Chapter 16
Endarian Incident
The next day is Saturday, a day when I, like all the other first years are called for a mass formation. Now there is only one reason why we would be awoken first thing on a Saturday morning to go to a formation. The term is to get smoked. A condition where you work out so hard and fast that your muscles start to burn from pain, due to muscle failure from the constant strain of being forced to do continuous exercise.
“Apparently, I was not clear when I dismissed you all yesterday!” DI Wagner shouts from the front of the formation, while the rest of us are doing push-ups. Most people give out grunts and moans of pain, as we have been doing continual exercises for the better part of an hour. I’ve taken the moment to cast Cleanse on myself and a few others who I don't deem to be too annoying, so we can continue without too much strain to our bodies.
“Yesterday, I told you all not to fuck this up. Didn’t I?”
“Yes, Drill Instructor.” We chorus back.
“So, tell me, why is it that I got woken up this morning to be informed that not one, not two, but four of my knuckleheaded cadets got it in their minds to try to talk to the Endar as they were trying to settle in. Going so far as to and I quote FORCE THEIR WAY ONTO the female dormitories?” DI Wagner asks, surprisingly the DI isn’t looking at Chet and his group. Instead, he is looking over to some of the clingers-on of the platoon. They are Reyes, Romel, Potts, and Steiner. They are generally grouped together alphabetically and have apparently become friends because of that odd coincidence.
“It wasn’t like that, www…we just got lost, DI.” Potts stammers out.
“You are telling me that you randomly got lost on the Endarian Female building, a building that has remained dormant and off limits since before you got here? Even though you have been here on campus for how many weeks now?” DI Wagner asks, his voice mocking and outraged at the same time. I am impressed that he can pull it off so well.
Silence.
Shaking his head, he is about to say something. Then he looks off in the distance and sees something. “Platoon attention!” He shouts. With that we quickly jump up from the ground, dead grass parts clinging to our uniforms that we had been told to put on just before being called to this formation.
Clip, clop.
As I get up, I am comforted by the reassuring weight of my violin case bouncing off my back. It is part of my equipment that I am to have on me, at all times. Fortunately I am able to wear it with a long sling that I wrap around my shoulder.
There is a hushed silence as we see General Sharma walk over with a regal looking Female Endar officer. From her rank that I see, she is clearly the equivalent of a General in the Endarian forces. Behind her are a group of six Endar females. All of them are attractive in that way that looks like they have had to have been gene manipulated to look so appealing. Most of the girls are staring daggers towards Potts and the others. While one’s eyes go wide as she spots me. Going so far as to tap the soldier in front of her to point me out.
I sigh, clearly purple eyes and silver hair are enough to even draw attention from the Endar. The second female looks shocked and goes to get the attention of the female in front of her. Once she looks back, she too is directed to look at me.
I just roll my eyes, and begin staring off into space. It is one thing to be mocked and ridiculed by humans about my appearance. It is another thing entirely to be mocked by beautiful space elves. While I know it shouldn’t matter, especially with my having a solid relationship with Mel, it still hurts.
“We seem to have a problem understanding personal boundaries!” General Sharma states in a cold tone that demands attention.
I look forward, still in the position of attention. But even still I can see that the female Endar soldiers are trying to gesture silently towards me while gesturing to each other. The only problem is, when you are the front of a formation, any action you make will draw attention. Still, I just stare on, letting my mind zone out. I mentally go through my plans for the day. I mainly wanted to spend the day working out and practicing the violin. I won’t be able to talk to Mel until tonight, apparently, she is working on that big project of some kind. With that, I will be left mainly to myself for the time being. That is why I am not particularly annoyed by this formation. I was going to workout anyways, so this formation just forced me to start my regimen early. The only thing that is particularly annoying is the way all the female Endar keep looking at me. For a second, I wonder if they are going to accuse me of doing something as well. Given their reactions to my appearance, they might wish to make a special restriction for me. Not only am I not allowed near their dorms, but I must always remain one hundred paces away from them, something like that.
