by Tracy Lauren
“What would you like to do now?” I ask, disregarding her imitation of rest. With eyes still closed she scoffs at me.
“Come, there must be something you wish to do.”
“There’s nothing I want.” She opens her eyes to assess me. Her brows furrow and her gaze narrows. “What did I say? Put your seatbelt on right now!” she demands.
“This again?”
“Don’t you dare try and tell me that only fools run into things in space, because we’ve already determined that you are a fool.”
“Are you truly mad at me, little human?”
“Emotions aren’t a part of the equation, Dax. Bottom line is that you cannot leave me alone. What if you died? Where would I be then? How long would I fly aimlessly through space until I starved to death or died of thirst?”
“Oh, come now, this is a fairly populated region of space. It’s more likely that you would be apprehended by pirates before you died of hunger or thirst.”
“Jesus Christ,” she groans, rolling her eyes. “Tell me this ship has defense systems—guns, laser beams, something?”
“Stock? Only the bare minimum. Remember, this pod was assigned to a cargo ship. It is not built for combat.”
“Oh no…no, no, no, no, no…” she laments, wrapping her arms around herself in a hug.
“I am teasing you, Vivian! Have a sense of humor!”
“Never,” she says plainly. “Is this pod defendable or not?”
“We were meeting on a regular basis with pirates outside the United Planets Territory, of course we retrofitted everything with the most advanced fire power available. You are safe with me, Vivian, do not worry over such things.”
“Hah! Safe? You call this safe?”
“What will make you feel better?”
“Prove it! Prove that I’m safe with you!”
“Look around, female. There is no danger!” I say with my arms outstretched.
“Clearly we aren’t seeing the same thing. Look out that window, Dax! There are no laws. No rules. People can be stolen, bought, and sold. Crimes like kidnapping and murder are a way of life. You know it’s true. Heck, I’ve seen you kill! Everything out there is wild and fierce and it goes on and on for an eternity in every direction! I am immersed in danger and no matter what you say, you can’t protect me. No one can!”
“You cannot tell me that you truly believe that? Bad things are possible in any corner of the galaxy, but that is not what defines life, Vivian. Just as many wonderful things are out there and probably more likely to occur! Was Earth really such a safe place? A utopia, where no one was ever hurt, lost, or damaged?”
“It isn’t the same!”
“Of course it is the same! I will show you. Life goes on everywhere you look, happy and beautiful—though not always safe. But that does not mean you hide away from it.”
She just scoffs at me, looking away and shaking her head.
“Speak your mind, female,” I demand of her.
“You just don’t get it.”
“Tell me what it is I don’t get.”
“This is it for me, Dax! I’m not cut out for this! This abduction is a death sentence. I am going to die out here and nothing is going to stop that. Every turn we take, every direction we point ourselves in, it just brings me that much closer to my own demise. I want to run from it, but there’s no escape… I just…I just…keep getting closer to the end!” She’s screaming now and the gaze she could not seem to keep on me in the past is now locked onto my own—boring deep into me.
This is her truth, this is what she knows. And if she keeps on believing it, she might just make it so. That is the only danger this human is in.
I rise from my seat and approach her. Her eyes drop away as she sniffles and wipes the errant tears from her cheeks. I kneel before her and reach up to undo her safety restraints.
“What are you doing? Stop it,” she says, a feeble attempt to deter my hands. But she allows me to unbuckle her nonetheless. She watches me, and I see the light in her eyes is faint and lifeless.
“If you are going to die, Vivian, why bother with this silly thing?” I ask, pulling her forward in her seat and wrapping my arms around her in the embrace she clearly needs right now. She does not hesitate in trying to engulf me with her small frame. Her legs wrap around my middle and her arms squeeze tightly around my neck. If it were not for her sadness this would be pure bliss. She rests her cheek against mine and her body shakes with the weight of her tears.
“I don’t want to die,” she tells me with a cracking voice.
“We all die, Vivian, it is the inevitable. But we do not have to live as if it has already happened,” I urge as I cradle her in my arms. “I will show this life is nothing to fear. I will show you something beautiful, Vivian, something that will restore your faith in this galaxy.”
“What are you going to show me?” she asks, and though fear laces her tone hope also hovers at the edges of it.
“Life!” Simple and beautiful, I am going to show Vivian life.
“Like alien life? Where?” she asks nervously.
“Anywhere.”
I resolve to prove my point to this female. She thinks life cannot thrive, that there is no joy or happiness left out there to be had. But she is wrong. Life goes on literally everywhere. I do not even need to pick a specific place to take her to prove my point, I could pick any place. So, I do. Once Vivian’s tears subside, I set the computer to run a scan. It locates a habitable, uncategorized planet in a nearby system that will take only two days of travel time to reach. I set a course.
