by J. Naomi Ay
“Okay?” I asked.
He nodded.
“You should have gotten out of the ship’s basement offices more often,” I told him. “This is nothing compared to some of the places I've explored."
“Like where?” His voice gurgled with bubbles like Oobel’s had done. Dave tipped his head upward, and watched as his droplets of air floated upward toward the now distant surface.
"I'll tell you later."
Oobel was uncovering a hatch, which was cleverly hidden beneath a coral reef on the sea floor. A golden beam of light shown through it as he tossed back the lid and swam inside.
“Follow me,” Oobel called, disappearing into the midst.
"We should go back," Dave muttered. "I don't like this."
"We've already come too far. Let's follow him. Furthermore, I don't think those guys are going to let us turn around." I pointed at the school of fish-men right behind us.
"You are just like Captain Katie,” Dave declared. “Either you are extraordinarily brave, or incredibly foolish. I was never quite certain which she was."
"Both," I replied, passing through a gate of coral and from there into a bright green sea.
Golden light shone from overhead as sea creatures surrounded us. There were many different species of fish in a rainbow of colors, as well crustaceans, sponges, and even more coral along the sea floor. I wished I had brought my camera. How I would have loved to snap pictures of these underwater gardens and post them in my Footbook group for my girlfriends to see. I could imagine Luci frantically typing, 'Blessed Saint, Anne, what were you down there?'
"What are we doing down here?" Dave asked, coincidentally, as he paddled along beside me. “Where’s the portal?”
“Hush, Dave.”
There was something about the sea, which required calmness and silence to appreciate its beauty. It was mystical, and almost magical, just like being in space.
In my next life, I decided, I’d join a Navy, and live in a submarine. Maybe Senya would like to be a shark instead of an eagle.
We passed through a rock fortress inhabited by more of the brilliantly colored fish. They waved with their fins and whispered in their gurgling voices. Apparently, everyone had been waiting, and knew exactly who I was, for I heard my name, MaKani, many times.
Oobel guided us through a passage, and into a courtyard where a ship sat waiting for us to board. The skin of the ship was green like the color of the sea, and the windows were darkened so we couldn't look inside. There were no markings, no logos, no name or numbers to identify who she was. It wasn’t clear to me if it could travel beyond the confines of the ocean.
Dave and I swam around it, while I tried to locate the propulsion system. There were jet drives, and from the looks of it, something else.
“I wonder if this can go to outer space?” I murmured, not expecting Dave to have any sort of clue.
"Why would anyone park a spaceplane down here? I’ve never seen anything like this before. Was this mentioned in one of those classes at the Academy which I slept through?"
"No," I replied, my own bad feelings growing more intense. "Probably, the reason they parked it here was because it was the best place to hide. Who would look down at the bottom of the ocean for a spaceship? Oobel! Where are we going? I want an explanation right now."
The fish man turned his head and eyed me curiously with one of his overly large, glassy eyes.
"MaKani," he gurgled. "You need to come this way."
"Do I have a choice?"
Oobel's response was to blink and blow more bubbles. The rest of his fish men crew surrounded us, their mouths open and their fins waving in a menacing way.
"Actually, you don't." Another voice spoke as the door to the ship’s cabin swished open, exposing what appeared to be a humanoid man waiting.
He had long silver hair that might have once been black. His face was clean shaven, and he was tall with a commanding bearing. His eyes were a bright orange, and depending on the light, they would almost shine like gold.
Unlike Senya's silver eyes, he had large dark pupils that stared at me with an expression I couldn’t discern. I stared back. There was something in this man’s face that was familiar, as if he was someone who I had forgotten. Inexplicably, my heart began race, and a shiver crept down my spine.
He looked like Senya, but also different. Close enough to be a brother, but that wasn't possible, was it? There was a glow about this man, yet it was also a coldness. Perhaps, it was an illusion from the diffused light above the sea. Or maybe, like Senya, the aura came from something else.
