You Were Only a Human

                   You Were Only a Human


     Shya bobbed her head to the left to avoid one fist to
her face. Instead, she got another one to her head from
behind her. Her head only bounced slightly forward before
she stiffened her arms away from her and grabbed both Kackim
and Viloni by their shirts and pull them to within an inch
of her.

     “What are you two fighting about now?” Shya asked.

     Kackim and Viloni looked around Shya still in anger.
But it was Kackim who spoke first. “It’s for the same reason
it usually is. I do all the collecting. And Viloni takes it
away from me because she doesn’t want to do it herself.”

     “Why are any of us collecting the Colvian?” Viloni
asked in reply. “It’s because the Octons are forcing us to
do it.”

     “They aren’t making us do anything,” says Shya. “It’s
just easier for us to collect it because we are humans.”

     Shya released Kackim and Viloni from her hands. “Now
get back to collecting. We are still behind on the amount
that we need for today.”

                             #

     “You saw that fight,” said Shya. “Didn’t you? Kackim
and Viloni are always fighting against each other. They have
been for longer than I can remember.”

     “They aren’t the only ones, though. Almost all of us
humans feel the same way that they do,” continued Shya. “Why
should we be collecting your Colvian instead of you?”

     Shya relaxed a little bit. But she was still standing
up straight with her hands in fists beside her in front of
the three Octons behind a half-circle table. She looked at
each one of them separately. Bounc was in the middle. And
slightly behind him were Dancun to his right and Isani to
his left.

     Bounc glance at Dancun and Isani when Shya did it.
“What do you want us to do about them? The humans are your
responsibility. You are the one who must decide what to do
about that fight. Not us.”

     “I have already decided what to do with them,” said
Shya. “That’s not why I’m here. I’m here to show you one of
the reasons why we aren’t going to get the amount of Colvian
that you want us to get today.”

                             #

     The faceless head with long hair of Bounc turned toward
Dancun and Isani. Dancun and Isani’s heads only slightly
moved forward until they were touching Bounc at the line
where their hair began. Shya's upper body leans forward a
little to hear what they were talking about. But she can’t
hear them. All she can hear is their mumbling.

     After a few minutes, Shya suddenly straightened herself
to a standing position as the Octon’s heads returned to face
her. “We have talked about what you have said,” said Bounc.
“And we can’t accept your reasoning.”

     “We don’t care how you do it,” continued Dancun. “But
you must give us the amount of Colvian that you promised for
each day that we have let you live on Octon.”

     Shya sighed. “We can’t do that anymore. It’s true, we
can’t die because of collecting Colvian. But we do get tired
and weak while doing it.”

     “Do you still want to be more like us?” Isani asked.
“If so, then you need to find a way to do what you promised
us that you would do.”

                             #

     “What do I have to do to get ahead in life on this
planet?” Shya asked herself as she paced around her small
one-room living place.

     Shya suddenly stopped her pacing. And went over to the
open Food Preparation area in that room. Then she started
fixing herself something to eat. “I don’t want to become an
Octon. But I do want to be treated like one.”

     After she finished preparing her food, Shya placed it
on a small table next to her sleeper. Then she uses her
Sleeper as a Seater to start eating that food. “How am I
supposed to prove that I can be as good as them if they
don’t give me a chance to do it?”

     “There is only one way that I can think of to do it,”
said Shya as she got up. Knocking what little was left of
her food onto the floor. “And that is to go back there and
demand they give her that chance.”

                             #

     The next day instead of going to one of the Colvian
Collections Shya went back to Colvian Command. And she’s
about to place her hand in the three large fingered indented
hand on the entrance to acknowledge her being there when she
hears Bounc, Dancun, and Isani talking.

     “What are we going to do about our Colvian problem?”
Bounc asked.

     Shya put her ear to the entrance to hear what they are
talking about clearer. “What else can we do? We know that
the humans are doing it,” answered Dancun. “But we haven’t
been able to stop them so far.”

     “I have an idea,” said Isani. “We can send Shya with
the next transport of Colvian.”

     “We can’t do that,” said Bounc. “We don’t know if the
humans are involved or not.”

     Shya pushed her ear almost flat against that entrance.
“Why not?” Dancun asked. “She has been pushing us to give
her a chance to be more like us.”

     “It’s too dangerous,” answered Bounc. “If we are wrong
about the humans doing it, then she may be killed.”

     “That’s the best part,” said Isani. “If the humans are
involved, they won’t hurt her. And if they aren’t, then she
will probably be killed too. Either way, she won’t be asking
us for any more chances.”

                             #

     Shya was about to leave there when she stopped and put
her hands against her ears. She turned back toward that hand
announcement entrance. But she didn’t announce herself for
several minutes. When she did, there wasn’t any reply. The
entrance just slid open for her to enter.

