SpaceHunter

Bellburtun

Claire finished packing her stuff and loaded it onto the ship. She then re-entered the cabin to check if she had forgotten anything. 

Perched on top of the fireplace, there was a photograph. She couldn't believe she was about to leave without it. It was a group photo. In it, there were nine young people. Claire was on the extreme left, holding someone's hands and leaning on them, smiling uncontrollably. It was the last time she was happy.

Once the three of them had settled down, Jonathan fired up the ship. It had been almost a year since Claire last sat in one of these, so it took a while to get used to the vibrations again. The vibrations reach a peak when entering space, but once you enter, there's nothing calmer. Claire had always loved space, partly because as a teenager it was the only place she could go to be alone. Space was dead silent, and she would give anything for silence.

"It'll take us about twenty minutes to reach the nearest Teleportation Centre," said Jonathan.

"I thought we were going to fly all the way. Planet Holiday isn't that far," said Claire.

Jonathan looked at Elhart and said,

"Tell her, El"

"Umm... we are going to have to go to Bellburtun first," Elhart said.

"WHAT?" she exclaimed.

"Your father's orders" 

"I don't care about his orders, drop me off directly at Planet Holiday and I'll begin my investigation"

"I'm sorry but I can't do that" 

"You lied to me," she said, scowling.

"It'll be a quick stop, I promise. He wanted to see you first, and you'll also be briefed about the investigation"

She leaned back in her seat and tried to process everything. She had promised herself she'd never go back home again, let alone meet her father. She was regretting agreeing to come along, but she knew she had to go as she wouldn't be able to live with herself if anything were to happen to Celene.

The Zellervy Galaxy Teleportation Centre 342 was the smallest centre Claire had ever seen. It looked like one of those gaseous planets surrounded by rings, only if they were tiny and made of shiny silver metal. It freely floated in space, without orbiting any nearby planets or stars. It was quite a sight to look at.

Jonathan painstakingly docked the ship into the centre. The trio collected their things and waited for the metal doors to whoosh open. Three sets of doors later, they were inside the centre. 

From inside, the centre appeared to be even smaller. Whoever had to be teleported had to first go into a closed space known as a chamber. There was only one chamber at this centre, which meant it could only handle one teleportation at a time. 

"You'll go first Claire," said Elhart as they arrived at the entrance of the chamber, "Neli will meet you on the other side"

"Neli still works there?" she asked.

"Your mother would never let her go and you know that"

She nodded. Neli was like family and even Claire adored her.

"Which one of you will come after me?" 

"Jonathan, it's been a long journey and the kid deserves to get home first"

"Aw ... so sweet of you," he said from behind them.

 I'll see you tomorrow then," she said, looking at Johnathan.

"Miss me, princess," he said, grinning.

She frowned but let it go. 

For the person being teleported, the process felt like it took seconds. But in real-time, it took about a day for them to get from one place to another. Claire hadn't been teleported many times, she preferred flying. She found being teleported almost unnatural, like she was cheating nature or something. It always gave her this funny feeling in her gut, a feeling she hated. 

"This is goodbye then," she said to Elhart, who wouldn't be teleported until the day after, by when Claire would have left Bellburtun to carry on her investigation.

"For a while, yes. I hope you find her" he said.

"I hope so too"

She then entered the chamber, and the people in the control room fired up the huge machine. A loud whirring noise echoed through the facility. The vibrations were much worse here than they had been on the ship, and Claire started to get that funny feeling in her gut again. It felt as if her insides were about to come out. 

At the Centre, the machine would have to run the entire day for Claire to reach her destination, and then it would be Jonathan's turn. For Claire though, the process felt like seconds.

Everything went black, and she couldn't feel her own body. A few seconds passed, and then there was light again. Bright light that agitated her pupils. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself in one of the many chambers of the Bellburtun Centre. This was a private Centre that her father owned. It had about sixty-four chambers, the most in any Centre in the Galaxy. It was also the only Centre that had direct access to a Planet. In this case, the Planet Bellburtun, also owned by her father. 

Post-teleportation was a phase that was a mix of dizziness and trying to get a hold of one's surroundings. The body took a while to adjust. It was no surprise. After all, teleportation was almost like being ripped apart and then being put back together again, piece by piece. A tedious process like this was bound to take a toll on the body. 

After Claire felt close to normal again, she exited the chamber, and she wished she hadn't.

Two people stood there, one was Nina and the other her father, looking ready to greet her.

"Welcome back Claire!" her father said excitedly.

She had never felt such rage in her life.