Page 79 of Galaxy Circus Act One

“You lived with strangers who were paid to look after you? You didn’t just become part of their family?” My brows furrow, not fully understanding what she means.

“No, that is adoption. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough families who want other people’s kids, so a lot of us miss out.” She doesn’t sound too upset, more matter of fact than anything, but I can’t help but feel sad for her. You don’t often hear of that happening throughout the galaxy. If a Vilaxian chooses to have a child, that child will be looked after by the clan if anything happens to the parent. Most clans are fairly large, unlike our small one. Children are always raised by the clan, it’s like having many loving parents. My mother and father’s clan was made up of about twenty people, so there was no shortage of people to love me and my brother and the other children when growing up.

I shake my head. I need to stop getting distracted. What is it about Lila that makes me think about clan structure and ask questions about her childhood? I need to get my head in the game.

“Physically, you are no match for most species, especially the ones who have fangs and claws and can shift or are strong and fast. We need to counter that. Come on, follow me.”

Lila quickly goes over to the sink and runs the water, cupping her hands and allowing them to fill with water before she drinks from them. She swirls the water in her mouth before spitting it in the sink. She catches me watching her in the mirror and grimaces. “Nobody likes that taste.”

Grabbing my shirt from where it was hung, I pull it over my head before leading her out the door and back into the gym. There are still a few people working out in here, but I don’t stop to talk to any of them, even though I can see one or two trying to catch my eye. Lila follows closely behind me as we leave the gym and move to another door on the right side of the corridor.This one requires me to swipe my thumbprint across the access panel. In the circus ship, we have access cards we need to use—I think they do it that way for the humans—but everywhere else on the big ship, the restricted areas have biometric scans. Thumbprints, eye scans, and blood sample. One of those will get you access if you are approved, and I am approved for this one. The door beeps as it scans my thumb, and the door slides open, allowing Lila and me access. The room is dark and cold, but sensors activate the lights as I step into the empty room. Lila is close behind me, almost bumping against my back, and as the door closes, I feel her shiver as she adjusts to the temperature of the room.

“Holy shit, it’s cold in here.” She wraps her arms around her midsection before moving around me and takes in the wide-open space. “This ship never ceases to amaze me. It’s like it defies all laws of building on Earth. How were we in a large, normal-sized room on the other side of this corridor, but this room is like a big warehouse?” Her voice echoes in the cavernous space. “What is this for?”

“We are not constrained by human notions, and this is the gun range.”

“Why so big?” she asks. “And where are the targets?” She sounds skeptical, and she looks around the space once more in case she missed it.

I go over to the desk that sits in the middle of the back of the room and place my thumb against the control panel once more. It lights up, and I program in a sequence of commands. The room’s hologram takes over and creates my icy terrain. Lila’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Holy fuck, this is so cool! It’s a holodeck,” she whispers reverently.

“I don’t know what a holodeck is, but this is our tactical hologram console, or THC. It is Vilaxian tech that we use to trainour military forces to be adaptable to any environment. We can program it for any terrain, and we give it parameters to mimic different environments. Then we add tactical scenarios. This hologram is Iceen. They are not particularly confrontational, and they don’t involve themselves with other planetary squabbles, but it’s a good environment to train in because of the extreme temperatures.”

She frowns, looking confused. “But it’s not snowing,” she comments, and I push a couple of buttons, adjusting the temperature commands. The temperature in the room suddenly plummets as the environmental simulators kick in. The wind begins to blow, and snow starts falling from the ceiling.

“Holy fuck.” She wraps her arms around herself even tighter, and I see goosebumps break out across her skin as her nipples pebble beneath her jumpsuit. I itch to reach out and stroke my thumb across one, but I keep my hand by my side. Fuck, I don’t know what has come over me.

Suddenly, a yalani pops up on the landscape and roars and starts running toward us. Lila screams and darts behind me.

“What the fuck is that?” she screams, clutching the back of my shirt.

“That’s one of the other species that inhabit Iceen. They are an intelligent but highly aggressive humanoid race.” I watch the shaggy, hair-covered alien race toward us. Her grip tightens on the back of my shirt as he gets closer, but before he reaches us, I erase him from the scene. She breathes a sigh of relief and slowly releases my shirt.

“He looked like an albino Wookiee,” Lila says through chattering teeth.

I quickly adjust the temp controls. “Obviously you are not dressed correctly for a real simulation, I just wanted to show you what the room can do.” The room goes back to its normal temperature, and Lila steps to my side, brushing down my shirtawkwardly like she’s embarrassed she hid behind me. It’s cute, and I struggle to hide my grin. Again. “What is a Wookiee?” I ask, having never heard that term before.

“A character from one of the best sci-fi movies Earth has ever made,” she says, smiling.

“Yeah, they probably had an alien advisor on their team and didn’t even realize it.” I enter in a couple more commands, and the Iceen landscape disappears to be replaced with a traditional shooting range.

“Okay, let’s get you a gun and teach you how to use it. The gun locker is also protected by a biometric scanner, and only certain people are allowed to access it.”

The weapons room is actually hidden by a permanent hologram. To the far right of the console is what looks like a wall, and if you were to reach out and touch it, you would meet solid metal, but certain members of the circus can walk straight through it. It’s part hologram, part warlock spell. Xavier was under orders from the Adams brothers to code Lila into everything that has security like this on the ship. Xavier was more than a little suspicious when he was first told this, before he had met her, and he built in a failsafe. As long as Lila’s intentions and motivations are honest and true, she should be fine. If it doesn’t let her through, it means she’s hiding something. I’m pretty sure he no longer feels suspicious, but I don’t think he’s had time to change the spell. I guess we’re about to find out if the Adams’ trust in their granddaughter is warranted.

“Where are we getting a gun from?” she asks, looking around the room skeptically.

“From over here,” I reply and walk through the wall before turning around to watch her. I’ve disappeared from her sight, but I can still see her. I chuckle at the way her mouth drops open,and I can see her saying something, but the spell blocks out all sound.

She walks forward slowly, putting up her hands. It’s disconcerting walking through a wall when you’ve never done it before, but as she continues to walk, her hands go right through and appear on my side. There’s a huge grin on her face as the rest of her body follows her arms.

“That is so fucking cool,” she whispers, spinning around to look at the hologram. From this side it’s transparent and a little hazy, and she pokes her arm in and out a few times. I can hear her singing, “You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out.”

“Are you okay? Did that hurt your brain on the way through?” I ask, a little unsure about her reaction. Maybe this was too much for her fragile human brain and I broke her.

“No, no, I’m fine.” She turns back around, a pretty pink hue on her cheeks from embarrassment. As she looks around the room, her eyes widen at the sight of all of the different weapons. She is so expressive, it’s fascinating. Vilaxians learn how to control their expressions at a very young age, while Lila is refreshingly responsive to everything. I wonder momentarily how that would translate in bed, but her excited shout has me pushing those thoughts away.

“Oh my God, it’s like a scene fromMen in Black.” She heads for one of the laser cannons and tries to pick it up, but she struggles with its weight. “Holy shit, that’s heavy,” she complains, and I laugh. I can’t help showing off a little, so I make my way over to her and the cannon and pick it up with one hand, putting it on my shoulder where it’s supposed to go.