Quinn Fenton and the Time and Space Protection Agency

by Ethan Bibile

  People sat about the courtyard, especially children of different species, running around and playing together.

  Quinn found that Laura was already waiting for him, sitting on one of the benches, watching the playing children with interest. She turned around as Quinn strode towards her and she smiled at him.

  “Hello,” Quinn said, grinning as he greeted his friend, taking a seat next to her on the rough bench.

  “Hey,” Laura said, turning her attention from the kids to Quinn. She pushed her red hair behind her shoulder and out of the way. “How have you been? Got into any more trouble with pirates?” Laura joked.

  “That was one time!” Quinn protested. He had mentioned his encounter with Captain Aboan to Laura upon one of his previous visits to Nigellia. “I’ve been good, no pirates. How have you been?”

  “Good, good,” Laura replied, shrugging her shoulders. “Haven’t done much really.”

  “How’s Nultagna been?” Quinn asked.

  “Oh, it’s been good,” Laura replied. “Nothing especially great has happened since I last saw you. People are still trying to impersonate you by trying to ride the hoverboard down the side of the building. No one has managed to do it yet though. They just fall onto the net they installed underneath that building,” Laura said, and Quinn laughed lightly, honoured that people would want to try something he did, but pitying them at the same time because of how risky it was.

  “That will blow over soon though. Has anyone managed to beat you yet?” Quinn asked, nudging Laura with his elbow, who in return rolled her eyes at him.

  “This one guy nearly beat me, but I’ve still got the crown,” Laura said, smiling modestly.

  “Nice,” Quinn said, grinning, honestly happy for his friend.

  Over the past few months, since he had gotten to know Laura better and better, he had gotten to realize how much she really meant to him. She was a real human being, a real human being that was his friend.

  “So, what did you want to do today?” Quinn asked, absently watching the children who ran around the courtyard, playing without a care in the world.

  “I have no idea!” Laura said, before standing up. “Why don’t we go for a walk, and then we can go for lunch? There’s this nice restaurant not far from here,” Laura suggested as Quinn stood up too.

  “Sounds like a great idea,” Quinn said, before the two left the courtyard, going underneath the archway and travelling down the paved road, both taking interest in the market stalls. Despite a common interest in the marketplace, Laura had warned Quinn some time ago against buying things from the sellers at the stalls. Apparently, once you bought something from them, they would lure you in, pestering you constantly to buy more and more from them.

  “Hello, young man!” Exclaimed an old woman at a stall, stopping Quinn and Laura. She had some large turban-like hat upon her head that was many colours. She had wrinkling skin with a rather large hunchback and long, outstretched hands. Upon her face were many paint markings. The stall had many exotic trinkets around it, and within the stall itself, there was a strange, musty smell that caused Quinn and Laura to wrinkle their noses.

  Quinn had the language translator he had gotten from Lord Flendres in his pocket and turned on so that he could understand the different and exotic languages of the planet. “Oh, and who is this beautiful woman? Your wife?”

  Quinn and Laura both looked at each other in surprise, gesturing that they weren’t married or in any kind of relationship. Both began to blush intently.

  “We’re not in a relationship,” Quinn assured the woman at the stall, avoiding Laura’s eyes, his cheeks very red. The woman nodded slowly, smiling as if she knew something they did not.

  “Of course, you are not,” The woman said, smiling somewhat creepily at the two, before delving into the things she had at her stall, rustling through them all. “What would you like to buy?” She began to offer, pulling out some weirdly shaped trinket that was in the shape of a triangle. “This will protect you from all harm,” The woman said, before pulling out something else. “And this watch has some very special powers,” She said pulling out a dirty, yet still with slivers of silver, fob watch. She flicked open the lid just a crack, yet suddenly it slammed shut and the woman seemed to have moved without Quinn and Laura noticing.

  “We’re not interested,” Laura said as she and Quinn moved away from the stall.

