Chapter 12: Chapter 12

ISABELLE

Izzy blinked her eyes a few times, and when her vision cleared, she stood in a small room with matte-gray walls.

It felt anticlimactic, and not what she expected. One wall only stood a foot to her left, and when she looked at it closely, she realized that it wasn’t a uniform dark metal gray.

The light from above refracted against the surface of the wall to show minute patterns, intricate swirls and fractals that spun in glorious dances and looked like the very essence of creation itself.

She reached out a hand to touch the wall, and felt an electric tingle, like touching a battery, and around her fingers, color sprang to life, rippling across the wall like a drop of water into a still pond.

The colors swirled until they formed an unearthly beautiful female face, smiling at her, with a wisdom and intelligence in the eyes that shone through.

“Welcome, Dakira Isabelle.” Izzy recognized the voice of Prime.

Izzy smiled. “Hello, Prime. Thank you for the light-show. It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you, Dakira,” The face smiled at her one more time before the wall morphed back to that matte-gray. ~This is so awesome.~

“We must go to the bridge. Join me when you are ready. Prime can show you the way,” Mikhlas said, and he and Silian walked out the room leaving their bags on the floor.

She was about to say something when the bags sank into the floor like they were sitting on quicksand. ~Guess this hotel doesn’t need porters,~ she thought, then Amy grabbed Izzy’s arm and squealed.

“Oh, My GOD! Izzy, we’re on a spaceship. A real alien spaceship. How fucking cool is this?” Amy said, way too excited.

“I know. I’m letting it all sink in for now,” she said and then noticed the expression on Amy’s face.

~Oh no.~ Her face held that naughty look. The one that got them into trouble, like running naked through a farmer’s field. Just as they did on Amy’s last birthday.

“Amy, no,” Izzy said.

“I haven’t even told you what I was thinking.”

“I don’t need to know. That look says enough.”

“I want to go explore the ship.”

“Mikhlas said to go to the bridge,” Izzy said, crossing her arms. “I don’t want to run into any more aliens on our own. Iry was enough of a shock.”

“Fine! But if it gets boring, we’re exploring,” Amy said.

“Fine,” Izzy said with a laugh. Izzy then realized that Mikhlas did not tell her how to get to the bridge.

“Prime?” she said.

“How may I assist you, Dakira Isabelle?” the disembodied voice echoed in the small chamber.

“Hello, again. How do we get to the bridge?” she asked. A thin blue line with a bright spark running down its length to show direction sprang to life on the floor by their feet.

“Simply follow the line, Dakira,” Prime said.

~That was easy,~ she thought, before wondering about the ship. ~Is the entire ship made of nanites, or is Prime like a body over a skeleton?~

She tried to figure it out as Amy walked by her side, following the line down a long passage. ~We are inside her. It’s like the ship itself is alive.~

When they turned the corner, the corridor opened into a massive room at least three stories high and as wide as half a football field. The walls were the same gray metal nanite skin as the rest of the ship. All except one.

The far wall at the front of the room stood like a window into the blackest of space. Light seemed to be absorbed into the wall. Different from the rest.

Arrayed in front of the black wall were a bank of control stations in a crescent moon shape, with three large seats at the center of the room. Mikhlas and Silian sat in two of them.

Of the twenty stations, seven were occupied, and from her position at the door, she saw the familiar small green shape of Iry.

She sat with her spiky hands dancing across a small screen filled with complicated diagrams and reams of data.

The other six looked human enough from this angle, despite the close-cropped albino-white hair and long earlobes that hugged close to the skin all the way to their shoulders, which reminded Izzy of an ice-cream cone.

A lot of the stations stood empty, just a variety of chairs hinting at what kind of aliens used them.

“Fuck…me!” Amy breathed out.

“You said it, sister,” Izzy whispered.

Mikhlas spun his chair at her words and smiled at them. As soon as Izzy stepped onto the ramp that led down toward the captain’s chair, a sudden rush of feet made her stop. Everyone in the room stood, turning to her.

