Closer To The Core (25,000 Light-Years Book 1)

by S. Hansen

  'No.' And before Polly could respond they all found themselves back on The Asteria awkwardly watching each other. Stark got up and skulked out of the room without saying a word and as Polly rose to go after him Mazar once more stopped her.

  'Polly.'

  'What?'

  'Leave him be.'

  'Why should I?'

  'Has anyone you love ever died?'

  'No, so what?'

  'You can't understand until it's happened to you.

  'Oh so you of course are an expert. Who do you love that has died?!' Mazar glared at her and made no attempt at answering the question instead she made her way to the white cube and began setting a course to travel along. Polly feeling undervalued by Mazar made her way to the pilot chair before Mazar could take over that role too. She concentrated hard on flying the ship perfectly so as not to give Mazar any further reason to feel superior. With her back to Mazar a few tears slipped past Polly’s defences but she quickly wiped them away and hid them from the rest of the room.

  Mazar finished setting the course and sauntered over to the table where she removed her jacket revealing the black vest she wore underneath. She pulled a small gadget from a jacket pocket before sitting at the table to examine it more closely. She turned the small blue pyramid shaped object over in her hands before laying it flat on the table and staring at it intently. Dantil who had sat down across from her and watched her then leaned across and touched the pyramid gently with the tip of a finger. Suddenly a blue light shot out of the apex of the pyramid and expanded. The light began to spin and as it did so images began to appear in between Dantil and Mazar. The nausea, throbbing head ache and low temperature had returned to Dantil and unfortunately for him the discomfort was worsened by the spinning lights.

  'How did you know to do that?' Mazar for the first time directly spoke to Dantil and began to make eye contact with him.

  'We have something similar on my home planet, it's in a museum for technology of other worlds. I always wanted to be able to see it properly but I can't hear the pictures when they are made of light.' Mazar smiled faintly at Dantil and began watching the images flicker in front of her. Three dimensional light sculptures of the device they were after rotated between them and unintelligible writing hung in the air.

  'So you can’t read that writing then?' Dantil shrugged sadly when he replied.

  'No, but I can maybe get some useful information from the device itself.' Mazar looked at him with as much respect as she would any person, which was very little but all the same it was an achievement for Dantil if he had noticed. So for some time they whipped through the galaxy at a speed faster than light, Polly piloting, Mazar and Dantil studying and researching whilst Stark hid away from life.

  Chapter Eleven – Tough Questions

  When Mazar felt herself unable to look at the blue lights any longer she got up and briefly strolled in a circuit around the ship. She was disappointed to find on her return to the bridge that only Dantil remained, he looked, she thought, an unhealthy colour and in slight pain but she made no effort to check on him. Mazar then set off to track down Polly and stop her before she could infuriate Stark any more than he already had been. Dantil was in more than slight pain. His gut twisted and churned, his head pounded and his hands and feet were beginning to feel numb. He rifled through his bag for anything that would help but he had not anticipated feeling so unwell away from home. He had some low-level pain killers that he took and hoped for the best.

  Mazar stumbled across Stark by accident when she took a wrong turn and found him slumped on the floor at the end of a corridor that only led to the airlock. She discreetly backed out of the corridor and intended leave him alone but instead Stark called out to her quietly.

  'Mazar?' She slowly turned to him hoping to avoid a deep conversation.

  'Yes?'

  'Thank you.' Mazar was taken aback. She closed the gap between them and sat down next to him though she didn't say anything, she just sat quietly next to him. He dried his reddened eyes with the back of his hands and avoided eye contact with her by focusing on the wall ahead of him. He sniffed and steadied his voice before mumbling to Mazar.

  'Substandard agent huh?' Mazar smiled and crossed her legs as they stretched out in front of her.

  'Name the last mission you completed without injuring anyone.' Stark slowly nodded his head once and sighed.

  'I see your point. I bet I have more fun than you though.' Mazar leant back against the wall and pursed her lips.

  'Oh I have fun, just not with you.' She patted his leg lightly twice and Stark gave out a husky, deep laugh before stretching his arms and legs simultaneously.

  'I suppose I'm going to have to stop avoiding Polly soon.' Whilst continuing to stare vacantly ahead of her Mazar spoke in a steady, harsh but reassuring voice.

  'You should really tell her you don't feel the same way.' Stark's eyebrow raised as he twisted uncomfortably to look at the shadowy side of Mazar's face. He thought about disputing the connotations of her sentence but knew it would be pointless so he simply explained why he hadn't already done as she suggested.

  'It's a bit cruel to tell someone to stop loving you because you aren't ever going to feel the same way, don't you think?'

  'More cruel than letting her think she has a chance?' She pushed herself up the wall and silently walked away, meeting Polly in the corridor. She thought Polly looked hurt and shocked but she couldn't be sure if Polly had heard their conversation. As Stark stiffly got up and walked towards the women they could feel another time ripple pushing toward them. Stark dreaded what terrible moment he would have to relive this time.

