.Chapter nine.
It's been two weeks since that little bit of trouble with Zimmer and I haven't seen hide nor horn of him since. I'm guessing that he's waiting until I forget about what happened that night before he comes to see me again. Meanwhile Zap and I have become close friends and the All-stars are starting to become more like family than employers. Burn's starting to become a bit like a dad to me and the All-stars are becoming like brothers (and I thought one was enough).
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The All-stars have been in a lot of matches of late; they're trying to become one of the few teams that get to battle in the Inter-Galactic Fighting Tournament. Today is their last match, if they win this they get to go to the tournament. Zap had rigged up an old holo-TV that he had found in the room next door to the training area and we were watching the All-stars' last match. They were doing pretty well considering their opponents were about twice their size; the smallest of their competitors was eight feet tall. Fortunately they had toppled three of the four opponents and were now all focusing on defeating the biggest; he was about twelve feet tall and rather hefty. Mixx had already been knocked down, but he wasn't out yet. Bruno was getting a bit beside himself as he watched the match.
"Hey, it's okay, Bruno, chill," soothed Zap, as he stroked Bruno's heads. Bruno just whined.
"They'll be fine," I reassured.
Bruno gave me a 'yeah right' look.
Just then there was a thud from the holo-TV; Zap and I looked up to see that the final opponent had been defeated. The All-stars had won the match!
"Yes!" cheered Zap and I. Bruno barked his cheer and jumped up and down.
"They did it!" exclaimed Zap, as he picked me up in a hug.
"I knew they could!" I exclaimed, as I returned Zap's hug. As we pulled away from each other our eyes met. For some reason or other Zap froze before he could put me back down.
"You okay?" I asked; I kinda wanted to get my feet back on the floor.
"Yeah, I'm… fine," he replied, as he stared into my eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing, it's just I… never realised what beautiful eyes you have." He finally lowered me back onto the ground, but he didn't let go. This was a bit awkward.
"Oh, well, thanks for the compliment."
"No problem." He moved his head closer to mine, but as soon as his head was about half an inch from mine the All-stars came in. Zap let me go and he stepped back from me so that we were a decent distance from each other (about two feet). Bruno ran straight up to them and knocked poor Mixx over. He was now the size of a Bull Terrier, but he ate like a horse.
"Get off you over grown pup!" laughed Mixx, as he sat up.
"Hey, it's your fault for allowing him to jump," I said.
"Yeah, I suppose."
"We've got news for you two," said Monza.
"If it has anything to do with you guys winning your last match; we've already seen it," said Zap.
"Congratulations guys," I smiled.
"Thanks," chorused the All-stars.
"Can we get a hug from you for it?" asked Daz, as he held his arms open for a hug.
"Sure," I replied, as I walked up to him and gave him a hug. Unfortunately I was lifted off of the ground again.
"And you, Zap?" asked Monza, as he held his arms open for a hug. Zap just looked at him queerly.
"Okay, a hand shake then," said Monza, as he held his hand out to Zap. Zap smiled and took Monza's hand in his; that was a big mistake. Monza gripped Zap's hand, pulled him closer and gave him a hug.
"Why
do I always fall for that one?" asked Zap, as Monza released
him.
"You don't learn from your mistakes," replied Monza, as
he grabbed hold of Zap's head in a headlock and gave him a noogie.
"Hey! Let go, Monza," laughed Zap, as he tried to pull out of the headlock.
"No," chuckled Monza.
"Come on, Monza; let him go," I said, as I was released from a hug from Mixx; I had now hugged each All-star except Monza Ram.
"Oh, all right, kill joy," moaned Monza, as he released Zap.
I just smiled at him.
Just then Burn came into the training area.
"You did it!" he exclaimed, as he put his arms over Daz and Xiote's necks and pulled them down to his height.
"And thanks to you boys we'll be going to the Inter-Galactic Fighting Tournament tomorrow. So go home, pack, and meet me in the transport shuttle-docking bay tomorrow at six," said Burn, as he released Daz and Xiote.
"It's going to be very quiet around here without you boys around," I said. I was going to miss them because they would be away for about a cycle; they would spend a week on the tournament and two weeks on vacation.
"You mean you boys haven't told 'em yet?" asked Burn, as he looked at the All-stars.
"We thought it would be best if you told them," smiled Monza.
"Told us what?" asked Zap.
"You two are coming with us to the tournament on Shiniza 8." Zap and I just looked at him dumbfounded. Burn walked up to us, put his arms over our necks, and brought Zap down to his height (I was shorter than Burn so he didn't have to bring me down to his eye level).
"Now, how do you two feel about sharing a room?"
Zap and I pulled out of Burn's hold and looked at each other uneasily.
The All-stars just chuckled at our response.
"Well, when push comes to shove, I suppose…," I started.
"Yeah, I guess…," started Zap.