We are subject, as a platoon, to a verbal tongue lashing that has a few of the cadets crying. Apparently, this is the reaction she was going for, as the Endar seeing the true look of pain on the faces of Potts and the others nods in satisfaction. That look was all General Sharma needed to conclude her tirade.
“…Dismissed!” She shouts and finally I let my mind wander back to the present. I can see both sets of people doing different actions. The Endarian females are conversing quickly with their general. The rest of my classmates seem like they want to say something to the four who caused this impromptu formation, but soon think better of it. There will be words, but not in front of the general or the delegation on space elves.
As for me I walk away, not really caring about either group. This is part of the PDD, still, but this is mild apathy in comparison to what I originally felt. I almost want to spend a few minutes jotting down this moment. I have a journal that I am supposed to write down moments like this. Moments where I am supposed to feel something, but I clearly don’t. Given that I wanted to work out anyways and will likely just do so on my own after this, I am not even annoyed. Also, Cleanse made it so any lingering soreness that I might feel is gone. So, I am content with the start to my day. Looking at my progress, I have seen clear growth in all my Physical Attributes. While I haven’t it the level to increase any one Attribute by a full point, yet. I can clearly feel the difference and know that soon I will meet the next Attribute thresholds for my Physical Attributes, I am certain.
“Cadet Goldman!” A commanding voice shouts out, and I feel like a whip has just been cracked against my soul. The voice is all too familiar, not just from our near daily training sessions, but also from the fact that we just heard her go on a rant for nearly an hour straight.
I breathe in deeply to compose myself before turning around to face the general. Well generals, plural, as they are both looking at me with different levels of attention. The Endarian females are all gathered and staring at me with odd glances that are hard to make out. Their faces are so alien, near perfect skin and symmetrical features that it is hard to tell exactly what they are thinking. The only thing I can tell for certain is that they seem interested in me. Then I realize they aren’t quite staring at me, but something, for a second I have that fear that I've stood this entire formation with my zipper undone. I am about to check, my hands trembling slightly, when I follow the look of their gazes and see that they are looking at my violin case.
Phew. I think to myself. As I realize that I've likely avoided yet another EO complaint against our treatment of the Endar. Then realizing it isn't about a wardrobe malfunction, I wonder what it could be about?
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So odd. I think to myself as I stand before the Generals.
“Ma’am.” I say, giving a salute.
“At ease.” Sharma says, giving her own salute back. “This here is our Endarian Liaison Officer, General Fellina.” Then switching to Endarian, she continues “General, this is the student I spoke to you about. The one who could use some additional training?”
“This is broken boy you spoke of?” She asks, her English sounding harsh and guttural, the way I would expect a native speaker of Russian to try to speak English. This is odd, until I realize that the Russians were the first to make true contact with the Endar. Or at least people from the Russian colonies in the north eastern quadrant of the universe.
I bristle at the comment, of being called a boy, but I don’t let it show on my face. Instead, I use this as a moment to try to learn what she already knows about me.
“Yes, he awoke with powers that are well outside our standard range of deviation. As such I was hoping you could assign him your special resources?” Sharma asks.
Apparently, she was trying to work out some type of special deal for me, this is interesting. Then I remember the two days a week in the afternoons that I was supposed to keep open for a special trainer and wonder if this is what she referred to all along?
General Fellina looks at me with a deep penetrating gaze, her eyes are a honey yellow. Then one of her female soldiers goes to her and whispers loud enough for my increased senses to pick up. “This is the boy I spoke to you about. The one who played the song.” She speaks in Endarian.
Suddenly I wonder if I am going to get chewed out for cultural appropriations.
Hearing this, General Fellina’s eyes flash like the sun, as scorn fills her face. “Tell me, boy.” She breaks in with more harsh sounding English words. “Do you know the song Endar Rising.” She states the last part in Endarian. The words Endar Rising are actually a terrible double translation from Endarian to first Russian, then from Russian to English. The words actually mean something along the lines of Rising of One's Soul. But the Russians who first translated it took it as Rising of My Soul, which somehow got even worse translated into English as Endar Rising.
