by Ethan Bibile
“So, are you doing anything today?” Their mother asked, standing up and putting her empty plate in the dishwasher that was snuggled conveniently underneath the kitchen bench.
“Well, I’m going to help Dad make some adjustments to the Audion this morning,” Quinn said, chewing on his toast. “He said something about increasing the speed. He bought some new parts yesterday that we’ll be fitting in, it should be awesome,” Quinn said smiling, before taking another bite out of the slightly charred toast.
“Honestly, that man,” Quinn’s mother said, clicking her tongue and shaking her head. “It’s a family ship, that’s what it was when he bought it! There is no need for him to make it any faster. He’s already done enough by adding time travel.”
Quinn snorted in contradiction.
“Time travel is awesome!” Quinn said, his eyes widening and face lighting up. His mother looked at him like he was insane. “It’s not a very good model, the thermal radiator will overheat if we try to travel over ten years, and upon arrival, it would just burn out and stop working.”
“Time travel is fun!” Natalie cried out, begging to be noticed and to be a part of the conversation. “I wanna go back in time and meet me! Then I could eat the pasta we had for dinner last night again. It was so yummy.”
“Thank you, sweetie,” Their mother said, smiling at her daughter, who smiled back, legs kicking underneath the table.
“There are laws against that,” Quinn added in as he took another bite of his toast.
“A law?” Natalie asked, puzzled, her eyebrows coming together. “Is that like a really bad thing?”
“Kind of. It’s something that tells you that you can't do something. It can get confusing, especially with that high level of politics. I’m telling you now, galactic politics is weird,” Quinn said, which only caused his little sister’s confusion to heighten.
“Quinn, stop confusing your sister,” Their mother said, putting dishes away into their own respective cupboards.
“Sorry Nat,” Quinn said, smiling at his little sister, who grinned back at him, one of her front teeth missing, something she often boasted about to anyone and everyone. “Has Dad already left?” Quinn said, turning his view from Natalie to look at their mother.
“He left about an hour ago,” She replied.
Quinn finished the last of his toast, smiling to himself as he stood up from the table. He put his plate in the dishwasher before washing his hands in the sink and drying them using the automatic hand dryer.
“I’m going to get dressed and then I’m going to go meet Dad,” Quinn said before walking out of the room and entering the vestibule. He ascended the stairs to the second floor two at a time.
Quinn went into the bathroom, brushing his teeth before hopping into the shower. Afterwards, he dried himself off in a white cylinder that was as tall as the room, the tube blowing up a gust of hot air from the vents at the bottom and from around the sides and top to completely dry off Quinn.
Once he was finished in the bathroom he went back to his room and put on a pair of jeans, alongside a grey physics-themed t-shirt and a tan jacket which he left unzipped. He ran his hand through his messy hair, giving it a slight wave to one side.
Quinn went over to a stand in the corner of his room where he kept his much loved and much-used hoverboard. A hoverboard was no delicacy on Nespritia, yet Quinn had heard rumours that on other planets not far off from his own, hoverboards were incredibly rare. For most planets, the reason came down to the incredible prices or the fact that the technology hadn’t even been invented yet.
Quinn’s hoverboard was simple, almost a rectangle yet the two ends were rounded. The top was black and on the underside of the hoverboard were two white circles that stuck out from the bottom slightly with even space in between the two of them. The circles encased all the technology to make the board hover.
Quinn descended the stairs quickly. He had his hoverboard tucked underneath his arm. His mother had put a strict rule on no hoverboards in the house after a ten-year-old Quinn Fenton rode one down the stairs and broke his arm.
“Bye Mum, Nat,” Quinn said, poking his head into the kitchen. “I’m off to the hangar.”
Quinn’s mother came over to him and kissed him on the cheek, before giving her son a stern look.
“Don’t you dare up the speed on that spaceship too much. Keep an eye on your father, would you? Don’t let him do anything stupid,” Quinn raised his eyebrow. Both knew that when it came to the subject of spacecrafts, when his mother said ‘stupid’, Quinn’s brain would think of the same thing as ‘awesome’.
“Oh, never mind,” She said shaking her head, knowing full well she and her son had very different views on spaceships. Quinn smiled as she went back over to the kitchen bench.
“Alright then. See you later Nat,” Quinn said, smiling at his little sister, who was still at the table eating her breakfast.
“Say hi to Daddy and Morgan!” Natalie asked.
“Will do!” Quinn replied, before walking out of the kitchen and making his way to the front door. He opened it, stepping out into the morning sun and shutting the door behind him.
Not many people were out now, but there were some people who decided to be up at eight thirty on a Saturday morning. Quinn went down the three stairs which led from his front door to the footpath, the stairs surrounded on either side by a beautiful garden that his mother was rather proud of.
Quinn put his hoverboard onto the footpath before stepping onto it and kicking off the pavement, riding down the street.
Quinn loved the suburbs of Filia. They were filled with genuinely nice people, some of whom Quinn was acquainted with.
