Kyle was ecstatic as he followed Pix 74 and Zinka 42 down the grand hallway. As the company of three reached the end of the hallway, they were stopped by two guards.
"Halt!" The guard shouted. "Are you the three that the king was talking about?"
They all nodded.
"We just received some orders from him." The other one said. "We are to escort you all to the loading dock. The engineers are working on the Zinkez 7546 Enterprise. It is being refueled as we speak. It should be ready by the time that you get there."
Pix 74 nodded. "Good. Take us to the ship!"
Both guards nodded and escorted them through the hallway. When they got to the rotunda, they headed east. This led to the knight's barracks and a few other military facilities. The loading dock was one of them.
They continued east through the rotunda and it brought them through a narrow hallway. From there, it brought them outside to the courtyard. They walked past the knight's barracks to a larger building. It resembled a hangar which extended out as far as Kyle could see. They all followed the two guards into this hangar. This was the loading dock.
Once inside, they saw various different ships. Most of them were docked with a few of them undergoing repairs. Kyle could smell the burning steel and could hear the welding and the sound of various machinery.
When they got to loading dock 84, the two guards stopped.
"This is where your ship is," The one guard told them. "The chief engineer will take it from here. Good luck on your journey!"
Both guards swiftly left.
Someone with a beard was yielding a blowtorch, and was welding a part of their ship. Seconds later, he turned off the torch and flipped back his visor. He glanced at them with a smile of satisfaction.
Pix 74 gave him a quick glance. "Drex 200, I presume?"
Drex 200 reached into his pocket and pulled out his thick wire-framed glasses. He put them on and nodded. "The one and only! Are you all the adventurers?"
Everyone nodded.
"Then feast your eyes on this! Behold, the Zinkez 7546 Enterprise is ready to go! Just installed the latest weaponry and topped off your fuel. I also closed up all the dents and fixed the little air holes!"
"Air holes?" Kyle said, shrugging.
"You can't have any holes in your ship if you're traveling into outer space! The food machine is all fixed and restocked, all the interiors are polished and waxed and the linens in all the bedrooms are changed. There's reserve fuel in the storage hold and I just finished polishing the entire exterior before you arrived!"
"What about the welding?" Zinka 42 asked him.
"Oh that?" Drex 200 laughed. "I found one more spot that I needed to fix. That should be it!"
"So we're good to go?" Pix 74 asked him.
"Good as wood!" Drex 200 shouted. "Let's go!"
"You're coming?" Zinka 42 asked.
"I forgot to tell you! The king wanted me to accompany you as your personal engineer! Don't worry about the others. There are plenty of good engineers here at the castle. All of them trained by the best!" Drex 200 pointed to himself.
"Let's go!" Kyle shouted.
Drex 200 approached me and smiled. "I like this guy! Everyone! Stand on the platform!"
Pix 74, Zinka 42, and Kyle stood on the platform, with Drex 200 standing on it last. Drex 200 pushed a button on a remote and the platform ascended upward towards the ship.
Upward the platform went. Kyle glanced around at the enormous ship. The Zinkez 7546 Enterprise, he guessed, was the size of a luxury yacht. Maybe five of them.
The platform ascended up into the upper deck of the ship and shifted right, following the track that it was on. Drex 200 pressed another button and the hatches closed over the opening that they ascended from.
When they all entered the nearby cockpit, Drex 200 wasted no time. He started pulling levers and pressing buttons with incredible ease.
Kyle was uncertain. Is this ship really going to take off? He primarily had doubts because he has never flown in a ship like this before. "So you know what each button and lever does?"
Drex 200 jovially nodded. "What are you talking about? My ancestors built this ship! My father showed me the blueprint. And his father showed him, and so on. I come from a long line of engineers in my family so I know how this ship works inside and out!" He pulled one more lever. And the ship took off through an opening in the roof. "There. The main engines are on and the boosters are on standby."
"Do you want to answer any more of my questions Kyle?" Zinka 42 asked him. "Like earlier?"
