Keedi was a bit apprehensive about meeting her roommate. What if she was just awful? Like most of the girls on the team?
The dorm room wasn’t large but had two elevated beds with desk areas underneath, and its own bathroom. A young woman, no taller than Keedi, came out of the bathroom. To Keedi’s surprise, she was Bisk, a biped with navy blue skin, bright blue eyes, and a small beak shape in the center of her lips. A pink crest of fine feathers grew on her head and she wore dangly earrings in her small, round ears. Her clothing showed her bare limbs.
“Hello, I’m Keedi Durai, your roommate for the next two weeks.” Keedi hoped the Bisk girl would be friendly with a female of mixed ancestry.
“Greetings!” Her new roommate’s voice was rich and welcoming, as was her smile. “I am Talarika Gof Rann. Very pleased to meet you.” She giggled. “I wonder if they put us together by size?”
Keedi laughed. “Doubt they knew our heights!”
Talarika grinned. “Who was the Pard boy who was with you? Is he your boyfriend?”
“No, Zheryk and I know each other from University on Bella Shen. He did ask me out to the Dessert Extravaganza in the Center this evening, so that’s pretty nice. I do like him,he’s well mannered and smart.”
“Not to mention he is amazing to look at.”
“Oh, I know. But he doesn’t seem to be stuck on himself like some handsome guys. He always seems level-headed.”
“I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time on your date. I will probably see you down there as I’m meeting my team. We’re all going to have a dessert.”
Keedi showed her bot where to put her things.
“We got kicked off the Bella Shen team the first day! So we’ll be just the two of us, doing individual competitions.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Oh, well, neither of us have the right ancestry.”
Talarika gave a snort. “Their team will lose points for lack of diversity. Idiots, put themselves out of the competition the first day.”
What a relief to have a roommate who didn’t disapprove of her ancestry! Keedi showered and, after much wardrobe discussion, changed into a white knit dress with long sleeves owned by Talarika. Knit leggings in black and soft black boots completed her outfit.
“The evenings here are cool. And you can’t wear grandmother clothes!” Talarika insisted. “My family owns a group of women’s fashion stores on Fera. I brought four cases of clothes.”
Talarika had her spin around. “You look very sweet in that dress. Much better than those granny dressing gowns. Honestly, those look like what my grandmother wears over her night clothes. From now on, I am teaching you modern Alliance fashion! Lucky for you, I packed way too many outfits.”
Keedi laughed and agreed to the lessons. “I’m so glad they put us with roommates from different places. I would have been miserable with one of the girls from Bella Shen. They hardly spoke to me.”
Talarika wrinkled her nose. “Is that a Shen thing? They are considered racists on Fera. Half- Shens show up seeking asylum all the time. My father is in immigration.”
Keedi nodded, a wry twist to her lips. “They especially despise Alliarattes because they once held them as slaves on the mother planet. My mother is all Shen, but she contracted a one year marriage while she was off world, working in a science colony, with an Alliarette. Her parents were furious she didn’t leave me with my father, but he vanished.”
“Too bad all that beauty is filled with dribble.” Talarika fluted a laugh. “Sometimes the individual competitors get a lot more notice. I’m sure you could study with my team if you want.”
***
Zheryk entered his dorm for the next month feeling lighter of heart than he had in a long time. He was finally working toward his plan to live somewhere other than a Shen world. And Keedi was so nice! Even prettier up close, with shining hair and sparkling eyes. He hadn’t approached her back home because his father demanded he stay away from all girls in school. And his adopted father was not someone to disobey. So he had filled his time with studies and sports.
His new roommate was stretched out on a bed with a wildly colored blanket. The kid was smaller than he was, fine-boned. Trengulu, probably, with something else because his hair was silver, not a blue shade.
“Hey there roomie. I’m Booker Rose, from the Youth Academy on Joonis Prime.” He had a bright-eyed, friendly face. Big smile.
“Hi. I’m Zheryk Telz from Bella Shen.”
“Wow, not an Alliance World.”
Zheryk tossed his cases on his bed and sent his bot to charge. “Yeah. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Alliance Net base is all about. We only have the Shen base, and it is not comprehensive.”
“I can probably show you around the Net. We use it for everything.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“What team are you on?” Booker asked.
