Chapter 30: Darkness Be My Friend
**The night is nearly over, and the world waits for morning to creep silently into dark places. Outside the tents, a curtain of fog hangs heavily in the air, shrouding the pre-dawn sky in shades of dark gray. Jimmy shifts uncomfortably in his sleep, then sits bolt upright at the sound of muffled footsteps beside him. April clamps her hand over his mouth to stifle his sharp intake of air**
APRIL: Shh. Wake the others.
**Shaking off sleep, he turns to the huddled group of kids sprawled out on makeshift beds on the floor**
JIMMY: (whispering) Psst. Hey. Cindy, Libby…wake up. Hey.
CINDY: (squinting) Neutron, what the…? ...it’s still dark outside…
JIMMY: Shh, be quiet. April was here just a second ago. Get Carl and Sheen up, and be quick about it.
**The girls roll over and prod the sleeping boys, who stir fitfully before finally sitting up and peering into the darkened room in confusion**
CARL: (rubbing his eyes) Aww, I was having the nicest dream about my Swedish pen pal Elke riding a llama…
SHEEN: That’s nothing! I was having a dream about Libby, George Washington, and a bathtub.
LIBBY: (bleary-eyed) What’s that supposed to mean?
SHEEN: If I told you, you wouldn’t talk to me for a week.
**Aurora pokes her head in through the tent’s metal flap**
AURORA: Is everyone up?
**The kids moan in response**
AURORA: Shh! We’re leaving now. A low-lying cloud bank just rolled in, and it’ll provide the cover we need to take off. Be as quiet as possible. The villagers are back, and although Gorlocks tend to be pretty sound sleepers, it’s best not to take any chances.
**She ducks out, and the tent’s occupants grudgingly extract themselves from the tangled mess of leaves and animal furs covering the muddy floor. In various states of waking, they shuffle out of the tent and into the misty clearing beyond the circle of huts**
NAV: (buttoning up his gray coat) Morning, compatriots. Man, I slept like a ROCK. Pheeoow.
CINDY: Ugh…
NAV: Ah, and would you get a load of this weather? Just the way I like to start another grim day of villainy.
**Cindy glares at him**
CINDY: Oh jeez…you’re a morning person, aren’t you?
**He pinches her cheek obnoxiously**
NAV: You betcha, little lady!
**April joins them a moment later, her lithe frame almost hidden beneath an astonishing number of weapons. She has strapped a gigantic cannon across her shoulders, and four sets of holsters swing from her hips. Two large knives glint from a compartment on her left boot, and as if this wasn’t enough, she carries what appears to be an AK47 in her hands**
NAV: Wow, April, you look…um…
APRIL: Well-equipped?
NAV: I was gonna say “homicidal”, but sure…
**She reaches over and touches his face**
APRIL: Aww, Nav, you are too kind.
**Carl’s voice pipes out of the early morning darkness**
CARL: Umm, sorry, but…when’s breakfast? I’m REALLY hungry.
NAV: No time to cook, I’m afraid. Luckily for you, my rotund friend, I brought these.
**He pulls out what appear to be five shrink-wrapped, off-white energy bars. He passes them out to the kids, who eye them with some suspicion before sampling them gingerly**
NAV: Behold the wonder that is the Astrobar…specially formulated for people who spend long periods of time traveling through space. Guaranteed to fill you up and keep you going for 18 hours. Unfortunately they taste like buttcrack, so…
**Cindy chokes noisily and spits out the piece she’d been chewing on**
AURORA: Wow, Nav. Your choice of words never ceases to amaze me.
**Aurora materializes out of the veil of fog and places her hands on her hips**
AURORA: Lead the way, oh adjectivally challenged one. Sunrise is in twenty minutes, so we need to get moving.
NAV: Roger! But, if you don’t mind me asking…where’s that dark-haired friend of yours?
**Future Libby’s crystal voice echoes from somewhere inside one of the huts**
FUTURE LIBBY: Coming!
AURORA: (rolling her eyes) Libby, you take longer to get ready than any other human being I’ve ever met.
**Scuffling sounds ensue, and Future Libby emerges. All the males in the group do a double-take when they see her outfit, which consists of a rather skimpy-looking Mandarin dress and enough rings and bracelets to sink a small rowboat. She wears a golden bindi and a pair of hoop earrings, and she has painted henna designs on her hands and feet**
AURORA: (eyes growing wide) Libby, WHAT are you wearing?
FUTURE LIBBY: Well, I thought that since I might be seein’ Sheen, I oughtta look nice…
**She trails off**
AURORA: (rubbing her temples) Libby, we are going into battle. And you’re in a dress. A rather impractical and revealing dress, I might add. Have you gone mental?
