“Ah, Crystanaphy, my dear! These humans have gotten themselves into a little spot of bother. One of them is being healed by Crystaline as we speak. He will be joining us very shortly.”
The woman’s stare was cold, uncaring as she forced out her short response.
“So I heard.” was all she said.
The king and everyone else sat around the table, with the three Urashans on one section, and the five humans on the other. Only one seat remained vacant.
“So,” the leader of Urasha began, “you have all met my only son, Crystos. I would also like to introduce to you my sister, Crystanaphy. Well…I say sister, but only through marriage.” The king noticed a brownly clothed waiter stood by the table, “a drink anyone?”
“Sure,” responded Phil, “what would you recommend?”
“What would I recommend? Well, my favourite drink is a fruity favourite of mine called the apocoli. Would you like to try an apocoli, Captain Harper? ”
“Well, if it’s what you’d recommend, then who am I to knock it?”
The king smiled, seemingly content,
“And the others?”
“They’ll have the same as me.” Phil answered for them.
“Marvellous! Waiter, get each of us an apocoli, please...and get an extra one for the injured boy.” The king turned to look at Phil, “Crystaline should be finished with him soon.”
The waiter bowed to his king, leaving through the many clusters of people until he could no longer be seen.
“I’ve had the pleasure of talking to you, Phil, but now I’d like you to introduce me to the rest of your human team. I don’t believe I’ve ever met any of them? No?”
Phil cleared his throat, not seeming one hundred percent comfortable with this situation. Nevertheless, the captain answered the king’s question, introducing each of his team members to the man and his family. He introduced Lottie last.
“And last, but by no means least, this here is Lottie. She’s a fine young woman. We’re lucky to have her on board.”
Lottie could barely look at the king as he watched her. His eyes, they would not leave her, and his face, why was he looking so entranced? The king had not looked at anyone else like that. To Lottie’s horror, the Urashan leader took her hand, and gave it a long peck with his cold lips.
“Lottie,” the man purred, “so young, so beautiful. It is such a pleasure to meet you.”
As soon as the opportunity arose, Lottie removed her hand from the king’s grasp. He was obviously a freak, and Lottie just wanted him to start discussing her way off of this awful planet. This situation was starting to feel way too awkward.
Looking completely self satisfied, the king thankfully turned back to Phil.
“And what about the injured boy?” He asked,
“His name’s James. He’s on his first mission, just like Lottie is.”
“Well, young James seems like a brave boy. He’s clearly not afraid to get his hands dirty is he?”
Phil cocked his head to one side, irritated by the king, protective towards James.
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, his injuries speak for themselves, don’t they?”
“He was injured trying to fix a part of our ship, not through combat.”
The king was quiet for a brief moment,
“Still, he’s clearly not afraid to get stuck into a dangerous task, is he? I like that. I could use someone like him here in Urasha.”
Phil could already feel his arms tensing. If James hadn’t just entered the restaurant, he’d have said something he might have regretted. This king was pushing his luck, but his daughter, there was no doubt, she’d done an incredible job on James. His shirt was completely clean, and his head wound, it had completely vanished. James took the spare seat upon the king’s overly enthusiastic instructions to do so. Crystaline and James had timed their appearance rather well, with the waiter returning with the bright pink apocolis. The king had instructed the skinny young Urashan to leave everyone their drinks, and then the leader had dismissed himself from the table, taking Crystaline to a discreet corner of the room with him.
Although James could not hear what the king and his daughter were saying to one another, the young space warrior could see that whatever conversation father and daughter were having, it did not look loving. Neither Crystaline nor her father were even smiling slightly.
Phil was the one to break through James’ fixation on the royal pair. His captain had asked him if he were okay. James had responded with a rather absent sounding “yes.” His curious eyes had a new target now: Crystos, the young prince sat opposite him. Although Crystos couldn’t even see what was going on between his two closest family members, the man still seemed connected to the conversation taking place several metres behind him. The young prince had taken on a new expression, one which James was yet to see on an Urashan. Crystos looked enraged. It was as if the man was waiting for something to happen. That something would tick off a bomb inside his brain, causing all of that anger to be released from him. James wondered what the king could be saying to Crystaline. He wondered why Crystos and that other Urashan woman were in fact left out of the conversation as well.
James didn’t have to wonder for long, for the king soon returned, retaking his seat. It was clear that Crystaline would not be joining the table, and as she walked past it, James noticed a brief pained facial exchange between brother and sister, and then Crystaline was gone. A moment of silence loomed over the table, and then Crystos put an end to that silence, slamming down both of his fists on the table, and sending small splutters of everyone’s drink onto their faces. Lottie tutted under her breath, whilst an angrily shaking Crystos left the room in the opposite direction to what his sister had done.
James looked at the older Urashan woman. Her expression was no longer distant, uncaring. For now her face had taken on a new tone. The woman looked uncomfortably troubled. The king himself didn’t look any less troubled either. In fact, the Urashan leader, he looked guilty? What had he done?
