by J. Naomi Ay
“This whole trip is a nightmare,” Zork grumbled. “I’d scream too, if I woke up and saw Dave. Actually, I did when I finished my last shift.”
“Oh my god!” I gasped, clutching my head, and trying to remember the details of the dream.
Laying back down, I stared at the console’s base, watching the lights flicker on the buttons and switches. I thought about the man who had invaded my dream.
“Oh my god!” I gasped again as I realized that man wasn’t Senya, but Luka. How could I have felt this way when I saw him? How I could have told him how much I loved him and missed him?
“You alright down there, Goldie?” Zork’s feet shifted near my head. “You only slept about an hour.”
“Seventy-two minutes,” Dave added.
“Seventy-two minutes,” Zork repeated in a sniveling voice. “And how many seconds and milliseconds, Dave?”
“I didn’t catch that,” Dave replied. “I was driving. Katie, would you mind handing me another protein bar before you go back to sleep?”
“Don’t worry, Dave. I don’t think I’ll be getting back to sleep anytime soon.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Northgate? Three protein bars in three hours? We’re never going to make it to Earth if you’re going to eat up all our food.”
"I'm sorry, Zork. I'm just insatiably hungry."
I sat up again, and this time made a point not to hit my head.
"Does the bar fill you at all, Dave?” I asked. “Or, are you immediately hungry again even after you've eaten?"
"I'm hungry," he said, frowning sadly. "All of the time."
"When did this start?" Scrambling out from the beneath the console, I wedged myself between the two pilot seats. "Since we've been on board?"
"Yesterday, or the day before. I was fine when we were back on the planet."
"Dave," I ordered. "Pull up your shirt. Let me see your stomach."
"Aw, do we have to?" Zork moaned. "His face is ugly enough.”
"I have a hunch. Go on, Dave. Don't pay any attention to him."
Compliantly, Dave lifted up his shirt. Just as I suspected, there was a swirling yellow and black mass right in the center of his gut.
"Oy," I exclaimed.
"Oy what?" Dave looked at his belly.
"Geez, Northgate, don't you ever clean the lint out of your navel?"
"I don't see anything wrong." Dave picked at a pimple next to the sad frown of his navel. Behind the pimple, the vortex whirled, atoms flowing inward toward a funnel.
"You don't see that?" I pointed. "That black hole?"
"What?" Dave gasped.
"Huh?" Zork said.
"You guys don't see that tornado-shaped thing right there?"
"Sorry, Princess. Apparently, I don't have x-ray vision like you."
"What does it mean?" Dave cried. "Am I going to die?"
"Well..." I bit my lip. This wasn't good at all. It could mean we were all going to die. "We should probably head to the nearest spacebase as quickly as possible."
"Any idea where that might be?" Zork asked.
"Why?" Dave whimpered.
"Dave," I said calmly, and as gently as I could. "Basically, a black hole has infected your body. Basically, it'll continue to consume all matter it encounters."
"Like what? Like everything I eat?"
I took a deep breath.
"Like everything. It'll consume your food, and then your internal organs, and then your skin, and hair, and then it'll start eating everything else here, growing larger and larger until this whole truck gets sucked through."
"I'm going to die?"
"Unfortunately, if we don't stop it, it'll kill us all."
"That's bullshit, Goldie," Zork scoffed. "You're saying we're going to die by getting sucked into Dave's stomach?"
"Yes. Technically, it'll suck us through, and into another dimension. We may survive the trip in one piece, but it's unlikely, Dave will. It's swallowing him bit by bit."
Zork rolled his eyes.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"I don't recall ever hearing of such an infection either."
"You guys never heard of an internal gastrointestinal black hole?"
"It must have been discussed in one of those classes at the Academy which I slept through," Dave muttered.
"One of those classes I didn't go to because I was kicked out," Zork added.
