97 CHAPTER 96 THE CAPTAIN

Her pinky face glittered as the light of the bulb hanging on the ceiling danced on her forehead. Perchance it was those black lines that ran from the side of her cheeks to her lips and up to her forehead, which made her more innocent. Nothing in her being suggested what her mouth had professed. She looked like a baby, almost like a toddler that had miraculously learned how to walk and talk. How on earth can a human being be six-hundred and sixteen years old? Human being? That settles it then. Her skin was pink and lined with black lines. She was not a human being, at least her features gave her away. He had only seen something of her nature on TV.

"What is this place? Are we on earth?" Ham asked, but licked his lips when she shook her head.

"Earth does not exist too. Has been removed from the book since the time of the great war. We are on our way home, but not to earth. There is no earth. Must I explain these things over and over again. You must have banged your head or something," She chuckled, "Your questions are weird."

"I am okay," Ham scratched his head, still trying to digest what she had said. How can the earth be destroyed? That cannot be. If the earth was destroyed, that means one thing. His friends, his people, and everything he ever knew was gone. Gone with the Wind. Gone with the hands of nothing. No, that cannot be, he refuses to accept that.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Kira asked, "If you need time to relax I will let you be." She looked away from him to the cube, "Even the green cube itself has its own side effect. Studies have shown."

"I am fine," Ham shifted his weight to the other foot, "What do you mean gone?" The question in Kira's eyes suggested that she didn't understand what he was saying, so he repeated.

"You said, earth has been destroyed. How can that be?" Kira laughed as though that was the funniest thing she had ever heard in her entire life.

"That's every reason why I think you should rest your head." She chuckled again, "Even a newborn infant knows that earth is no longer in existence. It is gone Ham, like a thousand years ago. I had not had my first training at that time."

"That cannot be true," Ham bit his lips as his brow furrowed with confusion. His head was beginning to throb and somewhere at the back of his head, he could feel the sweat strolling down, "I mean," He hissed, "I just left my friends on earth. I just left there. How can the earth be destroyed?"

"See for yourself," Kira said and pushed a button on the watch-like device on her wrist. A colored imaged popped out and began to move about like some television. On it were different scenes, different pictures. "I have kept this with me since time immemorial."

Ham's jaw dropped, and sadness engrossed his whole being. He saw a green life everywhere. The light of the sun was magnificent as they showered the globe with their grace. Suddenly the imaged zoomed in and when the face of a human being was about to be displayed, there was a large explosion and then the whole thing just disappeared.

"Are you convinced now?" Kira asked and returned her hands to her side. Her face was a mixture of sadness and amusement. It was as if she was justified that the hologram image proved her point, but on the other hand, she looked as though she was about to explode with sorrow.

"No," Ham shook his head, happy that his friends were safe at last. Too much green in the world Kira had shown him, too much green. That cannot be the earth he knows. It cannot possibly be.

"That is not earth. Anadan, the place where I am coming from, is not so greenish and yellow. The last time I checked, some of our plants were turning into the color of your skin."

Kira's left brow raised towards her forehead. If she was offended that he had used her skin in compassion to some plants in Anadan, she didn't show or did well to hide them.

"So, you mean to tell me that you are from another—

"Kira" A voice called from the door. Kira backed away from the green cube as soon as she heard the voices and the approaching footfalls. Her eyes and her ego seemed to have dropped. She might break into tears at any moment, Ham concluded.

"Se le pidio que mirara. No es una instruction sencillia? Te dije que me llamaras si cambia el patron (You were asked to watch. Is that not a simple instruction? I told you to call me if the pattern of the test should change)." The voice said as the owner walked into the gleaming light. Its skin tone was in an identical fashion as that of Kira. But unlike Kira, whose black lines only covered and ran through the side of her cheeks and face, this creature has the dark lines covering two-third of his body. He was donned in some white uniforms that held onto his skin, bringing out every detail, his bulging chest, and arms and his huge neck which looked like the size of a yam tuber, which the Gray linage always sells in the metal market. Ham stroked his hair. The man, made his muscles look like a child's play.

Kira remained calm, at least the solemn look she wore said so. It was hard to read the expression on the face of these creatures. 

"En que te paras, Kira. (On what do you stand, Kira?)"

"On the commandments of the captain, sir," Kira saluted, responding in Araen.

"I don't think you mean those words" The man rustled back in Araen and walked pass, towards the far end of the room "I will send you back to your father." He said still in Araen. His back was hunched over the keyboard as he typed. He had not lifted his head from the black machine.

Ham had not seen the machine until now. In fact, he could have sworn that the machine was not there until the captain had walked into the room. He had been too engrossed with Kira to notice anything else. 

The machine was black, with several buttons lining the front cover. Insulated tubes with the color of the sun held it in place as they seemed to grow from the marble floor. Besides the lower compartment was an electrocardiogram screen, bearing a green, yellow and red light. A keyboard also sat in one of the standing tables, free from the machine itself.

"So," The Captain said, turning back to the green cube. His dark long hair followed his muscular shoulders, hanging in a slick cascade behind him. The lines on his face looked gray and worn out in comparison to Kira's. That must be the way to tell their age difference.

"Who are your creature?"

It took some time for Ham to realize that he was the one the man was referring to. Turning his attention to him Ham said.

"My name is Harmzold Sylvester."

"Harmzold Sylvester." The captain repeated as though that would make the name stick in his memory. "Tell me, Ham," He continued, still ambling towards the green cube, "What were you doing in the engine room of my ship and where are you from?"

"I—I," Ham stammered. The words had formed in his head, but he couldn't voice them. Not because he didn't, but because Kira was giving him some funny looks. It was as if the girl wanted him to keep his mouth shut. "I don't actually know how I came into your ship," He said, ignoring Kira.

"Should I take that as an excuse?" He said. He had reached the green cube now and was tracing his hands on them.

"Here in Miens," He continued, with amusement on his aging face. He was by far older than Kira, which made Ham wonder how old he could be. 

"We have lived in peace for decades, but that doesn't mean we have forgotten how to dance to the tones of violence." 

Ham swallowed as the man suddenly looked at him. Those gray eyes wore dark with mysteries and evil. But for the glass that kept them apart, Ham could have taken to his heel.

"And you know what that means, don't you?" He asked. Ham swallowed hard and exchanged a disturbing gaze with Kira. Her face was still neutral, but the silence words on her lips encouraged him to stay put and not give in to the manipulating words of the Captain.

"Of course I know exactly what that means. It means that I am going to shove my faces into your throat if you do not free me."

Kira smiled long enough for Ham's eyes to detect and his stomach leaping for joy.

"I can see you have the tongue. You will—

"Sir," Someone interrupted and walked toward the captain. "We have arrived home. Permission to land,"

The captain bit his order and followed the skinny boy out of the room without dropping a further word.