“My friend and I just got kicked off the Bella Shen team. Well, she got kicked off for no reason—she’s super at mathematics, but she is half Aliariette — and so I quit. No doubt they were going to get rid of me, too. We are going to check out the individual competitions and mixers.”
“Sounds like your old team was harsh. Shens have a rep for being racially prejudiced.”
“Wonder if they have rep for being stupid, too? They will have a hard time replacing us. I was the science member, she was the mathematician.”
“Math and Science members often do better in the individuals. Personally better, scholarships and such. I’m science, myself.”
“Have you been here before?”
“This is my third time, but first time on a team. I did individuals since Joonis Prime Academy had a couple rebuilding years. After this, I’m off to Fera for spacecraft design.”
“Nice.” He finished tossing his clothes in the drawers and spread his bedbag over the mattress. He pressed the button and the bag puffed up.
“Oh, you got a package.” It was on his desk. It was from Mother. She must have sent it with the transport they traveled on.
The privacy envelope held datafilms The first had information on a credit account enough for four years of school. The next was birth records. His real name was Zheryk Windstar from Parda. A letter from his mother.He flopped down on the bed. “Stars above.”
“Everything all right?” Booker asked.
“My adopted parents have never told me about my heritage. They rescued me from a diplomatic incident. Until now. Mother says not to come back to Bella Shen. A nice finance account…names. My real name. Zheryk Windstar. From Parda.”
“Parda! They are pretty remote but they have amazing ships. Nanotech. You don’t want to go back to Bella Shen, do you?”
“And be one of about a dozen people of non-Shen ancestry? Not so much.”
“I’ve heard the Shen are racist.”
“Yeah. Not so bad for me, my adoptive parents are of high rank in the government. And I’m stronger physically than most of the Shen guys at school. Well, all of them. So the bullying is quiet. But it is still uncomfortable.” He grabbed clean clothes and his shower bag.
“You want me to call you by your real name?”
“Oh, yes. Zheryk Windstar. I like it,” he said, feeling a little dazed. He never expected either of his parents to give him this information. Looked like his mother sent the information and credit account without telling his father. “Well, I have a new future and a meeting with a pretty woman, so I’m going to get cleaned up.”
“Figures you’d meet a girl,” Booker said.
“She’s from back home. Shen and Alliarette, really pretty and smart. Nice, too. Anyway, if I meet some nice girls, I’ll introduce you.”
He showered and put on one of his dressier tunics. When he walked back into the room, a man with dark hair and blue skin was visiting.
“Hello. I am Stu Rayhasha, the university assistant for this floor. I also teach physics and am working with the individual competitors. If you have any needs or problems, let me know, all right?”
“I recently learned my birth name and would rather use it than my adopted name. Is there a way to do that?”
Stu frowned. “You’ll need to have documentation, but you can start with the Registrar’s Office. They will be open tomorrow. I can give you directions.”
“Great.” Zheryk added the man’s contact to his tablet. “I and another team member got kicked off the team so we’ll be in the individual competitions. Can I get the Alliance Net on my tablet?”
“Yes, but it takes a bit of time. Why don’t we meet at breakfast? Eight? Main cafeteria.”
Zheryk grinned. “I’ll be there.”
Booker had a couple questions and while they were talking the door pinged, the door viewer showing Instructor Gorgok, a Shen woman with hair in a tight bun.
Zheryk sighed and opened the door. “Instructor Gorgok, greetings.”
She came into the room. “I am checking that you received your luggage? Have you tried your meal code?”
“Yes to both. Thank you.”
She nodded and was about to leave when Stu turned to Zheryk. “I’ll see you at breakfast, and we’ll talk about the individual competitions.”
“I’ll be there.”
Instructor Gorgok turned to Zheryk with narrowed eyes. “What? Individual competition? They will conflict with the team’s competitions.”
“I am no longer on the Bella Shen team. Fiorla kicked Keedi off for no good reason. So the team would no longer be competitive. I quit. None of them can handle the math questions.” He shrugged. “I am interested in possible scholarships or apprenticeships. There is no reason to let Fiorla’s tantrum affect my future. So now I will compete as an individual.”
