by Vixa Moon
The hours turned to days… It went on and on… I was hungry, practically starving, thirsty beyond belief. My teacher ate nothing and drank nothing. He kept hitting me. My back was a bloody mess….
And he kept laughing…
Finally, somehow, the lesson became apparent to me…
It was senseless. Hitting me with a stick was senseless and insane, and my teacher knew it. That’s why he was laughing.
And that’s what he was trying to tell me. That pain was pointless. Pain was nothing. Pain was something to be laughed at and nothing more.
Instead of fighting the pain, it somehow became re-contextualized in my mind. I began to live with it, coexist with it.
And, most importantly, I began to laugh at it.
When I began laughing, my teacher stopped hitting me.
“Why are you laughing?” he asked me, his old man’s voice hoarse and faint.
“It’s pointless,” I said.
“Good,” he said, putting away his stick. “You can get up now.”
I got up, my back bloody, almost to the point of death with hunger and thirst.
But the pain was… It was still there. But I didn’t care…
I laughed, and I didn’t stop laughing.
That’s how I learned to live with the pain.
I open my eyes and look around. Olivia’s little compact car is completely smashed. There are pieces of paper strewn around the car. All the windows are smashed. Broken glass is everywhere.
I take a moment to feel the pain, not to block it out, but to feel it and savor it.
I start laughing, a gorgeous, rich laugh that echoes through the car.
I get up, the pain present, but not affecting me.
The car door won’t open. It’s too damaged from the crash, so I kick it and it bursts open.
Getting out of the ruined car, I walk ten meters to test my body. I’m OK. Not in the best shape, but OK. There’s blood, and there are injuries. But I simply don’t care about them.
What I care about is Olivia.
I need to get her back, no matter what.
But where do I look?
Well, I don’t yet know. But that’s OK.
The first thing I need to do is to get to a vehicle. Then I can start my search.
I take a brief survey of my equipment. My blaster is broken. My scanner is broken. Every piece of technology I have is broken, their innards completely shattered. They’ll never work again. The only thing that isn’t broken is my Kambit, my weapon that the Earth humans would call a sword. Or maybe they’d call it a space sword. How should I know? Funny where my thoughts take me in the most extreme situations…
I’m getting ready to walk up to the highway in search of a vehicle, to begin my search for Olivia. Who knows how long the journey and the search will take. But I won’t give up, even if it means that I search for the rest of my life.
Suddenly, something shimmers in front of me.
I recognize it instantly. It’s a type of ancient communication. Well, ancient is a relative term. For the humans here on Earth, it would be considered almost beyond futuristic, unbelievable.
But it’s something that we Tarnan have known about for centuries. And the CATs have been known to use it in battle with the Tarnan.
It looks like a glob of light that pulsates and rotates in front of me. It shoots off little sparks of blue and orange light as it forms itself into words.
The words are written in one of the standard Universal Government languages.
It says: “We have her. She is alive. Meet us at the North Pole.”
It’s a message from the CAT. It’s unmistakable. They were never very literary, so their use of simple brute grammar doesn’t surprise me in the least bit.
So they have her. She’s alive.
Then again, it may be a trick.
Well, of course it’s a trick.
But what kind of trick?
A trap is mostly likely.
They’ll be wondering if I think she’s really alive or not.
Either way, I have to try. Even if they’ve already killed her, I will try, even if there’s just the remotest possibility that she’s alive. My heart sinks, thinking that she might have been killed.
But a moment later, there’s another glimmer of light. This time, it shows a moving picture of Olivia. It could be faked, sure, but it’s one more piece of evidence indicating that she’s alive.
The CAT don’t know me that well. Even without the picture, I would hunt her down, no matter what…
I know why the CAT won’t fight me here with their ship. They would risk getting seen by the Earth humans. In fact, getting seen would be almost guaranteed. The CAT don’t want to break intra-universal protocol and law unless they really have to.
At the North Pole, there’s no risk of being seen.
Now I just have to figure out how to get there. It’s not like the CAT are going to make this easy for me.
I’m bloodied and battered and my shirt and jeans are torn. My hair is matted with blood. But I am still strong. I know I am walking into a trap, but I know that I have no choice. Olivia and I are fated to be together, and nothing will stop me from getting to her, even if it means dying in the process.
Slowly, ever so slowly, I climb back up to the highway. It takes me half an hour, scrambling over the sheer rock of the cliff…
Finally, I’m here, and I hoist myself over the busted up piece of metal that was supposed to serve as a barrier…. A whole hell of a lot of good that did me…
I know I must look somewhat frightening now to the Earth humans.
But I’ve got to try to catch a ride…
I wave my hands at the next vehicle that passes. It’s a small car, not unlike Olivia’s now-destroyed one.
Even though my technology is mostly destroyed, I hope that my translator still works…
The driver of the car sees me and stops quickly, pulling up alongside me where I stand.
“Are you all right?” he says, speaking loudly. “Have you had an accident?”
