Friday, November 7, 2014
Take to the Sky: Day Seven
As Indi struggled up the stairs with all the luggage she could carry, she met J.T. on his back down.
“Whoa,” he said, seeing her vast load. “Do you need any help with that?”
“Yeah,” she admitted, “that would be helpful.”
J.T. took the heavier bags out of her arms and started back up again. “Are you doing all right?” he asked her cautiously. “I’ve been worried about you since you said you were going through something.”
“Yes, I’m all right,” she replied. She paused. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve been treating you. I suppose it’s not entirely fair of me.”
“‘It’s not entirely fair of you,’” J.T. repeated. “How hard was it to say that?” He turned back to her with a grin to let her know he was teasing.
“Oi,” she said, returning the playful manner. “You shush.”
“Nice to have you back,” J.T. commented. “I missed your polite manner. About your apology, it was really no problem. I’m just glad you’re doing all right again.” They reached the second floor. “Where are you located?”
“I’m over here,” Indi said, leading the way to hers and Vex’s quarters. When they reached the small room connecting the three quarters, J.T. set the baggage he was carrying outside the door to Indi’s bedroom.
“See you around the ship,” J.T. said in farewell.
By the end of the day, each crewmember was wearing a deep blue uniform with full length trousers and a shirt with white strips on the sides, along with an optional, light, zip-up coat that matched the trousers. On the back of the shirt and jacket was a large symbol representing the Jeokot Intergalactic Academy. They had started toward Hoten and had settled in. After piloting for quite some time, Indi, ready to sleep, switched with Lan and headed back to her quarters. It wasn’t until she was on her bed writing in her journal on her tablet that Vex entered. She glanced at Indi, but didn’t acknowledge her beyond that, and collapsed on her bed, letting out a huge sigh.
“Between astronomy and botany, I’ve had a tiresome day,” she told Indi wearily. “At least they’re on the same floor.”
“Try sitting all day,” Indi said with a small smile. “It has its own form of wearing someone out. You don’t have to switch between both all day, do you?”
“No,” Vex replied, staring at the ceiling. “So long as I do each somewhat evenly and not just blow one off the whole time. But I couldn’t entirely decide which one was less exciting.” Indi nodded and went back to writing. Soon, she switched to reading a physical book. After a little while, Vex sat up and faced Indi. “We should talk about something each night,” she suggested. “I’ve experienced sharing a room with someone who I never talked to. It was awkward. So, each night, we ask each other at least one question. We can learn about each other that way.”
Indi looked up. “Okay,” she agreed. “That sounds good. But why not just have a conversation?”
“Conversations can be difficult to keep going,” she explained. “My best method is a series of questions until we find common interests. Then we can have a conversation without it ending in an awkward silence.” Indi nodded. “Do you want to go first?” she asked.
After a moment of consideration, Indi replied, “No, you can.”
“All right,” Vex said, moving forward on her bed a little. “I’ll start simple. How old are you?”
“I’m nineteen,” Indi replied. “Actually, it’s odd for me. I’ll be twenty soon.”
Vex nodded. “Bit older than you look, then,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“Yeah.” Indi bit her lip a bit. “This question might seem a bit intrusive,” she said, “but I was wondering, why is it that at times you can act so friendly, but the way you talk is so closed, like you don’t want people to see what you’re actually like? And like, now, you’re not acting like nothing matters. You almost seem excited to have a roommate, whereas earlier, you only seemed to want to be in here with me because you felt you had to be.”
Vex tilted her head a bit and looked more at the corner of the room than at Indi. “To be honest, I haven’t thought much about why I act like that,” she said in a ponderous way. “I purposely act like that around boys because it seems that no matter what I do, they are always wanting to talk to me or attempting to lock eyes with me for just a second, or to get me to smile. Maybe I do that around everyone else now out of habit, but I can be rather outgoing. I’m just quiet.” She paused and looked back to Indi. “I know, I’m a strange one. Can I ask, kind of relevant to what you said earlier, when is your birthday?”
“Yeah, but it counts as one of your questions,” Indi said with a smile. “My birthday’s the 15th this month. Mum and Dad will want to call: do you think they’ll allow that?”
“Most likely, and Lan might appreciate the extra flight time,” Vex replied. “Though the internet might not be very good. Just because the ship has generators that gives us internet, it doesn’t guarantee good connection.”
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Take to the Sky: Day Six
“Good to know,” Indi said happily, moving on to another room. That room was long as well, but it looked slightly larger. At the entryway, it was about eight feet wide, same as the previous one, but it widened out more to the left, looking more like ten feet. There was a small room directly to the right and a wardrobe directly to the left, but beyond that were, once again, two beds, with a desk in the middle and a window placed above the desk. Indi explored the room with admiration.
“How can you be so excited about such a small room?” Vex asked her with a hint of astonishment.
“Again, I love the view,” Indi said. “But another thing is that I kind of expected it to be smaller.”
“Not all bedrooms are as small as the dorms at Jeokot,” Vex told her. “Bedrooms shouldn’t even be meant to be so small. And I don’t understand why you’re so obsessed with the view. We’ll be in space for this whole trip, you won’t be seeing anything out of those windows. They’re just there to put us into the danger.” Indi tilted her head inquiringly. “Look, if they break, we’re dead,” Vex explained, putting her hand on her hip. “If a ship is designed to be in space, don’t make our depressuring a possibility. I, for one, would appreciate not dying.”
“Do you want a room without a window?” Indi suggested.
“Yes,” Vex replied, “but unfortunately, there aren’t any.”
Indi paused. “Is it still up to me to choose a room?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah, whichever one we end up with means nothing to me,” Vex said.
“I choose this one,” Indi said, pointing to the floor with both hands. “But if there are enough rooms, maybe you want a room to yourself.”
“It’s not my choice,” Vex replied. “If you want me out of your way, though, you can certainly take it up with the captain.”
“I just thought maybe you would want to be alone. I’m not trying to get rid of you,” Indi explained.
Vex paused, looking at Indi. She shook her head. “No. It’s your first time, someone has to keep you company.”
“Thanks,” Indi said. “Do you know when we’re getting our baggage?”
“Sort of,” Vex replied. “Some guys who work at the spaceport should be bringing it up soon. That’s what happened my first year.”
Indi nodded. After an awkward pause, she turned to the beds. “Which one do you want?”
“Left one,” she replied without hesitating.
“Okay,” Indi said, moving to the bottom of the bed on the right. She tapped the end board and a screen lit up with a couple of options on it. One said ‘original settings’ and another said ‘anti-grav’. She tapped the latter.
“Do you like sleeping with anti-grav?” Vex inquired, guessing what Indi had done.
“Yeah,” she replied. “Silly, I know. Not many people do like that. That was the only way I would sleep when I was a baby and never grew out of the preference. I can sleep in gravity, but I’d rather not.”
“That makes sense,” Vex said. “I can’t get comfortable in anti-grav. It feels wrong.”
Unexpectedly, a voice that sounded like it belonged to an eight or nine year old rang through the room. “All crew required to report to the relaxation room.” Vex and Indi exchanged looks.
“There’s a child on board?” Indi said curiously.
“I don’t know,” Vex said, “but we should probably report to the relaxation room.”
“How can you be so excited about such a small room?” Vex asked her with a hint of astonishment.
“Again, I love the view,” Indi said. “But another thing is that I kind of expected it to be smaller.”
“Not all bedrooms are as small as the dorms at Jeokot,” Vex told her. “Bedrooms shouldn’t even be meant to be so small. And I don’t understand why you’re so obsessed with the view. We’ll be in space for this whole trip, you won’t be seeing anything out of those windows. They’re just there to put us into the danger.” Indi tilted her head inquiringly. “Look, if they break, we’re dead,” Vex explained, putting her hand on her hip. “If a ship is designed to be in space, don’t make our depressuring a possibility. I, for one, would appreciate not dying.”
“Do you want a room without a window?” Indi suggested.
“Yes,” Vex replied, “but unfortunately, there aren’t any.”
Indi paused. “Is it still up to me to choose a room?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah, whichever one we end up with means nothing to me,” Vex said.
“I choose this one,” Indi said, pointing to the floor with both hands. “But if there are enough rooms, maybe you want a room to yourself.”
“It’s not my choice,” Vex replied. “If you want me out of your way, though, you can certainly take it up with the captain.”
“I just thought maybe you would want to be alone. I’m not trying to get rid of you,” Indi explained.
Vex paused, looking at Indi. She shook her head. “No. It’s your first time, someone has to keep you company.”
“Thanks,” Indi said. “Do you know when we’re getting our baggage?”
“Sort of,” Vex replied. “Some guys who work at the spaceport should be bringing it up soon. That’s what happened my first year.”
Indi nodded. After an awkward pause, she turned to the beds. “Which one do you want?”
“Left one,” she replied without hesitating.
“Okay,” Indi said, moving to the bottom of the bed on the right. She tapped the end board and a screen lit up with a couple of options on it. One said ‘original settings’ and another said ‘anti-grav’. She tapped the latter.
“Do you like sleeping with anti-grav?” Vex inquired, guessing what Indi had done.
“Yeah,” she replied. “Silly, I know. Not many people do like that. That was the only way I would sleep when I was a baby and never grew out of the preference. I can sleep in gravity, but I’d rather not.”
“That makes sense,” Vex said. “I can’t get comfortable in anti-grav. It feels wrong.”
Unexpectedly, a voice that sounded like it belonged to an eight or nine year old rang through the room. “All crew required to report to the relaxation room.” Vex and Indi exchanged looks.
“There’s a child on board?” Indi said curiously.
“I don’t know,” Vex said, “but we should probably report to the relaxation room.”
“Is that the room with all the…” Indi trailed off, searching for the right word.
“Relaxing chairs and atmosphere?” Vex said, finishing for her. “Yeah.”
Indi and Vex were the last two from the J.I.A. in the room, but the engineer was missing. “It sounds kind of eerie,” Oliver was saying.
“No, it sounds really eerie,” Saxton said, correcting him. “Who decided a voice like that would be perfect for a ship’s AI?”
“I’m sure that whoever it was, he used his reasoning when he chose,” the captain replied calmly. “So, eerie or not, it represents a decision made by a professional.” Saxton nodded respectfully. “Now that you’re all here, I’d like to fill you in on a few things,” Captain Fisler said, standing. “As I’ve told Vex and Bulot, because they were conveniently placed, I had meant to assign quarters for everyone, but I hadn’t given myself enough time for that. I chose roommates, but got no further than that. So,” he continued, pulling up a tablet, “Saxton and Oliver, you are together.” The two high-fived. “Rescon, I’m afraid I have you alone because you’re the only female from your branch, but if you’d prefer a different set-up, I can try to get something to work.”
Rescon nodded respectfully. “Thank you,” she said.
“Lan, the same goes for you. You’re the only male from your branch, so I have you alone. If you so wish, you can room with me because I’m a loner as well. Yiluna and Shepill, you’re together.” He lowered his tablet. “I’ve already told Bulot that he’s with J.T. and Vex that she’s with Indi. If any of you want different arrangements, now is the best time to say.” Saxton and Oliver grabbed on to each other, as if to show that they were inseparable and Yiluna and Shepill exchanged a glance which either meant ‘I can deal if you can’ or ‘Just respect my space.’
“All right,” Fisler continued after a pause, bringing his tablet up again. “Bulot, you’re my second officer. You’ve been on a few missions before joining the Academy, so you’re the most experienced. Indi, you’re our main pilot. If you need to sleep and we need someone at the wheel, so to speak, Lan is to take your place. In case of any medical emergencies, our doctors are Bulot, Shepill, and Yiluna. You don’t need to report to the medical bay unless something happens, just keep in mind that you are what we have for that. J.T., I have you as an engineer. You’re to help Phillip if he needs assistance or to just be down there so you can learn a bit more. Saxton, I don’t see this likely to happen, but if we go off course or find ourselves in an uncharted asteroid belt, your our weapons officer. You can handle that?”
Saxton nodded. “Yes sir, I’ve got it.”
“Good man. In case worst comes to worst, Indi, Oliver, and Yiluna, you’re my security officers. That doesn’t mean you have to be uptight and paranoid, by the way. Just to be safe. J.T., Lan, Rescon, Saxton, and Vex, congratulations, you’re astronomers now,” he looked up, wearing a grin. “Really, though, we may need you there if the navigation goes down. Main purpose of this whole voyage is still for education, but I’m not so optimistic that I won’t prepare for anything negative. We’re still going into deep space, and that can be dangerous at times. Last of all, we have botanists. You may not learn anything else about botany, but those plants and algae are our best source of oxygen for this, so we need someone to care for the. Oliver, Shepill, and Vex, that’s you. So as a review, Bulot, you’re my second officer and a doctor.” Captain Fisler looked at each person as he said their assignments. “Indi, you’re our pilot and security officer. Lan, you’re the backup pilot and an astronomer. Shepill, you’re a botanist and a doctor. Yiluna, you’re a doctor and a security officer. In your case, knowing your medical studies, - you probably should spend some time in the medical bay unlike the other doctors, but you are welcome to join the botanists or astronomers if you so wish. J.T., you’re an engineer and an astronomer. Saxton, you’re weapons officer and also an astronomer. Oliver, you’re a security officer and a botanist. Rescon, you’re an astronomer, and Vex, you’re an astronomer and a botanist. Has everyone got that?”
Everyone nodded, some more hesitant than others.
“All right, good,” the captain said. “Your luggage should be being brought up now, so you can go to the first level, gather your things, and choose a room on the second level. After that, I, in fact, have some uniforms for you, so come back up here. I’m excited that you’re all here and even more excited to be your captain. You seem to me to be a fantastic crew, I appreciate that. You can go get your belongings now, I’m done taking up your time.” He winked at them all.
Vex turned to Indi as they made their way to the staircase. “Do you want me to grab the luggage while you keep claim on our room?”
“That’s a good idea,” Indi said, “but I’ll go fetch our luggage, you can hold claim on our quarters.”
“Okay,” Vex agreed. “All my bags are black, which may mix in, but I have name tags, so that should help.”
The suitcases and variations thereof were still being brought up when Indi got down to the first floor. The students had to wait for the lift to go back down before lowering the stairs and reaching the luggage, at which point they were told that there was only one more trip to go. During the wait time for the last load, there was a bit of rummaging as everyone separated their baggage from each other’s. Soon after, the lift came up with the last load accompanied by an Asian young man whom Indi recognized.
“Tyland?” she said disbelievingly. “What are you doing here?”
Tyland looked back at her with spite. “I work at the spaceport, is that so crazy? Oh, and you’re welcome for bringing up your luggage.”
“How gentlemanly of you,” she said sarcastically. “It’s not like you’re being paid or anything: I’m sure you’re just doing it because you felt it was proper.”
“What if I said you weren't far off?” Tyland asked in a hostile manner.
“Easy,” Indi replied. “I wouldn't believe you.”
“I hate you so much, Indi,” Tyland stated.
“Mutual,” Indi replied savagely, gathering as much of hers and Vex’s baggage as she could.
“Relaxing chairs and atmosphere?” Vex said, finishing for her. “Yeah.”
Indi and Vex were the last two from the J.I.A. in the room, but the engineer was missing. “It sounds kind of eerie,” Oliver was saying.
“No, it sounds really eerie,” Saxton said, correcting him. “Who decided a voice like that would be perfect for a ship’s AI?”
“I’m sure that whoever it was, he used his reasoning when he chose,” the captain replied calmly. “So, eerie or not, it represents a decision made by a professional.” Saxton nodded respectfully. “Now that you’re all here, I’d like to fill you in on a few things,” Captain Fisler said, standing. “As I’ve told Vex and Bulot, because they were conveniently placed, I had meant to assign quarters for everyone, but I hadn’t given myself enough time for that. I chose roommates, but got no further than that. So,” he continued, pulling up a tablet, “Saxton and Oliver, you are together.” The two high-fived. “Rescon, I’m afraid I have you alone because you’re the only female from your branch, but if you’d prefer a different set-up, I can try to get something to work.”
Rescon nodded respectfully. “Thank you,” she said.
“Lan, the same goes for you. You’re the only male from your branch, so I have you alone. If you so wish, you can room with me because I’m a loner as well. Yiluna and Shepill, you’re together.” He lowered his tablet. “I’ve already told Bulot that he’s with J.T. and Vex that she’s with Indi. If any of you want different arrangements, now is the best time to say.” Saxton and Oliver grabbed on to each other, as if to show that they were inseparable and Yiluna and Shepill exchanged a glance which either meant ‘I can deal if you can’ or ‘Just respect my space.’
“All right,” Fisler continued after a pause, bringing his tablet up again. “Bulot, you’re my second officer. You’ve been on a few missions before joining the Academy, so you’re the most experienced. Indi, you’re our main pilot. If you need to sleep and we need someone at the wheel, so to speak, Lan is to take your place. In case of any medical emergencies, our doctors are Bulot, Shepill, and Yiluna. You don’t need to report to the medical bay unless something happens, just keep in mind that you are what we have for that. J.T., I have you as an engineer. You’re to help Phillip if he needs assistance or to just be down there so you can learn a bit more. Saxton, I don’t see this likely to happen, but if we go off course or find ourselves in an uncharted asteroid belt, your our weapons officer. You can handle that?”
Saxton nodded. “Yes sir, I’ve got it.”
“Good man. In case worst comes to worst, Indi, Oliver, and Yiluna, you’re my security officers. That doesn’t mean you have to be uptight and paranoid, by the way. Just to be safe. J.T., Lan, Rescon, Saxton, and Vex, congratulations, you’re astronomers now,” he looked up, wearing a grin. “Really, though, we may need you there if the navigation goes down. Main purpose of this whole voyage is still for education, but I’m not so optimistic that I won’t prepare for anything negative. We’re still going into deep space, and that can be dangerous at times. Last of all, we have botanists. You may not learn anything else about botany, but those plants and algae are our best source of oxygen for this, so we need someone to care for the. Oliver, Shepill, and Vex, that’s you. So as a review, Bulot, you’re my second officer and a doctor.” Captain Fisler looked at each person as he said their assignments. “Indi, you’re our pilot and security officer. Lan, you’re the backup pilot and an astronomer. Shepill, you’re a botanist and a doctor. Yiluna, you’re a doctor and a security officer. In your case, knowing your medical studies, - you probably should spend some time in the medical bay unlike the other doctors, but you are welcome to join the botanists or astronomers if you so wish. J.T., you’re an engineer and an astronomer. Saxton, you’re weapons officer and also an astronomer. Oliver, you’re a security officer and a botanist. Rescon, you’re an astronomer, and Vex, you’re an astronomer and a botanist. Has everyone got that?”