"Hey kid!" Drex 200 shouted.
Kyle turned away from Zinka 42 and fixed his attention on Drex 200.
"Wanna do something for me? Hit that red button once we reach 50,000 zenam. Got it?!"
"What's 50,000 zenam?" Kyle asked with uncertainty.
Drex 200 sighed. "Look. There are numbers on that digital display next to me. When you see 50,000, press that button! Oh, and don't worry if you miss it. I will be watching and will press it if you don't. It's important so that the boosters don't overheat!"
Kyle nodded, and focused on his mission. The numbers were counting up quickly as the ship was gaining more and more altitude. 10,000. 20,000. 30,000. The ship was ascending fast.
40,000. 50,000! Kyle saw the numbers on the screen and quickly pressed the red button. The boosters ignited and the ship propelled itself upward with tremendous speed into outer space.
Drex 200 switched the ship to auto-pilot and patted Kyle on the back. "Good job!" he shouted. "You're well on the road to becoming a wonderful engineer!"
Kyle glanced at the stars outside the ship and the planet of Renzin. It was an orange orb that was shrinking more and more by the minute.
"So Kyle..." Zinka 42 continued. "Are you ready to answer more questions?"
"No." Kyle answered. "I'm ready for you to answer MY questions!"
"Ask away!" she told him.
"How long will it take for us to reach Earth?"
"What do you mean?" Pix 74 scowled. "Your planet is so far away that it's not even in the ship's computer!"
Kyle glanced at Drex 200, hoping that he could shed some light on the matter.
Drex 200 nodded. "He's right! The only thing that the computer has mapped is this galaxy! Now, how far away is your planet?"
"The other side of the universe." Zinka 42 answered.
Drex 200 laughed. "Nope! Only this galaxy is mapped. All of the Reza Galaxy! After that, we're headed into the unknown...It could take several years for you to get back home, kid!"
Kyle sighed. "Years? I'll miss school! How will I be able to go to school?"
Pix 74 was totally perplexed. "What is school?"
Zinka 42 grinned. "I think Kyle told me! "It's where he and others his age learn their studies! It's like our learning guilds!"
Kyle nodded. "Yes. And because I'm traveling back on this ship, I will not receive the rest of my education!"
Drex 200 grinned. "It may not be your Earth education, but I think that I can help! With this ship being designed for long voyages, the computer system is capable of synthesizing an information beam. Info beam for short!"
"How does it work?" Kyle asked him.
"You asked the right guy for this. An info beam is the pioneering triumph of science integrated with magic! With this beam, we take all of the information files stored on the computer and convert it into a beam of light. The magic synthesis transforms the beam, allowing the beam to mimic a multitude of different neurons. These new neurons are beamed directly into your brain and voila! You have years worth of learning achieved in mere seconds! Every bit of information on the computer can be transferred to your brain with this process."
"Wow..." Kyle gasped. "It may not be Earth information, but give me one of those beams!"
"Coming right up!" Drex 200 shouted. "Now, I'm only going to select the information files for this synthesis. Anything that is not an information file will not work on your brain! I do not want to cause permanent brain damage!"
Drex 200 loaded all the relevant information files and placed them all into a folder. He then began the info beam synthesis program. A bright beam began to materialize from a rail gun. The rail gun charged as the synthesis was taking place.
"Synthesis complete!" Drex 200 shouted. "Are you ready, Kyle!"
Kyle nodded. "I'm ready!"
"Then be prepared to...LEARN!" Drex 200 shouted.
The info beam was shot at Kyle and it knocked him down with a shock.
When Kyle got back up, he smiled. "I know everything about Renzin and I'm completely fluent in Renzinian! I am well versed in the maintenance of every Renzinian military vehicle and can use any weapon with ease!"
"That's great Kyle!" Zinka 42 shouted.
"I'm not done!" Kyle shouted. "I have extensive Renzinian culinary knowledge and can cook you the finest cuisine! I understand military strategy, am well versed in Renzinian politics and have complete knowledge of each function of Renzinian royalty! I think that I'm going to lie down..."
