Relic Worlds - Lancaster James & the Salient Seed of the Galaxy, Part 2

by Jeff McArthur

  It didn’t work. He thought a moment. If this gave him too much trouble, Little Jack knew ways to break in past the keyboard, but he’d rather not break open the paneling. He tried something else first. Haniz. As a click sounded and the door rolled open while a ladder lowered, Little Jack realized he would not be telling Mika what the combination was. Instead he just climbed up inside.

  To one side was the cockpit which had several loose items sitting on top of controls, and on the other side there were two rooms; one for storage, one for sleeping. They both had numerous relics leaning up against their walls; all of which looked like they came from the area by some native tribe.

  Lancaster’s eyes were down as he followed what were becoming more and more evidently the tracks of a man. It had taken him a little longer to confirm because many of the tracks intermingled with several types of animals which varied in size. Lancaster had again become distracted with his fascination, and had followed some of those tracks with his eyes to see what directions they were going. He only hoped none of them had eaten Teo.

  They hadn’t. Lancaster heard a noise in front of him and looked up to see himself face to face with the man they had come to find.

  “Hello,” Teo said, a bit of confusion and worry in his voice. He was tall, about Lancaster’s height, but currently a little thinner; though the sag in his clothing implied that he had previously had more bulk. He hadn’t shaved in a while, and the smell matched the lack of hygiene.

  Lancaster did not answer. He blinked one or two times, but he just kept staring, mouth slightly agape, studying the man, sizing him up. He was mostly surprised that Teo was not giddy with excitement at seeing a person for the first time in a long while.

  In response, Teo tilted his head, trying to figure out what to make of Lancaster. Then a glimpse of familiarity sparked in his eye. “Do I know you?”

  Lancaster stammered with the sound of a word, but couldn’t form a whole one.

  Teo then noticed beyond Lancaster that his ship had been opened up, so he pushed past Lancaster and stomped to the edge of the clearing. “Hey! What are you doing in that thing? Get out of…”

  “Mika…” Lancaster managed to blurt.

  Teo froze, and turned around to look at Lancaster. His face was stuck somewhere between fear and fascination. “Did she send you?” he asked. “How did she know…” Then the spark of recognition filled his entire body. “Wait. I have seen you. You’re her ex-husband.” Now his expression was full of confusion.

  Mika had come out of the woods on the opposite side of the clearing. She was now closing the distance between herself and her husband.

  Lancaster nodded and swallowed. “Yes. We’ve been trying to find you.”

  “Why?” Teo asked. Lancaster hesitated again, seeing Mika on her way. She could explain better than he could. But Teo didn’t wait. He thought about what he’d seen in the clearing and said, “You and your little partner come here to sabotage my ship so I can’t leave? That it? Let me tell you, Mika’s done with…”

  Grabbed from behind, Teo was swung around. His fist formed, but he saw it was Mika, and he dropped his guard.

  So Mika punched him, and laid him out on the ground.

  She stepped over him, one foot on his stomach. “You told me you were different!” she nearly shrieked.

  “Honey, I…” he tried to say, but his face was turning red from embarrassment.

  “What did you promise me, Teo? What did you promise me?”

  His embarrassment turned to shame, and he raised up his hands in surrender.

  “You told me you were done searching for treasures. Done with your gallivanting!” she accused.

  “I thought I was,” he said guiltily.

  “Thought!” Mika said, shaking her head in disgust. “Do you sav how long we’ve been blicking for you?”

  “Me and Verick, we’re on to something big. Just a month of work and we’ll have something priceless for the museum. We just need another week…”

  “It’s been nearly five years, Teo!” she said, leaning down to him.

  His face contorted with confusion. “What do you mean? It’s been a couple weeks. Verick and I followed a trail to Cygnas A-1 and I continued on to here. I stayed an extra week and a half because I’ve found something even bigger…”

  “Time dilation,” Mika said, sitting down on Teo. He now saw that she had a tear falling out of one of her eyes. “The gravity warps space time, and you’ve been here for more than four years.”

  Teo leaned up, shocked, but he shook his head. “That can’t be. I checked it before I landed. There was a small dilation, but it wasn’t enough to be concerned about…”

  “That was when the moon was on the opposite side of the planet,” Little Jack said, stepping closer.

  Mika was nodding. “As you orbit the planet, the dilation is getting more severe.”

  Teo looked over at Lancaster, whose hands were in his pockets. He could not read his face; it was now hidden under the rim of his hat. But he seemed to be nodding. As Teo looked back at his wife, his lip was quivering. “So I’ve missed more than four years with you?”

  She laid over him and kissed Teo. Lancaster and Little Jack turned away in opposite directions.

  After Mika pulled back, Teo asked, “What about Verick? Why didn’t he come…”

  “He died,” Lancaster said.

  Teo’s face jumped, shocked, and a little angry at the bluntness of the news without any respect. Mika grabbed his head and had Teo look at her. “Lancaster found him. Ever since then we’ve been blicking for you. Now let’s go. Time to get you out of here.” She grabbed his hand and began to stand.

  “Wait, we can’t,” Teo said, holding his hand where it was.

  Little Jack whipped around. “The hades we can’t.”

  Lancaster also turned, but spoke more understandingly. “Each minute we spend here we lose more than a hundred in our own timeline, and it’s getting worse. We’ve got to leave.”

  Mika was also nodding, her eyes pleading with Teo as if begging him not to try to stay. Teo’s expression was earnest and pleading. “You don’t comprend. There’s something of vital importance here. The Milak Shivar.”

  “I know,” Mika said. “You were on the trail of the Idol of Haniz but Lancaster already found it. It was on another world…”

  “Not the idol, something bigger…”

  “We don’t need any more artifacts,” Mika said. “The museum has enough. Just come home. Please. Come home.”

  “I don’t mean artifacts!” Teo insisted. “I’m not talking about relics or ruins or leftover remains. I mean the Milak Shivar. The people. They’re here.”