by J. Blanes
“If we could build a roller coaster like this on Earth,” Dylan remarked between vomits, “we would be millionaires in no time.”
The first phase of the plan had been a success. They had abandoned the large ship, avoiding detection by the Tukma. The second phase was the most difficult for Blip, because he had to slow down the small ship, which was approaching the asteroid field at millions of miles per hour. He rotated the ship 180 degrees, to face away from the field, and accelerated at maximum, trying to counteract the enormous speed at which they were traveling toward it. He knew it was impossible to stop on time; it was like a plane traveling at millions of miles per hour turning around on the spot and trying to stop instantly, but at least he hoped to reduce the speed to manageable levels. Entering the field at a high speed would be suicidal, as once inside, he would have to maneuver to dodge collisions with the hundreds of asteroids floating around. The small ship had no protective shield; one mistake, and everything would be over.
The abrupt change in acceleration caused a new wave of nausea and vomiting among the passengers. Mirby stared at them in astonishment, but she found the scene amusing, too, and to the surprise of the others, she laughed at them. They all had seen animals that seemed to be laughing, like hyenas or certain primates, but an animal that could actually laugh by interpreting and understanding a comic scene was something new, and very annoying.
“What are you laughing at?” Dylan snapped, irritated by her constant laughing.
Mirby, who was sitting at the seat next to him, frowned and stopped laughing. She stared at Dylan menacingly and slowly unraveled her tails, clearly preparing for a fight. Dylan had not expected that, and knowing her strength and ability in a fight, he regretted his outburst immediately. “I…I…I didn’t…” he stammered, really scared, trying to apologize. “I mean…I…”
Mirby raised one tail, its end wound like a ball, ready to hit Dylan on the face, but when he ducked to avoid the blow, instead of hitting him, Mirby burst out laughing again, louder and more intensely, mocking Dylan by imitating his scared face.
“I’m starting to believe Iris about Mirby’s intelligence,” Albert remarked as Mirby laughed uncontrollably.
“Yes,” Keira agreed. “It’s kind of creepy, but I like her.”
“Me, too. And we must admit she just gave Dylan a good lesson,” Albert added, smiling.
Despite her nausea and headache, Keira nodded and smiled, too.
“Here we go!” Blip shouted as he rotated the ship to face the asteroid field while reversing the engine thrust and resuming slowing down.
The first rocks were already visible, and Blip had barely time to dodge the first impact, when a small rock appeared out of nowhere and almost hit them sideways. The next seconds were frenetic, with Blip trying repeatedly to avoid a collision, only to find new asteroids coming toward them. It was nerve-racking, but Blip seemed to have complete control of the situation. Then, as they dodged a huge boulder, another came at them at high speed, and Blip knew right away that he had no time to react. That rock would be their end. He swerved the ship down in a last futile attempt to dodge the collision. He closed his eyes and braced for impact, without announcing it to the others, as he didn’t want them to know they were about to die.
But nothing happened.
A small wandering rock appeared from the lower right at high speed and hit the big boulder from below, deflecting it slightly enough to prevent the seemingly inevitable collision. The small ship grazed the boulder with its top scorpion tail, but not enough to cause any damage. Up until now, everybody had their eyes closed because of the nausea and the nerve-racking tension, but the unpleasant grinding sound coming from the asteroid scratching the ship compelled them to open their eyes.
Behind Blip, Keira’s voice called him asking for answers. “Blip, what’s going on?”
Blip had no idea. He had missed the whole event by closing his eyes, but he didn’t care at all; he was glad they were alive. “Just a minor encounter,” he lied. “Don’t worry about it.”
The ship eventually came to a complete stop. The previously menacing asteroids now roamed harmlessly around the ship, as if they had lost interest in playing with them.
“Are we safe?” Dylan asked skeptically.
Blip looked back at them. “I think so, at least from the asteroids.”
“What’s next?”
The second phase had been a success, too. They were now in the middle of the asteroid field, surrounded by thousands, maybe millions of rocks. The Tukma would have a hard time finding them there, especially if they could find an asteroid big enough to land the ship on it. Blip explained their situation to the others. “Look for the biggest asteroid out there. We need a big one, one we can land the ship on before the Tukma come back to sweep the area. We must deceive them into thinking that the asteroid and the ship are one and the same, or we’re done.”
Blip speed up slightly and moved carefully around the asteroids. The others were now standing close to the window, watching for the perfect asteroid to land the ship on. Only Iris remained on her seat, still unconscious, and they didn’t bother her. They discovered several huge rocks, but their irregular surfaces didn’t present good landing spots for the ship.
“What about that one?” Albert asked. “I think we can descend onto that,” he added, pointing at an especially irregular rock. What had caught his attention was a volcano-like feature on one side, with a pit in the middle big enough to accommodate the ship inside.
Blip doubted it at first, but as the ship approached the asteroid, he became convinced that Albert was right. “Sit down again,” he said finally. “I’m going to try it.”
The descent was slow, but they arrived at the bottom of the pit without any incidents thanks to Blip’s expert handling of the ship. It was pitch-dark down there, but they could see thanks to their helmets and the emergency blue lights.
“How do we know when the Tukma have finished the sweep?” Albert asked finally.
“We don’t,” Blip replied. “We must wait here at least for a day.”
They received the news with resignation. It was better to be cautious than dead. And this was not the worst news. Since they had touched the bottom of the pit, another bit of information reached Blip from the small ship. It informed him that he had almost run out of fuel, and the ship would soon need some hard-to-find minerals to be able to operate. However, this time Blip would keep the news to himself. Before worrying about what would come next, they had to escape from the Tukma.
They left Iris and Mirby in the secure room and gathered in the kitchen in silence, their minds filled with questions about their future.
Would they avoid detection by the Tukma?
If they did, how would they cross the portal?
Would the Tolok come to their rescue even when they thought them dead?
Could they survive long enough in an unknown star system for that to happen—and, though most of them didn’t know it yet, with a ship that could become useless soon?
Maybe if they had known that, they would have abandoned all hope already.
Or not.
THE UNIVERSAL PORTALS
END OF VOLUME 1: THE OPENING