Drex 200 smiled. "Go ahead. You usually feel tired after the process. Sleep it off and you'll be fine."
"Are you all right?" Pix 74 asked.
Kyle nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little tired..."
"Well, we're going to be with Drex 200 on the cockpit." Zinka 42 told him. "Let us know if you need anything!"
Kyle yawned. "I will..."
Kyle exited the cockpit, pressing his hand against his forehead. He felt a headache that was growing worse by the second. The sharp pain made him groan and made him half-regret that he even agreed to this procedure in the first place. What was I thinking? Was I even thinking? Maybe it was because he had nothing to lose. After all, he could very well never be getting back home. He would die in space, old or young. Old if he manages to last through the seemingly infinite galaxies and planets. Young if some predator or catastrophe kills him.
He wondered through the rooms and made a mental map of them. From the great expanse of knowledge that he has recently acquired, he recognized the pattern and the build of each room. This would be very common among the ancient starships. A class A warship, he knew, would follow a specific layout allowing for easy navigation for the crew to utilize.
Just outside the cockpit was a corridor that wound around to the central hub. The captain's bedroom would be on this level and the crew bedrooms would be on the level below. This would make sense since the captain needed to be the closest to the cockpit. Kyle passed north from the central hub into a small yet spacious inner room. This room had a small hallway that led into the captain's bedroom.
"Ow!" he winced. He could feel the pain in his head stabbing like arrows. Exploring the rest of the Enterprise was out of the question. Besides, he already had a good idea of what all the other remaining rooms were from deductive logic. For instance, he knew that there was a master bathroom just inside the captain's bedroom. Maybe later. Kyle plopped down on the bed and rolled underneath the covers. The bed was larger than a king-sized bed. Standard size for a captain's room and above average by Renzinian standards. His mind was racing from all the new information that was in there. The arrows of pain were fired everywhere and it grew like a wildfire. His mantra then began. Make it stop. Make it stop! He pressed his hand against his head, hoping that the pain would vanish. His hoping turned to yawning. His yawning turned to sleep. And he was out.
***
"Incoming message...Incoming message..."
Kyle groaned and felt his head again. The pain was still there, but it was a lot less than before. He felt a little better so he got up and exited the captain's bedroom.
"Incoming message...Incoming message..." It sounded louder this time. Kyle ran through the corridors back to the cockpit.
"Why don't you answer it?" Zinka 42 said with a scowl. "We might as well see who it is."
"Zinka 42..." Pix 74 sighed. "I think that we all know who it is."
Kyle gasped. "Who?"
Zinka 42 glanced over and spotted Kyle, who was sitting in one of the captain's chairs. "Our sworn enemy! He's the leader of the raiders!"
Kyle glanced outside the cockpit to find a large starship looming over them. "I think that you better respond to that incoming message!"
Both Pix 74 and Zinka 42 shot a glance outside the ship and gasped. "It's him!"
"Incoming message...Incoming message..."
"Who?" Kyle asked.
"Incoming message...Incoming message..."
"Rozorg 5476!" Zinka 42 shouted over the computer. "That ship that he's on is the Crobok 12649!"
"Did you say Crobok 12649?" Drex 200 gasped. "That ship is brand new and state of the art, and he stole it! That thief!"
Kyle gasped. "Are you saying that-"
"Yes! I designed that entire ship! It was supposed to be for the king but that weasel..."
"Do you guys want to die?" Pix 74 shouted. "I'm responding! Lock on visual, computer!"
The computer transmitted the message, which displayed an image of a sinister looking man similar to Pix 74 and Zinka 42 in appearance. He had a receding hairline and smugly held a monocle to one of his eyes.
