Gone for a Spin (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 16)

by J. Naomi Ay

  "What is your rating?" Pym asked, although she wasn't about to turn over the controls to this child.

  "Fighter Pilot Extraordinaire," Rory replied. "It's the top level."

  Pym was impressed, although she didn't say so. She was also embarrassed that her level was so much lower.

  "My dad died in space," he continued. "I’ve got it in my blood.”

  “I am sorry about that,” Pym said, vaguely recalling the story of the boy’s father, for it was reported by the Galaxy News Service. In fact, a year or so later, a docudrama was made of the same, starring Barlan Rando’s son, Tortan Rando in the role of the Imperial Prince Shika.

  “I was really young,” the boy shrugged, “So I don't remember him much. He was flying the Emperor's private spaceplane, and no one knows how it happened."

  "That's too bad," Pym remarked, noting a strange object off the starboard bow. It was perfectly cylindrical, and had a shiny, metallic tint. She immediately ruled it out as an asteroid, as rocks never glowed so brightly, and neither did they have red and green navigational lights on either side. At least, they didn't in the Space Command game.

  "My dad's name was Sam," Rory continued, leaning back in the co-pilot's chair, putting his feet upon the control panel. "He and my step-dad used to be best friends. Somehow, they both were married to my mom, which is kind of weird when you stop to think about it. Are you from Andorus? My dad was from Talas, which is why my skin is green."

  "Uh huh." Pym nodded absently, keeping an eye on the object as it veered closer. No, it was definitely some kind of ship. That might be a window on the top part of the hull.

  "My sister doesn't get what it's like to be half-human, half-Talasian. I mean, she thinks she does, but she really has no clue. Do you ever get weird cravings for blue things? I do. I like all kinds of green stuff. It's like, my mom makes a bowl of green jello, and I have to eat it all, so my sister always gets mad ‘cuz I don’t share."

  "Uh huh."

  Pym tried to adjust the spaceplane's track thirty degrees to avoid the object, which seemed to be spiralling directly at them. However, the spaceplane didn't respond as promptly as Pym had hoped. It seemed that flying with only one engine was like hopping on one leg.

  "I met my dad once, after he was dead. That was 'cuz I died too, and then, I came back to life a few minutes later. Have you ever done that? Dying, I mean. It was really weird. Totally strange. One minute I'm minding my own business, and the next, some dude shoots me in the chest. I started floating through the air, and that's when I saw my dad. That was cool though. He and I were going to take a walk, but then, the next thing I knew my step-dad, Steve was shaking me and I..."

  "Oh no!" Pym interrupted.

  The object was on a trajectory that would impact the spaceplane in a minute and a half. Although Pym fought with the controls, the steering was sluggish to respond.

  "Huh?" Rory asked, taking his feet down from the console. "Oh! What's that? It's coming straight at us."

  "I know! Do something!"

  "I can destroy it," Rory declared, searching the panel for the familiar buttons on his game. "Where are the missiles, the torpedoes, and the lasers?"

  "We don't have any. We're a transport plane."

  Pym tried to veer sharply upward since the plane wouldn't budge either left or right. She set the airbrake, reversed the thrusters, and lowered the flaps.

  "What the hell is going on in here?" Jim demanded, bursting into the cockpit as the plane rocked decidedly to and fro, but refused to change course to avoid the object.

  Pym would have told Jim about the pod if she had the time, but at that moment she was very busy accomplishing nothing. In fact, before she could utter a word, and before she could move the plane in any way, the pod collided into their portside hull.

  A raucous clanging sound resonated in everyone's ears, as the fear of impending death from depressurization raced through their minds. Fortunately, for the inhabitants of both vessels, which were now side by side, the impact caused only minor cosmetic damage, and nothing else.

  “"Hello? Anybody there?” Rory asked, finding the switch to activate the hailer. “Um...if you're alive, do you want to be rescued?"

  “No way!” Jim snapped. “What if they’ve got the disease?”

  “Help!” A woman called, her voice crackling with static. “Please help us, or we’re going to die.”

  “What is going on?” Joanne roared, crowding into the cockpit to have a look.

