Chapter fourteen - Not for the weak

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“Fame is not for those who abuse the privilege or relinquish their responsibility, and least of all for morons.”

Chapter Fourteen: Not for the weak

Dated: 18th April, 2461

An exalted status of any form or shape comes with a responsibility. When others look up to you, whatever be your expertise, your personal life becomes an example. You are where you are because you did something right, which others don’t know. So they all look up to you, to see how you do things just so they may get it right as well. They may love you for just one thing that you do right, but that is enough to entitle them to have some learning from you. Your responsibility does not arise out of your status, but out of your conscience to repay the love in kind. And this is why love is different from sexual interest; it does not demand access to your physical body, but it takes its toll on your emotional self.

One may choose to be the cynosure of every eye, or one may have been thrust into that limelight, but everybody enjoys it. Those who don’t, their lives become a sorry state of affairs, and others push them to the back of their minds. Their fame ends soon after they have been absolved of their responsibility, and their familiarity rather becomes a curse, for they can no longer hide in obscurity.

But for those who enjoy being in spotlight, the demand of love on emotions is forever high. They no longer have the right to not make a choice at all, or make a wrong choice. They have to live a life that would help others in ways their work won’t, and if they won’t, their fame would end soon after they relinquish their responsibility, or make a mess of it. This is what the price of fame is, and fame need not be universal. It could only be a position of prominence in a small group. It’s enough that one cannot hide amongst the cattle anymore, for they are the lion. And there are more than one lions on board the caravan of five: Eternity, Infinity, Phoenix, Firestorm and Apache.

“Emergency,” was the chilling one word to escape Jhiang’s lips that brought every activity to a grinding halt across the caravan, “The radar’s picked a fast gaining enemy fleet thirty minutes behind.”

“Initiate NSSS ‘Infinity’ Control-Transfer-Protocols Captain ‘Rocker’ Jean Perry,” Anne, who had based the command onboard NSSS ‘Eternity’, immediately ordered. She then continued to Captain Chris Davis, “Captain Davis, prepare to max the travel speed for the two crafts.” She then immediately turned her attention towards the three attack crafts, “Captain Ahluwalia, you stay on course leading the caravan with NSSS ‘Phoenix’, and Captain Avery, please fall back alongside Captain Connor’s NSSS ‘Firestorm’. NSSS ‘Apache’ would take the rear left flank, while ‘Firestorm’ will keep the rear right flank.” She finally turned back to Jhiang, “How long before we are in their firing range?”

“Twenty eight minutes max at current speed,” Jhiang replied, “Thirty five at full speed.”

“Any change in enemy approach rate expected?” Anne asked.

“Negative,” replied Jhiang, “They are already maxed out on speed.”

Great dangers often bring the best out of people because they make them take risks that they wouldn’t otherwise, while maintaining extremely high degrees of concentration. Normality on the other hand makes people complacent while doing things they know they can. Efficiency thus is enhanced by the demands of the situation!

“Quick, we need to make sure there is no vegetation next to this house, especially dried one,” Jenny exclaimed as she continued axing the only tree left standing in the yard of a big open property she had identified on the block, while Jack shovelled away the leaves and grass.

“Are we going to live here now,” Jack asked her.

“Only in case that solar storm comes close to our planet and scorches things on our world,” Jenny replied, panting from the extensive effort she was putting in under the sun, “And then, if every other house on the block, including ours is scorched.” She then wiped the sweat off her forehead and took a couple of sips of water. She turned back to Jack and asked him, “Are you alright? It is too hot! Make sure you keep drinking your water. We’ll have to remove all woodwork, furniture and clothing from this house next.”

Fighters neither know how to quit, nor when to quit, for when they learn how to fight, they are taught neither. Those who quit are not fighters but rather politicians, who were in it merely to gain something, even if barely an advantage of having attempted.

“How long do we have,” Aman radioed ‘Eternity’.

“Five more minutes and we will be in their firing range,” a visibly distressed Jhiang replied as he desperately gazed at the radar screen in front of him, as if hoping the enemy fleet would vanish merely by his looking at it.

“Damn!” Aman exclaimed, and then continued to Anne, “Commander, are you sure you don’t want me to fall back and take the centre flank?”

“Negative Captain,” Anne replied, “Your job is to escape with whoever is left with you should we all perish.”

“What? I can’t do that,” Aman immediately disagreed.

“That’s an order Captain whether you like it or not,” Anne replied, “There is no way our three crafts can defend us against such a big fleet, and no means on board our two mother ships to defend anyone. So you will have to bear the burden of being the last hopes of humanity should the rest of us fail. And you will have to do it for the sake of any of us that may still be alive anywhere in either of the two universes.”

“You can’t be serious,” a distraught Aman however wasn’t ready to take such an order. He was a soldier, and not a businessman who would balance profit and loss, and then speculate on future. “I refuse to take this order,” Aman replied, “I would have happily died with the rest of the humanity back on earth, and I would happily die here if it is our time today.”

“Don’t be a fool,” Bradley interrupted the conversation, “Stop thinking about what you can sacrifice for everybody, and start thinking about what you can achieve instead.”

“Captain Connors is right,” Captain Daniela Avery, former air-force volunteer and wife of fellow volunteer and fellow economist Captain Steve Avery, the duo flying NSSS ‘Apache’, joined in the conversation too, “We all can die here and let everybody else who might be alive perish as well, or you can make a difference to those who might be alive.”

“That’s the whole point,” Aman replied, “We may already be all alone! Imagine how lonely it would be, especially living with a conscience that would always remember how the solitaire was a personal choice.”

“It is not your choice Captain,” Anne reminded him, “It is my order, backed by the Defence Core Committee majority.”

“You cannot do this to me,” Aman however argued.

“They are right Captain,” Christine, who was getting ready to take charge of the craft for the next shift prior to the declaration of emergency, told her co-pilot, but then added, “However, I am with you, and believe if this is our end, then it should be all of us!”

“Three minutes to vulnerable zone,” Jhiang however interrupted the discussion and reminded everyone of the reality that faced them.

“Oh how I wish we could have made it to that space tear that we were originally supposed to make to today,” Aman rued, “Damn you Norman!”

But something strange happened at that moment, only inside NSSS ‘Phoenix’. A mysterious portal made of light appeared in the middle of the small flight cabin, lighting up everything, and three mysterious figures; one after the other, stepped out of it. Aman and Christine immediately took out their laser weapons and aimed them at their heads.

