ALIVE
Part 5: Trust and Terror
It had taken a good many days to scrounge up
enough information about what had really happened to the Jellicles and search
for a pilot to take them to Babel. By now it was nearly two weeks since the
first reports about the Jellicles had appeared in the broadcast. A spokeswoman
for the space fleet had also announced that the ”creatures” were to be
destroyed as soon as possible, something that made the five young Jellicles
almost frantic with worry. Jon of course felt equally scared and they realized
they had to act quickly if they were to have any chance in finding Jellylorum
and the others. They tried to keep up to date on what happened, feeling a bit
more calmed when a few days earlier the news had reached them about the change
in orders, and now the Jellicles were to be taken to a trial instead. But that
still left the five unprotected and unsafe on Zion.
Jon’s eyes narrowed considerably as he looked up
at the hangar. It was rusty, the roof-plates almost torn off and huge flakes of
paint hung like dead laves from the steels walls. Dirk had come along and they
had made contact with a pilot that said he could maybe help them to get to
Babel. The rough exterior matched it’s messy inside. The hangar, large enough
to host a full blown interstellar passenger shuttle, was crammed full with half
finished ships, heaps of rusty steel and cupboards with various junk and spare parts.
Huge canisters of fuel and oil were lined up against one wall, and the air
reeked of it’s smell.
”Can this man be trusted?” asked Jon. He pulled
the long black and blue coat closer around his impressive bulk and looked at
the surroundings with his nose wrinkled. If ever the health departments saw
this they’d close it in no time.
Dirk nodded as they made their way through the
junk, ”Yes, as far as I and Anastasia know, or have heard I might say, he’s one
of those pilots that take risky flights all the time, playing with the Zion law
enforcement in stretching flight regulations and laws to their thinnest. He’s
used to taking risks.”
”But not unnecessary risks I hope,” mumbled Jon.
A cheery shout from a glass walled cubicle
caught their attention. From inside they saw a man in his mid thirties come
out. He was tall and lanky with brown shoulder-length hair and bright yellow
eyes. He wore an old, olive green flyer/pilot coverall and had an old leather
jacket with a image of a historical aircraft sewn on the sleeve.
”Welcome, Dirk! And whoever you are, Big guy!”
His accent showed that he wasn’t exactly a Zion
born man. Most likely a gypsy trader or the Romani Truckers. The best truckers
in the known territory. Always willing to risk their necks for a little more
pay.
”Mr. Solomon?”
The brown-haired man nodded and fired off a
smile with perfect teeth. ”Ken Solomon at your service!”
Jon raised a suspicious eyebrow and grunted
something. Ken looked amused as he studied the tall round man’s expression.
”Step into my office, friends, and let’s talk
business!” said the yellow-eyed man and motioned towards the old office cubicle.
Jon almost dropped off the sturdy chair at the
mention of the price tag for renting the ship for a single journey to Babel.
”That’s preposterous!”
”Well, I charge that for those flights. I never
ask whether it’s crates or live cargo...”
”Live cargo?” asked Dirk and looked suspicious.
”Well, I usually ship plain cargo, and when
someone wants to hire my services this quickly it’s usually a live
shipment. I’ve done that a few times
you know.”
Jon looked puzzled, ”What makes you think it’s live
cargo?”
”You don’t want any questions asked. That makes it either forbidden books or live
cargo. Got a sense for it. Anyway, how many of you are there?”
”Just me and five others.” explained Jon and
felt his money account go down the drain.
”Five more.. Ok. that means we’ll take old
Eulalia this time. ”
”And what kind of ship is that?”
Ken grinned and stood, ”Let’s meet the lady
shall we?”
”My god! it’s a military aircraft!” cried Dirk
and stared.
”WAS. Was a military aircraft! Had a few well paid
shipments and then I bought this babe.” said Ken grinning.
