The Accidental Astronaut

by Matthew K Wyers

  “It can’t be very secret if blabbermouth Bau Gerean knows about it!” said Ug Jurean.

  “Master Vurean, legally, I didn’t have to tell every member of the Council, only one was necessary,” said the President.

  “Who didn’t inform the rest of the Council?” Ug Jurean shouted out.

  The members argued with each other and accused each other of being the culprit and the accomplice to the President’s deceit. Within a moment, all eyes settled on Por Winean, another member of the Council.

  Por Winean was unusually short and pudgy, even for an Armankouri. He had unusually large teeth, wore large thick glasses, and was widely regarded as the dumbest member of the Council. His father, who was one of the great leaders in Armankouri history, helped him get the position.

  “Por Winean, you foolish, foolish creature!” said Ug Jurean.

  “What? I enjoyed being in the loop for once,” said Por Winean.

  “It’s no matter now,” said the President. “The secret is out and I might as well tell the rest of you that the Convergence isn’t on Armankour. Now, that makes no difference to you, Darbian. I will not tell you the location so you can retrieve it.”

  “You don’t understand. The Earth will be destroyed! We have no way of fighting off Halinkoy and his army. I would ask you for weapons, but I know you have none,” Darbian argued.

  “Is that meant to be sarcastic?” asked Ug Jurean. “Do you think we care nothing of protecting our own people?”

  “That’s not what I was implying,” said Darbian.

  “The Wardein were created to protect the innocent peoples of the universe. This isn’t our responsibility. Do your job, Warden.” The President walked back to his desk and sat down.

  “There are no Wardein, aren’t you listening?” Darbian shouted. “I’m alone against a madman and an army of Tammeder!”

  The President relaxed in his chair. “Bau Gerean, please escort our guests back to their ship. We have no further business with them."

  Bau Gerean and his deputies escorted Darbian and the children away.

  Micah pulled away for a moment and stepped forward. “You’re really not going to help us?”

  “No,” said the President. “I’m sure you’ll find another way, though. Good luck and peace to you.”

  “Come along now,” Bau Gerean sighed.

  Darbian and the children walked out of the room and back to the platform that Gregorical was resting on.

  Bau Gerean looked up at Darbian and motioned for him to bend down.

  Darbian did so.

  “I have a surprise for you,” whispered Bau Gerean. “My office is responsible for hiding the Convergence, and I’m going to show you where it is.”

  “You are? Why would you do that?” whispered Darbian.

  Bau Gerean continued. “Because you know my son. At least, you know him in the future and…he trusted you. My son isn’t full grown now, but he’s a wonderful judge of character. If he trusted you, then I know I can trust you.”

  Darbian grabbed the hand of Bau Gerean. “What do you want us to do?”

  “I want you to run for your ship. I will follow you, but I have to distract my deputies first. If I give them an order to help, I know they won’t,” Bau Gerean responded. “Go now.”

  Darbian ran and called for the children to follow closely.

  One deputy cocked his neck. “Why are they doing that?”

  Meanwhile Bau Gerean took out his stun weapon and fired it at each of his deputies, knocking each of them out. “Time to run. I hope I don’t regret this!”

  Darbian, the children, and Bau Gerean boarded the ship.

  “Take off, Gregorical; we have a new destination!” Darbian said.

  Gregorical took off in quite a hurry, engaged his Galacto drive, and left the planet before any of the Armankouri realized what had happened.

  Chapter 17

  Darbian turned to his new Armankouri friend, “Where are we going?”

  “To a very special place, a city that’s always on the move,” said Bau Gerean

  “If it’s always on the move then how can you tell where it is?” Micah said.

  “I’ll see to that young one; all we need to do is proceed to the Eukarypto galaxy,” replied Bau.

  “How do we get out of the Prohibited Sector though? Are we time traveling?” Darbian gestured for Bau to answer.

