Page 64 of Uprooted
I grab a cup of synthetic coffee and sit at one of the only empty tables. The black sludge on my back is starting to harden and itch. I watch the door, looking for any familiar faces. Tilaks file in, having returned from the dome. Some are injured. Others are covered in blackbut seem unharmed. Two sit down behind me and recap what happened back at the dome.
“Did you see him rip the leg off the Atorum, and then beat the other one to death with it?” one says.
“That was insane! He looked like a fucking gladiator when he threw it like a javelin and stuck that bug to the ground,” the other replies.
“I lost my damn mind when he showed up like that. He was at least ten feet tall.”
“Do you think the captain could teach us how to do it?”
“I hope so. I’d love to go all berserk on these things.”
It hits me—they are talking about Aro. What happened out there? The conversation behind me is interrupted by a loud bang on the table, followed by another. Soon everyone in the mess hall is hitting the table with their fist in a steady thunderous beat. I look around trying to figure out what is going on.
Aro walks down the row of tables, heading straight for me. Chairs scrape the ground when everyone stands up around him, continuing their beat on the table. He slides up next to me on the bench without acknowledging the spectacle around us.
“That’s quite an entrance,” I say.
“Don’t pay any attention to these guys. They are easily impressed.”
“I overheard what you did out there. Sounds pretty impressive to me. Did I hear something about a battleform?” I ask.
“I’ll explain later."
“I appreciate the humility—really, I do. But I think we can both agree that using an alien leg as a weapon is pretty fucking cool.”
He grins over at me. “If that’s all it took for you to finally be impressed by me, I would have done it months ago.” He steals a drink of my coffee and I pretend to be offended. I savor the feeling of him against my side. I don’t know what happens next, but there is one thing I have no doubts about. I have absolutely fallen in love with Aro.
“You ready to get out of here?” he asks.
“Yes, I need a shower, desperately.”
“I know just the place,” he says.
* **
We get to the barracks where the communal shower is already in use. A half-wall blocks the lower part of their bodies. I still avert my eyes and try not to stare.
“You’re done here,” Aro roughly orders the two showering. They turn off their water, grab a towel, and hurry out without a word with their heads down.
“You didn’t have to do that. I can wait,” I tell him.
“Don’t fight me on this. Get in the shower.” He uses his “captain” voice on me. I’m ashamed to admit it does something for me.
“Yes, sir.” I mock salute and peel off my clothes.
Aro has a shower running by the time I’ve gotten my boots and clothes off. I step under the water and close my eyes as it runs down my face. The shower drain turns black with the runoff from my body.
I hear the slap of bare feet on the tile behind me and turn to see Aro stepping into the shower with me. His giant wall of blue chest comes up next to me and rubs up and down my arms, scrubbing off the sticky black ooze.
“You scared the shit out of me,” I tell him. “You walked straight into danger empty-handed.” It was the worst feeling watching him get farther from me.
Aro never leaves anyone behind. I’m in awe of his undying loyalty to his unit. To me, he is larger than life in body and in his purpose.
“I needed to get you away from there, and there was no way I could leave my unit behind.”
“I know why you did it. It still scared me to death.”
“I was scared too. When I saw the wrecked porter outside the base, my soul was ripped out of my body, but I should have known that you could take care of yourself.”