  “No, I promise, you will like what I have!” She yelled out, putting the triangle and the fob watch away. “Come back! Come back!” She screeched after the two, but neither Quinn nor Laura looked back at the woman.

  “Well, that was… strange,” Quinn said as they got back on the street, and Laura laughed.

  “That’s an understatement,” Laura said, grinning, shaking her head. “And when she said we were married?” Laura said, somewhat nervously laughing, and Quinn did the same. The two fell silent, each looking out through the marketplace, trying to figure out a new conversations starter.

  “Hey!” Laura pointed out, thankfully breaking the awkward silence. “Why don’t we go to the anti-gravity chamber they have here!” Laura suggested, and Quinn turned to look at her, interested. “It’s this huge room, and when you go in they turn on the artificial anti-gravity, it’s quite fun, I think you’d like it.”

  “Sounds awesome!” Quinn said, and Laura led him through the marketplace until they found themselves standing outside a large building, this building too staying true to the theme of Nigellia, archways everywhere.

  Quinn and Laura entered the building where they found a line of about ten people waiting to enter the anti-gravity chamber. About half the people waiting were adults and the other half were children. Some, however, Quinn was not sure if they were a child or an adult.

  The waiting hall where the line was situated was long, with an attempted red carpet that was fading in colour. The roof was arched and at the front of the line was a booth where a weedy looking green alien stood, selling tickets to those who wanted to experience no gravity.

  Quinn and Laura spent about an hour waiting in the line for the anti-gravity chamber before finally reaching the ticket booth.

  “How long would you like to be in the chamber,” Asked the weedy looking ticker seller, sounding like he hated nothing more than his job. He looked bored out of his brain as he pointed to a poster next to him that had amounts of time you could stay in the chamber for and prices next to that. Quinn and Laura eventually settled upon spending twenty minutes inside the chamber. Laura volunteered to pay, but Quinn insisted that he could, Laura then letting him. Quinn swiped his credit card, transferring the ioas from his bank account to this business.

  Once they had paid, the weedy alien left the booth he was standing and went around to a large black door that was tightly sealed at the end of the corridor. He input some sort of pin code, and the door swung open, giving Quinn and Laura access to the chamber.

  The two went in, and Quinn got his first look at the room. It was large, very large, as this was what most of the building consisted of. It was taller than it was wide, with a dome roof. The people who had made this place had painted the walls completely black, attaching light bulbs around, these two factors trying the emulate the universe. The ground was soft, most likely in case the anti-gravity generator broke and people fell from the roof. Around the edges of the roof were small metal machines that had a tube in them, Quinn deducing that these were the generators.

  The alien shut the door behind Quinn and Laura, who turned around as it banged shut. The two turned to look at each other.

  “So… now what happens?” Quinn asked, looking around the room.

  Suddenly, both of their feet lost contact with the ground and they began to float upwards. Quinn’s eyes widened, and for a moment he completely freaked out and grabbed onto Laura’s hand for safety. They continued floating through the air, getting higher and higher until they reached the middle section of the room. Quinn slowly released his grip upon Laura’s hand, a smile beginnin
g to spread across his face.

  “This is awesome!” Quinn exclaimed, looking at Laura in wonder, who smiled at his reaction. Quinn might have come from the future, but there were no anti-gravity chambers upon Nespritia or any planet he had ever visited.

  Quinn began to swim through the air. His hair began floating in all different direction, yet it was nothing compared to Laura’s red hair, which usually went past her shoulders. Now, it floated up just about everywhere. Quinn watched Laura for a moment, who seemed to carefree floating about as she pleased, smiling in joy. Quinn was lost for a moment before he realised that he was floating in mid-air.

  “Woo-hoo!” Quinn cried out as he attempted a backflip and successfully pulled it off. “I’m impressed that I managed to do that!” Quinn said, mentally applauding himself. “You have a go.”

  Laura began to rock herself back and forth before she tipped herself backwards and tipped around doing a backflip. Once she was straight up yet again, she put her arms out to steady herself. “Woah!” She exclaimed. “I haven’t been here in a while, that was strange!” Laura laughed at Quinn, who laughed back.

