Quentin
Why couldn’t my life be like Captain Kirk’s? He was able to find several human-looking alien women he was able to woo every few episodes. He also had a top of the notch crew of scientists, engineers, and others who helped him. He was cool. I knew the answer. Captain Kirk was sent by the Federation on a five-year, in actuality only three-year, mission to explore space by the United Federation of Planets. He was also a fictional character in a fictional universe where TV budgets made all characters look human. Ironically, despite the show’s budget issues, Captain Kirk himself had a decent budget for his mission along with the best minds of the Federation. I, on the other hand, stumbled across all my crewmates. Not to sound ungrateful, but none of them are ideal. Gruma is strong but lacks intelligence. Zalex knows machinery but is untrustworthy. Scarlett is a jack-of-all, master-of-none. And Harry just joined us.
The reason I thought that question was because of the predicament I found myself in. Currently, only a few people got along. I got along with Gruma and Scarlett, but not the other two. Gruma got along with me and Harry, but not with Zalex or Scarlett. Harry liked Gruma and tolerated Zalex but hated me and Scarlett. Scarlett was only on good terms with me, which was starting to become uncomfortable. She’s cool, but she’s also not a conventional woman by any means. It wouldn’t be a problem if I wasn’t a freaking weirdo, and if she wasn’t pretty in her own way.
I need to find out a way to make amends between everyone. I watched as Scarlett ran into her room crying. That seems very unlike her. Oh well. I guess she’ll have to wait. However, making amends between Harry and her will be simple when I’m on good terms with him. He hates me more than her. Meanwhile, Zalex doesn’t hold grudges nor make friendships. In truth, we just need to integrate Harry into the crew while Zalex could do what he wants. If he leaves soon, we’ll need to find a replacement, which will be an issue. It will only be compounded with our lack of money. While Gruma and Scarlett are willing to travel for free, Harry has no reason other than threats. I need to win his loyalty and get rid of the lie that pains me to continue.
I walked up to Harry’s room and knocked on the door. “Buzz off!” he shouted from the other side.
“Harry, about the kill switch. I didn’t have it installed on you. So you can leave if you want to,” I confessed.
“Liar! I can detect a kill switch in all of my limbs! You had Zalex install it so you could keep me in line! I know the thought process of the physically weak!” Harry shouted back loud enough to make me cover my ears. Once I regained my hearing, I silently cursed Zalex under my breath. I thought I was lying, but now I knew I was telling a half-truth. He did it of his own volition. Whatever my hopes were, now it seemed pointless to make amends. But I did have one more trick up my sleeves.
“Look, I know you hate me for that, but I couldn’t have you attempting to kill us. Scarlett and I are on a mission. We’re going to make her human again before going back home to Earth. From hearing your accent, I believe you’re from that planet too. What do you say about coming home?” I said as I hoped to find a link between us.
“I have no place on Earth. I was a homeless nobody until the Qarri turned me into a cyborg. Not to sound grateful for those b*******, but now I have a purpose. I’m Harry, the cyborg bounty hunter who’ll track down anyone for the right price,” he replied resolutely.
“Forgive me for saying this, but Harry is not a scary name. You just sound like a British man. A classy one at that,” I replied as I crossed my arms and leaned against a wall.
“To Yank minds, you’re correct. But you forget where we are. In these parts, Harry sounds similar to Qarri. Everyone fears the Qarri, and so they fear me for sounding similar. Several aliens even believe I made up the name to inspire fear. Now the true question is how the hell a human girl was turned into some sort of fox creature and yet still has womanly qualities. That seems stupid. Did they just want to confuse people?”
“Scarlett aside, I believe we need to reach an agreement. I’ll get Zalex to remove the kill switch if you agree to protect us until we reach Earth. At that point, you could just drop us off and take the ship wherever you please. Scarlett and I just want to go home. If you don’t want to return to Earth, I see no harm in letting you travel through space as a bounty hunter again,” I suggested as I hoped he could see reason.