"Chill you two, I would never do that to you," chuckled Burn.
Zap and I breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"No, Zap will be sharing a room with me and Cal will be sharing a room with Bruno," explained Burn.
"Either way you two get a roommate that snores," said Mixx, the other All-stars just snickered. Burn gave Mixx a look then returned his attention to us.
"So, what do you two say?"
Zap and I looked at each other, smiled and then turned our attention back to Burn.
"Thanks sir," we smiled.
"Excellent, now the same instructions I gave to the All-stars applies to you two, but, Cal, I need you to pack Bruno's case for him."
"Yes sir," I replied with a smile.
"Good, now what are you four still doing here? Move, move, move!" Burn chased the All-stars out and left Zap, Bruno, and I in the training area.
"Well, I better get going before he comes back and does that to me," said Zap, as he headed for the door.
"Yeah; make sure you pack light," I advised.
"Will do." With that Zap vanished out of the training area and headed home.
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As soon as Zap went home to pack, I went into the room next door to the training area and unearthed two old duffel bags. Then I started the task of packing; mostly for Bruno, I only had a few things to pack. Once everything was packed and ready to go I put the bags in my room by the door. Bruno thought that it was all a big game having his stuff packed in a bag and almost assisted in unpacking it. I told him that he could unpack it when we got to Shiniza 8 tomorrow. Bruno and I had an early night as we would need to be up early to meet up with the All-stars, Burn, and Zap.
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The next morning, I was up at four and had Bruno ready by five. I walked him down to the transport shuttle-docking bay and we waited there for the All-stars, Burn, and Zap. Bruno was a very good pack dog; I had put his bag onto his back and he carried it with ease. Soon six o'clock came and Burn was the first to arrive.
"Hi Burn," I smiled, as he walked up to me.
"Hello Cal; you're the first one here then," smiled Burn, as he plonked his bags down next to Bruno's and mine.
"Yeah."
"And how's our favourite dog this morning?" Burn ruffled the fur on Bruno's heads.
Bruno just barked and wagged his tail.
"Good. Now, where are those All-stars of ours," said Burn, as he looked around for the All-stars.
"Don't know," I replied.
"I thought Zap would have been here by now." Burn had that teasing look on his face.
I just smiled and decided to play along.
"Yeah, strange that," I said with a smile.
"You two got anything going on yet?" Burn asked casually.
"What would make you think we did?"
"Try
the fact that you two spend an awful lot of time together."
"That's
because you put us in the same area to work."
"Just call me your match maker."
I just shook my head at him and looked around for our fellow travellers.
"Seriously, Cal, Zap's a nice enough guy," said Burn, I could hear in his voice that he truly was being serious.
"Burn, I'm a human and Zap's a Triceraton, it would never work out," I replied.
"Yeah,
marriage wise no, but going out wise there's a
possibility."
"Maybe, but still I'm not sure I like Zap in
that way."
"Well, uh… oh, here come the boys now and it looks like Zap's with them."
Soon the All-stars and Zap were with us; they all looked rather tired.
"Good morning boys," said Burn.
"Morning Burn," yawned the All-stars and Zap in unison. I just smiled at them.
Zap noticed my smile and smiled meekly back at me; he was still half-asleep so a meek smile was all he could muster.
"Right, our shuttle should be here in a few minutes so until then you can relax and find yourself a travel buddy, except Zap and Cal," said Burn.
Zap and I looked at him.
"You two will be sitting together no matter what," said Burn.
The All-stars smiled knowingly at us; I just rolled my eyes and turned my attention elsewhere. Poor Zap was so out of it that he couldn't be bothered by their looks.
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Soon the shuttle arrived and everyone got on. Monza had teamed up with Burn, Xiote and Daz had partnered up, and Mixx and Bruno had joined up. Zap and I were in one of the back seats of the shuttle. He sat next to the window and I sat on 'aisle', so to speak, just in case Bruno got tired of sitting with Mixx and wanted to come lie on the empty seat next to me. We took off about three trigons after we boarded and almost immediately the All-stars nodded off, surprisingly so did Bruno; I suppose he was doing his own version of 'monkey see, monkey do'. Zap stayed awake as did Burn, but the All-stars' loud snoring kinda put aside any hope of a conversation between the three of us.
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Half way to Shiniza 8, the All-stars' snoring had died down to a tolerable buzz and Burn had fallen asleep. I was starting to get a bit bored, but Zap put a stop to that by deciding to put his arm around my shoulders. I was kinda used to having someone drape their arm over me now and so wasn't too fazed by it.
"How you enjoying the flight?" asked Zap.
"It's okay; a bit boring, but okay," I replied.
"Yeah, you could say it was a real snore." I had to giggle at the pun; I like corny little jokes like that.
"You know you've got a cute laugh?" asked Zap, as he smiled at me.
