“Wait, I didn’t think it was possible to go faster than the speed of light; you know, Einstein’s theory and all.”
“Well, under your technology, it would not, but we overcame that issue hundreds and hundreds of years ago.”
“Tesslar, get her strapped in and get ready. I am all set to make the move,” Sharra said.
Tesslar pulled Maddie to her seat and put on the body harness and then strapped himself in.
“All set.”
“Okay, everyone, we activate in five, four, three, two, one.”
Everything lit up at once like a Christmas tree, surprising Maddie. She sucked in her breath and then everything went to black.
“She’s out,” Tesslar said. “She dropped like a rock.”
“I am not surprised. This is tremendous amount to absorb. I cannot imagine what she is feeling,” Rykerian said.
“Sharra, I hope she does not feel sick when she regains consciousness.”
“Whatever you do, do
not
let her flop over. If she messes up her hair, I will not be able to fix it,” Sharra warned.
“How much longer until we stabilize?”
“In about ten seconds; then, beware. If she gets sick when she comes to, you are going to have to help her. Whatever you do though, do not let her mess up her hair.”
The first few times anyone traveled in space could be extremely disorienting. The body had a difficult time adjusting to the speed and motion. Flying through the universe at speeds faster than light wasn’t a simple thing for the body to adapt to, so it was very common for some to suffer from severe motion sickness. The good thing was that it didn’t last long, but while one was experiencing it, it was dreadful.
“Get ready, Tesslar.”
“Oh, boy, here she comes!”
Maddie’s eyes drifted open, and she felt awful. “Oh, God, help me! I’m dying. I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Put your head between your knees, Maddie. It will help. Take long slow breaths,” Tesslar offered. “Do not worry. It will not last long.”
“Ugh, I’m going to lose it here.”
Maddie went to stand up, but she didn’t get very far because she was strapped into her seat. Then, she felt serious stinging in her arm. She saw Rykerian pulling a syringe out. Minutes later, she started feeling better.
“What’d ya give me?” she slurred and shook her head. A minute later, she added, “Better.”
“Good. It was just something for the motion sickness. You will be better momentarily.”
She was gray and clammy, but she did start feeling better. Finally her head stopped swimming around, and she was able to lift it. She still looked awful, but she was making progress.
“Boy, I didn’t expect that. Hey, where are all the stars?” she asked.
“Well, that is a good sign,” someone commented.
“We are traveling faster than the light is, which is why you cannot see any stars. They are out there, you just cannot see them,” Tesslar explained, still kneeling next to her in case she became sick.
“Thanks, Tesslar. You’ve been a good teacher so far; and a good nurse! Thanks for taking care of me.” She patted him on the cheek and weakly smiled.
“Anytime, sister. Anytime.”
“Is there a possibility of getting something to drink?”
Everything about this journey had astounded Maddie. She was totally impressed at the skill Sharra showed as a pilot. Sharra was comfortable and confident in her role. The computer screens in the ship were amazing. They were transparent, and Sharra wore a glove-like apparatus that controlled the screens. The glove had metallic pads on the fingertips that she used to dance across screen. It also could be operated using voice commands.
Sharra explained when she had to enter calculations for our destination, she used the fingertip pads, but everything else was operational by voice commands. The control pad in the captain’s seat had signs and symbols that were unfamiliar to Maddie.
“Sharra, what’s up with those gloves? How do they work?”
“Oh, they are configured just for me. What I mean is if someone else, like you for instance, tried to use them to operate the ship, it wouldn’t respond. They are a built in security system. Anyway, the fingertip pads command the ship—that and my voice. This ship is also secured by voice recognition. Try to give it a command, Maddie, to see what happens.”
“I wouldn’t know what to say.”
Rykerian leaned over and whispered, “Say, ‘Navigator, return us to Earth.’”
“Okay. Navigator, return us to Earth.”
“Intruder alert, possible security breach. Commander Yarrister, please advise. I repeat. Intruder alert, possible security breach.”