“Our most respectful greetings to the great warrior from the other earth,” exclaimed the leader of the pack in a language the duo had always understood, as the trio bowed to them, “We are the Tarandile.”

Hardships are like tests and tests are like sieves, meant to separate chaff from grain. Easy are journeys that take none anywhere! Tough are travels that go around to bring one back wiser and matured.

“Eight minutes to the space tear sir,” Antony informed the Rear Admiral.

“What is our projected re-entry point into our universe Chief Engineer?” Rear Admiral asked Marcus.

“Somewhere close to the centre of Milky Way sir,” out came the reply, as Marcus carried out his calculations free of any stress.

Stress however is unavoidable part of existence, for everything needs an effort, and every effort is directed to a result whose controlling variables are not in the hands of the individual. One needs oxygen to breathe, and one breathes to survive. There is no stress as long as there is enough oxygen and one is aware of it. Put a leak and the situation will change faster than the speed of light.

“What do you want?” Aman asked his unwanted arrivals.

“Nothing,” came a cryptic reply, made intriguing by the words that followed, “And everything.”

“I don’t like puzzles, especially those put by people I don’t know,” Aman however replied.

“We the Tarandile, are the only people across hundred known Universes, to posses the technology that can save you and your entire fleet from annihilation today,” the leader of the Tarandile pack continued.

“A hundred known Universes,” a shocked Aman exclaimed.

“Who are these people that you are talking to Captain Ahluwalia,” a concerned Anne’s voice boomed on the communications channel. She then turned to her own ship’s pilot, “Give me the video feed Captain Davis.”

“When you have the technology to teleport across space,” the Tarandile continued, “A universe is just a number.”

“And you want me to believe that,” Aman quipped, almost chiding him.

“Well, we are here, aren’t we?” the Tarandile asked.

“One minute forty five seconds to vulnerable zone,” a panicking Jhiang intervened.

“Perhaps a quick demonstration will help,” the Trandile quipped as he turned towards his companions who both nodded in agreement. “I will open two portals; one here, and one in your Commander’s ship. You can send her whatever you want to through it.” He then looked back at his companions and nodded to give them a go ahead. One of the Tarandile lifted his wrist and tapped some buttons on the wrist band he was wearing. A smaller light portal opened in front of Aman.

“What’s happening,” a surprised Anne asked, “I’ve got a light portal similar to yours in front of me too.”

“Would you like sending your Commander something,” the Tarandile gestured Aman to go ahead and try it.

Aman looked around, but with nothing else to think off his head, pushed his laser gun through the portal, along with his hand.

“I can see your hand and gun in front of me Aman,” Anne replied back.

“Take the gun from my hand,” Aman exclaimed.

“She can give it back to you too, should you want it,” the Tarandile exclaimed as Aman pulled his hand back, his gun having been left behind with Anne. Anne immediately put her hand through the portal and handed Aman a cup she had on her, instead of the laser, just to test it properly.

“It works,” Christine exclaimed in delight.

“Forty five seconds to vulnerable zone,” Jhiang reminded everyone the Damocles’ sword hanging above their heads.

“Do you want us to turn around and intercept the enemy,” Captain Connors immediately asked Anne.

“Negative,” Anne replied back, “Stick to the course. We will retaliate only as the last measure when the enemy would be finally upon us.”

“What do you want?” Aman asked his guests.

“What’s more important is; we can save your entire fleet,” the Tarandile however replied.

“You are not going to do it just like that for fun, are you?” Aman asked in response.

“Of course not,” the sharp Tarandile replied, “You were saying how good it would have been had you not missed the space tear that you are going to miss now.” The Tarandile paced up and down as he addressed Aman, “We can teleport your entire fleet there right away, giving you enough time to make through it comfortably, but there is only one condition.”

“And what’s that,” Aman asked.

“You’ll have to drink our poison,” the Tarandile replied.

“The enemy has fired; two minutes to impact,” was the chilling announcement from Jhiang.

*************

Chapter Thirteen: One betrayal enough

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“Enough walls make a comfortable grave; none lets wind blow all away.”

Chapter Thirteen: One betrayal enough

Dated: 16th April, 2461

Balance is always found at the fulcrum and volatility at edges. Too much light is as blinding as too much dark. There is just enough of everything that makes a perfect stockpile. This is true not because it is a law of nature, for nature makes no laws. Nature only leaves open every opportunity for probability to build a dense network of matter interactions. It is these interactions between different forms of matter that set a pattern of existence, with these patterns eventually becoming laws of nature. A star will always be born out of a cloud of dust and gases, leaving behind the non-fusing mass of inert matter to make planets that will revolve around it. The bigger beast will consume the smaller beast to satisfy its hunger. The laws of nature are born out of the traditions of matter interaction!

The important question thus is; how does one find the balance, or more aptly, the point of fulcrum? The answer lies in identifying the direct opposite, or every possible alternative of a given situation. What defends you will also stop you from attacking. To attack you will need an opening, but an opening would also create an opportunity for the enemy. Yet without an opening, an enemy outside will eventually find a way to break in through your defences. To stop that you will have to step out and pre-empt the enemy at some stage. One situation too many variables! The solution probably lies in a defence with an opening that you can control better from behind the defence than the enemy staring down at it.

Once the competing alternatives are determined, the next step is to evaluate all the benefits and drawbacks that associate with each one of them. Thereon it is merely a matter of deciding what one can afford to give up, and what is too indispensible. The choice is then merely a formality. Michele knows this, but her only problem is; she cannot decide on everyone’s behalf what is best for them without considering their opinions.

“So we can actually deflect the meteor mid space?” Michelle asked Admiral for umpteenth time, just to be sure she got the information correctly.

“There is a fifty percent chance that our crude atomic bomb, if it detonates as per our calculations, can yield enough force to alter its’ path,” the Admiral replied.

“The only questions then are,” Michelle exclaimed nodding her head, “What if it doesn’t, or does so too late?”

“We can test a weapon in a couple of weeks,” Admiral replied, “We’ll lose some fuel we were stocking up on, but we would know for sure how good our technology is. The problem that would persist however is; there is only a short window of time to deploy one during the event, because the force of the blast needs to be transferred at a time where it would deflect the meteor far enough that it misses the earth. We cannot blow it into bits by a head on impact, and too early or too late an explosion could mean no significant effect to even acceleration.”

