The escape ship was the reverse of the TARDIS. In that it was smaller on the inside, barely enough room for one person. Namely that person would be me. They only had a miniscule fragment of Thera’s mind, enough for life support and the journey to Earth.
Zan couldn't leave Thera, not yet. I knew she had gone, I hadn’t told Zan I knew I just did. There was enough living tissue to support us for a little while. Most of the decks were gone, rotted away, leaving us with a small space. Just the two of us, now. Betalaina hadn't been seen since she escaped the room. There was a possibility she hadn't. survived. I couldn’t mourn her because deep down something told me she was still there, Perhaps absorbed into the last living remains of Thera. Living and learning about a life without her.
We spent the next couple of hours making preparations. We ate our last meal together and talked, mostly about trivial matters, nothing too deep, nothing about the reality of the situation. One question was at the back of my mind and after the meal had been eaten, I asked it then.
"What will happen to you when-" I couldn't say it, "I mean-"
"I know." He finished, "She’s gone, I didn’t know if you knew, I didn’t want to upset you.”
“I’ve known for sometime,” I said, tears flowed down my eyes, “but I didn’t want it to be real. Will you stay and_?”
“And succumb myself?” He answered, taking a deep breath, “I know she wouldn’t want that for me. In the past, captains did die with their ship, if they were bonded.” he said, “but that has not been practiced for centuries. What I do know is I’ll be here for a while. I'll write reports while there’s oxygen to breathe. Then before the air runs out, I will go into a stasis pod. Maybe the distress signal from the pod will bring a friendly ship. I expect I'll work for passage to the nearest spaceport.” he sighed, “To be honest Liana, I haven't thought much beyond the spaceport."
“Well, I'm going to embellish my experience here,” I said, “Which I have to, because I only learnt that getting an alien disease is no fun, Xeran’s think we have mating competition on television and Pumpkins steal chocolate.” I shrugged, “then I’ll probably Get a job with minimum pay and no prospects or unemployment benefits, all the while trying not to cry about Thera. But right now, I have something else to worry about.”
"What is your worry?" He asked.
"Well," I said, "how am I supposed to get two giant seed pods past Earth security?"
"I don't know about that. I hadn't thought about that either!" He admitted. "You know we have quite a bit in common, not having a red sun's clue about anything!"
"You know if you ever visit earth, I'm going to have to teach you some better swear words.” I said laughing, “You can't say red sun this and red sun that if you want a career as a space pirate. It just isn't cool!"
"Why would I want to be cold?" He said, confused. Honestly, I could have face-palmed right about then. I wasn't surprised he’d said that, this was the alien who had mistook a dance competition for a mating ritual. He needed a little work to be a space pirate and a leather jacket wouldn’t go amiss.
He must have seen my face, “What did I say?” He said.
"Nothing," I said back smiling, I nudged his arm, "so how about it? A visit to Earth sometime to bring some joy to my boring life?"
"Oh I'll do better than that," he said, "let's go one of those human dating rituals." He stuttered, "I mean, a date, no dancing, just a sit down date with one of those drinks made with fermented, I forget the name bar-lay?”
"Beer?" I said, "yes, that sounds perfect. But I need a guarantee first."
I reached over and kissed him. Just a peck on the cheek. Just as I pulled away, he turned my head and kissed my lips. A long lingering kiss that almost made my legs buckle.
I wasn't expecting that. When we finally separated, I asked, “where on Earth did you learn how to do that?”.
"Was I bad?”
"Let’s just say," I said, slightly out of breath. I must have flushed redder than that red sun of his, “you can do that again!”
We laughed. Only interrupted when we heard a pop. It was the sound of a plant stem being snapped. I jumped, was the ship falling apart? Were we too late?
Zan ran over to the pods and I feared the worst.
“Liana!” he shouted, “take the pods to the ship, there’s no time!”
“Is everything alright? Zan,” I said, “Are they dying?”
“No, Liana,” he said, “not in the least. We did it Liana, The pods are opening!”
(Final word count: 21,259)
YOU ARE READING
Liana's Ship (#ONC 2021)
Science Fiction"When saving an endangered species means life and death, sometimes you just need to sit down and have a cup of tea." Out of work and broke, liana accepts a placement on a Xeran ship as a trainee. How hard can it be? The Pay? Well let's just say, no...
