Front Matter

The Alien that changed the world

Part 2

Otsiron’s Return to Earth

A novel

By Risto Stefov

The Alien that changed the world Part 2 Otsiron’s Return to Earth

A Novel

FICTION - ADVENTURE

* * *

July 1, 2020

* * *

On the way back from the trader’s galaxy

“Did they at least thank us for escorting them all this way?” I asked Ori.

“No!”

“Oh, well, we did what we had to do to the best of our ability and if they aren’t happy with that there’s not much that we can do,” I said.

“It’s not a matter of how much we can do for them or not, it’s a matter of them understanding and appreciating what you’ve done. We are simply being taken for granted. They expect the world from us and are prepared to give us nothing in return. This has been ingrained in our culture for more than a century and I’m afraid it’s going to hurt us a lot when we start making contact with outsiders, with sensitive and powerful cultures... I say good luck to them,” said Delche.

We watched one of the galaxy trader ships escort the shuttle into the distance while the other waited for us to turn back and leave.

I turned the ship around and said, “So, now I just push the home button with the coordinates for Delche’s restaurant and activate the autopilot and the ship will take us home?”

Delche cracked up laughing. Ori looked puzzled.

“That’s what you told me to do when I get lost, right? Just push the button and the ship will take me home,” I explained.

“That only works if you are on our planet, not millions of kilometres away,” replied Delche and explained to Ori what we were talking about.

“Well, any ideas on how we’re going to get home?” I asked.

“We can follow the same coordinates that led us here and return via Barkon or we can take a straight line towards Ostikon and I will

search the star maps for markers and when we pass one, I will program the autopilot to get us home,” suggested Delche.

“Now that we are free and away from prying eyes I want to test the full performance of the ship. I want to push it to its maximum speed and see what it can do. Is that advisable? What do you guys think?” I asked.

“I’ll read the instruction manual on the ship’s performance and see what it says,” said Ori.

While Ori was reading the manual, Delche looked through the maps and star charts to make sure there were no planets, asteroids or space junk in the path we were going to take.

When he was done looking Delche looked unsure. A couple of minutes later Ori came up with some changes that we needed to make to the ship’s computers.

“We need to reprogram a number of things before we can leap blindly into the darkness,” explained Ori.

“I bet you can go 50% faster than the top recommended speed,” said Delche and added. “This ship was designed and built to take a lot of punishment, look how the hull was made.”

“We don’t have to do this if it’s too complicated or risky,” I said.

“Let’s get on with it, the sooner we get back home the better,” said Delche.

“I just finished reprogramming the stabilizers for a smoother ride. Now I have to reprogram a few more things like the front sensor and make it more sensitive as well as enable the reverse rockets so that the ship can automatically stop without intervention from the pilot in case of an emergency. It will just take me a few more minutes,” said Ori.

“It’s all empty space out here, what kind of emergency could we be running into that would require us to stop?” I asked.

“Ori is right; we need to take precautions because we could end up flying right through a planet or something. The guns should also be charged and set on auto fire because even a small rock could cause catastrophic damage at high speed,” replied Delche.

“If it’s that dangerous maybe we shouldn’t do it at all,” I said.

“It’s not dangerous if proper precautions are taken, all the big ships fly fast when they travel long distances,” Delche reassured me.

Moments later Ori said, “It’s all done. I made all the recommended changes that I found in the manual. The ship is now ready for high speed flight. You can’t use your joystick at this speed so why don’t we program the ship for a five minute burst and see where it takes us.”

Delche made his calculations and said, “If this ship is truly capable of flying that fast we will overshoot our target in about two minutes.”

“Well, let’s set the timer for only two minutes then and see what happens,” I suggested.

The moment Ori said he was done I punched the hyper-speed button and the stars in the distance became streaks of light. Our bodies became heavy and we were glued to our seats. It was difficult to move or talk. There was nothing we could do but wait. We couldn’t stop the ship even if we had wanted to.

The two minutes felt like seconds. When the reverse rockets fired we all thought that something had gone wrong until Delche checked our position.

“I can’t believe it!” he exclaimed. “We overshot our position by about an entire day of flying at normal speed. We went way past where I was expecting us to be.”

“You mean to tell me that in two minutes we traveled what the shuttle would have taken five days to travel at top speed?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m telling you,” replied Delche.

“Did you find any of the markers you were looking for and can you plot a course for home?” I asked.

