The Project

Chapter 36

The Project Chapter 36

As they brought their gear inside the abandoned building, Alex took several pictures of its interior, which appeared to be made of metal and masonry. The walls showed remains of being painted bright colors at one time but like everything else, was slowly eroding away. Still, the place must have been very impressive in its day. Alex and Kelly threw their sleeping bags onto two large pads which Drok said were for sleeping on.

"We scavenged them, along with a couple aerostats' you might have seen back in Shong Vak. Anyway they're pretty comfortable; you should sleep pretty good on them."

Once again, Bria was occupied with Udel, and Drok, Arna and Garmik had gone outside to look at something. Alex fired up his little gas stove to cook he and Kelly's evening meal. While they waited, he turned to Kelly and asked.

"So are we having fun yet?" Kelly shrugged, then replied,

"Well it's certainly not what I was expecting or hoping for."

"Yeah, I think I know what you mean," he replied. "Well, we're stuck I guess, it's different anyway, not what I thought life on other planets would be like." They both said nothing for a moment, then Kelly looked at Alex, and softly said,

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For just being you I guess, I was a real asshole back there on Moriedia, then siding with Bria all the time. But honestly Alex, the only good time I've had so far is was when I was with the fairies and pixies."

Alex patted her on her crossed legs,

"That wasn't your fault Kelly, those little s**t kids were f*****g with your head, Bria's too."

"Yeah, I know, but…Well you know?"

"You're homesick aren't you?" He asked. She grimaced,

"Yeah, I never thought I'd say it but I really miss mom, she probably thinks I'm dead and all." Alex nodded in agreement, then said.

"Me too, but I've been thinking a lot about that and I've got my eye out for something."

"What's that?" She asked.

"Well we've been seeing all this super technology all around us, I'm thinking that somewhere there has to be some sort of mini spacecraft we could program to travel back to earth, you know, right back to our home. Arna told me she has the exact coordinates to that old ball field, my house wasn't that far away. I'm thinking that maybe we could program it to land right in our back yard, and you know, put pictures of us maybe a hologram of us, you know stuff that will let our parents know we're OK."

Kelly chuckled,

"You think there's something out here that would work like that?"

"There's got to be," he replied, "Compared to the stuff we've seen so far, something like that has to be around."

The conversation took a break while the two prepared their freeze-dried rations. After poking at her food for a moment, Kelly said,

"I heard Garmik tell Arna that she might have to take him and Drok back to Xindus, if he does, I'm going to ask Arna if she could drop me off on Deneva, it's practically on the way." He looked at her for a moment, then asked.

"What will I do?" Kelly frowned, and shrugged,

"I don't know, but I'm tired of being scared all the time and living like this. Look Alex, I don't give a f**k about our Incredible Hulk family, just look at this place, what the f**k is going on here?" Alex now realized that Kelly was more upset that she had led him to believe, and his first priority was to calm her down before the others heard her.

Trying his best to comfort her,

"Please Kelly, just try and settle down, we're here and there's nothing we can do about it." He then looked her in the eye and asked,

"Are you having bad dreams?" She started to say no, but then admitted the truth.

"Yes, all the time, I'm so tired, but I'm afraid to go to sleep because I know I'll wake up and see guys like Drok and Udel standing around looking at me." Alex pulled her close, and hugged her.

"I've been having the same dreams for what it's worth, Drok says he and his people get them as well, says it's their past making claims on them."

"I don't care what the f**k it is," she sobbed, "I just want it to stop."

The situation was more serious than he had thought. Sure, he suffered from the same bad dreams, and then there was that shoot-out with the raiders, not the kind of stuff teenagers growing up in America experienced. He was however taking the long view; they were embarked on an adventure that might not come even once in a lifetime. Aside from those people who had been kidnapped from Coryville so long ago, he and Kelly were the first earth people to travel this far into space. Alex knew they wouldn't be on this god-forsaken planet forever and he knew he could tough it out, but what about Kelly, was she really ready to call it quits, and just go back to Deneva and hang out with the fairy folk?

"So you'd be content just to go back to Deneva, what if I wanted to go on? I know this place sucks but there will be other places, don't you want to see what this Z'ha'dum place is like?" Kelly thought a moment, then shook her head,

"It will be f****d up as well, if you want to go, be my guest, I won't stop you but I've had it, I'm going to ask Arna to take me back to Deneva." Then she added,

"Hell, maybe they'll make me queen of the f*****g fairies or something." Alex didn't like her attitude at all, but what could he do? Maybe it was time to have a chat with Arna.

Alex waited until he was sure Kelly had fallen asleep, then he crept over to where Arna and Garmik were sitting.

"Arna," he whispered, "Could I speak to you?" He indicated a dark alcove off to the side of the room. She followed him over to hear what he had to say.

"First off, that was awesome the way you killed that saber cat

"I've been trained to do a whole lot worse," she replied.

"Look, I've been talking to Kelly, and she's in a really bad way, besides being homesick, she doesn't want to continue with us. She just wants to return to Deneva and hang out with the fairy folk." Arna said nothing for a moment, then replied.

"What do you want to do?"

"I'm for going on Arna, I asked Kelly to come along because I really thought she wouldn't crap out on me. I thought of a couple other girls as well as my best friend, but I knew none of them would be able to deal with things out here…Guess I was wrong about Kelly as well, I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," she replied, "We haven't traveled to some of the really bad places yet, if Miss Parkinson truly does not want to continue then perhaps it would be best if she returns to Deneva."

"Uhh but what about Garmik and this Ussen Ommo project?" He asked,

"Well I was going to take the three of you to Z'ha'dum, leave you there while Garmik and I along with Drok returned to Xindus where they could begin to organize this project."

