Chapter 7: Paba Rebapa

Meno continued to hold his hand out to her, still panting from the exhaustion of the fight. It had been the first real fight he had ever been part of. She just looked up at him.

“I’m Meno”, he said, trying to cut through the tension as the last of the smoke dissipated. She took a moment, blinking and then took his hand. He pulled her up, and he took in a deep breath. She stared, brow furrowed.

“Angie”, she said, looking at him. It was a strange encounter. They had both been on the same moon for his entire life, and he had spent most of that time being very cautious of the guards. Now, he was extending his hand and hoping that he could help her. She seemed to feel it, too. They were both caught as the doors to the cargo bay opened, and they were greeted by another Dorlec soldier holding a pistol. This soldier was much shorter, maybe a head shorter than Meno and a bit rounder. Angie stood in front of him, the pistol still in her hand, but held down.

“They dead?” said the small soldier in the modulated voice.

“Good enough”, said Angie testily. The Dorlec soldier holstered the pistol, though unconvincingly, fumbling slightly. “He isn't contagious”, Angie added, still shielding Meno. The Dorlec soldier removed their helmet, and Meno saw a massive afro pop out of it. She had freckles on her dark face, a round nose and big cheeks with sharp, suspicious eyes.

“I know”, she said with some attitude. “I calibrated the sensors myself”, she said, placing the helmet under her arm. It put her arm near horizontal as she did. “We’ll jetison them once we are in orbit”, she said casually. “Planet?”. Angie took a moment, and Meno stepped forward,

“You’re going to throw them into space?”

“Their suits will protect them. Planet?” she said slightly more irritatedly, and after glancing at Angie, Meno said,

“Not until we are in orbit”, Meno said, remembering Worrec’s warning. She huffed and turned around to walk through the corridor. She muttered something that seemed to be something along the lines of, ‘fucking Worrec’.

“Take their weapons, I don’t want anyone else shooting up my ship”, she shouted, waddling down the ship's main corridor, “Already shot my ship once already”, she muttered to herself, the words echoing off the steel walls.

Angie turned to Meno, and he met her gaze, both seemingly confused. They collected the weapons and quickly raced to follow the pilot. He walked through the small ship that he had been watching for the last two hours from the treeline of the forest. It was very much like the exterior on the inside. Old, battered and seemingly made completely from steel. He wondered if this was what all ships looked like.

They passed four rooms. Two beds were stacked vertically atop one another, one with a small kitchen and table made from the same worn metal and another room that was closed with a heavy metal door. He quickened his pace to keep up with Angie, who holstered both pistols in her belt.

They made their way to the cockpit, and Meno immediately found himself taken by the holographic displays and monitors that lined the entire surface below the viewport. He had never seen a hologram before, only ever hearing about the hanging light images. He was completely transfixed by the moving patterns and letterings that flittered in the air. The pilot moved some of the holographic controls, and the ship shuddered for a second and then became completely still, but they started to rise.

He had heard of this, at least he had been taught it by Swan. The gravity engines on ships created a bubble around them that kept the ship in stasis while space moved around it. He had never quite understood it, and it was unnerving to see the landscape shift around them while not feeling anything at all. He began to smile, feeling a motion that seemed to make everything he had previously heard click into place.

“We need to get away from the Pillar as soon as we…” started Angie,

“I took over the soldiers' comms as soon as they got close. According to the Pillar, everything is going according to plan,” said the Pilot, concentrating on the holographic panels and displays. Her hands hovered for moments as though undecided where to go next. Meno could see that Angie was noticing this too, and he suspected that they might be thinking the same thing.

“I’m Meno by the way”, he said, thrusting his hand forward to her, trying to follow the instructions that Miss Hellen had taught him as a child.

‘Always give a firm handshake and introduce yourself properly. It’s good manners’

“I’m driving here, kid”, said the pilot, pulling back a bit. Meno felt a soft hand fall on his shoulder, but saw that Angie was not looking at him. She was peering across at the Pillar. Meno followed her gaze.

He had only seen it from the town, and it had been obscured by the trees when he was hiding in the bushes. Now it seemed even more daunting from up close. The smoothed black surface of the monolith seemed to stretch further than Meno could see. The tech that Worrec had given him popped up with words and symbols. Meno could see that it was one thousand one hundred meters tall and one hundred and ninety-three meters wide at its thickest point. It was absolutely enormous. The rest of the data was obscured. Meno suspected that it was not allowing him to scan it.

Meno looked down onto the small town of Gol. He could only see the faint flickering lights of his old home in the town. Mr. Dimitri would still be sitting in the kitchen. He would be all alone now, in the times when he needed Meno the most. They continued to rise as Meno watched the small flicker of light fade. Again, he felt the hand of Angie on his shoulder,

“This is all he ever wanted, Meno,” he looked up nervously at her. She spoke to him with a familiarity that he did not have. He just nodded and looked back down to the surface. The lights were no longer visible. He closed his eyes and prayed to Mr. Dimitri’s old war god to give him strength. To give him the death of a warrior that he had always said was the right of every Hulfean.

