Unfathomable Chance

by K T Munson

  “What are they doing?” Diana asked, looking over the landscape.

  “They decided to go inside their own minds, and they all went insane,” Maura said soberly. They soon fell out of sight as the ship landed at the edge of a city.

  “Best nightclub in the universe!” Sora yelled, coming through the threshold. Diana gave him a look of befuddlement.

  Maura smiled and agreed. “Well, there is that.”

  Chapter 11

  Diana had expected to step out onto the planet and feel the warmth of the sun. Instead, she felt almost nothing. In that moment she grimanced down at her clothes and realized that she hadn’t changed in two days. She had used their strange sonic shower, but nothing else.

  “Kal Zed,” Diana said, kneeling down, “how do people pay for things?”

  “With credits,” Kal Zed informed her as he yawned.

  “How do I get those?” Diana asked quietly.

  “You earn them,” he said.

  “Hey!” Maura called, and Diana turned back. She threw Diana a robe. “You have to wear that while you are here.”

  Diana caught it and then, feeling the strange material, nearly dropped it. It was silvery and seemed to shift like water in her hands. She held it up and watched as every color of the rainbow played off of it like the iridescence of a bubble. Before Diana could ask her a question, Maura was already off the ship.

  “It is to protect us from the radiation,” Sora said, jumping down from the ship’s hold. “Their star gives off a different composition than most stars. Don’t get lost.”

  Diana immediately pulled on the robe and even donned the hood before she left the ship. Sora laughed as he walked by. Nihal came down behind them carrying a large metal piece that she assumed was part of the engine. He growled at Diana when he walked by, coupled with what she imagined was a glare. Kal Zed gave a little rumble of annoyance that only cats seem capable of making, a warning of what was to come.

  She wasn’t very good at picking friends or at making enemies. Currently she had the loyalty of a self-important cat and a tree that were compelled to help her, and a dubious but curious teenager. Her enemies included a boulder man who could crush her skull in one hand and the captain of the ship who could easily leave them stranded on this radiation soaked planet. Not exactly the A-Team.

  The buildings on this planet were made from some strange-looking glass. The glass was green and shimmered in an odd color that matched her robe. No douubt it had something to do with the radiation. Everywhere she walked, the people sat or stood, their four arms held up in worship of the sun. At first she had not noticed, but she saw now that they were slowly turning with it.

  “Why do they turn with the sun?” Diana asked as Kal Zed trotted next to her.

  “It is said that the radiation from the star heals their brain enough so they can party when it sets,” the cat informed her, a little out of breath. “In a way it is their sleep cycle. The days are shorter here, as are the nights, which is why the sun is traveling so quickly.”

  “When do they eat?” Diana asked, looking around.

  “They don’t. In a way they are like plants and absorb everything they need from the starlight,” Kal Zed explained.

  “So they basically just sleep and party?” she asked, looking down at him, astonished.

  “The children do the rest,” he explained. “You shall see.”

  They walked into a dome building. Inside were little children that only had two arms. One nearly tripped over Kal Zed, who gave an angry meow to make his presence known. The packed area presented a problem for the little cat, and Diana picked him up.

  “That better?” Diana said, smiling.

  He turned his golden eyes on her, his tail flicking around. “We don’t like to be held, but you honor me by carrying me. I will make an exception.”

  “I can put you back down,” Diana said uncomfortably.

  “It is nice to be tall,” Kal Zed reassured her, studying their surroundings.

  Diana smiled and hurried to catch up to Nihal’s bulky form. Nihal set the engine piece down before picking up another one that didn’t have a massive burn mark on it. Curious, Diana’s eyes darted amongst the children, who were busy helping others load goods in what appeared to be a fancy mall. There were aliens she had seen on Maura’s ship but even more that she had not. It was all so wonderful and terrifying.

  “The universe is so big,” Diana said, breathless.

  “And there is still so much you have not seen,” Kal Zed said. “Though you are probably missing Earth.”