  “Jimmy, there’s an emergency escape pod attached to the portside hull,” Shelly announced. “It’s from a United StarLines commercial flight, and there might be survivors aboard.”

  “I know, but they might also be carrying the virus.”

  “Now, Jimmy!” Shelly snapped. “It’s the law of the stars. We have to aid any vessel in distress.”

  “As long as we don’t put ourselves in danger,” Jim protested.

  “Please help us!” Another woman’s voice called.

  “Hey,” Rory said. “That sounds an awful lot like Sara.”

  A few moments later, duct hoses were unfurled and pressure seals locked on the pod’s escape hatch. A similar connection was made on the spaceplane’s emergency access door. Following which, Pym activated the airlock, allowing the girls to climb through in order to begin one of the oddest reunions ever held in outer space.

  “You’ll never believe what happened,” Sara texted Thunk when things on the spaceplane had calmed down, and she was laying on the bed in the aft cabin, supposedly sleeping. Shelly had insisted she eat, and Joanne had insisted she sleep, neither of which Sara had felt much like doing.

  “You’ll never believe what’s happening here,” Thunk texted back, “But, you go ahead first. Are you still coming to Earth?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be there in a few days.” Sara fingers hurriedly told her friend the tale of the deadly spaceflight, and the escape in a pod, although she omitted mentioning her grandfather. “And, then we climbed through this tube into another spaceplane, where believe it or not, my whole ex-family was! Go figure that!

  Then, for some strange reason, the rescue pod got stuck to this plane’s side. The pilot, this Andorian lady, who looks like she’s about four hundred years old, tried to shake it off, but it wouldn’t go. In fact, it wouldn’t budge. On top of that, everyone got sick, because the plane was rocking so much it made us all dizzy, and even though I hadn’t eaten anything, I began to puke. So, Carolie, my ex-step sister started screaming that I was going to give them Robolo, which I couldn’t because I’m immune on account of…well, I don’t want to talk about that.

  Anyway, Joanne, my ex-step mother, who once went to school to be a nurse, said I didn’t have Robolo because even though I was throwing up, I was still in one piece. So after that, Carolie calmed down, although she’s still not talking to me, but I don’t care. Anyway, as it turned out, one of the spaceplane’s engines is dead. The pilot lady had a really hard time getting us moving again with the pod stuck to the side, but then, my ex-step brother, Rory climbed into it and started the pod’s engine.”

  “Wow!” Thunk responded.

  “Now, we’re moving fine, but Rory is staying inside the pod, thinking he’s totally cool, and the only reason we’re alive is because of him. I suppose that’s how we’re going to get all the way to Earth. So, where exactly are you? I don’t know where we’re going to land, or if I’ll be getting off at a spaceport, and have to take a bus down, or something else.”

  “I’m in…” Thunk began to type. “Oh crap! My battery’s dying again. I’ll tell you in a bit after I charge up.”

  Chapter 20

  Etan had forgotten that he couldn’t charge his cell battery until Bud found a new source for propane. The camper’s old generator was dead without the gas, and the mini-mart down the road had a sign on the tanks saying, ‘Empty’.

  “Oh crap!” Etan swore, shaking his phone up and down. Briefly, the screen flickered before dying completely.

  “I kn
ow what you can do,” Zak said, rolling over on the double bunk, and nudging his brother with a knee. “You can get that weird Queen to charge it. Just hand it to her and it’ll be working in no time.”

  Etan had thought of that. He knew the lady was One of Them, as she had this odd light shining around her, making her glow. It was the same light Etan had seen around the man who came to visit, right before they had left Ohio for this Idaho forest.

  One night towards the end of summer, when Etan was having trouble sleeping because his room was too muggy and warm, he laid in his bed waiting for the rain to start. Thunder was rumbling overhead, so he wasn't very surprised when a bolt of lightning struck the tree directly outside his window.

  However, he was greatly surprised, and a little shocked when an odd silver light appeared in his bedroom. Since his accident, Etan had often seen strange shapes and colors, which the doctors attributed to his mildly damaged brain.

