be as bad as I am against Asha.

  Just as I dodge the next shot, I catch a glimpse of Zoe who is frantically dodging her brother’s shots on the other side of the arena. Finn must be taking this as seriously as Asha. I look from Zoe to Finn and our eyes meet as Asha’s beam hits me. The battle is over and I lost again.

  “You did not even fire!” A350 yells toward me. “Is that some kind of a protest?”

  “I wasn’t able to shoot,” I say, but without much hope of compassion.

  “You cannot just stand there,” A350 replies blankly.

  “Again, do it again, and this time you had better take a shot!” She threatens me. She begins to count down at once so I do not have time to catch my breath.

  “Okay. Three, two, one... go!”

  This time I do like Asha and fire my laser right off, but it misses its mark off to the side. We virtually run in a circle after each other until I suddenly change direction and run toward Asha and narrowly miss her. Although I am eager and getting the feel for it, A350 is still not satisfied.

  “Faster! You’re both too slow!”

  “You move like two sticks, even the second generation fighters would be faster.”

  “Do not dance around, engage from the front!”

  In this command, Asha suddenly changes her tactics and rushes toward me evading my shots by crouching and jumping. Since I cannot do the same, I decide to try it differently and run as fast as I can around to get behind her. Using this tactic, I get right behind her and aim my laser gun at her right ear. This injury would not be enough to kill, and it would only be counted as a hit, not a victory. Mating fights differ from the power struggles in the fact that they do not end after a set time, they last until one would be fatally wounded with real weapons. Even if the fight takes several hours.

  Once Asha’s frontal attack tactic was not successful, we chase each other back through the arena. Here my good endurance ultimately comes to the rescue because after a few minutes Asha’s fire rate gets slower and eventually I manage to shoot her while she is gasping for breath. At least I have one victory.