Art:Space Pirates/Senthal's Story
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Senthal's Story
The Colony
by Nagchampa
Ratri’s Bar, Calliope Space Station, 24 April 2207
My smuggling partner Two-Eyed Jax and I, Sethal dal Bingtoppen, were having drinks. I wanted to introduce Jax to my new squeeze Del.
“When’s Del coming, Sethal? You know I don’t like meeting strangers unless there’s a profit in it for me. Besides, we’ve got to unload that shipment of tusks from the Stella, and my people don’t like to be kept waiting. I don’t want anything to go wrong this time.”
“What could go wrong? Just stay a few more minutes. I really want you to meet him.”
Jax arched one eyebrow making the black patch over his bionic eye flip slowly upward like one of the dozens of secret cargo hatches that peppered his smuggling ship. “Boy, I’ve never seen you fall so hard for anyone -- girl, guy, mermaid or merman. What puzzles me is what he sees in an octo-man mutant like you!”
“Just behave yourself – he’s here,” I snapped, kicking Jax’s shin beneath the table.
Del spotted us and made his way to our table with long elegant strides.
I began the introductions, “Jackson Devonjer . . .”
Jax interjected, “Everyone calls me Two-Eyed Jax.”
I continued, “Meet Delphinus Leo Tetrar- . . .”
Del cut the introduction short, saying “I’m Del.”
After an awkward handshake with Jax, Del turned to me, “Sethal, I thought we were going to be alone. I have something important we need to discuss.”
Obviously offended, Jax quipped, “Nice friend you got here.”
Trying to keep the peace I said, “Jax is my best friend. We can trust him. He’s saved my life many times over. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”
Del began, “Remember when I told you that I’m an OM?”
“What’s an OM?” demanded Jax.
“I belong to the Organetics Movement or OMs,” Del explained. “We believe that technology is the root of all evil.”
Jax interrupted, “Now I remember these clowns. It’s a cult, Sethal. They’ve got that late-night infocast where that OM guy starts to cry in front of a computer then bludgeons it to dust, screaming ‘LIBERATION IS AT HAND! LIBERATION IS AT HAND!’ What a load of crap!”
Del was getting irritated, “Is he always like this?”
“Just ignore him,” I replied, giving Jax another kick.
Del continued, “We are fleeing this tech-infected galaxy to create an utopia on a distant planet – The Colony. We leave tonight.”
Before I could respond, Jax shot, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Who’s to stop one of your OMs from salvaging the tech on your ship and enslaving the rest of you? All it takes is one bad apple!”
Del countered, “Our ship is rigged with an irreversible self-destruct timer set to explode just outside of orbit, and once we’ve jettisoned to the planet’s surface in biodegradable ecopods, KABOOM! No more tech.”
I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“We had to keep The Colony a secret. The government hates us, calling us enemies of freedom. But it is they who continue to enslave us all in their tech web. The Viceroy owns the largest humanufacturing company in this quadrant, so of course they are targeting us.”
“Jax and I are about to rake in lot of cash on a shipment of tusks. I’ll be able to afford a ship. I can visit you at The Colony . . .”
“No Sethal, you don’t understand. You won’t see me again – unless you join us.”
Jax had heard enough, “Colony-schmolony! Listen squid-for-brains, what they want are your pieces. The Galactic Revenue Service has been hounding them for years. It’s probably a rouse to avoid paying taxes. Oh you gullible, mollusk-minded sap -- don’t expect me to risk my neck again when you get in over your head!” Jax huffed out of the bar.
I was interested but not yet convinced, “Come on Del, the galaxy is not that big anymore. Just how far is this planet you plan to colonize? I could cloak my ship, sneak you aboard for some quality time and have you back before anyone notices. Please Del, I really care about you . . .”
“A few moments of quality time? Is that all you’re after? It’s not me you’ve fallen for – it’s my body.”
“Your tattoos do make the tentacles stand up on the back of my neck.”
“Stop joking. I wasn’t born naturally – I was humanufactured on Janus Minor to be as handsome as possible and sold to the highest bidder. No one should have to go through that, and no one will at The Colony. I’m a product -- like Solar-Cola or Mickey Martian. You’re in love with packaging.”
“You do have quite a package.”
