Loved in Space

‘So, where are you from?’ she asked, bobbing her head as she typed.

‘Just in the middle of nowhere.’ Rubin replied, ignoring the growls emanating from the shipment room.

‘Come on. Tell me. I am not going to stalk you. I am in a different quadrant.’

‘Yeah, that’s true.’ he sighed. ‘I am from one of those blue planets. We call it Earth.’

‘Wow. I have heard of this place. Is it the one with water?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ he said, staring at the broken display on his hand.

‘I am trying to think of the time difference. Are you 20 years younger? or is it 14 years?’

‘From your place? The time difference is probably about 28 years.’

‘Damn. that is quite a jump.’ she said, ‘Hold on. I am hearing a sound. Be right back.’

The screen went dark as Rubin slowly moved back to rest against the metal wall behind him. The entire spaceship was cold. They had lost the engines and temperature shields. He would have loved to talk to Leona with his camera switched on but he was too afraid she might freak out seeing the dead demurks* floating around and the flashing red lights. Rubin was strapped to the floor with one plasma pistol in his hand with not enough bullets.

‘I love chatting with you bro, I mean you are quite distracting. I should probably go check the routines on my ship. Its not really a Regal fleet like yours.’ she bobbed her head again, smiling and also a bit embarassed about her tiny cargo ship she was hauling. She considered herself a space post master. The job was hard as it is to pronounce.

The smoke from his breath blurred the helmet as he tried to quietly end the conversation. The faint snarling reverberated across the empty corridors of his ship. Wires hung loose and sometimes sparked when they rubbed against the metal floor. Rubin’s suit had taken severe damage but he was holding his own. A oxygen pack wouldn’t be so bad. He knew exactly where to get one but he didn’t have the courage to leave. Perhaps, he knew there is a chance he might not come back.

‘Hey, Leona. Tell me about the wierd pet you have.’

‘It’s a plant, Rubin. I don’t know why you keep bringing it up. We had a debate and it was settled. It is a plant.’

‘Come on! It poops! How can it be a plant when it poops?’

‘Listen, I have a lot of work to do. I will not sucked into your snarky monologues and comebacks.’

‘Alright, as you wish.’

‘But, I will be interested if you shared a personal story. You never told me why you are in a fully functioning Regal ship with just you. I am sure there is some epic story behind it.’

‘Are you blackmailing me? Really? You think that is going to work?’ he chuckled.

‘I think you are about to overshare and I am doing you a favor by telling you I am completely fine with it.’

The red lights in the comms room flashed on his palms as they have been doing for a few years. The glass shards floating around him made it very difficult to be cheerful about being alive.

‘Fuck it.’ he muttered to himself. ‘Promise me you won’t laugh at me.’

‘No, I won’t.’ she said, smiling as if she was receiving a present.

‘Most of what you guessed was right. We were hunters. Doing random patrols to make sure demurks don’t enter civilian planets. Then it all went to shit.’

‘Ambush?’

‘yup.’

‘I am sure you did your best to protect them.’

‘Well, I was ambushed by my crew.’

Her eyes went wide and her head cocked back. ‘They did what now?’

‘They shot me and damaged my suit, Leona. That’s what they did!’

‘But why?’

‘I was in love.’ he chuckled as tears rolled out of his eyes. ‘I thought it would be great to propose with a Haden ring. You know, the ones made with demurks blood. The aggressive yellow demurks. So we landed on this planet and I was about to infuse the ring with Haden blood when they shot me and left me to death. They had their comms on when they discussed their plans to steal the ship.’

‘I am so sorry. I hate people.’

‘Yeah, her plan was to stay in the ship as long as possible and kill me when they are close to her planet. Regal ships are not that easy to come by.’

‘I have said I would kill for a Regal ship. I am sorry. God, you must have felt terrible.’

‘Hey, don’t worry about it. Everything is good.’ He told her, unlocking the strap and tethering himself to the metal pipe overhead. The oxygen in his suit was red lining. It was time to go.

‘I have read in books about Haden rings and the blood. If any of that Haden blood gets into you, you slowly turn into them. You essentially get marked for life. All the male demurks would be aggressive because you killed their queen. Those horny bastards would have ripped you apart. How are you still alive?’

‘That is why you train. I am a decent shot. I can hold my own.’ he told her, carefully making his way towards the shipment door.

‘This was not a training sim. Even if it was a dormant planet, there could be atleast a thousand demurks.’

‘Well, I did run out of weapons.’ he smiled. It has been a while since someone appreciated his good for nothing skills. A skilled hunter doesn’t get himself into a situation to shoot off a shit ton of demurks in the first place.

‘Hold on. You must be on the leaderboard. You could get an actual reward for all of this. How much did you kill, ballpark?’

’14 million, give or take.’

Her face froze for a moment and then quickly turned into a smile. She was mighty impressed but Rubin had let go of lot of things to survive. Joy included.

‘Dude! You can get a brand new ship if you could submit the cache data of the kills.’

‘Get the ship and then what? Ride into the sunset with you?’

‘Sunset? What do you mean? like crash land into the sun?’

‘No. It is a phrase. Nevermind.’

‘Okay, I want to watch how you managed to kill all of those bastards.’

‘Whatever helps you sleep at night.’

‘Alright, I really have to go now. Don’t forget to cache in! You are getting the new ship and we are celebrating.’

‘Loud and proud.’ He replied as the call ended. The momentary smile faded as he gripped the plasma gun.

He slapped the door interface and the lights became green. There was a loud hiss from the air chamber as the doors opened. In front of him were his crew in their full suit, oxygen masks included, gnawing at the cables and plastic. Their foot was crooked, their jaws hanging from their face and teetering at the empty shelves.

‘Hey guys, Good to see you again. Just don’t bite me.’ He told them as they shrieked and ran towards Rubin.

*All suggestions on improving are welcome.
*Demurks are lions with wings and face full of teeth.
*All images included in this blog are copyright free and belongs to the respective owner.
*Twitter – @rdidraj