The elevator door wooshed open. She was stressed. Way more stressed than she had any reason to be right now. That was a lie. She had every reason to be nervous right now. The bridge was alive with displays buttons, consoles and displays. There lighting all around them but was a soft blue which was nice considering how dark space was by contrast. It even brought some color to her brown skin though it turned her blond curls an odd green.
There were six total stations in the bridge. Two in the very front near the windshield and two on either wall, and then the captain’s chair.
She sat in the captain’s seat and put her elbow on the arm, her head against her fist. “Jenny, a broadcast is coming in.” Ula, their robotic zorg, said from their seat at the window.
“I figured Ula. Great. Who is this going to be?” She said softly. She wasn’t used to this shit. She was from a planet that just recently got into space, let alone intergalactic travel and communication with alien races.
She looked out the bridge to see the vastness looking at her. The colored dots of stars in the distance, sparkling on and off, and just off to the right was a rocky planet. A rocky planet with volcanos that reached into space that had some sort of plant which helped to make a highly addictive drug to most species. And they were hired to get it.
Reaching behind her she picked up a headset and put it on her ears. A screen appeared across her eyes and it was like a tiny television screen. She was now staring at what she would have called a lizard. Except it’s eyes floated independently of its head and it had one hand, arm, tail, combination thing.
It hissed at her before making some strange slurping clucking noise. A year ago she wouldn’t have known what the hell this creature was saying. Hell she wouldn’t have understood any languages. But thanks to her headphones as well as Ula’s tutoring she could make out the base of what it was saying. And the translator in the headset didn’t hurt.
If she would turn it on first.
Tapping the sides and then turning a dial she waited as the voice finally sparked to something she could understand. “…our airspace. This is an intrusion of the galactic protocol. State your reason for being here. I demand to speak to the captain of this ship.”
“This is first mate Jenny. We are just passing through,” Jenny said drumming her fingers on the chair. “Our captain is currently unavailable for comment.”
“Leave the air space of the planet or else face aggressive action.”
“Please don’t do that. We are only passing through. We’ll be on our way.”
“Passing through does not put you this close to the planet. You have eight starkles to comply before we remove you.”
The transmission ended and Jenny let out an aggressive shout. “Ula get Ya’Cahin on the horn! Please.” She added then asked. “What the hell is a starkle?”
“A starkle is the unit of time in this system.” Rizier said from the panels in front of her. They motioned toward the window. “You can time things based on when the stars flash.”
“I knew coming here like this was a bad idea,” Seth said from one of the side consoles and shook his head. He placed both hands on the console as he brought up a few what looked like articles and tapped on the screen to enlarge and translate them. “We’re lucky they even decided to warn us. Normally these guys are violent and shoot first.”
“What made them reconsider aggressive action against us this time?” Jenny asked rubbing her forehead slowly.
“They’ve had a few galactic sanctions that put them in hot water. Now they need to warn anyone before getting that aggressive or face some form of retribution and punishment. This sector of the galaxy has an active police force.”
“It is because of that that the captain does not like being here.” Ula said simply. “I’ve reached her communication channel. The line is yours.”
“Jenny. Not the best time for a call.” Her captain sounded out of breath and the air rushing in the call meant she was moving fast.
“Yeah well the locals aren’t happy with us being here. Hurry the hell up or we’re going to be up our asses in ‘aggressive action’”
“We just this ship. I’m not trying to lose it to ‘aggressive action’.”
“Then you better your ass up in here in like the next twenty minutes!”
“I think you mean starkle!” At Jenny’s frustrated shout she laughed. “We’re almost there. Whoops. Gotta go!”
Ya’Cahin ended the call and jumped as the ground beneath her feet began to collapse. She waved her arms before the glow covered her hands and eyes. With a strong pulse she floated on the air for the barest of a moment then hovered toward a solid patch of black rock.
They were on a volcano. The plant only grew in extreme heat and this was as extreme as it got on this planet. She collapsed down on it and tapped her communicator. It said the plant she’d been trying to grab sank into the volcano with the patch of land she jumped from. “Hey Trey. Please tell me you or Alice are finding any luck getting this shit.”
“Not at the moment! Though the local fauna isn’t exactly making it easy!”
As he spoke Alice grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him away as a rock dog like creature lunged for them. They both rolled away as the creature exploded onto the volcanic ground before breaking apart into pieces. Unfortunately, it had done this before.
The pieces of rock flowed backward and circled around to reform back into its original form. It growled like churning rocks, snapping it’s jaws and drooling magma to the ground. Its head whipped back and forth trying to find them but Alice had turned them invisible.
They backed away slowly as the creature snarled aggressively. But it turned around and backed away, going back toward the summit of the volcano. They stayed invisible, waiting for the thing to leave them behind.
After a long few seconds it finally backed off and the pair turned visible and both fell to sit down. “Jeez. I hate this planet,” Trey said rubbing his head. “Thanks Alice.”
