“No,” said Doctor Discovery, shaking his head. “I just wanted to know where it was. Because there are people chasing me down who would like nothing more than to find me and take me away.”
“Let me guess,” said Galaxy, in a sarcastic tone, “Professor Plagiarist hired Black Nova himself to kill you?”
“What? No,” said Doctor Discovery in an annoyed tone. “Of course not. While Professor Plagiarist is the scum of the earth, he is an honorable opponent, unlike those who run the Flat Earth Society. No, this enemy is someone else who is after me. I just barely managed to avoid getting killed by her earlier.”
“Well, who is it?” asked Space. “You can tell us. We won't tell anyone else.”
“Well, it does seem like you three are not affiliated with the government, and you did save my life when I contacted you,” said Doctor Discovery, stroking his chin. “Very well, then. But I will tell you quickly, because the woman who is after me is as persistent as a wolf after a lamb and may drag you into this conflict of ours whether you want her to or not.”
“So does this woman want to kill you?” said Galaxy. “Did you do something to piss her off?”
“No,” said Doctor Discovery. His voice took on the same grave dramatic tone from before. “She wants to do something even worse to me: She wants to marry me.”
“Marry you?” Space said. “Well, gee, that doesn't sound so bad.”
“But I do not want to marry her,” said Doctor Discovery. He made a fist with his right hand and looked up at the ceiling again, which Galaxy now thought of as a strange melodramatic habit of his. “There is no room for love or marital stability in the dangerous and unpredictable life of discovery that I lead. I can never even be certain that my own life will continue the next day. There is no way I can ever ensure the protection of a wife and children, and so I must deny myself what I desire the most in order to pursue the truth that no one else can.”
Galaxy was tempted to say, Maybe you're just paranoid, but she was interested in hearing what he had to say. Despite knowing how stupid and crazy he was, she had to admit that he had a mesmerizing way of speaking that she found hard to ignore.
“The woman in question is a Zinarthian princess named Ellaya Majito,” said Doctor Discovery. “One of the three hundred princesses of that world, in fact.”
“I've never heard of her before,” said Space. Then a look of realization dawned on his face and he looked at Galaxy. “Hey, Galaxy, you're part Zinarthian. Have you ever heard of this Ellaya Majito lady?”
“No, I haven't,” said Galaxy. “Just because I happen to be part Zinarthian doesn't mean I know the name of every member of Zinarthian royalty, after all.”
“Captain Galaxy is part Zinarthian?” said Doctor Discovery, sounding genuinely surprised. “That makes her a hybrid, if I am not mistaken. Of course, it was I who discovered that humans and aliens can mate and produce offspring, which we call hybrids, but again, Professor Plagiarist took that discovery and revealed it to the public before I could.”
That was just factually incorrect on too many levels for Galaxy to count, so she just said, “Yes, well, I take mostly after my mother, who was human. Anyway, let's get back to discussing this 'Ellaya Majito' lady you mentioned earlier.”
“Ah, yes,” said Doctor Discover with a grimace. “The Fire Lady, as she is known among her subjects. She wants to marry me, as I already said.”
“Why?” said Space.
“Because she believes that I would make the perfect mate for her due to my impressive physique,” said Doctor Discovery. He flexed his biceps for a moment before resuming a more neutral position. “But I had to reject her advances, because I am a man of science, not a man of love. That is to say, I am married to science and truth first. Romance is a distant second, if I ever consider it at all.”
“Right,” said Galaxy. “So what did you do after that?”
“I left Garth,” said Doctor Discovery. “And thought that was the end of it until Princess Majito came after me in her own personal cruiser and chased me to this quadrant of space, where she shot the engines of my ship out and left me to die in the middle of nowhere.”
“Geez, that seems like an excessive way to react to rejection,” said Space.
“Zinarthian royalty tends to be very bad at handling rejection,” said Doctor Discovery. “In any case, it's good that you found me when you did, because I would have died otherwise, along with all of my scientific knowledge, thus depriving the universe of one of its greatest minds.”