"Now I do," I smiled.
"Do you have any idea what Shiniza 8 is like?"
"No, I've only heard about it from Burn."
"Right; what has he told you about it?"
"Not much; all I've heard about it from him is its name."
Zap just nodded and looked out of the window.
A few minutes of silence passed between us.
"Uh, Cal," said Zap, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," I replied.
"If you feel a bit tired somewhere along the journey I don't mind if you put your head onto my shoulder; you know to rest it." I smiled at him; I could hear in his voice that he was a bit uneasy about telling me this.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
Within a helate of that conversation we reached Shiniza 8.
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It was almost like there was a buzzer in the seats of the shuttle because as soon as we touched down the All-stars and Burn woke up; Bruno on the other hand just kept on sleeping. Mixx had to carry him out of the shuttle because he just wouldn't wake up. The shuttle had dropped us off in front of a large hotel; it was green and blue on the outside and it had a green neon sign on the front of it that said something in an alien language that I couldn't understand. We walked in and Burn went to the front desk to check us in. While we were waiting for Burn to check us in, the All-stars, Zap, and I looked around the lobby; well, to be more precise, the All-stars looked around the lobby and Zap, Bruno, and I stayed with the bags. I looked up at the ceiling, but there wasn't one; there was only the glass roof of the hotel. It was a circular hotel and so if you looked at it from a bird's eye view it would possibly look like a tall doughnut. After checking in, Burn handed Monza, Xiote, and me a key card; Burn offered to teach me how to work the key card.
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Eventually we made it to our rooms on the tenth floor; fortunately we were in a line so it wouldn't be too hard to find someone to help me if there was an emergency. Burn showed me how to work the key card from the outside as well as from the inside and then he headed to his room, which was just next door to mine; Zap said that he would come back just as soon as he had put his bag down. Meanwhile I settled Bruno into his temporary home; apparently this was the only hotel on Shiniza 8 that catered for pets.
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It hadn't even been two trigons when I heard a knock on my door. I walked over to it and readied my key card by the lock.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"Zap. Can I come in?" came Zap's voice from the other side of the door.
"Sure." I slid the key card down in the lock and the door opened.
"Hi." Zap stepped in and the door closed behind him.
"Hi, so what's your room like?"
"Like this one, but minus the dog."
I just shook my head and smiled.
"You been out on the balcony yet?" asked Zap, as he walked towards the doors that led out onto the balcony.
"No, I haven't," I replied.
"Right, I'll just go out and check if it's dog proof." Zap opened one of the doors just enough for his body to go through, but not enough to let Bruno out at the same time. I called Bruno to me so that Zap could get back in without too much hassling from Bruno. He eventually came back in and left the doors open.
"It's perfectly safe for him to go out there alone," smiled Zap, as he walked towards me.
"Thanks for checking on that for us, Zap," I smiled.
"Where's he going to sleep?"
"On the other bed if he has any say in it."
Zap just smiled.
"Are dogs allowed on the furniture?" he asked.
"Don't know, that's why I'm not allowing Bruno up onto any of it," I replied.
"I'll find out for you later."
"Thanks." Just then I noticed a note on a table next to my bed. I walked over to the table and picked up the note. It was written in that strange alien language so I didn't understand it.
"What is it?" asked Zap, as he walked up to me.
"A note I think, but it's written in a language that I don't understand," I replied.
"Let me have a look at it; I might be able to tell you what it says." I handed the note to Zap who looked at it and smiled.
"What?" I asked, intrigued by his smile.
"It's from the hotel staff," he replied.
"And?"
"And they say that if Bruno wants to sleep on the other bed he can. So in short animals are allowed on the furniture."
"Okay; you hear that, Bruno?" Bruno just looked at me and tilted his heads; his right and middle head went one way while his left head went the other way. Zap and I couldn't help but chortle at him. Just then Burn came into my room.
"Nice of you to knock," said Zap, as we turned to face Burn.
"How did you get in here?" I asked, I thought that I was the only one who had the key card to this room.
"I've got a master card for all of our rooms," explained Burn.
"Right. Is there something wrong?"
"No, just Monza bumped into an old friend of his in the lobby and he wants us all to meet up with him in his room so that he can introduce us to his friend."
"Okay, must we bring Bruno?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't leave him in here alone."
"Right, come on Bruno." Bruno came to me and I put his lead back on him.
"Ready?"
"Yes sir."
"Then let's go." Burn led the way out of my room.
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Within a minute we were in Monza and Daz's room and then we waited for Monza's friend to show up.
"So when's this friend of yours going to show up, Monza?" asked Burn, getting impatient.
Just then there was a knock at the door.
"That should be him now," replied Monza, as he walked over to the door and opened it. Monza's body filled the door so I couldn't see what this guy looked like, but I could see his frill and sorta hear his voice and there was something very familiar about both.