“I sure can, and did,” replied Delche. “We should be home in about four hours at normal speed. But, before we go, I suggest you run diagnostics and make sure nothing was damaged during the flight; especially the hull.”

While I was running diagnostics I asked Ori to check the logs and see if anything unusual had been recorded.

“Except for the guns firing six times there is nothing unusual recorded in the logs.”

“Six times? I didn’t hear them fire at all,” I cried.

“The ship shot at small particles blocking its path,” replied Ori.

Delche looked at my panel and said, “The ship passed all your diagnostics and it looks like we are okay to go.”

I was about to set the speed when Delche interrupted and said he had laid in the course and set the speeds. All I had to do was punch the autopilot and that’s exactly what I did.

When we got closer to the planet Ostikon I asked Ori to contact Vieria and bring her up to date with everything that had happened, and ask her what she wanted us to do next.

Moments later Ori informed us that Vieria and Asora wanted to see us the next day at ten o’clock in the morning at Delche’s restaurant.

“That’s all Vieria said?” I asked Ori.

“That’s it!”

“What did you expect, marching bands? Haven’t you being paying attention lately? No one from the middle zone on my planet cares about anything,” said Delche. “The more I get to know these people, the more disappointed I become.”

Delche was right but what could we do? We could easily make things worse for both Vieria and Asora by making demands which could then be interpreted as disobedience.

“I expect when someone invites you for something they usually tell you what that something is. So we are going to show up tomorrow for another surprise? I hate surprises,” I said. “But on the other hand, it could be a nice surprise.”

“Don’t bet on it,” said Delche and Ori agreed.

Of course we never told anyone about what happened to us at Barkon with the tractor beam and there was no point in telling because then we could be held liable for the damage we had done; creating a crater on the side of the mountain. Could Vieria and Asora have found out about that? Is that why they wanted to see us… because we didn’t report the incident? This began to weigh on me.

“Let’s get to the restaurant and get something decent to eat,” suggested Delche, “I’m also anxious to see how Airam and my new staff are doing without me.”

When we arrived Airam had a surprise party for us. Delche was happy and so were Ori and I. Finally some recognition for our efforts, I thought.

Asora wasn’t there.

I told Delche to thank Airam and ask her what the occasion was for the party.

Delche spoke to her and she replied as Ori translated. “I missed you and wanted to do something nice for you.”

After we sat down at our usual table Delche left for a while to inspect his restaurant but soon came back with a smile on his face.

He said, “They are doing a fantastic job and sales are up. I finally feel like a real boss. Also, I have never seen Airam so happy before. If things continue this way I can take on a full time job navigating and exploring the stars with you guys.”

It was getting late so Ori and I decided it was time for us to go back to the ship and have a rest. We said goodbye to everyone and left.

“So, Ori, what do you think they will say to us tomorrow?”

“From what I’ve been hearing in the news there has been a lot of pressure from the middle zone elite to get rid of our ship. They say we are unmanageable vigilantes and renegades and should not be allowed to exist and operate on this planet with that kind of power. In fact some are calling for our downright capture and imprisonment and others for the dismantling of our ship. Channel 45 is saying that a compromise has been reached, the results of which will be announced by Asora’s party tomorrow at noon. So, Vieria and Asora may want to talk to us before they make their announcement. That’s my guess.”

“Do you think Vieria and Asora will agree to dismantle the ship?”

“I don’t think they will have any choice. It’s a condition for getting support from the elite or go to war with them. I don’t think Vieria or Asora would want a war.”

“What do you think we should do?” I asked Ori.

“I don’t know. But whatever you decide I will support you and so will Delche, I believe.”

“I’m going to bed, we can speculate about this all night and still get nowhere or we can get a good night’s rest and find out tomorrow,” I said and went to bed.

The next day I got up early in the morning and put on my camouflage uniform. I decided to let Ori sleep until it was time to go. I figured he had probably spent half the night listening to the news on every channel to find out what people were saying.

About an hour before our meeting we received a call from Delche wanting to know why we weren’t at the restaurant yet. The call woke Ori.

Ori apologized for sleeping in and we left as soon as he got dressed. We were both quiet on the way.

When we got there Delche had our breakfast ready on the table. Everyone was there except for Asora who was expected to arrive at ten o’clock sharp with Vieria, in Vieria’s limousine.

