CHAPTER 25
The ship was not what I had expected. For one, it was massive. I knew it would have to be large to hold all of us, our belongings, and a sizable SUV—but somehow it hadn’t registered that it would be this big.
It towered above us, propped up on four silver metallic hydraulic legs. I noticed they had no wheels. Evidently it needed no runway for takeoff. That was a good thing, seeing as how there was barely enough room left in the clearing to maneuver our vehicle.
The body of the ship was shaped like a broad “X”, with the inner corners rounded off—almost like a chunky, four-armed starfish. There was an oblong dome projecting from the top, and the underside of the ship slowly opened into a wide cargo ramp on our approach. Aeron had used some sort of remote control to trigger it.
There were countless windows—some of them round portholes, others vertically-oriented rectangles with rounded corners. The front of the upper dome was a giant seamless windshield. There were no sharp edges anywhere, although the outer points of the four arms were slightly more squared off than a starfish’s would be.
There was a ribbon of metallic vents tracing along the outer rim of the underbelly—I gathered they had something to do with the propulsion system. The flawlessly smooth body of the ship was an opalescent off-white tone, which glimmered slightly in the sun’s rays. Despite its immense size, it was quite elegant…I found it surprisingly beautiful.
I stared open-mouthed for a long moment, studying the details of the ship’s sweeping lines and graceful curves. I imagined from the air it would appear to be some sort of futuristic house, nestled amid the trees.
After a minute, I became aware that Aeron was watching me from the backseat. I turned to meet his beaming face. I knew he wasn’t smiling because he was particularly proud of the ship…He was elated to see my fascinated expression. I returned his enthusiastic smile, for the moment letting the excitement of the experience overtake my mounting fears.
Sabela was equally awestruck as she peered through the windshield, her foot still on the brake. At length she turned to face me, nodding in approval. “It looks exactly like Father’s ship,” she remarked with amazement. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen it in person, I had forgotten how spectacular it is.” She slowly proceeded forward, following Aeron’s instructions to steer the car up the ramp and into the ship. She cut the engine, and we stepped out into the cargo hold.
It was a monochromatic gray color, with nondescript crates and boxes stacked along the side walls. Aeron led the way to a door at the far corner, which slid open automatically when he placed his hand on a sensor pad located off to the side. He stood aside, motioning for me to step ahead.
As I passed the threshold, overhead lights automatically came on to illuminate the interior. I found myself standing in the middle of a corridor, arcing out to my left and right, the ends of which curved away from me just enough to conceal their contents from my view. Every surface was the same off-white shade as the exterior had been. With the sunlight still streaming in through the several vertical rectangular windows on the facing wall, the effect was very bright and spacious. It was cooler than I had expected—nothing like a car that had been left outside in the summer heat.
I turned and gave Aeron a questioning look, not sure which way I should proceed. He directed me to the left, taking hold of my hand to guide me. Sabela and Ewenami followed as we made another left turn about five yards down the passageway. This was a straight connecting corridor that appeared to intersect at its far end with a second arcing corridor, a mirror image of the first. We did not traverse the full distance of this hall, stopping instead at its midpoint to step into what appeared to be some sort of elevator. It came to a rest, having lifted us up what felt like the equivalent of one or two floors. The doors slid open to reveal a spacious control bridge, the facing wall a vast windshield. We were in the upper dome I had seen from the exterior view.
It followed the same fresh white color scheme as the rest of the interior. Directly under the windshield was a long counter, full of various controls. There were several contoured white seats positioned at intervals along the counter. Aeron stepped forward to one of the control panels, pressing his palm against it in the same way he had done to open the door. The controls began to light up, blinking and flashing randomly. The lower portion of the windshield became a transparent screen, projecting various images and alphanumeric characters. At least, that is what they appeared to be—none of it was familiar to my eyes. There was a grid, which I assumed somehow indicated our position.
Despite the fact that the sun was still streaming in, there was no glare on the screen. All of the images were clearly visible, along with the trees and hills in the background behind them. Aeron punched several buttons, then lifted my hand to place it palm-down on the sensor pad. An unfamiliar recorded voice spoke in a language I didn’t understand. I raised a quizzical brow as I looked up at Aeron’s face. He instructed me to speak my name aloud. Apparently, this was how the ship’s computer and I would become acquainted. Once it had logged my information, Aeron directed Sabela to step forward and do the same. Obviously Ewenami was already in the system.
The technical requirements completed, we stepped back into the elevator to return to the lower level, so that Aeron and Ewenami could show us the remainder of the ship. The central section housed a large dining and food prep area, complete with a massive walk-in pantry fully stocked with food (granted, most of it appeared to be freeze-dried). There was also a smaller recreational room, complete with a wall-mounted viewing screen and what appeared to be exercise equipment.
