Unfathomable Chance

by K T Munson

“What is it?" Diana demanded.

  “It is a Jacc-ra,” the cat said, clearly upset as he started madly moving back and forth on the stool.

  Diana stood back up. “What is a Jacc-ra?”

  “Thieves,” Kal Zed said, glancing up at her, his tail quivering.

  Diana could see the great ship outside the window as it consumed their ping-pong-ball ship whole. The little she had seen of the Jacc-ra ship reminded her of a cat slumped over the back of couch. The front was shaped like an animal head with a big body and two circular chunks of metal out to each side, like curled cat arms. Kal Zed’s ship clunked loudly as it landed inside the belly of the bigger ship and immediately powered down. Diana inspected the inside of the other ship as she heard people moving about but they were just outside of her view.

  “What now?” Diana asked nervously.

  “Nothing good,” Kal Zed said, jumping down.

  “We see you in there,” a woman called. “Come out.”

  Even though she was in danger, Diana didn’t feel anything tingling that would indicate she was dematerializing to protect herself like before. She tried to focus, to trigger it somehow and get her and Kal Zed away from there, but nothing happened. Shaking her arm she glared at the bracelet, annoyed.

  “Lot of good you are,” Diana said, letting her arm fall back to her side.

  Kal Zed padded across the floor before putting his paw on the door. The red glow within the ship changed to blue before the door started to open. Diana put her arms up above her head as Kal Zed walked out into the open. Diana ducked her head before stepping down onto the floor.

  A woman with green skin and purplish hair stood in front of a ragtag group. To her left was a being that resembled a tree, and to her right was something that looked like a rock monster. She was really going to have a hard time getting accustomed to all these aliens. Was it right to call them aliens when she was aboard their ship? Technically she was the alien. All these technicalities were going to give her a headache.

  “What is it?” the big boulder asked.

  “It is annoyed,” Diana retorted sarcastically.

  “It understands us?” The boulder man was clearly shocked.

  “It is very pink,” a younger green-skinned boy with the same purple hair said as he appeared around the corner. The inside of the ship reminded her of a great open cargo container, like the inside of a cargo jet, but large enough to fit a really big yacht in.

  “What are they saying?” Kal Zed asked out of the corner of his mouth.

  “A Catorian,” the woman said, coming forward. Her accent sounded vaguely Russian. “It is rare that you travel outside your new homes. What brings you to the Kravis System?”

  Kal Zed stared defiantly at her, his tail moving back and forth. His golden eyes turned into humming slits. Diana could tell that he understood her because his ears flicked back. The woman eyed him, and then shifted her attention to Diana.

  “How do you understand us?” she asked, her head tipped to the side.

  “She spoke a different language,” Kal Zed said warningly, knowing that Diana could understand them all because of the Babel Stone and couldn’t differentiate if someone changed languages.

  Diana’s gaze passed over them. “What do you want?”

  “You must be new to the solar system,” the woman said with a cocky smile. “Otherwise you would understand how the Jacc-ra work.”

  “You’re thieves,” Diana said. “Which means you can be bought.”

  “That didn’t sound like a question,” the leader said, listening.

  “Bearer, I advise against this,” Kal Zed whispered.

  “What other choice do we have?” Diana asked, trying to think of the best way to leverage her new found position. Being the Bearer of the Cosmos had to count for something

  The tree stepped forward, suddenly pushing around the woman, and strode close to Diana to smell her. Diana leaned away from him as he took in a deep breath. She grimaced as Kal Zed jumped in front of her and hissed.

  “Grim?” the green woman cried as the tree creature’s arm swept down and picked Kal Zed up. The cat continued to hiss and claw at him.

  “Put him down!” Diana demanded as she came forward to make the tree let go.

  “Bearer,” the tree said in a deep voice that rattled around her ribcage, “I am your guardian.”

  “Maura?” the boulder being said to his green-skinned leader, “What is wrong with Grim?”

  “Kal Zed?” Diana asked, distressed, as Grim set the cat down. She didn’t understand what was happening.

