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The Chronicles of Rina Balan - Part FOUR |
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Just floating around in space
She was learning her lessons incredibly fast. She could read and write as well as Arulia’s previous pilot and she could fly better than them. The repairs were also coming along great. Shields and inertial dampeners were a few spare parts away from being perfect. They were a week or so away from Menaka. They’d been traveling together for just short of five months and had therefore known each other for around a year.
The only problem was her powers. Apparently she’d had them her whole life and she couldn’t even use them correctly. It was depressing. She couldn’t lift something as light as notebook. Arulia said it had to do with his emotions, on SP397 she had used her powers only out of need. They had risen to their most powerful when Grandmother had died and Durna had tried to kill her. Then it happened again during the meteor field when both her life and Arulia’s were at serious risk. But now there was no need, there was just want. And that was the key, wanting to do something to the point of needing to do it. But she had never known to want things, only need. She was getting frustrated.
“I can’t do this!” moaned Rina.
“Yes you can I know you can,” said Arulia, “You just have to know that you can.”
“And how am I supposed to do that?”
“You have to learn how to do that on your own.”
“AHH! You sound just like Grandmother.”
“Then she was a very wise woman.”
“Whatever.”
“I’m picking up a broadcast.”
“Oh?” Now that they were close to Menaka Arulia was able to catch broadcasts from the planet, mostly TV shows and news reports. Rina was learning so much about the galaxy. She learned about the war with the Zorax. The Zorax were just like Grandmother described them. They wanted to destroy all humans and it was just because they liked to kill and humans were numerous and nearby. This one was another news report.
“The Zorax Army has destroyed another human planet,” said the reporter, “Last night the planet Retuno was blown up. It was the latest in the violent strikes. Reports say that the Zorax decide what planet to destroy by kidnapping pilots and getting the name of the home planet that this pilot comes from. Then they go and destroy it for reasons beyond my understanding.
“Luckily in this case all of the inhabitants of Retuno had already been evacuated. Some have come to Menaka and while we are glad to help, we urge people to stop coming here. Menaka has become completely overcrowded, more so than any other world. And we thank all of the young pilots risking their lives to protect the Coalition.
“And in other news, reports from military academies bring startling news. Recruits are being accepted as young fourteen and sent into battle as young as sixteen. One pilot I met had already lost his copilot, the same age as he is, to the Zorax. He is seventeen. The Zorax are picking off pilots so fast that anyone who can fly is urged to join the fight.”
That was the end of the broadcast. It was scary. The data waves that they caught sometimes showed horrible images of the Zorax and the damage that they left in their wake. It was horrible and Rina didn’t understand why it was all happening. She didn’t understand why the Zorax were attacking.
“Well?” asked Arulia.
“What?” asked Rina.
“Try again.” Rina stared at the notebook and closed her eyes. She imagined the notebook in front of her floating in the air. She imagined it with all of her mind. She concentrated as hard as she could. She opened one eye.
“Nothing!”
“Try with your eyes open.” Rina obeyed. She stared at the notebook. She willed it move, just a little bit. She took a deep breath and spread her legs. She stared at intently. She just wanted it to move, just a little bit. She shook with frustration. She let out a yell.
“It’s useless.”
“No, you’re useless.”
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?”
“You’re useless, I bet you don’t even have powers.”
“WHAT?”
“Just average, obvious.”
“Hey!”
“Mediocre at best, no wonder you were a slave.”
“Arulia!”
“And you never stand up for yourself, what happened was your fault.”
“SHUT UP!” screamed Rina. The notebook flew into the air and skidded around her like it was insane. Then it caught fire and exploded. Rina jumped and screamed.
“Very good,” said Arulia.
“Arulia?”
“Didn’t think it was going to explode though.”
“What just happened?”
“You blew that up.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“But, you said -.”
“Sorry, I just had to make you angry.”
“Okay.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“I know, but just because you didn’t mean it doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
“Rina?”
