Left Handed

24

I landed with both feet on the dance floor and propelled myself up again. I was flying and I closed my eyes to enjoy the sensation. The music boomed in my ears, a staccato of low rhythmic beats that commanded my very limbs to move, to dance and to lose myself in the moment.

Then I hit someone. I opened my eyes and there was Ta. We both squealed, then clasped hands. She placed her feet on my tummy and swung me over her head and away. I tumbled about twenty feet before she caught up with me by carefully activating boosts attached to her thighs.

"Let me show you something," she shouted in my ear. "This one's called the sixty nine."

A 69? Nice. Then my brain caught up. Here we go. I knew something weird was going to happen.

"I'm not going to 69 you. Maybe, and that's a massive maybe, once I get to know you but definitely not in a dance club surrounded by aliens."

"First of all, who's the alien. Secondly, what do you think I'm talking about?" Ya pointed at a couple spinning round and round. Clothed.

"Oh," I said. "Sure, let's do that."

"Yeay." At this point I wasn't sure if Lizzzta was capable of getting offended.

I spun around and grabbed hold of her ankles and she did likewise. My head was way clear of any dangerous zones so get your head out of the gutter.

"Ready?" she asked and without waiting for my reply she activated her boosts and we started to spin.

We were on the surface, in a glass (or at least see-through) dome. Of course anyone who watched any clip of the moon landing knows there is gravity on the moon. Within this dome, gravity was negated. I have absolutely no idea how. Ta told me they have other areas where gravity is increased over Earth norm for purposes of muscle and reaction training. I haven't been, though.

The dome we are in is solely for the club that occupies all of its space. Close to the floor is the entrance and the bar. When we came in we were suited with the boosts and protective gear including a close fitting helmet and knee and elbow guards. I know what you're thinking. Helmets in a club? That's what I thought too, but believe me when I say that the whole getup was very fashionable and sexy.

My helmet was blood red with golden lightning down the sides. Ta had a yellow helmet with symbols I did not recognize.

Above us, Earth made its way across the sky. It was amazing and dizzying at the same time. I tried to tel myself that it was a screen and I was really still at home. It didn't work at all. But soon the disorientation disappeared as I got lost in the music and this strange and wonderful culture.

I soon found out that you shouldn't 69 longer than three minutes after having alcohol on an empty stomach.

Picture this: Ta and I go round and round, increasing our speed with each revolution. The music booms in our ears. Lights flash. Earth moves in and out of my view. Strange people with strange anatomies fly and dance all around us like a scene from a Roman painting. Now add projectile vomit to the mix. Someone did take a picture. It is the most epic photo of me that I will ever have.

Five minutes later we were on an express tube to New Atlantis. Apparently vomit is a universal line that club owners draw anywhere.

"That was sooo much fun!"

I held my head in my hands. "Really?" I asked. "My head hurts."

"Why? 'Crete that shit away. What are you doing?"

I shook my head, lifted my eyebrows and said, "What?"

"Do you not know how to secrete?"

"I know how to secrete sarcasm into my voice, if that's your question."

Lizzzta giggled. Then she pulled her phone out of her bag, tapped on it and showed me the screen.

"I can't read that," I said. "Can't you just tell me?"

"Oh. Sorry. I forgot. Feel my hand." She extended her hand to me, palm up. I hesitated. This was all becoming very weird very fast. Oh fuck it. I felt her hand. It was dry and her skin was smooth.

She did something on her phone. "Now feel my hand," she commanded.

I obliged. Her hand was slick with sweat. There was no transition. It's not like she did a few push ups or upped the heat in the tube. Her hand wasn't even significantly warmer. Just wet.

"And so do you see?" she asked. Her voice was overly formal, like a lecturer. "We can control some of our secretions and excretions with our phone. Did you get a phone with your new body?"

"Yeah," I said and pulled it out. I handed it to Ta. She poked it a few times, then gave it back to me.

"Push that button that I highlighted," she said. The button in question was a pictogram of a wine amphora with a red bar across it. I looked closer and saw that the amphora in turn had a picture of a jolly satyr.

"I better not be growing horns," I said, semi serious.

Then I pushed the button and oh my. I could feel the headache diminish. It was gradual, yes, but also fast and very smooth. Like water draining in a sink.

I leaned back and exhaled slowly.

"That's better," said Ta. "Now we can get right back to partying."

"I think I'm done. I don't want to lose this feeling."

When we arrived in New Atlantis, the door to the tube slid open. Outside were three Atlanteans in official looking uniforms.

"Uh-oh." Lizzzta looked around for a way to escape but the woman in the middle pulled a gun.

"Don't worry Lizzzta. We have nothing on you right now. We are here for her." She pointed at me. I squirmed.

"Ms Ortega, you better come with us. There is someone that wants to talk to you."