She nodded slowly her mask streaked with soot. They’d got her a new one that was similar to the original design but could, among other things, let her breathe on hostile planets. This entire place was hotter than hell and she was sweating behind her mask and her clothes.
“Let’s hurry up,” she signed lazily and Trey stared for a moment then nodded quickly.
Turning her gaze around she stood up and froze. Pointing quickly Trey followed her gaze and realized it was there. The plant, the whole reason they were dying on this lava filled hellhole was there. Flowing in the breeze. Its round leaves that floated just above one another. They were a bright green with blue veins running around them in a circular fashion, attached to a bright neon blue stem.
Just one problem. There were a bunch of magma rock dog pup things surrounding it. They were sleeping with it like some exotic mobile. The pair exchanged looks but Alice held out her hand to him. He took it and they cloaked and making their way forward slowly. Many slow and cautious steps that almost went to hell by a sudden earthquake.
Despite the rumbling were able to stay on their feet and the dogs were still asleep. Trey started to make a comment but Alice turned and glared shutting him up. They stepped into the mix of the creatures, stepping over them slowly. They were a little cute in a drooling magma, covered in volcanic glass kind of way.
As they stood over the plant and Alice reached to her hip. Whipping out a small hand sized grip she squeezed it and a plasma blade formed in the air. It hummed gently as Alice took a deep breath. Going low to it she quickly swiped and the sliced the plant up at the base. Trey darted his hand out catching it as it floated to the ground. Trey raised his wrist to his mouth and pressed a button with his lips since his hands were otherwise occupied.
Tahu jumped slightly, startled in the cockpit of their ship. The tiny beeping signal from the dashboard meant that they finally found the damn thing. “Took em long enough,” they said already having fallen into a hibernation cycle.
Plugging into the ship and they grabbed the yoke excited. The new scout ship was a beauty. They rebuilt the old one into this with brand new parts top end parts. It was bigger meaning they house people behind the pilot or storage. Its wings curved downward in a similar fashion as their main ship except this one had harder times pulling a hard landing so more often than not they left it floating. This was the zorg’s baby through and through.
Diving from low orbit they followed the signal, glancing below. The ship didn’t make a sound as it zoomed across the air. Turning the ship slightly they glanced at the display and started to lower slowly. Pulling up slightly they dragged their fingers across the display and tapped a few times.
The hatch below opened up and a small platform descended quickly. Both Alice and Trey saw it immediately but they had issues. The pups were waking up and in the distance their parent was coming. The ground shook slightly. And the volcano was being just this side of active.
“Yaya, looks like our friends are going to need some help.” Tahu said they watched the smoke starting to cough out of the volcanos mouth.
“I’m already on my way.” She said stumbling across the rocks. This was not what she had in mind when they accepted this bounty. She figured they’d swoop in, enjoy the sights, grab the plant, and get out.
But nothing was ever simple.
Reaching into her pocket she produced a small orb and a crystal. Gripping the crystal tightly she squeezed the orb before tossing it into the air. Spinning rapidly a disk of energy appeared. She jumped forward and stood atop it as she started flying. The crystal powered it and her, her eyes a bright glow.
She’d stolen the idea from Jenny and found that it fit perfectly with her own powers. Traveling up the slope she could see their ship but she could also see what looked like the ground rolling forward bounding forward like someone’s pet off the leash.
“Tahu what is that?”
“That is what the locals call a ‘Warrin Lou’. A parent.”
“And the tiny ones?”
“Pups.”
“Alright. And is there a fine for harming the wildlife?”
“A little steep since they worship these things.”
“Well prepare to run once I’m done here.” She said flying faster and twisted the energy in the sky. Her palms glowed and she made a sharp whistle. All of the creatures jumped to life, turning their obsidian bodies to face her. Jumping to their feet they darted toward her some curious, the parent nothing but rage.
Flying past she threw her hands down as energy flew from her fingers. It slammed into the ground, flashing in front of the creatures. No actual damage but it startled them backwards while gaining the proper ire of the parent. Affixing its nonexistent eyes on her presence it leaped at her mouth full of glass teeth.
She flew back as its body slammed into the bottom of the disk. She spun around trying to get her bearings. As she got back under control, she caught sight of Trey and Alice getting onboard the platform.
Wobbling on her disk she ascended as the lava dog jumped and missed just underneath her. “Everyone’s on board Captain Yaya.” Tahu said and she nodded floating up toward the ship. Tahu opened a hatch in the back and she surfed right in stepping off the smoking energy disk.
“We got everything we needed?”
“Got the plant.” Trey said motioning toward Alice. She held up the plant with it’s floating leaves secure in a container. Ya’Cahin went over to it and shook her head. “I swear this thing better get someone higher than the moon.”
Ya’Cahin laughed and went to the cockpit before sitting behind them. “Alright Tahu. Let’s get back to our ship! Ula prepare hyper jump! I want out of here!”
The Harlequin Library 