It didn’t take long for the two tourists to bolt through the massive doors leading into the dome room, although one of them clearly found the process quite difficult since it threw his balance off by only having one shoe on his foot. The sound hadn’t stopped, as the loud beep had followed them up the corridor. However, they quickly found that they weren’t the first ones there.
Alex nearly collided with the back of Sophia, only managing to avoid an accidental tackle by pivoting to the side at the last minute. He opened his mouth to say something catty, but it quickly shut when he saw what she was looking at. Any hope he had for answers vanished as his mind was filled with more questions.
Still carrying his unfortunate shoe, Timothy looked up to see his three best friends all in a line, like they were waiting for something. Coming closer, he felt a chill as he saw what all the fuss was about.
It was the pilot’s seat.
A tangled web of wires and cables stood before them, bunching up and spiraling around a large chair. The back spine of the seat extended outwards, curling back around, and narrowing at the top, so that a helmet could hang downwards from above. Little lights flashed around the mechanic-filled armrests, giving off the impression of a shiny end of a hook, beckoning for a fish to bite.
“Who pulled the lever?” Alex asked, his voice coming out in tremulous waves.
“No one.” Answered Neil breathlessly. “I-I don’t understand. How did it do that?”
Sophia took a step towards it, which surprised the rest, who seemed to be glued to the floor. “Maybe we hit a button or something? Could’ve finally gotten lucky and found the right combination? That’s how we figured out how to bring it out in the first place.”
“But we didn’t hit anything, did we?” As he spoke, Neil looked around, trying to see if anything else was out of order.
Everything else was the way it always had been- except for one thing.
Immediately, he rushed over to it, his hands shaking as he approached the mass of machines lining the front of the dome. He pointed it out, looking back at his friends with a distant, yet hyper-aware look. “That’s wrong.” He said, his face jerking with a twitch. “This is all wrong!”
On the control panel, nearly buried in the sea of other buttons and levers, was a red flashing light. It dimmed and brightened rhythmically, like it was breathing. With each ‘breath,’ the loud sound blared again and rang through their ears.
All Alex could think to ask was, “what does it mean?”
But no one was there that could answer him.
“That’s enough of this.” Sophia spat, marching over to the lever that would lower the pilot’s seat back down into its place. “We don’t need this right now.”
The lever cranked with a muted clack, but nothing happened. Again, the girl threw it down, but the chair remained firmly in place. She looked back at her friends, and it was clear to them that she was worried.
“Maybe it’s trying to tell us to do something?” Timothy thought out loud, his hand on his chin.
“Possibly. It could be an alert of some kind? Maybe there’s danger nearby?” Alex proposed, leaning in closer to see if he could decipher anything from the glowing bulb, but coming up short.
Sophia shook her head. “It would’ve done that before if that’s what it was for. If Jenny’s attack or anything else we’ve been through didn’t trigger it, then that can’t be it.”
“It could be a warning.” The light transfixed Neil, like someone had glued his eyes to it. “It could be telling us that our time is up.”
Timothy shuddered, “oh dear, that isn’t good.”
“Why wait all that time to kill us? If it wanted us dead, then it would have had plenty of opportunities by now.” Countered Alex, his fingers going unconsciously around the end of his tie.
Oddly, Neil chuckled. “You think so?”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Nothing in here makes sense, don’t you understand?” He said, his voice a desperate whine. “Try to reason it out all you like, but it doesn’t play by our rules. It could be anything. Anything! But how can we know? We’re just rats, clawing at the cage and messing with all the stupid gizmos! But don’t let me stop you! Take a crack at figuring it out if you want. Maybe you can come up with an answer that we can sleep at night with.”
Alex didn’t like the way his friend was sounding, and he forced himself not to stare into his long, shadowy face.
“Maybe it’s a check engine light?” Neil said, breaking the silence that he had caused. But the gargled laugh after his statement did nothing to calm his friends. “That’d be nice if it was that simple.”
This was getting out of hand, and Sophia felt the need to control it. “Okay guys, let’s just ignore it. Maybe it will go away on its own?” She took a few steps towards the door, hoping that they would follow. “I’ve lived with dying fire-alarms, we can manage.”
“What if it’s a call?” As Timothy spoke, all his friends turned to look at him. “Perhaps someone is trying to contact us?”
Alex asked the obvious follow-up, “who?”
