Chapter Three

“My name’s Asher.” He was still smiling, but it was different now. Better. Less arrogant. It made Queenie feel almost relaxed. He had reached out his forearm as part of the customary greeting on Old Earth. Apparently it was a callback to a time before Aether, when people shook hands to introduce themselves. Unfortunately, disease had become a bit of a problem on Old Earth. And since people use their hands for literally everything they had to change the greeting so everyone would stop dying. 

“I’m Queenie.” For some reason she felt weird telling her nickname to this boy. Was it just because he was a stranger? The last time she had actually introduced herself to someone was a couple weeks ago when they had been to the marketplace for the third time. Edna had recognized them and decided they were regulars. 

Asher’s reaction to hearing her name wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary. Queenie knew that their group had weird names. That’s what happens when you get your name from an Old Earth game. At least the other people they had met here were polite enough to not laugh in their face.

“Seriously? What kind of name is Queenie?” Asher wasn’t even trying to stifle his laughter. He was doubled over and making a mock descent to the ground now.

“Careful, wouldn’t want you to break something.” Queenie spat the words out with as much acidity as she could, then spun around and started to pull at the market doors. Who was this guy to just show up, try to steal her stuff and then start laughing at her life? Dealing with the guys and their dumb weapons would be better than spending another second with Mr. Asshat. Was she projecting on this poor sap? Almost definitely.

“Aw, wait wait wait. No come on don’t go away. I’m sorry, really.” Asher caught on to her faster than she thought he would. She didn’t think he would notice her leaving so quickly. Before she could stop herself she was whirling around to face him. She was actually going to stand up for herself. 

“You wanna know what kind of name Queenie is?” She could feel herself putting all the frustration she had let build up over the last few months into her words. Her team wasn’t here, and it was severely unfair to this poor boy, but this could be her only chance to emote for a while. She could feel hot tears welling up behind her eyes. She hadn’t cried yet. Not about the escape or King or any of it. A switch flicked in her and for the first time in a long time she felt sad. She couldn’t help it. But she wasn’t going to cry. Not in front of him.

“The kind I had to give myself.” She had meant the words to come out angry, but they didn’t. And as she spoke she reached for the neck of her shirt. She was so ready to pull it down and make him feel stupid. Directly under her collarbone was her slave tattoo; A string of numbers followed by Live Tech’s logo. They used it to identify all their slaves. Slaves didn’t get names on Aether. Just numbers. But no one knew where they were from yet. Not even Edna. And they liked Edna. The responsible part of her brain took over. Even though it would be super satisfying to see the look on his face, she had to protect her friends first. Of course, that didn’t mean she was just going to let him off the hook. She could use the same story they told everyone. With a few well placed sniffles and lonely glances, she could crank it up to a sob saga. 

“I was separated from my parents before they got a chance to name me, so…” She let herself trail off and looked down at the ground for good measure.

“Oh gods, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean… I wouldn’t have.” There was an uncomfortable silence. For once he didn’t have a cocky smile on his face. That was nice. But Queenie could see he was actually upset now and she didn’t exactly want that either. Embarrassed and off his game? Yes. Visibly shaken and upset? No? He broke the silence before she could. Damn.

“I never knew my mom, but I lost my dad when I was a kid too. I just… I get it ya know?” Oh for the love of—now he was looking down. Perfect, just what she needed; something else to feel terrible about. Better to just bite the bullet and apologize rather than keep this going. He would figure out something was up when the guys came out of the market anyway. But they were taking their sweet time, that’s for sure. 

“Look, I didn’t mean to bring up your past.” Queenie was usually brutally awkward around new people, but comforting had become second nature to her since the escape. She closed the small gap between them and put her hand on his shoulder. She hadn’t really noticed before but he was actually quite a few inches taller than her. He looked up and they made eye contact. It was a little weird to be so close to him. Stranger danger and all that, but she could see he was still upset. 

This was easier than she thought it would be. It was almost like they were friends. Obviously not even close to her and the guys, but good. Right now he was just someone who needed a pat on the back. Queenie could do that. 

“It’s alright, ya know? I’m really not upset at all… I didn’t actually mean to tell you anything about me. You’re just good at getting information out of people I guess,” noticing how close they still were, Queenie made a point to look up at the sky. The stars were peeking at her through a heavy fog that must have rolled in while she was talking to Asher. Strange, usually she would have noticed something terrain changing like fog. 