  Quinn laughed with Laura, finding that he rather enjoyed hearing her laugh. He was enjoying her company more and more and found it something that he craved when he was not in her presence.

  “Race you to the top and back,” Laura said, and before Quinn could accept, Laura had kicked off through the air towards the top of the ceiling. It was a very strange feeling, simply floating around a room. Quinn felt very light and almost completely weightless as he swam through the air.

  Due to her head start, Laura made it to the roof before Quinn did and beat him to the ground. She then turned around and when she saw him swimming through the air, she burst out into a fit of laughter.

  “What?” Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow, yet Laura continued laughing. “What?” Quinn asked again, yet Laura’s laugh seeming to be infectious, causing him to smile despite himself.

  “You looked so stupid swimming through the air,” Laura managed to get out as she tried to catch her breaths from her laughing fit. Quinn shook his head as he smiled, Laura breaking into another fit of giggles.

  Quinn and Laura spent about the remaining fifteen minutes swimming about the room and laughing at each other as they did. Eventually, the gravity returned to the room and they slowly descended to the floor. They left the room, both still slightly laughing and teasing each other, earning them a couple of raised eyebrows from the people who were still waiting in the line. Some people, however, smiled at the two.

  “That was great!” Quinn said as the two emerged back onto the street, beginning to walk. “I felt so… so light, it was weird. They didn’t have any of them back home.”

  “I love that place,” Laura said, smiling almost giddily. “My Dad would take me a lot when I was a kid, it was one of my favourite places. I haven’t been there in years though,” Laura said as she remembered being a child. “It was fun though, seeing you swim around like a fish,” Laura pouted her lips out and began imitating Quinn yet throwing him way out of proportion and making him like a fish.

  “I did not swim like that!” Quinn defended himself, yet he was enjoying the playful banter between himself and Laura. “You, however, with your hair, you looked like you’d been electrocuted,” Quinn laughed, and Laura shook her head, smiling.

  “I think you were much funnier,” Laura said, but before Quinn could tease her back, she looked at her wrist where her watch was located. “Woah, it’s about lunchtime. Should we go to that restaurant I told you about?” Laura asked.

  “Sure, I’m trusting your taste in food…” Quinn began but his voice soon trailed off. Laura knitted her eyebrows together in confusion as he did so.

  “Are you alright?” Laura asked, but Quinn simply nodded down the street. Laura looked in the direction he was nodding and her face fell too.

  Not too far off down the street, two aliens were harassing a young stall owner. The two aliens pushed him a couple of times, before barging their way into the stall, despite the protests of the distressed stall owner. They quickly found a bag which they opened up. Even from far off, Quinn and Laura could see the shining gold coins that were ioas glinting in the sun. The two crooks grinned at each other before running off down an alley.

  “C’mon,” Laura said, before marching off down the street, Quinn right behind her.

  “Please, someone help!” The distressed stall owner called out to the crowd. He had eight spindly legs, two of which were waving around in the air as he called for help. His head stuck up from his thin neck, his four eyes darting about all over the place, filled with desperation. He had greasy looking hair that was plastered down onto his sickly-looking skin.

  “It’s OK, we’re here to help you,” Quinn said as he and Laura reached the stall. The alien’s rapid breathing rate slowed. Quinn could see the relief wash over his face.

  “Thank you!” He said almost timidly. Quinn turned away from the alien. He pulled out his gun, Laura doing the same. Hers looked different to Quinn’s. It was pure black, yet it had a worn quality about it.

  The two walked into the alley, guns hanging idly by their sides.

  Ahead they saw the two crooks, bent over near a pile of garbage, examining the bag of coins, repulsive grins on their faces.

  “Hey!” Laura called out to catch their attention. They both jumped up, their eyes widening at the fear of being caught. One grabbed the bag of money as he rose from the ground.