Something about Doctor Discovery's story seemed fishy to Galaxy. While she agreed with Doctor Discovery about how terribly Zinarthian royalty usually handled rejection (her father had once told her about how an ancient Zinarthian king had once waged war against another country purely because the queen of that country had rejected his advances), she found it strange that a princess would shoot Doctor Discovery and leave him here to die. Knowing how most Zinarthian princesses were, she would have thought that this Princess Majito would have hauled Doctor Discovery's ship back to Garth, where she would have forced him to marry her in one of the various complex Zinarthian marriage ceremonies.
He's not telling us the whole story, Galaxy thought, but she kept her expression neutral so that Doctor Discovery would not suspect her of suspecting him of lying. The only question, what is he trying to hide from us?
“Anyway, I must return to my ship right away,” said Doctor Discovery. He looked around for the exit. “I must check the damage and—”
“We can inspect it for you, Doctor,” said Sparky. “Your ship's air levels are very low. If you returned down there now, you would probably lose consciousness again.”
“Thank you for the kind offer, Sparky, but I must go anyway,” said Doctor Discovery. “There is something important—I mean, I would simply like to go check on my ship to find out exactly what the problem is. It is very urgent that I do so, you see, because my ship is, er, highly customized to my specific needs and only I can tell for sure what is wrong with it and what isn't.”
Doctor Discovery spoke with his usual bravado and unwavering confidence, but Galaxy knew there was something on the ship that he didn't want any of them seeing. She had no idea what it was, but she decided that she was going to find out.
“Then let one of us come with you,” said Galaxy. “I have training as a starship mechanic, so I can go down to your ship with you and help with any repairs. You can just tell me what I need to do. I'm good at following instructions.”
A look of irritation crossed Doctor Discovery's features before it vanished and he nodded, saying, “Very well. I suppose I could use your help. But only touch what I tell you to touch. Understood?”
Galaxy nodded, while thinking, As long as there isn't anything down there that you shouldn't have, of course.
“Then let us return to my ship,” said Doctor Discovery. “Do you have a spacesuit in my size that I can wear so I can breathe on my ship?”
“No,” said Galaxy, shaking her head. “Nor can we make one to fit your body type, because we don't have the materials to make more.”
Doctor Discovery frowned. “Then how can I go down there and inspect my ship to find out what the problem is?”
“I can go down there by myself,” said Galaxy. “You can guide me with our communicators.”
Doctor Discovery looked more than a bit displeased at that idea, which told Galaxy that he was indeed hiding something. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the ceiling again.
Then Doctor Discovery looked back down at Galaxy and said, “All right. I suppose that will have to do for now. I believe I can trust you three, because you did save my life, after all. If it had not been for all of you, my explorations into the deepest reaches of science would have been cut short for good.”
“Right,” said Galaxy. “I'll get suited up and ready to go. Space and Sparky can show you how to use our communicators and then we can do this.”
-
Half an hour late
r, Galaxy's feet landed on the floor of the Anagnorisis's airlock. She was wearing her spacesuit again, which was needed now more than ever, because according to the Adventure's systems, the Anagnorisis's air supply was even lower than it had been the first time she came down here.
“All right,” said Galaxy, speaking into her helmet's communicator, which was connected to the Adventure's computers above. “I'm in. Doctor Discovery, can you tell me where I should go look first?”
“Head to the control room,” said Doctor Discovery's voice over the speaker in her helmet, which sounded louder than normal due to the small space of her helmet's interior. “Reactivate the ship's computers and have it run a diagnostic to look for any damaged areas. Then return to your ship and we can use your tools to make any necessary repairs.”
“Fine,” said Galaxy, nodding as she walked toward the control room, through the hallway from before. “How do I activate the ship's computers?”
“I will tell you when you get there,” said Doctor Discovery, who didn't sound very enthusiastic about Galaxy being in his own ship. “It shouldn't be terribly difficult, although if the computers do not come back on, then that's a good sign that my beloved ship is damaged worse than I thought, maybe even damaged beyond what you two are capable of repairing with your tools.”