  “Those without a home planet and with a loyal heart will be drawn to protect you,” Kal Zed explained as Grim turned towards his comrades. “That is the way of the universe, Bearer.”

  “Then you didn’t want to help me?” Diana asked, upset, “You were compelled?”

  “In a way,” Kal Zed confirmed.

  “Nihal, get the girl,” Maura ordered the boulder. “Knock her unconscious if you have to. She’s used something to control Grim.”

  Grim roared when Nihal started forward, and the two became locked in hand-to-hand combat. Diana watched as Nihal half picked up the tree and Grim immediately smashed his fist into the boulder’s head. Kal Zed started back for the ship with Diana right behind him. When Maura put a hand on Diana’s shoulder, Diana used a throw from her years of defense training and grabbed the gun from Maura’s hip while she was mid-air. The green woman landed hard on her back on the ship’s floor. Diana pointed the gun at her. She hadn’t even known she could have moved so quickly. The woman, looking surprised, too, rolled over and came up in a crouch. Diana’s left hand steadily held the gun on its target while her other hand shook. The bracelet was protecting her.

  “Let me pass,” Diana said, seeing Kal Zed sitting aboard their ship behind Maura. “I will bring you nothing but trouble.”

  She could hear the roar of battle behind her as the other two tumbled around, knocking over crates and shelves, but above all that noise Diana heard a humming sound that grew louder. Her arm flicked over in the direction of it. A blue light rocketed towards her as she turned her head towards the boy she’d forgotten about. He had some sort of strange contraption on his hip aimed at her.

  “Sora!” Maura called, rushing forward as though she intended to tackle Diana.

  “Stop!” Diana yelled, but she wasn’t talking to the boy; she was yelling at the bracelet as she felt her finger start to pull the trigger of its own accord.

  When the blue electricity from the boy’s contraption hit her, the red that had emanated off the bracelet before went out from her like a shockwave, traveling over the entire room. Everyone in the vicinity was thrown backwards against walls or shelves and landed in a heap. The gun dropped, unfired, from Diana’s hand, before she slumped to the ground.

  Chapter 9

  Diana felt herself floating as she moved down halls that were strangely familiar. Trees caught in snow, rain, or wind, bearing fruit or dripping water as she passed room after room and tree after tree. Some were withered and old, while others were hardly grown.

  At the end of the hall was a huge maroon door with golden designs running up and down it. Diana carefully reached out and touched the smooth surface. There were no handles or any way to open it as far as she could tell. Her head tipped to the side when she heard singing inside. From beyond the doorway, a shaft of light appeared. She could hear the light singing to her as it danced around her head. When she reached up to touch it, she opened her eyes…

  Suddenly she was lying on a small bed with a blanket tucked around her. The room jerked then, and Diana’s hands curled around the edge of the bed. Things fell out of cabinets, and something smashed to the floor. She realized with a start that she wasn’t on Kal Zed’s ship but in some sort of medical room. The instinct to run and find something familiar, find Kal Zed, was strong. Before she could react, a blue creature with orange stripes and some sort of breathing apparatus walked in. He reminded her of a colorful ocean
fish.

  He hurried towards the falling items, nervously declaring, “She has done it this time. Grek should have listened to Grek’s mother. Space is no place for Grek’s kind, but, no, Grek had to ignore her perfectly logical advice.”

  The ship jerked again, and Diana sat up as she asked, “What is going on?”

  Grek, the fishlike creature, screamed and held his hands up in defense. The ship shuddered, more violently this time, and Diana nearly fell off the bed. The aquatic creature turned around to catch medical items as they fell out of the containers.

  “We are under attack by another Jacc-ra run by a Diniri,” Grek informed her in a high pitched voice, as though that was supposed to mean something. “They want the Catorian and its crew for dinner.”

  “Me,” Diana said as her blood ran cold. “They want me and Kal Zed.”

  “When Maura denied them, they started to open fire,” Grek said as she got off the bed. “Where are you going?”

  “To stop this,” Diana said. The ship lurched and she stumbled.

