The Spacetastic Adventures of Mr. Space and Captain Galaxy: Season Two

by T. L. Charles

  Then again, Galaxy supposed that this was not unusual behavior for a full-blooded human being like Space. The two of them were walking through Sector Six of the Annulus, the Sector that had been created by Garth, the home world of the species known as the Zinarthians. According to the last Annulus census report Galaxy read, Sector Six's population was approximately 99.9% Zinarthian, with 00.1% 'Other.'

  And the streets of Sector Six certainly testified to the truth of that census report. Everywhere Galaxy looked, she saw the tall, thin Zinarthians, most of whom wore traditional Zinarthian robes, walking or talking or buying and selling in the case of the merchants and store owners. Zinarthians looked somewhat human in appearance, although their skin color ranged from dark blue that was almost black to a light sand blue. Their natural hair colors ranged from red to blue to green and everything in between, which sometimes made crowds of Zinarthians look like a rainbow in the streets.

  None of the Zinarthians had so far shown Galaxy and Space any real disrespect. Even Galaxy, however, was aware of the heads that turned as the two humans walked through the streets of Sector Six. Most seemed curious to see two non-Zinarthians here, which made sense, considering how few non-Zinarthians lived here. In fact, Galaxy hadn't seen any non-Zinarthians since she and Space got here at all.

  Galaxy understood why Space was uncomfortable. Zinarthians, despite their thin, gangly appearance, had such piercing eyes that it was difficult not to feel judged around them. That the Zinarthians had a well-known reputation for bigotry toward non-Zinarthians (though Galaxy preferred to think of it as 'discerning taste') did not help people outside of the species feel welcomed around them.

  That's probably why this Sector is ninety-nine point nine percent Zinarthian, Galaxy thought. Even I have a hard time tolerating Zinarthians sometimes, and I am part Zinarthian.

  It didn't help that Sector Six was very Zinarthian, culturally-speaking. The Garth flag—which featured a Zinarthian goat with the sun rising behind it—was everywhere: On advertisements, hanging above store and restaurant doors, and even on the clothing of some of the Zinarthians. One particular Zinarthian—an elderly man who had probably served in the Garth army as a youth, if his patriotism meant anything—wore a robe that looked like the flag itself wrapped around his body, and no one paid him any attention, except for Space, who stared at the old man as they passed him.

  The smells that filled the air were also quite Zinarthian, such as the smell of broiled Zinarthian corn that wafted from inside one of the restaurants they passed. To Galaxy, it smelled great, as Zinarthian corn was something she'd eaten all the time as a child, but Space's nose wrinkled when he smelled it, though he was wise enough to keep his opinions to himself.

  As for music, it seemed like all Galaxy heard was the metallic, screechy screams of the famous Zinarthian rock band Dead Eleven, the most popular rock band in all of Garth. She found it hard not to nod along in tune to their awesome beat, but Space looked close to wanting to run around the street and smash every music player from which Dead Eleven's music blared forth, though Galaxy was glad he didn't, otherwise she would probably have had to help the Annulus Defense Force identify his body after the band's fans were done with him.

  “Are we there yet?” said Space, though he kept his voice low to avoid attracting the attention of the Zinarthians they passed. “You said your dad lives here, right?”

  “Yep,” said Galaxy, nodding as they turned a corner to go down another street. “He moved here last month and wanted me to come and see his new place. He told me you could come along if you wanted.”

  Space kept his eyes straight ahead, like he was trying to avoid making contact with the Zinarthians. “Your dad is awfully … tolerant for a Zinarthian.”

  “Well, of course he is,” said Galaxy. “He fell in love with my mother, after all, who was a human. He'll treat you just like family.”

  “How come I've never met your dad, anyway?” said Space. “You've never introduced me to him before.”

  “Been too busy to visit him,” said Galaxy with a shrug. “That, and until recently, Dad worked directly for the government of Garth as a secret agent who—”

  “Secret agent?” Space interrupted. He dropped the stiff act and looked at her with interest. “Like James Bond?”