“If it's that badly damaged, we can always haul it to the nearest shipyard for repairs,” said Galaxy. “Think there's one on Orq not too far from—”
“No,” said Doctor Discovery in a hurried voice. “No, no, that is entirely unnecessary. That was just me speculating, which of course is always dangerous in science, but we scientists are all too human and so even we engage in silly speculations from time to time. I highly doubt we'll need to haul my ship to the nearest shipyard. Very doubtful. The damage is probably reparable with whatever tools and materials we have on board both ships.”
Galaxy was no fool. Doctor Discovery wasn't against the idea because he actually thought it was unnecessary. He was against it because he was hiding something on his ship, something that he didn't want anyone else to find. And Galaxy was determined to find it no matter what.
Therefore, rather than head down the hallway leading to the control room, Galaxy turned and went walking down the hallway on the opposite side of the airlock. She also made sure to disable her communicator as she did so. She did not want Doctor Discovery finding out that she was going to be looking through his things in search of whatever it was that he was hiding from them.
Granted, I should probably just go to the control room and leave, but if I can get Doctor Discovery for something illegal and have his stupid face thrown into jail, then this will be worth however angry he might get after finding out what I am doing, Galaxy thought with a smirk. Besides, the Anagnorisis isn't a very big ship, so it shouldn't take me long to find out what he's hiding down here anyway.
-
“Captain Galaxy?” said Doctor Discovery, standing in front of one of the computers on the bridge, speaking into the microphone that had flipped out of the panel next to the monitor. “Galaxy, have you reached the control room yet? Why aren't you answering me?”
Space—who sat in the floating captain's chair, which he always liked to do whenever Galaxy was away—spun around on the chair to look at Doctor Discovery. “What's the matter? Galaxy not responding?”
“Yes,” said Doctor Discovery as he removed the ear buds from his ears that had allowed him to hear Galaxy's voice. “And I find this very troubling indeed, because she does not know the interior of the Anagnorisis like I do. Without my guidance … well, I fear for her safety.”
“But your ship doesn't look that big,” said Space. “Unless it happens to be the kind of ship that's bigger on the inside than on the outside, but Galaxy always tells me that those types of ships are impossible to build and are nothing more than the fantasies of mid-twentieth century British science fiction writers.”
Doctor Discovery waved his hand at Space like that was silly. “Building ships that are bigger on the inside than on the outside is common scientific knowledge. It's first grade, kindergarten, even.”
“Wait, what?” said Space, blinking, unsure if he had heard Doctor Discovery correctly. “But I thought Galaxy said it was impossible.”
“Then your friend is behind the times,” said Doctor Discovery, shaking his head. He leaned down to the microphone again, holding the ear buds up to his ears, and said, “Galaxy, can you hear me? Galaxy, answer me right now.”
Now Space, despite knowing how independent Galaxy was, was starting to feel a little worried for her safety himself. He didn't know much about this Doctor Discovery person, but he still worried that Galaxy might have run into something dangerous on the Doctor's ship that might have cut off her communications with the Adventure.
It's probably nothing worth worrying about, Space told himself. Maybe we just temporarily lost contact with her or maybe there's something between the Adventure and the Anagnorisis that's blocking communications between them, something we can easily get rid of if necessary. Probably not worth worrying about.
His mind instead drifted over to Doctor Discovery's odd words, about how building ships with interiors larger than their exteriors was possible and 'common scientific knowledge.' Space was no science geek himself, but he knew that that actually wasn't possible. In fact, Galaxy had even forced Space to sit through an entire scientific presentation on why such starships would never, ever leave the realms of science fiction.
Of course, Doctor Discovery had already shown himself to have a somewhat loose connection with reality, but this made Space wonder just how accurate that assessment of the Doctor really was.
What if Doctor Discovery is in fact from some strange alternate universe where well-known facts—like the Earth being round—are considered great scientific mysteries, while others—like building ships with interiors larger than their exteriors—are considered common knowledge? Space thought. Maybe he slipped through a dimensional rift and ended up in our universe accidentally. That would explain why he acts the way he does.
