UNIVERSE 69

By: Crystal Child

 

Chapter Three:  Empty Space

 

“When we look out the window, we realize how small we REALLY are.  Even the bravest of us have moments when we are unable to sit and watch the stars and planets we see.  They seem too large for us to understand, and yet, they fly by us at speeds once unimaginable to the human race.  To stand at my window and think we are the only race left in our universe…it leaves me feeling empty.”

 

-Secret Captain’s Log of Sarah Dellerz First Official Captain of Universe 69

 

 

It’s not until the next sleep period that I find Tranq, who marches into the room and collapses onto his bed.  I look up from the electronic book I’m reading and stare at him.  He sighs and turns to look at me.

 

“I suppose you’ve been sitting there since the alarms went off?”

 

“Huh.  You wish.”  I pushed the bookmark button and set the thing down beside me, “I helped solve the Gravity crisis.”

 

“YOU?  How?  You don’t know anything about the JumpDrives.”

 

“I know a lot know, thanks to Jay.”

 

“One of his History lessons?”  He grins at me with tired eyes.

 

“Yeah.  I’m tired.  Let’s talk when we wake up.”

 

“Yeah.”  He leans out and pushes the lights button around the corner from his bunk.

 

The non-movement of the stars helps me in falling asleep.

 

~~@~~

 

The ground isn’t metallic, like I’ve always known it to be.  It’s soft and green.  ~Grass.~  The thought comes quickly.  I feel my body turn to look behind me.  Tall structures reach for the sky.  A city.  Another thing I’ve never seen with my own eyes.

 

“Are you coming?”  A voice whispers from behind me.  I turn.  The girl has long, black hair and a blue dress.  Those are the only things I can see clearly.

 

“What?”

 

She smiles and shrugs, “Are you coming?”

 

“Where?”

 

“Home, silly?  Are you coming?”

 

“I’ll be along soon.”  I answer.  It doesn’t satisfy her.

 

“You’ll be there?  You promise?”

 

“Yes.  I’ll be there soon.  I promise.”

 

The girl turns and walks away, her sky-blue dress disappearing into a haze of fog that has suddenly appeared.  I turn back to the city.

 

It is gone.  In it’s place is the ruins of it.  Fires rage in some parts.  Others are just charred remains of buildings.  The fire consumes the brick wall surrounding the city.  A wall of flames.

 

The wall catches on the grass and advances towards me.  It’s so close. I can feel it.  I can hear it.  I raise my hands to protect my face and open my mouth to scream…

 

~~@~~

 

I shoot forward.  A dream.  That’s all it was.  But I’m still so HOT.  My hand hurts.  I raise it to look at it.  There is a burn mark on the palm.  As if…

 

“As if I was really there.”

 

From the darkness, I hear, “You say something, Rage?”

 

“No.  Nightmare.”

 

“Okay.”  There is a shifting before all goes still again.

 

This time, even the stars cannot help me sleep.

 

~~@~~

 

I must have dosed off into a light sleep.  I am instantly awake when Tranq’s alarm goes off.  He yawns and stretches.  I watch out the window.  The lights come on, still, I watch the stars.

 

“You been up long?”

 

“No, not really.”  I look at his reflection in the window.

 

“Man, how can you sit there and look out without getting sick?”

 

“It helps that I’m a pilot.”

 

“Yeah, I guess.  I’m heading for the showers.”

 

“Good idea.”  Maybe the shower will help.  I follow Tranq out into the hall—barefooted—and into the Men’s bathroom.  There are 10 stalls of showers.  I take the last one, where the light isn’t quite so bright.

 

Lately, I’ve found myself preferring darker places.  My eyes don’t hurt as much.

 

The shower doesn’t help much.  By the time I get back to my room, my mind is still going over the dream.  I can’t remember much anymore.  Just the fire and talking with someone.  I don’t remember what the person looked like or what we said.  Oh well, maybe best to forget it.

 

Tranq is sitting on the edge of his bed.

 

“Breakfast?”

 

“Yeah.  Let’s go.  I haven’t seen Shade yet, she okay?”

 

“She was still working when I left.”

 

“Where DO you work in emergencies, anyways?”

 

“The Bridge.”  I raise an eyebrow, “Oh, come on, you know that.  We run the communications boards.”

 

“If you say so.”  I pull his head into a headlock and pull him out the door, “Come on.  I’m starved.”

 

~~@~~

 

Shade is sitting at our normal table, writing in a notebook.  Tranq and I get into the food line.  Tranq stares at her a little longer than necessary.

 

I nudge him, “You should ask her out.”

 

“Naw.  She wouldn’t go for me.”  He freezes and turns to look at me, “I mean…uh…”

 

“It’s okay, man.  I can tell just from looking at you, you’ve got it for her.”

 

“Is it THAT obvious?”

 

“Sorry, me amigo.  Yep.”  I pick up two trays and hand one to him.

 

“Think she knows?”

 

“If she does, she does a really good job of keeping it to herself.”

 

“Yeah, I guess.”  Tranq reaches past me and grabs a plate of noodles and some type of white sauce.

 

I pick up a turkey sandwich and an apple.  At the end of the line, I grab a glass of soda and type in my access code into the computer.  The woman behind the counter totals up the price of my food and deducts the cost from my paycheck.

