Free Blood Ocean by Weston Ochse Page A

of the far side of the cylinder. He lay upside down, his vision blurry and jumbled, for a moment, until he was able to gather his bearings, then he let go of the shorts with his left hand and fell hard to the deck. He managed to stand on the second try, and wobbled as he pulled his pants on.
    He began to hear whispering around the edges of the cylinder. Soon he understood the words.
    Pali Boy.
    He made a shaka and waggled his hand. “Aloha.” He gave his best and brightest smile.
    A hunchbacked old man approached him. He wore a T-shirt that said I Grok Science . What little hair he had on his balding pate was long and white. His eyes were covered with strange goggles that had a single pinpoint hole from which he could see.
    “Sorry, Uncle. I did not mean to interrupt you. I was being chased.”
    “Chased is never a good state to be in. How is it you became the focus of such a thing?”
    “Asking too many questions.”
    “Ah. Just as in science, sometimes good questions require answers that make people uncomfortable. Was your question a good one?”
    The old man took Kavika by the elbow as he spoke and escorted him down a set of stairs.
    “It was a very good question, Uncle.”
    “Good. Make people answer. Even when they don’t like to. Here, we need to take care of your hands. You’ve burned them.”
    It was as if noticing caused his hands to begin throbbing. Pain surfaced and took over, causing him to grit his teeth.
    They went down two flights into the hold of the ship. Kavika immediately felt the coolness. The lights were as low as they could go and the surrounding metal seemed to conduct the temperature of the ocean.
    “You’ll have to forgive us. We abhor the light. It keeps us from seeing what’s in the sky, from communicating with those above.”
    Kavika didn’t need an explanation. The eccentricities of the Sky Winkers was a common subject. Mostly it was because no one really knew what went on inside their ship. But also it was because of their constant vigil of the sky, their beliefs in something called a space station and the idea that it circled the earth with people inside of it.
    They entered a large room with several families resting on scattered couches, many of them asleep.
    Seeing his observation, the Sky Winker said, “We sleep during the day so we can be awake during the darkness.” He tapped his eyeglasses, which he took off as he was speaking. “These help us protect our eyes from the light. I’m sure you understand.”
    “I wish I had something to protect me from the Boxers.”
    The Sky Winker sat back and exhaled. “Boxers... nothing good there.”
    “Name’s Kavika Kamilani.”
    “Doctor Timothy Lebbon. Call me Leb. Here, let me see those hands now.” Leb had grabbed a first aid box and now gently spread a cream onto Kavika’s hands. It immediately began sucking out the heat.
    Kavika relished the coldness of the medicine. “Ah.” He couldn’t help himself.
    “This is only temporary. Be careful for the next few days. So what was the question?”
    Kavika stared a moment, then grinned. “You mean the question that got me into trouble?”
    Leb nodded.
    “I was asking why a friend of mine was accidentally killed.”
    “And you’re sure it was an accident?”
    Kavika thought for a moment. He couldn’t be sure, but then he’d never contemplated that possibility. “Leb, what is it that you know about the Boxers?”
    The Sky Winker stared into Kavika’s eyes as he began putting the medicine back in the box. “Knowledge is like pain. There’s only so much that can be done to conceal it. Once you have it you have it.”
    “But I need to know. A friend of mine was blood raped, and he died because of it.”
    “Nothing good there.”
    “My sister has Minimata. If there’s any hope, it is in the blood rapes, no matter how terrible they are.”
    “Nope. Nothing good there at all.”
    “What are you saying?”
    “These are not connected issues.”
    “What does that mean?