“I’m fine,” I say quickly, watching his face to see if he understands me. Well, he hasn’t driven off in fear because I’m speaking what sounds to him like gobbledygook, so I guess it is. “I need to get to the North Pole. Do you know someone who can take me there?”
“The North Pole?” he says, sounding even more worried than before. “Fuck, man, you must have hit your head pretty hard in that accident.”
“I’m fine,” I say.
“Dude, you’re bleeding all over. Do you remember having the accident or is your memory totally borked?”
“Borked?” I say, not sure if my translator was somehow affected by the crash.
“Yeah, you know, fucked up or whatever. Do you remember anything? What’s your name? Do you remember your name?”
“My name is Korzak,” I say.
The guy laughs. “Damn, man, you really hit your head. Come on, I’ll take you to the hospital.”
He leans over across to the other door and opens it for me.
I weigh my options and realize that this might be my best chance to get a vehicle. There aren’t any cars at this spot on the road. Who knows when the next one will come.
It’s going to be a long journey to the North Pole. But I’m going to make it. No matter what. I’ll do anything for Olivia.
I get into the car and settle into the seat.
“Just be careful, man,” says the driver. “Try not to get too much blood on the upholstery.”
“Sure,” I say, nodding. “Just take me to the hospital.”
“All right, man. We’re on our way.”
He starts driving, and again the road is rushing up towards the car. He’s driving quickly, even faster than Olivia was driving. His car can barely take it. But apparently he’s really worried about my injuries. He really wants to get me to the hospital as soon as possible.
“Hey, man,” he says, glancing down at my Kambit. “What is that? Some type of swo
rd? Were you in a movie or something?”
“It’s a sword,” I say. “But it’s a real one.”
“Sweet. Where’d you get it?”
“From my planet Tarnen,” I say.
“Good one, man,” he says. “You know, your injury is making you pretty damn funny. I just hope they can get you back to normal at the hospital. But they can do pretty great stuff there nowadays. My sister’s husband, man, he got knocked on the head at his job. Some big old bird cage or something fell onto his head when he was eating lunch. Don’t really have any idea how that’s even possible, but that’s his story and he’s sticking to it. Anyway, man, he didn’t even know who the fuck he was. Just like you. So my sister takes him to the hospital and what-da-ya-know two months later and he’s doing a lot better. I mean, sure they fired him from work because he doesn’t talk so good now, but at least he knows who he is. You know what I mean? Now what a bird cage was doing in a restaurant is beyond me, but…”
“Very interesting,” I say. “I don’t have a head injury. And I’m going to need your car.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I’m going to need you to give me your car.”
“Give you my car? You’re really whacked, man. I need this for work. I deliver pizzas all day long, man. How do you think I’m going to do that without my car? Didn’t you notice the sign on the top? That’s my pizza place, man. That’s my employer. They’re not going to be happy if I just give you my car. You’re really whacked, man. And this is coming from a guy who smoked three joints before breakfast.”
I look over at him and study his face more carefully. He has longish hair. But it’s not as long as mine. It doesn’t look long intentionally. More like he just never bothered to get it cut. It’s greasy and isn’t combed or arranged in anyway. He has small red bumps all over his face.
He wears some funny clothes, even for an Earthling. It’s an ill-fitting large shirt like mine, except that it has a collar. Pinned to the shirt is a little placard that says “Drew.”
“You’re not understanding me,” I say, trying to make myself more clear. “I’m stealing the car from you. If you don’t give it to me, I’m going to impale you with this sword here.”
Of course, I have no intention of harming him. I don’t like scaring him. But I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do for Olivia. I’ll do anything for her.
“Shit, man, you’re serious, aren’t you? You’re some kind of movie extra who suffered an accident. And now you’ve gone all nutty on me and… shit, man… this is just what I need… But I guess at least I won’t need to make any more runs today…”
“That’s the right attitude,” I say. “Leave your pathetic Earthling job behind. Focus on other things. Now pull the car off to the side of the road.”
He does as I say, slowing down gradually.
“Now get out of the car.”
I watch as he does it. He’s shaking in fear.
I get out of the passenger seat and pass him in front of the car. He recoils from me in terror. I get into the driver’s seat.
Strangely, as I start driving off, my Kambit still resting against the passenger’s seat, the delivery driver named Drew gives me a little wave and a weak smile.
Now it’s off to the North Pole.
I drive fast, exceeding the pitiful Earth speed limit by almost half. This little car can really go. Maybe not as fast as that Corvette, but faster by far than Olivia’s. Maybe that delivery driver has made some modifications to the engine, increasing its efficiency. That really wouldn’t be hard to do, considering how simplistic the whole system is. But it’s not like I have my star ship with me. No, that’s been blown to smithereens, little particles that are twinkling in the star light as they float through the depths of the great space void.
I’ve only been driving for ten minutes when I see sirens in my rear view mirror.
Shit, it’s the Earth cops.
