Zeronia And The Circus At The Edge Of The Universe

Chapter 3: Zara

So here we were blindfolded again in the back of an army truck heading to another secret base to meet Zara the woman from space.

The only difference was this time we were all in our Zeron Warrior forms. Not that I mind having to turn into a girl again. I've gotten quite used to it by now.

My only problem with becoming a girl was the way I was treated specially by guys. For anyone who had been both a guy and a girl would know what I mean. As a girl, all the male soldiers were so much gentler to me than when I was a guy, which kind of annoyed me.

I wondered if Brian was feeling the same way since he too was a guy who turned into a girl.

When the truck reached its destination a hand took me by the hand and helped me down from the truck.

We were led through a door where our blindfolds came off and we were in some kind of meeting hall full of men and women in suits.

We made our way through the crowd of scientists.

I could see the pink hair of Zara upfront. She was on a stage behind a podium as the scientists asked her questions

"How did you learn our language?" a man in an expensive-looking jacket asked her.

"I'm actually speaking in the language of my race." Zara tapped a badge on her chest. "This here is a universal translator. It sends out neural waves to your brain and translates my words to your mind into the language you're most accustomed to."

"But your lips movement match your words," a woman pointed out.

"That is another trick of the universal translator," Zara replied. "We found that if our lips don't match our words it gets annoying."

"If you're an alien why do you look human?"

"You Earthlings don't have an original look," Zara replied, sounding a bit offended. "There are plenty of planets out there where the inhabitance looks similar to Earth people."

"How old are you."

"I'll be turning five-thousand four-hundred and thirty-two this month."

There was a wave of gasps and whispers through the crowd.

"You said that you were going to share your technology with us," a woman in a long coat said. "Could you elaborate on that?"

"Yes, of course," Zara replied. "The technology is still at the moment in the process of being cataloged,  but we're talking about self-watering plants. Apps that can be downloaded directly into the human brain. If you are someone who've lost an arm or a leg we can get you some artificial limbs that work even better than the old ones."

While Zara was going over the technology the Cosmic Order was going to give Earth Brian leaned toward me and whispered, "Hey, Toby, you think we should ask her about the Quantum thingamabob?"

I slightly shook my head. "No, we'll wait until they're not so many people around."

"We shall give these devices to every nation of your planet," Zara continued. "Our only request is that you do not use them irresponsibly."

When the question-and-answer session was done General Sargent took us up to see Zara.

Zara beamed when she saw us. "You must be the ladies who've defeated both the Crillinarians and the Dominators," she said.

"Actually we didn't really defeat the Dominators," I told her. "We only defeated their Captain. The rest left through a wormhole."

Zara waved her hand. "Yes, but we were waiting for them on the other side of the wormhole and arrested them. So, in a way you did defeat the Dominators"

Zara gazed around at us. "Now, let see if I can guess who each one of you is. Don't tell me!" She pointed at Brian and declared, "Gold Viper." Next, she turned to Judy. "Rose Saber." Then to Debra. "The Emerald Warrior." Finally, she turned to me and beamed even wider. "And last, but certainly not least, the lovely leader of the group Zeronia."

I felt my cheeks grow warm. I mean, I have never thought of myself as the leader of the Zeron Warriors. I mean, it was true that I got my Zeron Crystal first, but that didn't make me the leader, did it?"

Zara scanned us with her eyes. "I thought there were five of you. I only count four!" Her eyes then landed on Tak who stood behind us. "You can't be the fifth one, can you?"

"No, I'm not," Tak replied. "But I am with them as a sought of a guide. My name is Tak and I am from the planet Zeron."

Zara cocked her head to one side. "A Zeron? I was unaware that there were any Zerons still left. This is a pleasant surprise, is it not?"

"Only for you," Tak said bitterly.

"Stirmin couldn't make it," Brian told her. "She wasn't feeling quite herself."

"Oh, what a pity," Zara said sadly. "Well, I suppose these things can't be helped."

Later the army took Zara and the rest of us to the Farmin District where the giant cube was still suspended over it.

The place was crowded with reporters and cameras.

We stood underneath the cube. A silver beam of light shot down from it upon us and the next thing we knew we were in a place with silver walls and all types of strange machines.

Zara turned to us. "You girls relax while I prepare the ship for deep space. If you're hungry there is a food dispensing machine over there."

Zara turned away. Then turned back to us. "By the way, do you kids like fun?"

We nodded that we did.

"Well, your meeting with the Cosmic Order doesn't start for a few days, so I thought you could all use some fun before then. A bit of a tour of the galaxy."

"What do you mean?" I inquired.

"I just thought we can go to the most fun place in the galaxy." She gave us a wide grin. "The place where no one ever wants to leave. The Circus at the Edge of the Universe!"