The Cardboard Spaceship (To Brave The Crumbling Sky Book 1)

by Matt Snee

  “Here you go,” the clerk said, opening the door. Bright light poured into the back of the store, but so did that same terrible smell he had noticed from his bedroom that morning. Captain almost tripped when it struck his nostrils this time. He brought his hand up to cover his nose, feeling wretched. It was ten times worse now than before. He peered out the door into the alley behind the store, which seemed isolated and slightly scary. What was out there? Compost? Or was this the onset of a brain tumor, which he had heard led to olfactory hallucinations?

  But then they both heard a ding! as the front door of the bookstore opened and a customer came in. Captain turned and looked. It was the mysterious woman.

  “Well, I've got a customer,” said the clerk.

  “I've … changed my mind,” said Captain, feeling oddly but unquestionably drawn toward the stranger. “I'll just go out the front. Maybe I'm just imagining things.”

  “You sure?” asked the clerk, kind of disappointed.

  “Yeah,” affirmed Captain.

  The clerk shut the door.

  “Thank you,” Captain said.

  They both walked up to the front of the store. Captain tried to make eye contact with the woman, but she would not look at him and instead spoke to the clerk. “I'm sorry,” she said. “Was I interrupting something?”

  “No, not at all,” said the clerk.

  “Nope,” said Captain. Now the woman turned to him and looked deeply into his eyes, freezing Captain in his steps. Her eyes were so clear and blue, yet strangely sad; they seemed to communicate a million things at once, none of which he understood.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “H-hello,” Captain stuttered.

  “This is going to sound silly,” the woman began, in a strange accent he did not recognize, “but you … I mean … oh, never mind.” She turned and headed back toward the front door.

  “What?” Captain asked, confused.

  She turned around, somewhat dramatically, and then she looked at her shoes before returning his gaze. “Well, you aren't Lewis Darby by any chance, are you?”

  Captain was taken aback. “Well, yes, I am,” he responded, a little defensive. “Who might you be?”

  “My name is Jennifer.” She outstretched her hand. “Jennifer Pichon. I'm … I mean, I'm your biggest fan.”

  Captain didn't quite know how to react, but he shook her hand anyway. Her skin was soft and cool, but he could not bear to look her in the eyes again just yet.

  They were interrupted by the bookstore clerk, who now spoke herself. “Wow, Lewis Darby, in my store! All these years and I had no idea!”

  Captain laughed nervously. “Yeah,” he said.

  He didn't like being famous, but he smiled at the mysterious woman. She smiled back, and their eyes met again.

  “Wait!” interrupted the clerk again. “Just hold on a second …”She bent and dug beneath her desk for a minute then pulled out a yellowing novel with an austere green cover. “Could you sign this for me, Mr. Darby?”

  It was his book Their Grim Reply, an early, anti-war novel about a self-conscious machine gun that one day refuses to kill any longer for its masters. It was a work he now felt embarrassed about; he had been young when he wrote it.

  “Um, sure,” said Captain, still smiling at Jennifer, who stood silently inquisitive. He took a pen from the clerk and signed his name on the interior of the paperback, his hand shaking from nerves.

  “Thank you!” said the clerk after he was done. “I've never read it, but I've always meant to!”

  “Gee, thanks,” said Captain. He turned back to the strange woman, Jennifer, to whom he wasn't sure how to react.

  “Look, could I talk to you for a few minutes? Maybe go for a walk?” she asked him.

  He was a little overwhelmed and habit urged at him to withdrawal, but curiosity—and an increasingly undeniable attraction—seemed to have the upper hand here, pushing the words out before he knew he was saying them. “Sure,” he said. “I'd like that.”

  He was happy to leave the store now, but unsure of what the near future would bring. For a moment he even wished he was back home. Jennifer turned and headed out the door and he followed, glancing at her dark hair falling across her shoulders and a sliver of her neck that was visible on one side.

  “Take care, you two,” said the clerk. “And thank you, Mr. Darby!”