“So we are back to square one,” Michelle let out a sigh as she knelt over and pressed her forearms on the desk, “What is the status of our space-ship construction program?”

“We have enough to save one out of every three individuals,” Admiral replied, but paused before uttering two carefully weighted questions, “But how will we choose whom to save? Or rather; would you want the choice to remain with us?”

His questions had put Michelle in the same unenviable position as her predecessor in office. “But, how can we do what we hate others for having done to us,” an exasperated Michelle raised a question the Admiral was expecting, but she had more to say, “We can’t be like those who left us behind. There is always another choice! We just need to find the correct one.”

Choices do not depend upon circumstances, but rather probabilities that emerge out of those circumstances. Circumstances are merely the condition determinants of the action transpiring, while probabilities are results that could happen depending upon the decision the actors involved in action might make.

Not for the first time in his life had Norman feared for his life, for he had seen his senior partner in crime executed right in front of his eyes. But this time the fear was overpowering as there was no place for him to hide, and he was unmistakably aware that an enemy was on his way. He didn’t have to wait too long, for in less than twenty four hours the dark sky above him was lit up by the lights of an entire enemy fleet. Norman was sharp enough to run out of his spaceship, rather than be a sitting duck in case of an assault. Yet the irony was; he wouldn’t survive without it anyway!

The enemy however was sharp enough not to rush in without having gauged the strength of the defences. A handful of crafts were dispatched immediately, to access what lay in their path. One after the other those crafts flew by, waiting to be attacked from somewhere, so they could spot the defences. But there were no defences; only a single man on his knees, perched atop a frozen mound with folded hands. He didn’t have to wait long. Soon enough one craft flew directly above and in front of him, like a fly ready to swoop down on to a creamy cake. Norman on his part stayed still, lit by the bright spot light fixated at him by the alien craft. 

After some apparent discussions with their seniors, three Schneridian warriors climbed out of the hovering craft. Two of them stopped some distance behind, while the leader of the pack stepped up to the knelt Norman, and walked around him in a circle, having a good look at him, while at the same time scanning the surrounds for any activity. Finally, he stopped right in front of Norman, took a couple of steps back, and then tossed a device at Norman’s knees.

“Is this the language that you speak,” the alien asked using a similar communicating device in his hands, “Shake your head three times and pick up the device to communicate.”

Norman for once had a chance to relax his nerves as he energetically shook his head in affirmative and grabbed the device.

“Human,” smirked the alien as he typed away in his device, before turning back to look at his colleagues who smiled back at him.

Being human also means being fallible, for humans are fragile, just like any other animal species. All other virtues of greatness, uprightness, honesty etc are man-made creations; suited to serve various social needs, dispensable at the option of the protagonist should the need be dire and the protagonist unwilling to make the sacrifice needed. These virtues cannot be taught alone, without imbibing the persona with adequate amount of courage and selflessness, again a couple of man-made virtues. This is where stories come into play; some written by imagination and some by suffering.

“Today we are faced with a very difficult situation,” Lady Michelle Davis had decided it was a matter fit for the public to decide on its’ free will, “And once again we have two choices; we can panic and press self-destruct like we did the last time, or we can be sensible like an intelligent specie should be, especially now that we have the ability to make a difference to our fate.”

As the Lady made a complete disclosure to the public, her speech was being broadcast live on every television and radio station, and people everywhere were all ears and eyes. There were no whispers, there was no queer pitch. Everybody had somehow grown ages in only a few months!

“There’s a giant meteor heading our way, and for the first time in human history, we have the technical expertise to take on the giant mid-stride,” Michelle continued as Ivanka stood behind her, “We can not only travel at some fraction of light speed, but we can deploy fissionable charge to deflect the monster away.”

Her words had finally started to make people stand up from their seats, nodding their heads as they grabbed tighter whatever they had in their hands; drinks, remotes, books and all.

“But of course, we cannot be blinded by over-confidence, and must be prepared in case of an unexpected failure,” Lady Davis however cautioned everyone, “But we are prepared for that as well, although not as much as we would have liked to by this point in time.”

Traffic had come to a halt on the roads, as people pulled over to listen safely and keenly to each and every word the woman had to say.

“It took us a lot of time to ensure we would survive on our very own planet first,” Michelle continued, “And then we had a sudden revelation of new technology, thanks to our lost but not forgotten brothers on NSSS ‘Full Bloom’. But thanks to them, today we can take on the monster headed out to destroy us, and should we fail, to save one out of every three people alive today.”

Almost everybody took a deep breath as they realized the time might have come for them to make some tough decisions.

“No, I am not saying we are going to save only so and so,” Michelle continued, “We are not going to do what was done to us; betray our own loved ones.”

Her words had the people nodding in appreciation and understanding once more.

“Instead I want you to decide what you would want to happen,” Michelle continued, “We have three to four months, so I give you one, to send us your suggestions, that we can then shortlist for a quick poll. My suggestion is that you on your own free will pick one member of your family, to be put on board our ships that we would allow to temporarily leave our atmosphere, just in case we fail in stopping the meteor mid-tracks. In case we succeed, they all can come back immediately, so we all may leave together whenever we are ready. But that is just one option that I have come up with. You might have some better! So get sharing!”

And everybody now looked around at those who were around them, each one nodding their head in unison, that this is a good way to deal with the situation.

Michelle however had one last thing to say, “And remember; there is still hope, like there always is!”

One may need to find hope at times, and the tougher it is to do so, tougher are their circumstances. But finding hope itself begins with a hope that some will be found somehow.

“Jenny, look, the sun has got a huge wig,” naughty little Jack had disobeyed Jenny’s instructions to not look at the sun, and gazed at it using a thick blackened glass piece.

“Didn’t I tell you not to look at the sun,” Jenny scolded him as she walked up to him.

“I know, but just look at this,” Jack however insisted, “It looks so funny!”

“Let me see,” Jenny exclaimed as she grabbed the piece of glass from his hands and put it to her eyes. But the sight she saw scared her down to her bones, “That’s a massive surge of energy from the Sun.” Her throat immediately dried out as an immediate fear gripped her. She started palpitating, “I hope it won’t come this way!” She exclaimed out of fear as she watched haplessly the growing storm at the horizon of the sun she was gazing at.

Fear however is not the option when death and life are the only two outcomes possible. If the only other thing that could happen to one is death, then the only choice to be made is staying alive at all costs.

