Alpha Centauri

Fifteen - Julian

Nizami isn't a very happy camper.

It might be Nathan bothering her, or maybe it's the fact that she doesn't want me to avenge my mother. But either way, she's putting my spirits down.

The three of us walk in silence down the edge of the highway. We wouldn't be walking if that damn pickup truck hadn't magically disappeared. Nizami insisted on walking, because hitchhiking proved to be a pretty bad idea.

"Tell me about Crenala," I finally say.

"What would you like to know?" Nizami asks, her voice dripping with boredom.

"I wanna know about the people so I know how to rule over them properly."

Nizami is quiet for a moment before answering.

"As you may know, wisdom and strength are the most valued aspects on Crenala. I would suggest being intelligent and strong. You may have some trouble with one of them."

"Hm," I say, brushing off the insult. "What about friendship, or loyalty, or family or some mushy crap?"

I don't look, but I can tell she's smiling. "We find our contribution to knowledge and innovation, and then we can worry about a long-term relationship."

"I don't think that was exactly the case with Calabastor."

"No, it wasn't. He is different. But he is a great ruler. Having loyalty or some "mushy crap" might be ideal for being a great king or queen. I imagine you would use those aspects as well."

I stop myself before responding. I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not.

"So, what do Crenalans do once they have a decent relationship?"

"We don't openly show our care and love, like you and your mother—"

She stops herself mid-sentence.

I shake my head to tell her it's okay.

"It is a very serious matter, showing emotion, or care, or love on Crenala. Because we're not very accustomed to it."

"So, you don't like make out or propose in public or anything?"

"I bet you guys will do that," Jaden mutters, the first words she's said in a while.

"Shut up."

Nizami screws up her face. "I don't understand why anyone would want to do that."

"Well, I don't either, but we Earth people do it all the time."

"Let's end this conversation."

"Shut up, you two want each other," Jaden says.

Nizami and I roll our eyes. I chuckle, and then laugh, and Nizami does too. She has a beautiful, almost unexpected laugh. I stop laughing and admire her laugh for a moment, realizing that Jaden could be partially right. Dammit. Nizami realizes she's the only one laughing, stops, and looks at me with her stormy gray eyes.

I'm not really sure why, but we sort of stop walking and look at each other.

"I swear to God," Jaden groans. "It's like I'm not even here."

A car zooms by us, the driver completely unaware that they just passed three alien kids walking down the road.

We continue hiking to Amsterdam, Jaden and I explaining some important Earthly concepts to Nizami.

Daylight is fading when we finally reach town. All of us are starving, so we drop by a diner I've never been to before, mainly because it's on the other side of town and where the kids who can actually afford to eat out eat. I almost considered stopping by Lucky's, but then I remembered that Jaden and I are not supposed to exist here anymore.

Nizami, Jaden, and I take a seat in the back of the restaurant. Before long, a waiter takes our order. He's pretty quick to get to us, because the restaurant is strangely deserted.

"We'll have two orders of sliders with a large order of fries, and two medium Cokes," I say, reciting our regular Lucky's fast food order.

The young waiter turns to Nizami. "I'll have the, um, sliders as well," she says, trying to hide her formal accent and diction. She looks at me, her expression saying What the hell are sliders?

The guy hurries off to fetch our order. Nizami digs through her backpack and tosses a huge wad of cash on the table.

"Holy shit. Did you rob a bank before you found us?" Jaden marvels.

"Niza—Veronica, we only need, like, a twenty," I say, shooting a warning glare at Jaden, urging her not to take any for herself. I pull a twenty-dollar bill out of the stack. Nizami stuffs the rest back into her bag.

Then we sit in silence. A man almost completely concealed by a trench coat enters the diner and slumps down in a booth not far from ours.

The waiter returns with our food on a shiny silver tray. Nizami stares at her meal, not sure what to do next. Jaden tears into hers like a hungry wolf. The sliders look delicious to me, but the alien girl's delicious is probably a lot different from mine.

"Come on, try it," I urge, pushing her plate closer to her.

"I am not certain how to consume this," Nizami says, flicking at the red straw floating around in her Coca-Cola.

"Here." I pick up one of my tiny burgers. Nizami follows suit. "Now just bite down on it."

"Technically you would be biting up on it because the mandible is the only part of your jaw that is capable of movement."

"Just eat the damn burger."

Nizami eyes Jaden, who has shoved one of her sliders in her mouth and sucked up half of her Coke. She takes a tentative bite.

"Now chew."

She does so, and a series of expression play across her face. "This is excellent."

"Yeah. Shame it's one of the leading causes of heart failure in America."

Nizami drops the slider. "What?"

"This stuff clogs up your blood vessels like nothing else. Not the healthiest food out there."

She gulps down her bite. "Then why do you eat it?"

"It's hella good!" Jaden says, her words distorted by her full mouth.

Nizami looks at my sister in disgust. She's about to speak when her hands drop to the table, and the slider tumbles out of her grasp. Her eyelids droop, and she slumps forward. I feel a thud on the table, and see that Jaden has face-planted into the remains of her meal.

"Jaden? Niz—Veronica?"

Neither of them respond. I look around. No one has seemed to notice us.

I kick their legs under the table. Nothing.

I'm getting scared. Then our waiter bounces over to our booth. "Are you kids doin' all right?"

"I think we have a problem with our food."

"Really? What might that be?"

"My friends both passed out," I say, gesturing to them, like duh. My hand creeps over the table and rests on a fork.

"That is a problem."

The young waiter extends his arms out beside him. Two more arms burst free from his button-up shirt. His eyes glow menacingly. He smiles, revealing his mouth full of daggers.

"Because you didn't pass out as well."