"No, that's not where I found out about it. I don't know how I know this. Maybe, my husband told me. He used to be a doctor back in the day. But, I do know for certain that this is what Dave has, and we need to land somewhere quickly to get it extracted. In the meantime, the only way to prevent it from consuming his organs and growing further is for him to keep feeding it with food. Eat, Dave." I crawled back under the console and retrieved the entire box of protein bars.
"This is great," Zork exclaimed. "We'll either get sucked through his intestines, or die of starvation once he's eaten the only food we have aboard. I knew I didn't like you for a reason, Northgate."
"I don't like you either, Scott, and frankly, I could think of better ways to die."
"We have to think positively, Dave," I told him, unwrapping a protein bar and handing it to him. "We'll land at the nearest port. It shouldn't be far."
"I hope so," Dave mumbled. "Do you mind if I pray?"
"What good will that do?" Zork scoffed.
"Well, last time I tried, someone showed up, and we were rescued, more or less."
"Who showed up?" I demanded. “And, when?”
"It was right before you jumped into the pod. Actually, it was your husband who appeared."
Zork slapped his head with his hand. "I think we’ve already been sucked into that black hole."
"How did he look?" I asked.
"Transparent."
"What did he say to you? What did you talk about?"
"He said, you never know who is going to answer God's calls.
Now, I slapped my head with my hand. "Go ahead and pray, Dave. If Senya shows up again, tell him I need to have a word with him, too."
Dave closed his eyes, and bowed his head, while Zork and I exchanged glances. The truck puttered along among a vast, and never-ending sea of stars.
I was about to climb back under the console to have some relatively quiet space to sit and think, when suddenly, Zork cried out.
"What the hell is that?”
Dave opened his eyes, and unclasped his hands. “It appears to be a ship.”
“What ship?” I scrambled back up.
“A Discovery class Allied Starship. Judging from the serial number on the hull, I would say it’s the same vintage as the one we flew. It appears that we are going to be rescued.”
“Hail them,” I ordered.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Zork replied. “Did you forget we don’t have a radio on this garbage truck?”
“Well, then, shut off the engine, and let’s float here until they put a tractor beam on us.”
"Done.” Dave reached down, and a moment later the engine went quiet. We waited a few tense moments as the Allied ship drew closer.
“Can anyone read the name on the bow?” Zork asked, leaning back in his chair, his feet up on the display.
"Oy," I said, as the letters came into view.
“Oy?” the guys echoed.
“It says Discovery. I sure hope the Statute of Limitations on treason has run out.”
Chapter 15
Ber
Princess Sara was sitting in the seat right in front of me.
“Hi!” she said, turning around. Her deep blue eyes crisscrossed my face, her brow furrowing as she tried to recall who I was.
“Ber, Your Highness,” I said, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. This is my brother, Kie.”
I pointed at Kie, who was still covered in a blanket. Although his face was exposed, his eyes were closed as if he was sleeping. From the way he was shrouded, he looked like a Rossorian. In fact, he resembled Kell, the
guy impatiently waiting for everyone to board.
“These are my radical nephews,” Loran announced, from the seat next to Sara. “Once they were one as they emerged from the noble Angelica’s loins. Now, they are two, each different, and yet the same.”
“Loran, what have you been smoking today?” The girl next to me snapped.
“Can I have some, whatever it is,” the green boy asked, climbing in the van, a wide smile on his face.
“Rory!”
I looked at the Princess’s step-sister. She was safer to gaze at than Sara. She didn’t make me stutter or forget to take a breath. She was nice looking, if a bit ordinary, but anyone next to the Princess would pale in comparison.
“I’m Ber,” I said to her. “This is my brother, Kie.”
“I heard that. I’m Carolie. Rory! Quit snickering. Arsan, do you want to sit back here?” Carolie patted the empty seat as the last boy boarded.
Arsan stood briefly, steadying himself with a hand on the back of Sara’s seat. He surveyed the van’s passengers, looking first from Sara to Carolie, before his pale eyes swept across my brother and me.
“No, Arsan, sit here,” the Princess called sweetly. “Move over, Loran. Let Arsan sit down.” She held out her hand. “It’s a royal command.”
