The Distance Between

by Blair Cousins

  “Glad you could make it.” She heard the soft causal voice of Vertin.

  The door opened, and the same young woman Ester had seen at the market walked through the door. It was Pisces, but in her Reanian form. Vertin told her he would have her digi-id ready soon. He gave her the same run down as he had given Ester just moments before. Pisces nodded, but tensed when she saw Ester. It was just them now as Vertin left and went back to work.

  “I see you made it,” Ester said, but Pisces ignored her as she walked to the opposite side of the room and sat her things down. “And look you’re wearing your little costume. Do you honestly think you can get away with this?”

  “I have nothing to say to you,” Pisces hissed.

  “Fine, but I’m going to be keeping a sharp eye on you,” Ester said as she sat on the other side.

  The two sat in silence. It was dead quiet in the office. Only a few faint sounds of shop work could be heard in the background. Ester struggled the stay awake. The hum of the florescent lights was like a lullaby, and her body was threating sleep paralysis if she did not succumb to its needs. She couldn’t let Pisces out of her sight, but if she stayed up all night she would be useless in watching her. Ester glanced over at her with tired watery eyes. It didn’t look like Pisces even cared that Ester was there. Ester griped the bottom of her chair; she wanted to be mad, but she was too tired. She needed her rest, so she allowed herself to nap.

  ***

  A rough push on her shoulder woke her. Ester startled awake only to find the piercing silver-blue eyes of Pisces looking down at her. Ester tensed immediately, but Pisces only glared. Pisces turned and left the office without uttering a word. What was her deal? Ester growled as she got herself together. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep, but her heart was pounding back to life. Pisces was really starting to get on her nerves. Ester looked at the clock, it was a zero five thirty-five hundred hours. She looked at the table; all the things on it the night before were gone, presumably packed. Ester muffled a yawn with her forearm and got up and stretched. She grabbed her bag and hurried into the shop area. Vertin was waiting for her. His face was tired, but his eyes said he could continue on like this for hours. In front of him stood a three-speed hover jetter, one of the fastest hover bikes on the planet. Ester gasped; she had only seen them on the tele.

  “This should get you to where you’re going in two and a half days if you’re careful with your breaks,” Vertin said, wiping his greasy hands off with a rag. “Don’t take the main road. It’s blooming season and there’ll be too much traffic,”

  He instructed as he put their bags in one of the side compartments.

  “Here’s a map. It should lead you to where you want to go. I’ll get your helmets. They’re not advanced or anything, but they’ll protect your head.”

  Vertin walked away leaving Ester and Pisces alone.

  “I still don’t trust you,” Ester said.

  “I do not care,” Pisces replied coldly.

  Vertin returned with their helmets.

  “Here and this is for you.” He handed Pisces her digi-id. Pisces held it in her hands. It looked just like the real thing. “Keep your helmets on, act like you’re just any other couple.”

  “Couple?” They both said in unison.

  Vertin cracked a smile. “Easy, there’s no deadline to returning the bike, just take care of it.”

  Both girls looked at each other in disgust but walked towards the bike. Pisces took the front, but Ester blocked her.

  “Hey, how come you get to drive?”

  “Have you driven a motor bike before?” Pisces cut Ester a sharp look.

  “Have you?” Ester bit back.

  Pisces rolled her eyes. “You may be native to this world, but you are still just a naïve child. I have far more experience than you, and you coming along will only hold me back.”

  Pisces pushed Ester out of the way and mounted the bike. Ester scoffed but swallowed her pride. A fight here would solve nothing. Her job was make sure Pisces didn’t do anything to Captain Wildgrass.

  “Oh, you’re not getting rid of me that easy. I don’t give a rat’s ass about your experience. Like it or not, we’re in this together.” Ester put on her helmet and hopped on the back of the bike.

  Pisces said something under her breath in a language Ester didn’t understand and adjusted the settings. Pisces revved up the bike, and before Ester had a chance to get settled, she took off. Ester yelped as the two sped away. Vertin chuckled and shook his head and hit the button the close the garage door.