"Thank you, Oobel,” he said, his voice deep, and thickly accented, lyrical but not the same, not from the streets of Mishnah. “You have done your job well. Come MaKani. The hour is growing late, and I have been waiting for you for a long time."
"Who are you?" Dave demanded. "What do you want from us?"
"Nothing from you, human. I have come for only the woman."
When he looked at me, his voice softened, and the coldness that wafted off him seemed to warm a little bit. Of course, this could have been my imagination.
Hesitantly, I smiled back.
"Wherever she goes, I go," Dave insisted, puffing out his chest and raising his voice.
"Dave, no." I put my hand on his arm. "You might get hurt or even killed. Go home. I'm sure I’ll be fine. I promise, I'll be back very soon."
"Do you know him?" Dave asked. “Do you know what he wants with you?”
"No.”
Still the man smiled at me. He had brilliant white teeth with two oversized canines, just like Senya. Again, my heart inexplicably skipped. I felt as if I knew him, as if I had known him somewhere before. And, as strange as it was, I felt as if I liked him, maybe, even loved him once upon a time.
"Well, I won't allow you to go by yourself."
"Dave!" I insisted. "This is dangerous. Seriously, you don't need to get all chivalrous right now. I'll be fine. I always am. Go home before you get hurt." I started to swim over to the plane's door, to this man who I knew, but didn't.
"I'm coming." Dave followed up the ramp.
"I’m sure we’ll find a purpose for you,” the man said, stepping aside to let us both in.
As I passed, he reached for my hand, and brought it to his lips. Abruptly, I pulled my hand back, the feel of his lips still warm against my skin, that sense of familiarity, even longing, washing over me. “Sit down and buckle up. Once we are aloft, I will show you to your cabins."
He indicated a passenger compartment with several seats, a small galley and a narrow hallway that lead to a few private cabins. Despite the strangeness of the ship's outer shell, inside it resembled an ordinary small plane.
Taking a seat, I glanced at the cockpit door, and wondered who or what was piloting, and if it were possible to break inside.
"It is not." The man sat across from me, and read my mind. His long legs stretched out across the distance between us, his posture, and self-assurance reminiscent of Senya, but yet different.
“Who are you?"
“Can’t you guess?”
Now, he lit a cigarette, and took a long drag. Then, he smiled as he blew a perfect smoke ring into the air.
“The memories are there, MaKani. You just need to find them.”
“I don’t know you,” I insisted, lying. I did know him, but from where, how?
“You need to let yourself remember. Open your mind, and open your heart.”
“I’ve never met you.”
“Yes, you have, and you loved me before he took you away.”
“Who?” Dave demanded. “Me?”
“No,” the man smirked, his orange eyes flashing. “Certainly, not you.”
The ship began to move forward. It sped through the thick, green water before rising to the surface, and blasting off. From there, we headed out to space, the tiny moon and her gravity, holding us for only a brief few minutes.
I stared at the man as the rush of gravitation forces subside
d. The memory of him, if it existed, was out of reach.
“You're wrong,” I insisted, shaking my head. “I have never loved anyone but him, and I never will.”
He scoffed, and flashed a wicked smile, taking another drag on his cigarette, blowing the smoke in Dave's direction.
“This is what he has done to you. He has wiped your mind clean of all that came before. I will fix it. I will repair you. You will recall how it was when you and I were one and the same.”
Again, I shook my head. I didn’t want to know what he had to say. I didn’t want to think that I might have loved someone else in another lifetime.
“MaKani.” The man leaned across the aisle into me, whispering softly, his voice warm and intoxicating. “Katie, you loved me first. Trust me in this. He stole you from me, and now, I have finally taken you back.”
“Katie?” Dave gasped. “It is you! I thought so, but the chances were infinitesimally small. Imagine that! You and I ended up on the same moon, in the same RV park, after all these years. ”
“No!” I cried, and bolted to my feet, as if waking from a dream. “I demand you turn this plane around. I want to go back to the moon where we were camping.”
“No,” the man said. “This is a one way trip. Sit down and enjoy the ride. I promise you, you will. Don’t make it hard by fighting me. If you do, he will suffer in your stead."