Old Eulalia was the slimmest of the slim,
completely silvery and made to fly through the stratos-sphere. It reminded Jon
of the oldtime spaceshuttles, but by far slimmer and had it’s engines, one of
each, attached to it’s wings. The sleek body with it’s three oval windows on
each side and one large up front, made quite the impression.
”This babe will take you and your passengers to
Babel in about 8 hours. Maybe faster if I get the right clearance when we pass
over Saint Moses.”
Jon nodded and looked at Dirk, ”Can we afford
her?”
Dirk nodded and looked serious. Their best
chance was this sleek silvery bird of prey.
***
The silence around the kitchen table made Fire
uneasy. By this time tomorrow morning they’d be landing on the outskirts of
Babel, preparing to find out how to get in contact with the space fleet without
rising any suspicions. Jon’s suggested approach was to stay low for a few days
and look up the area around the theatre and also Jon could scout a bit during
daylight hours because he was a human. The felines would have to hide as well
as they could, only daring to enter the streets after dark, and then they’d
still be at risk. If anyone caught the slightest glimpse of their face, fur or
tails they’d be doomed.
”The words thank you are not enough,” said
Nightshade, interrupting the silence. He looked over at Dirk and Anastasia. ”We
owe you two our lives and our sanity. If we had not been able to seek shelter
here, we would most likely been dead by now.”
Dirk swallowed and took his daughter’s hand, ”We
are raised to believe certain things, Nightshade. To believe that humans are
the uttermost perfection and the ultimate being. Over the years, Anastasia and
I have learned that that is not the case. We are not alone anymore. You
Jellicles are here to share our lives and to share our homes. We created you,
we have a responsibility. All humanity has. ”
The others listened in silence, Jon mostly
because he’d never heard Dirk talk like this before. The little man never
failed to surprise him.
”You’re talking in way that would send you off
this planet for the rest of your life, Dirk. You know that?” said Jon and
sipped on his cold soda water.
”I know. But I have seen the light, as some of
the preachers say, but it isn’t a white light. It’s a rainbow light. All colors
and shapes of both human and Jellicle blend into it. I just wish it would shine
on more people than us sitting here.”
They all nodded, knowing how truly he spoke.
***
Ken looked a bit surprised and very curious at
the hooded five that silently followed behind Jon.
”Hello there!” he cheerily greeted them. ”Why
the hoods? Can’t stand the bright light?”
”No, they’ll take them down as soon as we’re off
the ground. First, you said you had shipped strange goods before, right?”
”Cargo, people, goods. You name it!”
Jon nodded and looked back at the others.
”Are we ready to take off?” asked Jon. The five
nodded in silence, they’d all agreed to let Jon speak, as not to having to
raise their heads to do so.
”Yep! She’s getting fueled as we speak. Got the
final check to do and we’ll be up in five minutes.”
The pilot made a salute and grinned at them
before heading towards the silvery plane. Dirk and Anastasia were there to wave
them off. It was a difficult good bye for all of them. Anastasia had been like
a sister to all of them and they’d all shared many wonderful moments with them.
Now they’d not be able to communicate with them for perhaps a very, very long
time.
”You look after those kids, Jon. They’re
priceless! Get them to their parents.” said Dirk, his voice thick with emotion.
”I sure will. I’ll try and contact you two as
soon as I can.” said Jon, exchanging hugs with them before Ken hollered at them
to board the ship.
”Will they be all right?” sobbed Anastasia as
she followed the silvery shape up towards where it got engulfed by the white
fluffy clouds.
”They’ll make it. They’ll be fine. I hope...”
mumbled Dirk and a shivering sigh could be heard.
***
Ken switched on the autopilot and unbuckled,
stretching his arms to get them back in action again. He returned to his
mystery passengers, curious about who they were.
”All right, folks. Strap loose and we’ll be
safe.”