“I am useless. I have all of this power but I can’t even use it, that’s beyond useless, it’s just plain pathetic.”
“Rina, you’re still new at this. It’s natural not to be able to control this.”
“But it’s other things too, like Grandmother.”
“What about her?”
“I should’ve saved her.”
“You couldn’t have.”
“With my powers, yes I could and I should’ve fought Durna. I could’ve protected her, I should have. If I just hadn’t been late. I was never late.”
“Can you fight then?”
“Sorta, I think, I mean I’ve won a few fists fights.”
“Really?” A strange noise from behind her caused her to turn around. There was a woman in the ship with her. She jerked and yelled when she saw her.
“Who-?”
“Relax, Rina it’s me,” said the woman.
“Arulia?”
“Yep.”
“How?”
“I’m a hologram.”
“A what?”
“Hologram, a virtual image.” Rina extended her hands and it went right through her so she waved her hand around her stomach. She jumped. She looked at her. Arulia reached out and slapped her.
“OW! How’d you do that?”
“What?”
“I can’t touch you but you can slap me?”
“Pretty much.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Try and touch me.” Rina reached forward and poked Arulia between the eyes, she made contact this time. She jumped in shock.
“Wow, how are you-?”
“I can be corporeal when I choose to.”
“Cor-por-e-al?”
“Having a physical body.”
“Oh, why are you?”
“You said you could fight, show me.”
“Huh?”
“Just hit me.”
“Arulia?”
“Punch me as hard as you can, right here.” Hologram Arulia patted her stomach.
“What?”
“Hit me with your best shot.”
“Why?”
“I want to see how good you are.”
“Okay.” Rina balled her hand up and hit her. Despite not having a body Arulia was sent flying and hit the back of the ship, where she fell in a crumbled ball. She hadn’t felt it but she imagined that it hurt a lot.
“Wow, it’s good but not great.”
“What?”
“You lack seven essential things: speed, agility, style, technique, aim, follow through and the desire to hurt me. You have strength but you’re slow, unbelievably slow. With speed behind your punch it can become stronger.”
“Hm.” Arulia had learned by now that whenever Rina made that noise she was thinking. She was always thinking really, her mind was never at rest. When she “hm”ed it meant that her thoughts had been going extra fast due most likely something Arulia had said. She needed the “hm” to review that rush of thoughts slowly so she could examine them closely and consider her next move. She could so it in a matter of seconds and do it well. Arulia could tell that Rina had the potential to be a great strategist if she wanted to be. Yet when it came down to it she could be quite impatient. When she was calm and serene she could analyze any situation. Arulia almost feared a very long “hm” coming out of that girl’s mouth.
“Hm?”
“You can tell that?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Hm.” Again, an “hm.” Arulia wanted to know what was going on inside her head and also didn’t want to. She knew the girl’s past and therefore knew what she capable of. It was frightening to tell the truth.
“Rina?”
“And how could I get stronger? Can you teach me this too?”
“Yes, you can train with the hologram.”
“I can?” The hologram punched her in the face and she hit the ground. She put a hand to her cheek and stared at her.
“See.”
“You just hit me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I could.”
“You’re insane.”
“No, I’m a teacher.”
“I don’t know what a teacher is so I’ll have to assume that there might not be a difference. What is a teacher?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. Some one who teachers, an educator and you’re right there is no difference.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t think you would.”
“So I will fight with you?”
“No, not at first. I will teach you what you need to learn in order to be the best fighter you can.”
“And we do that how exactly?”
“I have been piloted and crewed by some of the best fighters in the galaxy. And I watched them as they trained, I can train you to fight like they did.”
“Train?”
“Let’s begin, shall we?”
“Okay,” said Rina unsurely. They began by breathing. She didn’t like that but Arulia said it was important. Then they stretched, that also annoyed Rina. Then in very slow movements, Arulia showed her ways of moving. Rina was impatient, she didn’t like learning so slowly.