Norman was promised he won’t be killed provided he co-operated. And co-operate he did; explaining not only what he knew about the differences and incompatibility between the matters making up the two universes, but also disclosing their own origins, escape, and current intended direction of the crew that left him behind. Finally satisfied with what Norman had told them, the Schneridian sought final instructions from his superiors, and having got them addressed Norman again.

“We promised not to kill you,” the Schneridian exclaimed, “And we keep our word. However, we are going to make sure your craft is not capable of flying anymore.”

“What,” a shocked Norman exclaimed and inquired, “Are you too leaving me behind? Please take me with you, someplace else, some place warm!”

“We promised not to kill you, and not to save you,” the Schneridian smiled, and replied using his communicator, “Besides you said it yourself, that our matter is of no use to you. So even if we were to take you away, there is no other place that we know of, where you can stay alive. This place is your only hope!” And he walked away, back to his waiting colleagues, and up into his craft, leaving Norman behind to analyse where he went wrong.

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Chapter Twelve - Imaginary finds

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“You find what you lost and you discover what was hidden. Neither however is imaginary!”

Chapter Twelve: Imaginary finds

Dated: 13th to 15th April, 2461

There once was a belief, held by many that intelligent beings are born to live and discover god, the one who was in perpetual hiding. However, that belief itself presupposed a god that was in perpetual hiding. So to believe this assertion, one had to already imagine something to exist even before they had discovered it. But merely believing that something exists is no proof that it does. If a thing is imaginary, you can waste your entire life and never find it. None did, except in stories!

But when you are the most intelligent specie of your world, your responsibility is the greatest. Not only are you supposed to ensure your own survival, and that of your species, but you are also the one most likely to save every other species in case of a catastrophe. No, this duty is not a moral obligation. Rather it is a factual necessity, for every living thing is intricately connected in the web of existence, so much that a destruction of its one strand can lead to a total collapse of the entire web. Animals can’t survive without plants, for the food chain will collapse and oxygen eventually consumed. Plants can’t survive without animals helping in pollination, manure-generation and carbon-dioxide addition. 

But duties don’t just end at hypothetical levels. Members of the most intelligent specie are also expected to maintain a certain level of peace within their own society. Forgive and forget might enable an individual to live in peace, for they are ready to accept whatever the life has to offer. But that will not fix what is wrong, and that wrong would continue to cause misery to others, for everyone is unhappy with the same pains, for everyone is seeking the same or similar set of things. To find peace inside yourself is selfish, for it relieves you of your duties. Real peace is to be found in the society outside you, and at times it has to be created, defended or restored. The doer fixes what they find wrong! And this very ethos has kept alive the hopes of the small band of humanity, fighting to stay alive in hostile conditions.

The rush was mad, for the situation dire. Two unknown crafts had been detected scavenging the planet for any telltale signs. It wasn’t what they hadn’t expected would happen sooner or later, and it wasn’t something they hadn’t tried to plan as best as they could, but it was something they hoped may not transpire after all. Captain Ahluwalia and Captain Connors, they both rushed their three member teams to two three-gun-batteries that had been set up a few hundred feet clear of their work site and spaceship respectively. They had deliberately limited the radar range to within the confines of the planet’s atmosphere, to avoid attracting unwanted attention, by lighting up space-crafts flying past in space. It kept their profile low and hidden, but it also meant they had lesser time to react.

“Where are they?” Captain Ahluwalia radioed to Jhiang in the spaceship ‘Maa’.

“Two kilometres north-west, at thirty one degrees,” Jhiang replied, “But they have stopped.”

Not satisfied with the info supplied, Aman implored further, “Are you sure there’s no back-up coming?”

“We have just enhanced our radar range to near space, but we detect no back-up,” Jhiang replied.

“Maybe they were on a reconnaissance mission,” Bradley radioed his assessment of the situation, “Possibly in search of the first craft.”

“And possibly they don’t have clearance to engage,” Aman added his assessment, “They might call back-up, or possibly assess our capabilities, and if the need be, tail us.”

“Wait as second guys,” a suddenly exuberant Jhiang however radioed back, “They are leaving.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” a concerned Bradley however quipped.

“I agree! Let me check with Professor and Anne,” Aman radioed back, and then proceeded to radio Anne and Professor Dunmore, “Professor, how long before we are flight ready?”

“I need one more week to fix the guns and radars on to the five ships,” Professor replied, “And test the ships at least once each.”

“What can you do in twenty four hours Professor?” Aman however cut short his ambitious plans.

“Are you kidding?” an exasperated Professor exclaimed, “I can barely equip two attack crafts in that time, and no testing at all.”

“I am afraid that’s all that we will have to do with at this stage Professor,” Aman replied, “We need to leave this planet as soon as possible, or we’ll end up as sitting ducks.”

“Can you equip the other crafts in flight?” Bradley however asked the Professor.

“The speed at which these things would travel,” a hapless Professor answered, “No way! We’ll have to stop somewhere, even if in the middle of the space, to do that.”

“Fine, we’ll do it in our universe,” Aman replied, “Just get us two attack crafts fitted; one to lead and one to tail.”

“But what about testing?” Professor queried in vain.

“We never tested NSSS ‘Maa’, and here we are today,” Aman replied, “Have faith in your creation Professor, for we all will need it.”

Faith, a word that combines confidence and belief into a holy matrimony; there’s another way to look at it, a non-spiritually infested way. That is the way of a master of their art.

“There really is no difference between this universe and our universe,” Jake exclaimed as he gazed out of the flight.

“Appearances don’t always tell the complete story,” Antonio, who was on his shift behind the flight controls, quipped.

Rear Admiral, who had been busy evaluating data collected by the spaceship’s sensors, with assistance from Marcus, interrupted their light chatter, “We still have five days till eighteenth of the fourth. Make sure you don’t slack even for a moment, for in this game a moment could be all that separates life from annihilation.”

“Sir,” the mission Doctor, Andre Boyd, however sought his Commander’s attention, “Going through the retrieved medicinal science data from our space library, I found some interesting information.” 

“What is it regarding?” Rear Admiral immediately turned his attention towards him.

“It appears we do have a recorded case of human interaction with matter from this space,” Andre started cautiously, “And although the information here is still very basic and early stage, I am not sure if you’ll find it comforting.”

“Why do you say that?” Rear Admiral was now absolutely curious.

“Sir, the subject happens to be your adopted son,” Andre replied.

“Bradley,” and Rear Admiral’s shock wasn’t unexpected.

