“Hi, Devon,” a high voice, seemingly coming from nowhere, startled him out of his
thoughts. Devon immediately recognized the voice. It belonged to Flim, the alien boy he met the
previous day. He scanned the area, trying to discover where his new friend might be hiding.
About to give up in frustration, Devon noticed something strange about one of the tablecloths
nearby. As a waiter passed by, it did not ripple like the others. Squinting, Devon looked closer.
Suddenly the part of the tablecloth hanging down began to ripple. He looked closer and started
to make out the outline of a small person. The effect was totally disrupted as Flim could not hold
his giggles in any longer. As he broke out into a fit of loud laughter, Flim became visible
kneeling next to the table.
“Ha, ha,” he laughed, “I had you going.” Flim held his sides, trying to hold in the
laughter.
“How on Earth did you do that,” Devon asked, totally shocked.
“I told you that sneaking was my specialty,” Flim answered. “Everyone from y’Lang can
do it. It has something to do with us having two suns, but I’m not really sure how it works.”
“That was amazing,” Devon still seemed in shock, “that is one of the coolest things I
have ever seen.”
Flim looked embarrassed, “it’s really nothing. I have to really concentrate to make it
work.”
“Still, that was amazing,” Devon responded. “I’m sure we can find a way to put it to
good use this trip.”
Both boys laughed with more than a little mischievousness.
The room began to fill up with children, most looking bored and snobby. Devon cringed.
He knew this kind of crowd. He often had to endure events like this reception. His parents considered it part of his family duty to represent them as an educated young gentleman. Devon
gave a silent moment of thanks that he had Flim here to break up the monotony.
He pulled the plasfilm sheet out of his pocket again to check the picture and then search
the crowd. He did not see Jacinda yet, but she still had nearly a quarter hour before the reception
officially started. As he peered at the image he was disturbed by Flim poking him in the ribs.
Devon looked up to see that a surprised looking girl was watching him from the doorway. He
immediately recognized Jacinda from her holo. He approached her, putting the plasfilm back in
his pocket.
“Ms. Vasquez,” he greeted her, his hand extended. She took it meekly and shook it.
“That was me in the holo, wasn’t it,” She asked.
“Yes,” Devon stuttered, “I’m supposed to welcome you to the reception. My parents...I
mean, the Blake Foundation sent me to make sure you had everything you needed and to make
you feel at home.”
Jacinda chuckled. “It may be impossible to make me feel at home, unless you book me a
smaller room. My cabin is as large as the apartment my family shares back home.”
Jacinda’s friendly manner helped put Devon at ease, “Well, I’ll see what I can do. Until
then just enjoy our hospitality. I understand this is your first trip away from home.”
“Yes it is,” she agreed, “and it is terribly exciting. I can’t imagine how it would feel to be
able to travel like this all the time.”
It was Devon’s turn to chuckle, “believe me, it gets boring. All these ships start to seem
the same after a couple of trips.” Devon’s thought was interrupted by another poke in the ribs
from Flim. The alien boy was smirking at Devon when he turned toward him. Flim hopped forward and extended his hand toward Jacinda, “Flimitpoytrotilmas Sa’Atar,
at your service….Flim for short.” Jacinda grabbed a hold of Flim’s hand with gusto.
“Wow, a real y’Langian. I’ve never met an alien before, but I’ve read all about them.”
Flim exchanged glances with Devon as Jacinda continued to shake his hand. “Can you really
blend in with your surroundings? I read about your chromatophores. How does it feel to change
color? Does it hurt? How quiet can you do it?”
Jacinda would have continued but Devon rescued Flim with a flourish. “Excuse me, miss,
but I’m sure that Flim will be happy to tell you all about it, but we need to find our seats now.
Dinner is about to begin.” Jacinda blushed when she realized how silly the boys must think she
was. Her chagrin quickly faded at the boys’ ready smiles. She did not feel that they were making
fun of her; they just found her enthusiasm cute.
Devon led his two new friends to an elegantly set table. Each place setting was set with
the ship’s finest china. The ethereal face of a beautiful woman surrounded with a flowing
pattern of Celtic knotwork adorned each plate. She represented the namesake of the ship, a
beautiful Celtic queen of ancient England.
Devon remembered the manners that had been hammered into him at boarding school
and pulled out the chair for Jacinda. She blushed at the unexpected courtesy, but took the seat.
Flim flopped into the chair next to Jacinda and began fiddling with the silverware. As soon as
Devon seated himself several adults joined them at the table. Devon rolled his eyes at their
eagerness. He had seen it before. As the richest person onboard, there were always people
nearby trying and be his friend, but he did not need that kind of friend. Despite their attempts to
make small talk, Devon pointedly ignored them. Instead, he turned his attention to Flim and
Jacinda. “So, are you two looking forward to the drop to Forrestal as much as I am?” Flim and
Jacinda nodded.
