“A CITY!” she screamed into Alf’s ear.
“Golden City,” he confirmed. “The biggest city on the planet. And the only one with an intergalactic port. You’ll be able to hide here until you can get a ticket off-world. I’d give you one myself, but…”
“NO, YOU’VE DONE MORE THAN ENOUGH!”
She shrieked the words partially to be heard over the rushing wind, and partially because she was so fucking excited to see a city again. It felt like coming home to a place she’d never been.
Dropped in the city, and left to her own devices by the guard who had done more than enough just by getting her out of the palace, Katie was free. Alf wished her the best, told her she could keep the suit, and then got back on the wing in an attempt to get back to the palace before she was discovered to be missing. Katie really fucking hoped she hadn’t gotten that guy killed.
Dominax had fucking lied. He’d acted as though Royal Rock was the only place on Homeworld worth being. He’d made out as though all the rest of it was lava and dirt. He hadn’t even mentioned the existence of what Alf had called Golden City.
This place wasn’t boring. This place was absolutely spectacular. It was just all hidden away out of sight from the palace by the weather, super hot steam storms which would have burned the shit out of her if Alf hadn’t let her keep the suit.
The weather might have been supremely shitty, but the city was incredible. Spread across several landmasses, connected by bridges across which merchandise was moved, this was a city worth investigating. Even though everybody could fly, most were still walking, she noticed. The Homelanders weren’t all natural flyers. They were heavy and muscular, and though the king and his coterie were obviously agile in flight, she saw more than one of the more average Homelanders struggle to flap their way up to the third floor.
“Even aliens need wheels and wagons,” she mumbled to herself as a heavy transporter chugged by. It looked like it was being powered by lava, which seemed dangerous, but probably no more dangerous than cars which were powered by petrol explosions.
She liked this place. This felt almost like home. Everybody was busy, and they were everywhere, dashing about among one another, except unlike NYC where people pushed past one another on the streets, the air was also full of traffic. Feathers drifted down in puffs when Homelanders collided above. This city was magical and filthy. Finally she had found something to love.
And then there were the aliens. Well. Other aliens. Aliens who weren’t human and weren’t Homelanders either. Aliens with springy legs and coiled tails. Aliens with four eyes and two mouths. Aliens of all manner of configuration and imagination. Aliens that slimed along the streets, and aliens made of blades.
Katie sat on a street corner and just watched the world go by. There was so much to take in. So much to learn. It was as strange a place as she had ever imagined, and she was entranced by it all.
9 Oh No
A couple of days later, shit inevitably hit the fan. She managed her first two nights in the city just by catching naps in a few public places and by snatching up food where she could. She was homeless, sure, but it didn’t have the same stigma here that it did on Earth. A lot of Homelanders seemed to just wander around day and night, wrapping their wings around themselves and snoozing when they needed a rest.
“We are looking for a human.”
She heard the soldiers say that to another alien, and knew that was her cue to get off the street. She went into the nearest store. She had no idea what it sold. Apparently, she could speak their language seamlessly, but there was no such compensation made for alien text. The signs were gibberish to her, and the contents of the shelves were just as mysterious. But that didn’t matter. She just had to stay the hell away from the soldiers… who had fucking followed her right into the same damn shop.
Katie kept her head down and tried to be as quiet as possible. Maybe they were following her, or maybe this shop had just been their next stop too. One big coincidence.
“We’re looking for a human female,” the soldier said to the shopkeeper, an older Homelander woman with the most astonishing red wings and hair.
“What’s a human female?” The shopkeeper asked the question in the same tone she might have asked what was smeared on the bottom of her shoe.
“Sort of like a Homelander with no wings, and a smaller build. This one is the prized pet of Dominax himself.”
“The king has let some deformed Homelander loose on the city?”