  “You're welcome,” Captain said, nodding awkwardly.

  They came out into the sun and sidewalk traffic and turned to each other again. Jennifer hesitated. “It's nice,” she finally said.

  “It is,” he agreed.

  There was another awkward pause. Captain, who used words professionally, found none that were suitable. Somewhere far off a siren started sounding.

  “I'm … I'm sorry to bother you,” Jennifer began again. “I'm just a huge fan, and I was in town, and I …”

  “It's okay,” said Captain. He felt unexplainably protective of her, almost forgetting his nervousness to try and soothe her own. “I'm just surprised. I was only out for lunch and a bike ride, and … well, to be honest, this sort of thing has never happened before.”

  “I'm sorry,” she said again. “I was in town and I knew you lived here, but I didn't know how to contact you, and then I saw you on the street and I … I had to talk to you.”

  “That's okay,” he repeated, though he wasn't sure if it was. He felt claustrophobic all of a sudden, with no sign of escape from this uncomfortable situation, even though he was already quite enamored with her. It had been a long time since he had conversed with a beautiful woman. But—

  Who was she?

  2. Jennifer

  All moments in time occur simultaneously.

  Jennifer Pichon, “Poetry from My Travels”

  Her name was Jennifer Pichon, and she was not of this earth. She had been watching Captain for three days now. For the past two days, he had followed lunch downtown with a visit to the local park, where he had gotten off the bike for awhile and enjoyed the spring sun while lying on the grass. Jennifer had supposed that was what he would do today, but when he had entered the book shop she had become worried, and even more worried still when he didn't come out. She knew what waited behind the illusion of the visible.

  Even though she had been here for a couple days now, the town was still scary to her, and the wealth of people around her filled her heart with confusion. She was used to stillness, and the constant motion of this world was almost more than she could bear. The first day had been shocking. Now she was less stunned by the trees and traffic, the noises over the horizon, and the jets up in the sky. Yesterday a helicopter had passed overhead and she had cowered. Today she saw another and thought nothing of it. Still, it was a peculiar world to her. Every step she took was still unsure and every breath she took of the air was hesitant, as though there might be something in it that could choke her.

  For the most part, she had avoided people, but there had been a few incidents that left her harried. She had slept in the park, despite the advice she had been given about a hotel nearby. Lost as she was, she both feared and resented any interaction with other human beings. It wasn't too cold at night—not as cold as the Devasthanam—so in some ways it was easy. The hardest part had been those few encounters with others of her species, something she was terribly unused to, but she didn't lack in courage and her ancient love of danger had come in handy. The noise and the shapes, the cars, the people—it was the living things that filled her with disquiet. It was an alien world to Jennifer, more alien than anything she had ever known.

  But there was the mission, and that was all that mattered.

  She walked gently, taking in the sights and sounds, a little less surprised now than she was at first. What will I say to him? she asked herself. How will I do this? What will he think of me?

  Perhaps it was all useless. She tried not to think that way. Instead, as they made their way through the people, she lit a cigarette absentmindedly and inhaled the smoke deeply, forgetting
, forgetting. All this walking made her catch her breath. She was out of shape, a result of apathy, depression, and general uselessness. Things are different now, she thought. Now there's no stopping anymore. Never again.

  “Cigarettes are bad for you, you know,” Captain said, a little unsure of himself.

  “I know,” she told him. “It's just a bad habit when I'm nervous.”

  “What are you nervous about?”

  “Oh, just to be around my favorite writer!” She laughed.

  Jennifer never thought she would survive the trip here. Now all her plans didn't make any sense once confronted with reality. The things she imagined saying to him, the truths she had to impart, the illusions she had to dispel …she was overwhelmed to say the least. Not to mention the terrible danger they were both in. Enemies encircled both of them. If either of them were found, it was all over.

  Time was running out.

  “My books are alright,” said Captain. “I'm surprised anybody likes them.”