“I read that there are rumors of strange creatures there,” Jacinda said.
“They wouldn’t send us if they thought that there was some boogieman down there,”
Flim answered.
“I heard that too,” Devon added, “but I don’t believe it. They check out these places
before they let these expeditions go down to the surface.”
Jacinda’s face lit up, “just imagine discovering a new creature, especially a smart one.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a nasty laugh. Jacinda immediately recognized the
laugh. It belonged to Terry.
“So, rags, I see you made some friends. I guess a freak and a thief were the best you
could do.” This comment caused Flim and Devon to turn toward Terry giving him angry looks.
“I’m no thief,” Flim shot back. Terry looked confused for a moment and then frowned.
“I called you a freak, he is the thief,” Terry said, pointing at Devon.
Devon was taken aback, “What do you mean a thief? I’m not a thief.” He stared at Terry
in confusion.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, Blake. Everybody knows about
your family,” Terry sneered as he berated Devon. “Just stay out of my way, thief!”
Terry turned and stalked away from the table. He was filled with anger. That had not
gone as he had planned. He could not believe that the little ragamuffin had made friends with
Devon Bake of all people. He silently vowed to get even with Devon for what the Blakes had
done to his family. Devon, Jacinda and Flim stared at each other in confusion. Jacinda broke the silence,
“that boy has issues.”
The rest of the reception went very well. Several tasty dishes were served, each made
with ingredients from Forrestal, the planet they were due to land on in a few days. Devon
especially liked the chilled Ta
ga fruit. According to the waiter it could only be prepared safely
by chilling it. If it was not chilled to the right temperature it could make you very sick. The best
dish, however, was the last. As dessert was about to be served, the lights dimmed. The gathered
guests hushed as they waited for the surprise dessert to be revealed. Silently waiters pushed
floatcarts to each table. An ethereal melody began to play over the loudspeakers. The lights
then began to shift from white, to blue to green, giving the room a fairy mound atmosphere. The
lights dimmed to near darkness and then with a flourish each of the waiters lifted the covers from
the floatcarts. Each floatcart was topped by a mound of what looked like rich loam. The
mounds were crowned by gently glowing mushrooms. The mushrooms were every color of the
rainbow, filling the room with a soft rainbow glow.
Jacinda became very excited when she saw what was for dessert, “I have heard of these.
They are called fairy mushrooms. The only place they grow is one of the moons of Jupiter.”
The waiters served each person a mushroom then replaced the covers on the floatcarts. The
more adventurous eaters, Jacinda among them, began eating the mushrooms immediately. Soon,
almost everyone had sampled them.
Jacinda savored the rich sweet taste. The only thing she could compare the taste to was a
cinnamon muffin, but the texture was totally different. It melted in her mouth, leaving behind a
nutty, almond taste. Seeing Jacinda’s look of pleasure, Flim and Devon dug into their own mushrooms. They
both smiled as the taste hit their tongues.
“Wow, I never knew mushrooms could taste so good,” Jacinda said. “I’d love for my
father to taste one of these. He loves mushrooms.” She turned to the waiter, “Sir, where do you
get these, are they expensive?”
The waiter looked down his nose at her, “they are very expensive, miss. Your dessert
cost more than your ticket,” he answered.
Jacinda froze. She could not believe that someone would pay that much for something to
eat. It seemed so wasteful to her. Now she felt guilty for enjoying it so much.
Devon noticed her discomfort and realized how much the waiter’s comment had stung
her. “Don’t worry, Jacinda. The foundation paid for everything. They also made a donation to a
worthy cause for the same amount that the dinner cost. We always do that. It helps us live with
ourselves.”
Jacinda felt a little better, but just barely. “I guess that is ok, but it makes me feel guilty
to be eating something that cost more than my dad makes in a year.”
“If it makes you feel better, I can arrange another donation. How about a fund that will
help other kids from your colony to make trips like this?”
Jacinda nearly burst into tears, “thank you, Devon.” That was all she could get out. She
could not imagine having so much money that she could change peoples’ lives on a whim. She
thanked the stars that Devon seemed to be the kind of person who did not take it lightly and tried
to do good things with it.
“Hey, cheer up,” Flim broke the tension. “We get to start getting ready for the expedition tomorrow morning. That is when the fun really starts.”
Chapter 4
Devon and the others gathered at 8 am, ship’s time. A hushed excitement could be felt
running through the crowd of children. This would be the first chance they got to meet the guide
who would lead them when they reached the planet’s surface. The vid-blog about the trip had
contained a short bio of their guide for this trip, Deke Jacobs.
Deke had become a hero ten years ago when he single-handedly rescued a group of
marooned VIPs on one of the moons of Zenos Prime. The public vids only showed faint images
of him as he was hustled into custody for debriefing after he returned the Ambassador’s party to
a backwoods outpost far from the civilized side of the moon. The glimpses the vids had captured
were shadowy, but seemed to show a wiry, dark man with amber eyes. His face was sharp, just
like his eyes. The look he had given the camera was fierce, causing many of the children, in the
group gathered to meet him, no end of worry. Devon strained to see over the milling children,
watching the door near the back of the room for any sign that Deke was coming.
