The Greater Universe

Sink or Swim

The beach sim-dome was just as Max remembered it from when they were six.
Hot, thanks to the specialized glass ceiling trapping in the heat of the sun; crowded, seemingly never empty no matter what time of day you went there; and so alien compared to the rest of the city.
Growing up on Mars, any natural environments Max had ever seen were inhospitable and cold, the dry, red sand blowing in the piercing wind, the air unbreathable - to even look at the surface of their home planet from the surface, they had to stand behind a thick wall of glass, so close to touching the wonders of nature they yearned to experience, but still so far, held back by the knowledge that stepping outside the observation domes meant certain death.
Venus wasn't much different - but then again, it was rare that anyone made trips down to the surface, and even when they did, the acidic rain forced you to return to the floating cities in the sky before too long.
Here, in the sim-dome, was the closest thing someone could get to experiencing the surface of Earth, save from actually going there - which, in most cases, was forbidden anyway.
A thin crescent of sand lined the near side of the dome, gradually inclining further and further down until it dropped off several meters from the shore. Anyone brave enough to swim beyond that point could get right up to the glass on the opposite side of the dome and look out into the swirling clouds of Venus' atmosphere beyond - another beautifully natural environment that would end your life with swift grace if you were stupid enough to venture outside the city's perimeter. Not like you could, considering the planet's surface was several miles below, and the only exits from the city were the heavily-guarded starports.
It was impossible to leave Marigold City - or any Venusian city for that matter - on foot. Sometimes, that thought was slightly alarming, triggering a primal instinct in the back of Max's mind that wanted them to run and not rely on transport to get from one place to another anymore.
Well, that just wasn't an option, was it?
Stepping out of one of the cramped changing rooms and onto the hot sand that sent warmth up their legs from the soles of their feet, with Zally right beside them, Max surveyed the sim-dome's shoreline.
Luan had already found a spot away from all the other people and was lounging in an old beach chair, looking about ready to fall asleep.
"Old man." Sebastian commented with a snicker as he exited the changing stall beside Max's in his swimsuit, nudging their arm and gesturing to his father.
"I'm not that far away from you," Luan mumbled, "I can hear everything you're saying, Sebastian."
Sebastian just laughed harder, and Max joined him as the pair made their way to the water's edge, Sebastian taking off his t-shirt and tossing it onto the sand as he went, revealing the thick, pale green scales on his chest and stomach.
It was much more obvious now that he was a Hybrid, but Sebastian had never seemed to care about that - seemed being the operative word.
Tiny ripples spread across the surface of the water as the cousins dipped their toes in, only to be completely swamped by Kiffa's waves as xe bounded past them and disappeared with a splash that soaked them both immediately.
"Kiffa!" Sebastian exclaimed, raising his arms to defend himself a little too late.
Kiffa remained underwater, swimming out farther into the deep end, and suddenly the shape of xer body made more sense to Max - xe was built for swimming more than walking, xer muscular tail and powerful legs propelling xem through the water with ease, xer short arms and webbed hands working to steer xem. The nostrils on top of xer head allowed xem to surface and take a breath without fully exiting the water.
Zomai, Max realized, were a truly amphibious sophont race, much more adapted to life underwater than humans.
"Xe always gets in the water first," Sebastian said, "the nerdiness completely leaves xer body when there's a pool. I said xe should try for the school's swimming team, but xe's scared of getting made fun of."
"That sucks," Max replied, wishing they could find the words to express just how upset that really made them, "xe'd be great for that. I hate how normal kids are so mean."
"You're not." Sebastian pointed out, and all Max could do in response was nod.
Sometimes, they loved and cared for their cousin so much, they forgot that they were so different from him.
They were a normal human, but they really didn't feel like one.
They were snapped from their thoughts as they noticed Azadri stepping out of her changing stall, tentatively walking over to where Luan was sitting and laying down a towel on the sand.
She was in her bathing suit (a pretty, frilly, pale violet one made of a sparkly material), but wasn't intending on swimming.
"You're not getting in the water, Azadri?" Luan asked, glancing at her as she sat on her towel and pulled her knees into her chest.
"Yeah, c'mon Az," Sebastian added, "we got you all the way here and you're not even gonna swim?"
"Not yet," Azadri murmured, "I'm gonna tan for a bit."
She didn't move from her position, not even to lie down.
Sebastian rolled his eyes at Max, splashing a little further from the shore to duck under the water with Kiffa.
Max hesitated to follow him, and instead found themself stepping back onto the wet sand to sit down next to Azadri. Zally followed suit, sitting obediently on Max's other side and panting.
"What're you doing?" Azadri asked suspiciously.
"I... thought I'd tan too," Max replied, trying and failing to not sound overly awkward, "plus, I wanna wait for Gemini. We can swim later."
"You can swim later. I'm not going to."
"Why? Do you not like swimming?"
"No."
Azadri glanced self-consciously at Luan, but he was (or at least was pretending to be) absorbed in a digital novel on his reading tablet.