I nod. “Yes.” I reply in fluent Endarian. While it is just one word, it is enough to catch the General by surprise.
She quickly overcomes her shock, before demanding “play for me.”
“But we just met.” I say back in Endarian. It is an intimate song; I don’t know why I felt so comfortable playing it back at the formation when I first remembered it. To be fair I didn’t do the chorus, and only played the chords, but that too should have been intimate. Perhaps I was still unaware of the hidden depths of the song. Depths that I only have recently been able to appreciate.
Hearing this they look shocked at my knowing their custom.
“What is this…” Sharma begins in Endarian, before she is abruptly cut off by General Fellina.
“I apologize.” Fellina says with a bow, before continuing. “It was rude of me to force such a thing without proper introductions. You are correct. My name is Pouncing Tiger.” She says her true name, which I guess somehow got translated to Fellina by those who first tried to correlate tiger to cat, thus Fellina? I am not certain. Though Fellina is phonetically closer to her true name than Tiger, but still way to butcher a great name.
Hearing her speak, I bow as well. “I am Kyle Goldman. I have someone for whom I have emotions. So, if it would be alright, would you mind if I played with my back to you?” I ask.
Hearing this, a faint blush fills her face. “You think you are that intimate? Very well, I am just curious if what I have been told is true about your playing.” She states.
I nod. Then I look at the one Endarian who seems to be fidgeting with her hands, she too is pretty in that porcelain kind of way. I don’t really know what is truly going on, other than the one who is nervous is likely the person I caught running away yesterday, when I was playing for Mel.
Mentally I activate my wrist communicator and let the background image of Mel show up. It is a picture of her when she still worked at the diner. The image is one of her before we actually met. While she swears, she will never wear that uniform again, I still find it to be the most endearing image I have of her. The image also helps remind me of when we first met, one of my first solid memories of my time outside the Trials.
Then with practiced ease, I pull out my violin from its case. Then look one last time at Mel. Before I turn my back on the Endarian delegation, breath in once, twice. Then on the third breath I let out the first note and am instantly in my own head space where I am performing only for Mel.
I go through all the phases of the song, letting the intro take its time to build. Until finally I can’t take the anticipation and begin sliding through the different phases of intimacy. There is a longing that I bring to the song, one caused by the fact that Mel isn’t here with me to experience this. I perform, as if she will somehow be able to feel the resonance of my love throughout the universe. I sing, deep and melodious. I don’t know how I sound in Endarian, but I know my singing voice in English is terrible. Still, I let the words and forms take root in me, letting my passion cover any possible discordant notes.
I let the moment take me, playing once again until I am exhausted. I repeat the rising action and climax three separate times, each time reaching deeper from within. Until finally after the third and final time through I am forced to concede that my Endurance is not up to the task of continuing through once more.
Shaking, I come to a stop. Then taking a deep breath to compose myself I turn around. I see seven shocked Endarian faces, the six cadets and their general. I even note that General Sharma looks to be in awe. It was a good run. Sweat is pouring down my face and back, causing my uniform to cling to me more than the hour of impromptu physical training caused.
“Are you satisfied?” I ask in Endarian. I’m not quite certain why, but this apparently is the proper greeting to perform when that song is finished being played.
Hearing my words, cause her to be momentarily broken away from her trance.
“What? Oh, yes.” Fellina admits her face still shocked.
A quick glance shows the other Endarian Cadets looking at me with intense expressions that are still hard to determine. Shock is the only true emotion I can get from their faces, but there are other emotions as well.
“So it is okay if I continue to practice and improve my playing this song?” I ask, making sure to get permission to continue to play this song. I am going to continue playing regardless of what they say, it is Mel’s and my song after all. But if they object of my playing due to cultural reasons, then I would just have to hide where and when I perform the song.
“Practice? You wish to improve?” Fellina asks.
