Flying Burger

by Jared Martin

  “A powerful external force has gripped the spacecraft,” said DATA.

  “Could you break free?” Mrs. Andersen asked.

  “Affirmative.”

  Barely were the word uttered when Mrs. Andersen began to float in the air due to a loss of artificial gravity. All the kids were also floating in midair. They were laughing and shouting away, enjoying the weightless condition. Out of playfulness, Antonio started to swim across the room using breaststroke, laughing hilariously along the way. When Melissa followed suit, no one was spared laughing as the plump Indian girl presented such a comical sight. Antonio began to chase Samuel around the room in midair. Samuel began to chase Melissa. Nikita just floated quietly nearby, hoping Chen Wei would chase her. At this point, Chen Wei was not to be left behind. He did a flying-kick through the air with a holler, capturing everybody’s attention, especially Nikita, who thought it was so heroic. For a moment, Mrs. Andersen was bewildered but she regained her composure quickly.

  “Watch me!” Mrs. Andersen declared loudly. She then proceeded to perform a series of cartwheels across the room in midair. Everybody laughed for it was indeed a rare sight! Before anyone could stop laughing, the spaceship started to spin furiously. Everybody was plastered to the wall, unable to move an inch.

  “DATA, what is happening?” Captain Baldwin’s voice was heard over the spaceship’s inter-com speakers.

  “Is someone trying to be funny with me?” the Captain sounded furious. He was in his private quarters enjoying some quiet moments with his wife. He hated to be disturbed in whatever way during these times.

  “The spaceship is gripped by a strong external force,” said DATA.

  “Put up the deflector shield and navigate to sector L358. Warp speed ahead,” Captain Baldwin ordered.

  ”Affirmative.”

  Before long, everything returned to normal and everyone was back on their feet. Antonio was still chasing Samuel around the room on foot, not gotten over the excitement yet.

  “Nikita, please call the Sorceress of Azura to help us get rid of this demon,” Mrs. Andersen told Nikita. She detested demons.

  Nikita closed her eyes and concentrated hard. She thought of nothing else but the magic Ring of Azura, even the most dazzling image of Chen Wei was momentarily erased from her mind! The magic ring on her finger began to glow a brilliant purple. Suddenly, the serene and beautiful Sorceress of Azura appeared at one corner of the room enveloped in a purple globe of shimmering light. Everybody saw her and felt a strong power emanating from her presence. She smiled knowingly at everyone.

  "I can help to open the Time Gate. Ordinary mortals cannot step on Holy Ground. Nikita has the magic ring which will protect her from the Holy Light from the Eternal Lamp." Having said these words, the Sorceress took out her magic wand with a purple star at the tip and pointed it at the wall opposite her. She cried, "By the Power of Azura, I call upon the Time Guardian to open the Time Gate. Power from four corners of Fontasia, I command you to flow..., flow to Azura!" A blinding streak of purple light shot out from the star at the tip of the magic wand and hit the opposite wall. Immediately, this streak of purple light opened up a pentagonal void on the wall! The Sorceress lowered her magic wand and told Nikita to enter this void in order to get to the Holy Shrine.

  "Nikita, show your reverence to The Almighty," the Sorceress reminded Nikita before she stepped into the void. Once Nikita stepped into this pentagonal void, it closed immediately and she seemed to have been swallowed up by the wall. Finding herself in a region of extreme brightness, she closed her eyes automatically. Remembering the Sorceress' words, Nikita went down on her knees and put her palms together slowly in front of her and bowed her head. She began to say a quiet prayer. The magic ring on her finger began to glow and the power within it began to envelope her in a shimmering purple glow. After what seemed like eternity, a gentle breeze began to blow around Nikita, caressing her lustrous black hair and beautiful young face. She opened her eyes slowly and saw a momentary vision.

  In the far horizon, the Eternal Lamp floated high in midair. A sparkling white flame burnt in the centre of this lamp, casting numerous rays of Holy Light in all directions. This was a huge lamp made up of pink lotus leaves. These lotus leaves were stacked layers upon layers on top of each other. There were at least ten layers of bright pink lotus petals on the lamp. When Nikita looked down, she found herself kneeling on the surface of the water in the middle of a huge lake! She was enveloped in a faint purple glow. She saw many water lilies and round leaves floating on the lake. A white vase appeared before her eyes, floating above the water. This Holy Vase shone with such a bright light that Nikita had to close her eyes once more.