In route to Menaka
They would reach Menaka tomorrow. It’d been seven months since Rina had last set foot on a planet. In the last few months she’d learned so many new things. From perfecting her reading and writing skills, to finishing all the repairs she could do in space and becoming a very good fighter. Right now she sparing with Hologram Arulia. She dodged a blow to her head from Arulia, not quite making it. She felt her make contact on her right ear. She grimaced but would not let herself be distracted.
She landed her own punch straight in Arulia’s stomach. A normal person would have been down from that alone but Arulia felt no pain and only doubled over due to the force of the blow. Rina jumped back and then up into the air where she got Arulia with a side kick to the head with her shin, her specialty. Arulia went head first into a cabinet.
“Arulia?!” yelled Rina as she rushed over. Arulia kicked her in the throat.
“What did I say about that?” asked Arulia as Rina fell to the ground, “Don’t sympathize with the enemy, don’t let your guard down, you’re getting sloppy.”
“Sloppy?” asked Rina as she stood up.
“Arms up higher.” She grabbed her wrists and pulled them up.
“Right.” Arulia launched a kick to Rina’s head but it was blocked. Arulia put her arms in front of her and Rina kicked them. Arulia didn’t move. So she kicked her again. Still she didn’t move so Rina twirled around and kicked her again. The spin was to build up her momentum, which strengthen the force of the kick.
“Very nice, but keep your elbows together.” Arulia spun around, mimicking Rina’s motions in her own kick. Rina reacted, she let her body follow her instincts. She fell down to the ground as Arulia’s leg passed over her. She flipped backwards, extending her own leg and they collided. It was down to a battle of strength and when it came down that, Arulia had no chance. She spun away from the force of the kick. Rina jumped up and landed a perfect kick on the side of Arulia’s head. She staggered around and she hit her again on the back of her neck. She fell face first into the chair in front of them. If Rina had any idea of what things like laughing and smiling were she would have done them but she didn’t so she just stood there.
“So?” asked Rina.
“Very good.” Rina felt proud of herself. She’d never really felt proud before, she liked the feeling.
“Hm.”
“What is it?” asked Arulia.
“I was just thinking. You were explaining this whole money thing to me. We need it to get the parts right?”
“Right?”
“How do we get it?”
“Get a job, sell something.”
“Like what?”
“You don’t having thing to sell. It would have to be rare, something of value.”
“Rare?”
“Yes, rare, unique.” Rina rummaged through a bag. She had set it down on the day she had met Arulia. She hadn’t touched it since. She felt something hard in her hands. She closed her eyes, this was still basically all she could do with her powers. Part of it broke off in her hands and she held it out. It was a black and red crystal. It was rare.
“Like this?”
“What is it?” asked Arulia as she switched off the hologram. A red beam shot out of the control panel.
“Ahhh!” Rina jumped.
“Relax, I’m scanning it,” said Arulia, “I’ve never seen anything like it. What is it?”
“Well, I’m not entirely sure,” said Rina, “It’s what the slaves mined.”
“Okay.”
“Will it do?”
“Yes.”
“Is that heavy?”
“Very.”
“That’s odd.”
“Is it?”
“Just like you.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind.”
“Arulia!”
“What?”
“Can you please explain that? ‘Just like you’ I don’t understand. What is it?”
“I was just saying that you were weird.”
“I am?”
“Oh yes, you’re very weird.”
“Why’s that?”
“You act differently than others.”
“How?”
“By asking strange questions and just certain other things. It makes you weird, unique, one of a kind. You are rare.”
“Wouldn’t that make you weird?”
“I guess, to you.”
“Then you’re weird, Arulia.”
“Weird or not, you need to get some sleep.”
“Fine,” said Rina. She climbed on to a bench in the back of the jumper. Arulia sometimes felt bad that there wasn’t a bed for Rina to sleep on. But that padded bunch was the softest place she’d ever slept on. There were so many simple things that that girl knew nothing about.