     “That sure didn’t take you too long to get here,” said
Bounc. “You must have already been on your way here. Is
there another problem with Colvian Collection so soon?”

     “There’s nothing wrong that I know of,” answered Shya.
“I was just on my way there when you contacted me.”

     Shya stood straight with her hands clasped behind her
back. “May I ask why you contacted me?”

     “We have been talking about it,” said Bounc. “And we
have decided to give you a chance to become more like us. If
you are still interested in doing it after we tell you what
that chance is.”

     “Of course, I will. I will take any chance that you
want to give me,” said Shya.

     Bounc glanced at Dancun and Isani. Then he looked back
at Shya. “It may be very dangerous. Do you still want to
take this chance?”

                             #

     A few hours later and Shya was on her way to Colvian
Collection. “So, they think that we are doing it.”

     “We aren’t,” continued Shya. “I’m sure that it’s some
of the Octons who have been taking the Colvian. If that’s
true, then all I need to do is prove it.”

     “I just don’t know how I can do that yet,” said Shya.
“But I do know one thing. I’m not going to get any of the
other humans here killed by taking this chance.”

     Shya sighed. “I know that the Octons said I could use
any other humans that I want for this chance. But the only
reason they said it was to get rid of as many of us as they
can if this doesn’t go as planned. I’m not going to let that
happen, though. Because I’m doing this alone.”

     Suddenly Shya smiles. “I know how I’m going to prove
that the Octons are taking the Colvian. All I need to do is
finish this chance alive. And I’m going to do it. No matter
what I must do to do it.”

                             #

     “I’m not going to be here for the next few days,” said
Shya to a large group of about a thousand other humans in
front of a large opening into a huge mountain behind that.
“The Octons have finally given me the chance to prove that I
am just as good as any of them.”

     “It’s a very dangerous chance,” continued Shya. “That’s
why I’m doing it alone.”

     Shya slower looked at the other humans there. “That’s
not the only reason why I’m doing it by myself. The Octons
think that we are the ones taking this Colvian. But I’m sure
it’s the Octons doing it.”

     A male stepped in front of the close-together humans
there. “I want to go too.”

     “So, do I.” a female pushed her way through the others
to stand beside the male.

     Suddenly, more than half the other humans there stepped
forward saying similar comments. Shya puts up the palm of
her hands to stop them. “Thank you for you wanting to help
me. But I need to do this alone.”

     “There is a very good chance that I won’t see any of
you ever again,” continued Shya. “And you need to stay here
to fight for our freedom.”

                             #

     Shya glanced at the large monitors on both sides of a
huge one that showed nothing but Space on it. The two large
ones are showing the Colvian scattered all around those very
big-looking rooms. Then she looked at the control panel in
front of her and the huge monitor. “The Colvian appears to
be still okay.”

     “I’m almost to the second Octon planet,” continued
Shya. “And I haven’t seen anyone who wants to take it from
me, so far.”

     “I don’t think that I will see anyone,” said Shya. “If
nothing happens to this Colvian, then the Octons can blame
us on the rest of it that has been taken.”

     Suddenly, the darkness on the main monitor in front of
Shya became a large spaceship similar to the one that she
was on. Only that one was about four times bigger than hers.
“Maybe I’m right about the Octons.”

     “I still don’t think any humans are doing it,” said
Shya. “But it may be another race behind it besides humans
and the Octons. After all, six other alien races can be
taking it.”

                             #

     After staring at that other spaceship for a long time,
Shya finally spoke. She tapped a button on the arm of her
Seater there. “Who are you? What do you want?”

     “If it’s the Colvian, you are too late. I have already
taken it to Octon One to be materialized and used.”

     “That isn’t true.” Shya heard the voice of a male echo
throughout the room. “We know that you have more of it to
give to the other three Octon planets here.”

     Shya leaned forward in her Seater with her forearms
crossed and her elbows on her knees. “How do you know what
Colvian I still have?”

     The images of Kackim and Viloni suddenly appear on the
huge monitor in front of Shya. “Because we helped you to put
it in your spaceship,” answered Kackim.

     “I can’t believe it,” said Shya. “You are the ones who
have been taking the Colvian.”

     “It’s not just us,” said Viloni. “Most of us humans
don’t want to live on Octon anymore. And we almost have
enough Colvian to leave there.”

     The images of Kackim and Viloni disappeared to show
their spaceship again. “This is just our first spaceship,”
said Viloni. We have forty-nine others almost completed
because of the Colvian we have taken. If the Octons won’t
let us leave their planet, we will force them to do it or
die trying.”

                     Word Count = 1,932