“I’m not sure, but maybe it’s someone who needs help?” The name of what he was thinking about occurred to him. “Like a distress signal?”
This stirred something within the group, and they all found themselves coming closer together in a circle.
“Worse ideas are out there.” Sophia figured with her hands going to her hips.
Timothy’s smile faded as he followed his own trail of logic. “But if someone is in distress, that means they must be in some sort of danger!”
“True, but it’s not like we can do anything about it,” Alex said rather bluntly. “We shouldn’t worry about it.”
“But they could be hurt!” Cried Timothy with a gasp. “How can we not worry about that?”
“A-man is right,” Neil spoke, a sly look at his friend. “Even if we figured out how this all worked, what would we do? We aren’t exactly the fire brigade here. All we’ve got is a shitty gun, and that’s it.” Here he slowed down, and his eyes darted to his concerned friend. “Besides, we can’t move unless you… you know.”
The presence of the pilot seat seemed to chill their backs like it knew it was being spoken about.
“Did you just call me A-man?” A-man asked, confused.
Sophia sighed- why did these idiots always feel the need to use her words against her? “Moving on. Tim, I hate to say it, but they’re right, we can’t do anything.”
The blond boy pursed his lips and then nodded slightly before returning to his usual cheerful expression. “I understand, though I can’t help but feel that if we were in some sort of danger, we’d want someone to come to help us, too. Even if they weren’t the most prepared.”
The statement was felt among them, but their position on the matter didn’t waver.
“Well then, I guess we live with this noise now,” Alex said, releasing a sigh as he strolled over and tapped the light.
“Maybe…” Neil started, but he stopped himself with a shake of his head. “Never mind.”
The girl in green groaned, her head falling back onto her shoulders, “just say it, or we’re gonna waste time prying it out of you.”
The boy gritted his teeth. “I was thinking that if Timothy got into the pilot’s seat, he could turn it off, or maybe even tell us what it means.”
“No.” Sophia’s words boomed. “Not happening.”
“I tried not to say it.”
Timothy’s head perked up. “Do you think that might work?”
“No, it’s out of the question!” Sophia reiterated. “You’re not getting in that deathtrap just to make some annoying noise stop. We can live with it.”
Neil couldn’t help but let his thoughts carry him away, “but what if it’s something else? What if we need to know?”
“Then we will find out when we find out.” Her words couldn’t have been any firmer.
Alex stared at her with a look that she was quite familiar with receiving- one of disagreement. “We can’t stay here forever.” He said, echoing his past sentiments. “If Tim gets in the chair, even if he can’t tell us what the noise is for, he can still take us home.”
“He can try.” Sophia shook her head. “So then, if he dies, Alex, where are we putting his body?”
The boy didn’t know how to take this, and his brow furrowed in disgust. “Jesus, why would you ask me that?”
“Because you’re the one thinking about the future, right? You’re the one that has to figure this shit out.” She was angry, and she pushed her finger into his chest. “In a tube in the sanitation room, or maybe we can put him in the dark room, so we don’t have to see it? We could pick a bed and pile a bunch of blankets and sheets over him, so that we don’t have to think about what we’ve done? Well, what’s it gonna be?”
“Guys, stop!” Neil protested, but his words fell on deaf ears.
“If we put him back in that chair, it’s like flipping a coin for his death! It could fry his brains out in a second! Do you think you could live with yourself if that happened?”
“Don’t speak to me like I don’t care what happens to Tim!” Alex spoke back as he bat her hand off of him. “Don’t you dare frame me like I’m heartless! I’m just suggesting what has to be done! If you could see past your issues, you’d be saying the same thing!”
“Yeah, right.” She groaned.
“I thought that we had settled all of this, but I see that you want to play this game again. Well, fine. Let’s play it!” Alex’s eyes flared as he straightened his tie to the point it nearly choked him. “Your selfish!”
Sophia nearly laughed, “me? I’m the selfish one?” She took some steps away, her head shaking from side to side as she clutched her fists. “I’m the one that’s trying to take care of you all! Lots of thanks, I get! Every time I try to keep you out of trouble, you run back into it! It’s like you’re begging to get killed!”
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Alex wasn’t afraid to approach her. “We’ve never asked you to take care of us! That’s something you decided all on your own!”
“Tough.” She spat, not looking at him.
“I don’t want to interrupt, but I don’t think we should be fighting like this,” Timothy spoke timidly. “Especially not over me.”
