The Cosmopolitan Gazette -Apollo L. Price

Chapter 1

A young man sat silently as the sound of creaks and small scrapes surrounded him.

"Sir?" A woman tapped his shoulder as he glanced upwards. She was dressed from head to toe in a Silver, White, and Blue dress that glittered wonderfully under the ship's iridescent lights. She repeated herself, "Is there anything I can get you?" The attendant rolled the concession cart a wink closer receiving a shake from the man's head.

This peculiar character's name was Flaxen Belarius.

He was an insurance salesman from the celestial body of Australia. Ironically half of the planet, the side he came from, was brutally the exact opposite of the homo-sapiens interpretation of the word. Flaxen had never met a human before and wasn't keen on interacting with them either. If school had taught him anything, not to say he retained any of the information throughout his adult life, it was that humans were numb, half-brained nitwitted creatures. Which frankly, in some scientists' and stalkers' opinions, wasn't entirely false.

"Erm- When will we be arriving?"

"Very shortly." She smiled and moved on to the next unsuspecting passenger gleefully. "Water?" And very short it was. A few minutes later he found himself descending from the spacecraft onto the deserted wasteland. The salesmen's eyes tread across the vast landscape of smoke and destruction, dust billowing down from the hills where a thriving city of flourishing buildings and towering skyscrapers once stood. A prospering world, at least it used to be. It had been 8 years since war had commenced between Merthaloma and Galanstra. Both galaxies stuck in disarray and almost if not wholly abandoned.

"Flaxen Belarius?"

"Yes! That's me." A robotic figure glared at him distastefully as it peered at the photo then the alien and back again at the photo.

"What are you planning on doing during your trip to Bedford, Lochtn"

"Business inquiries." He chirped enthusiastically, almost tripping over his words. The robot stayed silent for a moment longer than most would be comfortable with before finally coming to a satisfying conclusion.

"Have a nice trip." The machine commented nonchalantly.

"Customs. What a joy. Am I right?" Flaxen smiled as he joked with the upcoming group of distressed family members before averting eye contact awkwardly and quickly collecting his passport from the metal hand.

Pushing open the door, he was met with the striking feeling of the cold air hitting his face alongside the moonlight which beamed down onto his sandy white hair. It was almost second nature to call over a cab considering how much he had traveled in the past 8 years.

"Where to?" Asked the driver.

"Where to? Where to...Oh-OH!" He fumbled through his index cards, dropping a few in the process. "There."

He placed a card on the dashboard receiving a confused look from the man as he tilted his head to the side, nonetheless, the meter on the dashboard clicked and the ignition sounded.

"Going on vacation? You must be desperate for some real moonlight." This comment greeted a hearty chuckle from the traveler.

"No no no. I'm visiting an old friend. She's a travel nurse. Her father fought for the first 2 years. He passed away recently."

"Ah..." The car fell silent except for the soft rumbling of the machine. Flaxen turned his head towards the window as the cab rolled up the gravel driveway of a cozy white and yellow house. Stepping out of the car, he called back behind the closed door.

"Have a nice evening!" But the cab driver would never hear this, for he had an important family matter to attend to.

Flaxen continued to make his way over to the beach house that propped itself upon the sandy seashore of a glimmering purple sea. The planet was devoid of stars, disregarding the massive celestial nuclear power beam fixed on the other side. Yet despite the planet's lack of vitamin D, it had proudly exhibited a variety of 3 large moons. Flaxen admired the beauty of the moon furthest skyward. The largest of Lochtn's trilogy of moons, Apstrophy, hung proudly in the sky as he was invited in by the resident.

The man sat down on the orange, leathery furniture, feeling the sensation run under his fingertips. Patting both sides of the lounge chair, he looked around contently at the modern decor. Neat seats levitated softly above the ground paired with tasteful silver lamps that complimented the bright white walls. A quietly humming record player sat in the corner next to a few potted plants and vines.

"Have you been doing well?" A weary dame slipped a cozy cup of coffee into the salesman's hand. Flaxen nodded his head congenially before glancing back at the turntable. "To each his own," she said.

"Sorry?"

"That's the name of the song. Freddy Martin? Are you familiar with him?"

Flaxen crossed his legs comfortably on the couch, cracking his neck from side to side.

"Where's he from?"

"A place called Earth." She sipped some coffee.

"...Never heard of it." Flaxen placed the mug onto the glass coffee table.

"Really?" Clematis inquired. Flaxen shrugged, a serene look on his face. "Would you believe me if I said the drink in your mug is from there?" The salesman had his suspicions about the earthly beverage but tried to turn a blind eye. She watched as he lifted the mug to his lips and cautiously sipped it. He cringed, drawing back from the cup in disgust.

"Delicious."He blurted out as he attempted to rid his mouth of the bitter flavor. Clematis chuckled in amusement. The room fell eerily silent before she stood up and held out her hand.

"Come on. We'll be late," Flaxen opened his mouth to speak but the words disappeared into thin air, faltering as if they were the falling petals of a tired primrose. "We can talk about the insurance on the way there."

"Yeah. I doubt they'd wait for us in the midst of all this." Flaxen dusted off his pants as he stood receiving a small laugh from the girl.

"Especially in the 'midst of this'"