  “You can’t,” he countered somberly. “And the ship’s shields are nearly exhausted.”

  Diana glanced around, utterly lost, and then took hold of his hand. “Take me to the bridge.”

  “The bridge?” Grek asked, clearly confused.

  “Wherever Maura is, take me to Maura,” Diana commanded.

  Though he looked confused, Grek suddenly stopped and straightened. “Come with Grek.”

  Diana didn’t question his sudden change in attitude—she didn’t have time to—but she guessed it had something to do with the bracelet. He pulled her along down the metal halls. They ducked into a living area where the purple-haired boy was strapped in. To his right was the boulder, Nihal, whose mouth dropped open when he saw her.

  “Grek?!” the boy from earlier, Sora, called, reaching for the harness.

  They ducked into another area, and Diana could hear them shouting behind her. Grek didn’t stop, running her all the way up to a bulkhead. He punched in a code violently before turning a strange looking wheel. For some reason, it reminded her of a submarine. They stumbled into the room as the ship lurched from under their feet. Grek, having regained his senses, clung to the banister and gave a startled cry.

  “Open a communication channel!” Diana yelled.

  Maura stood up from a prominently placed chair. “What are you doing here?”

  “Grek, go back,” Diana said. The fishman calmed enough to retreat. “Let me talk to them,” Diana yelled back to Maura.

  “Why?” she asked harshly and came to stand in front of her, leaning in menacingly.

  “So I can save your life,” Diana retorted.

  Maura hesitated, and for a moment Diana thought she was going to deny her. Instead she commanded, “Activate the V.O.S.”

  There was a click and Maura nodded as Diana yelled, “Stop your attack at once.”

  The firing ceased and the turbulence stopped. Diana waited patiently, glancing at her bracelet, trying to will it to work. Maura glanced at her, surprised, before walking back over to her seat and hitting a few buttons. There were two other people in the room, both of whom she hadn’t seen before. One woman looked nearly human, despite the oversized eyes and strange turned-up nose. There was also a man who looked like Maura, but his hair was blue instead of purple, and his skin was a darker shade of green.

  There was a crackling sound, and another strange looking man appeared on a giant view screen. He looked oddly like a golden retriever, though with pointed ears instead of floppy ones. He wore a warrior’s garb and had a scar across one cheek. Diana nearly laughed as she realized why cats were not fond of most dogs.

  “Who are you to command the Diniri?” the dog-like alien asked, and she realized he had stopped attacking not because of her command, but rather out of curiosity.

  Diana opened her mouth and then closed it. She hesitated to tell them what she was because if she told them, Maura and her crew would know as well. Maura watched her expectantly as she debated the best course forward.

  “Catorian have your tongue, girl?” the dog roared. “I wish to know what you are before I kill you.”

  Anger welled up in her chest as she stepped into full view of the Diniri. She was tired of being threatened or told what to do. Diana felt her jaw lock a moment before she felt her fingers splay out.

  “You will leave, dog,” Diana said, her voice humming with power, “and you will forget you saw me or this ship.”

  The Diniri’s pupils dilated, and he pulled in a sharp breath. She saw his hair stand on end an instant before the picture of him disappeared. The view screen he had been on went dark, and all that remained was a strained silence that filled the room. Many of them glanced at her, and she could feel the nervousness in the air.

  “They’re leaving,” the girl with the oversized eyes said, surprised.

  Everyone turned their attention to her and Diana realized what had happened—what she had just done. Behind her, Sora stood on the threshold of the room, his eyes wide with fear.

  “I think it is time I left as well,” Diana said, though she did not use the bracelet to force them into compliance. “Show me to Kal Zed, and we’ll leave.”

  Maura licked her lips and pursed them before saying, “When we were being chased down we had to lighten the load.”

  “What exactly does that mean?” Diana asked, suddenly worried.

  “Your ship is adrift in space and our ship is too damaged to retrieve it,” Maura said. “You are stuck with us for a while longer.”