  “I carry Earth in my heart,” Diana said, reassuring him and herself. “That way it is with me no matter where I go.”

  “That is an amazing skill to have in a traveler,” the cat said.

  “There is a saying that always struck me,” Diana recalled. “‘It isn’t the place that is foreign, only the traveler.’”

  “Girl!” Maura called, waving her over.

  “That is disrespectful,” Kal Zed mumbled under his breath.

  “What is it?” Diana asked, hurrying over, disregarding Kal Zed’s comment.

  Maura pulled Diana’s hood further down over her face and nodded towards a bunch of posters. There were pictures of all kinds of aliens and there, nestled among them, was a picture of Diana’s portrait from the front and side. She picked it up, and her mouth dropped open as Kal Zed’s body rumbled. With dread, she realized it was a wanted poster; that couldn’t be good.

  “What do the Dracoon want with you?” Maura demanded as Diana shook her head.

  “What’s a Dracoon?” Diana asked, still shaking her head.

  Maura pointed at another poster. A scolding man with long black silky hair and pointed ears. Her mind instantly shot back to the four-hundred-year-old sex-god-like alien she had met; the man in the picture was the same alien race. She felt a blush rise up into her cheeks and nearly dropped her wanted poster.

  “Oh,” Diana managed as she tried to swallow the dryness out of her mouth.

  “Oh?” Maura asked, taking the poster and putting it back up.

  “I might have met one,” Diana said, glancing down at Kal Zed with a grimace on her face.

  “What does the House of Lith want with you?” Maura repeated slowly.

  “The House of Lith?” Kal Zed asked, startled. “When exactly did you meet a Dracoon?”

  Diana opened her mouth and looked around at everyone waiting for an answer, before she closed it. Trying to think of the best way to broach the delicate subject, she couldn’t very well tell them the bracelet that bears the Heart of the Cosmos had transported her to his ship above Earth. That wouldn’t be exactly subtle, and it would give away what she was. Telling them put her in danger, and she didn’t trust any of them enough to divulge that information.

  “When I was still back on my home planet,” Diana finally said. “I don’t know why he is looking for me. I saw him all of five seconds.”

  “The Dracoon don’t trifle with just anybody,” Maura said, taking her arm and leading them away. “They are willing to pay for you. You must have done something in that short time.”

  Diana remembered he knew what she was and wanted her because of it. “Maybe,” she muttered.

  “You were right,” Maura said with a look of disgust. “I should have let you leave; you have caused me nothing but trouble.”

  “You aren’t going to leave us here, are you?” Diana asked, hurrying after her as she left the building.

  “I should,” Maura said coldly.

  “But you won’t?” Diana asked hopefully.

  “You need to give me a good reason not to,” Maura said, stopping in her tracks.

  “You lost our ship?” Diana said with a strained smile.

  “You need to stop keeping the truth from me,” Maura spat, sounding like she was at the end of her rope. “You are putting me and my crew in danger by keeping your secrets. What has brought one of the most powerful Dracoon families to your door and now mine?”
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br />   “Stop!” a man yelled, and they all turned.

  A handsome Dracoon with black hair held a strange contraption that suddenly clicked and ejected a net. Diana took an uneven step back as the net hurdled towards her. Kal Zed jumped from her arms, straight into the net, and it instantly wrapped around him.

  “Kal Zed!” she yelled as she tripped, reaching her arms out for the cat.

  “Nihal!” Maura said pulling the gun from her belt as Diana fell on her back.

  “I break!” Nihal said and brought his fists down pounding into the ground.

  The sidewalk cracked, and the black haired man stumbled while he was reloading. Two other men appeared beside him, one firing at Nihal. When Diana’s head hit the ground, her mind rushed through time and she saw the trees again. A song started and she listened as the first Dracoon’s face flashed across her mind. It was joined with her own whisper of help.

  “The girl is not to be harmed,” said the first Dracoon.