“I see. However, I have a counterproposal. You will help me get enough money to get a spaceship of my own and then we’ll part ways. You will remove the kill switch when I depart and tell no one of the moon battle, got it?” he replied.
“I agree. Though I wish to have a capable fighter to protect us, I understand that trying to keep you on the crew is torture. Surely there must be a benefit to staying with us.”
“There is. Gruma. Unlike the mutt that hovers around you, the Taraxian is a true woman and formidable warrior in her own right. An Amazon that surpasses any on Earth. I don’t care that she’s green because I’m not a racist,” Harry replied with a proud tone in his voice.
“Technically, discriminating against her wouldn’t be racism since racism only applies within a species. The correct term would be xenophobia or—”
“Shut up, Mr. Know-It-All! The point is that she’s absolutely beautiful and I want her to stay with me as long as she can,” he said.
“Sorry to break the news, but I believe she’s intending to go back to her home planet like me and Scarlett. We don’t have a clue what she was before being abducted. She could’ve been a chieftain’s daughter, a princess, a warrior, or any other position. If she had a position of importance, we should try to take her back,” I replied.
“I’m a princess by the way,” Gruma said, making me flinch in shock. I turned around to see her walking up to me. I guess I was too distracted that I didn’t notice her approaching.
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“A princess? I’m sorry, but you don’t really look like one,” I replied as I tried to rectify the contrast between a muscular warrior and a princess.
“What do you mean? All princes and princesses on Besmen are strong warriors who are among the best on the battlefield. What do the ones on your planet look like?” Gruma replied as if she was saying the most obvious thing in the universe.
“Our planet doesn’t have many left since our governments transitioned to democracies instead of monarchies. But back when there were more princesses, they typically only had two purposes. Having children and sealing alliances with marriages. It was the princes that would fight on the battlefield, though as knights guarded by elites rather than normal soldiers,” I answered. It seems that Taraxians aren’t sexist. Or at least it’s not as rampant as it was during Europe’s Medieval Era.
“Why does your planet treat men and women differently?” she asked, which made me think for a while.
“Several factors led to it being the case. The first one is that the biological differences inherent between the two sexes made it easier for the average man to become an elite warrior than the average woman. Warriors often became rulers, which meant that men would often become rulers and further entrench their power. Toss in several millennia of religion to justify the existing power structure and you have the reason behind the two being treated differently. That and the fact that women could have children,” I answered as I tried to think logically. Politics back on Earth, particularly in Western countries, made it difficult to talk about the subject since people assumed that trying to find their reasons meant someone supported their views.
“Strange. On Besmen, men and women are both naturally strong and tall. In fact, I’m one of the shorter ones. I had to fight hard to earn my place, but then I was abducted. I need to return home to regain my position at my father’s side,” she replied as she seemed genuinely confused that humans were biologically different from them. To be honest, we look way too similar to be sheer coincidence. They look sort of like orcs from many fantasy stories, which is too human for an independently evolved species. Especially when you take into account that Scarlet was human and now looks less human than Gruma.
“That’s just because Earth is a galactic backwater. On more enlightened planets like your home world, everyone looks down on the savages there,” Harry replied with a smug cadence to his voice.
“Harry, look who’s talking! Someone who was also from Earth,” I said as I smirked and pointed at the door.
“Another Earthman? Do all Earthmen look as handsome as him,” Gruma replied as she squealed in excitement.
“If you’re interested in tin cans, you’re out of luck!” Scarlett mocked as she walked into the hallway. Her eyes were bloodshot, but I assumed it was from her crying. “They normally resemble Quentin here,” she added as she pointed at me.
“What’s tin?” Gruma asked as she scratched her head. Perhaps some alien planets are missing elements common on Earth. But at the same time, elements are universal. What isn’t is animals, and yet every inhabited planet seems to have an equivalent of foxes or canines since they keep calling Scarlett those. And I was called a hairless ape by a parrot-like alien. Okay, if there’s a God, he’s lazy. C’mon, I can make more interesting aliens. Or I’ll default to “human + whatever.”
