“Was he on board? Was he a part of it? Or are we just assigning collective blame like collective idiots?”
“They’re clones, Jaime. Well, not clones, but almost. They’re all the same.”
Ah, so that’s what Null meant by being different. “He’s not like them, Steven, so how about you pull your head out of your ass and show some empathy? I know you’re hiding it deep, deep, down inside. Or should I just stay here instead to make sure Null doesn’t get bullied?”
“You’re not staying! You need to go and have those alien doctors look at you. Fine,” he grumbles when I continue to stare expectantly. “I’ll stop being a dick to him.”
“And?”
Steven groans. “You’re impossible. What do you want from me? To take him out for a few beers? He doesn’t want that any more than I do.”
“Fine,” I sigh. Steven’s probably not wrong on that one. “Just don’t be a dick to him. Or anyone.”
“You know I’m the older brother, right? I should be the one teaching you manners.”
“Yet, here we are,” I snort. “So, is the ship ready? Hi,” I wave to the pilot, “I’m Jaime.”
He timidly waves back with his six-fingered hand. “Hello. I’m Pon. Like I told your brother, I’ve been working for AstroLift for four years now and I’ve never had an accident. I will safely get you to the Salvere. I will also provide you with all of the necessary assistance during the journey.”
Right, because we’re flying to the other end of the galaxy and it will take several days to get there. Alien smart appliances, household fixtures and gadgets make taking care of myself easier even with my handicap, and my hoverchair is the most awesome invention ever. Still, there are things I can’t do alone anymore. “Thank you, Pon. I’m sure it will all work out great.”
Steven grunts, unconvinced, but he doesn’t protest. Instead, he pulls me into a tight hug. “I’ll miss you. Send messages through that secure channel D’Aakh set up, okay? And don’t trust anyone. Fuck, I should go with you.”
“Steven, I’ll be fine. They only allow children to go accompanied, remember? I haven’t been a child for a long time.”
“Nah. You’re still my baby brother. Just be safe, please. I’d hate to have to run across the galaxy to rescue you. And get better. And—”
“I love you, Steven,” I interrupt my big, badass, Navy SEAL brother when it looks like he’s about to start crying. “I’ll be fine. Be nice!”
Glaring at the pilot, Steven threatens, “Take good care of my brother or I’ll hunt you down and kill you.”
“Y-yes, s-sir,” Pon stammers, hastily retreating into the shuttle.
“Sorry about him,” I try to comfort the frightened pilot. “He doesn’t mean it.” He does but the poor Karetelan doesn’t need to know that.
Foraspaceflight,the journey is surprisingly boring. We spend most of it in hyperspace, which is quite underwhelming compared to movies and TV shows, since there’s just darkness surrounding us with an occasional star streaking by. Fortunately, Pon is a pleasant, if a little timid, companion with a vast collection of various entertainment vids he wastes no time introducing me to.
An incessant beeping tears us away from a particularly cheesy drama about a mixed Syndoran-Karetelan couple and a Lakhartan who has turned evil, which is a huge deal, although I have no idea why. Pon jumps up with wide eyes, rushing to the cockpit. “Fuck.”
It startles me because it’s the first time I’ve heard him curse. Guiding my hoverchair to the cockpit, I stare through the front viewscreens, mouth agape. We’re no longer in hyperspace. We’re hovering over a huge planet, a gas giant surrounded by a large ring and several moons. It would be a beautiful sight if it weren’t for more and more controls in the cockpit beginning to flash orange. The ship lurches sideways, nearly knocking me out of the hoverchair.
“Strap in,” Pon orders, his voice tense. Ho points at a row of seats in the back of the cockpit. “Hurry. We’re going down.”
“We’re what now?!” As I scramble to move from the hoverchair into one of the fixed seats and figure out the security belts, the gas giant on the viewing screen grows larger. That’s bad, right? We can’t survive on a gas giant. Then I realize Pon is steering us toward one of the moons that is probably about the size of Earth.
“It should have atmosphere,” Pon states. “No civilization, though. Hold on.”
I cling to the straps as we hurtle toward the surface, thinking that this is just my rotten luck. I finally have a chance to fix my condition and what does the universe do? Slam-dunks me onto a random, uninhabited planet. Moon. Whatever. Fucking fuck.