And then there was their plan. It only went as far as Menaka. She would eventually need a job. But there were no records of anyone named Rina Balan. And she was so special, her powers. Once she learned to control them, she would be able do so many amazing things. And Arulia wasn’t sure how to handle it, Rina had no idea what she was capable of and neither did Arulia for that matter. They were still growing that was for sure and there was not telling when or where they’d stop or even if they would. Arulia didn’t understand them or where they came from.
Menaka
Menaka was a strange world. It was just like they described it on the news. Over crowed was the only way to describe it. The buildings were close together and the streets, where they existed they went anything but straight. It was hot and loud, there was no place that wasn’t completely full of people. The air was full of thousands of different smells and it was almost hard to breath. In other words, Rina loved it.
Arulia was parked on a roof top. She had given Rina a small communicator, which was in her ear, so that they could talk. One of Arulia’s former pilots had used to go to a mechanic named Hentaku. She hoped he was still working here. Arulia was giving directions through the device in her ear.
“Turn left up here,” said Arulia. She turned.
“Okay, what next?”
“It should be up on your right.” She looked around and sure enough there it was. “Hentaku’s Shop” said the sign. She walked in. A bell went off when she opened the door. She looked and saw that it was attached. It was quiet in here. A tall, bald man walked out. He was covered in grease and was wearing a very dirty apron. Not that she could talk. She looked the same way she had when she had left SP397.
“Um,” said the man, he was obviously thrown off by the way she looked, “How may I help you, miss.” The “miss” had sounded like a question. She pulled back her mess of hair back. She had sweated some of the dirt off. When she pulled back her hair, she almost looked like a girl. He relaxed.
“Are you Hentaku?”
“That I am. And you are?”
“Rina Balan.”
“What can I do you for?”
“I have a list.” She dug through her pockets and eventually she handed it over to him. He read it and looked at her.
“Pretty fancy list. Payment?”
“I have this.” She handed over the crystal and he nearly dropped it. He stared at it.
“What is it?”
“Test it, it should be more than enough.” He picked it up and nearly dropped it.
“Heavy.”
“Oh yeah.” He walked into a back room and she looked around her. It was small and cluttered with mechanical parts that were rusted and covered in oil. They had wires sticking out every which way. They were stored everywhere, the walls, piles on the floor and a few unique things dangling from the ceiling. She was fascinated but she knew better than to touch anything. She leaned forward onto the counter.
Judging from the way people reacted to seeing her and the way that they acted around her, she looked very strange. She needed to change that if she was going to fit in. She had no other clothes, she wore her surface suit everywhere. The rags were horrible and this didn’t have as much blood on it. But since there was no form of hygiene on SP397 she looked and smelled like she’d never bathed in her life. That was a reasonable statement seeing as how she hadn’t. She’d never seen a bath but she knew that water could clean flesh. She understood the concept and figured she would need to get cleaned up. She’d also have to do something about the matted mass on her head that was her hair. She would need a brush and if she had any idea there was such a thing she would’ve gotten one.
The man came back out. He looked at her in shock. He had finished his tests. Obviously he had done them repeatedly and finally grasped the fact that the results were true. The rare crystal had power locked away inside enough to power all the ships in the Coalition’s army for over a week. Did the strange girl know what she had on her?
“This is -,” said Hentaku.
“Pretty much.”
“I -, I’ve never -.”
“Seen anything like it?” offered Rina.
“Yeah. What is it?”
“I’m not exactly sure. Will it do?”
“Yes, of course it’ll do.”
“Good.”
“Why give this to me?”
“I want to forget.” It was the truth. She hadn’t meant to say it, it had just slipped out. He could read her easily. There was pain in her eyes and she had swallowed harshly after she had spoken. It all meant that she was telling him the truth, well obviously not the whole truth. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know it. This rock was worth more than its unusually heavy weight in gold. He and his family could live off it for pretty much the rest of their lives. He looked at the girl again. She wanted to forget whatever it was that was for sure, but clearly she wasn’t ready to.