When he opened his eyes, the sky had changed from a glimmer to pure black. Meno looked around and saw that Gol was now a sphere below them, grey and haunting as it drifted in the inky sea of space. A white star glowed in the far distance, but Meno didn't have a second to take it in before the pilot spun around in her chair and looked at them.

“Planet?” Meno stumbled for a moment and then looked at Angie, who nodded encouragingly, and he looked back down at the pilot, who rolled her eyes at him. Clearly, he had taken too long to answer her.

“I’m Paba Rebapa, and I am also on the run, like you, and I would, if possible, like to get as far away from that Pillar as possible. So, planet?” It did, somehow, comfort Meno,

“The planet is called Yelly”, he then stopped and tried again, “Yeyl”. He closed his eyes, swearing to himself. Worrec had almost mockingly repeated it multiple times to him.

“Yeley?” asked Paba.

“That’s it, Yeley. Sorry, I don’t know why I cou…” She had already turned and began spinning the holographic controls once more. Meno suddenly saw in front of him, in the depths of space, a blue glow that started to emit in front of the ship. Like giant spinning glass discs, though they weren’t glass.

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“Is that a gravity cascade?” he said, unable to pull his eyes away.

“Yep,” said Paba, not looking away from the controls.

“I’ve heard of them, your condensing space, right?” he said, recalling lessons from Swan. Gravity cascades were how the engines on these ships emitted gravity bubbles over vast distances, pulling the desired location closer

“Okay,” she said turning around again, this time a bit more chipper, “All set. You two need a shower, because one of you smells like shit” she said looking directly at Meno. He suddenly felt very conscious of himself.

“First, I’d like some answers”, said Angie. They both just looked at her. “Who are you?” she said to Paba, “And how did you get that uniform?” she said to Meno, calmly, though dangerously. “Who’s Worrec?” Meno and Paba looked at each other, and she darted her eyes between the two. Meno decided that he would answer,

“I just met him tonight. He came into town and told me that I needed to leave. He told me that you had been arrested and that I needed to find the pilot of this ship, as she would get us out. I dont know anything about him, just…”

“He’s an asshole” interjected Paba leaning back in her seat. Meno looked forward and saw that the light in front of them was collecting within the cascade, swirling and spiralling. Angie clicked her fingers in front of Meno’s face,

“Meno, focus, please”

“Sorry, I, uh, yeah, he’s a bit strange, but he gave me this tech” he said pointing behind his ear, “and told me to wait in the bushes until they brought you down” he said hoping that he had all of it, “He told me where we need to go, but not to tell the pilot because she might drop us off before we take off” Meno blurted without thinking. He looked at Paba, but her expression hadn't changed one bit. He took in a breath and continued, “That’s it really. He said that he was in the room with you when you were arrested, and that they are…that the Dorlec are moving into the town to end the experiment”, he trailed off seeing that Angie seemed to be lost in thought.

“I saw them readying their troops”, she said heavily. She nodded at Meno and then looked at Paba, “And you?”

“Similar story, he found me at the labs in my university. I got into a bit of trouble, and he showed up out of the blue, telling me that he could help. I was sent to a space port where I hid for a while, then he sent me here and got me onto this freighter, and now here we are” Meno could tell that Angie didn't quite trust her story either, but exhaled.

“Why Yeley?”

“Before that,” said Paba, standing, which didn't alter her height much, “We’re already heading to Yeley, and it’s going to take about a day before we get there. Can he please go have a shower because I mean, and I mean offense when I say this Menu” she said backing away from him,

“Meno”, he said with futility,

“He smells like my uncle Yop, and that motherfucker has been dead for ten years now”. Meno backed away slightly. “I’ll even make food, I stole a ton of it from the Pillar”, Paba bargained, and reluctantly, Angie agreed.

A few minutes later, Meno was in one of the rooms with his exo-suit sitting next to the bed, standing in front of the shower. He saw the sprout at the top and a panel that had buttons and dials on it. There were also three bottles that we had on the side in bright colours. Green, yellow and blue. The whole thing was surrounded by glass.

“I figured you hadn't used one of those before”, came Angie’s voice from the door. He turned and awkwardly smiled. “Push the panel, there will be an adjustment for temperature and intensity. Those are soaps,” she said, indicating the bottles. Meno smiled, looking at them. He had only ever known soap to be a thick, coarse bar that the guards had handed them. He looked them over and up at the spout again. “How are you doing, kid?” he turned back to her and took a moment. He felt strange speaking with her. He didn't quite know how to interact with her.