“Well that’s good, it’s pretty much my entire job,”  Asher said, no note of sadness in his voice now. He was still staring right at her face. He clearly didn’t have the same personal space concerns that she did. Oh yeah, and his cocky smile was back. Nice. 

“Oh yeah? What does that mean?” Dammit Queenie. For some reason this boy and his stupid smile had gotten in. I mean she hadn’t given him any actual info about her, but why did she let him get to her? Also, what the hell does that mean?

“I can’t tell you right now, but I can later if you answer this question correctly,” Asher said very seriously, bringing his eyebrows together slightly. Well that didn’t clear anything up and now he looked like he was mad at her. He wasn’t smiling anymore, he didn’t even look neutral. He was staring at her so intently, it took everything she had not to make a dead sprint for the market door. 

“How do you feel about Live Tech?” His eyes were intense, but the only thing that Queenie could think was how unnatural a stern expression looked on him. She couldn’t lose this staring contest. How shifty would it seem if she wasn’t able to maintain eye contact after a question like that? She couldn’t risk him misunderstanding her hesitation to talk for suspicious behavior. 

“I’ve uh… heard some stuff. Can’t say they’re my favorite group of people in the universe. Why?” That was good, right? She hadn’t exactly lied. She also hadn’t admitted anything that could lead him to believe she had any extensive knowledge on the subject. Queenie was doing her best to maintain eye contact with him. It was hard though, because he was staring so fixedly, it was as if he could see right through her, through everything she just said and everything she was thinking about saying next. For the first time in this conversation Queenie felt uneasy. It was weird because strange Old Earthers usually stared at them, especially in the market. But this felt different. She felt like she had to say something more now, he must not have believed her. Perfect. Anything she said now though would sound like a lie. Thinking of something convincing was going to take a little time, but that clock had been ticking for at least a minute already. Part of her was disappointed; they almost never met people their age and it would have been nice to have another connection here. But no, Live Tech was still running their lives and ruining everything. 

“Well then.” Asher finally started talking again. He had a smug face on and gave Queenie an approving nod as he spoke. “Have you ever thought about doing something about them?”

“Uhh… I guess it depends on what you mean by ‘do something’.” Technically speaking Queenie had already done something. A pretty big something too, but she had a feeling he was alluding to something much less drastic than extensive property damage, grand theft stellar, oh, and stealing five slaves. 

“Ok, check it. I’m not really supposed to tell people, but I am a member of the resistance.” His face fell to rest in a cocky half smile. Ok, Queenie was seeing this now. This must just be his natural cadence.

“Wow.” Queenie let herself pause for a moment, deciding if what she was going to say next was too mean. She didn’t actually have a problem with him, but his arrogance was tangible, so it was definitely time to strike. “Check it? Really? You must think you sound really cool. I mean really, look at that face. There’s no way that has ever worked on another human.” 

The embarrassment was visible as it swept across his face. Queenie had heard about the resistance before. There were rumors up on Aether. It’s what had given them the confidence to plan the escape. But down here on Old Earth, entire ballads were made for them. From what Queenie and her friends had heard the resistance was low in funds and numbers. They hadn’t done anything big in a while, the most they were known for was a heist that took place a few years ago. They had disguised themselves as merchants and traders. They ripped off Aether for a sizable chunk of resources and money. But nothing big enough to be noticed by the citizens. More of an annoyance than a threat. For some reason they were still seen as heroes down here. Queenie could only assume it was because they were the only ones doing anything with their pent up resentment and hatred for Live Tech. 

Asher, who apparently had an ego of steel, was actually smiling again. It was a new smile. Hopefully it was a good one. 

“I’ve never had any complaints before.” Nope. Not a good one. Instantly bad. He even winked and chuckled a little as he was saying it.Was he seriously proud of himself for that one? Queenie’s reaction was a reflex; an exaggerated disgusted noise followed by a tremendous eye roll. She was used to doing these things because Bishop existed. 

They had little to no effect on Asher. Instead of looking ashamed, like Queenie expected, he just continued the conversation cooly. “Really though, what do you think?” 

“About… what?” She thought she had been following the conversation pretty well but she had no idea where he was going with this. She was trying to connect the strands of their conversation together, trying to figure out what had made him come to that point. 