  Maura moved seamlessly towards another Dracoon who had slipped around Nihal’s grasp. He was ducking and attempting to stay out of the boulder’s reach. Diana pushed herself up and started towards Kal Zed, who was hissing and clawing wildly inside the net.

  “Kal Zed,” she called as she ducked under a chunk of ground Nihal threw at one of the Dracoons.

  Kneeling by Kal Zed she started to untangle the net. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “Bearer!” Kal Zed called loudly as a fourth man appeared and tried to grab her arm.

  Shifting away from him before he could grab hold she watched in horror as the Dracoon stepped on Kal Zed. She heard the distinct sound of breaking bones as the cat gave a startled cry. Her anger began to well up as she reached her hand out and touched the Dracoon’s chest. Red light burst off her like a wave and threw the man back.

  A humming feeling filled in as she looked back down at the net that had trapped Kal Zed. Desperate to get him back she watched as it unwound in front of her and fell away into dust. Reaching down, she picked up his little gray body. Kal Zed’s breathing was labored and he whimpered at her touch. Red light poured off her hand and into him. His breathing settled, but he was clearly still in pain.

  It was then she noticed she seemed caught in a strange wind, her hair dancing as she turned her eyes on the other men. More had appeared, and Nihal had been subdued. Maura had kept them at bay, but everyone had frozen to look at her in awe.

  “They are under my protection,” Diana said harshly. “Walk away.”

  They all stepped back, exchanging unsure glances. Staring at Diana with wide eyes, Maura let her arm slowly fall to her side. Nihal stood. His arms were pinned against his body by a net, and he looked annoyed, but he gazed at her with the same fear reflected in all their eyes. Maura sliced through Nihal’s ropes, freeing him, and all of them headed back toward the ship.

  As Diana turned to leave with them, she paused, glancing back at the Dracoon. “If your master wants me,” she said in a low voice, “tell him to come get me himself.”

  Chapter 12

  When they were safely back aboard the ship, Diana headed straight towards Grek’s medical station. Kal Zed was still whimpering in pain. Diana couldn’t believe what had just happened; it was both scary and super badass. She glanced down at the bracelet and realized that everything came with a price; it was as much a source of power as it was a golden handcuff.

  “He called you Bearer,” Maura said from behind, startling her from her thoughts. “As in Bearer of the Heart of the Cosmos?”

  Diana paused. Maura wasn’t watching her with fear any longer. Now she seemed to be looking at her with hope. With one word of affirmation, she could go from a terrifyingly powerful being to something to be revered, and yet she still hesitated. The bracelet had caused her nothing but trouble, and she still wanted to rid herself of it.

  “Would it change anything if I was?” Diana said, dodging the question as she turned and hurried towards Grek, who had seemed, from her earlier experience, to be the medical member of the crew.

  “Oh dear!” Grek exclaimed in his same terrified voice as he hurried over to them. “What happened here?”

  “I think he has a broken bone,” Diana said as she carefully set Kal Zed on the medical table.

  Maura came and stood beside her. “It would change everything.”

  “You’re right,” Diana said harshly, “because it has changed everything already. I turned twenty-three and my entire world fell apart. I should be preparing for my graduation, and instead I’m stuck halfway across the galaxy with a magic bracelet, a talking cat, and a fish who is a doctor!”

  When she finished she was breathing heavily, trying to keep her tears at bay. She had wanted a simple life like her parents. In her mind she would teach and work until she found that person who completed her. They would have children, and they would move back closer to her parents. None of that involved becoming Empress Diana of the entire freaking universe!

  “For over a decade, the galaxy has been without its leader,” Maura said. “It needs you.”

  “The only person who needs me right now is Kal Zed,” Diana countered.

  Maura was surprised and then unhappy. Grek glanced between them before turning his attentions back to Kal Zed. Diana concentrated on his little grey body and felt suddenly very small. It didn’t matter that she wore the bloody Cosmos Gem on her arm. It couldn’t help him.