“It’s been a strange day”, he said, deflectively with a smile. She nodded and turned,

“Oh, and I put clothes out for you”

“Thank you”, he said weakly as he watched her leave. He thought about what Mr. Dimitri had told him about her. That she was someone who could be trusted, someone whom Mr. Dimitri had always trusted. He wasn't too sure yet, though. But he also knew that before this, he had never met anyone new before, and now three in one day. He hoped that he was doing all right. He suddenly realised that he had never shaken Angie’s hand, but wondered if helping her up from the cargo bay floor counted.

He turned back to the shower and pushed the panel, and suddenly water started to fall from the ceiling. He jumped back and nearly slipped, but started to laugh when he saw it come down and begin to steam. He stripped off his clothing and tentatively stepped into the falling water. It was warm, and the drops felt heavenly on his back as he stood in it. He felt the warm water run down his body and the steam fill his lungs.

Meno experienced pure, absolute and undeniable ecstasy in the water. He had never felt anything like it in his entire life. The water was warm, almost hot. The pressure hit his body, and he felt as though he was being massaged. The soaps that cleaned him without burning his skin or leaving an oily film. He laughed each time he tried a new one. This was his new favourite thing. A shower.

He stood there for a while after applying the soap, and his thoughts drifted. He was not able to believe that such a luxury existed in the galaxy. It was a hidden treasure of such divine profundity that he just stood in the small compartment and wondered what else this galaxy had to surprise him with. The soaps smelled of fresh flowers, which he found by picking up the bottle and reading it, and he only imagined that this was what Dot must have been describing when she spoke of wondering fields in the homeworld where she had grown up. There was a product for his hair, though it was not as effective as the soap, but it felt just as amazing. He had found pure bliss.

He only left the shower when Angie called into the bathroom and told him that it was enough. He dried himself with a towel of soft material that was white and clean. He then pulled on the base layers that Angie had left out for him. They were black, elasticated and warm. He found himself in shock at everything that was happening to him.

He sat on the bed and smiled, looking around the steel room, rubbing his hands across the bed sheets. If only they could have seen him now. His mood suddenly stopped as he thought about the people on Gol. about Mr. Dimitri, who was still there. He would die tonight. Meno knew that. They were going to make a final stand, he and Worrec. His entire life had just collapsed in front of him, and here he was, sitting on a soft and even bed, in new clothes after just experiencing a shower. He took in a deep breath, knowing that this was all that they had ever wanted for him, but he felt the guilt all the same.

He made his way into the small kitchen and smelled food like he had never smelled in his life before. Paba was sitting across the small table from Angie, who was already showered, wearing the towel around her neck with her hair still wet. They both looked at him,

“Why were you laughing?” said Paba with a skewed up face.

“He’s never had a shower before”, Angie said, smiling at him.

“Sorry,” said Meno with a smile, “It was just…They’re amazing,” She looked at him strangely, and Angie pulled out a chair next to her.

“Beef with kimchi and rice”, she said, showing him the small packet in front of her. He had only heard of beef and rice, but he had no idea what kimchi was; it smelled amazing.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?” he said after taking a bite of the food. It was sweet, rich, sour, spicy, warm and chewy. He had never had anything like it. It was like bursts of flavour in his mouth.

“They really starved you down there, didn't they?” said Paba as Angie smiled, watching him. They both watched for a time, and then Angie cleared her throat.

“Brass tacks…” she said, “It seems like all of us are, for all intents and purposes, fugitives now” Both Paba and Meno stopped. “You said that you were on the run as well?” Angie said to Paba, who seemed to hesitate for a moment. Angie seemed to take that as a yes “I don’t know who this Worrec guy is, and it sounds like you don’t either. I don’t know why we are heading to Yeley”, she said, hanging it as though it was a question.

“I have codes to get on the planet, but that’s it”, said Paba. Meno fumbled in his pocket and felt the coin. They both looked at him, and he pulled the coin out.

“I’m meant to give this to someone called Harold”, he said, swallowing the last of his food. They both just looked at the coin until Angie picked it up and looked at it.

“It’s Hulfean”, she said, looking at it closely. “He didn't say anything else?”

“He’s an asshole” said Paba once more. Angie nodded in quiet contemplation.

“I know that this is probably as weird for you two as it is for me, but whoever this Worrec guy is, he seems to know more than we do right now. I think we need to stick together,” she said, looking between the two. Meno nodded easily, and Paba, after looking between them, did the same. “I think we are going to need to have each other's backs with whatever in the hell might be coming our way next”.

Meno nodded again, even as the words that Worrec had spoken to him earlier that night ran through his head.

‘It’s not all going to be sunshine and rainbows. You have piqued our interest. We have plans for you, kid, and you’re not going to like all of them’.