Cryston’s shaking hands took a hold of the fragile drink glass. He held it to his mouth, and took a sip from it, as if hoping that this drink would help to ease whatever storm was going on inside him. The drink appeared to have little positive effect on the man as he attempted to scramble out his sentence.
“I’m sorry for that...that interruption.” The king stroked his glass as if he hoped to gain some degree of comfort by doing this. “My son...he’s a little overprotective towards his sister.”
To James’ surprise, Phil’s unconcerned, yet calm voice reached out to the king.
“I think all brothers are a little overprotective towards their sisters. We all want to protect the ones we love.”
Phil’s words appeared to be of little help to the king. If anything, they appeared to have done more harm than good. Phil’s next choice of words, on the other hand, seemed to fix whatever had broken inside the king. Phil had moved the topic of conversation along, reasonably suggesting that the king explained the terms of this ‘agreement’ that he had been meaning to discuss.
“Ah yes, that,” the king had said as he continued to caress his drink glass. The confidence was coming back to him now. “Yes, let’s not forget why we are here. Your ship is in so such state to fly, and you wish to get to Nebowska? To help the unfortunate Nebee? Is that correct?”
Phil nodded. The king was spot on.
“Well, we can fix your ship. We may not have ships quite like yours, but we have the resources to ensure that your Earthship is up and running again.”
Phil crossed his arms, leaning back into the silver chair behind him.
“Great, we would appreciate that immensely. Thank you.”
The king swirled his pale bony forefinger around and around in his drink. He watched as his movements created patterns in the apocoli.
“Of course, such resources would cost me dearly. As much as I’d like to offer you a gift of kindness, I can’t afford to. That’s no
t to say that I’m not prepared to help you. It’s just, well, I would need something in return from you.”
Phil rolled his eyes. Part of him had been expecting this. He knew what Cryston was like.
“Okay, so what is it you want from us?”
“There is a stone, a very important stone to my people.”
“And what about this stone?”
The king released his hands from his drink, cupping the air in front of him to present James.
“You’ve seen the work that my dear daughter has done on the boy. Look at the way she’s managed to completely heal him. Well, this stone will expand those healing capabilities of ours greatly, and we’re yet to get our hands on it.” Cryston took another sip of his drink, “it’s not located within the city.”
Phil took an anxious sip of his own apocoli. The liquid tasted nice, sweet and fruity. Though right now, Phil wasn’t focusing on the wonderful taste of the drink.
“It’s great that you guys can heal and all that, it really is. I can’t see what we can offer you though. I mean, if the stone’s not located in the city, then how do you expect us to help you find it? Because that is what you want from us, right?”
“How very shrewd of you, Captain, really. You are however wrong about one thing, you can help us to retrieve the stone. Yes, it is not within the city, it is however on this planet, in the wild lands, not too far away from the city.”
“But your wilderness is highly dangerous. I’m not sending any one of my team members out there.”
“You say that, Captain Harper. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s admirable really. You’re so compassionate towards your team. I respect that, I really do. You can’t however wrap them up in safety. Most of them are trained for these sorts of occasions, are they not?”
Phil wished that he had a point to argue right now. The truth was, he didn’t. He just didn’t want his team to have to face any unnecessary dangers.
“Furthermore,” the king continued, “if I felt that this situation was life threatening, then why would I send both my son and my daughter out to accompany you? You see, Phil, my daughter is quite the skilled navigator. A map was left by our dear ancestors, and my daughter knows the map by heart. She and her brother know how to reach the stone. They just need a few more numbers, that’s all.”
“Okay,” Phil said, leaning further back into his chair, his frustrations building. “So if you’ve known about this stone for a while then why have you waited until now to get it? I don’t see why you couldn’t just get your guards to help? You have plenty of them?”
The king sighed. Phil’s point was a fair one.
“It is true, I have neglected the stone, yes. Perhaps I have just been too busy to really focus my energy on getting the stone. I am however, an opportunist, and well, I see this as an incredible opportunity for us both. Like I said, I can’t afford to just hand out my resources to you, and not to sound too harsh, Captain, I don’t see any other alternative for you and your people.”
Phil sat quietly for a moment, weighing everything up in his mind. This was bad, but at the same time, the king was in the driver’s seat here. The man had the higher ground. He was the one who was capable of calling the shots, and Phil, he just had to go with them.
“Okay, fine, how many of us do you need?”
“Oh, just a few. No offence, but some of your team members do look a little fragile. I would suggest the boy - James, yourself, and the other young man. The rest of your team can stay here in the palace, ensure that we keep our end of the bargain.”
Phil shook his head grimly,
“I’m not happy about this.”
“I know it is less than ideal, but I really don’t see any other option. If I could afford...”
“Fine,” Phil interrupted, not wanting to listen to anymore of the king’s nonsense. “We’ll help you to retrieve your stone, whilst you fix our ship. By the time we get back, the ship will be fixed? Right?”
“Right,” the king agreed, happy with the outcome of the conversation.
“Ideally we’ll have you all set off as soon as possible. You do however realise, that we do not allow your human weapons on our planet. So before you set off, we will need you three to undergo a day’s training with the sworshas.”