  “Normally, we would time travel, yes, but the Armankouri have a way around the shielding,” said Bau

  Gregorical interrupted. “It appears there are several ships following us from Armankour. Five to be precise.”

  “Oh, yes, that’s the security force coming to capture us and bring us back to the planet,” said Bau.

  “The what?” Darbian griped.

  “Didn’t I tell you they would follow us? Perhaps I should have mentioned that,” said Bau.

  Darbian shook his head. “Yes, that would've been helpful."

  “They know I’ve come with you and that I wasn’t authorized to leave the planet. Sneaking away might have been better, but my guards would have informed on me anyway if I had left my post. Besides, we were supposed to escort you back to orbit and away from the planet. That’s our protocol,” Bau nodded and chuckled.

  “Okay, just tell us how to get around the shielding,” Darbian moved on.

  “Well, you don’t go around it. You go through it at a certain speed,” Bau stated.

  “Fly through it? Well, that’s suicide!” Darbian flailed his arms.

  “Darbian, I’m sure you’re aware that the Armankouri designed the shielding. We knew what we were doing, my good man.” Bau put his hand up near his mouth as though he were about to whisper. “All you have to do is achieve the speed of light. Think about it, nothing can get through that shielding except light itself. Travel at precisely the speed of light and you’ll pass through the shield as though it weren’t even there. It’s so simple, it’s brilliant.”

  “It is brilliant, I suppose,” replied Darbian.

  “And quite intuitive. How else would the starlight penetrate the shields?” Bau grinned. “A smart people indeed.”

  “You heard him, Gregorical. Eukarypto it is,” said Darbian.

  Gregorical engaged his Galacto drive and set it at light speed.

  After a few moments, they reached the shielding and penetrated it without a problem. Once on the other side, they could see the other Armankouri ships had followed them through the shielding.

  “Use the wormhole generator, Gregorical. Perhaps we’ll lose them for a time at least,” said Darbian.

  “Yes, good plan. Those ships likely don’t possess Chrono drives.” said Bau.

  Gregorical generated a wormhole meant for the heart of the Eukarypto galaxy. He flew through it and popped out in the middle of their destination.

  “Where to now, my friend?” said Darbian.

  “The Asteroid City flies nearest to the great asteroid belt. That’s where we’re going. And the great asteroid belt encircles the entire galaxy at approximately two thirds its depth, going outward!” Bau cleared his throat.

  “Superb Bau. I’m sorry I doubted you,” replied Darbian.

  Bau patted his belly several times. “Happy to be of service, sir. Armankouri Security is the best security. You should remember that.”

  “I think I’ve heard of the Asteroid City. It’s one of the richest places in the entire universe. It’s bustling with commerce because they constantly travel to their customers rather than wait for people to come to them.” Darbian placed his fingers on the control panel and pulled up files on the Asteroid City.

  “Exactly, good sir. They fly among the asteroids and the small planets of the outer rim. It’s the perfect place to hide a technology as valuable as the Convergence because everyone would expect nothing but valuable items to be in such a place. Therefore, they think, no one would risk putting such a device in the open. They would think it’s better to hide it in a secret place…so no one comes looking for it,” sa
id Bau.

  Gregorical flew at high speed toward the great asteroid belt, arriving in only a few minutes.

  “Now, how do we find the Asteroid City? It’s still a large search area,” remarked Darbian.

  “That’s the simple part. We don’t have to find them. They’ll find us. All we must do is transmit a message and tell them we’re in the market for jagotanium deposits. It’s a rare metal in this part of the universe, and Asteroid City is one of the few places you can find it. Good plan, no?” Bau smirked.

  “Yes, but what are they going to do when we can’t buy any of it? We have no money!” Darbian was ever practical.

  “They’ll be more than happy to let us shop in the city for free. And I know precisely where the Convergence is,” said Bau.

  Darbian raised his eyebrow. “Does the government of Asteroid City know where the Convergence is?”