Ori helped me brief Delche on what we thought the talk was going to be about and what to say and do should the occasion arise.

Knowing Delche, the first thing he did was get upset which of course upset his daughter and his staff. When he realized he was upsetting them he apologized and put on a happy face. When Airam and the staff finished eating they left and went to work.

Delche looked at me and said, “We outlanders can’t seem to raise our heads above the muck without being clobbered, so there is no point in me making things difficult. I trust you and whatever you decide I will support.”

“So, this whole thing now rests on my shoulders, eh?” I asked.

“And why not? You’ve never steered us wrong so far and there’s no reason to believe that you will now. If you want to go to war with these bastards, I will be right there with you,” replied Delche and Ori echoed his sentiments, but from the look on his face I could see that he didn’t want to go to war.

“I hope it never comes to that,” I said.

The silence was broken when we heard voices outside. Ori went to look and said, “They’re here, Vieria and Asora are here. They’re coming in through the back door.

I felt a rush of adrenalin all over my body and my heart started pumping hard and fast. I had no idea why I was so nervous.

Immediately after Vieria and Asora came into the back room Airam came out and asked us to go in. Asora waved us to sit. Airam left.

The atmosphere inside the little room was thick and tense and no one was smiling. Asora spoke first and told us why we had been called to this meeting, which basically was to bring us up to date with the most recent political developments on the planet and to let us know what was expected of us in the future. Asora explained the ins and outs of what was discussed at the negotiating table between her party and the ruling party and the decisions they needed to make to open the way for elections. And then there was the matter of the little ship.

After Asora was finished with her update she turned to me and, according to Ori who translated, said, “The ruling party is demanding that we destroy the ship and execute you for interfering in affairs that don’t concern you. Our reply was that you are a soldier of this planet and that you followed Vieria’s orders, which is true, but Vieria, for the good of the people, acted without authority, which made your actions illegal. Vieria is a royal and has immunity from prosecution but you don’t. So the question is what do we do with you and the ship?

We have some decisions to make. One, we can fight and bring the ruling party to its knees through violence, which can erupt into civil war.

Two, you can take the ship and run somewhere and never return.

Three, we can do something in between.

We know you have been a lot of help to us and none of this would have been possible without you but unfortunately we need to act in order to move forward.”

“What do you suggest I do?” I asked.

“We don’t want bloodshed, it must never come to that. We do want some sort of compromise; do something that’s good for everyone,” replied Asora.

I looked at Vieria who was sitting opposite me and for the first time I saw sadness in her eyes. I looked at Delche on one side and Ori on the other. They both looked serious and wondered what I was going to say.

I asked Ori to translate for me, “One, I am not a coward and I will not run. Besides, what guarantee does the opposition have that I won’t come back? So, I don’t think this will be an acceptable option for them.

Two, you all know that I will not turn the ship’s guns on civilians. So that’s not an option at all.

Three, decommissioning the ship and its crew and sending me to jail or executing me is not an option either. If that happens it will mean that we are all guilty of wrongdoing, and I won’t allow that to happen, not to my friends. We didn’t do anything wrong. This will also be devastating for the outlanders and disastrous for your party. With the ship out of the way who is going to stop the rats from taking revenge on you and on all the outlanders who support you?

You need a solution that will allow you to move forward and also protect your interests. You will need a means to prevent the opposition from usurping power by force and guarantee your survival. You will need a means to make sure the ruling party delivers on its commitments made to you and to the people. How are you going to do that without a guarantor? You can’t, that’s why you need me alive and the ship intact. At the same time you need to meet the ruling party’s demands; remove the ship and its captain from

active duty. You can do that by mothballing the ship and sending its captain back to earth.

I am prepared to relinquish the ship and put it back where I found it under lock and key and go back to earth.

I believe this option should satisfy everyone.

It should also be made clear to everyone that should any of the parties renege on their commitments then I will have the right to return and put the ship back into active service.

I also want full immunity for Delche and Ori.

These are my conditions.”

Just as I finished talking both Vieria and Asora got up. Asora thanked me for the advice and they both went back to the limousine and left.

“What just happened?” I asked.

“Well, you can see how we do business here on this planet... I need a drink,” said Delche. Ori agreed.

“What do you think they will do next?” asked Ori.

“So, they are going to break us up. Why am I not surprised?” asked Delche and took a big gulp of his rakia.

“I’m sorry guys…” I said.

