Chapter 20: Principles
Alejandro Palio stood between two lunchboxes that formed goalposts on a street in the city of Altradeluz. There were five other nine year old boys on his team and six ten year old boys on the opposing team. The leader of the opposing team led by Davi Delpaejo had just awarded themselves a dubious penalty. Alejandro was not inclined to disagree. Davi was after all twice his size.
The football had seen better days. It had been rejected by some teenage boys in a wealthier district of the city. The ball was not fully inflated and could fall apart at any minute. Alejandro’s Father had found it and brought it home with him as a present of sorts.
Davi placed the ball, four yards out and took a ten yard run up. Alejandro braced himself. Thankfully the ball went between the posts and managed to miss Alejandro, otherwise the penalty would most likely have to be re-taken.
The ball travelled down the street where it arrived at the feet of a large creature with hard blue skin and red freckles. The creature had webbed feet, a large stomach and brown eyes. It was almost seven foot tall.
“Give us back our ball you freak,” Davi shouted. Davi knew that this creature was a pacifist by nature and any abuse that was ever aimed at the creature was tolerated by it.
In unison, each of the children started to shout, “freak, freak, freak”. Alejandro didn’t join in. He believed that it only made the children feel important and normal at the alien creature’s expense.
Alejandro wanted to say something to stop them but was intimidated by the large crowd. He had met the creature several times before. His name was Ackbar. Sometimes he gave him sweets and on others he spoke kindly to him. The creature known as Ackbar had only lived there for a month or so. He was probably forced to move from location to location because of the abuse and hatred he endured.
As unfortunate as Alejandro and his parents were to be living in unpleasant living conditions, Ackbar was unlikely to be ever considered for accommodation that somebody else wanted.
Some people travelled distances just to mock Ackbar. Few changelings openly revealed themselves like he did. In a bad way he was famous. There were some individuals who posed for photographs with him. They weren’t always unfriendly but Ackbar guessed that they only took photos so that they could show images of the freak to their friends.
Despite the abuse from the young children, Ackbar kicked the ball back in their direction. The crowd continued to give him abuse for another few seconds until Ackbar walked away from view.
Ackbar Jiminez entered his old rundown apartment complex. The rotting front door was open because of a broken lock that had not been fixed in eight years. He walked along the main corridor that had a dirty and damp floor. Ackbar descended the wooden staircase to the basement and entered apartment number four.
There was a musty smell from the apartment and the sound of dripping water could be heard. The water came from a leak in an overhead pipe in the flat. The apartment itself was a single room that included a kitchen, sitting room and bedroom in one. It was four metres by six metres in size. The cooker was old and rusty, as was the fridge. Ackbar couldn’t complain because both still worked. The bed consisted of a mattress on the floor that was not quite big enough to support him fully.
Every day he encountered abuse upon abuse. He was different. Very different. He didn’t take human form because he didn’t believe in it. He wanted to be true to himself and not live a lie. All his Kylot friends took human form. They were afraid of the authorities, humans and Kylons.
Ackbar had been taken into custody many times. He was beaten up by police officers on several occasions for sport. Sometimes street gangs also targeted him. He was bigger than them but a pacifist by nature. He did not believe in violence. He swore never to fight back and never to pretend to be human. It was against his principles. If he broke those rules he would find it hard to live with himself.
His own parents had disowned him. They claimed he was switched at birth. It was his choice however to be himself even if that meant surviving on his own with limited means to support himself.
Ackbar was preparing his meal, consisting of a chicken fillet and baked beans, when there was a knock on the door. The door almost fell off its hinges.
Ackbar opened the door. It was Bartlett, one of Ackbar’s Kylot friends. Bartlett was in human form. He had brown skin, a shaven head and blue eyes. He was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt with the word Revelon and an image of the sun on it. Bartlett looked to be in his early forties and was of slim build and average height.