The six passengers did so, exchanging comments
about the takeoff and the belts. Fire shrugged off his hood by accident and
Ken’s reaction was obvious... The pilot gasped and grabbed the back of one of
the ten passenger seats. He rapidly lost all color in his face and stared at
his passengers. His jaws moved up and down, trying to make a sound more than a
strangled hiss. He almost hyperventilated as well, looking baffled and scared
at the same time.
”They won’t hurt you, Solomon, nor are they
mindless animals.” said Jon calmly.
”What he’s saying is that we don’t bite.”
grinned Dusk and pulled back his hood, followed by the remaining three doing so
too.
”They’re..they’re..” stuttered Ken and pointed
at Fire and then at Nightshade, ”They’re like those kids!!!!!!”
Now it was the felines and Jon’s turn to look
baffled. The pale and shaking pilot still stared at the five, making them feel
uneasy.
”What kids?” asked Brighteye who sat closest.
Ken felt his legs shiver a bit too much and he gingerly sat down on one of the
seats, his eyes darting back and forth between their faces.
”I’ve seen your likes before!”
”So that’s what you meant by live cargo?” asked
Jon.
”Well, yeah! I’ve done three or four shipments
of weird kids off this planet to another ship. I never understood what they
were, but...” Ken took a deep breath and pinched his cheek, ”Heck, I’m not
dreaming. Ok. All right, Solo. Get a grip....”
Brighteye moved a little closer, her eyes
meeting his, ”What happened to those children?”
”I dunno. I just got paid to shut up and fly you
know... But I swear those kids were crying like any other kid. I’ve never seen
anything like them before. And the keepers had those weird controls and once
they... ” Ken stopped, something flashing through his mind, ”They used them.
One child...couldn’t stand it. He...”
Ken’s cheery eyes had changed looks now, his
pale face turned grayish and he swallowed hard before he spoke again, ”One
child got a too powerful shock. I had to carry the body out of here when we
docked....”
All of a sudden his cheery carefree nature had
been pulled away from him, dragged into place was a man with a memory so
painful it made him cry. Fire and Brighteye moved closer, placing their warm
strong hands on his shoulders.
He grabbed Brighteye’s hands and stuttered, ”Can
you ever forgive me for not stopping them? For not saving that boy?!”
”You couldn’t help it. You weren’t allowed to. ”
whispered Brighteye, taking a steady grip on his hand. ”And trust me, it was a
lot better for the boy to die than go through whatever happened on that ship. Believe
me, we were destined to the same place I think. But we survived. We stayed
alive.”
Ken nodded and took a deep breath, ”Ok. All
right. Oh god, I feel sooo bad. So terribly...
human. ”
Fire stroked his hair, knowing that gesture
always worked miracles regardless of if one was a kitten or adult. ”It’s in
your past. You can still make up for it. You can still help. ”
”But how? How can I right something that I did
so wrong?”
Brighteye turned his face towards hers and
looked him straight in the red-rimmed eyes, ”By helping us. We’re wanted prey
and the only way we’ll survive is of we can find people who’ll help us, who’ll
support us.
”You name it...Catgirl. You name it...” Ken
swallowed hard and wiped his nose on his jacket sleeve, ”Hell, I’ll give ya the
flight for free, sans the fuel.... Anything else, you just name it.”
The smiling cats moved closer to him and settled
all around him, letting him touch their faces and hair, look at their tails and
ears. He was clearly fascinated by their twitching whiskers and Fire patiently
sat still as Ken tugged at a few of them, amazed that they actually were stuck
there.
”You lot...” Ken pointed at them one by one,
”are amazing. How could they call you animals? You’re... fabulous. Smart,
funny, intelligent. ”
”Humans see things their own way. They don’t see
it from many different angles.” said Fire and smiled without showing any fangs.
Ken nodded and glanced at the digital clock by
the navigation console and controls. ”Well... there’s some six hours left
before we reach Babel territory. I have so many questions...”
”And we’ll answer them as well as we can,”
assured Jon.