"Heh heh heh heh ho!" Rozorg 5476 cackled. "I hope that you are all enjoying your leisurely flight in space. I'm on my newly acquired toy! The Crobok 12649! Thanks for the ship! It's quite splendid if I do say so myself! I hope that you are all enjoying your wonderful cruise, because it ends right here. I am going to blow your entire ship to pieces and will watch the ashes of your smoldering remains blow across the galaxy! I will then begin a full-scale invasion on Renzin and will enjoy my new kingdom! Farewell! Oh, and thank you again for the ship! Ha ha ha ha ha ho!"
"I need to get onto that ship!" Drex 200 shouted. "The defenses on that ship are very strong and you won't be able to destroy it even with the most powerful weapons!" Here. I need to put the shields up now!"
"Shields are now up..." the ship's computer told everyone.
BOOM! Shieng! BOOM! Shieng! The Crobok 12649 blasted missile after missile at the Zinkez 7546 Enterprise, but ended up hitting the shield instead.
"Kyle!" Drex 200 shouted. "You know how to use the ship's weapons from that info beam! Load all the ZorBOOM 10000 missiles that we have and blast away! I'm going to get aboard that ship!"
"Shouldn't I use the weaker artillery until their shield is down?" Kyle asked.
Drex 200 nodded. "Yes. That ship has a powerful shield generator and you will not be able to deal a single scratch to it until it's down! It's internal and I have to shut it down from within! Distract him in the meantime!"
"Got it!"
Kyle loaded the Zortink 3000 missiles and changed the ship's course. "Here. He can't hurt us as long as our shield is up. I have him nice and close so get moving!"
Drex 200 nodded, and ran to the ship's loading bay. He boarded a tiny fighter ship and opened the bay's doors. He then flew out of the bay. The bay's hatch automatically closed.
"Over here!" Kyle shouted. He loaded a few Zorblast 5000 missiles and blasted them at the ship.
The Crobok 12649 retaliated with a plethora of missiles. They all hit the ship's shields directly, making them weaker and weaker by the second.
Drex 200 blasted the ship with a few lasers. "Over here, ya idiot!"
The Crobok 12649 changed course and began pursuing Drex 200's tiny fighter ship.
"You can't outwit the Zindrox 892!" Drex 200 howled with delight. "You want some more, big boy? That's what you get for stealing my masterpiece!" The Zindrox 892 zipped around all the missiles and headed closer to the ship.
The Zinkez 7546 Enterprise closed in the Crobok 12649. It was a risky move, considering that the shields were weak and could give out any moment.
The Crobok 12649 responded by blasting missiles from both sides. It blasted missiles at the Zinkez 7546 Enterprise and the Zindrox 892 at the same time.
"No fair!" Kyle shouted. "Our ship can't do that! That technology doesn't come into development for another couple thousand years! Hurry up, Drex 200!"
The Zindrox 892 hurriedly entered the Crobok 12649. The turrets stopped shooting on Drex 200's side, but redoubled their firepower on the Zinkez 7546 Enterprise. The laser shields were starting to buckle and were in very bad shape.
"C'mon!" Kyle shouted.
"Please do it!" Zinka 42 shouted, wiping away some tears.
Another missile hit the Zinkez 7546 Enterprise and the laser shield exploded. The shields were gone.
"No!" Kyle screamed. "We're all going to die!"
"No we're not!" Pix 74 shouted. "Didn't you just notice? The Crobok 12649 stopped firing at us! Now's our chance!"
Kyle changed the ship's course and speed. He then quickly loaded the ZorBOOM 10000 missiles and began firing them at the Crobok 12649.
"It's damaging the ship!" Kyle shouted. "He deactivated the generator!"
"But they probably killed him when he did it!" Zinka 42 cried. "I don't see his ship coming back!"
The Zinkez 7546 Enterprise fired three more missiles at the Crobok 12649. That was it. The ship blew up, with all of its pieces flying all over space.
"We did it!" Pix 74 shouted. "Rozorg 5476 is finally dead!"
"But what about Drex 200?" Zinka 42 added. "Did he ever make it? " Zinka 42 glanced around the wreckage of the ship. "It doesn't look like he made it..."
Kyle glanced outside the ship at the wreckage. "He saved all of our lives. I'm going to miss him..."