  The ripple gently set them down on a river bank where the sky was a beautiful azure blue with only a few clouds. They were surrounded by healthy green trees and the ground was blanketed in mossy grass that felt soft and spongey under their weight as they sat watching a single boat drift along the river. A number of other beautifully crafted wooden boats bobbed around a short way up the bank as they tried unsuccessfully to break away from their moorings. The river was perfectly clear as it flowed past them and they could see the occasional fish energetically swim through the currents and dart in all directions. On the other side of the river some large bearded men were casting nets out to catch some of the fish. They seemed as though they were enjoying themselves as they looked from a distance that they were laughing and joking with each other as they worked.

  The boat they were watching had been handcrafted with great skill from a pale wood, the rim of the vessel had been carved to create a woven chord design with no beginning and no end. It peacefully floated past them while they quietly listened to the sounds of wildlife in the surrounding forests, the gentle slapping of water on the moored boats and the slight gushing sound as the bow of the lone boat broke through the water. Stark deeply sighed creating a puff of condensed air in front of him like the hot breath of a dragon.

  'It really is beautiful here.' He softly spoke as he placed his hands into the pillowy ground behind him and leant back on them while he looked around and enjoyed the scenery. A large drop of water struck Stark on his forehead as the precursor to a slow and cool rainfall. The droplets began hitting the surface of the river and sending ripples across it reminding the three of them of the time ripples pushing them through time. They began to hear the comforting sound of rain falling on a canopy of trees which to them was a sound that symbolised shelter and brought a sense of satisfaction. They quietly stood up and paced under the trees before finding themselves back on The Asteria.

  Meanwhile the time ripple had placed Dantil further upstream examining the bobbing wooden boats moored to a short wooden dock. He enjoyed the sweet woody scent coming from the boats and trees alike, the cool breeze as it blew along the flow of the river, the vibrant blue of the sky and the green of the trees and the feeling of freedom. The clear water lay invitingly at his feet and he felt unable to resist when he enthusiastically leapt into the water and bobbed over and under the surfa
ce in childlike glee. His red hair became a flickering flame as he effortlessly swam in the cool waters. In the distance he saw his friends and began to swim to the dock on his way to meet them but as he pulled himself up onto the dock he returned to his seat on The Asteria.

  Once the three humans began to head along the corridor Stark tried to control the direction of the conversation.

  'Well that memory? .... wasn't so bad.' Mazar remained silent as Polly tried to think through Stark's almost query.

  'Surely it can't be considered a memory if it hasn't happened. But then what is it? A future event? In which case I'm quite surprised to see the three of us in Norway.'

  'How do you know that was Norway?'

  'Well it looked an awful lot like it don't you think?' They entered the bridge and continued their debate as Polly took the pilot seat, Stark leant against a wall and Mazar re-joined Dantil at the table.

  'I guess, but don't all those Scandinavian countries look alike? And anyway, that might not be the future. Not all of mine have been entirely accurate.' Stark had an almost disappointed look in his eye as he thought about their escape from Renya. A look that Polly noticed but couldn't quite understand and before she could question him about it he moved toward the table and picked up his coat. Swinging it around his body and over his shoulders he began to speak with forced merriment to Dantil.

  'Dan, the man. What are you doing?' He patted him on the shoulder and sat down next to him. Dantil didn't look at Stark, instead he tried desperately to suppress the urge to vomit. He focused himself and concealed his physical feelings from Stark.

  'I have been trying to get useful information from this object that Mazar has brought. To be honest I can't really help because I can't see the image it projects.' He tensed his muscles in a bid to stop everything from moving quite so much, the blood pumping around his body felt like he was constantly being pressed in a vice. He remained motionless for only a short while before he regained his composure and he began to question Stark.

  'Do you and Mazar work together?' Mazar laughed quietly to herself before answering the question for Stark.

  'No, I don't work with anyone.'

  'What she means to say is she is such a miserable woman, no one wants to work with her.' Stark smiled at her immaturely.

  'No, what I mean to say is that I don't need anyone to help me. Unlike Stark.'

  ‘Oh I wouldn’t say I needed their help as much as enjoyed their company.’ Mazar grunted in disapproval and looked away from the table in indifference.

  'We do the same job but for different countries.' A look of horror passed across Dantil's face that turned quickly into concern.

  'Oh dear, what if your countries threatened each other? Wouldn't you be sent to work against each other? What if you had to kill each other?' Stark examined Mazar’s profile before he half smiled and spoke.

  'Yes Mazar, what if you were sent to kill me?' With a completely emotionless face she looked him in the eyes and spoke with a steady voice.

  'Then I would kill Stark. In fact, when we return to Earth that is exactly what I have been assigned to do.' Stark gave her an expression that asked her why she hadn't just let him fall to his death which she ignored as she noticed the anger on Polly's face in the background. Polly jumped out of her seat and paced over to the table before demanding details from Mazar.

  'Israel and Britain aren't even at war, why would you be told to kill him?' Unaffected by this defence of Stark's life she continued.

  'He saw me. I was not supposed to be in England and he saw me.' Stark was unsurprised by the news as he had already assumed she was not meant to be in England but Polly was still outraged.