  When Nikita opened her eyes again, her hands were still joined together in front of her. However, she found herself back in the recreation room with everybody staring at her and the white Holy Vase on the table nearby. The Sorceress told Nikita to bring this Holy Vase to the place where Sakunthala appeared and sprinkle some Holy Water on the floor. She obeyed and brought the Holy Vase to the restroom. Samuel refused to go along and kept insisting that the demon was in the mirror. Only Chen Wei volunteered to follow Nikita to exorcise the demon. When both of them stepped into the restroom, a foul stench greeted them. All the restroom facilities had automatic self-cleaning tools attached. The cleaning process ran like clockwork and hence, this type of stench came from an unknown source - definitely alien.

  Following the Sorceress' instruction, Nikita gently tilted the Holy Vase and spilled some Holy Water on the floor. Immediately, a demonic scream was heard and many white bubbles formed where the Holy Water touched the floor. Nikita went to the wash-basin and spilled more Holy Water into it. A louder demonic scream was heard and finally a hollow hissing sound resembling that of a snake faded away into the distance.

  Silence reigned.

  Nikita looked into the wash-basin mirror and a beautiful young girl stared back at her. Her reflection smiled sweetly. Before she knew it, a smiling Prince Charming appeared in the mirror next to her! She lowered her head quickly and her heart beat faster than usual. At this moment, Mrs. Andersen stepped in and wanted to find out if the demon was still around. She was carrying Samuel in her arms.

  "Let Samuel look into the mirror to see if the demon is still there," Chen Wei said. Naughty Samuel had covered his eyes with both hands. After much reassurance from Mrs. Andersen, he turned his head slowly towards the wash-basin mirror and parted two fingers to peer through. Only when he saw his own reflection did he remove both his hands, and stared back at his own face in the mirror.

  Everyone returned to the recreation room. They were glad that the demon was gone. "The demon has been exorcised. The Holy Vase will return to where it came from. I have to return to Fontasia. Farewell." Having said that, the Sorceress vanished into thin air. The Holy Vase also disappeared right in front of everybody's eyes.

  “I wonder why Samuel is not afraid of the vampire from Draconia but so scared of Sakunthala,” Melissa said.

  “All of you were there with me to face the vampire, but I have to face Sakunthala alone. She looks horrible!” Samuel explained.

  Everybody could not help laughing. Indeed, there was bravery in numbers.

  Back in the privacy of their sleeping quarter, the two girls were once again talking about their dream idols.

  "I wonder whether he has a girlfriend?" Nikita was curious.

  "I guess he must have many girlfriends, he's so good-looking," Melissa teased. She seemed to enjoy doing this lately.

  "I wonder who is the lucky girl?"

  "Maybe it's Diana, or maybe it could be someone else," Melissa was thoroughly enjoying this.

  Nikita sighed.

  Back in the guys' room, Samuel and Antonio were gathered around Chen Wei.

  "Is Nikita pretty?" Samuel asked Chen Wei.

  Chen Wei kept quiet. He smiled and ruffled Samuel's hair.

  "Is she pretty? huh, huh" Antonio wanted to know too.

  Chen Wei gave
a thumbs up and ruffled Antonio's hair too.

  Chapter 11

  Onboard a pirate spacecraft, a group of pirates were getting ready for the morning roll-call. This was their daily routine before the start of a normal workday. All of them were tense and somewhat afraid. Their leader was the notorious pirate chief, ‘Peter The Great’, known far and wide for his ‘Terror Whip’. He welded this laser whip like a professional animal trainer. He learnt this skill from the old pirate, Mogul, many years ago and coupled with his intelligent mind, was now able to whip any place he wanted with astonishing accuracy. Aldebaranites were humanoids and had grey skin, blue hair and red eyes. There were seven pirates altogether on this spacecraft, all of them rogues from the planets of the Aldebaran star system. They were commonly called the ‘Seven Rogues of Aldebaran’.