"He got our ship ready and into space!" Pix 74 said.
"He gave Kyle an info beam and was a wonderful aid to us." Zinka 42 added. "His life was not in vain..."
Pix 74 got out the two-way radio. "Let's call it a night. Come Zinka 42...Let's share the good news with the king. He will be quite happy knowing that Rozorg 5476, the leader of the raiders, is dead."
"Wait!" Kyle shouted. "When are we going to eat?"
Zinka 42 sighed. "We already did, Kyle. While you were resting, we had a meal with Drex 200. We didn't want to wake you."
Pix 74 pointed downward. "If you're hungry, feel free to help yourself to anything you want in the kitchen! There's a food machine that will cook you a nice Renzinian meal!"
Kyle shook his head. "That's okay. I'm really not that hungry."
Pix 74 shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself!" He picked up the two-way radio and motioned to Zinka 42. "Let's turn in and talk to the king."
"Good night Kyle!" they both shouted in unison. They both left the cockpit, talking amongst themselves.
Kyle returned to the captain's bedroom. He used the bathroom and cleaned his teeth using a strange machine that had a vibrating brush. It looked different than the electric toothbrushes on earth. The head flew off and vibrated, going from tooth to tooth until it got each one. It then reattached to the device and turned off.
Kyle crawled into bed and sighed. He felt his head again. There was just a little pain there. The headache was going away, but his homesickness wasn't. Just how long is it going to take for me to get home? Will I ever get home? Who knows? He glanced through the curtains at the vast expanse of space. He couldn't even see Renzin now. There were planets that he could see in the distance, but he didn't know the Reza galaxy, or the solar systems that it had. All he knew was Renzin, from his newly acquired information.
And Pix 74 and Zinka 42...They were nothing from the people that he knew on earth. Are they together? Do they share some kind of romantic bond? It didn't matter anyway, since Kyle didn't really find Zinka 42 to be that attractive. Maybe a little, but it wasn't all too impressive. He looked out the window again and sighed. Falling in love is out of the question. With him being on a starship cruising through space, there was no way that he could ever meet anyone new. He was surrounded by space, with earth a very far distance away. This was going to be a Long Quest. Maybe a lifelong one, as he might not ever get home. With a heartbroken sigh, he fell asleep.
***
Falling in love was something that was not foreign at all to Kyle. Just a year ago, he fell in love with a girl in his sixth-grade class. Her name was Cindy Kowalczyk. He wasn't quite sure if she liked him, but he definitely liked her.
During one class period, they were both In Mrs. Walling's music class. Mrs. Walling had the class arranged in a circle for a rhythm game. Everyone sat down and were supposed to slap their hands on their lap, followed by a clap. After the clap, they had to say their name and the name of the person sitting next to them. If the person got the name wrong, they were out. The last person remaining was the winner. To make things interesting, the tempo started slow, but progressively got faster and faster.
The game started. Over the course of the game, everyone was eliminated, except Cindy and Kyle. When Kyle noticed this, his face got red. He really liked this girl. Having glanced at Cindy's face, she might have felt the same with her face also being red.
The final round began. Kyle started it. Slap, clap. "Kyle, Cindy."
It was then Cindy's turn. Slap, clap. "Cindy, Kyle."
Slap, clap. "Kyle, Cindy."
Slap, clap. "Cindy, Kyle."
The tempo increased. Slap clap. "Kyle, Cindy."
Slap clap. "Cindy, Kyle."
Slap clap. "Kyle, Cindy."
Slap clap. "Cindy, Kyle."
This final round continued for a while. Finally, Cindy missed the rhythm, so she was out. Kyle won the rhythm game.
About a day later, Kyle came down with the flu. This really bothered him because it made him miss a school musical play that he was really looking forward to. When he got back to school, he found out that Cindy was also sick with the flu that exact same day. They were both the only ones that were sick. They shared the rhythm game and they shared something else. Despite that experience, Kyle had one regret. He never got to kiss her.