They’re onto me. I guess that delivery driver must have reported me.
I don’t have time to deal with them now. I need to get to the North Pole. Fuck this backwards planet.
19
Korzak
Two weeks later, I’m approaching the North Pole on foot. Unlike my trek to the oracle on Tarnen, I have gear.
I bought my supplies at some kind of outdoor outfitter store in Alaska. I’ve got a big backpack full of food and weapons. I bought new clothes there too, finally shedding the Led Zeppelin t shirt and the black jeans. I’m wearing snow pants and a snow jacket.
I wouldn’t normally need this gear, but I’m still recovering from my injuries. My hand is a lot better, but the rest of my body is still racked with pain from the crash. I’m recovering though, and I’m well enough to fight. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be to face the CAT and destroy them—ready to get Olivia back in my arms and to take her once and for all to Tarnen, where we will live together in happiness…
The trek has been long and hard. With the Northern Lights above me, beautiful flickering colors, I walked on and on, hardly pausing to rest. My only thought was to get to Olivia.
The last two weeks have been difficult. The Earth humans are more clever, as a whole, than I gave them credit for initially. They have their own sort of brilliance, and they are able to make almost ingenious use of the primitive technology at their disposal. In some ways, they remind me of us Tarnens, for they can be fierce and intense just like us. They have a ways to go in their development as a planet, but perhaps someday they’ll approach our level.
When the police flagged me down, their sirens blaring, I didn’t have much of a choice but to pull over. Despite my injured state, I had to fight them. Fortunately, I didn’t have to kill them. They sent police car after police car after me, and I evaded them all or fought them, whichever was the easiest, whichever would get me closer to Olivia the fastest.
I check my GPS device, purchased from the outfitter store. I’m close, very close.
I walk and walk, trudging on. But the farther I go, the lighter my steps become, as I think of nothing but Olivia.
Now I know the CAT have a trap set up for me.
But there’s no way to predict what they’ve concocted with those diabolical minds of theirs. The only thing to do is to press forward.
Finally, after days of trekking, I see the CAT ship hovering in the sky.
This is the North Pole. I’m here.
Their ship looks sinister on the horizon. Underneath it, there’s nothing but ice as far as the eye can see. Uneven splintered ice, blue and white, ominous and intense.
I keep walking, and now that I’m closer, I see something strange.
Hovering in the air is a shimmering white bubble about 10 meters in circumference. It hangs in the air with nothing supporting it. Work of the CATs, no doubt.
Inside the bubble, I see a figure.
A naked figure, beautiful and terrified.
It’s Olivia Masters.
She’s curled up in the bubble, and she watches me.
She’s trapped there, captive, completely helpless.
She’s gesturing at me, waving frantically. I can tell what she’s saying—to turn back. There’s some grave danger. She’s trying to warn me.
But I have no choice.
I need her.
I need to get to her.
I continue.
There’s a deep crack in the ice, and I see that it’s long and runs around the CAT ship in a huge circle.
This must be their trap. They’ve done something to this patch of ice. They’ve made it dangerous for me. More than dangerous. Probably lethal.
But I’m going to do it anyway.
I take my first step.
Something happens.
There’s a crackling noise, tremendously loud, that shatters the quiet sky, and nearly shatters my eardrums.
Pain rushes through me, throbbing, the most intense pain I’ve ever felt.
The ice is electrified. Electrical current, tons of it, pumps through me.
/> So this was their plan?
I remember my teacher laughing as he beat me with the stick. I remember my own laughter as he beat me with the stick.
And I laugh.
I laugh at the CAT who think they can destroy me with mere electricity. I laugh at them for thinking that this will be enough, that I won’t be able to stand the pain…
There isn’t another Tarnan warrior who has ever survived being intensely electrocuted, even with our common mental training… But I am different. I can take it. I have learned something here on Earth… something even more powerful than my training.
I keep walking as the electrical current pulses through me. My eyes are changing. The world seems to glow in front of me. Little sparks dance across my vision. My eyes themselves are electrified.
I laugh as I walk.
I laugh as I run.
I’m sprinting across the ice towards Olivia in her shimmering ball of light, suspended in the arctic air above the blue-white ice.
Two CAT warriors descend from their ship, their air-suspension technology propelling them swiftly down towards the ice. They wear CAT winter warrior gear, and they look ridiculous.
Their faces fall in shock as they see me still alive.
They’re on the ground, reaching for their blasters. But they’re no match for me.
I rush them, not even bothering to draw my sword.
I collide with the two of them at the same instant. The electricity is too much for them. Their bodies explode, lightning bolts jumping through their innards.
As soon as I touch them, they’re gone, pulverized…
20
Olivia
I thought he was going to die. I saw him running across the ice, laughing, and I thought he’d soon be dead. I’d never felt so hopeless, so horrible, so dead inside…
The last thought I remember having is, “at least he came for me.”
Then I passed out. From the stress. From the whole insane situation. From something, anyway.
