the unknown space

chapter 16

Karen and I didn't talk much that night. I let her sleep on the bed and I slept on the ground. The next morning we were given breakfast, it was some type of food like toast. It tasted nothing like toast but it was still good. We also had some type of meat that was the equivalent to bacon, it tasted more sweet than it did salty. Then we were brought back outside the caves to work on the ship once more. After a few hours of work we finished.

"Isolde, we're done," I said, walking out of the ship.

"Very good! Will it fly?" She asked.

"It should, it looks like the ruvataur made some type of battery that works instead of fuel. I'm not sure how you did it though so it might have to be charged."

"Yes, yes the battery, I had almost forgotten," Isolde said more to herself than to me. A few more aliens came from the ground. She then looked up at me, "It doesn't need to be charged, I've already appointed an alien as leader in the time that we're gone so we can leave now."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see, I have coordinates to put in so all you two have to do is make sure we don't crash. Now come on," Isolde said, boarding the ship, along with the few other aliens. I followed and closed the door behind us. Isolde typed in some numbers which I assumed were the coordinates. Karen and I turned on the ship while sitting in makeshift seats. Isolde's seat was too small for her so she was mostly just hanging on to a railing. I heard the ship turn on and all the lights came on with it.

"Hold on," I said as I pressed the last few buttons, "We'll be launching in a few seconds." As I spoke there was a beep and a red light shined down on us. A screen on the control panel shone. There was a keypad and it looked like it was looking for a four digit code. "Isolde, is there a four digit code that would be connected to the ship?" I asked. "It looks like I can't launch without one." She thought for a second and then looked at me.

"You should know what it is," she said. I scrunch my eyebrows together trying to think. Suddenly I remembered the end of the animal tile hallway. Before the door would open I had to put in a four digit code. It told me never to forget it. I put in the code I had made up, 2640, and the red lights turned green. There was a jolt and we were in the air. There was a large glass window in front of the driver seats which Karen and I had taken so we could see. We had controls that were like driving wheels but more like two sticks than a wheel in case the ship got out of control or needed to be taken on an indirect path. So far the ship flew smoothly. After a few minutes I turned to Isolde.

"So what's the story behind this ship?" I asked.

"I suppose you should know," Isolde sighed. "We were trying to start a new project where we could fly to different areas on Doxetis so that we could have better contact around the planet and eventually other planets as well. Sadly, the three aliens who were flying the ship weren't trained well enough and ended up crashing. Ever since, I haven't tried again in fear we would have a repeat of last time. Now however, you're here and you know how to fly. Your only job is to make sure we do not crash, otherwise the ship will lead us to where we need to go."

"Okay," I said. I didn't want to make the queen upset. I turned to Karen and she made eye contact with me. I nodded and she returned it. I pulled down a lever and she pushed a few buttons. We jumped into hyperspace. The ride was only a few hours but it felt like an eternity.

"Where exactly are we going Isolde?" I asked the queen.

"I can not tell you," her answer was so firm but yet it seemed frail.

"Why?" I asked.

"Part of your training is to trust me. You do trust me don't you Evander?" Isolde asked me.