Written by 7th Grade Archie

Jay snuck around the back of the Resh’s building, seeing if he could find another way in. The buildings were so packed together, he saw no other way than to go through the alley, which meant going to the end of the block. He walked away from the front of the Resh’s building, heading towards the alley. He peeked into it, and upon seeing that it was empty, cautiously entered. His eyes darted back and forth, looking for any guards, but all was still. A thick aroma of rotting trash and alcohol hit him like a wall. Apparently, all the Resh were at the party. Still, he knew he couldn’t take any chances. He was already on thin ice with the Resh, and he knew if they caught him snooping around in the back alley, he would be killed. But still no sign of any guards. Perfect.

He had never thought very highly of the Resh, as they were one of the species that came to Earth to make money off of people trying to escape. They were greedy little idiots, but they were rich, and that was one thing he planned to take away from them. I only need one more big score and I can get off this snowball of a planet, he thought, trying to contain his excitement. He wasn’t against leaving the planet himself. In fact, that was his goal. But the Resh scammed people out of their money to send them to Resh-controlled planets and make them their workers until they could pay off their egregious debt. Tonight, the Resh were hosting a huge party to celebrate a drilling operation on some faraway planet. Every snob and elitist of Earth’s high society would be there, and this party would be the perfect distraction for him to sneak in, grab their money, and get back to his ship before they realized he was here. But that required not being noticed by the Resh, which would be hard once he got in.

He crept past trash and strange liquid that smelled putrid, like fresh sewage water. He tried to stay out of the streetlight, avoiding puddles and cracks in the wet concrete. As he moved, he took care to listen for any sound, any indication of someone coming. But there was nothing. After a while of searching for the back of the Resh’s building in a complex of tight alleys and compact houses, he found what he was looking for. A tall, white building with little windows and a cinderblock wall surrounding the back patio. A wooden door led into the patio, and he could see that it was being guarded. Two armed guards stood at the door, and they were definitely Resh. Crap. But he was in the right place. One of them was about two feet taller than the other one, and he’d learned on a scriptplate that the taller a Resh is, the more formidable they are. He needed to be careful. He looked around and found a chunk of concrete, about the size of his hand. He brought it back, and then chucked it across the alley to the opposite side of the building from where he was. It smashed with a loud sound, alerting the guards. To his dismay, only the short one went to investigate. That left him with one very tall Resh guard, now actively on the lookout for intruders. He had to make a plan, and fast. The short one would quickly lose interest in the concrete chunk. Jay unsheathed his knife, which was well hidden under his jacket, and rushed at the door. The guard didn’t have time to react before Jay cut into his throat. The huge body fell to the ground with a thud, alerting the shorter guard. But Jay was quick. The guard turned to see Jay’s knife flying towards him. He raised his pistol to shoot, but the knife got there first, and the guard collapsed in a bloody heap. The boy retrieved his knife, wiped off the blood and resheathed it. He dragged both bodies into a dark corner of the alley. He took the pistol, still in the guard’s hand, and tucked it under his belt.

“You never know when this could come in handy,” he said to himself quietly. He peeked through the crack in the wooden door into the patio. Empty.

He swiftly unlatched the door and snuck in, being sure to close it silently behind him. He slunk across the brick path to the back entrance on the far side of the patio. Keeping an eye on the door, he slowly approached, noticing possible places to hide. In the far corner, he observed a large stone carving of the Resh’s lædo, what they called their leader. He knew that the Resh treated their lædo like a god. She reigned over them, controlling their every move. She lived on the Resh’s planet, Umghwa. That meant paradise in their language, but it was so hard for humans to pronounce it that everyone called it Resho, partly because humans could think of no other good name for it. The current Resh lædo designed everything that the Resh used, including their buildings.

It was clear to Jay that this particular one was not her finest work of art. It was rather bland, with nothing much to look at. From what he had heard, the buildings on Resho were incredibly detailed, and clearly that hadn’t carried over to Earth yet. The patio was the only good looking thing about the place. It was a rather small patio, but it featured a breathtaking garden. All kinds of flowers and small trees, packed into a plot of soil about 7 square feet. Lustrous blooms flourished in all colors, and the tree leaves were bright green. They used artificial sunlight to grow the plants, the art of gardening long gone. They were tended to by machines and were very expensive to grow. He assumed they were paid for by all the money they made through illegal deals.

He got to the door and pressed his ear up against the soft wood. The other side was quiet, except for the faint sound of the party inside, but as he put his hand on the doorknob, he began to hear voices, and they were getting louder. He quickly ducked behind a retaining wall that surrounded the garden, afraid of being caught on the patio alone. Crouched behind a huge lily, he had a clear view of the door through the flowering leaves. His eyes remained fixed on the door, waiting for whoever might emerge. Eventually, the door opened with a creak, and two men, both dressed very well, came out of the door and quickly closed it. From here he could hear what they were saying, so he listened in.

“These Resh people are complete idiots. They put all this money into some drilling operation on Z11, and now they are getting ready to pool all of it into a new company that makes high end cargo carriers.”

“As if we don’t have enough money in the transportation industry.”

“Maybe if we put more money in something better, like heating, it wouldn’t be so dang cold!”

They slowly started to move away from the door, going around the side of the building. This gave Jay a chance to sneak through the door behind their backs. Apparently I am not the only one against the Resh. He cautiously exited his hiding spot, taking great care to not alert them. He snuck across the patio, and up to the door, unlatching it as silently as possible. He quickly peered into the vast party room that lay in front of him, and stepped across the threshold. He was suddenly blasted with warmth, and the smell of alcohol whisked through the air. He closed the door behind him and admired the party. It was huge. Giant glass chandeliers hung from the ceiling, which were about thirty feet up. They were covered in ornate carvings so big you could see them from the floor. All the food he had ever imagined was laid out in the front of the room in a wonderful display. Cakes and pies of all sizes adorned the table, alongside savory dishes from finger sandwiches to sirloin. The table adjacent was covered with all sorts of bottles and kegs, and the finest wines and spirits were being refilled within seconds. Resh servants dressed in tuxedos rushed back and forth from the bar to the table in a constant stream of alcohol. Servers and party-goers intertwined in a crowd of about two hundred people, with loud music and the hum of conversations in many different languages. The attendees were mostly human.

Jay was still taking it in when the music stopped and a loud voice came over the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much for coming to this fine event,” said the voice, coming from nowhere in particular. Then, a rather short Resh dressed in royal attire stepped forward onto a podium at the front of the room. “We Resh have always adored humankind for its good citizens, most of which are in this very room.” The crowd erupted in applause, and it took a good fifteen seconds for them to settle down. “After all you humans were one of the only reasons the drilling on Z11 was so successful!” Another round of applause, this time louder, and accompanied by the occasional whistle. Jay knew that this was his one chance to sneak into the Resh’s back room, where they kept the routes and times for the transport carriers carrying their money. He knew that the Resh were about to make a huge investment, and ever since digital millions were stolen from their bank account, they have relied on physical money to make payments.

They called the currency tokens, but they weren’t very private about where they keep their money. Jay kept that sweet thought in mind as he crossed the party room, weaving through now stationary people. He reached the far side of the room, thankful that the Resh speaker was still keeping everyone’s attention. He spotted the stairs that led up to a high balcony overlooking the party. Moving quickly, Jay started up the stairs, and saw the doors to the vaults were heavily guarded. Resh covered every door and there was no way past them. If he tried to fight one, they would all gang up on him. There were too many people around to start a fight anyway, but then he got an idea.

Stay tuned for Chapter 2…