Everyone nodded, some more hesitant than others.
“All right, good,” the captain said. “Your luggage should be being brought up now, so you can go to the first level, gather your things, and choose a room on the second level. After that, I, in fact, have some uniforms for you, so come back up here. I’m excited that you’re all here and even more excited to be your captain. You seem to me to be a fantastic crew, I appreciate that. You can go get your belongings now, I’m done taking up your time.” He winked at them all.
Vex turned to Indi as they made their way to the staircase. “Do you want me to grab the luggage while you keep claim on our room?”
“That’s a good idea,” Indi said, “but I’ll go fetch our luggage, you can hold claim on our quarters.”
“Okay,” Vex agreed. “All my bags are black, which may mix in, but I have name tags, so that should help.”
The suitcases and variations thereof were still being brought up when Indi got down to the first floor. The students had to wait for the lift to go back down before lowering the stairs and reaching the luggage, at which point they were told that there was only one more trip to go. During the wait time for the last load, there was a bit of rummaging as everyone separated their baggage from each other’s. Soon after, the lift came up with the last load accompanied by an Asian young man whom Indi recognized.
“Tyland?” she said disbelievingly. “What are you doing here?”
Tyland looked back at her with spite. “I work at the spaceport, is that so crazy? Oh, and you’re welcome for bringing up your luggage.”
“How gentlemanly of you,” she said sarcastically. “It’s not like you’re being paid or anything: I’m sure you’re just doing it because you felt it was proper.”
“What if I said you weren't far off?” Tyland asked in a hostile manner.
“Easy,” Indi replied. “I wouldn't believe you.”
“I hate you so much, Indi,” Tyland stated.
“Mutual,” Indi replied savagely, gathering as much of hers and Vex’s baggage as she could.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Take to the Sky: Day Five
“That is imaginative,” J.T. agreed. “It’ll take some time getting used to, I think. I have to say, though, I’d love to meet the designer.”
“Well, J.T.,” the captain said. “Today would appear to be your lucky day. Our engineer for this voyage *is* the designer. He refused to be parted from it. He’s in the engine room now, if you’d all like to meet him. If not, I can give you a better tour now. I just wanted you to see the bridge first.”
“We’ll have plenty time for both on this trip,” Saxton said. “But personally, I’d like to explore rather than be given a tour.” Saxton turned to Fisler. “May I have your permission, sir?”
Captain Fisler paused, internally debating. “Yes, you may. And you are all free to roam about the Astra if that is what you wish, but don’t destroy anything if you can help it.”
“Yes, sir!” came the ecstatic replies, and the students scattered. Indi stayed on the bridge, however. She walked down the official wall and saw, beneath the platform beneath the hatch, a lift. Captain Fisler saw her look at it curiously.
“Nice eye,” he commented.
“What’s down there, sir?” she asked him respectfully.
“Well, J.T.,” the captain said. “Today would appear to be your lucky day. Our engineer for this voyage *is* the designer. He refused to be parted from it. He’s in the engine room now, if you’d all like to meet him. If not, I can give you a better tour now. I just wanted you to see the bridge first.”
“We’ll have plenty time for both on this trip,” Saxton said. “But personally, I’d like to explore rather than be given a tour.” Saxton turned to Fisler. “May I have your permission, sir?”
Captain Fisler paused, internally debating. “Yes, you may. And you are all free to roam about the Astra if that is what you wish, but don’t destroy anything if you can help it.”
“Yes, sir!” came the ecstatic replies, and the students scattered. Indi stayed on the bridge, however. She walked down the official wall and saw, beneath the platform beneath the hatch, a lift. Captain Fisler saw her look at it curiously.
“Nice eye,” he commented.
“What’s down there, sir?” she asked him respectfully.
“Notably, the briefing room, my office, and the captain’s quarters,” he replied. “None of us will be spending much time down there. There won’t be much I’ll have to brief you on, and there’s a small enough amount of you, anyway. I decided to be quartered with the rest of you. They have the captain’s quarters so near because then he can access the bridge more easily, but there should be no emergency and I’d rather be with my crew. As for the office, I’ll probably be using my quarters for that.” Indi nodded with a smile and went back down the hatch.
She got off at the first floor she came to and found herself in a large, round hallway. There were four doors and Indi tried all four, one at a time. The first room she entered was huge. There were three shuttles, large enough to hold at least six people. There were large, double doors big enough for the shuttles to go through, and above that, a strip of window. Outside, one could see the surface of the moon, a large amount of the city they were just outside of, and beyond that, space.
The next room was very well-lit. There were medical beds all around the room, but in an orderly fashion, almost a pattern. There were cabinets and a small room with a desk and chair.
The third room had ten small, enclosed rooms that each had one, large opening. There were three of these on the left and right sides of the room, and four lined up on the wall opposite the entrance to the large room. In the middle were desks set up in a circle and with chairs all on the inside. “I hope we won’t have to use this room for anything,” Vex, who had been in there when she entered, commented to Indi as she left.
The last room on that floor was as large as the shuttle bay, but completely empty and with no bay doors or window.
While Indi was getting off the staircase upon reaching the next floor, she bumped into J.T., who immediately said, “Oh, I’m sorry. You all right?” Indi found herself staring into his deep blue eyes for a moment.
“Um, no,” she said, trying to move past him and looking down out of shame from looking at his eyes, as though they were sacred. “I mean, yeah! Sorry.” J.T. smiled slightly.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he replied before going up the steps himself.
The hallway on this floor looked the same as the previous one, down to the four doors, although one of the doors was up higher and had two steps leading up to it. Indi choose this room first out of fascination.
It was smaller than the other rooms, and was black rather than white. There were drawers on all the walls, and at the back was a small, circular room with a silver cylinder in the middle of it. There was an old human man there with trimmed, grey hair and some sort of oil all over his dark grey uniform.
“Another student, eh?” he said, looking her up and down. “What’s your job on the ship?”
Indi paused. “Er, I don’t know yet.” She seemed to have wished she had thought to ask.
“No one seems to,” he said, sitting down in a fold-up chair that he seemed to have brought in himself, considering how much it didn’t match. “I’m Phillip,” he said, introducing himself. “I’ll be the engineer for this here voyage.”
“Good,” Indi said uncertainly. “Where’s the engine for this here engineer?”
“She’s all around ya,” the man said, spreading out his arms wide. “This room is in the middle of the engine.” Indi knitted her eyebrows, confused. Phillip sighed heavily, stood up, and opened up a drawer in the wall. Rather than a drawer, it was a means of sliding parts of the Astra’s engine and main circuitry into the engine room. That part contained several circuit boards. Phillip slid it back in.
“That’s brilliant,” Indi said.
“I don’t know about brilliant,” Phillip said, “but it surely makes it all accessible.” Phillip sat down again before realizing that Indi was staring at the large, silver cylinder. “That’s Astra,” he said, preemptively answering her question. “Not the ship, exactly. The A.I. I have her turned off for now.”
“The ship and the A.I. have the same name?” Indi asked. “Won’t that get confusing?” Phillip suddenly got defensive.
“No,” he said firmly. “No, it will not.”
“Okay,” Indi said apologetically. “Nice work with the Astra, by the way.” Phillip just nodded and Indi quietly made her exit.
Indi was a floor down from the engine room, looking around in a large room with lounge chairs, coffee table, and a fluffy-carpeted floor when Vex found her. “Indi,” she said as she approached. “We’re sharing a room, do you want to go down with me and help me choose which? They all look pretty much the same, but my offer still stands.” Indi looked up at the taller girl.
“Yes,” she replied gratefully. “Thank you for fetching me!”
Vex nodded. “Of course,” she said, leading the way to the rooms. On the next floor down, there were, once again, four doors in the hall. One of the doors, however, had a note up on the screen to the left of the door that said, “No one is to be in these quarters.”
“There are three rooms in each section,” Vex told Indi. “All pretty much identical except for bed positioning, although we could move them, not that it would be easy. Basically, there are three different kinds of rooms. I've seen them all and don’t really have a preference, so you can choose.”
“Thanks, Vex!” Indi said excitedly. She almost hugged her destined roommate, but held herself back. After a pause, Vex spread her arms out.
“Just go for it,” she said with a hint of a smile, and Indi hugged her. After, she went through one of the four doors, finding herself in a lounge sort of room. There were three doors, but there were also comfy chairs in corners. She entered the door on the other side of the room, which led to a large, wide room, the longest wall curving inward: the outside of the round ship. On the left of the room were two beds and a small bedside table, all fit snugly into the wide part of the room, which was about eight feet. There were two windows symmetrically placed on the side that was the outside of the ship, a bin, and a single desk, not quite exactly in between the windows. On the right was a door into another small room, its purpose clear. Vex came up behind Indi.
“I know, none of them are very large,” Vex commented.
“I like the view,” Indi commented, gesturing at the windows.
Vex shrugged. “Just so you know, the other two are the same, just mirrored.”
She got off at the first floor she came to and found herself in a large, round hallway. There were four doors and Indi tried all four, one at a time. The first room she entered was huge. There were three shuttles, large enough to hold at least six people. There were large, double doors big enough for the shuttles to go through, and above that, a strip of window. Outside, one could see the surface of the moon, a large amount of the city they were just outside of, and beyond that, space.
The next room was very well-lit. There were medical beds all around the room, but in an orderly fashion, almost a pattern. There were cabinets and a small room with a desk and chair.
The third room had ten small, enclosed rooms that each had one, large opening. There were three of these on the left and right sides of the room, and four lined up on the wall opposite the entrance to the large room. In the middle were desks set up in a circle and with chairs all on the inside. “I hope we won’t have to use this room for anything,” Vex, who had been in there when she entered, commented to Indi as she left.
The last room on that floor was as large as the shuttle bay, but completely empty and with no bay doors or window.
While Indi was getting off the staircase upon reaching the next floor, she bumped into J.T., who immediately said, “Oh, I’m sorry. You all right?” Indi found herself staring into his deep blue eyes for a moment.
“Um, no,” she said, trying to move past him and looking down out of shame from looking at his eyes, as though they were sacred. “I mean, yeah! Sorry.” J.T. smiled slightly.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he replied before going up the steps himself.
The hallway on this floor looked the same as the previous one, down to the four doors, although one of the doors was up higher and had two steps leading up to it. Indi choose this room first out of fascination.
It was smaller than the other rooms, and was black rather than white. There were drawers on all the walls, and at the back was a small, circular room with a silver cylinder in the middle of it. There was an old human man there with trimmed, grey hair and some sort of oil all over his dark grey uniform.
“Another student, eh?” he said, looking her up and down. “What’s your job on the ship?”
Indi paused. “Er, I don’t know yet.” She seemed to have wished she had thought to ask.
“No one seems to,” he said, sitting down in a fold-up chair that he seemed to have brought in himself, considering how much it didn’t match. “I’m Phillip,” he said, introducing himself. “I’ll be the engineer for this here voyage.”
“Good,” Indi said uncertainly. “Where’s the engine for this here engineer?”
“She’s all around ya,” the man said, spreading out his arms wide. “This room is in the middle of the engine.” Indi knitted her eyebrows, confused. Phillip sighed heavily, stood up, and opened up a drawer in the wall. Rather than a drawer, it was a means of sliding parts of the Astra’s engine and main circuitry into the engine room. That part contained several circuit boards. Phillip slid it back in.
“That’s brilliant,” Indi said.
“I don’t know about brilliant,” Phillip said, “but it surely makes it all accessible.” Phillip sat down again before realizing that Indi was staring at the large, silver cylinder. “That’s Astra,” he said, preemptively answering her question. “Not the ship, exactly. The A.I. I have her turned off for now.”
“The ship and the A.I. have the same name?” Indi asked. “Won’t that get confusing?” Phillip suddenly got defensive.
“No,” he said firmly. “No, it will not.”
“Okay,” Indi said apologetically. “Nice work with the Astra, by the way.” Phillip just nodded and Indi quietly made her exit.
Indi was a floor down from the engine room, looking around in a large room with lounge chairs, coffee table, and a fluffy-carpeted floor when Vex found her. “Indi,” she said as she approached. “We’re sharing a room, do you want to go down with me and help me choose which? They all look pretty much the same, but my offer still stands.” Indi looked up at the taller girl.
“Yes,” she replied gratefully. “Thank you for fetching me!”
Vex nodded. “Of course,” she said, leading the way to the rooms. On the next floor down, there were, once again, four doors in the hall. One of the doors, however, had a note up on the screen to the left of the door that said, “No one is to be in these quarters.”
“There are three rooms in each section,” Vex told Indi. “All pretty much identical except for bed positioning, although we could move them, not that it would be easy. Basically, there are three different kinds of rooms. I've seen them all and don’t really have a preference, so you can choose.”
“Thanks, Vex!” Indi said excitedly. She almost hugged her destined roommate, but held herself back. After a pause, Vex spread her arms out.
“Just go for it,” she said with a hint of a smile, and Indi hugged her. After, she went through one of the four doors, finding herself in a lounge sort of room. There were three doors, but there were also comfy chairs in corners. She entered the door on the other side of the room, which led to a large, wide room, the longest wall curving inward: the outside of the round ship. On the left of the room were two beds and a small bedside table, all fit snugly into the wide part of the room, which was about eight feet. There were two windows symmetrically placed on the side that was the outside of the ship, a bin, and a single desk, not quite exactly in between the windows. On the right was a door into another small room, its purpose clear. Vex came up behind Indi.
“I know, none of them are very large,” Vex commented.
“I like the view,” Indi commented, gesturing at the windows.
Vex shrugged. “Just so you know, the other two are the same, just mirrored.”
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Take to the Sky: Day Four
“Okay, well he’s certainly not one to interact with them much. For example, he hasn’t talked to me nearly at all; only when you were around.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Indi said.
“All right, Miss I-want-to-talk-to-you-about-something,” Johanna said teasingly. Indi playfully punched her shoulder.
“Oi, I’m just done talking about that something,” Indi replied, almost laughing.
“No, I understand,” Johanna said. “So, have you decided whether you’re gonna go or not?”
“I can’t decide something like that so easily… I would go, but I’m not sure I want to go on a month or longer mission in space with J.T. right there. And if I don’t go, then I’ll get a break from him and a chance to think about it all. I don’t know, Johanna.” Indi reached out to her friend’s hand and Johanna held it.
“This will all smooth over, Indi,” Johanna said, and Indi smiled at her, then looked up at the ceiling.
“I wish we knew what was going on up there,” she commented. “How do they keep meteorites from hitting our moon, anyway?” Bulot, who was, as it turned out, in a seat in front of Johanna turned around and looked at Indi.
“Very good question!” he exclaimed. “And surprisingly, not one I’ve heard you ask before.”
“Bulot?” Indi said, surprised. “Were you listening the whole time?”
“Only once it got interesting. The things being said before that were probably personal, considering the tone of voice. But to address your question, there’s actually a barrier surrounding your moon and scanners constantly searching for any incoming objects, including carriers, actually. All of the reports of any incoming objects are sent to a different computer who decides whether it’s a ship or meteorite. It has access to any scheduled arrivals and can scan for itself if there’s not enough information. Now, the barrier helps destroy any smaller meteorites, but I’m not sure what their plan is for bigger ones. Probably launching shots of energy from the moon rather than just the barrier.”
“And what’s the barrier made up of?” Indi asked, intrigued.
“Satellites,” Bulot answered. “There are two layers of weaponry up there. They’re set up in a pattern, but far enough away from each other that our largest galaxy ships can get through. It’s a system my people designed. You can look it up online; it’s called a deflector-scanner. There are articles!”
“Someone certainly gets excited about the internet,” Johanna whispered to Indi.
“Well, it’s a clever and useful invention,” Bulot said. “I’m certainly impressed.”
“So is the rest of your species, and the Quans,” Indi said. “It’s been nearly a century since you discovered it.”
“A full generation hasn't even passed since we made our alliance with you humans,” Bulot explained. “It seems longer for you lot because it’s been a couple of generations.”
“There are still humans who aren't used to you and the Quans, though,” Indi said, rather quietly.
“Yes, well,” Bulot said, “they don’t consider us to be people. If the definition of ‘people’ is ‘human’, they’re right.”
“But you are people,” Indi insisted.
“It’s odd. You humans are much more defensive about this concern than we are. Why does it matter?”
“A similar conflict in earth history,” Johanna explained. “You may have noticed that some humans, like me, have darker skin than others.”
“Yes,” Bulot replied. “Much like with my species. I have maroon skin, but others may have violet or forest green.”
“Right,” Johanna said. “But we had a conflict over it.” Bulot gave a look that seemed to say: “Of course you did.” Johanna kept going, not at the right angle to see his face. “My history’s not that good, so I don’t know the story real well, but I bet you could find it if you search ‘human racism’.” You’d probably find the whole thing very fascinating.”
“I will,” Bulot said. “Thank you very much.”
There was a short chirping noise and all the loud chattering faded in time for the female voice to ring through the room again. “Thank you for your patience. The danger has passed.” Indi and Johanna let go of each other’s hands and started unbuckling.
“Meteorite attacks,” Indi commented, adding sarcastically, “so exciting!” Johanna laughed.
“Yes,” she joked, “‘please calmly make your way to the basement and lock yourselves in for about half an hour. Have fun!’” J.T., who had been making his way to the stairs up, stopped as he passed the two girls.
“Discussing how exciting this was?” he asked. Indi threw him a short glare, grabbed Johanna’s hand, and walked to the staircase without a glance back.
“What was that for?” Johanna asked. “You said it wasn’t that he didn’t tell you.”
“I dunno,” Indi replied. “It was impulsive, and I don’t want to talk to him right now, anyway. Hey, we could meet Vex. She’s going on the mission.”
“She might be in a class right now,” Johanna said. “She’s taking star constellations. We can look for her during lunch if you really want to keep avoiding J.T.”