  Ester held on tight as Pisces sped down the road. She navigated the streets with ease thanks to the map Vertin gave her that projected the path on the road made visible by their helmets. Buildings and people whizzed by as they ascended into the air. Pisces was really good at this, which made Ester wonder about her experience. What kinds of things did Pisces know? In her Reanian form, she didn’t look much older than Ester, but she really didn’t know a lot about her. In the wee hours of the sixth day of the week, traffic was nonexistent just like Vertin said. After all, it was a non-business day for many of the people in Ans-on. Ester’s jacket flapped around her as they cruised above the city. She felt like a bird in the sky. This was an experience Ester had only dreamed about. It was bittersweet given the circumstances, but she couldn’t help but allow herself to enjoy it if just for a little bit.

  They arrived at the express tunnel leading to the south western part of Ans-on. Ester tensed when they arrived at the checkpoint. In the checkpoint office, a worker yawned as he read from his tablet. Pisces slowed to scan her digi-id loaded with her express pass as Ester watched the man. He didn’t even look at them as the light turned green, and Pisces took off again into the tunnel. Ester gasped when they entered. It was breathtaking, shiny, and marbled white with green lights dotting the tunnel walls in blurred green streaks. Loud swooshing sounds buzzed over Ester’s head as hover cars zoomed by. Ester unconsciously grabbed Pisces tighter, making Pisces roll her eyes. Ester couldn’t help but be mesmerized by surrealism; she looked over at a pair riding an older model bike. It was a polished black with sleek silver lines outlining the body. It was an old Henderson model, one that was still very popular back home. It was cool to see one in such good condition. The pair took a hard right and exited down another tunnel. Ester felt Pisces pull left, they were coming up to their exit.

  They came out and were now in the south western part of Ans-on. There were less taller buildings in this part of the state, reminding her a little of the towns around the markets of Tel-sa. Up ahead, Ester could see the final checkpoint, the one that would take them out of Ans-on. She was a little nervous about this one; she could even feel Pisces tense a little. This early in the morning there was little outgoing traffic. On the ground, Ester could see dozens of hover carts, no doubt importing goods from Who-da and Cha-la. Pisces descended to fall into line behind the cars exiting the metropolis.

  “Take out your digi-id,” Pisces said barely looking back.

  Ester fumbled around for her id. She remembered going through this checkpoint the first time she entered Ans-on, but this time she wasn’t at the train station. The checkpoint official waved them forward. He was a dark skin man with short blond hair and a round belly. He put up his hand to stop them and signaled for them to lift their helmets.

  “Morning, ladies,” The man said with a smile. “You gals sure are up early.”

  Pisces forced a smile, as Ester laughed nervously.

  “Just heading out for a day trip,” Ester said as she handed the man her id.

  “Oh, I see,” The man winked. He scanned both their ids, lifting them up to make sure the picture matched what they looked like. “Well, if you’re heading to Promvo, there is a nice little restaurant that has the best roasted goat.” He handed them back their ids.

  “Thanks.” Ester forced a smile as the checkpoint official waved them on.

  Pisces took her id as well and put her helmet back on. Ester quickly did the s
ame knowing that Pisces would not waste any time. They flew by the final checkpoint, and Ester breathed a sigh of relief looking back. They had finally arrived in Who-da, known as the birth place of all life on Rean. They cruised down the winding dirt roads for miles. It was a beautiful country. There was nothing but wide-open land for miles, dotted with small villages and fields of grazing cattle.

  The two traveled all day, stopping only to eat. The sun was setting as Pisces started to slow down. They approached a wooded area, and Ester wondered if they would be camping here for the night. The hover jetter slowed to a crawl, and Pisces nodded for Ester to get off. She did, and Pisces started to pull away.

  “Hey!” Ester yelled.

  Pisces moved the hover jetter off the road and turned it off. Pisces took off her helmet and shook her dark midnight blue hair.