  This was different, though. This light materialized into a man. He was mostly transparent and shining brighter than a galaxy of silver stars.

  “Hello Etan,” he said, his voice resonating somewhere deep inside Etan’s brain. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes, Sir,” Etan replied, politely, and slowly sat up. He had never called anyone Sir before, but for some reason, it seemed the right way to address him.

  Unfortunately, as Etan tried to rise, his left arm decided not to respond to the signals in his brain, something his limbs did on occasion, and without warning. Also, occasionally, his arms and legs would twitch wildly, and nothing would stop them except for time. This greatly distressed Janet, even more so than it did the boy, who was just happy that all his limbs responded more often than not.

  “Let’s try another pressure point,” Janet would say, or she might try a new sort of massage, or some kind of herbal medicine that tasted terrible.

  “You are still having tremors?” the man asked, approaching Etan’s bed, silver light spilling around him like a cape. He held out his hand and placed it on Etan’s head, immediately filling Etan with a sensation akin to hope. In fact, for a brief moment, Etan felt joyously happy.

  “Yes, but Janet says they’re getting better.”

  "Indeed, they are," the man agreed, running his fingers along Etan’s scars. This caused a pleasant tingling sensation to warm the boy's skull and a musical sound, like the singing of angels, to echo through his ears.

  "Why are you here?" Etan asked, when the man removed his hand, and the heavenly chorus immediately grew silent.

  "To cure you, Etan. Your destiny shall take you far away, so you shall need all of your limbs and faculties intact."

  "Cool." Etan liked the idea of this exciting destiny, for during his illness, he wasn't certain he'd be around today. Even now, there were times when he thought he might never walk without his leg braces again. "Will I fly on a spaceplane? Will I go to other planets?"

  "Indeed, you shall. You shall be well traveled, as well as highly regarded, and respected."

  "Cool!"

  "Cool," the man repeated, and then, he disappeared in another flash, like the lightning that sizzled outside the window.

  Etan lay back down on his pillow, and listened to the rain, which had finally started. He pinched his leg, and confirmed that he was awake. He decided not to tell anyone of the visitation, as nobody would believe him anyway. However, after that, he never had another tremor, or muscle spasm.

  As Katie climbed down from the RV, dressed in her blue tablecloth, and avoiding puddles left over from days of incessant rain, her mind was twisting and turning. How had this strange virus taken over so quickly? Did it come from outer space, or was it planted here by something, or someone else? Most importantly, how could it be stopped before everyone on Earth died? And lastly, why did all of Mika's brothers hate her guts? What had she ever done to any of them, assuming she had done anything at all, assuming she was this person, or creature they called Cassie.

  "There she goes," Zak whispered, peeking out from behind a tree. "Are you sure you want to do this? She's totally weird."

  "Uh huh." Etan nodded. He was hidden beneath a large laurel shrub, whose wet leaves kept dripping like rain upon his cloak. "I need to charge my cell. It's really important that I tell my friend where we are."

  "Yeah, but if you get sick because of this, Janet will kill me."

  "I'm fine," Etan declared, shaking his wet head like a dog. "Come on. Let's follow her. She can’t be going very far."

  The boys made certain to stay several lengths behind, as Katie trod down the dirt road in the direction of the town. This wasn't difficult as Etan's braces made his progress slow. In tandem, they approached the nearest shop, Bait & Beer, which advertised cigarettes, and the aforementioned bait and beer on a neon yellow flashing sign.

  Katie was muttering quietly to herself as she walked through the rain soaked street, complaining about the wet and cold, and all of the men who were crammed into the RV. In fact, she was getting plenty sick of all their excuses as they sat around waiting for something to happen.

  She told them to think of a cure. She told them to find some food. She told Gabe to call his asshole brother. Instead, they wasted time on the internet playing games and flirting with half-mechanical, mail-order brides.

  "Fine!" Katie declared out loud. "I'm going to call him myself."

  "She's totally whacked," Zak murmured to his brother. "Now, she's yelling to herself."

  "Totally weird," Etan agreed. "But, if she charges my battery, I don't care how strange she is."