  “Oh no. We never tell the people we’re hiding it among that it’s in their possession. That would make the situation entirely too dangerous. People in the government or others, for that matter, might be tempted to use it for their own ends,” Bau replied.

  Darbian glared at Bau. “So what if we get in trouble with the City?”

  Bau grabbed Darbian’s hand. “Don’t worry about that, Darbian. The Convergence is well hidden and my contact there is a good friend. We can trust him to keep our secret.”

  “Excellent…I guess.” said Darbian. “This might not be so hard after all.”

  Bau Gerean transmitted a message to the Asteroid City’s merchants requesting a sale of jagotanium.

  They responded, and within a few minutes, the city had arrived in the presence of Gregorical and the crew.

  Asteroid City was a magnificent sight. Made from a forty-mile-long, nine-mile-wide, and fourteen-mile-high asteroid; it nevertheless moved as nimbly as any small fighter. Within the heart of it was a bustling city filled with over seven million people from different planets and galaxies. On the top of the asteroid was a tower with a disc at its center, this was the location of the bridge. At certain places, artificial structures protruded from the sides of the asteroid, each with windows to allow the residents to peer out into the stars. The edges were rounded off and used to incorporate engines in every conceivable corner of the ship. There were dozens of platforms on each side of the rock ready to receive travelers.

  On one platform, Gregorical came to rest. A large bay door opened into the asteroid and Gregorical was slowly pulled inside. The bay door closed behind them.

  Bau Gerean leapt up. “Follow me now, we should be quick about this.”

  They all departed the ship and as soon as they approached the outer door, they were met by a dozen merchants towing barrels of jagotanium behind them.

  “Hello, good sirs,” started Bau Gerean. “I apologize, but we have no money. We were so desperate to see your stunning city that we just couldn’t resist finding a reason to get aboard.”

  The merchants frowned in unison.

  A couple of them threw down the handle of their carts in frustration.

  “Very well then,” one of them said.

  The children shrugged their shoulders.

  Darbian gulped. "Very forward of you Bau."

  Bau, Darbian, and the children walked through multiple corridors, past numerous shops, and even through the famous Diameter Square at the heart of the city.

  Darbian grumbled. “Where exactly are we going, Bau?”

  “We’re going to the engine room. That’s where that friend of mine works. He knows how to access the Convergence from his post,” Bau said.

  Just as Bau, Darbian, and the children entered the engine room near the rear of the ship, they saw a shocking sight.

  The Armankouri security force that had followed them off the planet had somehow beaten them to the station. Dozens of them were standing inside the engine room.

  “Oh dear, I didn’t expect that,” Bau said.

  The new chief security officer spoke. “Bau Gerean, you’ve betrayed the trust of the President of Armankour. You’re to be arrested and imprisoned immediately. Your accomplices will also be arrested.”

  “This is for the good of the universe; don’t you see that?” Darbian implored.

  “The Convergence is under the protection of the Armankouri people. It will never be allowed to leave our possession,” the security officer spoke.

  Each of the officers pointed their stun weapons at Bau, Darbian, and the children.

  “Will you be coming along peacefully? Or do we have to stun you?” the security officer asked.

  Bau hung his head.

  Darbian propped himself up against the corridor and tapped the walls. “Do you even know whether the Convergence is here?”

  “Of course, it’s here,” said the security officer.

  “Well, I don’t believe you. You can’t arrest us for stealing the Convergence when we clearly don’t have it in our possession. If it’s not even here, then how would you prove we came here to get it?” Darbian said.

  Bau Gerean picked up on what Darbian was angling at. “Exactly, Armankouri law forbids arrest unless a crime has been committed.”

  “A crime has been committed. You left your post, Bau Gerean,” the security officer said.

  “That’s not a crime. That’s dereliction of duty; there’s a difference. You may bring me back to Armankour, but Darbian and these children did nothing wrong. By law, you must let them go.” Bau perched his hands on his hips and smiled.