  “If I wanted to leave you, I would have dumped you off on the first stop.” Her piercing silver-blue eyes infuriated Ester.

  Pisces parked the bike behind a tree and started to take out her things. Ester stormed over and slammed the compartment close.

  “You know what, I’m getting real tired of your shit.”

  “Then leave then! Nobody asked you to come along.”

  “Right, so I’m supposed to ignore this big attack and trust you, someone who wears a disguise to trick everyone?”

  “Ja!” Pisces screamed. “This is so much bigger than you. I am trying to save your stupid little planet and countless others!”

  “Oh right, and I’m supposed to believe that? I barely understand this plan of yours, and what do you think others will think if you don’t even trust them enough to explain?”

  Pisces cursed and walked away, grabbing her bag to set up her tent. Ester rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag as well, slamming the door on the bike’s compartment. All this yelling was getting her nowhere. What would Angel do? Ester took a deep breath and exhaled.

  “Look,” Ester said as she dropped her bag next to Pisces. “I’m not trying to give you a lot of flak. I’m just…I’m just scared.”

  Pisces stopped what she was doing.

  “Okay, so maybe I jumped the gun by trying to muscle my way in on your mission, but I really do want to help. I just need to know what’s going on.”

  Pisces took a deep sigh, revealing any part of her plan could jeopardize the mission, but ditching Ester could cause more problems.

  “Promise me, promise me you won’t leak a word.”

  “I promise.”

  Pisces studied her eyes. She was taking a big risk; her shoulders relaxed as she sighed. She stood and wiped the dirt from her pants.

  “There is nothing I can offer you as proof, but as we speak, three Labadoran battleships under the command of General Tozork are heading this way.”

  “Tozork? Who the hell is that?”

  “A vile evil man, driven by his lust for blood and power. Our planet has been locked in a vicious civil war for decades and there have been many warlords during this time trying to stake their clam over my homeland. But four seasons ago, General Tozork suddenly rose to power, wiping out whole armies and tribes, including mine.”

  Ester’s eye’s widened. She was no stranger to the pain of losing family. She sat as Pisces continued to set up their tent.

  “But Commander Jordain stood against him. He united tribes all over the planet to try and stop him, but Tozork was too powerful. He enslaved thousands to build warships and has now set his sights on conquering other plants. Commander Jordain and the Unity Reform want to stop him, however, we don’t know how Tozork became so powerful so quickly. He somehow developed a new weapon in secret. All we have are basic blueprints of the layout. We know very little about how it works, but we have seen enough of its power to know that General Tozork must be stopped.”

  “So, is that why they picked you to come here and stop him?”

  “I volunteered, and yes, I am here to stop him. But since our worlds are on such bad terms, it was a very perilous journey trying to come here. And I have experienced further delays in locating Captain Applecom.”

  “Dang, sounds rough,” Ester said as she reached in her bag and offered Pisces an apple.

  Pisces eyed the fruit, but her stomach made the decision for her.

  “Thank you.”

  Ester nodded and pulled out another apple. “Well, this Tozork guy sounds like a real pig.”

  “Pig?”

  “It’s like a fat round animal that rolls around in the mud.”

  “Ah, we have an animal similar to that on my world, but it is called a boar. They are as big as your hover cars and have long curved pointed tusk. They too enjoy the act of rolling in the mud.”

  “Wow, there are animals as big as hover cars on your planet?”

  “Yes, all the animals on my world are large.”

  “That’s so cool!” Ester’s face lit up.

  Pisces was not expecting Ester to be so interested. For so long Pisces was used to hearing the snide comments of others about Labadora and its culture; she thought no one would be interested in them. Pisces lightened up a bit and continued on with her story. As the night moved on, the two settled in their tent. Pisces had to admit she liked it on Rean, but she missed her home world very much. She hoped that her plan would be a success, so she could help restore it to its formal glory and maybe one day, she could show Ester just how great it was.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Sergeant Chi Vellumee sat at his desk re-playing one of the distress calls sent to him from one of the orbiting stations not far from Labadora. It was hard to make out what was being said. Each of the distress calls he had listened to were muffled and cut off abruptly as if some force had plucked them from the universe. He had been sent three so far from stations anchored near Labadora. He sent replies to the captains aboard the orbiting stations above Rean to continue monitoring the situation, but the mysterious circumstances raised alarms in his head. Sergeant Vellumee sighed and pushed away the tab containing the messages. He had a lot of paperwork to take care of and little time to dwell on the matter. He started to open a file when Sergeant Li-san Moore appeared at his door.