Then, he rose to his feet, and strolled across the tiny cabin to the cockpit door.
“Who are you?” I shouted, my voice following him, echoing off the plane’s walls. “Are you Evil?”
“Is that what he calls me, does he? Well, he is one to say. Certainly, one could debate which of us that title better fits.”
“Tell me your name."
“Tell her,” Dave added.
“As you wish.”
The man turned around. His orange eyes flashed.
“Like him, I have many names. In this life, they refer to me as Rosso. Others speak of me with more affection. However, since you clearly can’t remember, I shall reintroduce myself to you.” He bowed deeply from the waist, and reached for my hand. "I am the one who loved you first, MaKani, in the heavens, and in the lives that came before. I am the one, who throughout eternity, you did vow to cherish, and I am the one who you betrayed. I am Luka, brother to the traitor, Mika, who fell from Grace to be reborn as the man called Sehron de Kudisha. ”
Chapter 13
Jim
“Do something, Jimmy,” Shelly demanded, pacing the short distance of the cabin while Gwen and I huddled on the couch. Todd was sitting at the table pouring himself a bowl of Tim’s cornflakes.
“Uh, dude?” I prompted. “Do you have any way to take back control of this plane?”
"Sorry, Duke," Todd replied. "Hey, Old Man, can you pass me the milk? I told you, Jim, this plane is about as technically advanced as a Dump Truck. You turn it on. You set your course. You shift into fly and away you go. Unless you want to go knock that dude on the head, and tie him up, we'll have to wait until we get to wherever it is he's taking us."
"The milk container is empty," the Admiral replied, studying the bottle by holding it up to the light. "You'll have to order another one from the Insta-Fridge on the wall."
"We don't have an Insta-Fridge on this plane," Shelly snapped, still pacing back and forth. "We have a mini-fridge, and right now, it's practically empty. We're all going to starve before we get to wherever he's taking us."
"There must be some other way," Gwen insisted. "What about the black box bay? Can we disconnect the controls or the power?"
"All starships have the Insta-Fridge system," the Admiral declared, rising to his feet. "I insisted it be part of the D-1-76-C specifications."
"How come you can remember the specs from a starship built sixty years ago, but you can't recall how to put on your own pants?"
"Shelly," I said with a sigh. "Leave him alone."
"That's alright, Thad. I can handle your mother myself."
"Is it time for your nap, Grandpa?" Gwen took the Admiral's arm.
"I have a call at oh-niner-thirty with Spaceforce Command. I'm going to inform them of the deficiencies in this vessel. I expect an immediate retrofit. Prepare to head for drydock after this mission."
"Ha!" Todd snorted. "We'll do that, Old Man. Tell them to send us some fresh milk while you're at it."
"There might be some powdered milk in the cupboard." Shelly disappeared inside the tiny galley.
"No, I only want the real stuff," Todd called to her. "I don't like that fake, artificial shit. If you don't have anything else, I'll have to eat my flakes with beer. Seriously, Jim. This ain't no pleasure cruise."
"Seriously, dude," I replied. "You're not supposed to be having fun. What about Gwen's suggestion? Can we disconnect anything from down below?"
"I don't know, bro. I just drive these things. I'm no engineer. You could try, but if you unplug the wrong one, you might end up cutting off our air supply. Why don't we attack the freak with something? Or, each one of us can grab an arm."
"Who?" Shelly demanded, returning from the galley with a box of crackers.
"Not you, Gran," I insisted.
"We can hit him on the head," Todd continued. "We need a shovel, or an axe, something hard and heavy."
"Oh sure. We all have shovels and axes in our staterooms," Shelly snapped.
“Gramps is asleep again.” Gwen returned, and rubbed her hands. “Poor man. What are we discussing? Axing who?”
“We're trying to figure out how to take out Napu,” I replied. “I think we should go downstairs, and look at the black boxes. Maybe they’re marked so we can figure out what’s what. If we can cut the power to the bridge just long enough for Napu to get alarmed, he’ll get up, and come downstairs to see for himself. Todd will race back to the cockpit, and lock the door, while the rest of us tackle and tie up Napu.”