  “Not exactly,” said Galaxy, rubbing the back of her neck as they walked. “I don't know the exact details about his work, seeing as it was top secret, but he did perform certain missions for the government that no one else could.”

  Space's shoulders slumped. “Aw, man. I thought I was going to get to meet Garth's equivalent of Sean Connery, one of the great ancient actors from Earth's archaic film industry. You sure that your father isn't Garth's James Bond?”

  “I'm certain of it,” said Galaxy. “For example, Dad isn't Scottish.”

  “Dang it,” said Space. “But why did he move to the Annulus?”

  “He's retired,” said Galaxy. “He always told me that his dream was to live among the stars. The Annulus is as close as you can get to that without having to sacrifice most of the things you can get on Garth or any other Universal Alliance member world.”

  “Living the dream, huh?” said Space. “Where did he move into again?”

  “He moved to one of the pod apartments,” said Galaxy. She raised her com-watch and swiped through it until she found the message Dad had sent her. “Should not be very long now before we arrive. According to my com-watch's built-in map, we should arrive there any minute now.”

  And indeed, it was about two minutes after she said that that they turned another corner and arrived at the entrance of one of the many pod apartment buildings in Sector Six. The building was shaped like a bunch of blocks arranged in a way that allowed for someone to easily rearrange them if necessary. It was also the primary way in which most of the buildings built inside the Annulus were designed.

  One elevator trip later, Galaxy and Space found themselves at the front door of Dad's apartment, on the second floor of the apartment building. Galaxy knocked on the door promptly, and a second later, the door opened, revealing a tall, old, Zinarthian man standing in the doorway. In fact, he was so tall that he had to bend down to see them.

  Though it had been several years since Galaxy had last visited Dad, she found that he looked similar to how she remembered him looking the last time she had seen him. The only difference now was that he was missing most of his golden hair, and what little remained was grayer and appeared to be on the verge of falling out. Galaxy took note of this because most Zinarthians tended to take great pride in their hair, but Dad did not seem to mind it much.

  “Helena, welcome, welcome,” said Dad, a smile on his old lips. “It has been too long since I last saw you.”

  Galaxy smiled. She didn't like anyone using her first name, but she always made an exception with Dad, mostly because she didn't want to upset or offend him by demanding that he refer to her by her last name only.

  Instead, she hugged Dad quickly and, letting go, said, “Yeah, I know. You look the same as ever, old man.”

  “And you have gotten ever more beautiful, Helena,” said Dad. “Indeed, you resemble your mother quite a bit. The only difference is your eye color. Your eyes are much darker than your mother's were, but it works for you.”

  Galaxy nodded. Though her mother had died before she had gotten to know her, Galaxy had seen many pictures of her mother. She did look quite a bit like her mother, though her mother usually did her hair in a ponytail in most of the pictures she'd seen, whereas Galaxy kept it lose.

  Then Dad turned his attention to Space. Much to Galaxy's chagrin, Space looked as stiff and wooden as he did when they were walking along the streets of Sector Six. And his smile was so fake that it looked painted on, though Dad didn't seem to notice.

  “And is this your friend you told me about, Jason Space, I believe you said his name was?” said Dad. “A full-blooded human, correct? The one from Earth?”

  Space looked taken aback by the
question. “Um, what?”

  “A full-blooded human,” Dad repeated. “Certainly you have heard of the term. It means that you do not have any non-human ancestors or parents. That would explain your rather diminutive stature. It is a well-known fact that humans tend to be tinier than us Zinarthians, though don't worry, I won't look down on you because of it.”

  “It's okay, Space,” said Galaxy quickly, before the conversation could head into a direction that she did not want it to go. “Dad has always, er, enjoyed studying the differences in the various intelligent species throughout the Universal Alliance. He doesn't mean anything bad by it.”

  “Of course,” said Dad. “I deeply apologize if my words somehow offended you. I did not mean to. I truly do have a very high opinion of full-blooded humans. After all, Helena's mother was a full-blooded human herself and we had a loving marriage that sadly did not last as long as it should have.”