FUTURE LIBBY: Well if it makes ya feel any better, I’m not wearin’ heels…
**Aurora shakes her head in exasperation**
AURORA: Somebody tell me this is a dream.
NAV: (with a smirk in Future Libby’s direction) This is a dream.
**This remark earns Nav a smack upside the head**
AURORA: Stop leering, pervert.
**A slow smile crosses Future Libby’s lips**
FUTURE LIBBY: So…you’re sayin’ I look nice?
AURORA: Sheen’s liable to have a brain hemorrhage, Libs. Congratulations. Now can we please get going?
NAV: (dramatically) Sagya drahat sha’a keel…
LIBBY: Say what?
NAV: Means “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings” in Numerian.
LIBBY: But what does that…
NAV: I just felt like saying it.
**The tired, confused, and somewhat irate group follows Nav out of the village and across the flat steppes. They somehow manage to choke back the Astrobars, and by the time they reach the shipyard, the horizon is tinged with the vivid colors of sunrise. Ahead of them, a metal monstrosity lays shrouded in early morning mists. Their approach reveals the ship to be a decidedly ugly, bronze-colored wreck covered in dents, loose bolts, and patches of rust. From the look of things, the Shahada is made up of three or four different spaceship models haphazardly welded together. Nav stops in front of the ship, hands planted on his hips, and looks up at it with a sigh**
NAV: Aww, home sweet home.
CINDY: That thing is hideous.
NAV: Trust me, the Shahada’s way better than my last heap, the Roadkill Sloth.
CINDY: The WHAT?
NAV: Don’t look at me, Aurora named it.
AURORA: (dryly) The name fit, trust me.
**Goddard’s excited barking punctures the air, and a moment later he bounds down the gangplank and rushes to Jimmy. He greets his master him with a slobbery face-licking, and Jimmy laughs as he pushes his pet off him**
JIMMY: (stroking Goddard’s head) Glad to see you’re feeling better, boy. How’s your battery level?
**A screen pops up on Goddard’s chest showing a fully charged energy bar and a power level of 98%**
JIMMY: Looks like you’re good to go, boy.
**Goddard barks again and jumps around in a circle. Aurora looks around nervously as the noise echoes outwards**
AURORA: I hope nobody heard that…the barking of a dog isn’t exactly an everyday sound around here.
APRIL: Do not worry. The shipyard is always deserted this time of morning. I am sure we are fine.
**Jimmy pets Goddard some more, and Aurora taps her foot on the ground anxiously**
AURORA: All the same, I think we should hurry.
NAV: Sure thing. Right this way, ladies and gents.
**Nav proudly swaggers up the ship’s copper-colored gangplank and comes to a stop in front of the scratched, dented metal door at the end. The door is bolted to the fuselage by a series of forty or so incomprehensible-looking locks. They come in all shapes and sizes, and they give the entryway the look of a deranged, maximum security prison. Nav whips out his left arm, and a shiny metal pin springs from his mechanical finger like a Swiss army knife. He holds it out for inspection by his audience and then, with dramatic flair, proceeds to pick the locks at lightning speed. Seconds later every bolt, padlock, and latch flips open. Future Libby, Carl and Sheen ooh and aww at the performance**
NAV: After you…
**He pushes on the door and motions for them to enter. April gives his arm a squeeze as she and Aurora breeze past. Aurora glances back at him with a suppressed smile**
AURORA: Show-off…
NAV: (sticking up his nose) Nonsense. You’re just jealous of my mind-boggling talent.
**One by one, they file into a large, open room. In the dim light, the occupants can barely make out the piles of junk heaped chaotically throughout the room**
NAV: Let there be light!
**A tired, yellowish bulb flickers to life overhead. It blinks off and on sleepily, before illuminating the contents of the room in alternating splashes of gold and black. The kids gape at their surroundings in awe. The entire room is filled floor to ceiling with countless stolen goods. They range from broken down chunks of machinery to chests heaped high with priceless gemstones and wads of cash**
NAV: Welcome to the bridge everyone. I expect you all to address me as “Captain Kirk” from this point on. Or if that doesn’t work for you, “Hans Solo” will suffice as well…heck, I’ll even settle for Captain Janeway if…
LIBBY: (interrupting, starry-eyed) So…much…stuff!
**Libby, Cindy, and Future Libby prop open a wooden trunk and start drooling over the fancy clothing they find inside; Sheen picks up an old, dirty shoe and peers at it quizzically. Jimmy examines a half-crushed ray gun of some sort, and Carl jumps in surprise when he catches a glimpse of his Gothic reflection in a length of broken mirror. Future Libby lifts an intricately embroidered velvet dress from the trunk and holds it out**
FUTURE LIBBY: Ooooh…
NAV: That’s for my little sister, Laudya. You like?