Carolie’s face visibly fell.
“Yes, Ma’am,” Arsan replied.
The trip to the Imperial Palace was not far, although for both Carolie and myself, it seemed to take forever. Snowflakes bounced against the windows, and the wiper blades slapped back and forth. It was warm and comforting in the van, so much so, I grew drowsy, until the van hit some turbulence and bounced violently.
“Oh!” Sara cried, clutching Arsan’s hand. “I’m frightened. I hate flying.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, and gazed up longingly at his face.
I stared at her blonde curls, watching them mix with Arsan’s similar black ones. It made me sad, those intertwining strands of filamentous biomaterial.
Unconsciously, I fingered my own hair, imagining Sara’s locks mixing with it. My hair was too thin, too white, too limp and far too dull to hang anywhere near Sara’s golden tresses.
“So are you guys like, separated or what?” Rory, the green boy asked my brother, pointing one long finger at each of us. “That’s totally cool. I bet it feels great to be on our own.”
“Take me to my leader,” Kie murmured, his eyes flitting anxiously across the van. “Take me. Take me.”
“Yep, we’re headed that way, little nephew,” Loran called. “How much longer, Driver Kell? The one-headed, wheelie dude is getting anxious.”
“We’re here,” the driver’s wife replied, and now I could see we were passing over the Palace gates, approaching what had once been the inner courtyard.
I had never been to the Palace before, although Kie and I had studied it when we were in school. This area once contained the magnificent floral grounds with fountains, pools, and crystal art. The walkways were once golden and teeming with people who queued up for days, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Emperor or the Empress.
Those days were gone, and no longer would the Imperial Palace reign as the galaxy’s number one tourist destination. Everything was changing. All the stars were realigning, and I wasn’t certain any good would come from it.
“Are you coming?” Carolie looked at me, her eyes downcast, her face still set in a sad frown.
In the meantime, Sara climbed out, clutching tightly to Arsan’s arm, as if the step down might make her fall.
“Would you like to see my suite, Arsan?” she was asking as they walked away.
Taking a cue from the kid, I turned to Carolie and offered my arm. “May I escort you?”
“That’s alright,” she snapped. “I think I can jump half a foot.”
I stepped back to let her climb out, while Loran wheeled Kie.
“Leader. Leader,” Kie was mumbling as more Rossorians approached from the only building still standing intact.
“Rosso loves you,” Kell and his wife greeted them.
“Rosso loves you,” their compatriots raised their hands.
They exchanged a few more words, which I couldn’t hear, as Kie was now shouting, “Leader! Leader!” at the top of his lungs.
Considering only days ago, Kie was on ventilator unable to breathe on his own, this shouting was probably a good sign. It only bothered me a tiny bit that he was so anxious to see whomever this Leader person was.
“Yo dudes of the Imperial Palace,” Loran announced. “I, Crown Prince Loran, Viscount Korelesk, have come to greet my imperial father, the Duke and would be King. Guide me to him, noble vassals, and you shall be rewarded with my profound gratitude. So profound it shall be, I may even allow you to hang with me in my leisurely hours.”
“Loran.” Carolie winced. “You are such an embarrassment.”
“Leader! Leader!” Kie shouted again.
“Ride on my man! Lead away.”
Loran relinquished Kie’s chair to Rory while the Rossorians spun around, and ushered everyone toward the building. The rest of us started to follow in a scraggly line as Sara was busy describing what the Palace had looked like to Arsan.
“And, over there was the Icicle Fountain,” we heard her say. “It used to be filled with all sorts of beautiful colored water and surrounded by white roses. It was the symbol of my grandfather’s great love for my grandmother.”
Carolie put her finger in her mouth, and pretended to choke.
Arsan was frowning again.
“I wish someone would love me as much as my grandfather loved her.”
Sara batted her eyes at Arsan. He winced. Caroline snickered.
All the while, I kept thinking, if she would just look over this way at me, her wish might come true.
“Give me a break,” Carolie mumbled.