“Okay,” Indi agreed as they reached the lounge. “We ride at dawn! Or rather, lunch.”
After Indi and Johanna got through the line, they searched the room for Vex. “She has brown hair, right?” Johanna asked.
“More like a dark blonde…” Indi replied, her eyes scanning the room desperately.
“Same thing,” Johanna said.
“Hush,” Indi said. “There she is, come on.” Johanna followed Indi as she made her way to a table full of boys and a girl with long, dirty blonde hair put up in a braid sitting alone on the end.
“Mind if we sit here?” Indi asked sweetly, standing on the opposite side of the table from Vex.
“No,” she replied in a bored voice and turned back to her food. The three ate together in an awkward silence for a while.
“You’re going on the mission too,” Vex told Indi.
“Yeah,” Indi replied. “Well, maybe.”
“Maybe?” Vex asked. “Why maybe? Already have something going on?”
“Well….” Indi trailed off.
“It’s a lot of things,” Johanna said.
“If you’re nervous, don’t worry,” Vex said. “This will be my second time, and although it’s really neat, it’s not that exciting.”
“You've been chosen before?” Johanna asked in disbelief. “I thought they only chose people once each.”
“Maybe not in a row, not that I know without a doubt,” Vex replied, gathering her empty dishes. “I was chosen two years ago. I was pretty nervous then, but it ended up being fine.” Vex got up and a couple boys sitting at the table turned their heads as they noticed. “See you at the meeting, Indi.”
9/20/26
The meeting for the mission is tomorrow! I get the feeling that the prospect of going on this mission is bothering Indi, but maybe the meeting tomorrow will help. She’s been avoiding me lately, so I think she just wants time with her friend before she goes, or maybe her friend is wanting comfort. This whole thing is very exciting, though!
Signing off, J.T. (But you knew that.)
Indi walked to the meeting room alone, hoping to get there before J.T. and possibly Bulot. Just as she was reaching the door, however, J.T. came around the corner and opened the door for Indi. She stopped at the entryway. “What’s that for?” she asked.
J.T. looked slightly confused. “I always open doors for people,” he said. “It seems nice, somehow. Not that opening a door takes much effort, but I don’t like entering a room and then closing the door just as someone else is coming in.” He gestured inside the room. “Are you coming in, m’lady?” He gave a small bow to tease her. Indi rolled her eyes and entered the room, taking a seat in front of Bulot, who was already inside.
“We’re just missing Vex now, I believe, is that right?” asked the headteacher as J.T. took his seat beside Bulot. Right on que, Vex entered the room and stood beside the door rather than taking a seat.
“All right,” the headteacher said, sorting through some papers on the desk in front of her. “Welcome, all, to the meeting for the J.I.A.’s annual deep space mission. Do any of you have questions?” She paused for them. After a moment, Bulot raised his hand. “Yes, Bulot?”
“How deep is deep, miss? The journey alone won’t take weeks, will it?”
“Well, ‘how deep’ varies from time to time, but I believe that the journey, there and back, should only be about a week, good question, Bulot,” she replied. “Any others?”
Indi hesitantly raised a hand and the headteacher gestured for her to go on. “Well…” Indi paused. “Do I have to go?” The headteacher paused, obviously never having been asked this before.
“I suppose not,” she answered. “But choosing someone to fill your position may delay a few things.”
“Okay,” Indi said. “Never mind.”
“Dear girl,” the headteacher said, “if you have a medical issue of some sort, please don’t force yourself to go on this. It is, in fact, optional.” Indi shook her head, not looking up. The headteacher paused before going on. “Is that all?” she asked. “J.T., Vex?” No one said anything, but J.T. was looking at Indi with concern. “No?” the headteacher went on. “Well… I just wanted to make sure you were all informed that Professer Fisler will be your captain. We’ll be taking a new ship, but don’t worry, it has been on several test trips. You all need to report to the Hywind spaceport on October 1st, and after the month’s test on the 27th, you’ll be relieved of all studies. If you have no more questions, you are dismissed.”
Indi calmly continued to sit as Vex and Bulot left, but J.T. didn’t move. Not long later, the headteacher and exited into a back room.
“Is Joanna okay?” he asked, somewhat hesitant.
Indi turned around abruptly. “Who’s Joanna?”
“Your friend?” he said, unsure.
“Oh, JoHANNA,” she said, and got up, making her way to the door, J.T. following.
“Sorry, Johanna,” he said. “Is Johanna okay?” Indi stopped at the doorway and turned back to J.T.
“Is Johanna okay?” she demanded. “When did Johanna come into this?”
J.T. looked wounded, seeming to wonder what he had said wrong. “When you were always spending time with her,” he replied. “I thought maybe she was going through something.”
“Oh, ‘cause there’s no way it could be me going through something,” Indi stated, and walked back the way she came; one could almost see a dark cloud and bolts of lightning as she traversed the halls.
Indi was sunk low in a seat and reading something on her device when Bulot found her in the lounge. He sat in a seat beside her, leaving a short silence before saying anything. “You know,” he started, “Humans have a way of saying a lot more with their actions than they will ever say with their words.” Indi looked up at him. “For example,” he continued, “You give the impression that someone is going to die a bloody death and you haven’t said a single word nor made a tiny noise since I entered the room.” Indi let out a small smile and turned away. “What’s wrong?” Bulot prompted.
“Nothing,” Indi replied quietly.
“Does that mean that nothing’s wrong,” he began, “or does it mean that something very specific is wrong and you just don’t want to tell me about it?” Indi didn't reply. “It’s incredible, but even though your language contains about a fourth of my species’ words, you still speak an entirely different language.”
“Well, what probably adds is that it’s also English, French, and German,” Indi said.
“Some of my species do the same thing, though,” Bulot said. “I’m positive that women have their own language.” Indi let out a smile again. “See,” Bulot said, “I can be funny sometimes.”
“Yeah, that’s probably why you’re my friend,” Indi commented. “Thanks, Bulot,” she said, becoming more pleasant by the moment, “for coming after me and talking.”
“Talking is my specialty,” Bulot replied with a small smile.
“Hug?” Indi asked, standing.
“Hugs are strange,” Bulot observed. “Two people take hold of each other and--”
“Yeah, I know how hugs work, Bulot. They’re comforting for humans in times like these.” Bulot shrugged and stood up. Indi hugged him and he awkwardly returned it.
“That actually helps?” he asked skeptically.
“Yes, Bulot,” Indi replied with an amused tone. “It actually helps.”
“All right, Miss I-want-to-talk-to-you-about-something,” Johanna said teasingly. Indi playfully punched her shoulder.
“Oi, I’m just done talking about that something,” Indi replied, almost laughing.
“No, I understand,” Johanna said. “So, have you decided whether you’re gonna go or not?”
“I can’t decide something like that so easily… I would go, but I’m not sure I want to go on a month or longer mission in space with J.T. right there. And if I don’t go, then I’ll get a break from him and a chance to think about it all. I don’t know, Johanna.” Indi reached out to her friend’s hand and Johanna held it.
“This will all smooth over, Indi,” Johanna said, and Indi smiled at her, then looked up at the ceiling.
“I wish we knew what was going on up there,” she commented. “How do they keep meteorites from hitting our moon, anyway?” Bulot, who was, as it turned out, in a seat in front of Johanna turned around and looked at Indi.
“Very good question!” he exclaimed. “And surprisingly, not one I’ve heard you ask before.”
“Bulot?” Indi said, surprised. “Were you listening the whole time?”
“Only once it got interesting. The things being said before that were probably personal, considering the tone of voice. But to address your question, there’s actually a barrier surrounding your moon and scanners constantly searching for any incoming objects, including carriers, actually. All of the reports of any incoming objects are sent to a different computer who decides whether it’s a ship or meteorite. It has access to any scheduled arrivals and can scan for itself if there’s not enough information. Now, the barrier helps destroy any smaller meteorites, but I’m not sure what their plan is for bigger ones. Probably launching shots of energy from the moon rather than just the barrier.”
“And what’s the barrier made up of?” Indi asked, intrigued.
“Satellites,” Bulot answered. “There are two layers of weaponry up there. They’re set up in a pattern, but far enough away from each other that our largest galaxy ships can get through. It’s a system my people designed. You can look it up online; it’s called a deflector-scanner. There are articles!”
“Someone certainly gets excited about the internet,” Johanna whispered to Indi.
“Well, it’s a clever and useful invention,” Bulot said. “I’m certainly impressed.”
“So is the rest of your species, and the Quans,” Indi said. “It’s been nearly a century since you discovered it.”
“A full generation hasn't even passed since we made our alliance with you humans,” Bulot explained. “It seems longer for you lot because it’s been a couple of generations.”
“There are still humans who aren't used to you and the Quans, though,” Indi said, rather quietly.
“Yes, well,” Bulot said, “they don’t consider us to be people. If the definition of ‘people’ is ‘human’, they’re right.”
“But you are people,” Indi insisted.
“It’s odd. You humans are much more defensive about this concern than we are. Why does it matter?”
“A similar conflict in earth history,” Johanna explained. “You may have noticed that some humans, like me, have darker skin than others.”
“Yes,” Bulot replied. “Much like with my species. I have maroon skin, but others may have violet or forest green.”
“Right,” Johanna said. “But we had a conflict over it.” Bulot gave a look that seemed to say: “Of course you did.” Johanna kept going, not at the right angle to see his face. “My history’s not that good, so I don’t know the story real well, but I bet you could find it if you search ‘human racism’.” You’d probably find the whole thing very fascinating.”
“I will,” Bulot said. “Thank you very much.”
There was a short chirping noise and all the loud chattering faded in time for the female voice to ring through the room again. “Thank you for your patience. The danger has passed.” Indi and Johanna let go of each other’s hands and started unbuckling.
“Meteorite attacks,” Indi commented, adding sarcastically, “so exciting!” Johanna laughed.
“Yes,” she joked, “‘please calmly make your way to the basement and lock yourselves in for about half an hour. Have fun!’” J.T., who had been making his way to the stairs up, stopped as he passed the two girls.
“Discussing how exciting this was?” he asked. Indi threw him a short glare, grabbed Johanna’s hand, and walked to the staircase without a glance back.
“What was that for?” Johanna asked. “You said it wasn’t that he didn’t tell you.”
“I dunno,” Indi replied. “It was impulsive, and I don’t want to talk to him right now, anyway. Hey, we could meet Vex. She’s going on the mission.”
“She might be in a class right now,” Johanna said. “She’s taking star constellations. We can look for her during lunch if you really want to keep avoiding J.T.”
“Okay,” Indi agreed as they reached the lounge. “We ride at dawn! Or rather, lunch.”
After Indi and Johanna got through the line, they searched the room for Vex. “She has brown hair, right?” Johanna asked.
“More like a dark blonde…” Indi replied, her eyes scanning the room desperately.
“Same thing,” Johanna said.
“Hush,” Indi said. “There she is, come on.” Johanna followed Indi as she made her way to a table full of boys and a girl with long, dirty blonde hair put up in a braid sitting alone on the end.
“Mind if we sit here?” Indi asked sweetly, standing on the opposite side of the table from Vex.
“No,” she replied in a bored voice and turned back to her food. The three ate together in an awkward silence for a while.
“You’re going on the mission too,” Vex told Indi.
“Yeah,” Indi replied. “Well, maybe.”
“Maybe?” Vex asked. “Why maybe? Already have something going on?”
“Well….” Indi trailed off.
“It’s a lot of things,” Johanna said.
“If you’re nervous, don’t worry,” Vex said. “This will be my second time, and although it’s really neat, it’s not that exciting.”
“You've been chosen before?” Johanna asked in disbelief. “I thought they only chose people once each.”
“Maybe not in a row, not that I know without a doubt,” Vex replied, gathering her empty dishes. “I was chosen two years ago. I was pretty nervous then, but it ended up being fine.” Vex got up and a couple boys sitting at the table turned their heads as they noticed. “See you at the meeting, Indi.”
9/20/26
The meeting for the mission is tomorrow! I get the feeling that the prospect of going on this mission is bothering Indi, but maybe the meeting tomorrow will help. She’s been avoiding me lately, so I think she just wants time with her friend before she goes, or maybe her friend is wanting comfort. This whole thing is very exciting, though!
Signing off, J.T. (But you knew that.)
Indi walked to the meeting room alone, hoping to get there before J.T. and possibly Bulot. Just as she was reaching the door, however, J.T. came around the corner and opened the door for Indi. She stopped at the entryway. “What’s that for?” she asked.
J.T. looked slightly confused. “I always open doors for people,” he said. “It seems nice, somehow. Not that opening a door takes much effort, but I don’t like entering a room and then closing the door just as someone else is coming in.” He gestured inside the room. “Are you coming in, m’lady?” He gave a small bow to tease her. Indi rolled her eyes and entered the room, taking a seat in front of Bulot, who was already inside.
“We’re just missing Vex now, I believe, is that right?” asked the headteacher as J.T. took his seat beside Bulot. Right on que, Vex entered the room and stood beside the door rather than taking a seat.
“All right,” the headteacher said, sorting through some papers on the desk in front of her. “Welcome, all, to the meeting for the J.I.A.’s annual deep space mission. Do any of you have questions?” She paused for them. After a moment, Bulot raised his hand. “Yes, Bulot?”
“How deep is deep, miss? The journey alone won’t take weeks, will it?”
“Well, ‘how deep’ varies from time to time, but I believe that the journey, there and back, should only be about a week, good question, Bulot,” she replied. “Any others?”
Indi hesitantly raised a hand and the headteacher gestured for her to go on. “Well…” Indi paused. “Do I have to go?” The headteacher paused, obviously never having been asked this before.
“I suppose not,” she answered. “But choosing someone to fill your position may delay a few things.”
“Okay,” Indi said. “Never mind.”
“Dear girl,” the headteacher said, “if you have a medical issue of some sort, please don’t force yourself to go on this. It is, in fact, optional.” Indi shook her head, not looking up. The headteacher paused before going on. “Is that all?” she asked. “J.T., Vex?” No one said anything, but J.T. was looking at Indi with concern. “No?” the headteacher went on. “Well… I just wanted to make sure you were all informed that Professer Fisler will be your captain. We’ll be taking a new ship, but don’t worry, it has been on several test trips. You all need to report to the Hywind spaceport on October 1st, and after the month’s test on the 27th, you’ll be relieved of all studies. If you have no more questions, you are dismissed.”
Indi calmly continued to sit as Vex and Bulot left, but J.T. didn’t move. Not long later, the headteacher and exited into a back room.
“Is Joanna okay?” he asked, somewhat hesitant.
Indi turned around abruptly. “Who’s Joanna?”
“Your friend?” he said, unsure.
“Oh, JoHANNA,” she said, and got up, making her way to the door, J.T. following.
“Sorry, Johanna,” he said. “Is Johanna okay?” Indi stopped at the doorway and turned back to J.T.
“Is Johanna okay?” she demanded. “When did Johanna come into this?”
J.T. looked wounded, seeming to wonder what he had said wrong. “When you were always spending time with her,” he replied. “I thought maybe she was going through something.”
“Oh, ‘cause there’s no way it could be me going through something,” Indi stated, and walked back the way she came; one could almost see a dark cloud and bolts of lightning as she traversed the halls.
Indi was sunk low in a seat and reading something on her device when Bulot found her in the lounge. He sat in a seat beside her, leaving a short silence before saying anything. “You know,” he started, “Humans have a way of saying a lot more with their actions than they will ever say with their words.” Indi looked up at him. “For example,” he continued, “You give the impression that someone is going to die a bloody death and you haven’t said a single word nor made a tiny noise since I entered the room.” Indi let out a small smile and turned away. “What’s wrong?” Bulot prompted.
“Nothing,” Indi replied quietly.
“Does that mean that nothing’s wrong,” he began, “or does it mean that something very specific is wrong and you just don’t want to tell me about it?” Indi didn't reply. “It’s incredible, but even though your language contains about a fourth of my species’ words, you still speak an entirely different language.”
“Well, what probably adds is that it’s also English, French, and German,” Indi said.
“Some of my species do the same thing, though,” Bulot said. “I’m positive that women have their own language.” Indi let out a smile again. “See,” Bulot said, “I can be funny sometimes.”
“Yeah, that’s probably why you’re my friend,” Indi commented. “Thanks, Bulot,” she said, becoming more pleasant by the moment, “for coming after me and talking.”
“Talking is my specialty,” Bulot replied with a small smile.
“Hug?” Indi asked, standing.
“Hugs are strange,” Bulot observed. “Two people take hold of each other and--”
“Yeah, I know how hugs work, Bulot. They’re comforting for humans in times like these.” Bulot shrugged and stood up. Indi hugged him and he awkwardly returned it.
“That actually helps?” he asked skeptically.
“Yes, Bulot,” Indi replied with an amused tone. “It actually helps.”
On the 1st of October, Professor Fisler, Bulot, Vex, J.T., and Indi were not the only ones there. There were three other Hoten, two humans, and one Quan.
“Everyone,” Professor Fisler said, “I am Captain Fisler, and this month, you shall be my crew. I take it that you all know what that means. Through this mission, I will treat you with respect and assume that you are mature. Prove to me that you are and I never have to assume otherwise. Prove to me that you are immature, and I can and will treat you like a young child. Do we understand each other?”
“Yes, captain,” everyone chorused.
“Very good,” Captain Fisler said. “We’ll be taking a new ship called the Astra, but we’ll meet her in a bit. Let’s meet each other first. Let’s go around the circle.” He looked around a bit. “I realize it’s not a circle, but you get my point. I’m Victor Fisler, moon branch.” He gestured to the Quan on his right.
“Shepill,” she said, just loud enough for everyone to hear. “Hotan branch.”
A female Hoten on her right spoke next. “Yiluna the third, House of Jaren. Hotan branch.”
Next was a male Hoten. “Lan the second from the House of Kyling.” He gave a small, friendly wave to everyone.
“J.T. Zumwalt,” J.T. announced confidently. “Moon branch.”
“Bulot from the House of Coyad,” Bulot said matter-of-factly. “Moon branch.”
“I’m Indi Hunt from the moon branch,” Indi said, still nervous.
A female Hoten on Indi’s right was next. “Rescon from the House of Coyad,” she said, looking at Bulot. “Earth branch.”