"Yeah, and when were you going to tell us?" Wondered Alex.

"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed, "You were just going to dump us on Z'ha'dum, what if there's nobody there, or they're hostile?"

"There was never any intention to "dump" you anywhere," she replied, "However this project has suddenly taken on a new importance; this is a chance for our people to recover." He didn't miss the "our" in her statement, but let it pass for now.

"I understand Arna," he replied, "And I totally agree, count me "on board," with all of this, but I'm not too keen on being left on some planet out in the middle of nowhere."

"Would you prefer to accompany Miss Parkinson back to Deneva as well?"

"Not especially," said Alex, "But if it's that or being left on Z'ha'dum I guess I'll go back to Deneva."

"Are you certain," asked Arna, Z'ha'dum isn't what you think, it's…Different, besides, I was under the impression you wanted to explore the stars."

"I do," he replied, "Look, if I was to agree to go to this Z'ha'dum place, how long would I be stuck there, I wouldn't be like Robinson Crusoe or something like that would I?" Arna made a chuckling sound, and replied.

"Right now, the plan calls for me to return Garmik and Drok to Xindus, then if I'm to return Miss Parkinson back to Deneva, there's time involved with that. We would be on Xindus no longer than…Two to three of what you know as weeks."

"All Garmik and Drok need to do is lay out the plan, show the proper people the situation here, they will take it from there. Then I would come straight to Z'ha'dum to pick you up before returning here." Alex thought about what she was telling him and figured he'd be stuck on the planet for at least a month.

"All right," he sighed, "Bria still seems up for high adventure, I guess it will just be the two of us then."

"That's the spirit," replied Arna, "Traveling to Z'ha'dum was the original plan all along, it's just that great opportunities have intervened."

"Well you take Kelly back to Deneva then, maybe she'll be happier there, Christ I hope so," he muttered.

After he returned to his bed, Alex lay there and thought about all the twists and turns their adventure had taken so far. He felt bad for Kelly, but if she was that upset by things he certainly didn't want to be burdened with her troubles. Alex drifted off to sleep thinking of an old movie one of his friends had on VHS,

"Robinson Crusoe on Mars."

The next day was more of the same, in one instance; it took them close to three hours to pass one massive area of nothing but wreckage. Drok later told them that it was generally believed that this incredible junk yard had once been where all these machines of war had been manufactured. Around late afternoon, they stopped at another location, this one featuring massive metal spires that you could actually climb. Inside them were narrow spiral stairs that were rather confining for the likes of Drok and his mother, but rather exhilarating for Alex, Kelly and Bria. Drok told them that they had rigged up an observation platform many yarns ago, and used it from time to time to spot for barbongs and boloths.

Regardless, it gave Drok and Garmik a place to get an idea of how massive the clean-up effort was going to be. It was here that Alex learned of Garmik and Arna's ability to record images as they looked at them, even zooming in on special features.

When I return to my people," he told Alex and Kelly, they will see exactly what I am seeing, and in a sense, they are here with me right now." The height was bothering him so he headed back down early. While he waited for the others, Alex poked around a couple of the rooms at the base of the spire. Once again, he came across more "loot" in the form of three more of the dog tag looking medallions, as well as a metal bottle with a screw cap. It seemed to be painted a dark green color with strange writing on it, which Drok said meant water. He also found a large pliers/ wrench tool in a small drawer along with what had to be a camera. Tossing it into his bag, he wondered if there still recognizable images on it. There didn't appear to be anything like film in it, so he assumed it had to be digital.

After a time they were rolling again, on the homeward leg, Alex continued to think about Kelly looking over at her from time to time, but every time he did, she was just staring out at the passing scene. They arrived back at the ship just after dark Drok promising to be here bright and early.

"I will spend the night at home visiting with my father and my friends; I'll be ready to leave in the morning." Udel did the same with Bria kissing and hugging her, Alex wasn't sure how much he cared for that, but then it was her life. After all, her parents wanted her to "get out," and see the galaxy, well, here it was.

As he lay in his bunk Alex heard Arna speaking to Kelly asking her if they could speak privately. Nodding to himself, he knew what that was going to be about. Listening for what he assumed would be histrionics Alex was mildly surprised when none came. The morning brought more unexpected changes. Bria was now insisting on traveling to Xindus with Drok and the androids expressing her curiosity at what would be taking place there.

"My father wants me to study life on the various worlds and from what I've been hearing about this Xindus, it sounds like a place I ought to see. Besides, it's roughly in our neighborhood, and might eventually benefit us on Doradus as well."

No one came out and actually said it, but Alex had a suspicion that Arna and Garmik were eager to head back in the direction of Deneva, and Xindus. Still feeling that he would more or less be "abandoned" on Z'ha'dum, he announced to Arna that Z'ha'dum could wait until another time.

"As long as you're heading back towards Deneva and Xindus, could you just drop me off at Fort Kamata, I'll just hang around there until you're ready to take Drok back to Ussen Ommo. Maybe I can hook up with Gruk and Kleg."

"Wouldn't you rather go to Deneva or even Doradus? Asked Arna.

"Well if I went to Doradus, Bria's dad would want to know why she wasn't with me, and I really don't care all that much for Deneva. Hey, it's no big deal, just drop me off at the fort and if by some chance I do go off with someone, I'll keep you posted OK?"

As Alex suspected, it didn't take a lot of convincing to get Arna to agree to the idea, especially when she mentioned getting fuel at the fort. As they lifted off Ussen Ommo, Alex was just grateful they were leaving this place, although something told him that they would be back at some point.