~The albino-haired aliens have four eyes!~ She thought, and then noticed their posture. They all stood straight, with fists curled onto their torso like she’d seen Mikhlas and Silian do.

“Umm?” Izzy said, looking at everyone. Mikhlas stood up.

“Return to your duties,” he said to the room, and everyone sat back down and continued whatever mysteries ran the ship. He walked over to them.

“What was that?” Amy asked.

“Respect. Our future queen walked onto the bridge,” he said, smiling at Izzy.

“Right,” Izzy said, looking around. “I thought you said there were twenty-four crew. Where are the rest of them?”

“I asked them to leave the bridge and stay out of sight. At least until you have the chance to see them in private. Not all of my crew look…humanoid,” he said, gesturing to Iry and the albinos.

~Got to stop thinking of them like that.~

“What are their species, and where are they from?”

“The white-haired crew are Orbanites; Iry, as you know, is a Night Seer; Silian and I are homies,” he said.

Amy snorted before pressing a hand to her mouth and unsuccessfully tried to contain her giggles. “Homies? What up, ma homies?”

Izzy tried to be serious, couldn’t do it, and dissolved into laughter.

“I don’t get it,” Mikhlas said.

“Word,” Amy said.

Izzy’s side hurt from trying to suppress her laughter and looked at the confused expression on Mikhlas’ face. “It’s...just a cultural difference. Your planet is called Homies?”

“Homeworld. The origin world of the Five Sentinels,” he said.

“I see. Thank you for explaining. I’m glad we didn’t have that reaction when we got to your planet. We wouldn’t want to offend anyone,” she said, giving Amy a look.

“That’s funny as hell, and you know it,” Amy smiled, looking unrepentant.

“Come. I have something to show you,” Mikhlas said, and turned to the front of the bridge. They followed him to the main wall, the black one different than the rest. He stopped and turned to them.

“Take as long as you wish,” he said. Izzy and Amy looked at each other.

“Prime, open the window,” he commanded, and then walked away. The two women stood looking as the large black wall morphed translucent and then glass-like. The clearer the window got, the more their mouths fell open.

Revealed in the window, hanging in space like an inverted dewdrop, Izzy could see Earth.

The window shifted, taking on a concave shape like an eyeball, which brought the image of the precious blue-and-white planet even closer. ~It looks so beautiful, so peaceful.~

Izzy stepped as close to the window as she could and put her hand to the glass. It felt cold and metallic under her fingertips. She couldn’t take her eyes off the blue shape in front of her.

~I’m looking at my world from the Moon, ~she thought, and a sadness filled her.

~I’m leaving, and I might never come back~. Amy came to stand next to her and put one arm around her shoulders. Her face held a melancholy aspect, and she knew her friend felt the same emotions.

“Do you think we’ll ever come back?” Amy asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe one day,” Izzy said. They stood there for a few minutes, just looking out at their home.

It glowed under the light from the sun, a merry blue-and-white Christmas bauble, shining with possibility.

Izzy could see a landmass before them, hiding under a veil of clouds. It took her some time to place it given the angle, then it clicked.

At the bottom, half-hidden by shadow lay the west coast of Africa, while at the top of their strange perspective lay South America. Her home lay hidden over the horizon.

She finally took a deep breath and turned to look at Mikhlas. He sat in his command chair, watching them.

“I need to get my sons,” she said.

“As you wish.” He stood up and waited for them to follow him. When they walked off the bridge, he led them back to the small transport room they arrived in.

“Prime has located them. They are here,” he said pointing to the wall, which morphed into a thin screen. Izzy saw the house her mother lived in. She could see the boys playing outside in the snow with the neighbor’s kids.

“Prime will put us down here,” he said, moving the image to a nearby alley. ~Only a few houses away from my childhood home.~

“Okay,” Izzy said and looked at Amy. “You coming?”

“No. I’ll let you do this one alone.”

“I will go with you,” Mikhlas said. “I cannot let you go alone.”

~Great. This should be fun.~ Her mother was a unique soul. She smiled at him.

“You do so at your own risk,” she mumbled. Amy let out a small laugh, understanding what Izzy meant.