98 CHAPTER 97 RUNAWAY

"What's happening," Ham asked and elevated his head as the light of the bulb started to flicker. Everywhere shook, jutting them from one side of the ship to the other. Kira was holding the edge of the table to keep her body from kissing the floor. She still had those disapproving looks on her face, even though the captain had long disappeared with the other creature. So trust and obeying commands her glitches. Ham smiled. It sounded too familiar. Pinna also had that edge around her the first time they met. She was so distrusting and obeying commands was not in her eponym. Years of staying in the academy could have brought out the obedience, but the girl was like a dead horse being beaten by the whip of the authority. She was known for her bossy nature and rudeness. Perhaps that was the very reason why he liked her. The fences she created around herself to shield other people from knowing the fragile girl beneath, made her look tough and self-confidence as though the world was her bed of roses. Ham's smile widened. Those walls had broken the moment they became friends, bringing to limelight, the shy little girl hiding behind them. 

"We have arrived home," Kira said. The vibration had stopped, but the hanging bulbs still oscillated from side to side. There were shouts of men…of creatures outside the room, yelling orders and hurrying footfalls that rush to obey the commands. Kira also hurried to the keyboard that stood facing the machine and started typing on them without looking at the screens. The edges of her face had turned from calmness to worry.

Ham strained his neck to see what she was doing, but it was difficult for his eyes to see through the green cube and the bright light in the room. He decided to wait for the girl. She was the only one whose aura does not have a death stench on them.

"And where is home if I may ask?" He said, trying to stir up a conversation that would keep his mind away from the shouts outside and the awkward silence that had passed between them. If they were going to die, at least he could like to know where he died. Hopefully, his friends would locate his body and give him his final respect.

Kira's head snapped up and looked at his directions for a passing second, but they returned to the keyboard when she obviously remembered that Ham was not from this part of the universe.

"Saturn," She mumbles over the beeping sound that was now blaring in the room.

"Saturn? Like seriously?" 

"You sound so surprised. And foolish too," Kira said. The noise of the keyboard and the beeping sound was the only thing that covered the silence that hung in their mist. Not what Ham had expected, but he was grateful.

"Surprised but not foolish," He hissed. The things he knew about the universe were becoming a mumbo jumbo and a caricature of the reality that actually exists in this place. The last time he checked, the astronauts in Anadan had told them that earth—their own earth—was the only inhabitable planet in the universe. The only planet that Lord Vortex was unable to destroy. Saturn inhabitable? It was still a shock he was trying to recover from as the words of the girl continued to tinkle like a false bell in his tympanic membrane.

"I will check you later. Will make sure the green cube is not creating some kind of tumor in your brain that is making you forget things."

Ham scoffed at her words. He was totally fine and there was nothing wrong with his memory. It was the girl that was making no sense. She is the one that really needs checking if that's the case.

"Why were you giving me those funny looks in the presence of the captain?" He asked instead, not ready not dive into some apocalypse story with the girl. She certainly had a bag of them and was ready to dispose them even when the event does not call for such. 

"Humph. If you must survive here, human. You must learn to trust yourself." She said and picked up some heavy anorak that hung on the hanger. She pulled down one of the levers etched on the wall beside the black machine and a hissing sound followed the beep.

"What are you doing?" 

"Getting you out," she was in front of the door of the green cube, even before they could open fully. The crease on her face troubles Ham. She had not said a thing about it, but he suspects that there must be something going on between her and the captain. There seemed to be no love lost between the two.

"We don't have much time. Here, wear this." She tossed the anorak and disappeared into another door. Ham licked his lips and hurried into the heavy clothing. The smelled of thick rubber burning in between an oven gave his stomach a huge churn and nausea. He was not used to anoraks, but he had seen one before in Anadan, and they were nothing close to this. Unlike that of Anadan, which was less heavy but yet thick, the anorak Kira had given him was twice as heavy and twice as thick.

"How do you survive in this thing?" He asked when Kira walked back to the room. On her armpit were two helmets, one she tucked under her armpit and the other she gave to him.

"You don't have to survive in them. You just have to wear them for the time being. Since you are an alien, I would like to run a few tests before you can freely walk in our world. But that is not important now. You will appreciate them when we ride through the dust." she said and hurried towards the exit this time. 

Ham nodded and continued with the boot. They were made of rubber, mixed with some flexible material which he could not place a name on. If the weight of the boot was anywhere near the anorak, he doubts if walking would be possible, let alone breathing. 

Kira waited patiently by the door, looking out through them now and then as though expecting the inevitable to happen. Ham hurried towards her, breathing heavily—even without the helmet—as the weight of the anorak rested on his shoulders, about to crush him to nothing.

"Try not to make a sound and keep up,"

"Is that advice or something? Because I am dying." Ham said, but Kira had already taken off, tracing her way through the hallway, and giving him the shadow of her track to follow. He adjusted the collar of the heavy cloth. The weight was killing him enough for him to start worrying about choking, too. He was too young to die. Too damn young.

Kira was rounding another bend by the time he saw her pinky figure. She looked small from this distance, almost like a rabbit hunting for its prey. Shouts of men…the creatures echoed through the ship in languages that Ham could not understand. The ship was all white, from the walls to the bulb, the ceiling, and the floor. Unlike the room where he had been confined in a green cube, the hallway also held some white insulating tubes which serve as a window to the outside world.

Ham swallowed when his blue eyes caught sight of the world through one of the windows. It was darkness. No, darkness was a misnomer to its true description. It was nothing. Yes, that's the word, nothing. It stretched through the horizon as far as the eyes could see. Rocks or pebbles floated, disobeying the principles of gravity. The stars also hung on the vastness, at the far distance, but not floating. They were just there, twinkling calmly like the smiles of a newborn baby.

"Are you crazy?" Kira's voice made him break away from the trance. He had even realized that he had stopped walking. The beauty of the universe was so alluring that he had forgotten that they were trying to escape.

"Do you know what the captain will do to you if he finds out you are a human?"

"Sorry," Ham said as Kira dragged him by the hand. A single door on one of the white wall slid open, and they walked into it without hesitation. Ham held his breath from the awe of another beauty. They were not as beautiful as the first, but he just couldn't resist.

Space ships sprawled on every corner, rich in red and white. They were numerous and continued down the hall until they touched the far end.

"Hurry," Kira said and let his hands go. She hopped into one of the ships, leaving the door open for Ham to follow.

"We need to hide you. You need to be safe," She said when Ham walked into the ship and sit beside her on the other control seat.

"Okay," Ham nodded, "But can I take this thing off now? I fill like my skin is melting"

Kira smiled, "For now yes," She said, "But you will need it as soon as we get home."

The engine roared to life and with one swift motion, they zoomed out into space, through the open door.