  At the designated time for the roll-call, the pirate chief stomped into the assembly area, which was a wide space normally used for recreation. All the pirates were lined up in a straight line and stood at attention. They were dressed in the normal pirate gown one would expect from a sea pirate on planet Earth, except for one thing and that was the headscarves they wore on their heads. All of them wore pink headscarves with white polka-dots.

  “Why are you not standing in a straight line?” Peter snapped at one of the pirates. His laser whip lashed out at this pirate’s foot which was out of line. After this whip lash, all the feet were in a perfect straight line.

  "Begin roll-call," Peter ordered.

  "Alfonso from planet Mondel."

  "Lucas from planet Zoren."

  "Victor from Nahu."

  "Jared from Mocoby."

  "Karl from planet Falkstaug."

  "Romel from Sarko."

  "Bronto from planet Wahlel."

  “We pirates must rob the rich to give to the poor, and rule number two is to rescue damsel in distress. This is our Aldebaran pirate tradition. Remember!”, Peter gave a few more lashes with his terror whip to drive home his point. Once his back was turned, pirate Victor made a funny face at the chief pirate. Victor used both his hands to stretch his face taut and stick out his tongue at Peter’s back. Out of a sudden, Peter’s Terror Whip came lashing at Victor. Victor quickly turned back-somersaults to evade the whip. The Terror Whip lived up to its reputation, every lash followed Victor like a bloodhound, striking at the landing spot just after he made a new back-somersault. Victor made a total of nine rapid back-somersaults before he was hit at the tenth somersault, just when his body was hanging upside-down, half-way in the air. His butt got the brunt of the whiplash.

  “Owwwwl….. Ouch! Ouch! Oooo...” Victor yelled.

  “There is no escape from my Terror Whip, you numbskull! When will you ever learn?” Peter scolded.

  The rest of the other pirates managed to control themselves from bursting into laughter. They knew better than to laugh at a time like this. It would not only anger their pirate chief but also make him increase the laser intensity of his Terror Whip. This was something which nobody in his right mind would ask for. When Peter left the room to inspect other sections of the spaceship, the pirates finally burst into uncontrollable laughter.

  “Let’s take a look at Victor,” Bronto suggested.

  “To see how bad his butt was burnt, heehee...” Jared laughed.

  “This is fun,” Lucas said excitedly.

  The pirates went to check in on Victor, and they were shocked to see such a big scorching wound on his butt. It was fortunate that these pirates were well-prepared for such an emergency. Each of them always wear protective gear underneath their normal clothing, of which the butt was the most well-protected of all areas. All of them wore special underwear made of titanium alloy which was heat-resistant and comfortable enough for normal daily activities. Even though this was the case, Victor was still badly burnt.

  After the morning roll-call, the pirates began their daily chores : cleaning the kitchen, mopping the floor, washing the toilet and brushing their teeth. Some of them took up stations at the navigation deck to monitor the consoles there. Victor went back to his own bunk to apply some medication on his wounds, swearing he would get back at Peter once he got a chance.

  At the end of the workday, all the pirates were gathered in their pirate bunk and busy talking.

  “What so great about our chief? Why must he be called ‘Peter The Great’ and not just ‘Peter’?, this is so unfair!” Victor grumbled.

  “He comes from Alkinawa, the biggest planet in our star system, that’s why!” Karl volunteered an explanation.

  “He’s the youngest among us,” Romel suggested.

  “Well, he is very handsome, more handsome than all of us put together I must say,” Jared reasoned.

  “Have you seen those female captives’ eyes following his every move? It’s disgusting!” Lucas added.

  “He also makes us brush our teeth three times a day. We are pirates, not school children,” Victor protested.

  “I agree with Victor. Look at our ridiculous headscarves! Have you ever seen any space pirate wearing pink headscarf with white polka-dots? The whole galaxy must be laughing at us!” Alfonso said.

  “Why is our chief wearing a grand-looking, woolly, black hat? Shouldn’t he also wear the same as us?” Victor was fuming.

  “I am fed up with our chief. I want to join another pirate gang, unless our chief changes his ways,” Romel stated his decision.