Delche interrupted and said, “You did the right thing…”

We hadn’t eaten and we were drinking a lot and fast. The rakia was burning my stomach. I looked up and caught Airam’s eyes. She knew exactly what to do and brought us a platter of chunks of fried meat and three forks. I shook my head and she smiled.

Moments later Ori got a call on his communicator. It was Vieria. She had called to let us know that the ruling party had accepted the offered proposal and ordered us to take the ship back to the Apserpon facilities and lock it up. As for me, I was told to prepare to leave the next day. Someone was going to come and pick me up from Delche’s restaurant at noon tomorrow. She also asked Ori to tune in to channel 45 for the announcement that was to air at noon the same day.

It was hard to believe what had just happened. About an hour ago all this was a proposal. I don’t believe any one of us seriously thought it was going to be accepted. I guess I finally got what I wanted; to go back home to earth. But why was I feeling so uncertain and so sad? I guess for the short time I was here I became attached to these people. They were now my friends and I didn’t want to lose them.

The prospect of losing them made me feel sad. I felt like I was letting them down. They too were feeling sad. I could see it in their faces. I had again found myself in a situation that was not of my making.

“It’s almost noon, we should go into the restaurant and turn on the big screen. Let’s hear what they have to say,” said Ori.

We sat at the usual table. Delche turned on the big screen, tuned it to channel 45, turned up the sound and said, “It looks like they are ready to start.”

People began to drift from other parts of the restaurant and congregated in front of the screen, making my guards stir.

The hologram went blank and when it came back on two people appeared. The one on our right was Asora dressed in a white dress with patterns of red and yellow. The one on our left was a man, shorter than Asora, dressed all in white.

I heard Airam say something behind me. Ori said, “Airam designed Asora’s dress.” Delche grinned from ear to ear.

Asora spoke first and step by step explained her party’s progress and platform. She then spoke about the concerns the ruling party had about various issues including the ship Dragon Fire.

There was a pause in her speech and her face turned from happy to sad when she announced the ship’s destiny. There was uproar in the restaurant with, according to Delche, a lot of swearing especially against Asora.

When she started talking again everyone stopped yelling. She first explained why the ship had to go and then explained how it was going to go. Then, with a stern face, she said that the ship would be right back if promises were broken. There was uproar again in the restaurant, this time praising Asora.

When Asora was done with her speech the man next to her spoke and said that his party had accepted all conditions and was prepared to hold elections… That was all we heard before the crowd in the restaurant went wild yelling and jumping with joy.

We sat there in silence waiting for the yelling to stop. Delche got up, turned off the screen and told everyone to calm down and go back to their seats.

When he came back he said, “Well, let’s go to the ship and retrieve our stuff before we take it back.”

We walked to the ship in silence. I felt I had to say something to break the ice.

“I want a traditional Macedonian farewell party tonight with songs and dancing. When our people went far away for a long time their friends danced the “Teshkoto” (hard) dance to signify that departing from the ones they cared for was hard to do and so was the dance difficult to dance. But first let’s go do all our chores.”

I only got a tiny smile from them but we had started talking again.

Delche said, “I’m taking the meat back to the restaurant but I’m leaving the 22 full bottles of rakia here. We will drink it when we

meet again and when this ship rises and surpasses its current glory with us behind its controls. I’m also leaving my uniform with the Macedonian colours here on my seat to wait for me.”

Ori too said that he was leaving his uniform on his seat to save it for him.

I said I would do the same also.

When we were done emptying the ship we had my guards help us carry the heavy stuff back to the restaurant. We took the meat to the basement. Delche said he was going to put it on the menu. Delche then gave me a couple of bottles of the firewater and asked me to take them with me. He said, “If you feel threatened on your trip back or anywhere, use it, it will clear your mind and give you incredible physical strength. But don’t abuse it!”

“Do you think I will be in danger?” I asked.

“Of course you will always be in danger, that’s why you have to take precautions, you taught me that, remember?”

“If an attack comes it will be sudden and I won’t have time to make the potion,” I said.

“You’re right,” he replied and went to get three small empty plastic vial tubes, filled them with water, added four drops of firewater in each and sealed them. “If anyone asks what they are just show them the label. The label says its medicine for space sickness. It was a common medicine many years ago. Now they use vapour (spray).”

“Thank you. I will put them in my shirt pocket where they can easily be reached,” I said.