“One should always strive to improve in all things.” I answer. Suddenly a misquote of the original wish I made to the Gods on my first trial run comes to mind. I instantly dismiss the thought, as I am trying to understand what is being conveyed by the Endarians who are present. They all seem to be sharing different glances with one another.
Finally, the one that noticed me play the other day states in Endarian. “She must be important to you, your betrothed.”
“She is not my betrothed. We are still getting to know each other.” I admit, I expect to feel judged in some way. But rather than feeling judged, the female Endarians just look to each other, seeming to ask some unspoken question. Finally, Fellina asks the question that the others seem to be too squeamish to ask.
“You play with such passion for one who is not your betrothed?”
“I play with passion, because that is who I am.” I answer back, clearly missing something in this. I turn to my general, my eyes locking with hers, as if to ask, what are they talking about? Sharma, for her part just shrugs back. Then seeing the awkward tension that is suddenly building around us, she gives me the out.
“Well, if you are okay with the performance, then could we let Cadet Goldman go, while we talk about restitutions?” Sharma asks.
“Restitutions?” Fellina asks, then shakes her head. “No, we no longer need restitutions. What we have witnessed is enough to know that there is much worth learning about from your people. I Also think we can come to an agreement on the resources we spoke about earlier.” She pauses for a second as she turns and begins to walk away. “Tell me, what is the name of that instrument the man uses?” She asks as Sharma begins to follow by her side.
The female soldiers look on in confusion for a second as their general just leaves them there. Seeing that the formation is finally over I pack up my violin and leave. Only after they leave do I realize the entire conversation from start to finish was in Endarian, and I understood it all fluently.
Silence.
As we all take our chances to leave, I figure not talking to the Endarian females is probably for the best. Especially as we apparently just avoided an inter-galactic incident of some kind, though I am not quite certain what would have truly come of the actions noted. Perhaps they were okay with the crying of the guilty party? I know their culture has a lot to do with emotions, that is part of why Endarian music is so deep and rich, because to truly play it, one must feel the emotions of the song they are performing, thus the reason why I had to look at Mel to begin.
It was fun, in a way. I can’t wait to tell Mel all about it when we are next able to talk.
As I leave, I see a few forms running away. In a flash of insight, I realize we were spied upon. I run to catch up with the people who were peeping at us. There are four figures, and I am about to assume that it is Potts and crew, again. I am about to say something about them still not having learned their lesson. Instead, I see Jess. Well Jess, and her four female companions of the platoon. I am about to say something to them, again thinking they are Potts and crew, but seeing Jess causes that odd painful feeling to form in my chest. A feeling that is getting easier to avoid, but still painful to experience. Seeing that it is just the females of my unit, rather than chastise them, I shake my head, turn and head elsewhere. Before I completely turn around, I see confused looks on their faces.
I feel sort of hollow as I leave, as I am now using the skills I originally gained to woo Jess, to further my relationship with Mel. Sort of Irony? Or maybe just coincidental? I always get the two confused.
Still after seeing both the looks on Endarians' faces, and the looks of my shock on my fellow classmates who were caught red-handed staring at me. I realize one universal truth about myself. Whether they are human, or Endarian, I do not understand females. Shaking my head, I just walk away quickly, while I still can.
As I walk I feel a unique breeze flowing right in the middle of my crotch. Once again I look down to see that my zipper is still up. Only looking down while walking causes me to realize my full faux pas, while my zipper is at a full mast. The tear in my pants that I somehow gained during our hour long smoke session is wide open for all to see my boxers. Well, at least this likely explains all the stares I have been getting recently, I think to myself.
With that new knowledge in place I do an about face, quickly walk through both gaggles of females and make my way to my room so I can change clothes quickly. A slight tinge of red fills my face, though I try to hide my embarrassment by moving my violin case to the font of my gaping tear. Funny, I don't remember these moments ever happening in my past lives. Maybe it is wishful selective memory loss? That's a thing right, because I would like to forget this whole morning at this rate.