“Dudes and dudettes!” Loran shouted from the building. “Come on. I summon you forth.”
“Come on. It’s cold out here.” I nodded to Carolie, and offered her my arm again. She looked at it skeptically for a moment, and then, with a shrug, put her hand on my elbow. We started walking to the building just as a low flying speeder soared into the courtyard.
“OMG!” Carolie cried, loosening her grip on my arm. “Those are Turko’s flags on the door.”
She raced off across the courtyard to where the limo was landing. Sara paused in Arsan’s guided tour to watch. When the speeder’s doors slipped open, and her father, the Imperial Prince climbed out, Sara let out a gasp.
“Daddy! Come on, Arsan. I’ll introduce you.”
Arsan pulled away and for a moment, our eyes briefly met.
Now, it was my turn to gasp. The Imperial Princes were standing by the limo, Sara holding tightly to her father’s arm, and for the first time, I saw the Princes closely, in real life, not distorted by a pic or a vid. I looked from them to Arsan, and back and forth a few more times. Arsan’s pale eyes watched me do this, and his mouth broke into a tiny smile.
He shrugged, and laughed a little, as if he knew what I had just figured out. I would have said something to him, maybe joined in the laughter too, but I was interrupted by Carolie and her grandfather.
“Blessed Saint!” Lord Taner exclaimed. “If you aren’t the image of young Berkan as a child. Come son, we must leave. The Palace isn’t safe for any of us right now.” His eyes drifted over to Arsan. “Blessed Saint!” he exclaimed again. “Who in the hell are you?”
“Taner, let’s go,” Sara’s father called.
“Where’s Rory?” A green Talasian man emerged from the limo. “Carolie, why isn’t Rory with you?”
“He was,” Carolie insisted. “But, he went with Loran and Kie.”
“We can’t leave without Rory,” Taner declared.
“Kari-fa!” Sara’s father swore. “We might as well walk back in there and let them lock us up.”
“Good idea, Shik,” a voice announced from the Palace balcony.
We all looked up at Uncle Petya w
ho was standing with Loran and Kie, as well as Rory, who had a gun to his head.
“This time you’ll not escape from the master suite. We’ve boarded up the French Doors, as well as removed all ketchup bottles, cans, and Auntie Katie’s pantyhose. You will all wait there until it’s your turn to die.”
Uncle Petya turned away, as a more gun-wielding Rossarians approached, herding us into the building, one by one.
“Wait!” Loran yelled from up above. “Pops, that’s my dude, Ber, my noble squire, my beloved nephew, now singularly headed.”
Uncle Petya looked down at me. “Oh yes. I see him.” He waved for me to join them, to stand with them and my brother.
I debated for half a second with a Rossorian’s gun pointed at my head. I looked at Carolie, at Arsan, and poor little Rory, who had turned a bright shade of yellow, and was trembling.
“No,” I shouted upward. “No, I think what you’re doing is wrong. I’m going to stay with the de Kudishas and the Turkos even if I have to die with them.”
“How noble of you,” Uncle Petya scoffed. “Go ahead and die with them. Kie was always the smarter of the two of you.”
“Dude?” Loran gasped. “Are you sure, like, totally sure? I mean, it’s like death, dude. There ain’t no way back.”
“Yes,” I defiantly declared, and walked into the building, and up the stairs.
Chapter 16
Zork
“Do you mind if I have another protein bar while we are waiting?” Northgate asked, lifting up his shirt to stare at his stomach again.
The Discovery had launched a tractor beam on us, and slowly but surely, hauled us into their docking bay.
“Go ahead,” Goldie replied. “Eat as many as you want. Listen guys. Please don’t tell them who I am. I don’t have any ID on me, and I’m sure I don’t look like I did back in the day. They’ll never know unless you tell them.”
“You look as beautiful as you did when we were in school,” Northgate replied, his mouth full of food. “No. I retract that. You are more beautiful now. You have maturity and wisdom in your eyes and bearing, which is far more appealing than even your girlish innocence was back then.”