Ori asked Delche if he could leave his clothes and other stuff here until it was time for him to leave.

“That reminds me, what about my stuff, can I take it back to earth with me?” I asked.

“Absolutely not! Before they take you to earth they will strip you of everything alien and toss you back naked if necessary.”

“What about my badge? I have to take it with me. The badge is part of me now. Besides, should the occasion arise, how are you guys going to find me on earth if you can’t track me through the badge?”

“Good point!” said Delche and offered a suggestion. “I can imbed your badge in a red plastic medallion with the yellow Macedonian sun on it. It’s an earth symbol and they will allow you to keep it. But the chain will have to go.”

“No problem, we can make a ribbon from my earth clothing,” I said. “I’m going to show you how later.”

When we got back on the ship I said, “This is going to be our last ride…”

I was interrupted by Delche who said, “I don’t have the coordinates for our destination.”

Ori searched through the logs and gave him the numbers which Delche punched into the navigation computer. I then tapped the autopilot.

Delche said, “Watch where you are going we don’t want to hit anything. The numbers Ori gave me put us in a straight line to Apserpon.”

We flew low and very slowly over Nirelon and from there to Apserpon. I realized Delche had never been to Apserpon. When I recognized the terrain I took control of the ship and took the guys for a tour. I circled around the ancient city and down the valley towards the facilities. I showed them where Vos and I went hunting as well as the spice garden and the buildings where I had spent many days living and training to fly the ship. It was a sad moment for me knowing that I might never see this place again.

When we got above the ship’s hanger I pushed the hangar open button and the hangar roof began to open. I activated the docking robot and passed control to it.

The ship was docked in its proper position in no time.

I pushed the hangar close button and the hangar roof slowly and noisily began to close.

I then activated the other two robots to clean the energy cannons and torpedo tube, top the torpedo shelf with torpedoes and recharge the fuel cells so that the ship would be ready for a long voyage should the occasion arise. In the meantime I ran diagnostics to make sure everything on the ship was operational.

When the robots were finished they took their docking positions and turned themselves off.

I looked at Ori.

“I know what you’re going to ask. How do I turn off the guards?” said Ori.

“Yes, how do I do that?”

“All you have to do is say ‘guards deactivate’. That’s it! I found the information in the operations manual.”

“Do it then,” I said.

“You’re the only one who can do that,” replied Ori.

“You knew this all along and you let me drag my guards everywhere we went?” I asked.

“You told me you did it for our protection,” replied Ori.

Delche looked at Ori and said, “He’s messing with you again.”

After I deactivated my guards I opened the ship’s door, went into the hanger and turned on the lights. I then went back up inside the ship and inspected everything. We found a portable communicator was missing.

“I gave it to Asora, she can keep it,” I said.

After we got off the ship I pushed the close door button and the ship door began to close.

“Since this is our last time here shouldn’t we say something?” I asked.

“Don’t bother,” replied Delche. “We’ll be back sooner than you think. I don’t trust the rats, they won’t keep their promises.”

We all looked at the ship one last time, turned off the lights and came out through the thick door with the big shield. I forced the door shut and tested it to make sure it was locked. I then instinctively touched my chest to make sure my badge was there.

I was going to take the guys for a tour through the facilities but Ori reminded me that we had very little time before nightfall and urged me to pick up what I needed so that we could leave as soon as possible. We had a long way to travel via the tube tunnels and a long distance to walk to Delche’s restaurant.

I took Ori’s advice and grabbed my clothes and old shoes, as well as the cut off pants and pant legs and we left.

On the way to the tube station I showed Delche the pant leg and said, “We can cut ribbons from this material and replace the chain on my badge. This is earth material. After we insert my badge into the medallion I can wear the medallion around my neck.”

As soon as we sat down in one of those cylindrical glass cars that looked like a jar, I rummaged through my shirt pockets and found Vos’s name tag. I don’t remember putting it there but I was relieved I had it.

It took us hours to get back to the restaurant. When we did I asked Delche to give me a pen and some paper on which I wrote the codes that activated the ship, the robots, as well as the code on Vos’s name tag. I needed to write them down in case I forgot them.

In the meantime Delche went to the store to buy some epoxy and a couple of small tubes of red and yellow paint with which he was going to make my medallion.

While he was away Airam came over to our table to see us. After Ori explained to her what we were doing she volunteered to make the ribbon and paint the Macedonian sun on the plastic medallion.