“Sworshas?” James’ curious lips opened for the first time in this conversation.
“Yes, weapons of ours. You three will meet Crystanaphy here in this restaurant before midday. She will then transport you to the training courtyard. You’ll all be able to start the hunt for the stone once you are all ready. In the mean time, I can see that you have all had a long day. I want you all fit and ready for this mission, so it is important to me that you all get adequate rest. Come, to the sleeping rooms.”
The king raised from his chair, leading everyone out of the noisy restaurant, and into another long white corridor. Unlike the earlier corridor, this one seemed slightly warmer somehow. Maybe it was because James was traveling amongst friends, or maybe it was because of the soft red carpet beneath his feet. Either way, it was shaping up to becoming a far pleasanter experience than before.
As the group navigated past more and more turns and corners, James found himself slipping behind the others. Unlike them, he was interested to take in his surroundings, causing him to slow his pace considerably. The young space warrior was completely halted on the spot when he heard a strange noise. As he listened for the source of the groaning, James realised that it was coming from a door, one which was slightly ajar. Feeling curious, James crept towards the door, slowly leaning his head towards its little opening. He was shocked by the sight which awaited him. There, in that room, was none other than Crystaline. The Urashan princess was not alone, locking herself in a sexual embrace with a middle aged Urashan man. This, it did not look right. A woman like Crystaline with a man like him? Something about this was wrong. James recoiled away from the door as soon as he heard Lottie’s voice.
“James? What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I er, I heard a noise, so I thought I’d check it out.” Before Lottie could make her way over to the door to check out the mysterious noise for herself, James walked away from the room, finishing his explanation with a whisper. “Turns out it was nothing though. Must have been my imagination playing tricks on me.” As James and Lottie caught up with the others, James wondered if Crystaline had heard him talking to Lottie just now.
It only took the king another minute or so to lead the humans to their rooms. Once outside the six rooms, James had immediately noticed the pile of suitcases bundled up in the centre of the corridor. Earlier on, Crystaline had explained that the Urashan guards had retrieved the belongings of everyone from the Earthship. Obviously, they didn’t know who was staying in what room. Otherwise the suitcases would be in the rooms already.
Once inside his room for the night, James placed his bulky suitcase on the centre of the shaggy red carpet. Again, he decided not to unpack anything. What was the point? He wasn’t going to be staying in this luxurious palace for long, was he? James scanned the golden walls of the room. Even the furniture here was mostly gold, with the massive round bed being the only exception, sharing the softness and the colour of the carpet beneath it. The young space warrior wondered over to what he could only assume was the washing area. The area had no door, but it was sectioned off by half a wall. The toilet was unusual. It was golden, and it resembled a bulky square step, raised thirty or so centimetres from the floor. Above it, there was a small hole in the wall, and attached to the side of the toilet was a piece of string with a rubber handle attached to it. Wanting to ensure that this was in fact the toilet, James tugged on the string, watching as the water was released from the hole, gushing into the golden toilet. You wouldn’t be able to flush these toilets whilst sitting down, that was for sure. Although the very image of Phil going to the toilet was completely and utterly grotesque, James found amusement from the image when he pictured Phil stupidly flushing himself with all that water. Would
the man ever be that dumb? James hoped so, sniggering away as he stared at the jagged silver mirror in front of him. Urashans had mirrors too, go figure. They also had washing basins with running water. This planet was freakishly similar to Earth in so many ways.
After readying himself for bed, James’ sleepy eyes scanned the walls for any sign of the light switch. The warm orangey light had already been on before he had entered the room. Yet surely, a light would need an off switch? Just as he was about to give up on turning off the light, James found a small purple button near to the small round window. He pressed it, and out went the light.
James waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and then he scampered over to the humungous round bed, pulling open its silky red covers as he climbed into it. James’ body immediately sank right into the luscious warm material. This had to be by far the most comfiest bed that the young space warrior had ever slept in!
As the bed continued to hug his body, James could feel that his eyelids were feeling surprisingly droopy. The young man had so much to think about, yet his brain just would not let him process a thing, sending his mind into complete darkness.
For a while, James just lay there, enjoying the nothingness all around him. Unfortunately for James, this peaceful nothingness wasn’t to last for very long. The young space warrior watched, horrified, as an all too familiar scene began to unfold right in front of him.
The young space warrior ran his fingers through the searing hot sand. He mustered the strength in his body to stand. The glitters of ash fell all around him like snowflakes. That heavy rumbling sound, those cruel, callous little voices rang in James’ ears incessantly.
The young space warrior began to navigate his way across the landscape, walking around the many lava pools and boulders.
“JAMES!”
The young space warrior turned on his heels, running towards the blood curdling scream. As James turned a sharp corner, he tripped and fell onto his hands and knees. There she was, that woman.
The injured woman staggered about for a while, clutching onto the side of her tight black costume. Then, without warning, she fell face-down onto the ground. James got up and ran towards her.
Diversion To Urasha (Space Era Book 1) Page 6