“Ackbar. Have you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“They’re rounding up changelings. I’m surprised they haven’t come for you already. I’m risking my life coming here.”
“Thanks Bartlett, but you shouldn’t have. If they want to come for me they know where to find me.”
“This isn’t like the other times where they take you in and give you a beating,” Bartlett responded in frustration. “This time there is no coming back. The President of Brazil met the President of the US and he made the announcement three hours ago. It’s over Ackbar.”
“Out of principle, I’m not going,” Ackbar responded defiantly. “If they want to arrest me they can arrest me. If they want to beat me up they can beat me up. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not running. Not now. Never.”
Bartlett was irritated. He was very fond of his friend but did not understand why he never curbed his principles. Bartlett did not want to lose him for some stupid moral statement that no one would ever appreciate.
“They will kill you Ackbar. They will cut you up in little pieces. They will cut off your head, stuff it and put it on display. Don’t you get it? You will be murdered.”
“Thanks for your concern Bartlett but I’ve got a meal to cook. I suggest you leave here as soon as you can. I wouldn’t like you to be seen associating with me. You might get into trouble.”
Bartlett shook his head and clenched his fist in frustration. “Why won’t you listen to me?” he said aloud. Seeing that his efforts were falling on deaf ears, Bartlett turned and walked away.
Ackbar turned once again to his supper. The chicken was a little overcooked to his liking but he wouldn’t allow it to go to waste.
No sooner had he sat down in front of his meal than a knock came at the door. This time the door fell down. Four policemen entered. He knew three of them but the fourth looked like a rookie. Ackbar’s heart felt heavy. He thought that they would come for him one day but now the harsh realisation of what was ahead of him had set in.
All four officers were of similar height and physique but different age profiles. To Ackbar, they all seemed the same. He had many negative experiences with the authorities in his life and had yet to come across a compassionate or caring member of the force. He hoped he was wrong. He hoped that there were many who didn’t enjoy the cruel activities of their comrades, whether in silence or in open confrontation.
The leader, who was a Lieutenant named Eduardo Perez, cautioned the Kylot. “I hope we’re not going to have any trouble from you Ackbar,” he said as he tapped the baton hew was holding against the palm of his right hand. The changeling had many encounters with the Police Lieutenant in the past. None of them were pleasant.
Ackbar stood up. “Let’s get this over with,” he conceded.
The Lieutenant dealt him a heavy blow to the stomach with his baton.
“As I was saying. I hope we won’t have any trouble from you.” It was as if Lieutenant Perez enjoyed his work and derived a sadistic pleasure from it. His prisoner knew that the more he resisted, the harder the police officer would make it for him.
“You won’t have any trouble from me.” Ackbar said with all the humility he could muster.
In a matter of seconds all four policemen attacked the Kylot with their batons. By the time they stopped the changeling was in great pain and somewhat dazed.
“I always wondered what the colour of the blood of changeling scum was like. It’s disgusting. It makes me want to throw up,” the Police Lieutenant said before striking Ackbar once more.
The Kylot was handcuffed with especially large handcuffs and marched out of the apartment. He found it difficult to walk, such was his beating. Making his way up the stairs proved difficult. He was sure that one of the bones in his thigh was fractured. Eventually they made it out to the street where there was a crowd of people shouting abuse and baying for blood.
For the first time in his life Ackbar began to question his principles. There was a lot of pushing, punching and shoving. The policemen had to attempt to fend off some the crowd in order to protect themselves. Against everything he believed in, Ackbar used the opportunity to change into the form of a young brown skinned boy and slip away into the crowd.
The Kylot kept walking. He was part ashamed of himself for betraying his own deeply held values and partly relieved to have escaped a fate worse than death. He decided not to seek the help of Bartlett and his other friends. If he did, he might have to admit to relaxing his principles in spite of all he had said. He also did not want to be a liability to them. Instead, Ackbar decided to find a new life for himself. He didn’t know where this would take him, but he wanted to get away from the city.