“Don’t you see what he’s trying to get you to do?” The girl retorted with a huff. “He wants you to jump on a spear for us.”
“No, I don’t!” Alex cried at her, even though she didn’t meet his gaze. “I don’t want him to do anything! If we had any other option, we’d surely be doing that right now instead of having this same fight over and over! You’re just fighting back because you’re afraid of losing us!”
This made her turn, and she finally looked him in the eyes. “You act like caring about you all is some sort of curse I have! Do you want me to toss you all away like nothing? Turn my back and not give a shit about what happens to you? Is that what you want?”
“No! I want you to see that it’s not your job to protect us! I want you to accept that we have to take risks if we ever want to get home again!”
“Risks like killing our friend? The friend who wouldn’t be here if we didn’t bring him into this mess?”
“He touched that triangle all on his own. We had nothing to do with that.”
“But did he get in that chair on his own?” Sophia’s hand shot out and gestured to the pilot’s seat. “No, that happened because of you. Because of us!”
Alex stepped back, and it was clear that she had stuck a nerve. “I’ve been trying hard not to blame myself for that anymore. There was no way I could’ve…” He shook off the mounting doubt inside his head. “Look, we have to do what needs to be done.”
“You keep saying that like it means something.”
“I guess it only counted when you shot Mr. Ham.” He said stiffly. “Oh, my bad? I guess only you get to use that excuse when it comes down to risking a life.”
It was Sophia’s turn to step back as her heart filled with a flurry of rage and regret. “I…” she stumbled, her gun feeling like a judgment at her side. “This is different.”
“Yeah, it is.” Alex agreed for what seemed like the first time in ages. “We care about Tim, and that’s what makes this so hard.”
Neil had been mostly silent, as he always was during his friend’s arguments, but this time he had enough. “You both are a pair of morons!”
He received two looks of confusion at his outburst. “What?” Sophia gawked.
“You two, always arguing about what we should do with Tim. You’re going around in circles! Do this, do that, you act like he isn’t in the room with us!” He barked, walking over to the blond boy, and locking their arms together. “You treat him like he’s a child that can’t make his own decisions! But he’s one of us, and he gets to decide what happens! That stupid chair picked him, not me or you guys! So, if you want to know what to do about Timothy, just fucking ask him!”
The timid boy in question wasn’t used to having his name tossed around so much. In fact, this was probably the most anyone had ever used it before. But it wasn’t a good feeling having his friends fight over him, and he wondered what he had done to cause such a fuss. He knew he should say something, but the words weren’t coming to him. There was a small part of him that wished that someone would speak for him, or have some secret voice tell him what to do.
Sophia’s face had gone flush red, and her heart was pumping hot in her chest. However, as Neil’s words struck home, she felt herself slowing down. Her fists released their self-imposed pressure against her palms, leaving nail marks on her skin that quickly faded. Had she been treating Tim like a child?
No, she had been treating him like a brother.
Once again, the girl turned away from the rest with another huff, walking across the dome room to the other side. Despite being in a spaceship, it would appear she felt the need for fresh air.
There was a bit of Alex that wanted to drive his point home, to point out how he was being the logical one. But in a moment of self-examination, he realized how foolish he was being. He and Soph had butted heads over this too many times, and it was begging to take a toll. As much as he loved to win an argument, he didn’t want to risk fracturing his friendship with her. No, that was far too precious to him.
“I think… we need to go home,” Timothy said, finally. “This has all been amazing, and I never thought that I’d get to do all these wonderful things, but it’s clear to me now that we’d all be safer back on Earth.” His gaze turned to that dreaded machine in the center of the room. “Since this is the only way we can get back, I have to try!”
Neil sighed, with his eyes seeming more tired than they had ever been. “Welp, so much for one normal day, huh?”
In her self-imposed isolation, Sophia turned around. “Alex, Tim… I’m…” She kept her composure. “I just don’t think I can bear the thought of losing any of you, and having it be my fault.”
“It wouldn’t be your fault, Soph,” Alex replied softly.
“It would be if I didn’t stop you.” She countered, but her words had lost all their firmness. “Tim, if you want to do this, I won’t stand here and stop you. But I can’t keep you safe in that thing. Anything could happen.”
“I know, but I need to go back in there for all of you,” Timothy replied, a soft smile on his lips.