  “A crime is in process. You’re all here to steal the Convergence. Why else would you be in Asteroid City? Why else would you be in the engine room where the device is kept?” The security officer continued.

  Darbian interjected. “Alright then, prove to us that the Convergence is here. Show it to us!”

  “I’m not going to show it to you. Everyone here knows the Convergence is in this room. Stop playing games and come along peacefully.” The security officer insisted.

  “The Convergence could be here, I guess, but I’ve never even seen it before,” said Micah.

  “You’ll just have to show it to us if you want to arrest us,” said Hannelore.

  “You’ll have to move it anyway since everyone knows where it is now,” said Darbian smirked.

  “Oh fine then. If it means you’ll come along peacefully, then I’ll show you the Convergence. Lieutenant, retrieve the Convergence from the utility closet,” barked the chief security officer.

  Hannelore craned her neck. “That’s where you hid it? Anybody could find it there.”

  “That shows you how little you understand, young one. It was hidden under the mop bucket, and it’s clear that no one mops this filthy engine room floor,” said the security officer.

  The Lieutenant opened the utility closet, pulled out the Convergence, and brought it back to the chief security officer.

  The security officer took the Convergence and held it up. “You see here. The Convergence is indeed here. You already knew that, of course. You’re here to steal it, everyone knows that." He flailed his arms about. "Now that the law has been fulfilled, we’re going to arrest you. Please come peacefully or we’ll be forced to stun you.”

  Darbian threw his hands up as though he were about to surrender. “One more request, my good sir.”

  “Oh, what is it now?” the security officer said.

  “In order to be arrested for stealing the Convergence, I have to be holding the Convergence. Am I not correct?” Darbian looked to Bau for confirmation.

  “He’s right. Someone must actually hold the Convergence before they could be accused of stealing it,” replied Bau.

  “Fine. Come here, and hold the Convergence,” said the security officer.

  “Thank you,” said Darbian as he walked toward the security officer and picked up the Convergence.

  “I must say, you’re a terrible Warden. A good one would never have involved himself in all this nonsense. At that, a good Warden would never have been so persnickety if he had bee
n found in the wrong,” the security officer complained.

  Darbian held the Convergence and examined it while the officer lectured.

  “Are you quite done, Warden? We’ve wasted entirely too much time on this exercise as it is,” said the security officer.

  “I think you’re right. We’ve wasted a lot of time we simply don’t have.” Darbian spoke into his communicator. “Gregorical, alert the Asteroid City authorities that this Armankouri security force has hidden a dangerous device in the engine room without their permission. We’ve recovered it and need safe passage to return it the proper authorities.”

  “Absolutely, sir,” replied Gregorical.

  “What?” cried the security officer. “You won’t get away with that.”

  “Yes, we will,” replied Bau.

  Within a few seconds, guards working for Asteroid City showed up in the engine room. Upon noticing that the only Warden in the room had the Convergence and that it was his ship Gregorical that had informed them of the situation, they trusted Darbian’s account of the events.

  “Armankouri security force, you’ve entered our city without permission and taken advantage of our hospitality by hiding a dangerous artifact within our sovereign space. You’re under arrest!” the Asteroid City chief guard stated.

  “That’s not at all what happened. You don’t understand!” said the Armankouri security officer. “We hid it here for safekeeping. No one was in danger.”

  “That’s an argument you’ll have to make to the magistrate. Come with us immediately.” The Asteroid City guards pointed their weapons at the Armankouri security force.

  “You’re in a terrible amount of trouble, Bau Gerean! Every move you’ve made has made the situation worse for you,” the Armankouri security officer said.

  “It’s quite alright. I’ll pay off my debt in due time,” said Bau.

  The Asteroid City guard reached out to shake Darbian’s hand. “Warden, thank you for your service to Asteroid City. Do you need assistance getting back to your ship?”

  Darbian extended his hand as well, and they shook.

  “No, my friend. We’re alright from here. We just need our ship to be given quick permission to exit the docking bay,” said Darbian.