After that business is done, and contrary to Vivian’s belief, our day continues despite the peril we conquered. But even with a victory under her belt, she remains sullen. While I do not fuss over her as the humans did, I do watch her closely, readying myself to comfort her if necessary. Today I will allow her to pout, but tomorrow is a new day and I will begin to urge her forward once more. Luckily, I know exactly where I plan to place my focus. According to the sensor readings from her encounter with the comet, Vivian is a natural pilot.
After analyzing the data coil, I can see that a massive wedge unexpectedly split from the main body of the comet and we found ourselves deep within the new debris path. Somehow Vivian was able to make her way through the deadly obstacles as well as any seasoned pilot could have. What she accomplished was truly amazing, especially in the face of her fear. This female has a true talent for flight, one that I will press her to recognize. Just not today. No, today she may wallow in her sadness. Tomorrow, she will learn to fly.
Chapter 10
Vivian
“I said I don’t want to! No! I won’t do it! You can’t make me!” I screech at Dax for the millionth time, actually stomping my foot to punctuate how serious I am. For two whole days now, he has been pestering me with this crap!
“But you did so well with the comet! You are a natural, Vivian, you should explore this talent!”
“For the love of God, it isn’t a talent! That was just me desperately trying to stay alive! Look, I don’t want to do this stuff, Dax, please! Can’t I just cook or do something domestic?”
“What would you prefer to do? The laundry?” He gazes down at the loincloth-esque skirt he wears.
“Well…um, I… If you need it to be washed…”
He rolls his big shoulders, looking annoyed with me. “Those types of duties are not necessary on a spaceship, Vivian. Even a pod is equipped to take care of such things. Something that is necessary would be knowing how to pilot a ship!”
“Why can’t you just do it?”
“And what if I become injured? What will you do then? Or what if you simply become tired of me and are ready to move on?”
I instantly grow still. I know he just suggested that I might leave him (which would be laughable if it wasn’t such a painfully absurd notion), but instead I think of the reverse scenario. I hadn’t considered Dax leaving me. But now, it’s all my brain can focus on. “Dax…” I break in
to tears again. “Please don’t leave me out here!” I wail, ready to drop to my knees and beg.
“Good grief, female! I did not suggest that! But what if you ever wish to leave? You cannot possibly want to be dependent on me forever. As you said, I do not even possess a survival instinct. Could you really allow yourself to be tethered to such a male forever? Come now, this will be easy compared to all you did with the comet.”
I allow him to pull me forward, like a marionette. He sits in the captain’s seat first and pulls me down onto his lap before forcing my hands to encircle the joystick.
“This is not so bad, is it?” he asks, his voice hopeful. I let out a barking sob right in his face. Maybe he wipes a little of my spit and snot off of himself, my vision is too clouded by tears to be certain. Regardless, it doesn’t stop me from crying.
“My fragile Vivian…” he sighs. “What will I do with you?”
I turn to face him, and with pleading eyes I beg, “Please, let’s just have you do it, okay? I’ll swab the deck or whatever else there is to do.”
“Absolutely not. Though to be fair I do not know what you are offering with this swapping. Nevertheless, my answer will remain ‘no.’ I am done coddling you, human. For all that is good, you are a goddess! There is nothing you cannot do!”
“I’m only human, Dax.”
“And I am only a Nev’Rhaan and Vendari mutt, but I do not let that stop me. Now pilot this ship. You will take us through the system until we reach our destination. Then, you will help me run scans to determine where the most dense populations might exist.”
“But you promise we’re only going to look from afar, right? We aren’t going to introduce ourselves or anything, are we?”
“I promise I have not made any plans to introduce ourselves to these people,” he says, leaving himself an obvious loophole.
“Oh, you think you’re so clever, but I see what you’re doing! At least promise to talk to me about it first!”
“Of course. I will try to do that.”
“Ugh! Dax! Give me a straight answer!”
“I do not know the future, Vivian. There may be unforeseeable events which occur. I have no wish to make promises today that will make me a liar tomorrow.”
I grumble and take hold of the controls again. It’s hard to win an argument with Dax, he approaches everything with the energy and enthusiasm of a freaking puppy. And while I hate his constant pushing, I begrudgingly find myself wanting to see life the way he does. To be able to traverse the path before me without so much heavy despair on my shoulders.
Still, I wish he would just do all the stuff that requires bravery to be good at. Like the flying…and the decision making. He raps me on the head, shaking me from my thoughts. I guess there’s no getting out of it. I’m flying.