A couple of male humans were last. “I’m Saxton Youkerman,” said the taller one with brown hair. “And I’m Oliver Moonreach,” said the second, with blonde hair. The two fistbumped and said together: “Earth branch!”
Captain Fisler pointed at the two. “That was showy. You two get points.”
“Really?” Saxton said disbelievingly but with a hint of excitement.
“No, not really. I’m not serious all the time; something you should be aware about me if I’m going to be your captain.” Saxton and Oliver looked disappointed, but humored as well. “All right, let’s meet the Astra, shall we?” Fisler set off and everyone followed.
Soon, they had reached a massive ship. It was a white, upright oval, held up by four legs. No one could see the top, but there were two expansions on the ship: two smaller ovals, which Oliver theorized held the weapons’ systems, although it seemed rather large for that. A pod, connected to the bottom of the ship, was extended, seeming to be calling for passengers. Captain Fisler stopped at the entrance to it.
“First five, get in,” he said. J.T. went in first, followed fairly closely by Oliver and Saxton. There was a pause, then Yiluna got in, followed shortly by Lan; the five in the lift were tight, but not crammed. “There should be a button near the door, Lan,” Captain Fisler told the Hoten.
Lan must have found it, because soon after, the doors slid shut and the pod made its way back up to the ship. Fisler turned to the rest of his crew. “I’ll go in last, because although we could fit in six people, I’d rather not squish you all. Just wait for me and don’t panic. I won’t be that long.” The pod came down again and Indi, Vex, Yiluna, Shepill, and Rescon all piled in, Rescon hitting the button as she entered. Going up to the ship was rather like going up in an elevator, and Indi looked as though she were enjoying it thoroughly. As they reached the top, the walls of the lift pulled away and they found themselves in a good sized, circular room with doors, facing upwards, all around the edges.
“We think those are escape pods,” Bulot told Indi as she looked at them curiously. She nodded, still entranced by them. Soon, Fisler had joined them in the room.
“Thank you all for your patience,” he said, pushed a button on the ceiling, above from the entrance in the floor, and backed away. A spiral staircase unfolded from the ceiling and made its way down to the floor. “Follow me,” Fisler said as he started up the steps.
The ten students followed their captain up a long way, passing four levels along the way. Occasionally, as they passed a level, he would say, “This is where you’ll all be staying during this mission,” or “What we’re passing now is the boring floor, get used to coming here.” When they reached the top of the staircase, where there was a hatch in the ceiling, he waited a little bit for everyone to catch up. “Now,” he told them all, “this is where it gets a little disorienting. Wonderful design, though. Shows imagination, in my opinion. Now, you all realize (I hope) that once this gets out into space, our gravity will be artificial. Right now, we’re in artificial gravity of the moon, so the bridge will look a bit different now than the rest of our journey.” He opened the hatch. Indi, who was at the front of the line-up, looked through the hatch and saw the vast space, stars glistening in the far-off distance.
“Go, would you?” Vex said, interrupting Indi’s state of awe.
“Sorry,” she murmured, pulling herself through the hatch. It took everyone a moment to realize what they were seeing. They were on the wall of a large room. The ceiling was not the ceiling, but the viewscreen for the bridge of the Astra. From their perspective, there were chairs and consoles on the wall and several barriers on the floor. It turned out that the largest one was a platform for those coming through the hatch and the smaller ones were steps for either side.
Rescon was the first to notice. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “This is so cool!”
“Isn’t it but just?” Fisler replied in a tone of admiration.
“What is it?” Oliver asked.
“Can’t you see it?” Rescon asked him.
“We’re on one of the walls, Oliver,” Saxton told his friend, putting his arm around him and resting his hand on Oliver’s shoulder opposite Saxton. “See those chairs? When we’re going on artificial gravity, that’ll be the floor.”
“Oh!” Oliver exclaimed, copying Rescon’s reaction.
“Everyone,” Professor Fisler said, “I am Captain Fisler, and this month, you shall be my crew. I take it that you all know what that means. Through this mission, I will treat you with respect and assume that you are mature. Prove to me that you are and I never have to assume otherwise. Prove to me that you are immature, and I can and will treat you like a young child. Do we understand each other?”
“Yes, captain,” everyone chorused.
“Very good,” Captain Fisler said. “We’ll be taking a new ship called the Astra, but we’ll meet her in a bit. Let’s meet each other first. Let’s go around the circle.” He looked around a bit. “I realize it’s not a circle, but you get my point. I’m Victor Fisler, moon branch.” He gestured to the Quan on his right.
“Shepill,” she said, just loud enough for everyone to hear. “Hotan branch.”
A female Hoten on her right spoke next. “Yiluna the third, House of Jaren. Hotan branch.”
Next was a male Hoten. “Lan the second from the House of Kyling.” He gave a small, friendly wave to everyone.
“J.T. Zumwalt,” J.T. announced confidently. “Moon branch.”
“Bulot from the House of Coyad,” Bulot said matter-of-factly. “Moon branch.”
“I’m Indi Hunt from the moon branch,” Indi said, still nervous.
A female Hoten on Indi’s right was next. “Rescon from the House of Coyad,” she said, looking at Bulot. “Earth branch.”
A couple of male humans were last. “I’m Saxton Youkerman,” said the taller one with brown hair. “And I’m Oliver Moonreach,” said the second, with blonde hair. The two fistbumped and said together: “Earth branch!”
Captain Fisler pointed at the two. “That was showy. You two get points.”
“Really?” Saxton said disbelievingly but with a hint of excitement.
“No, not really. I’m not serious all the time; something you should be aware about me if I’m going to be your captain.” Saxton and Oliver looked disappointed, but humored as well. “All right, let’s meet the Astra, shall we?” Fisler set off and everyone followed.
Soon, they had reached a massive ship. It was a white, upright oval, held up by four legs. No one could see the top, but there were two expansions on the ship: two smaller ovals, which Oliver theorized held the weapons’ systems, although it seemed rather large for that. A pod, connected to the bottom of the ship, was extended, seeming to be calling for passengers. Captain Fisler stopped at the entrance to it.
“First five, get in,” he said. J.T. went in first, followed fairly closely by Oliver and Saxton. There was a pause, then Yiluna got in, followed shortly by Lan; the five in the lift were tight, but not crammed. “There should be a button near the door, Lan,” Captain Fisler told the Hoten.
Lan must have found it, because soon after, the doors slid shut and the pod made its way back up to the ship. Fisler turned to the rest of his crew. “I’ll go in last, because although we could fit in six people, I’d rather not squish you all. Just wait for me and don’t panic. I won’t be that long.” The pod came down again and Indi, Vex, Yiluna, Shepill, and Rescon all piled in, Rescon hitting the button as she entered. Going up to the ship was rather like going up in an elevator, and Indi looked as though she were enjoying it thoroughly. As they reached the top, the walls of the lift pulled away and they found themselves in a good sized, circular room with doors, facing upwards, all around the edges.
“We think those are escape pods,” Bulot told Indi as she looked at them curiously. She nodded, still entranced by them. Soon, Fisler had joined them in the room.
“Thank you all for your patience,” he said, pushed a button on the ceiling, above from the entrance in the floor, and backed away. A spiral staircase unfolded from the ceiling and made its way down to the floor. “Follow me,” Fisler said as he started up the steps.
The ten students followed their captain up a long way, passing four levels along the way. Occasionally, as they passed a level, he would say, “This is where you’ll all be staying during this mission,” or “What we’re passing now is the boring floor, get used to coming here.” When they reached the top of the staircase, where there was a hatch in the ceiling, he waited a little bit for everyone to catch up. “Now,” he told them all, “this is where it gets a little disorienting. Wonderful design, though. Shows imagination, in my opinion. Now, you all realize (I hope) that once this gets out into space, our gravity will be artificial. Right now, we’re in artificial gravity of the moon, so the bridge will look a bit different now than the rest of our journey.” He opened the hatch. Indi, who was at the front of the line-up, looked through the hatch and saw the vast space, stars glistening in the far-off distance.
“Go, would you?” Vex said, interrupting Indi’s state of awe.
“Sorry,” she murmured, pulling herself through the hatch. It took everyone a moment to realize what they were seeing. They were on the wall of a large room. The ceiling was not the ceiling, but the viewscreen for the bridge of the Astra. From their perspective, there were chairs and consoles on the wall and several barriers on the floor. It turned out that the largest one was a platform for those coming through the hatch and the smaller ones were steps for either side.
Rescon was the first to notice. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “This is so cool!”
“Isn’t it but just?” Fisler replied in a tone of admiration.
“What is it?” Oliver asked.
“Can’t you see it?” Rescon asked him.
“We’re on one of the walls, Oliver,” Saxton told his friend, putting his arm around him and resting his hand on Oliver’s shoulder opposite Saxton. “See those chairs? When we’re going on artificial gravity, that’ll be the floor.”
“Oh!” Oliver exclaimed, copying Rescon’s reaction.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Take to the Sky: Day Three
“Okay, I will,” Indi said with a smile. “Is it all right if I end it now, or is there anything you want to tell me about?”
“Well, there’s not much going on down here that I haven’t already ranted about to you,” Lilliana said, “But I suppose there’s the fact that I’ll be going down to Atlantis soon.”
“Ooh, do you get to see the ballroom there?” Indi asked excitedly.
The next day was not much easier to get through for Indi than the day before. She got plenty of congratulations on being chosen for the mission, but not everyone was so positive.
"You know, everyone can tell how scared you are about this mission," an Asian guy told her as she entered the classroom for her piloting class. "You shouldn't have been chosen for that very reason. I'm a better pilot than you anyway. They should have forgotten about the grades for the other classes because *I* would have been more useful. *I* wouldn't be panicking right now and *I* would be able to keep a level head through the mission.”
“Yeah, they should have used some sense and picked you, Tyland,” Indi replied coolly and took a seat without looking at him and kept her eyes at the front of the classroom.
He shook his head. “It’s always pointless to talk to you, you know. Never say anything worthwhile.” Indi sighed as quietly as she could, biting a reply back.
During a break, Indi and Johanna were in the lounge together. “How unfair that no one told you!” Johanna was saying.
“That’s how my family has always been. I’m not entirely sure it’s that I’m so… frustrated about,” Indi replied.
“Well, what else could it possibly be?”
“Just that J.T.--” An alarm cut Indi off.
“Warning,” a female voice rang through the building. “There is an incoming meteorite that has a 60% chance of making it past our defensive measures. Please take appropriate precautions. Thank you for your calm manners.”
“That robot may sound like a living being,” Johanna commented as the two got up and followed the crowd to a flight of stairs, “but it’s still definitely a robot. ‘Thank you for your calm manners’? What’s that about?”
“A strange way to remind you to stay calm?” Indi theorized. “I don’t know.” Soon, the occupants of the building were a level underground where there were a bunch of seats with buckles. Everyone was strapped in and there was a loud noise caused by the constant conversation among everyone.
“So,” Johanna said casually, but loudly so she could be heard by Indi, who was sitting on her right. “You never said what else it could possibly be that you’re so frustrated about.”
“Oh,” Indi said, recalling. “Well, just… *J.T.*. J.T., interested in *me*?”
“Why not you?” Johanna demanded. “A relationship where you were best friends at one time is, I imagine, one of the better kinds. And I think you may be the only female friend he has.”
“Thing is, I could never think of him like that,” Indi insisted. “It would be weird just holding hands with him. And what do you mean, ‘the only female friend he has’? It’s not like everyone he knows is here. He’s got a life outside of this Academy.”
“Well, there’s not much going on down here that I haven’t already ranted about to you,” Lilliana said, “But I suppose there’s the fact that I’ll be going down to Atlantis soon.”
“Ooh, do you get to see the ballroom there?” Indi asked excitedly.
“Assuming the Globe is even open. But I hope so! It sounds so neat. I’ll talk to you later, sis! Be sure to call Mom and Dad, okay?”
“I will, right after this,” Indi replied. “Love you, talk to you later.”
“I love you too, D,” Lilliana said, and her picture on the screen became smaller as the list pulled up again and the small picture of Indi’s older sister went back to its place. Indi got up from her bed and walked back over to the small device, scrolling up a while until she reached a picture of a somewhat small, cream-colored house labeled ‘Home,’ and tapped it.
Again, the picture came up and the happy tone filled the room again. The call was answered sooner than the last one and a video came up on the screen this time. It was a woman who looked around in her 40’s, with her long, brown hair pulled back out of her face, although strands of hair were in her face anyway. She was wearing a delighted smile and started by saying in a cheery voice, “Indi, dear! How are you?”
“I’m doing really well, mother,” Indi said happily, but added more seriously, “Although there is something I’d like to talk to you about.”
The woman looked concerned. “By all means, share. That’s what I’m here for. But Indi, would you mind turning your cam on? I’ve only seen pictures of your face for the past two months.”
“Yeah, Mom. Might be a bit.” Once again, Indi got off her bed, picked up her device without disconnected it from the large screen, and gently moved the whole stand that it was on to her bed. She set it on the end of her bed and climbed on it herself, laying on her front. She pulled up a menu and tapped a symbol on it, making a small light come on at the top of her device and a smaller video of her came up on the lower right side of both screens.
Her mother smiled at her screen for a bit. “You’re so beautiful, honey.”
Indi smiled. “Yeah, whose fault is that?”
“Well, it must be your father’s,” her mother replied.
“Pfft,” Indi said. “Says the most beautiful mom I know. Where is Dad, anyway?”
The woman’s smile faded a bit and she looked down at something. “He’s visiting your brother.”
“Oh,” Indi said. “He’s letting you visit him?”
“He’s not very happy about it. In any case, your father should be home soon,” Mrs. Hunt said, a smile coming back as she changed the subject. “He’ll be so excited to see you. Will you stick around for a bit?”
“Yeah, of course,” Indi said with a smile in return. “So can I talk to you about this now?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, by all means!” her mother replied, grabbing a nearby chair from the dining room table and pulling it up.
“Okay, so you know the deep space mission thing that the J.I.A. does every year?” Mrs. Hunt nodded. “I was chosen for this year’s mission.”
Mrs. Hunt seemed to have a mixed reaction. One could see pride for her daughter in her eyes, as though she wanted to leap up and let out an excited explanation, and also concern. “Oh, Indi, do be careful?”
“Of course Mom, but that’s kinda the thing. I’m not sure I want to go.”
“Why not? Are you just nervous?”
“You know me well, mother,” Indi said with a small smile. “Definitely very nervous.”
“Have you prayed about it yet?” her mother asked.
“Not yet,” Indi replied. “I’ve talked to Lilliana and she suggested the same thing. I wanted to talk to you first. I have to go to a meeting next month, so I think if I’m gonna back down, I need to make a decision before then.”
“Well, who else from your branch is going?”
“A girl named Vex. I’ve talked to her a couple different times, but I don’t know her real well.” The video from Mrs. Hunt went out and Indi paused. “Mom?”
Her voice came through badly. “It’s just-- Keep going, you’re st-- ing through clearly.”
“Okay, well, a couple of my friends, Bulot and J.T., are also going. I do Astrophysics with both of them.”
“J.T.? J.T. Zumwalt?” Her mother’s voice was clearing up now.
Indi paused. “Yeah, J.T. Zumwalt… how do you know about him? Have I mentioned him before?” The video came back.
“I think so, but I don’t remember for sure. That’s not how I know about him, though,” her mother added, then continued in a nostalgic voice. “He’s been asking to court you for the past month or so and calls in here every so often.”
“J.T.?” Indi asked disbelievingly. “Human, blonde hair, blue eyes, early 20’s?”
Her mother nodded. “Yes, he’s a nice young man.”
“I will, right after this,” Indi replied. “Love you, talk to you later.”
“I love you too, D,” Lilliana said, and her picture on the screen became smaller as the list pulled up again and the small picture of Indi’s older sister went back to its place. Indi got up from her bed and walked back over to the small device, scrolling up a while until she reached a picture of a somewhat small, cream-colored house labeled ‘Home,’ and tapped it.
Again, the picture came up and the happy tone filled the room again. The call was answered sooner than the last one and a video came up on the screen this time. It was a woman who looked around in her 40’s, with her long, brown hair pulled back out of her face, although strands of hair were in her face anyway. She was wearing a delighted smile and started by saying in a cheery voice, “Indi, dear! How are you?”
“I’m doing really well, mother,” Indi said happily, but added more seriously, “Although there is something I’d like to talk to you about.”
The woman looked concerned. “By all means, share. That’s what I’m here for. But Indi, would you mind turning your cam on? I’ve only seen pictures of your face for the past two months.”
“Yeah, Mom. Might be a bit.” Once again, Indi got off her bed, picked up her device without disconnected it from the large screen, and gently moved the whole stand that it was on to her bed. She set it on the end of her bed and climbed on it herself, laying on her front. She pulled up a menu and tapped a symbol on it, making a small light come on at the top of her device and a smaller video of her came up on the lower right side of both screens.
Her mother smiled at her screen for a bit. “You’re so beautiful, honey.”
Indi smiled. “Yeah, whose fault is that?”
“Well, it must be your father’s,” her mother replied.
“Pfft,” Indi said. “Says the most beautiful mom I know. Where is Dad, anyway?”
The woman’s smile faded a bit and she looked down at something. “He’s visiting your brother.”
“Oh,” Indi said. “He’s letting you visit him?”
“He’s not very happy about it. In any case, your father should be home soon,” Mrs. Hunt said, a smile coming back as she changed the subject. “He’ll be so excited to see you. Will you stick around for a bit?”
“Yeah, of course,” Indi said with a smile in return. “So can I talk to you about this now?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, by all means!” her mother replied, grabbing a nearby chair from the dining room table and pulling it up.
“Okay, so you know the deep space mission thing that the J.I.A. does every year?” Mrs. Hunt nodded. “I was chosen for this year’s mission.”
Mrs. Hunt seemed to have a mixed reaction. One could see pride for her daughter in her eyes, as though she wanted to leap up and let out an excited explanation, and also concern. “Oh, Indi, do be careful?”
“Of course Mom, but that’s kinda the thing. I’m not sure I want to go.”
“Why not? Are you just nervous?”
“You know me well, mother,” Indi said with a small smile. “Definitely very nervous.”