“Morning Mr Reebs!” Quinn called out as he passed an elderly man of a different species who was working in his garden. Mr Reebs turned around, waving a hand that only had three fingers to Quinn. The three fingers were not from mutation, or from them being cut off, yet from what his species naturally looked like.
The planet of Nespritia was largely populated by humans. It was widely known that in the year two thousand and ninety-three, a human exploration group from the planet earth had landed upon Nespritia. Within twenty years of the event, a large group of humans roughly consisting of a billion people had migrated to the new planet. Over the years of the growth and development of the planet other species had made their way to Nespritia, proving to be friendly, and so began the peace between the human race and aliens. Now in the year two thousand one hundred and ninety-two, the planet of Nespritia was thriving and doing extremely well for itself.
Quinn continued down the path, waving in greeting to people that he knew as he went along. It didn’t take long for Quinn to reach an intersection, at which cars that travelled upon the ground drove around upon. Up in the air above the intersection was a blue strip of road, the road being transparent and only those with the best vision could see it against the bright rays of the sun which made it almost invisible.
The only difference between the cars in the air and the cars on the ground was that ground cars had four wheels underneath them, yet the cars that decided to travel on the airway had four circles underneath them, similar in appearance to the ones on Quinn’s hoverboard, yet the technology inside was completely different.
The cars almost had a beetle-like shape, with a glass window on the front of the car, one on the back and then one on either side. Most cars were designed like this.
The cars driving through the intersection were stopped by a red light, which allowed Quinn access to go across the pedestrian crossing with ease.
The hangar wasn’t very far from Quinn’s house, only fifteen minutes on a hoverboard at the most.
The hangar was a large building that was home to many spaceships. Owners of spaceships would pay a regular fee to acquire a spot for their ship, the fee depending on the size of the ship and the size of the parking spot.
Many hangars were located around the city of Filia, most of them owned by a business. In places lik
e the suburban area, a hangar held a maximum of twelve spaceships. Larger hangars in the city held up to fifty.
The twelve ships were all lined up in a row in the hangar, each of them in front of a large opening so that they could easily fly out of the hangar at will. A large roller door shut the hangar off from the rest of the world during the night. At the start of the day, the hangar would be opened by either the manager or an owner of a ship inside the place, each of these people having keys.
Quinn glided into the hangar, jumping off it as he arrived inside. He put the hoverboard underneath his arm and strolled over to his family’s spaceship.
“Morning Quinn!” Came a voice, and Quinn looked over to where a man in his thirties strolled over from an office in the corner of the hangar.
“Morning Tom!” Quinn called out, changing his path from the spaceship to go meet with the man.
Tom was about Quinn’s height and had a rugged look about him, short stubble on his chin and often dirty clothes. As well as owning the place he served as a fix-it-person for anyone who didn’t have the know-how on fixing spaceships.
“Good to see you here today. Your dad’s already inside your ship. Told me he’s got some impressive parts that will increase the speed on your ship. Seemed pretty excited about it,” Tom said, nodding in the direction of Quinn’s family ship.
“Oh yeah, he’s super excited,” Quinn replied. “Mum, however, not so much,” Quinn replied, shrugging his shoulders. Tom laughed.
“Yeah, your mum isn’t too keen on space adventures. The ship should be fine though. You’ve got a good one there.”
“Thanks, Tom,” Quinn said, before turning to walk over to his family ship. “See you later!” Quinn took off at a small jog over to the family spaceship. The Audion.
Tom was right, it was an impressive ship. It was large, had good specifications and on top of that, it included time travel, even if the Time Unit wasn’t the best. To add to that, the ship practically served as a second home for the Fenton family at times, this especially being helpful when they went on vacation to other planets.
The ship had a large thruster on the back, as well as two large thrusters on either side. These were attached with large triangular pieces of metal. Underneath the ship were smaller thrusters that all helped with movements like turning. Overall, the ship’s main colour was grey, and it was streaked with white and blue lines.
On the top was the cockpit which stuck up over the normal body of the ship. From below, Quinn could just see into the cockpit through the large glass window that was upon the front of the room.
Currently, the entire ship was supported by little metal rods that had been propped down. When the Audion would take to flight, they would all retract into the underbelly of the ship. At the back of the ship, there was a large cargo door that was open diagonally, which led to the cargo room.
Quinn went around to the back of the ship and up the cargo ramp, which his father had obviously left open intentionally. The cargo room itself was full of things that could sometimes be used in the outside world, as well as old, no longer needed ship parts of various shapes and sizes.
As Quinn entered the cargo room, his ears were met with a metallic voice that seemed to come from nowhere.
“Good morning Quinn,” Said the voice. Quinn, however, showed no surprise upon hearing the voice.
“Morning Morgan,” Quinn said, replying to the spaceship’s A.I.
Morgan was the Audion’s artificial intelligence. The ship hadn’t come with Morgan installed already, Quinn’s father bought the chip that included his brains on it at a market. After some tweaking using some complicated programming, Morgan had been installed on the ship and had basically become a member of the Fenton family. Like most other robots or A.I’s in the modern world, Morgan stood for something. Mechanically Operating Robotic Genius and Navigations.