There is no such thing as luck, but there are always probabilities that range from best to worst; all colours, all sizes and all brands. Most of the people would eventually get something in the middle of the range, most of the time. Being unexpected, it would all be a lottery. But when one is stumped by a probability from either of the two ends, superstitious would label them as benevolence or suffering. But whatever be the luck of the pot, every probability sets up a ground for another.

“Madam President,” a huffing and puffing Ivanka Manning rushed into Michelle Davis’s room, “We’ve got trouble.”

And the lady, by sheer instinct, slammed her forehead with her hand, “What now?”

“A meteor, as big as Hawaii,” Ivanka spoke as she struggled to get over her panting, “Is headed towards us on its return journey.”

But this information was way more than what even the poised lady was herself capable of handling without giving away to emotions. She almost choked on her words, “How much time do we have?”

“About three to four months,” Ivanka replied as she wiped away her tears.

Emotions however have no place in the realm of reality, for reality is about action. You don’t cry over spilt milk for it needs to be moped up, and you are still hungry!

Thirty-six hours it eventually took Doctor Dunmore and his teams, to dismantle all the gun installations, but the Doctor was industrious enough to utilize the time well and equip at least all three attack crafts with weapons and radars. There was joy all over the crews’ faces as they prepared to depart. But some business still needed to be transacted!

While all the five new ships prepared to lift off, Captain Ahluwalia dragged one man out of them, and on to the surface of the planet below.

“Wait, where are you taking me?” Norman, who had just been woken up from another bout of forced sleep, protested.

“Citizen,” Captain Ahluwalia however was in no mood other than transacting the business he had been entrusted with, “It is my solemn duty today to execute the orders of the wise Defence Core Committee, which in light of your past crimes and misconduct, have decided your punishment to be a life-term desertion on this planet.”

“What, you’re kidding, right,” Norman however was shocked to his bones.

“We have left enough fuel in Spaceship ‘Maa’, to provide you with continuous power supply for forty odd years,” Aman however continued in his business tone, without paying any heed to what Norman was protesting, “There’s enough food to last you a month, while instructions are there to enable you to create more. Everything you may need to know, all past human knowledge, is still accessible from the command deck console. You have all the things to lead a comfortable life, provided you don’t try to fly the ship. Not that it won’t, it just won’t get anywhere far before it runs out of fuel.”

“You can’t just leave me here to die,” Norman however protested vehemently, as all the spaceships lifted off the ground.

“Your crimes were unpardonable,” Aman however responded, “But the Defence Core Committee decided not to order an execution in this case.”

“How am I supposed to live here,” Norman grabbed Aman by his arms and yelled in his face.

“You were not even supposed to be here,” Aman coldly replied as he shook of his grip, “Besides, we are not killing you.”

“But I can’t live alone forever,” the thought nearly froze Norman.

“Oh, you are not alone,” Aman however chided him, “God is with you!”

“You are kidding,” and his words had completely shaken Norman out of his fright.

“Look at the bright side,” Aman continued, “Now you have all the time in your life, to find him.”

“But why not just take me with you, asleep,” Norman however argued.

 “Maybe it’s a sign from god,” Aman replied in a reassuring tone, “He wants you to live, so he is taking you out of our group, and out of harm’s way. Who knows what we might encounter, with aliens hot on our heels? We might not even make it to the next space tear.”

“Please! I am ready to die along with you all,” Norman pleaded as he fell to his knees.

“But we are not,” Aman exclaimed as he stepped back, and towards his hovering spaceship.

“Are you ready Captain?” Christine, who was one of the other two members of Aman’s team, asked on the radio.

“Yes, I am,” Aman replied, “Lower the lift pad please!”

“Please don’t leave me,” Norman pleaded as he rushed forward and fell at Captain Ahluwalia’s feet, begging for mercy.

“There’s a revolver with six bullets in Commander’s console,” Aman replied as he shook Norman off his feet, and stepped on to the pad lowered down the hatch, “Feel free to kill yourself when you are fed up.”

“No,” Norman yelled out in fear as he rushed towards Aman. But the lift was too fast for him to grab his feet.

“Alternately, you can wait for us to return," Aman made a final statement, “After of course we have rescued everybody else from our mother earth.”

The hatch closed, and the five crafts flew away, with Aman’s team leading the mission, and Bradley’s tailing it. Norman however was wailing!

*************

Chapter Eleven - Tell me what you've never seen

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“Between victorious and vanquished lies a dividing line called superstition.”

Chapter Eleven: Tell me what you’ve never seen

Dated: 27th March, 2461

There in the great Indian Epic of ‘Mahabharata’, lives the story of Arjuna, a warrior prince renowned for his archery skills. Such was his expertise, he could arrow a moving fish in its eye, merely by looking at its’ reflection in a mirror on the opposite side. But imagine such a warrior, amidst the battle of his life-time, plagued by superstition. Imagine his concentration wavering from the enemy in front, to an insignificant mistake he might have committed in a time bygone, a prayer he might have missed, or a destitute he may not have helped. In that fleeting moment will lapse his evaluation of the wind that flows between him and his enemy, and his arrow might miss its mark. And enemies like the ones he took out, don’t waste an opportunity. His biggest foe, his step-brother Karna was plagued by superstition, that he was cursed. When he faced Arjuna in all his might, his thoughts wandered back to that incident, and he got scared; so scared that he forgot how to fight. Expectedly, Arjuna didn’t miss his mark!

Superstition asphyxiates one’s free will; adulterating their decisions. Imagine someone about to make a decision of their life-time, going to a holy place to get a sermon, and then trying to find meaning in that sermon, and see how it fits their situation. Will that person’s evaluation of their situation and actions taken accordingly, not be affected by the meaning they drew out of that sermon? A person religiously going through horoscopes, to know their future; are their actions independent of the thoughts generated by what they might have already read? Overcorrection and absolute carelessness are both destructive to initiatives, and yet they are exactly what superstitions embolden.

There is always more than one reason, to do something or not to do it. The correct one is always the one based on rationality; or gut feeling where rationality cannot help one, for gut feeling is sometimes about what a person’s subconscious mind might have picked out of the situation, or analysed from their past experience of life. But even this evaluation itself is not a rule cast in stone, to be followed like a superstition. Simply stated; there is no rule of how to do anything in future. All that is important is the goal that needs to be achieved; the aim, the target. All that is important is to be like Arjuna; and there are more than a few heads on NSSS ‘Maa’ who understand this.

