Thumbelalien

by J. M. Page

  “Okay, here goes nothing…”

  She launched into the story, telling Bain everything she could while omitting the parts about Vessa. She told him about the misunderstanding, the Fibbun’s dead homeworld, and how they wanted to negotiate a ceasefire.

  At the end, Bain shook his head. “Funny way to show you mean no harm, shooting down a ship and kidnapping the crew.”

  Lina nodded. “Apparently, they were trying to tow our ship in harmlessly, but our resistance triggered an aggressive response from their automated systems.”

  “And how did they even know it was us? That we were the ones that could help them?”

  Lina swallowed, choosing her words carefully. He was getting closer to the crux of the thing now. Too close to figuring out there was another person like them aboard, conspiring with the Fibbuns. What did she even call them now? They weren’t Mabnoans — Bain was, but Lina and Vessa… they were from another planet that had fractured from the great civilization that had once belonged to them all. She had no idea what her species was called without a geographical label.

  Regardless of what they were called, she didn’t want Bain to figure out Vessa existed. She couldn’t say why, but she hadn’t really come to terms with it yet and didn’t know how to approach trying to explain it all to him. She didn’t want to work through his confusion and her own, simultaneously.

  “The systems scanned for our DNA, from what I’ve gathered. They hoped that we’d be able to carry the message of peace back to Mabnoa.”

  Bain growled. “Or they just want to follow us back there to destroy everyone and everything I’ve ever loved.”

  Lina’s jaw went slack and an argument wasn’t forthcoming.

  “I don’t think that’s what they’re after… They’ve already made peace with another colony… another planet like yours.”

  His eyes went wide then. “There’s another? I thought… We’d always assumed they’d been destroyed before the isolation.”

  Lina shrugged. “I came from somewhere, didn’t I?” Now she was getting too close to the truth. Pulling him along with her like a dope. Leading him right to the very thing she didn’t want him to find. She cursed herself.

  “You did… But I always thought maybe there was an outpost, or some tiny holdout… Never a whole planet. Are you sure?”

  She nodded slowly. “Relatively, yes.”

  “If that’s true… if what you’re saying is correct, perhaps I could convince my mother to talk with their ruling body. She’d be more likely to listen if it was coming from them.”

  “Maybe,” Lina said, still thinking about Vessa and how Olinda had turned her away. Who was to say Mabnoa wouldn’t do the same to them? Would the queen turn her back on her son if he came back with ideas that threatened their way of life?

  But that was a problem she was happy to face. It was preferable to the one where Bain left her and called her a crackpot. As long as they were together, they could tackle this, she was sure of it.

  “Still,” Bain said, “we can’t just fly back to Mabnoa. There’s the matter of your mother, not to mention mine.”

  “What?” Lina blinked quickly. Had she said something about Vessa without meaning to?

  “Your mother… The whole reason we’re in this mess is because you wanted to let her know you’re alright. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going back to Mabnoa until we’ve accomplished that goal.”

  “Oh… right,” Lina said. As much as she wanted to get back to Earth, back to Mom and familiarity, now it seemed incredibly selfish to never go back to Mabnoa. Now that she knew all of this. Now that she had the keys to stopping this aggression and isolation… It felt wrong to stay hidden and keep it from everyone.

  “Not to mention what my mother would have to say about the whole thing. She’s probably already furious that I left against her wishes, but coming back? Leading them right to us? I’m sure it would be unforgivable. Whether or not it turned out that they mean us no harm, it’s not something I’m willing to risk. Not with my people at stake.”

  “But how will we ever get the message to them?” She’d promised the Captain and Goblak that she’d do everything she could. Already it seemed like there wouldn’t be much that fell into that category, but she couldn’t give up so quickly.

  Bain shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll have to find a way. But we can’t go back. Not yet, at least.”