  “Uh, that's fine,” said Space. He held out a hand as naturally as a robot. “It's nice to meet you, Mr. Galaxy.”

  Dad took Space's hand and shook it. “Thank you, but I do not go by Mr. Galaxy. That was Helena's mother's maiden name. We Zinarthians do not form family units in the same way that you humans do. We keep our own names when we get together, you see.”

  “Oh,” said Space as he lowered his hand. “Well, what should I call you, then?”

  “By my given name,” said Dad, “which is Yufan Ohga. Ancient Zinarthian name that means 'birthed of shadow,' seeing as I was born on Shadow Day, the darkest day of the Zinarthian calendar.”

  “Oh,” said Space. “Well, I was named after my own father, who passed away a while ago, unfortunately.”

  “Ah, yes,” said Dad, nodding. “The curious human custom of naming the child after the parent, derived, as I understand it, from a time when a child was expected to take up the profession and values of the parent. We Zinarthians completely lack that custom and many of us even laugh at it, but I have always respected it, because it shows an attempt to establish a continuity from parent to child to last through the generations. Much more beautiful than what we Zinarthians do.”

  “Um … yeah,” said Space, which seemed to be all he could say to that. He then looked between Galaxy and Dad in confusion. “Not to be offensive or anything, but if Galaxy is your daughter, then why doesn't she look more like you?”

  “She takes more after her mother in appearance,” Dad said. “Just the way her genetics worked out. All she really inherited from me was my love of learning and critical thinking.”

  “Actually, I do have some Zinarthian features,” said Galaxy, gesturing at herself. “But they're mostly interior and don't really matter much. For example, I'm more susceptible to Zinarthian diseases than most humans are.”

  “Oh,” said Space. “How come you've never mentioned that to me before?”

  “Because there was never any reason to,” said Galaxy. “We've had more important things to talk about than my species. I've learned how to take care of myself, anyway, in order to minimize the amount of care I need. Most doctors don't know how to treat human/Zinarthian hybrids like myself due to our rarity, so it's usually up to us to familiarize ourselves with our medical needs.”

  “Very true,” said Dad, nodding. “Helena got sick quite often as a baby due to her unique genetics, yet somehow she managed to grow up into a strong young woman. I like to credit that to her mother's genes more than my own. I am not very strong, really, in comparison to her.”

  Space looked quite at a loss about what to say to that, so Galaxy said, “Why don't we go into your apartment now, Dad? I'd like to see it.”

  “Yes, but …” Dad frowned. He peered out the doorway and looked up and down the hall. “Where is your robot servant, the one you called Sparky? I was hoping to meet him.”

  “He's protecting and monitoring the Adventure while we're away,” said Galaxy. “Somebody has to stay behind and keep the ship safe while we're away and that job usually falls onto Sparky.”

  “Ah, that's right,” said Dad, pulling his head back through the doorway. “Yes, I remember that you have a starship that you built yourself. I would like to see it myself someday, perhaps even today if there is time.”

  “Sure,” said Galaxy. “We can take you to the ship after you show us your apartment.”

  Dad nodded, but Galaxy noticed that he wasn't looking at her or Space anymore. He had a distracted look about him, as if he was thinking about something terrible that had just happened recently. She recognized the look immediately, having grown up seeing it her whole life. Unfortunately, she didn't have the ability to read his mind, so she couldn't tell what might have been troubling him.

  Still, it worried her enough that she was just about to ask him what the problem was when Dad stepped aside and said, “Well, then come on in, you two. You can tell me more about your adventures in space while you're here.”

  Despite Dad's friendly tone, Galaxy knew that he was still troubled by something. Yet she was not sure she should ask him about it in Space's presence, because she suspected it was some sort of private problem. Besides, Dad was never the kind to talk about their personal issues in front of people he didn't know, even if they were Galaxy's friends.

  Space, obviously, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Nor did Galaxy decide to tell him. She decided that whatever Dad's problems were, they were not worth bringing up at the moment. She wanted to keep this visit upbeat, anyway, as she wasn't sure when she was going to get to see Dad again after this visit.