“Have you prayed about it yet?” her mother asked.
“Not yet,” Indi replied. “I’ve talked to Lilliana and she suggested the same thing. I wanted to talk to you first. I have to go to a meeting next month, so I think if I’m gonna back down, I need to make a decision before then.”
“Well, who else from your branch is going?”
“A girl named Vex. I’ve talked to her a couple different times, but I don’t know her real well.” The video from Mrs. Hunt went out and Indi paused. “Mom?”
Her voice came through badly. “It’s just-- Keep going, you’re st-- ing through clearly.”
“Okay, well, a couple of my friends, Bulot and J.T., are also going. I do Astrophysics with both of them.”
“J.T.? J.T. Zumwalt?” Her mother’s voice was clearing up now.
Indi paused. “Yeah, J.T. Zumwalt… how do you know about him? Have I mentioned him before?” The video came back.
“I think so, but I don’t remember for sure. That’s not how I know about him, though,” her mother added, then continued in a nostalgic voice. “He’s been asking to court you for the past month or so and calls in here every so often.”
“J.T.?” Indi asked disbelievingly. “Human, blonde hair, blue eyes, early 20’s?”
Her mother nodded. “Yes, he’s a nice young man.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” she demanded.
Mrs. Hunt was taken aback. “You asked that we not tell you about anyone wanting to court you unless we approved of him and we haven’t made a decision yet. Why is it such a big deal, honey?”
“He’s my best friend! I think I deserved to know that my best friend was interested in me. It’s been a *month* and you haven’t decided yet? Why not?”
Her mother opened her mouth, but someone interrupted and a man’s voice replied, “Because we’re not sure he deserves you.”
“Henry, you’re home!” Mrs. Hunt burst out as an older man came into view and the couple hugged.
“You can’t keep me away for very long,” he replied. “Your food’s too good.” He turned to the screen.
Mrs. Hunt was taken aback. “You asked that we not tell you about anyone wanting to court you unless we approved of him and we haven’t made a decision yet. Why is it such a big deal, honey?”
“He’s my best friend! I think I deserved to know that my best friend was interested in me. It’s been a *month* and you haven’t decided yet? Why not?”
Her mother opened her mouth, but someone interrupted and a man’s voice replied, “Because we’re not sure he deserves you.”
“Henry, you’re home!” Mrs. Hunt burst out as an older man came into view and the couple hugged.
“You can’t keep me away for very long,” he replied. “Your food’s too good.” He turned to the screen.
“Indi, how are things? We haven’t heard from you since the school year started.”
“Good, Dad. My grades are doing really well and Professor Fisler is as fantastic as usual.”
“She’s been chosen to go on the annual space mission, dear,” Mrs. Hunt told her husband.
“Oh, good!” he exclaimed. “Does that mean you’re officially a space cadet?”
“Da-ad,” Indi said, suppressing a smile. “I don’t space off anymore.”
“Well, apparently not if they’re sending you into space, you little cadet,” her dad teased. Indi stuck out her tongue at him, and he did the same.
“All right, children,” Mrs. Hunt said. “Time to be mature now.”
Father and daughter replied simultaneously: “Yes, mother!”
August 14th, 2526
I was chosen to be one of four from my branch to go on the J.I.A. annual space mission. If the pressure of that wasn't enough, it turns out J.T. has been asking my parents if he could court me since before the school year started. J.T., of all people! He may as well be my brother, apart from the fact that we've only known each other a year. I know I shouldn't be worrying about this, either of them. Lilliana and Mum have both told me to pray and although it did help a bit, I can’t stop worrying about how all this will turn out.“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
“Good, Dad. My grades are doing really well and Professor Fisler is as fantastic as usual.”
“She’s been chosen to go on the annual space mission, dear,” Mrs. Hunt told her husband.
“Oh, good!” he exclaimed. “Does that mean you’re officially a space cadet?”
“Da-ad,” Indi said, suppressing a smile. “I don’t space off anymore.”
“Well, apparently not if they’re sending you into space, you little cadet,” her dad teased. Indi stuck out her tongue at him, and he did the same.
“All right, children,” Mrs. Hunt said. “Time to be mature now.”
Father and daughter replied simultaneously: “Yes, mother!”
August 14th, 2526
I was chosen to be one of four from my branch to go on the J.I.A. annual space mission. If the pressure of that wasn't enough, it turns out J.T. has been asking my parents if he could court me since before the school year started. J.T., of all people! He may as well be my brother, apart from the fact that we've only known each other a year. I know I shouldn't be worrying about this, either of them. Lilliana and Mum have both told me to pray and although it did help a bit, I can’t stop worrying about how all this will turn out.“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
The next day was not much easier to get through for Indi than the day before. She got plenty of congratulations on being chosen for the mission, but not everyone was so positive.
"You know, everyone can tell how scared you are about this mission," an Asian guy told her as she entered the classroom for her piloting class. "You shouldn't have been chosen for that very reason. I'm a better pilot than you anyway. They should have forgotten about the grades for the other classes because *I* would have been more useful. *I* wouldn't be panicking right now and *I* would be able to keep a level head through the mission.”
“Yeah, they should have used some sense and picked you, Tyland,” Indi replied coolly and took a seat without looking at him and kept her eyes at the front of the classroom.
He shook his head. “It’s always pointless to talk to you, you know. Never say anything worthwhile.” Indi sighed as quietly as she could, biting a reply back.
During a break, Indi and Johanna were in the lounge together. “How unfair that no one told you!” Johanna was saying.
“That’s how my family has always been. I’m not entirely sure it’s that I’m so… frustrated about,” Indi replied.
“Well, what else could it possibly be?”
“Just that J.T.--” An alarm cut Indi off.
“Warning,” a female voice rang through the building. “There is an incoming meteorite that has a 60% chance of making it past our defensive measures. Please take appropriate precautions. Thank you for your calm manners.”
“That robot may sound like a living being,” Johanna commented as the two got up and followed the crowd to a flight of stairs, “but it’s still definitely a robot. ‘Thank you for your calm manners’? What’s that about?”
“A strange way to remind you to stay calm?” Indi theorized. “I don’t know.” Soon, the occupants of the building were a level underground where there were a bunch of seats with buckles. Everyone was strapped in and there was a loud noise caused by the constant conversation among everyone.
“So,” Johanna said casually, but loudly so she could be heard by Indi, who was sitting on her right. “You never said what else it could possibly be that you’re so frustrated about.”
“Oh,” Indi said, recalling. “Well, just… *J.T.*. J.T., interested in *me*?”
“Why not you?” Johanna demanded. “A relationship where you were best friends at one time is, I imagine, one of the better kinds. And I think you may be the only female friend he has.”
“Thing is, I could never think of him like that,” Indi insisted. “It would be weird just holding hands with him. And what do you mean, ‘the only female friend he has’? It’s not like everyone he knows is here. He’s got a life outside of this Academy.”
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Take to the Sky: Day Two
"Even if given another year, I don't see how you could be any more prepared for this than you are now," Bulot told Indi confidently. "There's no good reason for you to be so nervous. Listen to J.T., for he's not just spewing out meaningless words to give you false confidence. And he's right, you have a month to mentally prepare.”
Indi was pacing in her small, one-bed room, occasionally sitting on her bed or opening a book and reading a bit. Finally, she sighed and laid back spread-eagled on her bed.
“Lilli,” she said under her breath, took a few steps to the other side of the room, and pulled a small white device off the wall. It lit up and and as she hooked it up to a device in the wall. A large screen in the wall turned on and it displayed what was on the smaller device: a list of names and faces. Indi tapped a name that said ‘Lilliana Hunt’ and a picture of a smiling woman with dark hair came up on the screen, accompanied by a happy tone. After a couple of minutes, a voice started coming through a pair of speakers in the room.
“Hey, D!” called a friendly, female voice. “What’s new up there?”
“What’s newest and most prominent on my mind right now is this,” Indi started. “I’ve been chosen to go on the annual deep space mission this year.”
“That’s exciting!” There was a pause on the other end and Indi sat at the end of her bed, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. “And yet you don’t sound excited.”
“Yeah, that would be because I’m not.,” Indi told Lilliana. “Lilli, I never wanted to do this in the first place. I’m not ready and… I’m frightened.”
There was a sigh. “Look, sis. I know that new things can be frightening, trust me, I do. But you’re never going to do anything if you’re too frightened to do something new. You have to be brave, and I know you have that bravery in you.” You could hear a smile in the other woman’s voice as she talked.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lilliana. It is appreciated, truly, but...” she trailed off. “I kinda just want to hand off my opportunity to someone else.”
“I won’t blame you if you go with that decision, Indi,” Lilli said. “And I wish I could go with you; it could be like one of those adventures we always had when we were younger.”
“You would definitely make everything ten times better,” Indi said with a small smile.
“Yeah, unfortunately, I’m just a bit out of reach and don’t even attend Jeokot. You know what you can do, though?”
“What?” Indi asked.
“Pray, Indi. This is basic, you really had to ask?” Lilli said teasingly.
“Maybe I did!” Indi said, relaxing more and taking on a less serious tone. “But seriously, thank you, Lilliana. Especially in stressful times like these, when I need it most, I always forget that.”
“Of course,” Lilli said. “I love you, Indi. You *can* do this. Have you talked to Mom and Dad about this?”
“No…. I wanted to talk to you first. You’re my best friend, and although I love our parents, you’re still always the one I go to first.”
“Aw, that’s sweet of you,” Lilli said. “But you should really talk to them. They’ve always been supportive, and I’m sure talking to them would help. I know you, Indi. You’ve probably been worrying ever since it was announced, but I promise, worrying is unnecessary, and Mom and Dad *will* help.”
Indi was pacing in her small, one-bed room, occasionally sitting on her bed or opening a book and reading a bit. Finally, she sighed and laid back spread-eagled on her bed.
“Lilli,” she said under her breath, took a few steps to the other side of the room, and pulled a small white device off the wall. It lit up and and as she hooked it up to a device in the wall. A large screen in the wall turned on and it displayed what was on the smaller device: a list of names and faces. Indi tapped a name that said ‘Lilliana Hunt’ and a picture of a smiling woman with dark hair came up on the screen, accompanied by a happy tone. After a couple of minutes, a voice started coming through a pair of speakers in the room.
“Hey, D!” called a friendly, female voice. “What’s new up there?”
“What’s newest and most prominent on my mind right now is this,” Indi started. “I’ve been chosen to go on the annual deep space mission this year.”
“That’s exciting!” There was a pause on the other end and Indi sat at the end of her bed, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. “And yet you don’t sound excited.”
“Yeah, that would be because I’m not.,” Indi told Lilliana. “Lilli, I never wanted to do this in the first place. I’m not ready and… I’m frightened.”
There was a sigh. “Look, sis. I know that new things can be frightening, trust me, I do. But you’re never going to do anything if you’re too frightened to do something new. You have to be brave, and I know you have that bravery in you.” You could hear a smile in the other woman’s voice as she talked.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lilliana. It is appreciated, truly, but...” she trailed off. “I kinda just want to hand off my opportunity to someone else.”
“I won’t blame you if you go with that decision, Indi,” Lilli said. “And I wish I could go with you; it could be like one of those adventures we always had when we were younger.”
“You would definitely make everything ten times better,” Indi said with a small smile.
“Yeah, unfortunately, I’m just a bit out of reach and don’t even attend Jeokot. You know what you can do, though?”
“What?” Indi asked.
“Pray, Indi. This is basic, you really had to ask?” Lilli said teasingly.
“Maybe I did!” Indi said, relaxing more and taking on a less serious tone. “But seriously, thank you, Lilliana. Especially in stressful times like these, when I need it most, I always forget that.”
“Of course,” Lilli said. “I love you, Indi. You *can* do this. Have you talked to Mom and Dad about this?”
“No…. I wanted to talk to you first. You’re my best friend, and although I love our parents, you’re still always the one I go to first.”
“Aw, that’s sweet of you,” Lilli said. “But you should really talk to them. They’ve always been supportive, and I’m sure talking to them would help. I know you, Indi. You’ve probably been worrying ever since it was announced, but I promise, worrying is unnecessary, and Mom and Dad *will* help.”
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Take to the Sky: Day One
There's an event, of sorts, that takes place every year throughout the whole month of November. This event is called National Novel Writing Month, or, for short, NaNoWriMo. What you do during this event is write every day and aim to have at least 50,000 words written by the end of November. I have had several friends and a cousin participate in this event for several years, and this year, I have decided to participate for my first time. I will do my utmost to update you each day, but I may very well fall behind. Enjoy!
Earth had changed a lot since the 21st century. New advances and technologies had been made, the separate nations fell and all joined under one ruler, humankind spread out to the moon, and… oh, contact with aliens had been established. I’m not just talking about the aliens in the Amazon that spread throughout the world, although that as well. I’m talking about aliens from other worlds. The Hoten and the Quans were from a binary system, but in many ways, they had few likenesses.
There were the Hoten, who looked much like humans, apart from different complexion, hair color, and, sometimes, eye color. However, they still differed from the humans. Humans live a shorter lifespan, sleep, and have little control over their mind in comparison. Hoten could enter their minds and organize things or find a buried memory if need be. They could remember things that happened decades ago, because it would be stored in their mind somewhere, the memory merely needed to be found.
There were also the Quans. First difference between them and the other two species: they didn't breathe the same things as them. However, the first difference one usually notices is that they have gills. A Quan could be comparable to fish in many ways, not that they would appreciate it. They had gills, and although they were retractable, they were still quite noticeable, they had a second, clear set of eyelids which they kept closed most of the time. This and the fact that their eyelids came in from the sides could make humans quite unnerved before they got used to it.
But enough introductions. I could explain everything going on in 2526 and the events leading up to it, but where would the fun in that be? So, I'm going to shove you into the middle of things with little explanation. Among the moon colonies, there was an academy, put together by Hoten subsequent to the Alliance, so that they might spread their knowledge throughout the galaxy. The Jeokot Intergalactic Academy was open to any and all who wished to learn.
Indi and J.T. entered their Astrophysics class one after the other and took their seats in the classroom: Indi to the right of a male Hoten and J.T. in front of the Hoten.
"Why humans take so long to eat, I will never understand," he said to Indi, the professor not having arrived yet.
"Well, Bulot, J.T. takes so long because he takes each bite as if it were the last good bite he'll ever take," Indi started jokingly. "And I decided I would keep him company while he cherished every tiny flavor of his chicken and salad."
J.T. turned around to the other two. "I just like food, okay?" he said defensively, but with a playful grin.
"Food is merely a substance that sustains you," Bulot said to J.T., a tone of perplexity in his voice. "I like food because it keeps me alive, but you take it to a whole other level."
"You may not understand why I appreciate taste so much, my friend, but I cannot understand how you don't appreciate taste. It's probably one of the best things ever." The professor then entered and the room immediately got quiet as all the students gave their attention to their teacher.
"Good afternoon," the Quan professor said in greeting to his students. Various replies of "afternoon" spread throughout the room. "Before I begin, I'd like you all to know that Violet isn't feeling well today and thus isn't here. But if you could all find the time to pay her a short visit sometime today, I'm sure she would appreciate it. Being sick and being alone isn't usually the happiest combination." A few students nodded in agreement. "Also, the school has asked me to remind you all that in a few months, we'll be doing our annual deep space mission with our top students from each school, and the names will be announced next week today, so get your grades up if you want to go." He paused. "Get them down if you don't." A few chuckles arose from the students. "Are you all tired after lunch, or am I not as funny today? You lot usually laugh more than that."
“You’re just losing your touch, Professor Fisler.” Indi called out playfully, earning a smile from him. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Ah, I see, thank you, Indi,” the man said, absent-mindedly adjusting the left gill piece behind his ear from his chemo synthetic pack that was resting on the back of his neck. “All right, are you all ready for today’s lesson?” There was silence. “Yes, I thought as much. We’ll give it a shot anyway, shall we? And if any of you need help with something, I have a website that you can contact me with. Or, likely, you’ll see me around the building.”
At the end of the day, Indi and her friend Johanna were sitting together in the lounge chatting, as girls often do. “...And then there’s that deep space thing,” Johanna was saying, rather quickly and excitedly. “It sounds so cool, but I don’t think there’s any possible way I’ll be chosen. Well, for one thing, it’s only my first year. I mean, I’m sure there are plenty of second or third year students that haven’t gone and probably want to, so I guess it would be unfair if I, a first year, got to go. Don’t you think? Besides that, my grades are barely average. Well, I guess a bit above average.…” She paused as she considered, and Indi took that opportunity to get a word in.
“Seeing how many students there are in just this one branch, I kind of doubt that either of us are going to be chosen. And most likely, most, if not all of the students chosen will be Hoten. They always have such good grades.” Johanna loved to talk, but when given the chance, she also listened, so Indi didn't have to talk quickly to get in her opinions when having a conversation with her friend.
“I know! I’m so envious of that ability they have. It would make everything so much easier, not to mention that we wouldn't have to waste so much time getting sleep,” Johanna said. “Sometimes it feels like a curse. It would be nice to only have to meditate and only every once in a while.” Indi nodded.
“And to keep everything so organized without even having to take notes.”
“I’m sure they take notes! Just in their minds….” Johanna paused. “I wonder what that would be like.”
“I’m pretty sure there are posts online if you’re interested in that sort of thing,” Indi replied. “Especially with how much the Hoten and Quans love the internet.”
“Eighty-one years of an alliance with us and they still haven’t gotten used to the internet yet,” Johanna said musingly.
As the week passes by for the students of the Jeokot Intergalactic Academies, I shall explain a little bit more of what's going on. There are three branches of the J.I.A., each in a populated area. One on earth's moon, one on earth, and one on Hoten. There would be one on Quant, but its air is unbreathable by both humans and Hoten. Prior to the Alliance, trade with the Hoten and Quans was entirely futile for the neighboring species could see no value in the human currency system, so a new system was put into place during the composing of the Alliance, making precious metals and gems from all three planets the currency. It soon became inefficient and unsafe to carry these around casually, so people started carrying exchange cards around to make transactions more simple, but they could go to a bank with their exchange card and request something more real if so desired. The earth was united under one imperfect constitution with the Minister as head and a group of representatives over different countries. America was no longer united and Texas and California became their own countries.