“This is really disturbing,” Professor Dunmore expressed his concerns to Anne, as Bradley and Aman looked on, “Our performance has dropped as a team over the last four days. We’ve become slower.”

“I think I know where the problem is,” Aman replied, “Don’t worry professor; we’ll do something about it today itself.” He then looked at Bradley and asked, “You or me?”

“Let me try first,” Bradley proposed, and Aman nodded. No word had to be uttered by Anne!

Words are not weak placebos for actions. Words are what generate, affect or stop actions. Brain cells use more oxygen and energy than any other type of cells in the body. It’s just that people don’t happen to use them often enough.

“How do you know there is a god?” a suspicious Alan asked Norman.

“How do you know there isn’t one?” Norman asked in reply.

“I’ve never seen one in my life,” Alan quickly replied back, “Neither had my father, nor had my grandfather!”

“And neither will Norman himself,” Bradley added as he walked up to the trio of Norman, Alan and Mick.

“What if there is one?” Norman replied, “What will you do when you’ll find out?”

“And exactly when would that be?” Bradley asked.

“After we all die,” Norman replied, “We all will have to face him.”

“And how many dead have returned to tell us all that?” Bradley asked, “Or have you already died and seen him?” He then paced around, put his hand on Norman’s shoulder and continued, “The only time one sees god is when either one is hallucinating for some reason, or is in a state of trance or coma, is subject to some form of trickery, or is plainly lying.”

“It is a matter of faith,” Norman replied, “You have to believe in him, and only then will he reward you for being loyal to him.”

“I don’t want anything from anyone,” Mick replied, “I am happy with what I have. And what I don’t, I’ll get it one day through my own efforts.”

“You fool, you don’t even know what you have already lost,” Norman argued back, “You don’t even remember the big injustice you did to those who loved you. Do you think god will not punish you for your deeds?”

“Nobody did anything to anyone,” Bradley stepped closer to Norman and put his hand on his chest to push him back, and down low, “What happened had to happen, and what we did was the best thing that could have been done for the sake of humanity.”

“Yeah, try explaining that to god when you die,” Norman quipped.

“Firstly, I don’t need to explain anything to anyone anymore than I need to explain it to myself; my conscience,” Bradley replied, “And secondly, to explain anything to god, I first need to believe there is one, and then I’ll have to believe in all the super-powers that he is supposed to have, and then in heaven and hell. And only after having filled my mind with all those things that nobody has ever seen in their lives, and dead never come back to describe, will I have to think about how to explain anything to him, or her, or they.”

“It is a classic case of psychological mind control,” Mick was not to be left behind, “Every religion first preys on a person’s greed; promising them everything that they don’t have or can have in their lives. Then the next big one is fear; a fear of an all powerful entity that would punish you for the slightest of sins that might not even have hurt anyone, like he was a spurned jealous lover. The fear is abused to such an extent that those who believe don’t even dare question his existence. The only reason anyone prays to god is a selfish end; be it wealth, riches, fame, glory, or a freedom from either a torturous hell or a supposed cycle of life and death, none of which were ever more than a hypothesis developed by some shrewd brains, from what they observed in nature.”

“Oh really! Then what about all the moral stability that religion brought to the society?” Norman however argued on.

“You know what the biggest problem with any religion is,” Alan replied this time, “It comes with a lot of baggage. Not only one themselves has to believe in all that they will never see in their lives, but they have to pass it on to their children, who themselves will neither ever see any of it, nor will have the freedom to question it, out of fear. Worst is; for all you say what is good about religion, most kids will grow up ready to die in its name, and some would be ready to kill. And when you think of it; morality really is not about god or anything supernatural. It is about doing what is right and not doing what is wrong.”

“And who would tell you what is right and what is wrong if there is no religion?” Norman asked.

“Simple Norman,” Bradley replied, “When you do something that is going to affect someone else; you also know how it would make the other person feel. Now if you question yourself as to how you would feel if that someone was you, and someone else had done the same thing to you; if you find the answer to be not good, then it is wrong thing to do, and should not be done.”

“And what if I still do it, for I don’t have a fear of anyone,” Norman smirked as he dug in his ground.

“People who believed in god did wrong things all the time too,” Bradley replied, “But the world still remained a beautiful place to live in because majority of people did most of the right things, most of the time. A society only collapses when this balance is upset, only to re-establish itself with a renewed balance.”

“You think so,” Norman however wasn’t the one to give up easily, “Then how come we ended up in this situation that we find ourselves today, if it wasn’t for the god punishing us for the mistakes we made by leaving behind our loved ones?”

“Why are you here?” Bradley’s simple query however stumped him. But that wasn’t all Bradley had to say. He smirked and then continued, “We had to leave earth because at some point in time earth was bound to become inhabitable for humans, for one or the other reason. There would have to be an excuse in the end, for nothing lasts forever. Then, we ended up on this planet because we were ambushed by a hostile alien race. And that again was bound to happen at some point in time, for humanity was never alone. We could have bumped into a friendly race as well, but given the fragile nature of everybody’s existence, it is more natural to expect hostility in defence of territory. We as humans should know this better than any other race.”

“And now if you won’t stop bugging everybody with your lose talk, and slowing us down,” Alan took Bradley’s lead, and almost did his job for him, “Then we are likely to be attacked by an alien race again. And if we get vanquished here, it won’t be because some god wants to punish us, but because we weren’t industrious enough to prepare for our timely escape.”

“That’s absolutely the message from the Defence Core Committee,” and Bradley made it official, “You are here, so you might as well carry your weight. Stop throwing a spanner in the works. From now on we’ll be keeping a very strict watch on you.”

Keen observation is the first basic requirement to unlock the secrets. More important however is asking the right questions that those observations would answer; or to keep asking until you find the right questions.

“This doesn’t look good,” Doctor Fabien Schultz exclaimed as he reclined back in his chair and glanced over to Captain Williams. NSSS ‘Impact’ had been positioned outside the forested area since the day of their arrival itself. Rear Admiral’s update hadn’t mentioned the unwelcome and hostile fauna of the location, and the mission had been really lucky to have escaped with only one near fatality, thanks to some great commandeering by the Captain herself, including her on-ground tactics. But now the things had been streamlined, and the crew had almost gathered all the cargo that could be safely transported back to earth. The blurry images of Jenny’s settlement were an absolute waste, so all attention in the free time was focused on to gathering scientific data about the approaching sun.

“What is it Doctor,” Shania asked.