“You have a one-track mind. Do us both a favor – walk away now and don’t look back.” Del turned away and raised his glass. “Forget about me.” He slugged down the last of his rum and Solar and smacked his glass down. Turning his head back over his shoulder, his dewy grey eyes peered at me through the tussled strands of his sandy blond hair. He stood up, tossed a piece to the bartender and started toward the door.
I grabbed his arm, “Del, I was kidding – I do that when I’m nervous. You have to keep a sense of humor or you’ll go crazy. Look at me -- since the accident I’m part octopus.”
“Tech destroyed your life too.”
“Maybe, but I’ve never had complaints from the mermaids! The point is we have to play the cards we’re dealt. I love you Del, not your designer body, not your tattoos. What I love is in here.”
I released his arm and tapped his forehead with my finger. Brushing aside a few strands of hair, I noticed a single tear glistening on his scarred cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb and gently kissed his forehead. I traced my fingers along the scar. “You did this to yourself, didn’t you? You never wanted to be an object again.”
Del turned away, gazing at the raised welts my sucker-disks left on his arm. “You’ve quite a grip,” he said, changing the subject.
“Sometimes I don’t know my own strength. Sorry about the marks.”
Del continued, “Come with me. Just imagine – no humanufacturing, no brigands . . .”
“Don’t take this harshly, but I think you OMs are fooling yourselves if you think you can outrun the modern galaxy. How long before it catches you? You’ll be sitting ducks when the first brigands arrive and eat you for breakfast like they did on my home planet Bingtoppen.”
“They’ll never find us. It’s impossible.”
“But where can you hide?”
“Earth.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Earth has billions of people! Where on Earth could you possibly isolate The Colony?”
Del interjected, “Not where.”
Del scanned the bar from side to side for eavesdroppers. Certain no one could hear us he continued, “It’s when. We’ve been given something amazing. Our ship is carrying an ancient alien artifact. The artifact will take our ship far back into time, to the Pleistocene Epoch, just before the dawn of humankind. We will establish a great tech-free civilization, a golden age of peace.”
“What about evolution? Won’t other humans evolve and attack your civilization?”
“No. Nature abhors redundancy. Once we land on Pleistocene Earth, all other human evolution will naturally cease. We will be the only humans in the galaxy.”
“But what happens to history and to the rest of us here in the present?”
“Time is not as linear as you assume. It’s actually a loop, or a series loops. The artifact will allow us to loop back, essentially folding time back onto itself. The present will continue. The difference will be that we become the ancestors, recasting humanity into a nonviolent race. Think how much better the galaxy will become.”
My head was spinning like the loops of Del’s theory. I thought about the potential. If humanity became peaceful, then the eons of devastation and suffering of my home Bingtoppen at the hands of brigands could be prevented. “Look Del, this is a lot for me to take in, especially at a bar. I need to get some food in me before deciding something like this.”
As we got up, I glanced something above my head. A large green reptilian blur scuttled across the ceiling and out of sight. “What was that?”
“I didn’t see anything,” said Del, “maybe you’ve had one too many.”
“I definitely saw something.” I approached the bartender, “Hey Ratri, who was that lizard on the ceiling?”
Ratri was a Saffir, a rodent-like creature with pointy ears and large yellow eyes that missed nothing. She was shaking a cocktail with one hand, toweling glasses with two more and counting pieces in the till with the fourth. “I saw nothing,” she squeaked.
“Maybe this will jog your memory,” I said tossing a satchel of pieces onto the bar.
“Perhaps I did see something,” she chirped snatching the satchel. “You humanoids are so arrogant. You think your senses are the keenest in the galaxy. You forget there are other species that hear what you cannot, see what you cannot . . .”
I interrupted, “Spare us the lecture Ratri. Just tell us what we need to know.”
Ratri continued, “I heard you whispering about your time-travel scheme and I wasn’t the only one. That ‘lizard’ as you call him was Delinvir.”
“Delinvir?” Del asked, “Who’s that?”
“Now I have a question for you wise humanoids,” she sneered. “What would happen if a super intelligent reptile with a big razor sharp tail-blade and an even bigger axe to grind against all humanity stowed away with your OMs? When you’ve landed and eliminated any chance for other humans to appear and evolve, what if he slit your smug throats the moment you fell asleep dreaming of your tech-free utopia? That is Delinvir!” Ratri erupted into a screechy cackle, “The ultimate Butterfly Effect! No more humankind!”
Del turned to me, “We’ve got to warn the OMs.”