  “Wadda you want?” Called out one of the thieves, his speech slurred. He was probably a drunk. Everything from his ragged clothes to the way he stood gave it away. His small eyes were filled with anger. He had a metal piece of headgear on, which Quinn had seen extend down his back like it was attached to him.

  “Give that man his money back,” Laura commanded. Both of the crooks looked at each other, before laughing. They were both human, but both had serious injuries along their bodies. One had a long scar across his face.

  “Like ‘ell we will,” The drunk said, stepping forward, laughing.

  “Then I think we’ve got a problem,” Quinn retorted back. “Because that was a very nice man you just robbed, kinda mean.”

  “We don’t care,” The drunk said, stumbling forward. Before he could move another step, Laura raised her gun. Before anyone could react, she’d shot the drunk in the leg. He tumbled over onto the ground, clutching himself in pain.

  “Impressive,” Quinn muttered under his breath to Laura, eyebrows raised. He swore he saw a smile flicker across her face for a second, before vanishing.

  The other thief had vanished around a corner, taking the money with him.

  Laura immediately took after him, but Quinn pulled her back.

  “We’ll use the roofs,” He said, gesturing up around them. “We’ll see him better from up there,” Laura nodded and ran over to a large rubbish dumpster that rested against a wall. Both her and Quinn climbed onto it. Quinn could easily reach up and grab the top of the wall. Once he’d pulled himself up, he helped Laura up.

  The two began running along the walls, taking care not to slip and plummet to the ground. They took the corner as the crook had done.

  Most of the walls that they could see on the landscape were similar in height, making Quinn and Laura’s trek across them easier. They ran across sandy green roofs and over the top of archways, their eyes scouring the alley below them for some sign of the criminal.

  “There!” Quinn yelled eventually. Up ahead they could see the thief sprinting as hard as he could, the bag of money over his shoulder. Quinn and Laura ran harder in an attempt to catch him.

  However, once they had gained some ground on him, Laura stopped running. Once Quinn realised she had, he jerked to a halt and spun around to see her standing on top of an arch.

  “Laura!” Quinn exclaimed, gesturing that they needed to go.

  “Wait,” Laura said as she raised her gun, not taking her eyes of the criminal. He was sprinting down an a
lley with no paths branching off it. If something got in his way, he would be trapped.

  Laura pointed her gun down the alley, Quinn turning to see where it was being pointed. Before he could question, Laura shot a net full of barrels that were hanging off a wall just in front of the criminal. The barrels bounded in front of him, blocking his path. Both Quinn and Laura could see his frantic movements as he tried to figure a way out.

  Quinn and Laura quickly made their way down to the ground, before running down the alley as fast as their legs would permit them. They eventually stopped ten feet away from the criminal, who turned around to face them.

  “I wouldn’t try anything if I were you,” Quinn said, smiling. Both he and Laura had their guns pointed at his body. They could see the sweat pouring down his face.

  Slowly, he dropped the bag of money to the ground, before getting onto his knees, hands behind his head.

  “And here is your money,” Quinn said, handing over the bag of ioas to the stall owner.

  “Thank you so much!” He cried out, gratitude exploding all over his face. “You have no idea how much this means to me, I don’t know what I would’ve done if they’d gotten away!”

  Quinn and Laura had been quick to alert the police after they managed to capture the criminals. After both of them were arrested, Quinn and Laura had returned the money to the stall holder.

  “That’s no problem,” Laura said, smiling at the alien. “Happy to help,” he said, before gesturing to Quinn that they move on. The two walked away from the stall, walking through the busy crowd. Quinn was incredibly surprised that no one had the decency to help the man beside himself and Laura.

  “I must say, you’re incredible with a gun,” Quinn said, admiring Laura. She looked grateful, smiling at the ground, not responding. “I’ve seen you with a gun before, but that was really impressive!” Quinn exclaimed.

  “It’s taken me years to get that good,” Laura said, trying to sound as modest as possible.

  “Are bullets expensive?” Quinn asked, hands in pockets as he looked at Laura inquisitively.