  "Do you think she's an alien? Janet said she knew her on another planet. Now, she's wearing a tablecloth. I mean, what kind of human does that?"

  “I don’t know.” Etan shrugged, as his brother pulled him to the corner of the store.

  Zak cautiously peered around to stare into the shop's windows, where he watched Katie pushing a small cart down the aisle full of crackers and chips. She paused and picked up a box, studying the label. Zak watched intently, unsure of what he was waiting to see. Would antennas arise out of her hair, or was there a third arm hidden on her back beneath the tablecloth? Would an eye on a tentacle pop out of her forehead?

  Now, Katie was heading up another aisle. She had two boxes of crackers, and a box of Zak's favorite sugared cereal in her cart. She also had a jug of milk, a carton of eggs, and a brick of yellow cheese, all things Zak hadn't eaten since they left Ohio.

  "I'm going in," Etan murmured, slipping around to the shop's door. "I can't wait any longer. My friend might be in orbit above Earth already."

  "Be careful," Zak warned, as the bell rang announcing Etan's presence.

  Katie was standing in the back comparing bottles of hair shampoo. Briefly, she glanced up as Etan approached, her eyes narrowing until the boy removed his hood. Then, she smiled a little bit, and accepted the dead cell, while placing the shampoo in her cart.

  Zak continued to watch as Katie appeared to be making a call. She spoke to someone, her mouth turning down in a frown. She shook her head, and rang off the cell, handing it back to Etan with a shake of her head, after which the boy hurried out of the shop, and back to his brother's side.

  "What happened?" Zak asked, as Katie turned her cart down another aisle.

  "She fixed it." Etan held up the cell and showed the battery indicator to his brother. The cell display read ninety-eight percent, and the last call recorded was to a planet code far away.

  "Who'd she call?"

  "I don't know," Etan replied. "But, whoever she wanted wasn’t there."

  Katie was walking to the register to pay for her groceries, mentally tallying the items in her cart. Back in the city a few days prior, Gabe had commandeered a paycard from a guy walking down the street. At the time, it had roughly one hundred dollars on it. So far, with the campground fees and fuel, they had spent about half, and now with these groceries, it would be down to about twenty dollars.

  She was just about to swipe the card through the reader, when there wa
s a commotion directly behind her. Someone let out a shriek, which was followed by a loud thump upon the floor. The woman, or at least Katie thought it had been a woman hidden beneath a Rossorian cloak, collapsed and within seconds, liquefied.

  "It's the virus!" someone yelled as the sales clerk and the other patrons rushed madly to the door.

  "What?" Katie gasped, spinning around.

  Three more people dissolved into puddles. In fact, everyone in the mini-mart immediately turned to mush, leaving only Katie in her tablecloth cloak to stand alone.

  "Luka!" Katie shrieked, for she assumed correctly that something as vile as Robolo could only have come from him.

  "Yes, dear?" Luka replied, his voice somewhere in the shop.

  "Don't move," another voice shouted near the door. "Stay right where you are."

  Katie wasn't about to move anyway, as the only way out entailed treading over newly liquefied bodies. However, she did spin around to face the case of refrigerated meats, which was right next to the ice cream, and bait freezer. There, she discovered Luka sitting on top the appliance.

  "Ah, cold," he exclaimed. "What a delight it is for me. I’m usually so hot."

  "You did this," Katie declared. "You set the virus loose."

  "Yes. It is the type of thing I do, and this was a good one. I've used it several times before, and always it was successful at decimating some of mankind's population. Of course, Mika usually stopped it before too long, although this time, he is apparently AWOL."

  "Then, I'll have to stop it!"

  Katie whipped out her gun. She never travelled anywhere without a firearm, not even to the Bait & Beer store just down the road. With it, she proceeded to put three bullets in Luka's skull, followed by three more in the general region of his heart.

  However, Luka wasn't a mortal being, so that general region was lacking such an important organ. In fact, it was empty of all things, so Katie's shots were basically useless. However, she did manage to create six large holes in the mini-mart's rear wall, and puncture the tank of Freon behind the ice cream freezer.