FUTURE LIBBY: I’ll say! This thing looks fit for a queen!
NAV: (dreamily) Only the best for my darling sister.
**Cindy frowns at him quizzically**
CINDY: Was that sarcasm, or genuine?
APRIL: Oh no, he was being serious. He worships the ground she walks on. Isn’t that right?
NAV: (shrugging) It’s true.
**Jimmy makes a face as he gingerly lifts a rusted ladle from under a pair of gigantic underpants. He regards it warily, holding it far away from his body as he turns to face Nav**
JIMMY: If you don’t mind my asking,
Nav, is there a reason behind these bizarre pack-rat tendencies? Do
you steal for a reason, or are you just a kleptomaniac?
NAV: Oh, I
have a reason. I'm no idiot. I know that money makes the world go
round. And the more money I get, the more I get to say WHICH way the
world goes round. Everything here has value. I can pawn off all this
junk for some serious profit.
**Cindy crosses her arms and grins over at him**
CINDY: You know what? I think I’m starting to like this guy.
**Libby smiles as she rolls her eyes at her friend**
LIBBY: So what are you gonna do with all the money?
NAV: Why, I’m going to BUY Numeria, of course.
CINDY: Huh? What?
**Jimmy drops the ladle and shakes his head in confusion**
JIMMY: What? You’re going to buy your home planet? How? Why?
NAV: Well, let’s just put it this way – My planet is a backwater cesspool of misguided religious fundamentalists ruled over by a bunch of sexist egotistical lying hypocritical bigots.
FUTURE LIBBY: (blinking) …That’s a mouthful.
CINDY: I’ll say.
NAV: (straightening) But not for much longer. Once I buy Numeria, I can put those power-crazed, pompous old windbags out of a job. Then Numeria will stand a chance of actually becoming a place where people can live reasonably decent lives.
FUTURE LIBBY: Wow. Sounds noble.
NAV: Not really. I don’t give a flying crap about what happens to the people I steal from. But I’m not going to sit by and watch my baby sister grow up in a world where she has no rights, no chance at any future other than as the third wife of some drunkard who can beat her any time he pleases. That girl’s an angel. She’s innocence and sweetness all bundled up and tied with a bow. I’d do anything for her.
CINDY: Does she like…know you’re a crazy notorious thief?
NAV: Nah. I try to keep her sheltered from all that stuff. Course, then again, I don’t see her that often. When she was eight, I took her off Numeria so she wouldn’t be forced to marry when she turned twelve. I brought her to Mejair, a planet with a matriarchal system. She’s been there ever since. It’s a pretty nice place.
CINDY: How old is she now?
NAV: Eighteen.
CINDY: And she STILL doesn’t know?
NAV: Nope.
CINDY: What the heck?! Why haven’t you told her? By treating her like a helpless baby, aren’t you being just as sexist as those guys you supposedly hate?
**A hint of anger leaks into his expression**
NAV: (defensively) Hey! With this last ship-full of stuff, I’ll have more than enough to buy the stupid planet. Then I’ll explain everything to her. Satisfied?
CINDY: Not really.
NAV: Why do you care anyway?
**Aurora steps in and offers a gesture of pacification**
AURORA: Um, I’m afraid that this time it’s MY turn to break up the argument. Nav, we need to go.
NAV: Hmm, ya. Good point.
**He shakes his head, then forces a smile**
NAV: Sorry. I always get so riled up when I talk about this crap. I bloody HATE Numeria.
**He walks over to the pilot’s chair, which is nothing more than an office swivel chair plunked in front of an antiquated control panel. He kicks off his boots, and they sail across the room and crash into a towering stack of money. The kids watch as coins cascade to the floor in a tinkling silver waterfall**
NAV: (cracking his robotic knuckles) All righty Aurora, hit me with some coordinates.
**Aurora grips the back of his chair and proclaims the information confidently**
AURORA: P24-505, outer spiral arm Delta, Sector B, 92.4 million miles from star B Arcturias Galladia, bearing mark 2 degrees on the ecliptic.
NAV: Right-O!
**Nav hurriedly punches in the information, and the ship lifts off the ground and rockets skyward. The entire room shakes and jostles violently from the force of the thrusters, and the ship’s occupants struggle to keep their balance. Future Libby holds on tight to Aurora, who seems un-phased by the wildly quaking cockpit. Cindy and Libby pitch forward, and the boys topple backward and crash into a pile of gold trinkets**
NAV: Uh…you might want to hold on to something. The Shahada’s inertial dampeners are pretty much shot…
JIMMY: I noticed.