  She nibbled her bottom lip, looking toward the door, her heart heavy. She wanted to do right by everyone involved. She wanted to help the Fibbuns and the Mabnoans, she wanted to help Bain and his people be able to travel, but also wanted to be with her mom. But these things weren’t compatible. She couldn’t do them all.

  “I think they’ll give us a ship,” she said. “In exchange for your promise to do what you can to end this conflict. They seem willing.”

  “That’s… more generous than I would have expected,” he said.

  She shrugged. “I did some repairs around the ship for them.”

  “How many more do they expect of you? You can’t work yourself to exhaustion day after day.”

  Lina shook her head. “I think we should talk to the Captain.”

  A frown creased Bain’s forehead and he reached across the table to take Lina’s hand in his. “What is it? What’s on your mind, my love?”

  Lina heaved a heavy sigh, staring down at the table. One look at Bain and… His eyes drew her gaze up like a magnet, pulling her into those mossy green gems. Yep, one look into those depths and she felt compelled to reveal it all.

  “I suppose you’re likely to find out one way or another,” she grumbled. “There is another like us — like me… a shocking amount like me, as a matter of fact — on the ship.”

  He shook his head, hair flopping in his eyes in that endearing way that had captured her attention so long ago. She felt like she’d known him years, her whole life even, not merely months. “I’m not following. Another Mabnoan? Captured?”

  “Not exactly. From the other colony… Olinda. She’s… I think she’s decided to live amongst them… as one of them.”

  “Oh...kay,” Bain said, a question still in his voice. “I don’t know why this is relevant.”

  Lina swallowed. “It’s not really. She told me the history between the Fibbuns and our people… the history that maybe your mother doesn’t even know due to the isolation.” Even trying to talk about Vessa in these general, neutral tones left a bad taste in Lina’s mouth. She just wanted to be away from her. Off the ship. But perhaps making Bain see how important that was to her would be the only way to get him fully onboard.

  “So?”

  Ugh, just tell him.

  “She’s… my mother,” Lina spat it out like ripping off a bandage. If she didn’t think about it too hard, it wouldn’t hurt as much.

  But then Bain’s eyes went wide, his face paling. “Your… Here? With… them?”

  Lina nodded solemnly. “I think she expected me to be happy to see her…”

  “You aren’t?”

  Lina huffed. “For all I care, she could not exist. But I think she might be important to communication…”

  He squeezed her hand in his and then patted it. “I’ll deal with her, don’t worry. If you don’t want to speak to her, then anything she needs to say to us can be addressed to me.”

  Lina practically launched herself across the table and hugged him tight, kissing him fiercely. “Thank you.”

  “If I knew that was the reaction I’d get, I’d offer to talk to people more often,” he said, grinning.

  She giggled and smacked him playfully. “It’s not talking to people, though I will admit I’m not great at that, just her.”

  He nodded. “I understand. I mean… I don’t really, but I understand not wanting to speak to someone for your own reasons. But how did she come to be here, with them?”

  Lina sighed and Bain’s arms encircled her, rearranging her so that she was comfortably seated in his lap. “She and her husband we
re captured by them… before the cease-fire with Olinda.”

  His brows shot up.

  “Yeah, I know.” He too had noticed the similarities.

  “So your father is…?”

  She shook her head. “He’s not here. He went back, refusing to believe that they could be as harmless as she suspected…”

  Bain’s arms tightened around her. “And when you were hearing all of this yesterday, you were wondering if I’d do the same?”

  It shouldn’t surprise her at all that Bain had figured her out so easily. It was one of the great many things about him that she admired. It was also a little infuriating that she was so transparent.

  “I was maybe a little worried.”

  “And it didn’t help that I was being so pig-headed,” he sighed, resting his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry Lina. I should have trusted you from the very start, but I hope you know that I won’t let anything come between us.”

  She gave him a rueful smile and nudged his shoulder with hers. “You trusted me… eventually.”

  “I still had my doubts though. Even after you returned last night, I wondered if they’d turned you somehow.”