I huff out an annoyed breath. At least sitting on Dax’s lap I find myself feeling slightly more bold. It’s like having a safety net. I mean, if anything goes wrong he can easily take control of the ship. I use this sliver of courage to peer out the small viewing window. I’m proud that I can do so now without being flooded with an uncontrollable sense of panic. I maneuver us past cold and dark planetoids in the outer reaches of the system. They seem like sleeping worlds to me, and I wonder if they will ever be woken. The emptiness of it all leaves me with an unsettling feeling. So, I center my attention back to the joystick, all my focus going into steering.
It isn’t long before we find ourselves within orbit of our destination. Dax takes the controls and I peer out the window again. There’s life down there. It isn’t as scary as the planets in the outer reaches of the system. It all looks very familiar, very green, from our vantage point.
But in all that green below us, I don’t see any dense grids telling of advanced cities, nor do I see any artificial light sources shining up from the dark side of the planet. If it really is populated with sentient beings I wonder what kind of people they are? Do they even have cities, or are they more primitive?
“Now you will scan for life signs,” Dax instructs.
“Of course I will. Fine, what buttons do I hit?”
“Vivian, Vivian,” he tsks at me. “We do not hit the controls of any craft, they require finesse—”
“Oh, good lord, do you want me to do this or not?”
“Fine,” he huffs at me. “We must enter the parameters for life. Look here: temperature, approximate size, organization of movement, brain wave frequencies. We keep the ranges wide and assess the data more precisely as it comes in, ruling out false positives.”
“You know I can’t read any of that, right?”
“You must still listen, so you can understand the process of—”
“Oh wait! What’s that? There’re some numbers there— Wait, scroll back up. Look at that,” I laugh excitedly. “That is exactly how we write ‘results’ in English! Amazing! How can that be? Does it mean the same thing in your language?”
“What are you speaking of?” He peers closer at the gibberish on the screen. Well, it was primarily gibberish, but it seems like the longer I look at it the more I am starting to understand.
“This is all written in Universal—the standardized form of writing within the United Planets. There should not be any overlap with a written language from an uncharted planet. Let me see your translator—”
“What? No. Why?” I ask, tugging my hair down with my hands, but Dax easily pulls them away.
“Do not be so fearful, female. I will not hurt you, I only wish to get a closer look at what Tennir prepared for you.” Dax pulls my hair back and peers closely at the small chip tucked into my hairline. He’s so close I can feel his breath on my neck, and a chill involuntarily runs over my body.
I was one of the last women to get a translator. The first three girls received an implant, injected behind the ear, never to be seen again. After the implant, they all woke up speaking perfect “alien.” But our rescuers didn’t have enough for everyone. So, when Tennir, the scientist, came aboard he whipped something up for us in the lab. It looked like a computer chip, about the size of my pinky nail, with a thin, needle-like wire which was inserted into my skull. But instead of waking up speaking perfect alien, we needed to hear the others speak first. It wasn’t until the end of the day that we could fully understand and replicate everything in the alien language.
“I believe what Tennir built for you functions as an active processor, decoding information as it gathers it. It worked for spoken language and now it appears to be working for written language as well,” he says, his mouth still mere inches from the sensitive flesh on my neck. I squirm on his lap, feeling awkward by our closeness and the intimacy of the situation. I remind myself he is an alien, though, and likely doesn’t share my values surrounding personal space. This is clinical to him, like a doctor and his patient. But Dax just remains paused there for so dang long, I finally venture a glance in his direction. He’s done looking at my chip and is just staring at me.
“Why are you staring at me?” I cry out in a shrill voice, swatting his hands away and straightening my hair while feeling thoroughly self-conscious. He just laughs at me. He’s always laughing at me. I frown and turn away from him.
Oblivious to my mood he gives my hair a playful tug. The computer chirps at us, saving me from my embarrassment. “Results are in,” Dax notes. “Locking coordinates now.” I rise from his lap and move to my own seat.
“Where are you going?” he asks, trying to tug me back to him.
“Put your seatbelt on before I strangle you with it!” I demand harshly. “I’m in no mood—”
“You are never in the mood,” he says with a pout.
“Just my luck to get stuck with a comedian,” I retort. “Now buckle up!” I command again as I buckle my own safety restraints.
“Your flight skills have been progressing rapidly. Are you sure you do not want to land?”
“Hundred percent.” I smile frostily at him.
“No problem. You can take off when we leave,”
he says cheerfully. I respond with a groan.
Chapter 11
Vivian
Dax lowers the ramp and sunlight blinds me for a moment before my eyes fully adjust. I stand cowering behind my Vendari keeper, not really sure if I can muster the courage to go exploring on yet another alien planet. The few short moments I had my feet on the ground back on Elysia were nothing short of a disaster. I can’t imagine this place will be any different.
“It is time,” Dax tells me with a chipper smile on his face.
“Maybe you should go first, scout around a little, make sure it’s safe?” I propose while clinging onto his hard and muscled arm. His tail whips up suddenly and bats my hands away from him.