By the time Delche came back from the store Airam had made the ribbon and I had finished writing the codes, folded the paper and taped it to the back of my badge.

After we decided what the medallion was going to look like, Delche found a round paper lid just the right size to fit the badge inside. He then mixed the red paint with two parts of the epoxy and half-filled the paper lid. He gave the epoxy a moment to settle. In the meantime he removed the chain from my badge and replaced it with the ribbon Airam had made. He placed the badge with the piece of paper in the centre of the lid, squeezed it down slightly and filled the rest of the lid with epoxy. The badge completely disappeared in the red viscous liquid. Delche then placed the paper lid with the concoction in a warming oven until the material became rock hard. At that point Delche removed the paper lid and polished the disk until it was smooth and its edges were rounded. He then gave the disk to Airam who sketched out and painted the yellow sun, after which Delche again put it in the warming oven to dry the paint.

Moments later he gave it to me. I looked at it and felt it. The yellow paint had sunk inside the disk and the surface felt smooth to the touch. I thanked them both and put the medallion around my neck. It looked beautiful.

I felt uneasy without my guards and with my medallion hanging around my neck where anyone could grab it.

Delche kept looking at me and finally said, “If you are so worried about it then put it inside your shirt. I need you to focus on your farewell party and not on your medallion.”

After I hid the medallion inside my shirt I felt much better. Moments later I showed them how to dance the “hard” dance but without music. I then got the chef involved and showed him how to tap the hard dance drum rhythm on the table. When he had mastered the rhythm, Delche, Ori and I began to dance. After watching us a while Airam ran over and joined us. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that this was a man’s dance but was glad I hadn’t because she was a better dancer than all of us. She could handle the strain on her legs much better than we could and out-danced us all.

The people watching didn’t know what to make of our silly performance. At first they laughed and then clapped when we were done.

After a few minutes of attempting to dance the hard dance we all broke into a sweat and gave up. Airam and the chef brought the food they had prepared for us.

When people from the neighbourhood found out that this was my last night on their planet they came to say goodbye and wished me good luck and a safe trip home. Each had some advice for me and almost everyone wanted me to come back some day.

“Except for not understanding the language, I feel like I am back in my village,” I said. “The outlanders are good people and I am going to miss them.”

We spent most of the night eating, drinking and reminiscing about the things we had done together, especially the silly things. No one wanted this to end and no one wanted us to be separated.

After everyone left we were too drunk to move so we each took a couch in the restaurant and slept until morning when the chef arrived to open the restaurant.

When Airam arrived she and the chef took us outside one by one and sat us on a bench in front of the restaurant. It was cool outside.

Delche said, “This is humiliating, people seeing us like this.”

I looked around, there was no one there. I didn’t say anything.

It was too cold to sit so Delche recommended we walk around for a while.

We walked for a long time in silence; no one wanted to talk. There were so many things to say but no one wanted to start.

“What will you do when you go back?” asked Ori.

“I don’t know I replied. I don’t even know how I am going to explain my disappearance to my family. What will I tell them? Aliens kidnapped me? They will all think I’m nuts. Of course they won’t believe me because aliens don’t exist. Until yesterday I was dying to go home but now I’m not so sure. I’m not even sure why your people are letting me go.”

“Don’t go then, stay here, we can go back to the ship, take it and fly to the trader’s galaxy. I’m sure they can use us in their service,” suggested Ori. Delche perked up and agreed.

“What about Asora’s commitments and promises to the people? Doing anything other than what was agreed upon will put Asora’s party in jeopardy, I can’t do that to her. I’m sure the outlanders will love our rebellious move but what about the governing elite?”

“Who cares about them, screw them,” said Delche.

“Delche, you wanted to change the world, we have changed the world, our job is done here. We should be thankful that we get to live. Separating me from the ship is much better than executing me and destroying the ship. To be honest with you I was surprised that the ruling party agreed to this plan. They know they won’t win so why agree to the plan?” I said.

“There is only one way they can win and that is by cheating. But if they cheat they know the ship will be back,” replied Ori.

“Not if they manage to kill the captain,” said Delche and they both looked at me.

Suddenly there was an urgency to contact Vieria but we didn’t have our communicators. We turned back and began to walk towards the restaurant hoping we could use Asora’s communicator. But Asora wasn’t there, she hadn’t returned from her negotiation’s meeting the night before.