“Cancel order, Navigator. Continue on course to Vesturon. See? It is nearly impossible for anyone to hijack this aircraft or to steal it. Pretty cool, huh?” Sharra asked.
“Extremely cool. No. Way beyond cool!”
Maddie was curious about the sciences on Vesturon. Were the elements the same…biology…physics…mathematical equations. Or were there new developments and discoveries?
Rykerian, who reveled in this role as teacher explained that there were similarities, but that there were other discoveries. Vesturon had more elements than Earth, enabling it to have more fuel options. They had also made many more discoveries regarding the physical sciences, and their version of math was much more advanced. Many unsolved equations from Earth had been solved many years ago. This was all beyond Maddie’s comprehension, but she was unquestionably interested in all of it.
“Hey, Shar, how about some tunes?” Xarrid asked.
“What do you want to hear?”
“Surprise me!”
Maddie looked up at one of the video screens to see her face come into view. She was in Rayn’s Lamborghini. Then the audio started streaming, and it was Maddie’s own rendition of “
I Wanna Dance with Somebody
.”
“Oh dear God. Where did you get that?”
Everyone had already burst into fits of laughter. Between giggles, Sharra explained how she had pulled it off the security video from Rayn’s car.
Maddie was mortified.
“I always knew I was horrid, but this takes it to a completely unhealthy level. I can never be allowed to sing. Ever again,” she announced, while everyone else was still locked into side-splitting fits.
Even worse than her singing, however, was her dancing, and before she could stop herself, she jumped up on her feet and started gyrating. If they thought her singing was bad, they had no idea what was in store for them.
They were positively appalled. They watched her with looks of horror on their faces, not believing what they were witnessing. Maddie knew she was making a spectacle of herself, but she couldn’t have cared less. Her head was thrown back, her arms and legs were twisting and flailing, her torso was gyrating, and she was singing at the top of her lungs. She flew around the spacecraft in her own little world, and no one dared to interrupt her.
Rykerian leaned over to Therron saying, “What do you make of that? I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
“Nor have I. One would think she was in great pain by those movements. Do you think she is hurting herself?”
“I don’t think so. Maddie doesn’t like to be in pain, and the Deity knows she’s experienced enough to last a life time.”
“Do you think she realizes how much pain she is causing us?”
“Not in a million years. I think she is enjoying herself. Should we tell her how awful she is?”
“I do not think we have to. She cannot be stupid, or deaf, or blind for that matter.”
Before they all realized it, they had all joined Maddie in her escapade of song and dance.
When the song ended, Maddie opened her eyes to see everyone staring at her with their mouths hanging open. She should have warned them, but in her excitement, she just plain forgot.
“I’m so sorry. I should have told you how bad I was, but I was having so much fun, I didn’t even think about it,” she explained.
“Well, I, for one, am glad you realize that. I was a bit worried about your sanity,” Rykerian said drolly.
“I was worried about our hearing. I’ve never heard anything quite like that before Maddie,” Therron added.
“Well, my secret is out now. I know, I am so totally awful, but I just love doing it, so I figure, why not enjoy it?”
Rykerian couldn’t seem to stop himself when he said, “My dearest Maddie, you know how much we all adore you, but in the future, could you please refrain from doing this unless we are somewhere that we can escape this punishment?”
“You are too funny, Rykerian,” she replied.
Rykerian looked and Therron and just shrugged. He figured it was hopeless.
Eventually, Maddie took her seat and reclined the back and started drifting off. Rykerian came to sit beside her just to make sure everything was okay. She assured him she was fine, but she was sleepy and was going to try to nap. She closed her eyes, and the next thing she heard was Sharra’s voice telling them they would be coming out of super propulsion.
“We are approaching the edge of the Appolonia Galaxy. So, in about five minutes, I’ll be slowing down the ship to sub-light speed,” Sharra announced.
“Am I going to feel sick again?” Maddie wanted to know.
“No, you should be fine. It usually only happens when you enter super propulsion, not when you come out of it,” Tesslar supplied.
“Thank God for that. That was awful. I thought car sickness was bad!”