Behind them the doors to the market creaked open. Queenie whipped around quickly, expecting to see her motley crew, instead she saw the hippo-man she had accidentally run into earlier in the market. His face still bore the same angry expression he had then, but Queenie noticed his feet weren’t as sure of themselves now. She had a sneaking suspicion that, unfortunately, became concrete fact almost immediately. Hippo-man was swaying while scanning his surroundings. His eyes passed over both Asher and Queenie but he kept going. Queenie felt her stomach jump. This must be what hope felt like. Maybe he hadn’t noticed her there, or better yet, didn’t remember her at all. The possibilities were endless. This new feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come though. Hippo-man did a double take and a twinkle of recognition shone in his angry eyes. He was now marching toward her, and Queenie felt a nervous fear, the only two emotions she was well attuned to anymore, creep up into her throat. Maybe if she sprinted for it now she could still get away. As she was about to turn and book it, Asher piped up. 

“Cork my friend, how is Old Earth treating you tonight? I can see you’ve already visited Zaz this evening. Did you try that trick I taught you to get into the private back room?” There was a calm confidence on Asher’s face as he spoke. Queenie had seen this guy around pretty regularly over the few weeks that she had spent in this city. He always looked either angry or drunk, and right now he was definitely both. 

“Yeah, and it got me thrown out!” He was spitting more than seemed humanly possible, and his legs looked as though they might give out at any moment. Unluckily for Queenie, the hippo-man known as Cork was still able to keep himself upright. And now he was advancing toward her and Asher. His gaze shifted from Asher to herself and she caught the same twinkle she had seen before. Crap.

“Oi, you’re the clumsy girl who can’t even watch where she’s going. I never got an apology you little…” Cork let out a massive belch which almost caused him to topple over backwards. He recovered and was once again staring down both Asher and Queenie. “Looks like I’m going to have to teach you little brats some manners.”

Cork’s hands balled up into hefty, pudgy fists, and it was pretty clear that Queenie was his first target. Queenie had never been in a real fight before. The closest she had gotten was during the escape. A guard had grabbed her from behind, but a swift kick backwards had loosened his grip enough so she could wriggle herself free. Her arms went up instinctively to block her face, but instead of a fist she felt something else collide with her left side and she was knocked off her feet. While she was falling she was able to catch a glimpse of her assailant. It was Asher. He had tackled her out of the way of the fist that was now suspended in midair where her head had been. They hit the ground and rolled down the slope of the shallow dugouts that lined the street to the market. After too much rolling and a not so graceful landing, Queenie scrambled to untangle herself from Asher and regain her footing. 

“Sorry Q, I had to. Know how to fight?” Asher stretched out his hand to help her up. Queenie made a point not to take it and quickly jumped to her feet. 

“I’ve gotten pretty good at not dying… and seriously Q?” It was strange, because they had only been talking for around an hour, but she felt very comfortable with him. Asher shrugged and smirked in Queenie’s general direction. She was about to tease him about the face he just pulled when something flashed in her peripheral, cutting her off. She had completely forgotten about Cork. The drunk hippo-man had apparently tripped at some point, as he was now rolling down the shallow embankment. Queenie was mid-dodge when she realized she didn’t really have to move at all. Between his intoxication and gravity it was almost like Cork was fighting himself. Once he got to the bottom of the embankment he stopped moving. Queenie shot Asher a quizzical glance and he responded with a confused one. He put up his hand up, Queenie got the hint and waited as he stalked gingerly over to Cork’s motionless body. What, did he die? Most of her knew that was probably impossible, they hadn’t even hit him, but if he wasn’t dead he was at least out cold. 

Asher had gone around Cork’s body and Queenie could only assume that he was trying to find a pulse, but he didn’t look very good at it. Queenie tried to approach the body as quietly as possible, thinking that any sound would stir the hippo-man. She knew that was probably ridiculous, but she didn’t really feel like leaving it up to chance. 

“Pssst, Asher. Is he dead or what?”

“What.”

“Damn.”

“What the hell Queenie?”

“What?”

“He’s a person, it’s called human decency.” 

“Yeah? Well some of us don’t have time for that luxury.”

“You… human decency is a luxury?”

“I don’t know! I’m just saying it would be better if we didn’t have to worry about him anymore right?”

“Gods Queenie, how many names are crossed off your list?” The corners of his mouth were turned up. He was kidding again.

“Hey man, you don’t know me, remember?” His smiles were as annoying as they were contagious. She did her best to mimic his smirk, and threw a wink in for good measure. What was this guy doing to her?

Queenie turned on her heel, for maximum effect, and began to make her way up the embankment, toward the market doors once again. The guys had to be wrapping up soon. They had already stayed in there way longer than she had hoped, and now the travel plans she had needed to be altered. Back to reality.