Suddenly, a thump sounded at the door. The children immediately hushed. Slowly,
almost frighteningly slow, the knob turned. Devon held his breath, waiting for the door to open.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the door began to open. The room on the other side of the door was
dark, so dark that no one could see if Deke was in the room watching them.
“What are you folks staring at,” a gravely voice said behind the students. They all nearly
jumped as one, whirling around to see who was speaking. They laid eyes on a small, friendly
looking man who was not much taller than most of the children.
“Well, he said, is there a show starting, or something?” He asked.
“Oh, get lost, mister, we are waiting for someone, someone important,” Terry Jameson
replied with a sneer. Terry’s cronies laughed, pointing at the man. “My guess would be,” the man said with a grin, “that I’d be the one you’re waiting
for….but that’s just a guess.”
At those words all of the children turned to gawk at the stranger, wondering aloud if this
could be the famous Deke Jacobs.
Terry sputtered in surprise as he wondered if he had made a mistake. “What, who? You
can’t be Jacobs. My aunt looks tougher than you.”
The man laughed again, “tough is on the inside. It doesn’t always show, and anyway I
bet your aunt is plenty tough to put up with you.”
All of the children, with the notable exception of Terry and his cronies, laughed heartily.
Devon could not help but grin, but still feeling bad that Terry had been embarrassed. As mean as
Terry seemed, Devon never enjoyed seeing people embarrassed. Devon looked over at Jacinda,
who smiled guiltily when she saw that Devon did not approve.
Deke motioned for everyone to be quiet, “That’s enough, I’m sure the lad did not mean
any offense.” The laughing dies, for the most part, but Terry still fumed. He eyed the Gustav
brothers, but they simply shrugged as a group, unsure of what to do.
“Now, it’s time to get down to business. Each of your datapads has been updated with
the latest information on Forrestal. It is primitive, but harmless for the most part.” Each of the
students pulled out their datapads and began to follow along as Deke spoke.
“It’s a bit hotter than sol standard during the day, but it can get cold at night. Each of you
will be issued a standard survival pack with a modular shelter and sleep roll. I will issue the
insta-meals when we reach the landing zone.” Deke began to pace back and forth in front of the
students, glancing at each to make sure they were paying attention. “Now, this trip is serious business. While Forrestal has been completely surveyed, there
are some ruins that have not been completely explored. We are not sure of their origin, but they
are extensive…and fascinating. Our job during this trip is to study the ruins for 21 days and
report what we find. In addition to our work at the ruins I will be teaching you some basic
frontier skills.” Deke pressed a button on his WristVid. A pop-up appeared on the screen of
e
ach student’s datapads. The pop-up showed a map of the camp the group would be using.
“Our compound has already been dropped by an advance team. It is fully stocked and
ready for us. We will be dropped about a day’s hike from the camp and we will use the hike to
get acquainted. Before we make the drop to Forrestal each of you must choose a safety partner.
If you can’t work that out yourselves by 3 pm, I’ll assign them. Everyone understand?”
A murmur of assent passed through the crowd of children. “Well then, then I will leave
you alone until 4 pm. We will be having our first meal together in the forward mess at 6 pm.
That is the cafeteria, for all you planet-huggers. Be there and I will finalize the assignments.”
Without another word, Deke motioned for the children to move out of his way. He strode through the crowd and exited through the door that had opened before he had appeared.
Chapter 5
Devon and Flim had logged their partnership right after the meeting that morning.
Jacinda resigned herself to simply accepting whoever was assigned to her. After that the three
friends set out to explore the ship. They started with the botanical decks, where the ship’s fresh
air was produced. The decks were full of heavily forested tracks, fed by artificial light and a
constant mist from the cavernous roof.
“I wonder if Forrestal is anything like this,” Devon asked. Flim shrugged. “I think it is hotter than this,” Jacinda answered confidently. “Be sure that you have
some tropical clothes when we get to the surface, or you will regret it.”
“Oh I packed plenty. We will need it,” Devon agreed.
Flim shrugged again.” I’ll be okay just wearing this.”
Jacinda and Devon were confused by his lack of concern. “Are you sure,” Devon asked.
“Trust me,” Flim answered, wearing a strange grin. Devon and Jacinda laughed at Flim,
content to let him have his little secret.
The three friends played in the forest for a while longer, slaying imaginary dragons and
discovering make-believe lost civilizations. After a while they began to get hungry. Flim was
the first to mention it.
“It’s almost 1 o’clock. What should we do about lunch?”
“I can whistle something up,” Devon suggested. “I don’t feel like going all the way back
Devon Blake and the Starship Crash Page 2