  'So, you would kill someone just because they saw you? When does that end? Would you kill a random civilian for seeing you?' Mazar rolled her eyes and grew tired of the conversation. Meanwhile Stark rummaged in his pocket and retrieved a snack that he slowly and quietly opened to begin munching away as he watched to the two women bicker.

  'If I was told to, yes I would.' Stark offered some food to Dantil as he continued to watch them.

  'Wow you heartless-' Mazar cut Polly up before she could extend the conversation further.

  'It's why I'm a better agent than Stark. It's my job to do as I'm told, it's also Stark's job. And by the way before you get on your high horse don’t think that Stark hasn’t done the exact same thing before.' Stark who was enjoying staying out of the conversation suddenly became rather uncomfortable and tried to keep Polly's glaring eyes moving around the table.

  'Dantil killed someone for seeing him too.' At this point Polly gave up and returned to her seat grumpily whilst Mazar looked upon Dantil with fresh eyes.

  'How did you kill him?'

  'With a rail gun.' Mazar's intrigue raised as she looked to Stark for conformation. Stark, as a lover of gadgets, stretched across Dantil excitedly and picked up the gun from the seat and placed it on the table.

  'Impressive.' Stark wished he could show Mazar just how impressive his new toy was but he was aware enough to realise that it would likely do severe damage to something.

  'You have no idea. Tell her what it did Dantil.' Dantil looked guiltily around to Polly who was trying her hardest to ignore them. He really didn't want to make her feel sick again and the thought of it made his own nausea worsen. He stood up abruptly and shot out the room. Assuming that Dantil was just being shy and weird Stark continued on excitedly.

  'He shot at the alien’s head and blew it right off!' Mazar was less enthusiastic than he had hoped she would be.

  'That's a little unnecessarily powerful. I'll stick with my Browning.' She drew her gun from its holster and placed it on the table in front of her. 'It's less messy and as far as I'm concerned more reliable.' Stark disappointedly stood up and sulked toward the cube where he tried to find the plotted course to see how close they were but struggled with the complex arm movements. He tried not to let Mazar see him struggle but the longer it took to find what he wanted the more frustrated and inaccurate his arm movements became. Mazar began cleaning her gun with dedication and kindly ignored Stark's embarrassing attempts to use the foreign technology.

  Eventually Stark was able to focus the flickering image into a display of The Asteria's location in relation to the device. A device that he felt bullied by as it seemed to him that it wanted him to be incredibly depressed. He could see that they were nearing their destination and hoped that they wouldn't be shot elsewhere in space this time. After a brief discussion about their location it was decided that they would pause their travels temporarily to get some sleep before they came much closer to the device that had previously thrown them across the sector when they approached it before. As Dantil had previously claimed the room next to Polly’s Mazar was left sharing a hallway with Stark. She was not happy about it but she was too tired to argue as she had gone without sleep for the past twenty-nine hours. Each of them headed to a room they called their own and drifted to sleep in varying degrees of serenity.

  ☆★☆

  Stark turned uneasily as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Eventually he grumpily sighed and sat upright on the edge of his minimalistic bed. His jaw jostled as he stared vacantly at the floor and his hair flopped into his face so he raised his hand to push it back but as he did so his vision shook and he saw a brunette woman sat next to him out the corner of his eye. He slowly turned his head in confusion and found he had imagined the company. He gently shook his head and jumped to his feet.

  Stark shuffled sleepily through the halls of The Asteria wearing nothing but his boxer shorts before finding the plain and uninspiring kitchen compartment. He crouched down and began sliding open cupboard doors and rifling through their contents. Unimpressed with what he found he moved to the higher cupboards. The door slid open easily and as it did so Stark's face gained an expression of confusion. Unexpectedly there appeared to be nothing in the cupboard and not only was there nothing in the cupboard but there was no cupboard inside. Instead he saw the b
runette woman staring back at him with the same confused look on her face. In befuddlement he slid the door shut quickly and opened it again. She was still there and appeared to have copied his actions. Whilst maintaining eye contact with the woman he slowly closed the cupboard halfway and she too slid the door along its rails partially before stopping and reopening the cupboard in unison with Stark. His right eyebrow raised, her right eyebrow raised, he stepped back and at the same time she stepped back. They both slammed the door shut. Stark turned his back on the cupboard and massaged his split lip with his tongue.

  'What are you doing?' In the darkest corner of the small room sat Mazar who had carefully and silently watched Stark open and close a cupboard in underwear and bewilderment. Stark opened his mouth and raised a solitary finger but paused, balled the finger back into his fist and sighed.

  'Nothing.' He sauntered towards the table and pulled a chair out before Mazar spoke wearily.

  'I'd rather you wore clothes at meal times.'

  'It's not a meal time.'

  'I'm eating, it's a meal time.' Stark nodded his head, smiled smugly and left the room. Expecting the most likely outcome Mazar rolled her eyes and left the kitchen for her room before Stark proudly returned wearing his underwear and waistcoat. Rather disappointed at Mazar's absence he sulkily slumped onto an uncomfortable looking chair but found it surprisingly cushioned.