When we got back to the restaurant Delche asked Airam to find Asora’s communicator.

Moments later she came back empty handed but she did tell us that Asora and Vieria were coming to the restaurant before noon to say goodbye to me.

We sat at our usual table and both Delche and Ori mentioned how strange I looked without my guards behind me. We now had an urgent matter to think about, my safety, which kept us from thinking about our separation.

The chef showed up with our favourite breakfast, fried eggs. Delche smiled and said, “It’s nice to be the boss and be served like this.”

“It’s even nicer to be a permanent guest and eat for free every day,” I said, looked at Ori and continued. “Some day when you become rich I hope you will pay Delche for all this.”

“I offered to pay him but he won’t accept my money,” replied Ori.

“He’s messing with you… again,” said Delche.

“I will never understand your warped humour,” exclaimed Ori and continued to eat his breakfast very slowly, as usual.

The silence was broken by voices heard coming from the outside. Vieria and Asora were here and coming in through the back.

We quickly finished eating.

Moments later Airam showed up and waved us into the back room.

After we greeted each other Ori brought up the subject of my safety during the trip back to earth. Vieria spoke up and assured us that everything was taken care of. My safety was Vieria’s primary concern which was why she was going to send me back with people she trusted. She said she had contemplated sending Ori with me to serve as a translator until we reached earth but had a more important task for him here in Asora’s government. She said she had assigned a young lady to take Ori’s place who I was going to meet on the science vessel. Vieria also said that she had been appointed minister of defense in Asora’s government and was going to take charge of the military, replacing Vos as the commander and chief.”

I congratulated her and shook her hand. She said goodbye and walked out through the back door.

I looked at Asora. She smiled shyly and clapped her hands together in front of her. I offered her my hand which she shook and then pulled me in and gave me a hug. We didn’t exchange any words. She also left through the back door but before she did she said something.

“What did she say?” I asked.

“We need to go,” replied Ori.

When we stepped out into the restaurant the staff was there waiting for us. I said goodbye to everyone including Airam who had tears in her eyes. I gave her a hug.

Delche, Ori and I then walked back into the back room and went outside through the back door. Ori led the way and took us to the place where we used to park our ship. There was a little ship, the kind that had brought me to the planet, waiting for us. A young lady, much younger than Ori, came out of the back seat smiling, shook my hand and called me Sir in Macedonian.

“So, you are my translator, nice to meet you.”

She then took the grubby clothes and shoes out of my hands, put them in a plastic bag and shoved them under the back seat.

Without saying a word and holding back my tears, I hugged first Ori and then Delche and stepped into the back seat. I watched them both looking gloomy with tears in their eyes as the little ship lifted off.

The young lady tried not to look at me as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Moments later when I had composed myself I asked her what her name was and she told me to call her Ruzha. She had assumed a Macedonian name, the name of a popular flower that grew in abundance in Macedonia back on earth.

Voyage back to earth

“It’s a nice name,” I said. “I’m familiar with the ruzha flower which is often confused with the rose’s flower. In some dialects in Macedonian the rose’s flower is called ruzha. But do you know what the word ruzha means?”

“No. What does it mean?”

“In my dialect it means ‘beautifully dressed’…”

“I have been a student of the Macedonian language for a while now and someday I hope to go on a scientific mission to Macedonia and study its culture. Anything you can tell me will be helpful.”

“So, tell me, how did you get mixed up with me?” I asked.

“When Vieria came to the academy looking for volunteers I jumped out of my seat with excitement. The only thing she asked me was how good I was at speaking Macedonian, to which I replied I’m the best. That’s it. She just pulled me to the side and asked me if I wanted to be your translator. I said I would love to be the translator for the most famous person in Ostikon.”

“So, you think I’m famous, eh?” I asked. “Aren’t you from the middle zone?”

“So, what if I am?”

“Do your parents approve of what you are doing?”

“No! But the young people in the middle zone will think I’m cool.”

“How do you know about me?” I asked.

“Everyone is talking about you and how important you are, you’re famous.”

“I’m not famous or important. I’m just a simple person. Circumstances put me where I am. You mustn’t think more of me

than what I am, a simple person caught up in a complicated situation. I am just like you.”

“I knew you were going to say that, but that’s not true.”

“If you aren’t going to listen to me how do you expect to learn anything from me?”