During lunch the next week, the headteacher stood at the head of the room and demanded quiet, which took a fair amount of time.
“Pardon me for interrupting your eating,” she began, “but as many of you may recall, today is the announcement for who from this branch shall be assigned to our annual deep space mission. I trust you have all been working very hard to receive this honor.”
There were a few negative grunts from the crowd at this, most likely none of them from Hoten. The headteacher, seeming to ignore the noises from the students, consulted her clipboard and began calling out names.
“Bulot from the House of Coyad.” Indi and J.T. turned to Bulot, giving him looks of ‘I knew it’ and ‘I was right - ha.’ The headteacher continued. “J.T. Zumwalt.” J.T. gave a fist pump and threw a triumphant grin at Indi, who smiled back as the headteacher finished. “Vex McCord, and Indi Hunt.” J.T. gave Indi a reassuring smile, but the girl, a shocked look on her face, made no sign that she even noticed. Johanna, who was sitting at a different table behind Indi, moved to sit beside Indi and held her hand.
The headteacher looked up from her clipboard and began talking again. “Those who were called, you are required to attend a meeting on September 21st, prior to the mission start, at 1:30 pm in the third floor conference room. For the rest of you, I want you all to know that this was not entirely an easy decision. Some of you were really close and it made decision-making extremely difficult. Keep trying for next year, and have a good day, everyone.” Chatter instantly began again as the headteacher left.
“This isn't how humans show pleasure or pride in accomplishment in my experience. Is it different depending on the human?” Bulot asked, sounding curious.
“Every face and thus facial expression is unique from human to human,” J.T. explained, “But right now, Indi’s a bit shocked, I think.”
Indi started to come out of her trance and held Johanna’s hand tightly. “I…” she started, seeming to have trouble with talking. “I didn't expect to be chosen. I actually hoped I wouldn't be; I don’t feel ready.”
"Hey," J.T. said, giving Indi a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Bulot and I will back you up. And keep in mind, they chose you for good reason. I doubt it was just because of your grades, Indi. You're capable and eager to learn. This will be exciting and adventurous! It's an opportunity to learn hands-on."
Indi gave him a sad smile. "Thanks, J.T.... but this will take me more than today to get used to."
"Well, you've got a month, so no hurry." J.T. grinned.
*****
Earth had changed a lot since the 21st century. New advances and technologies had been made, the separate nations fell and all joined under one ruler, humankind spread out to the moon, and… oh, contact with aliens had been established. I’m not just talking about the aliens in the Amazon that spread throughout the world, although that as well. I’m talking about aliens from other worlds. The Hoten and the Quans were from a binary system, but in many ways, they had few likenesses.
There were the Hoten, who looked much like humans, apart from different complexion, hair color, and, sometimes, eye color. However, they still differed from the humans. Humans live a shorter lifespan, sleep, and have little control over their mind in comparison. Hoten could enter their minds and organize things or find a buried memory if need be. They could remember things that happened decades ago, because it would be stored in their mind somewhere, the memory merely needed to be found.
There were also the Quans. First difference between them and the other two species: they didn't breathe the same things as them. However, the first difference one usually notices is that they have gills. A Quan could be comparable to fish in many ways, not that they would appreciate it. They had gills, and although they were retractable, they were still quite noticeable, they had a second, clear set of eyelids which they kept closed most of the time. This and the fact that their eyelids came in from the sides could make humans quite unnerved before they got used to it.
But enough introductions. I could explain everything going on in 2526 and the events leading up to it, but where would the fun in that be? So, I'm going to shove you into the middle of things with little explanation. Among the moon colonies, there was an academy, put together by Hoten subsequent to the Alliance, so that they might spread their knowledge throughout the galaxy. The Jeokot Intergalactic Academy was open to any and all who wished to learn.
Indi and J.T. entered their Astrophysics class one after the other and took their seats in the classroom: Indi to the right of a male Hoten and J.T. in front of the Hoten.
"Why humans take so long to eat, I will never understand," he said to Indi, the professor not having arrived yet.
"Well, Bulot, J.T. takes so long because he takes each bite as if it were the last good bite he'll ever take," Indi started jokingly. "And I decided I would keep him company while he cherished every tiny flavor of his chicken and salad."
J.T. turned around to the other two. "I just like food, okay?" he said defensively, but with a playful grin.
"Food is merely a substance that sustains you," Bulot said to J.T., a tone of perplexity in his voice. "I like food because it keeps me alive, but you take it to a whole other level."
"You may not understand why I appreciate taste so much, my friend, but I cannot understand how you don't appreciate taste. It's probably one of the best things ever." The professor then entered and the room immediately got quiet as all the students gave their attention to their teacher.
"Good afternoon," the Quan professor said in greeting to his students. Various replies of "afternoon" spread throughout the room. "Before I begin, I'd like you all to know that Violet isn't feeling well today and thus isn't here. But if you could all find the time to pay her a short visit sometime today, I'm sure she would appreciate it. Being sick and being alone isn't usually the happiest combination." A few students nodded in agreement. "Also, the school has asked me to remind you all that in a few months, we'll be doing our annual deep space mission with our top students from each school, and the names will be announced next week today, so get your grades up if you want to go." He paused. "Get them down if you don't." A few chuckles arose from the students. "Are you all tired after lunch, or am I not as funny today? You lot usually laugh more than that."
“You’re just losing your touch, Professor Fisler.” Indi called out playfully, earning a smile from him. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Ah, I see, thank you, Indi,” the man said, absent-mindedly adjusting the left gill piece behind his ear from his chemo synthetic pack that was resting on the back of his neck. “All right, are you all ready for today’s lesson?” There was silence. “Yes, I thought as much. We’ll give it a shot anyway, shall we? And if any of you need help with something, I have a website that you can contact me with. Or, likely, you’ll see me around the building.”
At the end of the day, Indi and her friend Johanna were sitting together in the lounge chatting, as girls often do. “...And then there’s that deep space thing,” Johanna was saying, rather quickly and excitedly. “It sounds so cool, but I don’t think there’s any possible way I’ll be chosen. Well, for one thing, it’s only my first year. I mean, I’m sure there are plenty of second or third year students that haven’t gone and probably want to, so I guess it would be unfair if I, a first year, got to go. Don’t you think? Besides that, my grades are barely average. Well, I guess a bit above average.…” She paused as she considered, and Indi took that opportunity to get a word in.
“Seeing how many students there are in just this one branch, I kind of doubt that either of us are going to be chosen. And most likely, most, if not all of the students chosen will be Hoten. They always have such good grades.” Johanna loved to talk, but when given the chance, she also listened, so Indi didn't have to talk quickly to get in her opinions when having a conversation with her friend.
“I know! I’m so envious of that ability they have. It would make everything so much easier, not to mention that we wouldn't have to waste so much time getting sleep,” Johanna said. “Sometimes it feels like a curse. It would be nice to only have to meditate and only every once in a while.” Indi nodded.
“And to keep everything so organized without even having to take notes.”
“I’m sure they take notes! Just in their minds….” Johanna paused. “I wonder what that would be like.”
“I’m pretty sure there are posts online if you’re interested in that sort of thing,” Indi replied. “Especially with how much the Hoten and Quans love the internet.”
“Eighty-one years of an alliance with us and they still haven’t gotten used to the internet yet,” Johanna said musingly.
As the week passes by for the students of the Jeokot Intergalactic Academies, I shall explain a little bit more of what's going on. There are three branches of the J.I.A., each in a populated area. One on earth's moon, one on earth, and one on Hoten. There would be one on Quant, but its air is unbreathable by both humans and Hoten. Prior to the Alliance, trade with the Hoten and Quans was entirely futile for the neighboring species could see no value in the human currency system, so a new system was put into place during the composing of the Alliance, making precious metals and gems from all three planets the currency. It soon became inefficient and unsafe to carry these around casually, so people started carrying exchange cards around to make transactions more simple, but they could go to a bank with their exchange card and request something more real if so desired. The earth was united under one imperfect constitution with the Minister as head and a group of representatives over different countries. America was no longer united and Texas and California became their own countries.
During lunch the next week, the headteacher stood at the head of the room and demanded quiet, which took a fair amount of time.
“Pardon me for interrupting your eating,” she began, “but as many of you may recall, today is the announcement for who from this branch shall be assigned to our annual deep space mission. I trust you have all been working very hard to receive this honor.”
There were a few negative grunts from the crowd at this, most likely none of them from Hoten. The headteacher, seeming to ignore the noises from the students, consulted her clipboard and began calling out names.
“Bulot from the House of Coyad.” Indi and J.T. turned to Bulot, giving him looks of ‘I knew it’ and ‘I was right - ha.’ The headteacher continued. “J.T. Zumwalt.” J.T. gave a fist pump and threw a triumphant grin at Indi, who smiled back as the headteacher finished. “Vex McCord, and Indi Hunt.” J.T. gave Indi a reassuring smile, but the girl, a shocked look on her face, made no sign that she even noticed. Johanna, who was sitting at a different table behind Indi, moved to sit beside Indi and held her hand.
The headteacher looked up from her clipboard and began talking again. “Those who were called, you are required to attend a meeting on September 21st, prior to the mission start, at 1:30 pm in the third floor conference room. For the rest of you, I want you all to know that this was not entirely an easy decision. Some of you were really close and it made decision-making extremely difficult. Keep trying for next year, and have a good day, everyone.” Chatter instantly began again as the headteacher left.
“This isn't how humans show pleasure or pride in accomplishment in my experience. Is it different depending on the human?” Bulot asked, sounding curious.
“Every face and thus facial expression is unique from human to human,” J.T. explained, “But right now, Indi’s a bit shocked, I think.”
Indi started to come out of her trance and held Johanna’s hand tightly. “I…” she started, seeming to have trouble with talking. “I didn't expect to be chosen. I actually hoped I wouldn't be; I don’t feel ready.”
"Hey," J.T. said, giving Indi a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Bulot and I will back you up. And keep in mind, they chose you for good reason. I doubt it was just because of your grades, Indi. You're capable and eager to learn. This will be exciting and adventurous! It's an opportunity to learn hands-on."
Indi gave him a sad smile. "Thanks, J.T.... but this will take me more than today to get used to."
"Well, you've got a month, so no hurry." J.T. grinned.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Drive Safely, Now!
October 9th, 2014
I got my license in September. Frightening, I know. But beside the point.
Since getting my license, I find myself being told to "drive safely!" so much more often than I used to be. Initially, it kind of felt like the people who watched as I improved at my driving and finally earned the right to drive by myself didn't have faith in my driving all of a sudden. But then I had a realization. They're telling me to be extremely cautious, not because they don't think I drive well, but because it's better to be over-the-top careful than to be borderline like most drivers.
I find the same goes for following the Bible. Now, obviously, I'm not saying it's sinful or even especially bad to be a borderline driver, it's just the example I came up with. I find that every so often, I'll come across a Christian, organization, or church that almost want to test how far they can stretch the Bible to mean. "Well," they seem to say to themselves, "this verse does seem to mean this one thing... but it's a bit hard to take in, let alone follow... maybe it actually means this other thing. Yeah, I can live with that." I'll find the same sort of thing will happen on the road, as well. I'll be sitting at a red light, and sort of casually notice the guy in front of me texting. It's like he told himself, "I know the saying goes 'don't text and drive', but I'm not actually driving... I'm behind the wheel, but I am stopped, after all. I think I can check my phone real quick." And I think that in that case, the worst that could happen is you could cause the line to slow up a little because you didn't immediately start moving when the light turned green, but this isn't a perfect analogy, and obviously, the rules of the Bible are, in the long run, a lot more essential than the rules of the road. Turning left at a green light when the people going straight have the right of way, for example, isn't as bad as skipping a step when taking the path to salvation.
When someone just has a permit, especially when they're driving with a driving instructor rather than a parent, they're extra careful to follow every little rule, even stopping entirely at a stop sign before going and making sure to stop behind it even though the sign should really be another foot forward, because wow, this is such a blind turn, I can't see a car until it's right-- oh, I've been T-boned.
Same with the Bible. I'm pretty sure this is a popular idea, but I truly think that if Jesus physically watched us as we studied our Bibles and practiced what we believed, we would all be a little bit more careful about our conclusions. So, whether you're driving on the road or through life, drive safely.
~Janora Clearwater
I got my license in September. Frightening, I know. But beside the point.
Since getting my license, I find myself being told to "drive safely!" so much more often than I used to be. Initially, it kind of felt like the people who watched as I improved at my driving and finally earned the right to drive by myself didn't have faith in my driving all of a sudden. But then I had a realization. They're telling me to be extremely cautious, not because they don't think I drive well, but because it's better to be over-the-top careful than to be borderline like most drivers.
I find the same goes for following the Bible. Now, obviously, I'm not saying it's sinful or even especially bad to be a borderline driver, it's just the example I came up with. I find that every so often, I'll come across a Christian, organization, or church that almost want to test how far they can stretch the Bible to mean. "Well," they seem to say to themselves, "this verse does seem to mean this one thing... but it's a bit hard to take in, let alone follow... maybe it actually means this other thing. Yeah, I can live with that." I'll find the same sort of thing will happen on the road, as well. I'll be sitting at a red light, and sort of casually notice the guy in front of me texting. It's like he told himself, "I know the saying goes 'don't text and drive', but I'm not actually driving... I'm behind the wheel, but I am stopped, after all. I think I can check my phone real quick." And I think that in that case, the worst that could happen is you could cause the line to slow up a little because you didn't immediately start moving when the light turned green, but this isn't a perfect analogy, and obviously, the rules of the Bible are, in the long run, a lot more essential than the rules of the road. Turning left at a green light when the people going straight have the right of way, for example, isn't as bad as skipping a step when taking the path to salvation.
When someone just has a permit, especially when they're driving with a driving instructor rather than a parent, they're extra careful to follow every little rule, even stopping entirely at a stop sign before going and making sure to stop behind it even though the sign should really be another foot forward, because wow, this is such a blind turn, I can't see a car until it's right-- oh, I've been T-boned.
Same with the Bible. I'm pretty sure this is a popular idea, but I truly think that if Jesus physically watched us as we studied our Bibles and practiced what we believed, we would all be a little bit more careful about our conclusions. So, whether you're driving on the road or through life, drive safely.
~Janora Clearwater
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Young Redwyne Hood
Pronunciation Guide
Lynniville - LIN-uh-vill
Redwyne - red-WHEN
Uguay - U-guh-way
Yulong - you-LON
Lynniville - LIN-uh-vill
Redwyne - red-WHEN
Uguay - U-guh-way
Yulong - you-LON
Prologue
Before I begin this story, allow me to give some explanation as to the appearance and history of a species called the uguay. The uguay are shape shifters, but in this story, it's commonly known that their original shape is that of a wolf, albeit a very large wolf. Uguay can change into any shape, including a human, at any given time, except for when they're digesting, at which time they are forced to take their original form. Very often, in fact, in most cases, a uguay will change into their original shape when they are about to eat as well, since it's easier to eat something when in wolf form. However, uguay that are the result of a human and a uguay mating can only change between their uguay form and their human form. One or the other is their original, and that is impossible to call before said uguay are born. Another thing I should mention before moving on - like most animals, it is not the uguay's instinct to mate for life.
Several years ago, the humans and the uguay were able to live together peaceably, even though the uguay were carnivores. The uguay realized that the humans were vastly more intelligent and aware than the animals, and certainly more fun to talk to, and so instead of eating the humans, they targeted other meat sources, such as wildcats, deer, elk, etc. However, they never touched anything that was recognized as a human's property, for that would be stealing.
After seven generations of peace between the two, a band of humans disrupted this unspoken treaty between the two by beginning to hunt the uguay. Since tension between them had been rising for a while anyway, most uguay decided to fight back, reasoning that if the humans wanted to hunt the uguay, what was to stop the uguay hunting the humans? However, a few uguay decided that the humans hunting the uguay were only frightened of what they didn't entirely understand, and desperate to maintain at least a little peace, they shifted into humans and gradually slipped into human villages. A minority considered telling their neighbors what they were, but eventually decided against it, since nearly all the humans were beginning to get aggressive when it came to uguay, having heard a lot of stories about the uguay attacking humans.
The following story takes place 24 years after the first few uguay settled down in human villages.
Young Redwyne Hood
Theodore had lived in Lynniville for his whole life, only telling a few that he was, in fact, a uguay. Uguay were a little more accepted by this time, but he preferred not to be shot, or killed in any way, and was, therefore, rather cautious about who he told. He was 20 years old, and helped his father with blacksmithing rather often, although sometimes the metal supply wouldn't go through and both had little to do, at which times Theodore would often visit his young friend Redwyne, whom he treated like a little sister. The day this story begins is one of those days.
Redwyne and her mother had been preparing for the last several days to go visit the fifteen year old's grandmama, who lived just on the other side of the Uguay Wood, which was filled with malicious uguay. However, on the day that they were planning to depart, Redwyne's little brother Peter, who was five, caught an unknown illness and the boy's mother reluctantly set back the day of departure until either later that day or the next. To everyone's distress, Peter did not get better that evening, and even got worse the next day. Redwyne's mother was determined to stay at Peter's side, for she knew that her husband would not be able to care for the boy on his own. However, Redwyne's mother had promised her mama that she would bring over lunch for the old woman's 72nd birthday, because she was bedridden and her physician had told her to try and remain in bed for as much as possible.
After some thought and pressing to just 'send a letter to Grandmama' from Redwyne, Redwyne's mother, Mrs. Hood, decided to send her daughter alone to her mama's, for the girl was 15 and had taken the route needed several times before. On the morning in question, Mrs. Hood prepared the lunch, along with other needed supplies with care, and insisted on putting on Redwyne's thick red cloak for her, giving her daughter a long embrace afterwards.
"Remember, Red," her mother said, while still hugging her, "do not, under any circumstances go through the Uguay Wood. I know it's a great amount shorter, but it's--"
"--called the Uguay Wood for a reason," Redwyne finished for her mother, smiling. "I know."
Mrs. Hood released Redwyne from her hug, looking at the young girl with a look of remembrance in her eyes. "Just... be careful, all right?"