  “They did… sort of.”

  He laughed. “It’s not quite what I was envisioning. A desire for cooler heads to prevail is hardly the same as being a product of propaganda. It didn’t take much for me to turn on these creatures and for that, I’m ashamed. If I want to have any hope of exploring the galaxy and forging new diplomatic ties, I need to be able to look past what I’ve been told, past appearances and superficial differences, and try to find our commonalities. I’ve a long way to go to be the kind of king I want to be, Lina, but every day you teach me a new lesson. You bring me closer to being that man.”

  “Bain… I don’t know what to say.”

  He looked down between them, suddenly seeming bashful. Then, he looked up into her eyes, tucked her hair behind her ear, and cupped her jaw tenderly. “I hope… that after all of this is settled and we have our freedom again, that you’ll agree to be with me. To… spend your life with me. I know I’ve made that desire known to you before, but not in so many words… Lina, I want you to be my wife.”

  Her heart stopped, time freezing along with it. Immediately, her brain shouted ‘Yes!’ but that shining triumphant voice quickly fled, hiding from the incoming shadows of doubt.

  “But what about…”

  “I know. I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “I know there are a lot of things in our way, but I’m committed to finding a solution. However long it takes. I can’t imagine my life without you in it now. I don’t want to imagine that. It will be a long time before I can return to Mabnoa, assuming I ever can. Perhaps we can make a life on Earth.”

  “You… you’d give that up for me?”

  He grinned, shaking his head as he captured her lips. “You silly girl. Can’t you see I already have? I knew before we ever left that I wouldn’t be able to go back. The possibility of peace gives me some hope, but I’d already resigned myself to a life as a commoner on a world of giants with the woman I love.”

  Lina stared at him, flabbergasted at first, but then so overjoyed she couldn't stand it. She buried her face in his neck to hide the ear-to-ear grin, but she could feel his whole body shaking with silent laughter.

  “Well?” he prompted, pulling back to look at her red, still-grinning face.

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly. “Of course. I don’t know what that means for the future, but I can’t bear to imagine one without you in it.”

  He swept her hair behind her ear and pulled her in for a kiss. “I feel the same way.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  They sat there for a long time, Bain just holding her, Lina clinging to him, both of them practically vibrating with infectious happiness. The day that they’d be married was a long way off, but it would happen, she was sure of it.

  “And now, my wonderful bride-to-be, I think we should go speak to the Captain about our travel arrangements.”

  Lina giggled. He made it sound like they were on a luxury cruise or something, not practically prisoner on an alien spaceship. But it was a welcome change to the suspicion and anger that had plagued him only a day before. She much preferred the flippant, carefree Bain.

  “Yes, I think you’re right.”

  He pulled up the projector menu and pressed a sequence of buttons that led him to a communication interface.

  Lina’s eyes went wide. “Well, look at you. Aren’t you a fast learner?”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t have anything better to do while you were gone, and worrying about you didn’t seem productive.”

  “No, I agree, this is much more useful.”

  The projector connected the call and the face of a Fibbun guard appeared in ghostly greenish light. He grunted, looking between the two of them.

  "We'd like to speak to the Captain," Bain said. He didn't seem to let the fact that she was currently sitting in his lap stop him from sounding entirely regal.

  The Fibbun grunted to someone off screen and then the familiar face of Goblak appeared. It was surprising to Lina how quickly she'd learned to identify him when they'd all looked so similar at first. Maybe that was the difference of seeing them as allies rather than enemies.

  He must have been holding the translator cube below him, because when he grunted, the cool detached voice said, "What is it?"

  "Goblak, we want to talk to the Captain," she said, imparting the meaningfulness of that statement into the look she gave him. His forehead wrinkled inward, like his eyebrows were raised, though he didn't have any eyebrows. She wondered if some facial expressions were just universal.

  "You've discussed what we talked about?"