  “Why's that?”

  “Don't you think they're strange?”

  “Why …that's what's so great about them,” she told him, bravely making small talk with the whole solar system crashing around them. Would he believe her? What would it take to convince him? Would she have to wait until the last moment? She had been told there would be a price to pay—not by her, but him. The enemy, the monster that hunted them, would take something away from Captain forever. She pretended to wonder what it would be, but in her heart she already knew.

  She tried to remember where she was. Earth. Supposedly her true home, but she had never been here before. Her eyes glanced at the other pedestrians walking by. If they only knew. She smiled. It was a slight amusement, but one cold with sadness and pity. If there wasn't the task at hand, if there was anybody else who could do it, she would just find a hole to hide in.

  What she didn't know was that Captain was in complete shock, astonished by her, by her beauty, by every reality that currently faced him. She had hints of this, but never so close to the truth.

  Come on, girl, she thought. This is it. I have to be sexy. He's a lonely man. I have to convince him. He has to like me.

  “It's just so amazing,” she ventured next, “to be walking right next to you here, in person.” She hoped she wasn't overdoing it. “I mean, I feel like this is all a dream.” There was a lot of truth in that, at least.

  Captain looked her up and down, perplexed. “Really?” He was still disarmed by her beauty and did not consider the strangeness of her story. She was lucky she was a woman.

  I've got him, Jennifer thought.

  “I know it's crazy, I know I should have called, or mailed, or contacted you first, somehow. I know it's not fair to just spring this on you in the middle of your day, but I just …that's just the way things worked out.”

  “It's okay,” he said, smiling. “I…uh…I'm glad you did, I'm just a little…”

  “Surprised?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” He chuckled.

  “I'm sorry,” Jennifer continued. “I just …your books … I've read all your books.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” That was the truth too. She was actually quite the fan, just maybe not his biggest fan. She had read all of his books, even the out-of-print ones. She had to. She realized the unfairness of it: she knew what she knew about him, but he knew nothing at all about her.

  “Uh,” Captain said. “And you came all the way out here to see me?”

  “I'm not psychotic or anything. Please don't think that,” she said. “I know it's a little strange.”

  “That's okay,” he said, as kind as she had imagined him being. He was flattered. Good, she thought.

  “I was wondering …wondering if we could talk, maybe,” she asked him lightly.

  “Sure,” he said. “But…” He looked down at his watch.

  “What?” she wondered out loud, somewhat desperate.

  “My mother …she's expecting me,” he told her. He was excited, but scared too, and a powerful part of him just wanted to go home.

  “Oh,” she said. “Well, could I maybe walk with you, then? I came all the way out here to see you. I just wanted to talk to you and meet you.”

  “Yeah,” he said, smiling. “I guess that would be okay.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Okay,” he repeated.

  * * *

  They had walked perhaps a half mile when Jennifer pointed to the trees above them. “Look!”

  “What?”

  The branches were covered in sparrows, jumping through the leaves. Jennifer gave Captain a mischievous look and, forgetting about everything for a moment, suddenly jumped up into the air, yelling out nonsense. The birds erupted out of the trees around them and up into the air.

  Jennifer laughed. Before a few days ago, it had been a long time since she saw birds. She sighed and spoke, “I'm sorry, I just always wanted to do that.” She felt ridiculous. With all that was happening, how could she be so silly? But being with him made her feel lighter…

  Captain smiled, glowing. “No, that was amazing,” he said.

  “I like birds,” she said.

  “Uh, me too,” said Captain. He carefully walked his bike. “So, where are you from?”

  “Me? Oh, well, I'm from all over I guess.” She tried to answer his question without lying too much. “My mom was Indian, but my dad was from France.”

  “Oh really?”

  “Oui,” she answered, speaking her father's language. She probably hadn't used French since he had died.

  “I've always wanted to go to France,” said Captain.

  Me too, thought Jennifer. I was supposed to grow up there. “It's beautiful,” she told him.