He walked to the door. “I must go, I have a date.” He waved at Booker and left.
Instructor Gorgok rushed out after him. “We must discuss this!”
Zheryk stopped walking. “Instructor, I have read the competition rules. Team captains can kick people off the team, though it is usually for cause. I can compete and also take individual tests in the single competitor’s division. I can also join or assist another team.”
“Assist our team.”
“That is no longer a possibility. You chose the team captain poorly. That will affect their ability to compete. Not actually my problem. Good evening, Instructor.”
She did not follow him down the hall, but rushed away, tapping on her tablet.
Keedi opened the door when he pinged and held her tablet up for him to read.
“Team meeting, hmm? Cuts into our Dessert Extravaganza.”
He rolled his eyes. “Gorgok heard I was joining the individual trainings when she stopped by to see if I had everything.”
“We are not on the team.” Keedi grinned at him.
“Right. We are going to the Dessert Extravaganza.” He grinned, and his eyes widened. “You look, um, nice.” She had a rounded figure with a small waist and rather long legs for her height. He’d never seen her wear anything like the tunic and leggings, tight ones, but then the school uniforms were loose and fell from a yoke.
“Courtesy of my roommate. She said my wardrobe was terminally dowdy. Like what her grandmother wears over her night gowns. You look good, too. Oh, meet my roommate, Talarika.”
“I just learned my birth name is Zheryk Windstar, so I intend to use it. Stu, the residential assistant, said it would be easy to change since I have birth records. Nice to meet you, Lady Talarika.”
He winked at the Bisk girl. “I suspect many things on Bella Shen are terminally dowdy.”
The Bisk girl grinned back. “I suspect you can find a student here who will update your clothing for hardly any stelles. Check the University Forums.”
“Good idea,” Keedi said. “We’ll probably see you later at the Dessert Extravaganza.”
Zheryk and Keedi took the elevator down to the ground level and strolled to the common area. One wall had a whole bank of com screens and comfortable seating.
“Zheryk Windstar? Nice.”
“From Parda, I just learned. My roommate told me it’s a remote planet with amazing spaceships. I met the male floor adviser, Stu. He said he would she how to get the Alliance Net on my tablet in the morning. We’re meeting for breakfast. Want to come?”
“Love too.”
“My roommate, Booker, seems like a nice guy.”
“My roommate is from Fera. I don’t even know how to handle so much friendliness.”
“Nice. Mine is from Joonis Prime.”
The wall coms had a tutorial, so they watched it together and then checked out the Alliance Net.
“Wow, you can choose individual star systems and even individual planets,” Keedi said.
“I feel like I’ve been living in a closet,” Zheryk said. “Bella Shen is really a rimmer world.”
Keedi agreed. “It is astonishing we were even invited to the competition.”
He took a really deep breath. “Half a day here and I don’t want to go back there. At all.”
“Me, either.”
“My mother sent me an Alliance stelle account, for schooling. She doesn’t think I should return to Bella Shen. Not that I’d planned to,” he said.
“Do you know why they never told you about your birth name or heritage?” Keedi asked.
“I think it was my father’s decision. Maybe it had something to do with the diplomatic incident. Mother didn’t say. I get the impression she was sending me the information and stelles to pay for school without my father’s knowledge.”
“Wow. She must care for you, though.”
“Yes. She was very strict and not a warm, jolly mother, but I always felt she cared.”
“She could visit here. I think my mother will. My mohter could even move here, maybe. I have no idea what kind of work contract she has on Bella Shen.” Bella Shen was notorious for no escape clauses on labor contracts.
“Looks like time for dinner. Let’s find a different cafeteria, so our ex-teammates won’t show up,” Zheryk stood
They walked to the other side of the Center. Zheryk said. “You know, this is my first date. I was not allowed to be near Shen girls at all. My father said it would cause nothing but trouble.”
“Girls were always flirting with you, though.”
He wrinkled his nose. “I know. They liked how I looked, but also hated that I wasn’t Shen. Very confusing.”
“I just wore the baggiest uniforms and stayed quiet. Shen boys made me nervous and Mother said not to trust them.”
“I think you are really pretty.” He ducked his head. “And you mother was right. Shen men have no respect for females they are not contracted to.”
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