  “There has been a meeting called,” Sergeant Moore said with an uneasy coldness in her voice.

  “Right.” Sergeant Vellumee stood and logged out of his station.

  The two hurried to the board room to meet with Assistant Director Collin Vibes of Ranger Academy and all three Grand Commanders of the Rean Coalition of Rangers. Sergeant Vellumee’s gut instinct was right in that there was definitely something suspicious surrounding the distress signals they were receiving, after reading through the meeting notes on his wristband. He brought his colleague Sergeant Moore up to speed, on what he knew, as they walked to the board room ready to be briefed.

  “Welcome Sergeant Moore, Sergeant Vellumee.” The Assistant Director stood and nodded towards them. “I won’t waste your time and get straight to the point.” He pulled up a hologram, which showed a map of all the active stations from Rean to Labadora.

  “Captains on research stations and ships are reporting a loss of communication from the following five stations.”

  “Five?” Sergeant Vellumee interrupted. “I thought there were only three reports of communication lost?”

  Assistant Director Vibes nodded. “And you would be correct, if you were only counting ranger affiliated stations. Two outpost stations, Station K, a small private research station, and Station 43-07, a pit stop station, are now labelled inactive by their parent overseers.” Vibes used his hands to zoom in on the map and drew a red line. “Why these stations, and not other more valuable stations, have been targeted is unknown. However, the path is clear. Each of these stations fall in the path of a line, one that leads directly to Rean.”

  The room drew quiet. Then Grand Commander Heaven Sanders cleared her throat. “Can we get a visual on any object heading our way?” She spoke in a regal but calm manner.

  “We are having trouble relaying images; there seems to b
e some kind of interference and no ship can get close enough without disappearing.” Assistant Director Vibes turned and faced her.

  Grand Commander Sanders raised her hand to her thick lensed glasses and pulled them up the bridge of her nose. Without saying anything, she relayed a look of uneasiness. “Raise the base and school to high alert standby.”

  Grand Commander Calvin Xills looked at his senior commander tensely. “Is that really necessary Grand Commander? We do not have all the details. Raising levels to high alert standby might be too much.”

  Everyone in the room looked at Grand Commander Sanders, but nothing changed in her stoic demeanor. Grand Commander Xills sighed and nodded to Sergeant Moore and Sergeant Vellumee.

  “I second then,” Grand Commander Xills said.

  “I third,” Grand Commander J’Chives added. “It would not hurt to raise defense levels just in case.”

  With all in agreement, the sergeants were dismissed. Sergeant Moore and Sergeant Vellumee headed back to their offices with a feeling of uneasiness on their shoulders. Tension was building in the air, and they hoped nothing serious would come of it. If so, Rean was ready to fight, but if they could avoid it that would be a much better outcome for the peaceful and unknowing people of Rean.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ester and Pisces left in the wee hours of the morning just after the dew settled on the leaves. They were only a day and a half from Cha-la. Ester road on the back of the jetter, but this time she didn’t mind. She was more comfortable now knowing what was at stake. As Pisces speed down the dirt road, Ester thought about her friends. If this didn’t work, what would that mean for them? The thought of the rangers losing seemed unreal. And what if Captain Wildgrass didn’t want to help, or worse what if he wasn’t able to like InyOuty? All these questions started to weigh heavily on her mind. She shook those thoughts from her head as she looked ahead. She hoped her boss wouldn’t be too mad that she was missing work. Then again with a looming attack, who knew if there was going to be a job to come back to?