We dashed toward the docks, cutting through Calliope’s famous market bazaar. As we weaved around the fragrant crates of aqua cowslip and pink broomflower I was haunted by my careless words to Jax, “what could go wrong?”
Calliope Intergalactic Space Dock, Berth 318C
The OMs were loading their ship, the Fiery Comet, with the last of the various plants and animals they would bring with them to The Colony.
“Do another sweep,” Del insisted to the OM Security Chief, “we’ve got to be sure Delinvir is not aboard.”
“Ok Del,” the Chief replied, “but we’ve got to leave on time -- the self-destruct is already armed -- we’ll do one more sweep and that’s it. Let’s go officers.”
The officers stomped back up the gangway and I told Del, “They’ll never find him that way. When Delinvir hears them coming he’ll scamper into hiding like a Venusian megaroach when the kitchen light switches on. There’s only one way to find him.” I leaned in and whispered my plan into Del’s ear.
“You are coming with us!” Del said, ecstatic at the prospect. “But how will you sneak aboard?”
“Don’t worry. Camouflage is my specialty.”
The security team returned from their final sweep. “All clear!” shouted the Chief, and piped her boatswain’s whistle to begin boarding.
Starship Fiery Comet en route to Earth intercept coordinates
I made it undetected onto the ship and even managed to smuggle my falchion aboard. The artifact had worked, sending us back in time and we were nearing the intercept coordinates.
I hid on the observation deck. Turning myself a deep blue-black hue allowed me to disappear against the enormous space porthole behind me, except for my eyes, which glowed faintly like two distant galaxies shimmering in space. No one would notice me here. I waited.
The deck became eerily quiet. All I could hear now was the hum of the engines and the occasional screech of monkeys or parrots from the hold. I suddenly heard rustling like dry skin being scratched. Two glowing red eyes appeared out of the darkness and the jade form of Delinvir began to lurch in my direction. He was headed straight for my window. Could he see me? I clutched my falchion and held my breath.
Now we were inches apart, almost face-to-face. His garnet eyes seemed to stare right through me. If he couldn’t see me, I was sure he could at least hear my hearts thumping in my chest.
Just then the boatswain’s whistle piped over the intercom -- it was time to board the pods and jettison to Earth.
Delinvir turned away. I lunged with my falchion but he sensed it coming and hacked it in two with his tail. Now he had to board a pod for his genocidal plan to succeed. He charged toward the door. I sprinted across the deck and blocked his retreat.
A horrifying hiss escaped between his fangs. His tail whipped at my feet. I jumped and he tried to leap past me. I grabbed him and we tumbled across the deck exchanging body blows.
The intercom was counting down, “90 seconds to self destruct.”
Del shouted from the corridor, “Sethal! Where are you?”
“Go Del! Get off the ship!” I yelled.
“60 seconds to self destruct.”
Delinvir used all his reptilian strength to pin me down. He arched his tail above me to deliver the coup de grace. As he plunged it down I swung my arm up, causing his tail to severe my hand and glancing the blade away from my chest. I quickly grabbed my severed hand and spread the fingers to expose the powerful suckers. I pressed the hand onto his eyes.
Delinvir was now hissing and thrashing, frantically trying to pry the hand from his eyes. He managed to yank it free, but not without dislodging one of his ruby orbs from its socket. He screamed in agony as I escaped to Del.
“30 seconds.” “29.” “28.”
“C’mon Sethal, there’s one more pod!” We dove in and jettisoned, leaving Delinvir to his fate.
Moments later, the explosion shockwaves from the Fiery Comet rocked our tiny pod.
“We made it!” Del shouted. We laughed with joy and relief.
I began to tourniquet my stinging wrist, arresting the slow ooze of blue blood. “At least now I can get a cool hook,” I joked, knowing my hand would grow back in a few months.
“Sorry,” Del smiled, “no weapons at The Colony.”
“No hook?” I sighed, “What else could go wrong?”
Just then, the Stella buzzed our pod window.
“That’s Jax’s ship!” I exclaimed. “He must have piggy-backed on the Fiery Comet. He probably doesn’t know he’s traveled back in time.”
I was happy to see Jax, but Del said Jax would ruin everything. However the worse shock was yet to come.
As the Stella passed us, we both saw a living green form clinging to her hull. We sank in our seats and uttered, “Delinvir!”