“Our sensors have picked up a slowly developing and even slower moving solar storm just beyond its top horizon,” Doctor explained, “The data that we have gathered suggests that it would possibly move across the surface of the star, over and around to this side over the next month or so, and would be closest to this planet in about four months.”

“Should it bother us?” Shania asked.

“Only if we want to return to this planet to retrieve more matter,” Doctor replied, “I expect the heat wave generated by this storm, to wipe out all life on this planet. And that would be much before the expected end of hospitable conditions in about twelve to sixteen months time.”

“So you mean we won’t be able to return to this planet?” Shania asked.

“We should be able to, once the storm has moved away, for a brief window of three to six months,” Doctor replied, “But what should concern us is whether there would still be extractable uranium available. The radiations accompanying the storm, given the proximity and size of the star means, we might come here to find a charred planet lit up with natural fission reactors.”

Deterioration is an inherent characteristic of everything that has a mass; for mass cannot avoid interaction with other mass. But sometimes mass is not physical, but rather metaphorical; like the mass or meaning behind thoughts. But it still retains that unavoidable characteristic.

“Now what are we supposed to do with this man,” an infuriated Aman exclaimed as he dragged Norman in front of Bradley and Chris, who were having a conversation with Mishansa.

“He’s up to nothing good again, is he?” Bradley asked shaking his head.

“If we let this man continue on for another day or two, I don’t expect any of us to leave this planet either alive, or sane enough to continue,” Aman laid bare his frustrated evaluation of the situation, “This time he was chatting up another group of people, stalling their work and infesting their minds with doubt, despair and fear.”

“Mishansa, I believe you haven’t told us everything about this man honestly,” Bradley turned around and complained to Mishansa before radioing out to Anne, “Chief; we’ve got a problem! We need to do something about this man here, Norman.”

“Where is Mishansa?” asked Anne from the other end.

“She is here with us,” Bradley replied back.

“I think if you guys are not comfortable with him, you should just put him back to sleep,” Mishansa calmly replied before anything else had to be said.

“That doesn’t solve our problem though,” Aman replied, “We can’t leave him asleep forever, can we?”

“Don’t look at me,” Mishansa replied back, “He’s a part of your crew and you can do whatever you want to with him. I don’t care! Leave him here if you want; what to me?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Anne replied from the other end as Bradley allowed her to overhear their conversation.

“Do you people really think she is all good and honest,” Norman however tried to squeeze his way out of the situation by moving the needle of suspicion away from him, “You don’t even know what goes on in her mind, yet you want her to tell you what goes on in my head!”

“The man has got a point,” Bradley nodded in agreement, “The fact is; you’ve never discussed or shared your own race’s technology with us, in spite of our entangled predicaments. And for someone who comes from a race who can keep no secrets from each other; I am sure you know all about your technology as any other person of your race.”

“Good observation Captain,” Anne was quick to commend her colleague, and then raise a serious query, “So Miss Mishansa, if it is Miss; why should we trust you either?”

“What has all this got to do with me?” a clearly perturbed Mishansa tried to keep her composure, “Is it not enough that everybody I’ve ever loved or cared about is potentially dead and I have no way of knowing their fate? Is it not enough that I have to live through all the pain that afflicts your thoughts, and not to forget, all the filth, including that directed at me?”

Her words not only left everybody speechless, but forced them to hang their heads in shame. But Mishansa wasn’t finished yet, for the dam had been broken, “What exactly did you want me to tell you? That this man was there when his evil allies plotted and then killed your Reverend Luis Ferdinand?”

She then paced up to Aman, grabbed him by his arms and yelled in  his face, “Should I have told you that this man was there when your Jenny caught them plotting at the ‘House of Faith’, and Sepoy Eighty Three and his henchmen went after her to kill her? Or when they plotted to kidnap your fiancée, mother and sister to use as bargaining chips?”

Her words made Aman immediately raise his head, with fierce flame lighting up his eyes. But Mishansa wasn’t done yet. She walked up to Chris and asked him, “Or do you want to know how this man told your wife your secret long before you ditched her, and then betrayed her in the most cruel fashion?”

“What?” a shocked Chris exclaimed.

“What will you do with this man now?” Mishansa however stepped back and asked them, “Are you going to kill him? Have you all not seen enough pain already? Are you even in a mental state to make a rational decision today? Is your conscience ready to carry anymore burden?” And then, having left everybody speechless, she turned around and walked away.

*************

Chapter Ten - The days of the Jackal

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“No phase lasts a lifetime, unless one decides to keep making the same mistakes for its entirety.”

Chapter Ten: The days of the Jackal

Dated: 4th March, 2461

An obsession or a passionate distaste is no more than a passing phase. It seldom lasts a lifetime, unless one intentionally decides to never move on, or never learn. Everything that one likes, from body piercing to body art; all these tastes have a shelf life, and are generally acquired as a result of an individual’s personal involvements during a time period. In a time where people are reluctant to commit to the same person for the rest of their lives, any choice that lasts forever should be made very carefully.

There is nothing wrong with venting out your frustration or passionately driving towards a goal; and a constant reminder to keep one on track with regards to the same might not appear to be a bad idea. However, what could have once been a fire fodder in one’s past, might eventually turn into an ugly reminder of it in their future. It is not easy to accept that you made a wrong choice. But it is harder to live with a constant reminder of the same. Every permanent choice should thus be considered very carefully before a commitment is made. If possible, permanency should be avoided.

It is not that one would always regret their every decision, every fondness, and every hateful memory. Some might even be the source of biggest achievements in one’s life. This is thus not a case for altogether blanket avoidance of commitment. It is more about looking way ahead into the future, and then planning about every eventuality. Greatness is the hallmark of those who either know how to correctly predict their future, or who make sure they make happen what they had planned for, or at least covered for in their blue-print. Greatness is the hallmark of many on board spaceship ‘Maa’, and two such people happen to be considering one such decision right now.

“Are you sure we can’t do without him?” Aman asked Anne once again.

“I am sure we can’t do without him,” Anne replied, “All I am not sure is whether we can do anything with him.”

“That’s why I still suggest we leave him asleep,” Aman made his case against waking up Norman once again.

“We’ll have to take our chance,” Anne however had made up her mind, “Just take her to Mishansa, and hope she’ll tell us exactly what is in his mind.”

“You think she won’t,” Aman’s curiosity was raised immediately by an unguarded comment from Anne.