"And I already told you I'm not good at it either." She added in a whisper, leaning a little closer to Max as she said it. "Eviors aren't made for water. Besides, I'm just gonna get laughed at if I try to swim. It's not the same as with Kiffa, xe's actually a good swimmer! And so is Sebastian. But I'm all... thin and gangly and stuff." She mindlessly ran her long fingers through the sand. "I'll look stupid in the water."
"I'll still teach you." Max offered, before realizing that pushing her was probably the wrong way to go about this.
Surprisingly, Azadri didn't seem annoyed. She just tilted her head to look at them quizzically.
"What?" They asked.
"Oh, nothing. I just wasn't expecting that from a Martian kid."
"You think we don't have pools on Mars?"
"I... guess I never thought about it."
"I didn't get to go swimming all that often. My dad never took me, and my mom was busy a lot of the time, but sometimes we'd go to a sim-dome like this one that overlooked Olympus Mons. That was my favorite place to go."
Azadri was still looking at them, a small smile having grown on her face.
"What's Mars like?" She asked finally.
Max chewed their lip.
"Well... it's different from Venus," they said after a moment of deep thought, "you can actually see the surface and the natural shapes of the land. You can visit famous landmarks - from behind a glass wall, of course. The sky is apricot colored for most of the day, but at sunset..." they trailed off, taking in the hue of her skin and once again reminiscing on its similarity to the colors of the Martian twilight, "it turns blue. Even the sun looks blue before it dips below the horizon."
"It sounds beautiful." Azadri murmured.
"It is," Max agreed, "or the planet itself is, at least. The cities, the people... they're another story."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... as nasty as people can be to anyone who's... different here on Venus... it's way worse on Mars. Or it is in Carnation City, at least. There's hardly anyone who lives there that isn't human, and a lot of people are sophist, or at least xenosexist."
"What's the difference?" Azadri asked with a hollow laugh, which Max echoed.
"Not much, I guess." They admitted.
"Are your parents?" Azadri pressed, "sophist, I mean?"
There was a hint of worry in her tone, and Max's heart ached for her.
"My mom isn't," they said quickly, "but my dad... is. But I don't talk to him much. I think him being so awful is part of the reason my mom's divorcing him."
"Your parents are divorcing?"
The question was like a lightning bolt to Max's chest.
"Y-yeah? Didn't 'Bas tell you that?"
"No... I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. My dad is a horrible person, my mom and I are better off without him."
"Still..."
Azadri paused for a moment, blue eyes filled with sadness and sympathy. "I never knew my dad," she said after a brief silence, "he left my mom before I was born. She never exactly spoke highly of him, but she didn't make him out as an asshole either. She just said their lives were taking different paths. That didn't make it any easier for me to understand as a kid. So... I understand what it feels like to question whether or not you're loved."
Max swallowed hard against the lump in their throat, trying not to show their sudden emotion to Azadri.
Thankfully, they didn't have to think about it much longer, as Zally's wet nose suddenly nudged their arm to alert them, and they turned to see Gemini walking across the sand.
She waved when Max spotted her, and they smiled and waved back.
Without her stewardess uniform on - now wearing a short-sleeved button-up with rainbow stripes and black jean shorts - Max could see that she had a small tattoo on her ankle, which read "MMMDXV".
"Hi again!" She exclaimed as Max stood up to greet her.
"Hey," Max replied, "I'm glad I get to see you again. Thanks for coming."
"Well, I needed a little adventure," Gemini said with a laugh, "the starport's hotel gets pretty boring when you're not expected to be on any flights for a few weeks."
"Even with everything that's been on the news?"
"I'd way rather actually see something like that in person. The idea of a new sophont species trying to make contact with us is pretty exciting, I don't wanna watch it happen on a screen."
"Fair, I feel the same way."
Luan suddenly laughed.
"I wouldn't have agreed to this meeting if I'd known you two would be like this," he said, before standing up and extending his hand in greeting, "I'm Luan, by the way. Max's uncle."
"Gemini, Basu," Gemini responded politely, "I'm a stewardess for Enterprise Starlines, but I guess you already knew that."
"I'm Azadri," Azadri spoke up, somewhat sharply, "I live with Luan and his wife."
Gemini frowned slightly, and Max's heart dropped - they knew exactly what she was about to ask.
"How come?"
Azadri bit her lip, and Luan glanced worriedly at her.
"I'd rather not say." She admitted after a moment.
Gemini nodded, seeming to understand.
"I get that," she murmured, "sorry."
There was a weight behind her words that implied she had experienced something similar to Azadri's pain, but neither Azadri nor Luan outwardly seemed to notice, and she didn't say anything more, so Max tucked it aside in their mind for the time being.
Gemini sat down in the sand and Max did the same, with Zally now sitting at their back with her chin on their shoulder.
"There's been a lot of talk about this mysterious starship around the starport," Gemini said, graciously changing the subject, "if that's what it is, of course. A lot of the theories are pretty much the same as the ones presented on the news, though, but almost everyone seems to think it's a sophont we haven't encountered yet."
"Well how would they know?" Azadri cut in, and Max winced, "humans don't study the starships of other sophonts."
For a moment, Gemini looked slightly offended.
"Most people working in the starline industry do," she said gently, "we need to know who's ships might be coming into port or might get spotted on flights - so it won't cause panic among Patrons and so we can report back to our pilots to let governments now who's in our solar system."
