Arrow of Gold

The Captain and his friend the Hisser sat across the round table eyeing the young tyro.
"Please forgive my seeming ingratitude, but please tell me... why are you two willing to teach me?"
The Hisser whistled through his sharp teeth. "It is at the behest of the council table of Copious- I mean- Copula, of which your father was a member." He cocked his head and lightly touched his heart. Strange, no slur was noted in his speaking these words.
"My Father! What do you know of my father?"
The Hisser leaned in close across the table, his gills delicately undulating. "The Captain here recognized you as soon as you walked through the door. Fool!" He leaned back in his chair nodding his head in the Captains direction. Yellow-green eyes glittered in the light cast from the overhead hanging lamp. An opaque lid slowly closed over one eye as if it were a wink. "You are the first born of two great houses are you not? There are certain facts you know nothing about."
"What facts?" The young man sat back forcefully in his chair. A loud high pitched shrill was made as the chair legs shunted on the floor.
"Calm, calm yourself.", said the Captain. "You have be raised in the dark for a reason young Persoos, it was apparently for your own protection. You are not ready for the truth we will teach you, but in time, in time."
The Captain's voice was calm and reassuring, with a hint of authority that the boy knew he could depend on.
"My Name! How do you know my name?"
"Don't be foolish boy, pay attention ...you will learn all that you need to know soon enough. All is not what it seems here on the Rim. A Topsy-turvy place this is you might say, but changes are imminent. You must learn to use your head and balance that with what you feel in your heart to be true. Many things have been put in motion to get you thus far. Do you think you have come here on your own vicissitudes?" Again the Captain lightly touched his chest as if caressing something under his spacesuit.
The boy smiled to himself in spite of his fear. He could not denie the fact, the two knew much about him.Taking a deep breath he felt a reaching in his stomach... shaking his head to overcome the reeling feeling. The effects of drinking and the fact he had not eaten sense landing his ship... Dazed, his head start to spin out of control.
"Captain we have work to do.", said the Hisser.
Raising from his chair, the Captain returned his gun that lay on the table to its holster fitted snugly to his thigh. A magnetic click sounded as he did so.
"The quartermaster in the spaceport cafe is a friend of mine Snaky. Even in this backwater hellhole there are many who know the merits of a good meal and a bath." The Captain straightened to his full hight, stretched both arms to his side... knuckles popping loudly as big fists opened and closed. "From the look and smell of you kid, you could use both."
Young Persoos nodded in agreement. He was to, to tired to think anymore about all the questions that were buzzing in his head. Both the Hisser and the Captain knew his name and something about his family. "So what!", he said to himself.