  “Kal Zed has a collapsed lung and broken ribs,” Grek said, looking up at her. “Diana needs to leave.”

  Diana grudgingly agreed with a nod before walking out of the room. Maura followed behind, and the door closed. They stood silently in the hallway and stared at each other. Diana’s mind raced. Maura seemed to be looking at her expectantly, and Diana couldn’t think of what to say.

  “Why did you place us under your protection?” Maura finally asked.

  “You could have run when they came for me,” Diana said. “Instead you placed yourself between me and danger when you didn’t even know what I was.”

  Maura nodded. “It was the right thing to do.”

  Diana was confused. This was coming from the same woman who had captured Kal Zed’s ship and attempted to rob them. “Why are you even a thief?” Diana asked, leaning against the wall outside the door.

  “My parents were radicals. They believed in doing the right thing so much that they became criminals,” Maura said. “This is the only way I can keep my brother safe.”

  “What happened to them?”

  Maura frowned and crossed her arms. “They’re dead.”

  Diana didn’t understand the way the galaxy worked. “Then why are you being persecuted?” Diana asked, hoping to get more insight.

  “The leaders of my planet feared my parents because people listened to them. My parents spoke for rebellion before their death,” she explained. “They are worried we might do the same. It is easier for them to kill us than to hope for the best.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair,” Diana said.

  “It was something allowable by the previous Empress,” Maura said with a frown.

  “Can I pardon you?” she asked, looking down at her wrist; it had to be good for something.

  Maura blinked up at her, startled. “Only if you take your place.”

  Diana sighed and tipped her head back against the wall. “If I am not careful,” she muttered, “I really am going to end up thoroughly laid.”

  Chapter 13

  “How did you change my sister’s mind?” Sora asked as Diana braided her hair over her shoulder.

  “That is between Maura and me,” she said, giving him a perturbed look. “Stop asking.”

  “My sister never changes her mind that easily,” Sora said, giving her a hard stare. “One second she doesn’t trust you, and the next you are under our protection and we are heading towards the Helion System, directly into unknown perils.”

  Grim appeared at the door carrying the newly patched up Kal Zed in his arms. The cat appeared haggard
, but he was a sight for sore eyes. After Kal Zed had been taken care of, Maura had gone straight over and released the walking tree. Things seemed to be looking up for a change.

  “Kal Zed!” Diana cried and hurried over to him.

  “No hugs!” Kal Zed protested. “You humans love your hugs.”

  Instead she scratched behind his ears, causing him to purr. “Don’t worry. I’m just happy to see you.”

  His eyes moved over to Sora, who was still looking cross. “What is the boy doing here?”

  “Trying to figure out why we are going to the Helion System,” Diana said, turning around and slapping her thighs. “But he was just leaving.”

  “I’ll get it out of one of you,” Sora said, slipping around Grim and out of the door.

  “Who knows?” Kal Zed asked.

  “Just Maura and Nihal. They were there when I went all Bearer of the Cosmos on those Dracoon,” Diana said, waving her hands dramatically.

  “They are taking us to Matzil then?” Kal Zed asked, clearly not amused.

  “Yeah,” Diana answered, though she was trying to hold on to her sense of humor. “I placed them under my protection.”

  “They are criminals,” he reminded her and Grim made a sad noise. “No offense.”

  “Why does everyone say ‘no offense’ directly after they say something offensive? It doesn’t fix the situation,” Diana pointed out, slumping down to sit on the bed. “They may be criminals, but they chose to defend me when they could have left, just as you did.”

  “You forget that you are more important than my life,” Kal Zed said.

  “You’re compelled to say that,” she countered, standing up and angrily shaking her left arm. “This thing protects me, and you are just guiding me.”

  He studied her face. “Thank you for coming back for me.”

  Diana’s anger drained out of her. “Of course. Where would I be without my furry guardian?”