  She nodded. "Yes, the prince is sympathetic and would like to discuss how we move forward from here."

  Goblak looked from Lina, to Bain, waiting for confirmation.

  Bain nodded, his arms tightening around Lina's waist. "She's right. I'd also like the opportunity to apologize for my behavior."

  "Alright," said the translator as Goblak grunted. Though his voice wasn't nearly as pleasant. "I'll take you to him."

  The call ended, and Lina suddenly felt very nervous. Though the biggest hurdles were behind them, things could still go wrong. Bain could still change his mind. So could the Captain. If things went really wrong, they might start this whole war anew. How could she be sure they were doing the right thing?

  She only realized she was chewing her nails when Bain's hand encircled her wrist and pulled her fingers away from her mouth. "Stop worrying," he said gently. "I was born to be a diplomat. I can handle this."

  She gave him a sideways glance, arching a brow and he held up his hands defensively, laughing.

  "I know, I know. I've made an ass out of myself already. But things were different. My intel was faulty. I thought they were going to hurt you."

  "And you would have started a whole war because of it."

  "Lina, darling, I would do that and so much more to protect you."

  Though she was rolling her eyes at him, she couldn't help smiling. "Please don't ever start a war on my behalf."

  "You have my word."

  "I just don't want anything to go wrong... It seems like I'll never get back to Earth at this rate."

  "We will," he reassured her. "We'll get to Earth, I'll meet your mom, she'll obviously love me, and then we'll live happily ever after."

  She giggled, nudging him with her shoulder. "I think you missed a few crucial steps there somewhere."

  He shrugged. "Minor obstacles."

  "And what makes you so certain my mother will love you?"

  Now it was his turn to give her that sideways look, one eyebrow arched with a devil-may-care lopsided grin that made her heart skip a beat. "Come on. What's not to love?"

  She rolled her eyes. "You know you can be a bit full of yourself sometimes?"

  His face morphed into a look of shock, but the smile glimmering in his eyes
told Lina it wasn't real. "Only sometimes? I guess I'll have to step it up."

  She groaned, dropping her head to his shoulder. "Please don't. I can hardly stand you the way it is."

  They were both laughing when Goblak knocked on the door.

  Lina shot to her feet, Bain standing more casually, on his own time, no one else's.

  Goblak said nothing, and his hands were empty. No weapons, no translator. He was there to serve as a guide through the ship and nothing more, it seemed. No longer did they need guards and threats of violence. Soon, they'd all be friends.

  As he led them through the ship, Lina spotted the evidence of her handiwork all around them. And she spotted some of the hallways which had been unusable, being cleaned out, a flurry of activity.

  There was satisfaction there, seeing that she'd been able to help these people improve their quality of life. The same way she'd helped the Mabnoans. The same way she helped Mom — when she'd let her. It felt incredibly good to feel useful after a life of being too tiny to help much. And as excited as she was to get back to Earth, she was a little sad she wouldn't be able to help the Fibbuns more.

  Goblak led them through familiar hallways, and Lina expected to be led back to what she now suspected were the Captain's quarters, but instead, Goblak took a different turn and led them to a room filled with a large circular table. It looked like precisely the kind of place where leaders would meet to discuss treaties, and trade agreements. It was also in much better shape than most of the rest of the ship. The doors didn't stick, the floors were even, there were no drips to be heard, no rattling of air. It was clean, silent, and featureless to the point of being a bit unsettling.

  The one saving grace of the room was a huge window set in the ceiling, showing off the great expanse of space. Lina had gotten used to how empty and dark space was in their short trip before they were captured, and she didn't expect to see much other than black. But as they stepped further into the room, she couldn't help craning her neck up to look and her breath hitched in her throat. A nearby nebula stretched across the huge skylight, an ethereal cloud of green and pink, stars winking through it from beyond. She grabbed Bain's sleeve and tugged on it, too awed to find words.