The room went quiet as the four turned to the pilot’s seat. Since it was an inanimate object, it had no ability to emote at all. Despite this concrete fact, they could’ve sworn that it was staring at them too- sizing them up. It was strange how much a group could collectively hate a chair, but then again, there are weirder things to despise.
“God, we need a therapist.” Neil blurted.
“Well, I guess this is it, then.” Said Alex after a beat. “Time to go back home?”
“Or die trying.”
Sophia craned her neck. “Neil…”
“Sorry.” He spoke, rolling his eyes. “Just saying.”
The group all stepped forward, surrounding the pilot’s seat like they were planning some tactic-based warfare. “Okay, but at the first sign of danger, we pull him out. No questions.” The girl insisted.
“Naturally.” Alex was quick to assure. “Last time you managed to pry the helmet off of him, hopefully that will work a second time.”
Neil nodded, “and if it doesn’t, I’ll go get a chair.”
With his friends surrounding him, Timothy hoped he would feel reassured, but this was not the case. Their voices slowly faded away, like they were being drowned out in a faraway sea. All he could hear was the ever-present beep that resounded through the room. Unlike the rest, he didn’t seem capable of ignoring it.
Beeeeeeep.
His vision narrowed, and he couldn’t tell if he was a thousand feet away from the pilot’s seat, or already in it.
Beeeeeeep.
The helmet hung low above him, with the floor lights shining through the cracks between each silver and pristine bar.
Beeeeeeep.
Why was he frightened? He had done this twice before and made it out okay. What made this time any different?
Beeeeeeep.
That sound… why couldn’t he stop listening to it? Why wouldn’t it just stop?
Beeeeeeep.
It reminded him of the voice, with the way it clung inside his ears. He wondered if it actually was and if this was its way of calling out to him again.
Beeeeeeep.
“Timothy?”
The boy snapped out of it, the concerned looks of his friends coming back into view. “Oh, sorry, I must have gotten distracted.”
“If you’re having second thoughts…” Sophia began, but he quickly shook his head.
“No, no, I’m fine.” He insisted, taking a step forward. “I suppose now is the time.”
Like ripping a band-aid off, Timothy quickly slipped into the seat, being greeted by the familiar narrow uncomfortableness. Reaching his hands across the long armrests, he tenderly felt every bit of the unknowable controls with all the enthusiasm of a dying sloth.
Alex hated to admit this, but it did feel like he was watching his friend sit in an electric chair. The resolve that he had always been right wavered as he asked, “are you sure?”
As a reply, Timothy only nodded.
Slowly, the blond boy reached up and brought the helmet down around his head. He watched as the birdcage-like thing distorted his view and split the world into unequal parts. Timothy breathed deeply and paused for something to happen- but he didn’t have to wait for long.
Lights flashed through his skull as his entire body jolted upright. Red, aquamarine, purple- those were the colors that clouded his vision as his arms lurched forward to the panels before him. He could feel himself losing touch, and he could put aside any notion that he was in control. His fingers flicked a switch, causing all the lights on the floor to glow brighter.
Sophia was there at his side and eyeing him with the attention of a hawk. Already she wanted to rip the thing off of his head, but she held back for now. She wouldn’t want to risk hurting him for no reason.
“Tim, are you there?” Neil asked, disturbed by the way his friend’s eyes had already glazed over.
If he was able to speak, the boy surely would’ve replied with ‘yes, I’m here!’ But of course, he wasn’t able to move his mouth. No, the helmet wouldn’t allow that.
Alex leaned over to his side, like a trusted advisor counseling a royal. “Think about going home! Think about Earth! Maybe it will listen?”
Suddenly, the entire Lavender launched forward, sending all that were standing off-balance. The stars outside the dome started shifting, which could only mean that the ship was moving. Something from deep within the corridors seemed to shift like a boat settling on the waves. The ground below seemed to vibrate, sending physical shivers up their spines.
“Is it working?” A stumbling Alex asked. “Did it understand?”
Timothy’s head jerked violently upwards, with the muscles in his neck straining purple. “Message received!” A voice that was not his own boomed. “Plotting course!”
Now the ship really began building speed. Despite being protected by whatever science that was preventing them from immediately being killed by the sheer pace of the vessel, the group could feel a firm pressure being applied to them. It was like a strong wind had started to blow on them, and they needed to shift their footing to keep from falling.
“Tim, can you blink?” Sophia inquired, stabling herself with the hand rests as she stared into the pilot’s eyes. “Can you do anything?”