“How are you this morning, Quinn?” Morgan asked as Quinn opened a door in the cargo room which led into the lounge. It was a circular room that was beautifully furnished. A nice maroon carpet covered the entire room. Couches, tables, televisions and other assorted pieces of furniture circulated around the room. In the centre of the room was a door that opened to a set of stairs leading up to the cockpit.
“Good, good. Woke up earlier than usual, Nat set my alarm. That reminds me, she says hi,” Quinn replied, putting his hoverboard on the floor next to the couch. Quinn strode around the back of the room and went through a doorway that led to a hallway. Doors split off that led to different rooms, including a kitchen and bedrooms for all of the family members.
“Well, tell Natalie I say hello back to her,” Morgan replied. “Your father’s in the engine room, by the way.”
“Thanks, I guessed as much,” Quinn said, coming to a set of descending stairs. Quinn went down them to where a door led into the engine room.
Entering the room, Quinn got a whiff of gas produced from machines in the room. The walls and floor may have matched the design of the rest of the ship, but the contents of the room did not.
Pipes were everywhere, crossing over each other upon the walls, in clumps around the room. Wires stuck out of walls which had levers, buttons and all sort of flashing lights adorning them. There were places where new pieces could be added, or older ones could be removed from the ship.
In the very centre of the room was a cylinder tube that sprouted from the ground and made its way up to the roof. The tube was made from pure, clear glass and inside was a purple, thick substance. Quinn didn’t know much about it, apart from knowing it was Time itself. He didn’t understand how, but the wires and controls around the tube helped to manipulate the Time so that it could be used to take the user whenever they wanted in time. However, as time travel was incredibly expensive, this Time Unit could only take the Fenton family ten years forward or back.
“Quinn?” Came a voice from behind and pipe, and from there popped the head of Quinn’s father.
Quinn’s father was about Quinn’s height, with a mop of brown hair that matched his daughter’]]s in every way but length. He had a kind face, and Quinn had inherited some of his father’s features in looks, yet people more commonly said that Natalie had stolen the sibling share of their father’s genes.
“What are you doing up this early? I wasn’t expecting you for another couple of hours,” Quinn’s father said, putting down the tool he had in his hand and strolling over to his son.
“Well, Nat set my alarm for seven thirty,” Quinn said, shrugging his shoulders and smiling. His father laughed.
“Well, you’ve come just in time. I’ve just finished installing the parts that will increase the speed of the Audion, it’s pretty cool,” Quinn’s father said, displaying much of the same excitement that Quinn had shown earlier. “Morgan, what’s our top speed?” He asked.
“The top speed that the Audion should be able to reach using these adjustments is double what it previously was,” Morgan replied.
“Ha-ha!” Cried Quinn’s father, jumping up into the air in exclamation before clapping his sweaty hands together. “I did it, I upped the speed!” He sang joyously. “Should we see how fast she can go?” He asked, and Quinn grinned at his dad in excitement.
The two left the engine room and took the stairs that led up to the hallway two at a time. They didn’t exactly run through the hallway, rather speed walked. They emerged in the lounge and took the ascending stairs that led up to the cockpit two at a time.
The two of them emerged into the cockpit of the Audion, which was really the most impressive room that the entire ship had to offer.
Five chairs were situated in the room, each one of them stuck to the ground, preventing them from moving from where they stood, the chairs formation creating a V shape with the centre most forward chair. In front of the chairs was a dashboard that was used to control the ship. At the front edge of the dashboard was a touchscreen where the controls for time travel were. Various other things could be controlled from there too. Just above the touch
screen were two levers, each controlling the power given to the side thrusters on the Audion. Underneath the dashboard were two footrests attached to a rail along the floor, giving them the ability to be pushed back and forth. The two footrests controlled where the two side thrusters of the Audion were pointing. If the footrests were pushed forward, the side thrusters would point towards the ground, thus sending the ship into the air. If the footrests were pulled back then the thrusters would point towards the sky, sending the Audion towards the ground.
At the back of the dashboard was a series of switches, levers and knobs, each having a different function. Attached to the roof were three monitors. One displayed readings on how the engines were working. Another was temporarily blank. The final monitor displayed a picture of the Audion. It displayed the movement of different parts of the ship, such as showing the direction the side thrusters were pointing.
A large window was at the very back of the dashboard, giving a view of the outside world. Currently, all Quinn and his father could see was the open hangar door, which wasn’t a particularly spectacular sight. The front window was also a large monitor, turned into this with a flick of a switch and the touchscreen on the dashboard acting as the controls for this additional display. If this wasn’t enough tech, in the corner was a computer station, and upon the roof above the front chair was another series of levers and switches, mainly used for igniting the engines.
Quinn’s father sat in the most forward chair, which was the Captain’s one, in this case, Quinn’s dad. He pressed a button upon the arm of the chair and two transparent blue strips popped out from the top of the chair and crossed over his chest, forming an X. Quinn did the same once he sat down, making sure his seat belt was stable. His dad then proceeded to flick a switch on the dashboard and a message on one of the screens overhead informed them that the cargo bay door was closing.