“I am not verbose! I always say only what I mean, when I mean it, and how I mean it. How could you think I jabber on like a jay? I rarely speak.” He turned toward Hivery. “Sometimes, I don’t even offer information. I only answer a direct question. I can’t help it if my answers require lengthy explanations. I am not a chatterbox!”
He didn’t miss the look of understanding that passed between the brothers at his rather rambling, loquacious defense and clamped his jaw shut. He resolved not to say another word except in response to a direct question and then to keep his answer to “yes,” “no,” or “maybe.”
This sworn oath lasted all of three minutes until he walked onto the ship, and an interrogation spewed forth from his mouth in an unstoppable deluge of questions.
“What’s in there?” “What’s that for?” “How does that work?” “What does that do?” “Where’s the bathroom?”
The last question turned out to be the most imperative, as reinforced by Ebbie’sI have to peenowdance.
“There isan elimination room just to your right. The anti-fecal matter pills are in the small silver canister. Keep in mind that once we launch, it cannot be used until we reach outer space and microgravity.”
“How long will that take?”
“Not long. We’ll be travelling at the speed of light, so roughly three Earth hours,” Gorg explained. “Until then, you will have an elimination vacuum in your suit.”
“I am not pissing in my pants!”
“Then you will need to hold it. I have seen you when you need to relieve yourself. You will be strapped into your chair — I do not think you will be able to do the pee dance very well then.”
Gorg helped him into his space suit, which wasn’t as bulky and futuristic as those he’d seen on astronauts, but not the lamé, formfitting suits of the 1960s space shows he’d watchedin reruns, either. To his relief, the elimination vacuum wasn’t bothersome at all.
He took his seat in a chair behind Gorg’s, who would sit next to Hivery at the controls in the cockpit.
The chair was actually quite comfy, and Ebbie settled in as Gorg fastened his three-point seatbelt.
“Are you okay? Do you need anything? A drink? Some snacks? We can’t serve anything once we take off until we reach microgravity.” It was obvious Gorg was truly interested in Ebbie’s comfort, and it warmed Ebbie’s heart.
“Is the take off going to be rough? It always looks so rough on television,” Ebbie asked. “Will the baby be okay?”
Gorg smiled at him and kissed his forehead. “Our takeoffs and landings are — usually — as smooth as silk. Mine wasn’t, but that was because of the damage I took from the meteor storm. This one should be, how do you say it? A piece of a walk in the cake park.”
Ebbie chuckled, albeit a bit nervously. “It’s either a piece of cake or a walk in the park. One or the other.”
“Ah. A piece of cake, then. You like cake. This will be fine.” He leaned down and kissed Ebbie properly, then went to his own seat next to Hivery.
Hivery and Gorg spoke to one another in a blurbbery sort of language that seemed quite wet to Ebbie’s untrained ear, then he felt the slightest of tremors beneath his feet.
There were no windows, other than the one in the cockpit, but Ebbie could see enough in the space between Hivery and Gorg to see that they’d taken off and were heading up.
As in straight up, into the clouds, even though to Ebbie it felt as if they were flying horizontally. It was the weirdest thing, but he guessed Jizmite technology was so far advanced that he wouldn’t understand it even if it were explained to him. Sciencewas never his forte anyway. He could barely program the clock on the microwave.
Within moments, or so it seemed to Ebbie, the skies darkened, and the stars winked on. He wished he had a better view, but knew he had to stay buckled in for his own safety and that of the baby.
“How long will it take us to reach Jizm?” He asked, once it seemed as if most of the busywork of liftoff was over for Hivery and Gorg.
“Just three of your Earth days,” Hivery replied. “Of course, we’re traveling at the speed of light, which means it’s much, much longer, but that’s science for you.”
Suddenly, Ebbie was struck by a terrifying thought. “Am I going to age?”
“Yup. Three whole days worth,” Gorg answered and chuckled. “Don’t worry, love. It’ll be fine. Soon we’ll reach microgravity, and you can unbuckle and come sit on my lap to enjoy the view.”
“I suddenly have about a million questions to ask you, most of which I probably should’ve asked before we left Earth.” Ebbie felt those million questions bubbling around in his gut, making him feel slightly queasy.
Hivery spoke up. “Like what? Now is as good a time as any. It will help pass the time.”
“What kind of food do you have on Jizm? Will there be stuff I can eat? Gorg, you know what we eat on Earth? Is it the same or similar?”
“It is, just faster,” Gorg replied. “Sometimes it gets away, but we have frozen if you don’t want to bother chasing it down.”