  “I can imagine.”

  They continued to walk, saying nothing for a few moments. The world continued to turn, and the wind continued to blow, and all the things they thought they knew remained as they were. Cars passed by on the street and birds flew overhead as clouds light and huge floated across the sky and the sun came down warm and loving. For this briefest of intervals, everything was simple and good, and the both of them forgot about their worries and just enjoyed their own presence.

  But it didn't last. Jennifer began to worry about the impending future, about the odor she could smell at the edge of everything around them now, the knowledge of the darkness that lurked beneath the light. She questioned the whole fact of it—the plan, what she had been commanded, what they had told her about this man. How could anything be so clear and certain?

  It is as it is, they would say. Perhaps they said the same thing when she was born, her father raising her infant body into the drafty air of the Devasthanam. It was what they had said when her parents had died, and before she had departed for this crazy journey. If they felt anything, they would have felt something at those moments, but she doubted they felt anything.

  “I've got a new book I'm working on now,” Captain said.

  “Oh really?” she asked, her eyes darting around them, looking for the monster that hunted their footsteps.

  “Actually, I'm working on like three books,” Captain continued. “I kind of skip around.”

  “Why's that?” she asked.

  “I don't know. A short attention span I guess. I get bored.”

  “What are they about?”

  “There's A The Pear-Shaped Void, which is my focus right now; it's about time travel. But there's also You're Not My Id, which is about steampunk cyborgs in medieval Africa, and Lo, I Have Seen the Beast, which is kind of religious, I guess.”

  “What's that one about?” Jennifer was genuinely curious about this one.

  “Well, it's about a boy looking for his father, but he finds something else instead.”

  “What?”

  “Well, I call it a 'living earthquake,' a kind of invisible force trapped beneath the ground that can think and feel, but when it breathes or moves it ruptures the tectonic plates and causes havoc, unintentional
ly. The story is about the boy finding a way to help the earthquake.”

  She smiled. “That's cute.”

  He smiled back. “Thanks.”

  “You father is dead, isn't he?”

  “Yes,” answered Captain, a little off-guard.

  “Mine is too.”

  “Oh, I'm sorry to hear that,” Captain told her.

  “It's okay,” she said. “It happened many years ago. My mom too.”

  “I'm very sorry. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “No, I'm alone,” she said. Truly alone.

  “I don't have any brothers or sisters either,” said Captain. “But I still have my mom.” He grinned.

  Jennifer wondered what Captain thought of this whole mess: Did he proceed because she was a beautiful woman (a fan too) and he was lonely? Or did he know, somewhere inside, that fate had finally arrived to rip him to shreds? She couldn't imagine his mind. It made her feel useless. She didn't know if they would survive the night. Couldn't she just tell him everything now? No, he wouldn't believe it. He had to see for himself, had to experience true reality before he would listen to her, and that would take—

  A sacrifice.

  She felt terribly cold. Couldn't there be another way? No. They had told her all she needed to know, all she needed to do. If she just stuck with the plan…

  They were getting close now. She could feel it. She could feel it through him, the future solid, as opposed to everything they tell you—a certainty surrounded by uncertainties. He was nervous. So was she. But she knew what was coming. All he had was a shaky grasp on his farfetched desires.

  “It's just up this street,” Captain told her.

  “Okay.”

  * * *

  She thought now of her journey here, to this beautiful but deranged planet, Earth. Strapped into the austere rocket ship, nothing but her will to warm her. It had been a frightful, speedy journey, and she still had the bruises to prove it.

  Captain was about to step from a hideously blissful wholesome life into something akin to the pages of one of his novels, all because of her. No, all because of IT, the menace, the mad color in the sky.

  If God was nothing more than a magician, what would his next trick be? Everything up to now had been rings of certainty. There was an air of artifice about – wasn't there? Jennifer wondered what her part would be, what Captain's part would be – other than their aspirations and illusions, there was something more truthful determined to reveal itself.