Not only that, but Space thought it would be really cool if there was someone from an alternate universe on their starship. And romantic. As in, romanticism, not as in the other kind of romance, although Space had to admit that Doctor Discovery was indeed a good-looking man.
If Doctor Discovery is from an alternate universe, is it one where good is evil and evil is good? Space thought. He scratched his chin in thought. And does that mean that I have an evil twin? If so, is he really evil or just misunderstood? I could see myself being misunderstood. Yeah, that makes—
His thoughts were interrupted when the bridge's main computer screen suddenly blared, “INCOMING MESSAGE FROM DELKARIAN WARSHIP NUMBER TWO TWO THREE FOUR FIVE. CONNECT?”
“Delkarian warship?” said Space, exchanging a puzzled look with Sparky, who stood next to him. “What's a Delkarian warship doing all the way out here in this part of the galaxy?”
Doctor Discovery's face paled when he heard the computer's voice and, throwing the ear buds to the ground, said, “I am sorry, my friends, but can you tell me where your bathroom is? I have an urgent need to relieve myself and I cannot put it off any longer.”
“Uh, it's just down the hall, to the left,” said Space, pointing at the bridge's exit. “Are you sure that you want to—”
Doctor Discovery was out the sliding doors and striding down the hall, his boots clicking against the metal floor, so quickly that Space thought that the Doctor must also have super speed powers. He then heard the door to the bathroom slide open and close a second later.
Frowning, Space turned to face the computer screen and said, “Connect,” as he thought, Wonder who this could be.
Then the screen was filled with the face of a Delkarian. Space had forgotten how disgusting Delkarians looked. Unlike humans, Delkarians more closely resembled octopuses, although their eyes were far more intelligent than the eyes of your average octopus.
This particular De
lkarian's eyes were red—not a friendly eye color, as Space had learned from experience with other red eyed-beings—but the funny-looking captain's hat on the Delkarian's head ruined the menacing effect for him. The captain's hat was too small to cover his entire bulbous head, yet it somehow did not seem to be in danger of falling off.
“Ah,” said the Delkarian, his voice, which sounded like bubbling swamp gas, oddly familiar to Space, even though he couldn't place where he might have heard it before. “Mr. Jason Space and your robotic servant, Sparky. It has been a long time since I last saw you. I do not see Captain Helena Galaxy, however. Have you two gone your separate ways since we last met or is she somewhere else on your ship?”
Space glanced at Sparky, communicating with his facial expressions, Who is this guy again?
Sparky shrugged in response.
Turning his attention back to the Delkarian's face on the screen, Space said, “Uh, who are you, again?”
The Delkarian's red eyes widened in fury and he actually slapped the screen with his tentacle, leaving a trail of foul-looking goop on it that was hastily wiped off by someone—probably another member of his crew—standing just off-screen with a towel. “Who am I? Who am I? Are you telling me already that you do not know who I am? That you have forgotten your greatest foe? That you have forgotten me?”
Space stroked his chin, thinking hard about who this guy could be. “Well, you don't look like Rocky, that's for sure, or the Phantom of the Jungle, or even like—”
“My name is Takerious Ninda Omanx,” the Delkarian captain said. “Does that name ring any bells?”
Space stared at the Delkarian known as Takerious Ninda Omanx for thirty seconds before turning to look at Sparky. “Sparky, do you recognize the name?”
Sparky shook his head. “Negative, Mr. Space. I don't believe I've ever seen this particular Delkarian in my life. I don't even have any files on him in my memory.”
Omanx looked like he wanted to scream and hit the screen again, but instead he said, in a voice full of barely-contained rage, “I know that you remember me. You are merely pretending that I am so insignificant that you do not even remember me. You humans do not fool me. I have seen this sort of trickery from others and will not fall for it.”
The Spacetastic Adventures of Mr. Space and Captain Galaxy: Season Two Page 3