There is something so basic about the ability to blink that having it taken away is nearly indescribable. But putting it in more concerning terms, it was like trying to breathe with no air but never suffocating. Try as he might, the boy could not convince his body to do anything of the sort. Instead, his arms moved faster and more precisely than he could ever manage on his own.
The ship rattled as odd-looking objects started to swarm outside the dome. Everyone there knew what they were immediately as they saw the very things that had brought them here. The triangles all rushed out before the lavender, keeping just enough pace to stay in front of the giant ship. They began spinning, starting slowly but gaining speed with every precious second. Soon they were nothing but an unidentifiable blur.
“Everyone! Hold! On!” Sophia screamed, knowing what came next.
Tears of light seeped between the triangles, connecting each together and ripping a hole through the fabric of space itself.
The lavender 1 was no longer in the void of space. Instead, it was launching across a green meadow filled with flowers larger than buildings. This meadow was quickly upended and shredded as the massive dome tore through the earth, with flying dirt and fauna covering the once clear view.
With another flash of light, the surrounding space changed. They were soaring above a luminous castle painted the color of dried blood, which was so tall that the top nearly scratched the hull of the ship as they passed. None aboard had any time to think how nice it would be to stay there as the world shifted again.
In an instant, the dome was filled with unbearable blinding light that radiated from a pure white star.
Neil screamed as pain shot through his head, having not shielded his eyes in time to avoid the deadly rays. Even after he did so, he could feel the flesh on his hand sizzle and burn, as though it had already started to cook.
It was lucky for Timothy that Sophia had decided to stand in front of him, because with no way to shut his eyelids, the chances of him going blind were staggering. Though this lack of a sightline apparently did not detract from his piloting ability, as he sporadically threw a couple of controls.
As the ship shifted again, Alex made the mistake of looking up, only to fall to his knees at what he saw. His stomach shifted, and he felt something growing inside of his throat. As soon as the incomprehensible thing that lurked outside of the dome vanished, he immediately puked up what was inside him. A violet mass flopped onto the floor, wriggling around until it abruptly disintegrated into nothing.
“Location found!” The voice in Timothy’s mouth declared. “Mission Status: Incomplete. Detor Accepted!”
Again, the Lavender bore through another portal, ripping into world after world. Despite all the unthinkable and awe-inspiring things that were happening, Timothy paid them no mind. He had noticed something that was way more important to him than any of these impossible things could compare to. In the corner of his eye, at the point where no one would think to look, he saw someone standing. It wasn’t Alex, nor was it Sophia or Neil- it was someone else entirely.
He tried to call out and alert his friends to the danger, but for his efforts, all he received was an electric jolt through his spine.
With one last flash of cosmic light, the ship hurled forward through the final tear. Suddenly, the speed of their travel slowed down, grinding to a halt. Everyone rocked back, including Timothy, who tried to get a better look at the person he saw- but they had vanished.
Not waiting to turn around, Sophia pried the helmet off of Timothy’s head.
The boy gasped, clutching at his neck. “Oh!” He cried weakly, like he hadn’t been breathing. “Is it over? Did you see it?”
“Yeah,” replied the girl, standing over him. “More than I wanted to.”
On the ground, Alex was trying to regain his ability to function. The vile taste of bile and acid was clinging to his tongue, and he doubled over on the floor. He couldn’t remember what he had seen to elicit such an immediate and violent response, but he did know that he never wanted to witness it again.
“N-Nobody… ever… speak about this… again.” He stumbled, feeling sick in his stomach.
“No, not that, I meant…”
Timothy would never finish that sentence, because what lay outside the dome took his breath away.
“Guys, I can’t see! Why have you all gone quiet?” Neil called out, his coat the only thing he could feel for certain. “Guys… guys?”
“That isn’t…” Alex stuttered. “That can’t be…”
“Are we back home? Did we make it back to earth?” The blind boy tried again, but no one gave him an answer.
So, he waited until his vision came back to him. The edges of the world streamed into focus, giving him just enough space to see the mortified looks on all of his friend’s faces. Then, with one final leap of his heart, he saw it too.
They had made it back to a planet, but it wasn’t the one that they were aiming for. Their vessel now rested suspended in the orbit of a world they never knew existed. With no stars nearby, the light it emitted was very dim indeed, but not weak enough to hide the thing silhouetted in its brightness.
It was another ship- one that they knew all too well.
Another Lavender, to be precise.