“Okay,” said Hentaku after a while, “I just have to go to the bank. My son will help you find what you need.”
“So the boy in the corner is your son?” Hentaku stared at her as his son walked into the center of the room where they could both see him. He looked only vaguely similar to his father. He had long brown, curly hair, tied up in a small pony tail. He was cleaner than Hentaku but had a huge streak of grease on his cheek. He had a softer complexion and looked a whole smarter than his dad. He was scrawny compared to his big boned father. But they had the same green eyes and the nose. They definitely had the same nose.
“You knew I was there?” asked the boy.
“Yes,” said Rina.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t know why you were hiding.”
“So? What if I was going to attack you?”
“Exactly.”
“She’s right son,” said Hentaku, “She made the right choice. I’ll explain later. Here, just help her out.” He handed him the list Rina had given him. He didn’t look at it, he was busy looking at her. Hentaku left.
“Rina,” said Rina. Arulia had taught her how to introduce herself. She held out her hand. When he didn’t respond, she thought she had gotten it wrong. She brought her hand back. He was still looking at her.
“My name is Matu,” said the boy eventually and he reached out and grabbed her hand. He shook it and dropped it.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“How’d you know I was here?”
“You breathe very loudly.”
“Oh.”
“So?” He looked at the list.
“Hyperspace engine trouble?”
“Yep.”
“Okay.” He walked behind a stack of parts. She probably should have followed him but at the moment, she was watching the news broadcast on a small transmitter screen on the wall behind the counter. It was another update on the war.
“Two small cargo ships on their way back to Menaka were blown up today when the Zorax decided to attack. They were not in Zorax territory. To all merchant crews flying right now, you are warned. The Zorax do not distinguish the innocent from military ship. We recommend you reroute to Terrania,” said the man.
“It’s a shame,” said Matu.
“A shame? It’s insane is what it is.”
“Oh?”
“It doesn’t make sense, well not to me.”
“What doesn’t?”
“Well, why?”
“Why what?”
“I don’t know, just ‘why?’.”
“I see,” said Matu, he was staring at her.
“No you don’t. If you could then you’d-, well you’d-, you’d see.”
“Okay then.” He set a piece down next to her. He disappeared back into the shop.
“It’s hard to explain,” shouted Rina so he could hear her, “What I mean is, why are we all doing this?”
“To defend ourselves of course,” said Matu as he popped his head and looked at her, “If we don’t, then we’ll all die.”
“But why do they fight? What do they want?”
“That’s the mystery isn’t it?”
“I guess. But -.”
“Whatever.” She sighed. It must have been just her who saw it. He set down something else. She looked at it. He might look smart but it didn’t make him smart.
“This isn’t what I wanted.”
“Huh?”
“I asked for a control panel that will allow me to draw energy to the hyperspace engines from the sublets.”
“That’s what it is.”
“No, this draws powers from the hyperspace to the sublet. I put this in and fire up the hyperspace I’m going to blow all of the circuit breakers if not the entire ship. I use this I could die. Get me the right thing.” He looked at it.
“You’re right.”
“Duh.”
“You noticed that?”
“Yeah.”
“You a mechanic or something.”
“Or something.”
“Most people would have missed it.”
“I’m not most people.”
“I figured.”
“Is he trying to make fun of me?” thought Rina as Matu walked back to get, hopefully, the correct item that time. The broadcast was over already. She basically knew about the war, she just didn’t understand it. It was mostly the two sides things she was having trouble with. The two sides were made of people who teamed up to fight. The side was made up a lot of people who fought together. On SP397 it was her versus every single other person on the horrible planet. There were no teams, for her there were no such things, she couldn’t trust anybody.
“Is this right?” She looked at it.
“Yeah,” said Rina as he set it down and went back. She could feel him looking at her. They made each other uncomfortable, he was especially out of place around her. She made him nervous.
“Are you from Menaka?”
“No.”
“Where are you from?”
“Far away.”
“Suit yourself. Why are you here?”