  So Galaxy and Space stepped through the threshold of Dad's apartment. The door closed behind them as they entered, but Galaxy did not pay any attention to that, because she was now looking around at Dad's apartment.

  It was a much larger room than one might have thought, based on its compact exterior. There was a large sofa in the center, set in front of a holographic display that showed the Annulus News Channel, though it was muted at the moment and Galaxy didn't pay attention to it long enough to tell what the channel's reporter was talking about. A picture of Dad, her mother, and herself as a baby hung on one wall, while two doorways led into what appeared to be Dad's bedroom and the bathroom. There was also a small kitchen on the south end of the room, opposite the holographic display, and based on the smell and bubbling sound alone, Galaxy could tell that Dad was cooking her favorite Zinarthian corn soup.

  “Do you like it?” said Dad, gesturing at the place. “I know it is modest, but if it means I get to live on the Annulus, then I am fine with it.”

  “It is very modest, I agree,” said Space, who was no doubt thinking about his own mother's massive mansion back on Earth. “But, and this isn't supposed to be offensive or anything, I thought it would be a little bit fancier, seeing as you were a secret agent for the Zinarthian government.”

  Galaxy bit her lower lip, thinking that this might anger Dad. She knew how badly he took even slightly negative comments about the things that he owned. Many years ago, when Galaxy was a young girl, Dad had gotten into a fight with some punk kid who insulted his hover car. Galaxy remembered it because Dad and the punk kid had both had to go to the hospital. She didn't remember what happened to the punk kid after that, but Dad had had to use a wheelchair for a while afterward, though of course he recovered eventually.

  But Dad merely shrugged and said, “Being a secret agent wasn't nearly as romantic or adventurous as the job title suggests. It was no different from any other government job: Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. Along with, of course, dealing with politicians who didn't really understand how my job worked. The job paid well enough to allow me to put Helena through college and pay the bills, but I never got to go on luxury cruises across the cosmos or anything like that.”

  “Oh,” said Space, who sounded severely disappointed by that. “I thought that being a secret agent would be a lot more fun than that.”

  “It's not worth talking about,” said Dad, waving the subject off with one hand. “But being a space explorer �
�� surely that must be an interesting job. Prior to Helena taking up that profession, I didn't even know that it existed.”

  “Oh, it's awesome,” said Space. “One time, we went to Shizor, where we ran into this virus created by this Minox Kalo guy and—”

  “Minox Kalo?” Dad repeated. “The famous scientist?”

  “Yeah,” said Space, nodding. “We didn't actually see him, but we were almost killed by his artificial virus monster when it possessed this French bounty hunter. Let me tell you, French accent aside, that guy was really scary when he was possessed.”

  “Hmm,” said Dad, stroking his chin. He seemed to have stopped listening to Space. “And this was on Shizor, you say?”

  “Yep,” said Space. “The virus called itself the Phantom of the Jungle, but that was just a name. It wasn't an actual phantom. Galaxy beat it and I helped.”

  “That's nice,” said Dad, who didn't seem very interested in the Phantom itself. “But Minox Kalo … I haven't spoken to him in ages.”

  “Wait, you mean you know Kalo?” said Galaxy, looking up at Dad in surprise. “You never mentioned that to me before.”

  “I haven't?” said Dad. He rubbed his forehead, a common Zinarthian gesture meant to indicate he was trying to get his brain to work again. “Well, I guess I simply forgot to tell you about that. Back in college, Kalo and I shared the same dorm at Alliance University. The two of us were as different as could be, yet remained great friends throughout our college years despite that. He was even the best man at my wedding.”

  “But how can you have forgotten being friends with the most famous scientist in the entire Universal Alliance?” said Galaxy. “I mean, I know you can be a bit forgetful sometimes, Dad, but that seems like a big thing to forget even for you.”

  Dad scowled, though he seemed to be scowling more at some memory than at Galaxy's words. “Kalo and I drifted away after your birth. Our careers simply took us down different paths, he to science, and I to government, and we stopped talking, so I never thought to mention him to you. I don't even know what he is doing nowadays.”