  Chapter 10

  Grim sat in a holding cell in the barracks of the ship. His face seemed the same, yet she sensed he was sad. Diana put her hand on the reinforced glass. When he saw her, he made a soft but sad sound, like a low hum of a whale combined with the whine of a dejected dog. He held out his hand to her and a small flower grew from his palm.

  “Why won’t you let him out?” Diana asked, glancing over at Maura.

  “I don’t trust you,” Maura said pointedly. “Therefore, as long as you have a hold over him, he remains there.” Diana heard the unspoken question in his voice.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. He set the flower on the ground by her feet before moving back from the glass to sit in the corner.

  “We will be in Kritorium shortly,” Maura told her, as though she weren’t afraid, but Diana knew better. “We’ll get our ship repaired and get you back to yours. The sooner this is over, the better.”

  Diana inspected her. They had come to an arrangement of sorts. Either Maura felt as though she owed Diana for saving them against the Diniri or she was too afraid of what Diana might do if Maura didn’t help them. Either way Diana was getting what she wanted.

  Sora escorted Kal Zed into the room. The cat wore little booties over his feet and a collar around his neck. Maura was proving to be an overly cautious woman. They had explained to her that the booties were to protect against the claws and the collar could send electricity into him. Sora carried the device that would punish him if he misbehaved but it would allow him to move around the ship instead of locking him up like Grim. Whenever Kal Zed tried to push the booties off, Sora held up the clicker and the cat would growl in annoyance.

  From the look Maura had given her when they’d put the collar on Kal Zed, Diana knew she had wanted to put one on her as well. Little did they know that there was nothing they could do. The most powerful thing in the universe was currently residing on her wrist. To make matters worse, everyone gave her a wide berth except for Sora. He was Maura’s younger brother and she disapproved, but she couldn’t watch such a tenacious boy all the time.

  “Bearer,” Kal Zed said softly as Sora went over to talk to Grim and out of earshot, “we should not stay here.”

  Diana sat down so Kal Zed could jump onto the seat next to her. There was no way she would admit, but he looked a little silly with the booties covering his feet. Diana absentmindedly reached out and started scratching him. Instantly he began to
purr and flopped onto his side. Diana smiled, still forgetting sometimes that he was a cat.

  “That is the first time I have seen you smile,” Sora said, leaning against the glass and watching her.

  “He reminds me of home,” Diana said, sighing giving him her full attention. “Where are you from?”

  “Sintaria, in the Harencha system,” Sora said excitedly as Kal Zed got up and crawled into her lap. He kept a close eye on the boy as she continued to pet him. “It has rivers as clear as any summer sky and grass the color of Grek’s skin.”

  “It sounds beautiful,” Diana said trying to imagine this strange land that Sora clearly loved. She thought it must look like a Dr. Suess book with all the blues and oranges.

  “It is,” Sora said, and his eyes unfocused. “I dream of it sometimes.”

  “Then why did you leave?” Diana asked, petting Kal Zed as he vibrated on her lap happily.

  “Our parents were criminals,” Sora admitted. “My sister and I had nothing but this ship. We are hiding amongst our own.”

  “That is enough,” Maura said, ducking into the room. “We are preparing to land; I thought you might want to see this.”

  Diana gave Sora a pointed stare as she stood, carrying the half-asleep Kal Zed with her. He purred against her chest in a continual rumble. Before she left, she went to the glass of Grim’s cage again and told him she would be back. They passed the girl with the big eyes hurried past and down the hall at double speed. Diana glanced back at her curiously; it was a strange thing to be feared.

  “Still not going to tell them what you are?” Kal Zed whispered.

  “It will only make things worse,” Diana said, certain it was the best choice.

  She was a fish out of water in the big, confusing universe. She didn’t know any difference between one universe and another or how to get there. Worse she didn’t even understand how they were able to travel so quickly and what places were safe to land.

  Searching the ground as they descended she craned her neck to see whatever she could as the ship touched down. There were rows and rows of white bodies; they almost looked like perfectly planted rows of trees. It took a moment for Diana to realize they were likely the natives of this strange planet. Their skin was a strange flaky white, and they had two sets of arms, which reminded her of Vishnu.