“I personally can’t trust someone who can read my mind, but whose mind I can’t read,” Anne immediately tried to cover up her act, “Which is why I avoid her as much as I can.”

One cannot avoid one’s destiny; not because it is predetermined by some supernatural entity. Destiny is unavoidable because it is a result of the choices that have already been made. Good decisions set in motion probabilities that have more good results as possible outcomes, while bad decisions would attract probabilities beset with hard times. This is all the more good reason to carefully consider one’s life choices as they are being made.

“Congratulations Gentlemen,” an exuberant Rear Admiral exclaimed as NSSS ‘Full Bloom’ flew through its first space tear, to re-enter a universe its’ passengers now call ‘Home Universe’. “How much time till the next space tear opens?” Rear Admiral immediately asked his Chief Engineer Marcus Dodd.

“Five days Sir,” was the quick response.

“Where are we though?” an inquisitive Lieutenant Reginald asked.

“Close to the centre of Milky Way,” Marcus replied.

Things that are close yet far are those that the claimant is not yet ready for. However, it’s merely a matter of time and efforts, before the gap is closed. All one needs is patience and perseverance.

“I have a guest for you,” Aman quipped as he shoved Norman into Mishansa’s chamber.

“What is this?” Mishansa however wasn’t impressed by the liberty taken by her host and friend, but her words stopped in her mouth as her gaze fell on Norman, and her mind caught the waves of his mind. “Why do you bring him here,” Mishansa asked meekly.

“Can you tell me, what filth flies through this guy’s grey matter?” Aman asked a bit condescendingly.

“Why do you belittle a man like this,” Mishansa’s words however took him by surprise, “All his fault is that he speaks what he believes!”

“Really,” Aman however was shocked at the exposition, “You mean this guy really has a; head gone nuts?”

“You’ve met a lot of weird people in your life Captain Ahluwalia,” Mishansa quipped in response, “Why so much distrust of this one?”

“Because this one speaks what threatens the future of everybody else,” was a short but well weighted reply from Aman, as Norman gazed on, amused at how things had turned out, in spite of his gravest fears!

Fear however has a bigger use than what it is always accredited with. It brings along caution that would otherwise be missing in any wise human’s efforts.

“Wait, there’s a settlement,” Second Flight Lieutenant Daniel Ross exclaimed as NSSS ‘The Impact’ flew across the surface of its host planet, and came across the block of dwellings that house two precious lives these days.

“Don’t stop,” Captain Shania Williams however immediately commanded, “It could be an alien settlement, and the last thing we want is an enemy hot on our trails.”

“Should I capture some footage though,” Daniel asked.

“Nothing more than what our external cameras would pick up in their ordinary course,” Shania replied, “We won’t have time to go through any of it though, especially now that we know we might not be alone on this planet.”

And the NSSS ‘The Impact’, which had barely slowed down as it hovered above the settlement, was soon flying away at break-neck speed.

“Wait!” was one more cry of despair from Jenny, who had braved the hot afternoon sun, and rushed out with Jack, who was the first one to spot the new arrival from the window of their living room.

“Why are they leaving us again,” a dejected Jack exclaimed.

“Wait,” Jenny however was still making a desperate rush behind the ship that was now almost out of sight, as if in a mechanical mode that made her overlook reason.

“I want to cry,” little Jack however rushed up to her, and gave her a hug as she collapsed to her knees, having finally resigned to her fate once more.

“It wasn’t father’s ship,” she quipped wiping her tears, “I saw the name in bold; NSSS ‘The Impact’. Father’s ship is called NSSS ‘Full Bloom’. You saw that Jack; didn’t you?”

“Who were these?” Jack however asked, expectedly a bit confused.

“I don’t know who was in it,” Jenny replied, “But what it means is that either father has found our earth, or people of our earth also live here on this planet now.” Despair was soon replaced by an optimistic conviction on her face, “Do you know what this means Jack? We are not alone anymore! And I am telling you; they will be back for us one day very soon.”

It is important to find some silver lining in a horrible situation, for the sake of your own sanity. Not only does it brings hope that all hasn’t been lost, it also gives you the motivation to continue your efforts that may eventually bear fruit on a better day.

“I am surprised; truly surprised,” Norman exclaimed as he joined Mishansa’s side in the sighting chamber of NSSS ‘Maa’, where she often comes in, to sit and gaze at the stars. Mishansa however didn’t even bother to turn her face around and give him a look. “To be honest, I was scared,” Norman continued once he was close to her, “Scared as to what you will tell everybody about me.” He then paused to consider his words, for he wasn’t sure as to what and how much should he divulge, “You see; I don’t think anyone trusts me on this ship.”

“And don’t you know why they don’t,” came a crisp response as Mishansa took a sip of the hot soup from the bowl in her hands.

“You see, I have this belief,” Norman started his defence, but then paused, “I mean; they say you can read people’s minds.”

“Stop thinking about what I can do, and what I know about you,” Mishansa finally turned around and looked him straight in his eyes, “And yes, you are right! I do have some plans with regards to you. Although, if I were you; I may cut out the sex part!”

Her words shook Norman completely, and he nearly fell backwards, but managed to regain his balance, and composure, “What do you know about me?”

“What don’t I?” asked Mishansa, a sinister smile growing on her lips, “And what should have I told Aman; that you were there when his fiancée caught you people in their act so your partners in crime, Sepoy Eighty Three and his goons, followed her and tried to kill her.”

Her words wiped the colour off Norman’s face, “You know it!”

“That’s nothing,” Mishansa replied and continued, “Do you really want me to go and tell Chief Flight Officer Chris Davis the story of your betrayal of his wife Michelle Davis?”

“No, please no,” a desperate Norman was immediately on to his knees, begging of her, “They’ll kill me!”

“I know,” Mishansa replied and continued as she turned around on her feet, away from him, “So wouldn’t you like to know why I didn’t disclose any of this to your nemesis?” She paused in her steps and looked behind from above her shoulder, trying to gauge Norman’s reaction.

Norman finally began to realize there was more to this woman than what he or anyone on this ship had noticed. He stepped up closer, and in a hushed voice asked, “What do you want from me?”

Mishansa turned around once more, took a step towards Norman, gently grabbed him by his shirt, and exclaimed in a husky voice, her lips moving closer towards his, “Let’s just say, you need me, and I can use you.” And she put her arms around his neck and pulled him towards herself, and planted a big deep and passionate kiss on his lips.

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