“That’s not important. What’s important is that we need to find a way to send Gruma back to her home planet while also finding a way to get me and Scarlett back to Earth,” I said, interrupting my thoughts to focus.
“I’ll stick with Gruma until we reach Besmen. That’s the least I could do,” Harry said. After a short pause, he shouted, “By the way, I’m not a tin can! I’m more human than you are, freak!”
“Scarlett, I think it’s time you learn how to make friends,” I whispered to her. Her left ear twitched in response. I added, “Your social skills are abysmal. Could you try being friendly to those we’re trying to get on the good side of?”
“I’ll try,” she whispered in response. She then looked at the door and visibly cringed as she said, “I’m sorry I called you a tin can.” She let a sigh out once it was over. She turned to Gruma and said, “I’m sorry I called you stupid a few weeks ago. You’re intelligent in… what I mean to say is that you have your talents and I have mines.”
“Scarlett, I got over it on the same day. Quentin helped me realize that my honor is fine as long as no other Taraxian witnesses a breach of it,” the Taraxian replied with a disturbingly innocent smile. I’m never getting used to her mood swings. Is this inherent in Taraxian psychology or just Gruma’s personality? I’m afraid I won’t know until we reach Besmen.
“Thanks,” the fox-woman replied with a nervous smile.
“With this out of the way, can we all agree to start acting like team? Because if we keep getting into these fights, some enemy out there will be able to kill us or set us against each other. We need tactics and organization to fight on equal terms against the menaces that threaten to kill us,” I said to everyone present.
“Yes,” Gruma replied.
“Sure thing,” Scarlett replied.
“I’ll comply,” Harry replied.
“Great! Now we just need to decide on our next steps. For that, we’ll enter the cockpit and see what Zalex was working on this entire time,” I announced as I walked into the cockpit. Everyone followed me.
The windshield’s screen was replaced with one of a galaxy map. On the map, I could see that we were at the right edge of the galaxy while Earth was at the left edge. That part stayed the same from the last time I saw it. This time, there was more information. Besmen was marked on it, which was, thankfully, close to Earth. There were also several swirls and octagons on the map at certain locations. Zalex got up from his seat and faced us.
“Greetings, tall ones,” he announced with a bow. He pointed at the map and said, “While you were relaxing, I took the time to program in all the hyperlanes, wormholes, and gateways throughout the galaxy that I knew of. The good thing for us is that there’s a wormhole nearby. If my calculations are correct, we should reach it in forty-four days. So about six weeks in your Earth time units. I am plotting a course there already.”
“Zalex, not to sound ungrateful, but do you know what’s on the other side of that wormhole? For all we know, we could be sent just as far away on another part of the galaxy,” Scarlett asked as she scrutinized him.
“The truth is that I don’t know. If the wormhole fails, you’ll just have to find a nearby gateway and figure out how to use it. In truth, I’ll probably leave once I find somewhere I belong. Not to sound selfish, but I feel more lost than ever. I found out I had no place on Daraxes and I will never return. After living as a slave for several years, I want to have some sense of independence. You aren’t too bad, but I want to strike out on my own,” the Sorlok explained as he looked at the next major stop.
“We’ll need to find a replacement mechanic. Will there be any nearby?” I stated as I was concerned about if we got into another fight like the one against Harry.
“Maybe. However, I’ll teach the cyborg everything I know. That way, when I leave, you’ll still have someone who knows how to fix the ship. I can then teach the Human how to program his own simulations. How about that?” Zalex offered as he turned off the galaxy map.
“Sounds like a deal. I can’t say it has been an honor having you, but at least you made amends at the end. Better late than never,” I said as I offered my hand to shake. He looked at it confused, making me withdraw it. “Let’s just get to the lessons.”