She was finding it hard to accept what I was telling her. This isn’t how she pictured things would be with me.

“I don’t know how else to treat you,” she said.

“You can treat me like an older brother. Be honest and open with me, tell me what you really think.”

“Okay, I will try,” she said, looked at me and smiled.

One of the men in the front seat said something. “What did he say?” I asked.

“He said we are closing in on the ship and will be there very shortly.”

“What do you know about this ship and its crew?”

“Absolutely nothing, not even its name.”

“Didn’t Vieria brief you on what you were supposed to do?”

“No. All she said was that she needed me to be your translator. That’s all.”

“What did she tell you about me?”

“Nothing! Everything I know about you I learned from the news reports.”

“What about the voyage we are going on, what did she tell you about that?”

“Nothing!”

“Didn’t she tell you that you might be on this ship for a long time? Up to four years maybe?”

“No!”

“It was my understanding that the science vessel we are joining will be going on a scientific mission and won’t be returning to your planet for four years. The trip to my planet will only last about twelve days. What do they expect you to do for the rest of the time?”

“I suppose I’ll be finishing my field work on the ship. But I don’t know for sure.”

“Who knows? You’d better contact them and find out before we leave.”

“I don’t have a communicator.”

“Talk to the pilot and ask him to patch you in to Vieria and find out from her.”

She spoke to the people in the front seat. There was some hesitation but they finally put her in contact with Vieria. When she was finished talking she said that Vieria had spoken to her parents and got their permission to send her on a two year mission to another galaxy with an assignment to study some star system and that she would be given all the details when she had her orientation on the ship.

“So, she told your parents nothing about you being my translator?” I asked.

“It would appear so.”

One of the men in the front seat said something. Ruzha turned to look. I also turned and saw that we had arrived and were entering the ship’s bay. It was a large ship.

After we landed Ruzha picked up the plastic bag with my clothes from under the seat and gave it to me, opened the little ship’s door and we both stepped out. The little ship turned around and flew right back out. When it left the bay the big bay door began to close.

“How do they keep the air from rushing out when the bay door is open?” I asked.

She said she didn’t know but that was one of the things she was going to find out for me.

Moments later a woman in uniform came and signaled for us to follow her. There was an elevator at the end of the bay waiting for us. We got in, went up four floors and got off. We turned left and followed a long corridor with many doors. We stopped in front of two adjacent doors and the woman gave us a key each and pointed to the door symbol and the key symbol. Ruzha spoke to her. The woman looked surprised and then smiled and said something. She left and went back into the elevator.

“What did she say?” I asked.

“This is where we sleep. Someone will come to see us soon.”

After she showed me how to use the key she came into my tiny cabin and pointed out the various things in it and left. One of the things that I noticed that was familiar to me was the little black box that sat on top of a tiny table. It was exactly the same kind of black box as the one that Vos had given me to study his language. If only I had listened to Vos, by now I could have learned at least a small part of his language, I thought. It brought back memories; mostly sad ones.

There was a soft knock on the door; I figured it was Ruzha so I opened it wide. There was a man in uniform standing there who was slightly startled by my sudden appearance. He said something but I didn’t understand him so I pointed to the next door where Ruzha was staying. He smiled, took a step away and knocked on the next

door. Ruzha opened the door slightly, saw me and opened it wide. The man hesitated but eventually said something.

Ruzha turned to me and said, “This is our guide who wants show us around.”

I looked at him and extended my hand. He looked at it and looked at my face again. Ruzha told him something and he extended his hand. I grabbed it and shook it hard; it was a firm handshake. The man became excited and laughed. I smiled back and accepted his laugh as a sign of respect or perhaps shaking hands for him was a novelty.

We closed the doors to our little cabins and followed our guide. Ruzha looked at me and placed her cabin key in her pocket. I showed her my key and put it back in my shirt pocket.

We arrived at the end of the hall and stopped behind a big door. Our guide said something and pointed at the door, then to the left and to the right. Ruzha translated.

“The big door leads to the mess hall, the left and right corridors lead to the dorms and the rest of the ship.”

Our guide opened the big door and we walked inside. There was no one there but the room was tightly packed with tables and chairs. Our guide said something and Ruzha translated.

“If you look on your key there are times when you are expected to come here and eat. The number on the key corresponds to the number of the chair where you will be sitting.”

I looked at my key and all I saw were alien symbols. “I will explain later,” said Ruzha.