“I’m not tackling anyone,” Shelly scoffed, and walked away.
“I’ll do the tying, if you do the tackling,” Gwen offered.
“Afterward, you can tie me up, Gwenie,” Todd said.
"You wish!" Gwen retorted.
"Actually, I do," Todd replied. “In the meantime, I’ll stay right here, and try to look innocent.”
After collecting Gwen and Shelly’s belts, my shoelaces and necktie, the Admiral’s bathrobe belt, and a roll of paper towels from the galley, Gwen and I climbed down the ladder into the ship’s basement. It smelled dank and a bit musty down there. The lights refused to turn on.
“There must be some sort of electrical short,” I remarked, punching the switch multiple times.
“Didn’t you have it inspected before you bought it?” Gwen asked, holding up her cell. She activated the Torch App to scan the face of each box.
“It was AS IS. I’ll get it repaired as soon as we get home. I promise,” I promised.
“If we get home. I can’t make heads or tails of any of these markings. We need the electrical schematic. I can try googling for it if you know the model, and year of this ship.”
I was just about to tell her, after pausing for a moment to recall the make of this spaceplane, when we heard someone on the ladder.
“Hide!” I hissed, arming myself with one of Gwen’s belts.
It was the one with a huge ornate buckle shaped like a horse’s head and studded with rhinestones. She usually wore it to Ladies’ Night at the Cowboy Corral in the mall. Gwen called it her Lucky Boyfriend Belt, as she usually managed to pick up some guy. I was hoping it would be lucky for me now as I quickly practiced swinging it at Napu’s head.
Slowly, Napu descended the ladder, each step taking about four of my heartbeats. I couldn’t see Gwen, as she had shut off her cell, and all I could hear was the Luminerian’s heavy breathing.
Suddenly, he was on the ground, the metal floor vibrating slightly as it absorbed his weight. I stepped out of the shadows, raising the belt over my head, and screaming something I hoped sounded like martial arts yell.
&
nbsp; “Stop!” Gwen shrieked, which initially caused me to whip the buckle in the direction of Napu. Fortunately, my aim was way off. “Don’t hit him, Jim!” Gwen yelled again, as the buckled collided with the metal ladder, the clanging noise resonating through the tightly confined space.
“What’s going on down here?”
It was the Admiral, and when Gwen flipped on her cell, we could see he was out of uniform again.
“Don’t look, Gwen,” I said, shutting my eyes.
“Thad!” The Admiral bellowed.
“It’s Jim.”
“What’s the matter, Grandpa? Did something wake you up?”
The Admiral brushed off Gwen’s arm, and strolled out into the bay. “Hmm,” he murmured, studying the boxes one by one. “You have a short in your electrical system. Have you tried overriding it with the redundant box 27-C-3?”
“Uh no?”
“Do you know which one that is?” Gwen asked as the Admiral opened a panel and flipped a switch or two. Something hummed, and I smelled a wisp of smoke, but the lights in the basement came back on.
“Oh!” Gwen gasped, now wisely covering her eyes.
“Admiral,” I took his arm, “Do you know which one cuts the power to the bridge?”
“What’s wrong with your bridge, Spaceman?”
“There’s an alien on it. We’ve been hijacked, sir. We need to take away his controls just long enough for him to get up and leave.”
“Why don’t you go in there and arrest him. Wrestle him to the floor. Hit him over the head with a brick.”
“I don’t have any bricks, sir,” I replied, steering the Admiral to more boxes. “Now, which one of these should we shut off?”
“This one,” Gramps declared.
“Are you sure about this?” Gwen called.
“Absolutely,” Gramps replied, flicking a switch.
“Jimmy?” Shelly shrieked from somewhere upstairs.
The engines shut down and the lights went off. We heard a scuffle above us, a few thumps on the floor, some heavy breathing, and Todd swearing a few times.