** The passengers are subjected to one final, sharp jolt as the ship breaks free of the clouds. All at once the ride becomes smooth, and the kids sit up again**
NAV: OK, we’ve reached the exosphere…How are we doing back there?
AURORA: Fine.
FUTURE LIBBY: (releasing her hold on Aurora) That was somethin’!
NAV: How about you kids?
**They extricate themselves from the piles of treasure, brushing off coins and bits of jewelry as if they were dust. Cindy and Libby stealthily slip a few into their pockets before standing. Nav notices and hides a smile**
CINDY: (straightening her shirt) Jeez, what a pain.
LIBBY: Makes me miss the Desperado…
**Carl stretches and turns around once**
CARL: (yawning) I’m so…sleepy all of the sudden.
**There is a moment of silence, and then Libby blinks and wipes her eyes**
LIBBY: Hmm. Me too. Guess we haven’t been sleepin’ enough lately.
**She yawns, and it sweeps through the room like a contagion**
SHEEN: (bleary-eyed) Man, I am WIPED. I feel like I’ve been doing battle against the Robofiend-Megatron Mechamorph from the Ultralord-Transformer power hour!
NAV: Why don’t you kids lie down? There are a couple of bean bag chairs there in the corner. You can take a little rest.
**Jimmy stifles a yawn and nods**
JIMMY: Hmm. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to just rest my eyes for just a little while…
**The five of them drag their tired limbs over to a small circle of hideously bright beanbag chairs in the corner of the room. The boys pile onto one, and the girls curl up together on another**
CARL: Jimmy, will you rub my tummy and sing nonny…nonny … nonny…
**His voice fades, and within seconds his loud snore reverberates through the cockpit. A moment later the others slip into silence, sleep laying over them like a cloud. Aurora watches them, the slightest expression of concern hanging on the edges of her features**
AURORA: OK, that was weird. What the heck was that about? I mean, I knew they were tired, but…
APRIL: I certainly hope they are not ill! That would be detrimental to our mission! Nav, how long till we reach the planet?
**Nav folds his hands behind his neck and reclines back in his chair**
NAV: Don’t worry, they’ll wake up before we get there.
**Aurora turns on him slowly, eyes narrowed with suspicion**
AURORA: Nav, that’s your devious voice. What did you DO to them?
NAV: (innocently) Well, I may have drugged their astrobars…
AURORA: You WHAT?
NAV: I laced them with sleeping pills.
AURORA: WHAT? Sleeping pills? Nav, you idiot! What could you possibly have been thinking?!
NAV: Relax. Did you see the circles under their eyes? They were exhausted. It takes like…what… 5 hours to get to P24-505? I knew that if they stayed awake they’d just stress the whole time. It’s better this way.
AURORA: (angrily) Why do you ALWAYS pull crap like this right before a mission? You can’t just drug people without letting me know! Are you completely brainless? God, Nav, this kind of reckless behavior is exactly what gets you into trouble all the time!
NAV: Hey, what are getting mad at me for? I had their best interests in mind!
**April places a consolatory hand on Aurora’s shoulder**
APRIL: Aurora, I think he meant well. Perhaps you should calm down.
AURORA: (throwing her hands up) Don’t defend him! Just…I don’t know! Ugh! Do something to punish him so he won’t do it again!
**April considers for a moment, then leans forward and pronounces Nav’s punishment with perfect seriousness**
APRIL: No licentious midnight trysts for a whole week, Nav.
NAV: Aww, man! What a rip-off!
AURORA: Eew, April! Keep that sort of stuff to yourself!
APRIL: What? You asked me to…
AURORA: You know what? Never mind.
**She sighs, rubbing her head**
AURORA: I’m sorry, I guess I’m just a little tense. Maybe I should go do something to take my mind off it.
**She paces up and down, radiating nervous energy as she thinks. After a moment she snaps her fingers**
AURORA: Aha! I’ve got it. I’ll go to the cargo bay and check the fighter-ships.
**She heads toward the sliding door that leads out of the cockpit, turning circles around herself as she chatters**
AURORA: I’ll run full system diagnostics and check the stabilizers, then make sure the restraints and inertial dampeners are working properly and…
**She continues talking as she exits the room, until the sliding doors abruptly cut off the sound of her preoccupied rambling. There is a moment of silence, then Nav spins around in his swivel chair. He glances up at April, then runs his hands over the front of the chair suggestively. He waggles his eyebrows**
NAV: So…April. How about a licentious midday tryst?
APRIL: Nice try.