"It wouldn't cause panic if everyone could identify non-human ships." Azadri pointed out, and Gemini nodded.
"You're right," she agreed, "the fact that the average human citizen can't even identify an ambassador ship is sad. They're so easily recognizable, you would think the Greater Universe crest would give it away, but we've still had Patrons screaming about invasion when it's just a negotiator from Melusia looking to trade on Earth."
Max thought about bringing up how Gemini had mistaken Anivene - who was a Kal and who's family hailed from Melusia - for a Companion, but they refrained. It wouldn't exactly be fair to assume she knew what the people on other sophont ships looked like just because she could identify those ships - it just made them sad that there was such a small non-human sophont population in the solar system that most humans wouldn't recognize another sophont species when they saw it.
"I'm surprised you didn't freak out when she said 'Earth', Max," Luan chuckled, snapping Max from their thoughts, "usually all anyone has to do is mention it and you get excited."
"Oh?" Gemini asked, smirking.
"I've always wanted to visit Earth," Max admitted sheepishly, "but it's basically impossible if you don't live there... I don't think it's as bad as it seems in the propaganda shorts, it can't be."
"Oh, it's not." Gemini said, suddenly sounding wistful, and Max perked up, now more attentive.
"You've been to Earth?" They asked.
Gemini smiled.
"I was born there."
Max glanced over their shoulder at Azadri, who looked just as surprised as they felt.
"You're Gaian?" Azadri asked.
"I am," Gemini said, "I grew up in a little farming village in the middle of nowhere. My parents were both star pilots, but my mom retired to become a GMO farmer not long after I was born."
"So does that mean you're allowed to visit Earth? Like, whenever you want?" Max pressed.
Gemini opened her mouth to respond, but Luan cut her off before she could speak.
"I'm gonna stop you right there," he said, "I know exactly what you're thinking, and the answer is no."
"Whaaat?" Max demanded, trying to sound innocent.
"You're not making Gemini fly you to Earth, Max," Luan said sternly, "I don't want you getting caught up in legal complications and if you left Venus while in my care, your mother would strangle me - if your aunt didn't do it first."
Gemini laughed.
"It's actually not that much of a hassle to fly to Earth if at least one citizen on board your ship is Gaian," she said, "but I agree, Max - you're supposed to stay here for the summer. But, I'd be more than happy to take you to Earth someday."
Max sighed, trying not to look too disappointed, and nodded.
"Fine," they said, "thanks, Gemini."
"No problem," Gemini murmured, "it'd be fun to take you there sometime."
She winked, and something in her face told Max she was hinting at something - but they weren't sure what.
"Anyways," she went on, slowly standing up, "I should get back to my room at the starport - I do have work to do."
"Already?" Max asked, rising with her.
"Yeah, but it was nice to see you again," Gemini said, "and I'll definitely keep in touch. I'd like to get to know you better."
"I would too," Max replied with a smile, "maybe we can meet up again some other time when you're less busy."
"I'd like that. It was nice meeting you, Luan. You too, Azadri! I'll see you around."
As Gemini turned to walk away, Sebastian and Kiffa came charging out of the water, and inadvertently splashed water on Azadri.
"HEY!" She exclaimed.
"Watch it, you two." Luan admonished.
"Sorry, Az!" Sebastian said quickly.
"Was that your stewardess friend?!" Kiffa added, "Gemini?"
"Yeah," Max answered, "we found out she's Gaian too, and she can fly to Earth whenever she wants to visit."
"But that's a field trip we're not taking," Luan put in pointedly, "right?"
"I know, I know," Max grumbled, "I just thought it was cool! She says it's not as bad as the warnings we see on tv, didn't you hear her?"
"She could've just been placating you." Kiffa said.
"I don't think she's the type," Azadri argued, "she's too honest."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Max murmured.
Azadri raised an eyebrow nonchalantly.
"Let's just say I'm not of the opinion that honesty is the best policy." She mumbled.
"Either way," Luan said, "I want all of you to stay on Venus for the remainder of the summer, okay?"
When no one responded, he added, "or you're grounded," then laughed at the way the four kids all groaned in unison.
"Want me to teach you to swim now?" Max suggested after a minute had gone by.
"Yes!" Sebastian exclaimed before Azadri could answer, "say yes, Az!"
"What if I don't want to?" Azadri shot back dryly.
"I promise I won't make fun of you," Max said, "and I won't make you go out any further than you're comfortable with."
Azadri stared at them for a moment with an unreadable expression, then nodded slowly.
"Alright," she sighed, "but if any of you laugh at me, you're dead."
"We wouldn't laugh at you, Azadri," Kiffa assured her, "you're our friend."
Finally, Azadri smiled, and allowed Max to take her hand and lead her over to the water.
Kiffa and Sebastian both dove in ahead of them, showering them in droplets that made tiny rainbows in the sunlight. Max expected Azadri to be mad, but, to their surprise, she laughed.
By the time she was swimming confidently, Max had forgotten about their potential visit to Earth.
Well... they'd almost forgotten about it... for now, at least.