“Deactivation in three, two, one.”
The stars came into view initially as huge long streaks of lights, but they decreased in size as the ship continued to slow.
“Welcome to the Appolonia Galaxy everyone. Here we go. We have just been snared by the trackers. Maddie, you are going to feel the ship shudder in a few moments, but do not be alarmed. It is just the Vesturion trackers that are locking onto us. Once that happens, they will tow us into the docking area,” Sharra explained.
Suddenly, the Star Transporter started to shake, and then, there was a big thump. However, it quickly ended, and Sharra stood up and came to Maddie. “Well, my work is done for today.”
“Do they know it’s us?”
“Oh, absolutely. In another couple of minutes they will be able to monitor our conversations here. So, any last minute instructions, Therron?” Sharra inquired.
“Please stay together once we get off. We are going straight to the Council chambers, as we discussed, walking in our formation. Maddie, you will be surrounded by all of us, so just follow us along. And remember, eyes straight ahead. Do not turn your head at all, even slightly. This will portray a sign of strength to all who see us. Everyone clear? Good, then let us get this done!” Therron said.
“Ground Control to Commander Yarrister.”
“Commander Yarrister here,” Sharra responded.
“Commander, we have you locked onto our trackers. Welcome home to Vesturon. Your presence is not surprising, and we are glad to see you home safely. I trust you had an uneventful flight,” the Command Center communicated to the ship.
“Thank you, Ground Control, and we are, as always, glad to be home. Yes, our flight was perfect,” Sharra replied. “Dock us at your convenience.”
“Commander, I cannot help but notice you carry an additional passenger.”
“Ground Control, that is of no concern to you. Please make sure our ship is prepared for departure, as we do not know how long we will be staying,” Sharra replied in an authoritative voice.
“Aye aye, Commander. Will you be needing a transport anywhere?”
“No, but thank you.”
Maddie felt the ship turning and then again another slight shudder. Moments later, the ship came to a halt, and Sharra announced, “Well, I guess this is it! Xarrid, can you open the air lock and hatch?”
Maddie heard another click, and then the door slid open. This door was on the forward part of the ship, and she hadn’t noticed it when they initially boarded.
Rykerian, reading her mind said, “We use the rear when we enter the ship from the ground because it has a ramp, but the side door is used in the docking station.”
That made more sense to Maddie when she exited the ship. They were in port, like a plane attached to a jet way, so when they exited, they just walked off into a big area where other spaceships were docked.
“Star Wars had it right, didn’t it?” she exclaimed.
Once they gained the exterior of the docking station, they assembled themselves in their formation as planned. Therron led the way, followed by Maddie, who was flanked on either side by Rykerian and Tesslar. Sharra walked directly behind Maddie, and closing ranks in the rear was Xarrid.
As soon as they exited the terminal, Maddie began to experience sensory overload. She felt herself being bombarded with a staggering array of various vibrant colors.
They were in the main capital of the world, and it was a large city called Aurora. It was, plainly put, magnificent. The buildings were lovely, architecturally classical, with every one seemingly planned to coordinate with each other. There were also gardens of colorful flowers and plants everywhere—a kaleidoscope of hues strategically placed to enhance the loveliness of the streets. It was evident that a great deal of thought and planning went into the street-scaping, making this city simply amazing.
Maddie had to fight herself to keep from staring at everything. The urge to look around her and explore this magical place was nearly overwhelming. Thoughts of Rayn were the only things she could concentrate on to keep from breaking ranks and checking things out.
The sounds were also amplified, utterly overpowering her ability to think rationally. It was clearly disconcerting, and several times, she felt herself getting mentally chided by both Therron and Rykerian. She was having great difficulty staying in step with them and sticking to their plan. After multiple attempts, she was able to reach out to them telepathically, hoping they could hear her.
Both Rykerian and Therron heard and then felt her distress call. They hadn’t counted on her reaction to Vesturon in this manner. But, then again, they couldn’t have known how strong her blood bond to Vesturon would be.