 

Shade moves slightly and points to the seat next to her.  I obey the silent order and sit down next to her.  She continues to write in her notebook as she talks, “Hear you had fun in the JumpDrives.”

 

“Oh yeah, blast.  How was your time?”

 

“About the same.  Only I wasn’t heroic enough to figure out any problems…such as, say, the Gravity system?”

 

“I’d gloat, but I’m not in the mood.”

 

She pokes me with the blunt end of her pencil, “You’re no fun today, are you?”

“Not really.”

 

“Did someone say fun?  I’ve got ALL the fun you need!”  Jay appears and sets down a game board.  Girma.  He smiles at me as he lowers himself into the seat across from me.

 

“Wanna play?”  He doesn’t wait for an answer, and begins to set up his pieces.

 

Girma is a strategy game kids are taught when they’re very young.  It takes years to learn it.  Even I haven’t mastered all of it.  But Jay is an easy opponent, he didn’t pay much attention to the game when he was younger.

 

Jay sets up his pieces in something different from his usual arrangement.  Setting three Battleships and his civilian shuttles near his home planet, which he had deemed ‘Jay’s Place’, he begins the defense of his planet.  He puts two Battleships and four Cruisers out near the center of the board, deemed the Battlefield.  He takes only four of his Starships out onto the board and places them around his Cruisers.

 

“Interesting.”  I say.  Usually, he places all of his Starships out at the beginning, instead of sending them out in small groups, and is sloppy at where he puts the others.

 

“I know,” He smiles, “I’ve got a plan.”

 

As I place my pieces on the board, his smile begins to fade.  I know the moves he’s going to make before he’ll even think of them.  My father did this set up on me time-after-time.  Jay’s set up was the best set up to go for in winning the game.  But I knew exactly where to go to prevent his win.

 

I set the single Cruiser out near the Battlefield.  Then, I placed down a single Starship.

 

Jay looks at me, “You do remember you won’t be able to put anymore ships down but your Starships once we’ve started, right?”

 

“Let’s just play.”

 

“You’re silver, you go first.”

 

I move the single Starship forward.

 

~~@~~

 

“Jay’s Place,” I say as I sweep up his final Battleship, “Is now Blade’s Place.”

 

“Damn it, man!  I was SURE I had you that time!”  Jay picks up my Cruiser and the six Starships of mine left in the Battlefield.  I smile and lean back in my seat, “How did you pull it off?  Only one Cruiser!”

 

“Look at it this way:  you got four of my Starships.”

 

Jay looks like he’s ready to throw the game at me.  I just keep up my lazy smile.

 

“How DID you do it?”  Shade, who had put her notebook away a while ago to watch the game, asks, she leans out and picks up one of the gold Cruisers that had been Jays.

 

“Strategy.  With only one ship, you’re harder to keep up with.  The game is easier to control.”

 

“Huh,” Jay grunts and leans onto the table with his elbows, “It seems like you’ve done it this way before.”

 

“Yeah.  Just not with you.”  A bell sounds to end the shift.

 

“Come on, Jay.  Let’s get to class.”

 

Shade tells the two of us good-bye as we rise.  Tranq looks up briefly from his computer screen to wave to us.

 

~~@~~

 

“Rage?”  A voice calls into the room.  It’s Shade.  I’m in my room alone.  I don’t know where Tranq is this sleep period.

 

“Shade?  Come in.  Close the door.  The light is bothering me right now.”  Shade is the only one who knows how much bright light bothers me.  She steps in quietly.  The door slides shut behind her and we are enveloped in the darkness.

 

I look back out the window, “What do you want?”

 

“We were wondering where you were last shift.  We were going to work out, remember?”

 

“Oh, yeah.  Sorry.  I guess I forgot.”

 

She comes over and sits across from me, “Rage?  Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine.  Don’t worry about it.”

 

“Then do you mind if I turn the light on low?  You may be used to the dark, but I’m not.”  When I don’t answer her (I REALLY don’t want her to turn it on), she goes to the controls and sets the light on, barely bright enough for her to be able to see.

 

“Rage.  You look really pale.”  Her eyes are filled with worry.  She reaches out and brushes her hand onto my forehead, “You don’t have a fever.  Is something bothering you?”

 

Just her physical contact causes my head to throb.  The light suddenly seems to bright.

 

“Turn the light off, Shade.”  She acts like she doesn’t hear me.

 

“You need to lay down.”  She reaches to push me down onto my back, “Get some rest.  I’ll inform your next shift—”  I grab her wrist.

 

“Turn the light off, Shade.”

 

“In a minute.  Lay down!”

 

“Fine.”  I lean back.  ~If it gets you to leave me alone…~

 

Shade rises, satisfied, “Like I started to say, I’ll tell your next shift you’ll make it up.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

She heads for the door, “If you need anything, I’ll be working, you know how to reach me.”

 

“Turn the light off, Shade.”

 

Finally, at the door, she obeys.  When the door slides open and the hall-light fills the room, I close my eyes and fight back the pain that wants to explode in my head.  An eternity passes before the door closes again.

 

I am, finally, alone again with the darkness.

 

~~~~*~~~~

 

Well?  *^_^*