"Every day, mother," Redwyne said, and the two exchanged loving kisses on each other's cheeks, as well as one last hug. Mrs. Hood gave her daughter a picnic basket that was in addition to the leather bag that Redwyne already had hanging off her left side, and said, "I love you."
"I love you, too," Redwyne said, smiling reassuringly at her mother.
"See you in about a week, honey!" Mrs. Hood called out the door as Redwyne walked away, onto the path that led to her mama's somewhat secluded house.
"All right, Mother!" The young girl called back, turning around for a moment to get one last glimpse of her house and her mother before leaving on her travels. Redwyne's mother was able to see the young blacksmith's son run over to her daughter before closing the door, smiling slightly to herself.
"Hey, Red!" Theodore called as he ran over to the young girl. Redwyne stopped, turning towards the voice.
"Hey, you," she replied, smiling, then continued down the path, Theodore following.
"Where're you going?"
"To my grandmama's," Redwyne replied. "She's not feeling well. Aaand it's her 72nd birthday," Redwyne continued, turning to smile at who she considered to be her older brother. "Or it will be."
"Day and a half, right?" Theodore said, seeking to confirm how long the trip would be.
"Yep," Redwyne replied, a bit of sadness in her tone.
"You could go through the Uguay Wood," Theodore said, somewhat quietly. "I'm not sure anyone could be a safer escort than me."
"Absolutely not," Redwyne replied. "Obviously, I know that you're a uguay, but Mother specifically told me not to cut through the woods."
"I understand..." Theodore replied, then paused in his speech for a moment. "But your mother doesn't know I'm a uguay. If she did, she would almost more likely than not let us go through the wood."
Redwyne considered it for a minute or two, then said, very firmly, "no. You can escort me the long way, though. For a bit, anyway."
"Okay," Theodore said cheerily.
"Your father won't mind?" Redwyne inquired.
"Nope," Theodore replied. "We don't have very much metal to shape today, and the demand certainly isn't high."
"All right," Redwyne said, smiling.
The two continued down the path for the next ten minutes, conversing about numerous things, and then, after a moment or two of silence, Redwyne mentioned that she wished she could see her grandmama for longer than just a day, because she feared that her end was very near, and a day didn't seem very long. Theodore then brought up cutting through the wood again, and after a couple minutes, Redwyne gave in, since she knew she was safe with Theodore.
Before even getting within a yard of the wood, Theodore shifted into his original form, although he exaggerated his intimidating features to hopefully ward off any uguay, and since Theodore would visit the wood sometimes, knew a less frequented way to get to their destination safer. The two were luckily left alone for a couple hours, although unknown to them, they were being carefully watched by a somewhat small uguay, who was, in fact, Theodore's younger half brother, Yulong.
Yulong was thirteen, and the fourth child of Theodore's and Yulong's mother, who was a uguay, although Yulong's father was a human. Since Yulong was raised by his mother, he was a very spiteful being who despised humans, seeing them as weak. This viewpoint was only enforced by himself being half human, so he was able to see firsthand that humans were not as powerful as uguay.
After listening in on Redwyne's and Theodore's conversation, Yulong was able to pick up that the two were headed to Red's grandmama's house, the old lady wasn't feeling very well, and where the house was located. After getting this information, Yulong followed them for another ten minutes or so, but then put several yards between them and headed towards the old woman's house.
See, not many uguay were able to eat humans since the humans hardly ever ventured into the Uguay Wood, and so being able to catch and eat a human was something of a competition that the uguay had amongst themselves, and Yulong was one of the worst. He figured that being able to get two humans (he had developed a plan involving getting Red as well) would surely gain him some points in the group.
Redwyne and Theodore were about half an hour away from the house when Red spotted some beautiful wildflowers and asked Theodore if he thought it was safe enough to make a slight diversion. Theodore paused, then replied, "yeah, should be safe enough."
Redwyne quietly skipped over to the patch of red and yellow flowers and began picking them. "I'm sure these will lighten up grandmama's house," she told Theodore quietly, who was pacing around Red, looking out for anything, even birds, although the wood was rather void of animals.
Thirteen minutes later, Yulong made it to Redwyne's grandmama's house, shifting into his human form, and pulling together as much strength as he could, he did what he had been practicing doing for a while, which was shifting into a human form that wasn't in fact his, and his goal this time was Redwyne. After a couple of minutes and a few suppressed yells of pain, Yulong managed to get himself to look exactly like Redwyne (complete with her clothes), although he had much difficulty in retaining her shape.
He quickly knocked on the door, and he thought he heard a shotgun cock before a feeble "who is it?" came out of the house.
"Your granddaughter Red," Yulong said quietly, trying to hold Redwyne's shape.
"You're gonna have tuh speak up," replied the grandmama. "My ears ain't as youn' as they used tuh be."
Yulong cleared his throat, then repeated, "it's Red, Grandmama."
"Oh, Red!" The old woman's voice cheered up. "Well, come in, then, Redwyne."
Yulong opened the door, surprised that it was, in fact, unlocked, and saw the old woman setting down her shotgun beside the rocking chair that she was in.
"Red," the old woman started, "where's your mother?"
Yulong paused, stumped. "She... couldn't come. Other things to attend to."
The grandmama nodded, then said with a smile, "you came quite a bit sooner than I expected. But I'm glad you did."
Yulong faked a smile, and the old lady started standing up. "Oh, grandmama," Yulong said, rushing over to the old lady and grabbing her arms with pretend worry.
"Aw, don'tcha worry 'bout me, youn' Red. I'll be fine." After standing up, Mrs. Hood's mama looked up into Yulong's eyes and saw the recognizable orange eyes of a uguay.
Upon seeing the shock in the old woman's eyes, Yulong knew he was losing Redwyne's form and so, giving up, he changed into his uguay form and easily devoured the old woman, hiding in the woman's bedroom until he finished digesting.
Approximately twenty minutes later, Redwyne and Theodore made it to the fifteen year old's grandmama's house, and Theodore changed back into his human form. Redwyne paused at the door, glad to have made it nearly before noon, and turned around, giving a grateful smile to Theodore.
"Thank you so much for escorting me, Theo."
"Absolutely no problem, my lady," Theodore replied, bowing.
Redwyne giggled, then entered the house as Theodore left, changing back into his uguay shape.
The very first thing Redwyne noticed upon entering her grandmama's house was that her shotgun was left unattended, as it was just sitting down beside her grandmama's rocking chair. Red set her basket down on the floor beside the door, and slipped her shoes off.
"Grandmama?" She asked hesitantly.
"Red?" Asked an old voice a room or two away. "Is that you, dear?"
"Yeah, it is!" Red called back. "I'm afraid I don't have mother with me," Red continued, debating on whether or not to take the shotgun with her to her grandmama's bedroom. "Peter was doing dreadfully and she had to stay with him."
There was a pause. "Oh, poor Peter. Do you know what he has?"
Redwyne picked up her grandmama's shotgun, started walking up the hall, and replied, "No, we haven't been able to get a physician to look at him yet."
"Poor dear," the impersonator replied as Redwyne entered the book-filled room. "Why, dearie," Yulong said, slightly nervous. "What are you doing with that shotgun?"
"It's yours, Grandmama," Red replied, rather surprised at the question. "You had left it in the living room."
"Oh, of course," Yulong replied with pretend recollections, and smiled. "So forgetful these days, you know."
"Of course," Redwyne replied, forcing a smile.
After an awkward pause, Yulong reached out his hands for the gun. "Giv't here, child," he said, wearing his best Grandma smile.
Redwyne dropped her left hand down to pick up the end of the shotgun and started bringing it up, watching who she thought was her grandmama closely, unsure. When she brought the end of the shotgun up and the top down, making it horizontal, Red paused.
"Red, dear, what is it?" Yulong said, then gave a small groan. His body was having a great amount of trouble holding a shape it wasn't meant to have.
"Your... eyes," Redwyne said hesitantly. "They're orange. Like..." Red didn't have the courage to finish the sentence, and not wanting to let the impersonator know even more that he was found out, she cut herself off, aimed the shotgun at Yulong, and started to cock it.
However, Yulong had realized that he had slipped up the moment Redwyne said 'orange', and had changed into his uguay form, leaping out of the bed at Red and pushing her to the floor as soon as she had put her hand on the fore-end of the weapon.
Although Redwyne felt as though she could probably manage to kill the uguay, she screamed, so that if Theodore or someone else was close, she would have backup. That, and the beast's claws digging into her upper chest* caused a shout of pain. Then she quickly grabbed the gun that she was already holding in her right hand with her left hand, pointed the barrel at the beast's chest, and pushed up with all her might, so as to keep Yulong from biting her face off. In the meantime, Yulong was bringing his head as far towards the young girl as he could, moving his jaws quickly. Redwyne tried to get a better grip on the shotgun while simultaneously pulling the fore-end back in an attempt to cock it.
While trying to cock her grandmama's shotgun, Redwyne's arm slipped and the weapon started going flat on the ground. Instinctively, Red promptly moved her head to the right, but Yulong still managed to get about half of the girl's left ear, which caused her to release another scream, at which point Theodore, still in his ugauy shape, entered the house, breaking the door down in his hurry.
"Theo!" Redwyne cried out, nearly screaming, although she didn't need to, for Theodore hadn't paused a second. The moment he saw a uguay on his young Redwyne, he lunged at the creature, sinking his teeth into his half brother's neck.
Because of the momentum that Theodore hit Yulong with, he pulled him about a foot away from Redwyne, and Yulong's claws left Red's body, and to Redwyne's relief, they came out quite smoothly and so didn't tear off too much flesh. Nevertheless, the young girl still cried out quietly, for the retraction hurt a considerable amount.
The two brothers brawled together for a bit, and in the meantime, Redwyne picked the shotgun up off the floor, cocking it and waiting for the opportune moment to fire. She got her chance once Yulong stood atop the bleeding Theodore like a conquerer, and Redwyne immediately shot Yulong in the side of the neck, ran over to the fallen body, cocking the shotgun again. Once she reached Yulong, who was struggling to stand, she put the barrel to his head, looked in his bright orange eyes who were looking up into hers, seeking, it seemed, for mercy, and paused, hesitant.
"Red," Theodore said in a groan.
"Mm?" Redwyne said, acknowledging Theodore, but not looking away from Yulong.
"Shoot him," Theodore said quietly. "Or else, if he gets an opening, he'll kill you."
Knowing he had a point, Red nodded, put her finger on the trigger, and pulled her right index finger toward her, which released the bullet from the the gun's barrel, killing the uguay.
"Red?" asked an old voice a room or two away. "Is that you, dear?"
"Yeah, it is!" Red called back. "I'm afraid I don't have mother with me," Red continued, debating on whether or not to take the shotgun with her to her grandmama's bedroom. "Peter was doing dreadfully and she had to stay with him."
There was a pause. "Oh, poor Peter. Do you know what he has?"
"No, we haven't been able to get a physician to look at him yet," Redwyne replied, going over to the bedroom unarmed.
"Poor dear," the impersonator replied. "So, you came sooner than I expected." Red entered the book-filled bedroom as Yulong smiled at the girl. "But I'm so very glad you did." Redwyne smiled back.
"Me, too." Redwyne sat down on the bottom of the bed. "How are you feeling, Grandmama?"
"Better," Yulong replied, "But still rather awfully."
Redwyne smiled sadly at Yulong and took his hand. Yulong let out a small groan, and Red quickly moved her hand back. "Grandmama," she exclaimed.
"I'm fine," Yulong replied, letting out a smile. Unfortunately for Yulong, he was losing the form, and so one of his teeth was elongated, and his left eye had started turning orange. Redwyne stood up abruptly and took a step back.
"Gran..." the girl started quietly, "Mama? There's something wrong with you."
"What--" Yulong let out a small yelp, trying with all his might to retain the old woman form. "What do you mean?"
"You. Are not my grandmama," Redwyne stated, starting to run out of the room for the shotgun.
Yulong leaped out of the bed, simultaneously shifting into his uguay form, and grabbed Redwyne by her right shoulder with his jaws. Red let out the loudest scream she could muster and collapsed to the ground.
A little more than a yard into the wood, Theodore heard Redwyne's scream, recognized it, and ran as quickly as he could back to the house. He broke through the door and ran up the hall into Redwyne's grandmama's bedroom to find his little brother, in uguay form, eating on Red's body, which was completely torn apart.
Thinking more quickly than he ever had before, Theodore shifted into a bird, flew into the living room, shifted into his human form, picked up the shotgun, and shot the uguay that had followed him into the living room three times in the head, tears beginning to streaming down his slim, pale face.
Before even getting within a yard of the wood, Theodore shifted into his original form, although he exaggerated his intimidating features to hopefully ward off any uguay, and since Theodore would visit the wood sometimes, knew a less frequented way to get to their destination safer. The two were luckily left alone for a couple hours, although unknown to them, they were being carefully watched by a somewhat small uguay, who was, in fact, Theodore's younger half brother, Yulong.
Yulong was thirteen, and the fourth child of Theodore's and Yulong's mother, who was a uguay, although Yulong's father was a human. Since Yulong was raised by his mother, he was a very spiteful being who despised humans, seeing them as weak. This viewpoint was only enforced by himself being half human, so he was able to see firsthand that humans were not as powerful as uguay.
After listening in on Redwyne's and Theodore's conversation, Yulong was able to pick up that the two were headed to Red's grandmama's house, the old lady wasn't feeling very well, and where the house was located. After getting this information, Yulong followed them for another ten minutes or so, but then put several yards between them and headed towards the old woman's house.
See, not many uguay were able to eat humans since the humans hardly ever ventured into the Uguay Wood, and so being able to catch and eat a human was something of a competition that the uguay had amongst themselves, and Yulong was one of the worst. He figured that being able to get two humans (he had developed a plan involving getting Red as well) would surely gain him some points in the group.
Redwyne and Theodore were about half an hour away from the house when Red spotted some beautiful wildflowers and asked Theodore if he thought it was safe enough to make a slight diversion. Theodore paused, then replied, "yeah, should be safe enough."
Redwyne quietly skipped over to the patch of red and yellow flowers and began picking them. "I'm sure these will lighten up grandmama's house," she told Theodore quietly, who was pacing around Red, looking out for anything, even birds, although the wood was rather void of animals.
Thirteen minutes later, Yulong made it to Redwyne's grandmama's house, shifting into his human form, and pulling together as much strength as he could, he did what he had been practicing doing for a while, which was shifting into a human form that wasn't in fact his, and his goal this time was Redwyne. After a couple of minutes and a few suppressed yells of pain, Yulong managed to get himself to look exactly like Redwyne (complete with her clothes), although he had much difficulty in retaining her shape.
He quickly knocked on the door, and he thought he heard a shotgun cock before a feeble "who is it?" came out of the house.
"Your granddaughter Red," Yulong said quietly, trying to hold Redwyne's shape.
"You're gonna have tuh speak up," replied the grandmama. "My ears ain't as youn' as they used tuh be."
Yulong cleared his throat, then repeated, "it's Red, Grandmama."
"Oh, Red!" The old woman's voice cheered up. "Well, come in, then, Redwyne."
Yulong opened the door, surprised that it was, in fact, unlocked, and saw the old woman setting down her shotgun beside the rocking chair that she was in.
"Red," the old woman started, "where's your mother?"
Yulong paused, stumped. "She... couldn't come. Other things to attend to."
The grandmama nodded, then said with a smile, "you came quite a bit sooner than I expected. But I'm glad you did."
Yulong faked a smile, and the old lady started standing up. "Oh, grandmama," Yulong said, rushing over to the old lady and grabbing her arms with pretend worry.
"Aw, don'tcha worry 'bout me, youn' Red. I'll be fine." After standing up, Mrs. Hood's mama looked up into Yulong's eyes and saw the recognizable orange eyes of a uguay.
Upon seeing the shock in the old woman's eyes, Yulong knew he was losing Redwyne's form and so, giving up, he changed into his uguay form and easily devoured the old woman, hiding in the woman's bedroom until he finished digesting.
Approximately twenty minutes later, Redwyne and Theodore made it to the fifteen year old's grandmama's house, and Theodore changed back into his human form. Redwyne paused at the door, glad to have made it nearly before noon, and turned around, giving a grateful smile to Theodore.
"Thank you so much for escorting me, Theo."
"Absolutely no problem, my lady," Theodore replied, bowing.
Redwyne giggled, then entered the house as Theodore left, changing back into his uguay shape.
The very first thing Redwyne noticed upon entering her grandmama's house was that her shotgun was left unattended, as it was just sitting down beside her grandmama's rocking chair. Red set her basket down on the floor beside the door, and slipped her shoes off.
"Grandmama?" She asked hesitantly.
"Red?" Asked an old voice a room or two away. "Is that you, dear?"
"Yeah, it is!" Red called back. "I'm afraid I don't have mother with me," Red continued, debating on whether or not to take the shotgun with her to her grandmama's bedroom. "Peter was doing dreadfully and she had to stay with him."
There was a pause. "Oh, poor Peter. Do you know what he has?"
Redwyne picked up her grandmama's shotgun, started walking up the hall, and replied, "No, we haven't been able to get a physician to look at him yet."
"Poor dear," the impersonator replied as Redwyne entered the book-filled room. "Why, dearie," Yulong said, slightly nervous. "What are you doing with that shotgun?"
"It's yours, Grandmama," Red replied, rather surprised at the question. "You had left it in the living room."
"Oh, of course," Yulong replied with pretend recollections, and smiled. "So forgetful these days, you know."
"Of course," Redwyne replied, forcing a smile.
After an awkward pause, Yulong reached out his hands for the gun. "Giv't here, child," he said, wearing his best Grandma smile.
Redwyne dropped her left hand down to pick up the end of the shotgun and started bringing it up, watching who she thought was her grandmama closely, unsure. When she brought the end of the shotgun up and the top down, making it horizontal, Red paused.
"Red, dear, what is it?" Yulong said, then gave a small groan. His body was having a great amount of trouble holding a shape it wasn't meant to have.
"Your... eyes," Redwyne said hesitantly. "They're orange. Like..." Red didn't have the courage to finish the sentence, and not wanting to let the impersonator know even more that he was found out, she cut herself off, aimed the shotgun at Yulong, and started to cock it.