Each of the four wings of the “X” constituted a self-contained living suite: a spacious bedroom, bath, living area, and office space. There was even a condensed kitchen, complete with what Ewenami explained was the laundry appliance. It looked nothing like a standard washing machine or dryer. I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I would need an instructional session before having any clue how to operate it. Clearly, that wasn’t exactly a priority at this precise moment.
We only viewed one of the suites—apparently they were all identical. Like the rest of the ship, their décor was simple, with the same tranquil off-white hues. Even the spacious bath was equipped with porthole windows, and the living area and bedroom each contained several of the large vertical windows. At the press of a button, they opacified to block out the light. I’m sure that would be necessary for restful sleep at times, but right now they afforded a stunning view as the sun began its descent toward the hills.
Our tour complete, Aeron asked what I thought. It was clearly far beyond what I had expected, even after he had assured me of its superiority. Despite my family’s reasonable wealth here on Earth, I was not accustomed to living extravagantly…I had never visited Earth’s swankiest hotels or traveled aboard an opulent yacht. It was very apparent that this ship was not designed for your average everyday traveler. I wouldn’t call it extravagant, but it was clearly meant for passengers who were accustomed to riding in luxury.
Once again, I was reminded of Aeron’s stature on his home world. His unassuming demeanor just didn’t match up with my preconceived ideas of high society living. Though I might have expected to feel out of place on a royal ship, its neutral tones and minimalist design with ample windows reminded me of my house. It also helped that Aeron was standing next to me, still holding my hand. I had the distinct feeling I would feel comfortable anywhere with him at my side.
“It’s phenomenal,” I marveled. “You were right…The space shuttle doesn’t hold a candle.”
“I thought you might like it,” he smiled. “It has so many similarities to your house.” Wow…He really did pay remarkable attention to everything.
He glanced out the window at the sun peeking up over the hilltop. “I’m afraid we’re running out of daylight…We had best get started unloading the trailer.” I had almost forgotten that we had left the moving trailer a short distanc
e away, the rocky terrain too rough and winding to pull it that last stretch.
We took a shortcut footpath through the trees, allowing us to make the journey round trip in about ten minutes. We didn’t have an abundance of possessions, but even so it took us several trips. Once the trailer was empty, we left it behind to distribute our belongings about the ship.
A thought occurred to me as I was setting my suitcases at the foot of my bed. “Don’t I need to tie this stuff down somehow? How will it keep from sliding all over the place?”
“It’s this nifty thing called artificial gravity,” Aeron quipped. “It does a pretty fair job of holding everything in its place.”
“No wonder I didn’t see any seatbelts…” I observed musingly.
“You’ll have a chance to unpack all of your things later,” he remarked.
If there is a later… I kept my thoughts to myself.
As I looked around at the unexpectedly roomy quarters, I couldn’t help but comment, “I kind of wish I had taken your word for it that there would be so much room. I left behind some things I wish I’d packed.”
“Such as?” he wondered.
“Books, clothes, DVDs, CDs…” I listed. “By the way, will my laptop be able to get power?”
“Yes, I made a couple of adaptors when we first got here,” he answered.
“Damn,” I said under my breath. He cocked his head to the side, his expression puzzled. “Nothing major,” I assured him. “I was just wishing I hadn’t left my hair dryer behind,” I shrugged. “I guess you’ll have to get used to frizzy hair…”
“Somehow I think I’ll manage,” he teased with an adoring smile.
“Ooh!” I perked up as an idea struck me. “On the bright side…I won’t have to worry about hiding my ears anymore. I can finally pull all my hair back without worrying about these ridiculous bangs! No worries now…I’ll be golden.” I smiled lightheartedly.
“You’ll be perfect.” He tucked my bangs back gently behind my ears. “Although I’m sorry you left behind some of your favorite things,” he said with heartfelt thoughtfulness. “I want you to feel at home.”
“I do.” I nodded gently, wrapping my arms around his waist. “As long as I’m with you.”
He cradled my face in his hands, much as he had done just yesterday at the medical school. It was incomprehensible that only one day had elapsed since he had professed his love for me. I felt so comfortable now in his company, I could scarcely remember the feeling of watching him timidly from afar.
He studied my eyes, trying to decipher the thoughts running through my mind. “I was just thinking how amazingly at ease I feel with you…so perfectly contented with being myself,” I remarked reflectively.
“I know exactly what you mean,” he concurred with a warm smile.
He carefully lifted my face to his, kissing me tenderly on the lips. As the reality of our rapidly-approaching mission entered my mind, I impulsively kissed him harder, gripping the fabric of his shirt to pull him in closer. He returned my passionate kiss, sliding his hands down my neck and then around my back to hug me tightly against his body.
I wished the moment could last forever. But as the light outside faded to black, we both knew it was time to make our way to the control bridge.