  “Let’s find a female companion for our chief. I think that’s the whole problem. If our chief has a female companion to make him happy, perhaps he will get better,” Bronto suggested.

  “I agree,” chorused the rest of the other pirates.

  The martial arts training chamber was located in the uppermost layer/level of the pirate spaceship, which was transparent. This layer/level was made of a different material from the rest of the spaceship. All the stars in the galaxy could be easily seen from this training chamber. At the far end of the chamber, there stood a computerised console with an internal speaker system. This training system was fully automatic and operated on voice command. Peter The Great entered the training room. It was dark inside.

  “Start advance training session,” Peter commanded the computer.

  “System started. Five hundred fireflies released,” the computer responded with an emotionless voice.

  All at once, a small trapdoor opened at the base of the training system. Numerous fireflies gushed into the air. It was a marvellous sight with so many fireflies flying around in a confined space. It was pitch dark, except for the faint starlight filtering in from outer space. Suddenly, Peter took out his Terror Whip and started his training session. One could only see a beautiful display of laser whip-play, executed with superb mastery. Before long, all the fireflies in the air were lying dead on the ground, their light shining no more.

  “Time taken, fifteen minutes thirty seconds. All dead. Excellent. Do you wish to continue?” the computer asked.

  “No,” Peter replied and left the room. He did not know that he was being watched. The other pirates had cleverly installed a monitoring camera in one secluded spot on the wall of the training room. All his training moves were seen by his subordinates.

  “Holy shit!” Victor exclaimed.

  “Holy Mackerel!” Jared exclaimed.

  “Suffering migraine!” Karl echoed.

  “Did you see that?” Romel asked.

  “Can any of you beat this display of whiplash?” Alfonso asked.

  “I must perfect my flying dagger skill!” Victor decided on the spot.

  “You have flying dagger, I have flying darts!” Jared echoed.

  “Don’t be stupid, even with the two of you fighting together, you don’t stand a chance. Peter has reached the epitome of perfection,” Bronto concluded.

  “Anyone has any ideas?” Karl asked.

  “Why not we join forces together?” Bronto suggested.

  “We all specialise in different weapons, darts, daggers and boomerangs. How to join forces?” Lucas asked.<
br />
  “Why not we use the basic skill that all of us know, the laser pole?” Bronto asked.

  “Why, you are a genius!” Romel exclaimed. He began to see what Bronto was driving at.

  “All of us know the two basic types of laser pole formations very well, the ‘Top Down’ Formation and the ‘Left Right Centre’ Formation,” Bronto went on to explain.

  “If we combine these two formations, then it becomes the ‘Top Down Left Right Centre’ Formation. Isn’t this name a bit too long?” Victor asked.

  “Victor is right. We need a nice, yet terror-striking name, just like the ‘Terror Whip’,” Alfonso agreed.

  “Anyone has a good name?” Lucas asked.

  “How about ‘Invincible Whacking Pole’ Formation?” Jared asked.

  “Good, now that we have a name for our formation, but what about the whacking strokes?” Romel asked.

  “That’s easy, just use three strokes from the first formation, then use three strokes from the second formation and repeat the sequence using the rest of the strokes in succession,” Bronto explained.

  “Peter will be in trouble once we mastered this ‘Invincible Whacking Pole’ Formation. Could we start practising tonight?” Victor asked eagerly. He wanted to start training early so that he could get back at Peter. He was nursing his wounds on his butt, which he suffered this morning for making a funny face at Peter. It was still hurting.

  As BURGER123 sped through space at sub-light speed, Nikita was looking out at the cockpit window, it was a wonderful feeling to see so many stars whisking past your very eyes. Antonio walked up to Nikita and shot up both his arms, signalling that he wanted to be carried. Nikita carried him without hesitation and the little fellow was all smiles as he saw so many stars flying past him outside the window. It was a beautiful sight.

  “We are approaching Aldebaran star. A K5 red giant in Hyades star cluster in Taurus. It lies 65.1 light years away from our Sun. This region is terrorised by a group of space pirates, who call themselves the Seven Rogues of Aldebaran led by Peter The Great,” DATA reported.