“I needed parts. Menaka was the closest.”
“You moving here?”
“Just passing through.”
“To where?”
“Not sure.”
“Are you refugee?”
“In a sense.”
“Where will you go?”
“I don’t know. Wherever I end up I guess is where I’m headed.”
“A philosopher too.”
“A what?” asked Rina before she could stop herself.
“A philosopher, um, somebody who thinks deeply and seriously about life, a person that’s calm and rational.”
“Hm. I don’t know, maybe.”
“Okay then.”
“So, no plans then?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“And you answer them without actually answering them.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. Do you like ships?”
“I guess.”
“You know a lot about them?”
“I guess.”
“Can you fly?”
“Huh?”
“Pilot, do you know how to pilot a space ship?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Why don’t you become a pilot?”
“What kind of pilot?”
“Whatever you want. The military could always use more pilots.”
“You sound like a broadcast.”
“I guess.”
“Would you ever join the military?”
“I don’t know, maybe.”
“Why?”
“Adventure, fame, fortune.”
“Fortune?”
“I don’t know about the last one, but freedom is nice so I’d like to still have it in a couple of years, no military and we all die.”
“It’s dangerous though.”
“They train you.”
“Huh?”
“They have academies all over the galaxy. Most planets in the Coalition have one. Not on Menaka though too crowded and all, closest one’s on Terrania.”
“Why do people join? I mean they could still die.”
“Some have no where else to. Signing up is free. They give you food, shelter, clothes,” said Matu, stressing the word “clothes”, “They teach you a lot of different things too.” It sounded appealing and interesting when Matu described it.
“I guess.” It looked like a good idea. She wasn’t sure though. Grandmother had talked about the Coalition, she had thought highly of it and the military. She was sure Grandmother would approve. But Arulia might not. It was a logical decision, Rina was good with logic. She wasn’t sure what she wanted though. The galaxy was a big, strange place to her. There were probably other things she could do.
Hentaku walked in carrying a piece of paper and a small bag that jingled as he walked. He was smiling. It was a bright smile, bigger than he had ever smiled. It was a very good day. He saw Rina looking at him vaguely.
“What’s going up dad?” asked Matu as he set down the last part she had ordered.
“Look at the bank statement,” said Hentaku as he showed the paper in his hands to his son. Matu looked at it and let out a small whimper.
“Wow.” It was so much money. He looked at Rina.
“What? Is it a lot?” asked Rina.
“Hell yes,” said Matu and his dad hit him.
“In fact it is too much,” said Hentaku.
“Dad!” yelled Matu.
“So I got you a present,” said Hentaku and she stared at him, completely mystified, “A sign of our gratitude.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He handed it to her. She looked at it, then at him, then Matu, the box, Matu, Hentaku, box, Hentaku, box, Matu, box.
“Just open it,” said Matu. She slid open the box and gasped. It was crystal, part of the one she had given him.
“I, I can’t,” said Rina.
“When you gave me your payment, you said you wanted to forget,” said Hentaku as he grabbed it out of the box, “But sometimes what we want isn’t what we need.” He held it out. It was cut perfectly and put on a chain. She looked at it. A silver chain and the crystal stood out against the world. The crystal was black at the top and faded down to red at the tip. It was a deep red. Hentaku slipped it over her head.
“What?” asked Rina.
“It’s a necklace,” said Hentaku.
“Yeah, but why?”
“Because now the hard times are behind us, because of you.”
“Because of me?”
“Yes.” She grabbed the crystal, it felt nice in her hand. She liked it, she hated it and she needed it. She had to remember, she could never forgot where she came from.
“Thank you.”
“Well, go, wherever you’re going.” She nearly smiled, nearly.
“Thank you,” said Rina
“Anytime.” She left with her parts in a box. She needed to talk to Arulia, she felt like she might want to actually join the military. She wasn’t sure, yet.
 Zegwarian310 · Sat Aug 18, 2007 @ 06:05pm · 1 Comments |
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