The Dancer by Darcy Campbell
Copyright 2010 Lyrical Press, Inc.

  • The Dancer
  • Darcy Campbell


    • Both Jet and Gemma sat at the table, drinking their green wine and people-watching. Gemma shook her head from time to time as a different creature crawled, walked or flew by. It was hard to believe that all this was real and not just a dream. Jet introduced Gemma to several individuals as they passed by. Some were guardians, a few still in shock from their recent transformation as well. None of the guardians looked any different from people Gemma was used to seeing at the corner market on Earth. They all looked human and even spoke in English.

    Finished with their snack, Gemma and Jet continued with the tour.

    “Why do I understand everyone we’ve met? Is the official language on Suha English?” Gemma asked as she slipped her hand inside Jet’s. She didn’t care what he said his name was, to her he was still Kai, and she loved him more now than she did on Earth. Than she did. That was going to take some getting used to. Camille was right, Gemma was still thinking like a man when she was a woman, at least here on Suha.

    “Why are my feelings so much stronger here than on Earth?” Gemma asked as they continued to walk, hand in hand.

    “You need to slow down. There’s plenty of time for all your questions, but I can only answer one at a time. First of all, no, English is not the official language on Suha. There is no official language here, because no one speaks the same language.”

    Anticipating her next question, Jet held up his hand to stop her. “You understand everyone because of the cosmic translator that is surgically sewn into each Arientan at birth. It is a microscopic chip inserted just behind the ear, undetectable unless you were looking for it.” Jet began to laugh as he watched Gemma almost stand on her head trying to find and feel the chip.

    As they walked through the crowded marketplace, Gemma grabbed Jet’s arm with a shriek of fright. There in the crowd were two men with tattoos similar to the ones owned by the men who killed her father and Kai. Realizing how badly shaken she was, Jet rushed her back to the compound before attempting an explanation. After he poured her a drink and got her somewhat calmed down, Jet began to explain.

    “I had the same reaction you just did the first time I saw them, actually a reaction worse than yours. Imagine finding your murderers in your new safe haven. Camille explained that the tattoo belongs to the Cerace clan, and they all have it. It was part of the last truce agreement. Since the Cerace kept infiltrating the Arienta clan, the tattoo is our way of recognizing them and protecting ourselves. The one who killed Kai was an assassin sent to track down some of the guardians. They found me, but the amethyst protected you.”

    “It protected me more than once. That was the same tattoo on the hand of the person who killed my father,” Gemma cried, still badly shaken by her ordeal.

    “I know. Camille explained it all to me last night. There was a large group of Cerace that teleported to Earth and infiltrated various gangs just for the pleasure of creating more pain and destruction. It was one of the new gang members that killed your father as part of his initiation. You need to know something else. Another of the Cerace clan drove the car that killed your mother and sisters. You were supposed to be with them.”