However, Yulong had realized that he had slipped up the moment Redwyne said 'orange', and had changed into his uguay form, leaping out of the bed at Red and pushing her to the floor as soon as she had put her hand on the fore-end of the weapon.
Although Redwyne felt as though she could probably manage to kill the uguay, she screamed, so that if Theodore or someone else was close, she would have backup. That, and the beast's claws digging into her upper chest* caused a shout of pain. Then she quickly grabbed the gun that she was already holding in her right hand with her left hand, pointed the barrel at the beast's chest, and pushed up with all her might, so as to keep Yulong from biting her face off. In the meantime, Yulong was bringing his head as far towards the young girl as he could, moving his jaws quickly. Redwyne tried to get a better grip on the shotgun while simultaneously pulling the fore-end back in an attempt to cock it.
While trying to cock her grandmama's shotgun, Redwyne's arm slipped and the weapon started going flat on the ground. Instinctively, Red promptly moved her head to the right, but Yulong still managed to get about half of the girl's left ear, which caused her to release another scream, at which point Theodore, still in his ugauy shape, entered the house, breaking the door down in his hurry.
"Theo!" Redwyne cried out, nearly screaming, although she didn't need to, for Theodore hadn't paused a second. The moment he saw a uguay on his young Redwyne, he lunged at the creature, sinking his teeth into his half brother's neck.
Because of the momentum that Theodore hit Yulong with, he pulled him about a foot away from Redwyne, and Yulong's claws left Red's body, and to Redwyne's relief, they came out quite smoothly and so didn't tear off too much flesh. Nevertheless, the young girl still cried out quietly, for the retraction hurt a considerable amount.
The two brothers brawled together for a bit, and in the meantime, Redwyne picked the shotgun up off the floor, cocking it and waiting for the opportune moment to fire. She got her chance once Yulong stood atop the bleeding Theodore like a conquerer, and Redwyne immediately shot Yulong in the side of the neck, ran over to the fallen body, cocking the shotgun again. Once she reached Yulong, who was struggling to stand, she put the barrel to his head, looked in his bright orange eyes who were looking up into hers, seeking, it seemed, for mercy, and paused, hesitant.
"Red," Theodore said in a groan.
"Mm?" Redwyne said, acknowledging Theodore, but not looking away from Yulong.
"Shoot him," Theodore said quietly. "Or else, if he gets an opening, he'll kill you."
Knowing he had a point, Red nodded, put her finger on the trigger, and pulled her right index finger toward her, which released the bullet from the the gun's barrel, killing the uguay.
Epilogue
After taking a little bit of medication that was available in Red's grandmama's house, Theodore shifted back into a human, and the two took the long way back to Lynniville.
The night of the next day, Theodore and Redwyne made it back to their town, and Theodore accompanied Red into her house and into her brother Peter's bedroom where Mrs. Hood was sitting beside the bed, her head in Peter's lap. Redwyne sat down on the bed and started stroking her mother's hair lovingly.
"Mm?" Mrs. Hood lifted her head up, looking around. "Red? Why are you back so early?"
"Mother..." Redwyne paused.
"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Hood took Redwyne's hand.
"It's Grandmama, mother," Red said quietly. "She was eaten. By a uguay."
Mrs. Hood gasped, and after taking a moment to calm herself, lead Red and Theodore to the kitchen, where she prepared a late-night snack and had the two explain what had happened, and the two told the story as gently as they possibly could.
A few days later, after letters had been sent out to various descendants of Mrs. Hood's mama, and after Mr. and Mrs. Hood, Redwyne and Peter were able to get some closure about her death, Peter was finally able to be attended by a physician. This physician was from a well-equipped town that was quite a few miles away, and had luckily seen Peter's symptoms before, and knew how to treat him. Peter was at full health within the week, to the delight of the whole village, for Peter brightened up Lynniville almost more than Red did.
*I feel I ought to clarify that when I say upper chest, I mean roundabout half an inch below her collarbone.
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Alternate Ending
"Yeah, it is!" Red called back. "I'm afraid I don't have mother with me," Red continued, debating on whether or not to take the shotgun with her to her grandmama's bedroom. "Peter was doing dreadfully and she had to stay with him."
There was a pause. "Oh, poor Peter. Do you know what he has?"
"No, we haven't been able to get a physician to look at him yet," Redwyne replied, going over to the bedroom unarmed.
"Poor dear," the impersonator replied. "So, you came sooner than I expected." Red entered the book-filled bedroom as Yulong smiled at the girl. "But I'm so very glad you did." Redwyne smiled back.
"Me, too." Redwyne sat down on the bottom of the bed. "How are you feeling, Grandmama?"
"Better," Yulong replied, "But still rather awfully."
Redwyne smiled sadly at Yulong and took his hand. Yulong let out a small groan, and Red quickly moved her hand back. "Grandmama," she exclaimed.
"I'm fine," Yulong replied, letting out a smile. Unfortunately for Yulong, he was losing the form, and so one of his teeth was elongated, and his left eye had started turning orange. Redwyne stood up abruptly and took a step back.
"Gran..." the girl started quietly, "Mama? There's something wrong with you."
"What--" Yulong let out a small yelp, trying with all his might to retain the old woman form. "What do you mean?"
"You. Are not my grandmama," Redwyne stated, starting to run out of the room for the shotgun.
Yulong leaped out of the bed, simultaneously shifting into his uguay form, and grabbed Redwyne by her right shoulder with his jaws. Red let out the loudest scream she could muster and collapsed to the ground.
A little more than a yard into the wood, Theodore heard Redwyne's scream, recognized it, and ran as quickly as he could back to the house. He broke through the door and ran up the hall into Redwyne's grandmama's bedroom to find his little brother, in uguay form, eating on Red's body, which was completely torn apart.
Thinking more quickly than he ever had before, Theodore shifted into a bird, flew into the living room, shifted into his human form, picked up the shotgun, and shot the uguay that had followed him into the living room three times in the head, tears beginning to streaming down his slim, pale face.
Mrs. Hood saw her daughter four days sooner than she had expected, in a way that she dreaded ever having to see. Her initial reaction was to blame Theodore, but, with help from her son, was able to recognize that he had little to do with it and had blamed himself anyway - he didn't need any help from the girl's mother.
A few days later, a physician, who had traveled from a town that luckily recognized Peter's illness, and even better, knew of the proper way to treat it. Peter was up and about within the week, and continued to brighten up the village with his smiles, sweet heart, and marvelous stories. Theodore soon took Peter under his wing, refusing to keep his eyes off the boy for very long.
A few days later, a physician, who had traveled from a town that luckily recognized Peter's illness, and even better, knew of the proper way to treat it. Peter was up and about within the week, and continued to brighten up the village with his smiles, sweet heart, and marvelous stories. Theodore soon took Peter under his wing, refusing to keep his eyes off the boy for very long.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Merlin Fanfic Part 1
As most main characters are in stories such as these, Katherine Taylor was far from extraordinary. She went to school as she imagined every other seventeen year olds in America did, and browsed the Internet whenever she was free and had nothing to do. She had, at the age of thirteen, started a blog, but she hadn't written on it often until the age of sixteen, at which point she decided that when she got older, she would remember very little of what she had done when she was younger, and so although Katie's days were filled with dullness, she did her best to summarize her days well in posts.
In any case, I shall spare you and move on to the day of excitement. Katie was on her way back from school, her pink and grey backpack filled with homework, so she had both straps on her arms and had her thumbs coming in between the grey straps and her plain blue t-shirt.
She was three blocks away from reaching her house when a cool breeze came upon her and she felt the need to stop, so she did. In addition, she started to feel nauseous, so she closed her eyes and knelt down, clenching her stomach.
"You all right?" a male voice with a British accent inquired, Katie assumed the question was directed at her, and therefore opened her eyes, looking for a face to connect with the voice. She didn't have to search long before she saw a young man on her right, picking herbs. He had short black hair, and his ears stuck out a bit. The boy was not the first thing Katie noticed. She was in a field with many plants, mostly flowers, and a few trees. There was a medieval castle nearby.
"Er, yes," Katie replied slightly faintly. "Just a tad nauseous."
"Do you need to see the physician? I know him personally, and I'm certain he'd be more than happy to help."
"No, thank you," Katherine replied gratefully, standing. "That's unnecessary."
"Okay," the young man replied, kneeling down to pick a plant. "But if you need anything, don't be afraid to tell me."
"Very generous, thank you," Katie replied.
"Oh, it's no problem," he said, smiling at Katie. Katie returned the smile, and after looking at the city for a while, asked, "Sorry, but... what city is this?"
The man stopped gathering herbs and looked up at her. After a pause, he answered, "Camelot."
"Camelot?" Katie replied, surprised. "That," she said, pointing at the wall, "is Camelot?"
"Yeah," the young man replied. "Are you lost?"
"I don't know," Katie said faintly. "Um," she added, a bit louder. "I think I ought to see the physician, after all."
The boy nodded, stood up, started walking towards the wall, then paused, looking back. "Do you need any help?"
"No thank you," Katie replied, following him down the hill. "I'm quite sure I can walk okay."
"All right," the boy said, and started walking again, Katie close behind. "I'm Merlin, by the way."
Katie promptly stopped. "Merlin?" she asked, shocked. After a pause and receiving a short stare at her, Katie continued, "nice to meet you. My name's..." she paused again. Katherine had always introduced herself as Katie, but after thinking about it, she decided Katherine would be more suited to the time. "Katherine," she finished, and continued walking, which got Merlin to continue as well.
"Nice to meet you, Katherine." Merlin offered Katherine his hand, and Katherine shook it, surprised they shook hands in that time.
"Where did you travel from?" Merlin asked Katherine as they entered the walls.
Katherine paused. "Derbyshire," she replied, after some thought.
"Derbyshire?" Merlin asked, thinking. "I don't believe I've heard of such a place."
"Really?" Katherine replied, trying to hide her nervousness, but her voice cracked, and she knew she had failed.
"It must be a great length away," Merlin commented.
"Yes," Katherine said, nearly shouting. She was bad at being deceptive, as she was aware of previously. "Yes," she continued, more quietly this time. "It is."
The two remained quiet until they reached the door to the physician's room. "Here we are," Merlin said, opening the door.
The first thing Katherine noticed upon entering was that there were a great many bottles around, most filled with strangely colored liquids. The second thing she noticed was that there were also a great amount of books, most ancient-looking, which was surprising to Katie since this time era seemed old in itself. The third thing Katherine noticed was that the place was messily organized, and the fourth thing, or rather the first person, she noticed was an old man with somewhat long white hair and was wearing a red robe.
"Gaius," Merlin said, "this is Katherine. I found her while gathering the herbs you asked for." At this, Merlin put the few plants he had picked on one of the two tables. "She's just traveled a long way and feels a bit nauseous."
"Oh, well, sit down, Katherine," Gaius said, putting down a couple bottles he was holding and moved to pull out a chair for Katie.
"Thank you," Katherine said gratefully, sitting down. She paused a bit as Gaius picked up the herbs Merlin brought, inspecting them. "Um," Katie said, getting the two's attention. "I'm also a bit light-headed and... may be suffering a little memory loss." She said the last bit fairly quietly.
"Memory loss?" Gaius said, worried. "Do you know how much?"
Katie paused before replying. "No... quite a bit, though... I believe."
"Well," Gaius said, "I'm dearly sorry to hear that. I'll do what I can. Perhaps you'd like to lie down instead?"
Katherine simply nodded, and Merlin touched up a nearby bed before offering it to her.
"Thanks," Katherine said to Merlin before laying down.
Gaius pulled up a chair and sat next to Katherine. "Could you tell me what you remember, dear girl?"
Katherine paused. 'What should I tell them?' she wondered to herself. "Well... my name. My age, seventeen." Katie bit her lip, wondering what else she should say.
"You're from Derbyshire," Merlin put in.
"Yes, well," Katie paused again, then quietly said, "I kinda made that up. Sorry."
"It's all right, don't worry about it," Merlin said, smiling a bit. Katherine returned the smile, glad to be forgiven so easily. "You did seem to recognize the name Camelot, though."
"Yeah," Katherine admitted. "I... dunno where from, though."
"Oh," Merlin said quietly.
"You seem to have lost quite a bit," Gaius said, thinking.
"Yeah, well..." Katherine started. "Could I take a nap? I am rather tired."
"Of course," Gaius answered. "In fact, I recommend that."
"Thank you," Katherine sighed happily, and closed her eyes. She had stayed up longer than she should have the night before doing free reading, and naturally had to get up early for school.
Gaius and Merlin stepped away, talking amongst themselves, but Katherine was too busy thinking and drifting into unconsciousness to pay any mind. The last thing she thought about falling asleep was, "I wonder why they haven't commented on my clothes yet", but quite naturally, she forgot ever thinking that the moment she woke up.
In any case, I shall spare you and move on to the day of excitement. Katie was on her way back from school, her pink and grey backpack filled with homework, so she had both straps on her arms and had her thumbs coming in between the grey straps and her plain blue t-shirt.
She was three blocks away from reaching her house when a cool breeze came upon her and she felt the need to stop, so she did. In addition, she started to feel nauseous, so she closed her eyes and knelt down, clenching her stomach.
"You all right?" a male voice with a British accent inquired, Katie assumed the question was directed at her, and therefore opened her eyes, looking for a face to connect with the voice. She didn't have to search long before she saw a young man on her right, picking herbs. He had short black hair, and his ears stuck out a bit. The boy was not the first thing Katie noticed. She was in a field with many plants, mostly flowers, and a few trees. There was a medieval castle nearby.
"Er, yes," Katie replied slightly faintly. "Just a tad nauseous."
"Do you need to see the physician? I know him personally, and I'm certain he'd be more than happy to help."
"No, thank you," Katherine replied gratefully, standing. "That's unnecessary."
"Okay," the young man replied, kneeling down to pick a plant. "But if you need anything, don't be afraid to tell me."
"Very generous, thank you," Katie replied.
"Oh, it's no problem," he said, smiling at Katie. Katie returned the smile, and after looking at the city for a while, asked, "Sorry, but... what city is this?"
The man stopped gathering herbs and looked up at her. After a pause, he answered, "Camelot."
"Camelot?" Katie replied, surprised. "That," she said, pointing at the wall, "is Camelot?"
"Yeah," the young man replied. "Are you lost?"
"I don't know," Katie said faintly. "Um," she added, a bit louder. "I think I ought to see the physician, after all."
The boy nodded, stood up, started walking towards the wall, then paused, looking back. "Do you need any help?"
"No thank you," Katie replied, following him down the hill. "I'm quite sure I can walk okay."
"All right," the boy said, and started walking again, Katie close behind. "I'm Merlin, by the way."
Katie promptly stopped. "Merlin?" she asked, shocked. After a pause and receiving a short stare at her, Katie continued, "nice to meet you. My name's..." she paused again. Katherine had always introduced herself as Katie, but after thinking about it, she decided Katherine would be more suited to the time. "Katherine," she finished, and continued walking, which got Merlin to continue as well.
"Nice to meet you, Katherine." Merlin offered Katherine his hand, and Katherine shook it, surprised they shook hands in that time.
"Where did you travel from?" Merlin asked Katherine as they entered the walls.
Katherine paused. "Derbyshire," she replied, after some thought.
"Derbyshire?" Merlin asked, thinking. "I don't believe I've heard of such a place."
"Really?" Katherine replied, trying to hide her nervousness, but her voice cracked, and she knew she had failed.
"It must be a great length away," Merlin commented.
"Yes," Katherine said, nearly shouting. She was bad at being deceptive, as she was aware of previously. "Yes," she continued, more quietly this time. "It is."
The two remained quiet until they reached the door to the physician's room. "Here we are," Merlin said, opening the door.
The first thing Katherine noticed upon entering was that there were a great many bottles around, most filled with strangely colored liquids. The second thing she noticed was that there were also a great amount of books, most ancient-looking, which was surprising to Katie since this time era seemed old in itself. The third thing Katherine noticed was that the place was messily organized, and the fourth thing, or rather the first person, she noticed was an old man with somewhat long white hair and was wearing a red robe.
"Gaius," Merlin said, "this is Katherine. I found her while gathering the herbs you asked for." At this, Merlin put the few plants he had picked on one of the two tables. "She's just traveled a long way and feels a bit nauseous."
"Oh, well, sit down, Katherine," Gaius said, putting down a couple bottles he was holding and moved to pull out a chair for Katie.
"Thank you," Katherine said gratefully, sitting down. She paused a bit as Gaius picked up the herbs Merlin brought, inspecting them. "Um," Katie said, getting the two's attention. "I'm also a bit light-headed and... may be suffering a little memory loss." She said the last bit fairly quietly.
"Memory loss?" Gaius said, worried. "Do you know how much?"
Katie paused before replying. "No... quite a bit, though... I believe."
"Well," Gaius said, "I'm dearly sorry to hear that. I'll do what I can. Perhaps you'd like to lie down instead?"
Katherine simply nodded, and Merlin touched up a nearby bed before offering it to her.
"Thanks," Katherine said to Merlin before laying down.
Gaius pulled up a chair and sat next to Katherine. "Could you tell me what you remember, dear girl?"
Katherine paused. 'What should I tell them?' she wondered to herself. "Well... my name. My age, seventeen." Katie bit her lip, wondering what else she should say.
"You're from Derbyshire," Merlin put in.
"Yes, well," Katie paused again, then quietly said, "I kinda made that up. Sorry."
"It's all right, don't worry about it," Merlin said, smiling a bit. Katherine returned the smile, glad to be forgiven so easily. "You did seem to recognize the name Camelot, though."
"Yeah," Katherine admitted. "I... dunno where from, though."
"Oh," Merlin said quietly.
"You seem to have lost quite a bit," Gaius said, thinking.
"Yeah, well..." Katherine started. "Could I take a nap? I am rather tired."
"Of course," Gaius answered. "In fact, I recommend that."
"Thank you," Katherine sighed happily, and closed her eyes. She had stayed up longer than she should have the night before doing free reading, and naturally had to get up early for school.
Gaius and Merlin stepped away, talking amongst themselves, but Katherine was too busy thinking and drifting into unconsciousness to pay any mind. The last thing she thought about falling asleep was, "I wonder why they haven't commented on my clothes yet", but quite naturally, she forgot ever thinking that the moment she woke up.
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