Jorh blinked at Dedrick a few times. “That is not a story we like to think about.” The alien paused, as if looking for words. “You remember us telling you about Silargh’s ship, the one that left for Kahjuna, your Earth?”
Dedrick nodded.
“Well, as you know, we waited for them to come to Kesra, but they never did. By the time we realized something was wrong, several weeks had passed. It was too late to go after the Ehoran. The Elder’s vessel was too far out into space, and our Kahalla was gone forever. We knew we would never catch up to them. It was hard on all of us. Without the pool of life, we would never have children again.
Even so, we had to go try to find Silargh’s ship. While most of us agreed going to Kahjuna was the right thing to do, Donjeh and Serm were strongly opposed to it. They kept insisting that something had happened to Silargh and his passengers, and we could not take the risk of losing any more lives. At the time, we did not realize how determined they were about it. I knew Serm and his uncle were up to something from the very first day of our landing on Kesra, but I never thought they would go as far as they did to get their way. It happened fast. A few of us were here on the ship preparing for the long journey to your Earth. Mahhzee, Gahneo, and I were in the Aruk, checking the Time-Frost pods, when Serm disabled the Zarfhas that controlled the air and atmospheric pressure in the cavern. Outside the ship, no one had time to get to their suits. We lost most of our people within seconds.
By the time we knew what was happening, Donjeh had already taken over the ship’s main controls. He trapped us in the Time-Frost room. We tried to reason with him, but it was in vain. We barely had time to get into the pods. It saved our lives, but it was also how we got trapped in them. Donjeh locked us in them and put us in Time-Frost. The rest, we know only from what the Zarfha witnessed.”
He paused. Looking now at the humans in this room with him and his two alien colleagues, the events he was recounting seemed so ancient. And yet, it felt like they had happened only days earlier to him. Jorh seemed momentarily distracted. He wrapped his long tubular fingers around the small Zarfha hovering silently in front of him.
“Outside the ship, Serm was on his way back to his uncle, when he was confronted by Lodlar, Gahneo’s father, who had managed to get to his suit just in time. The two fought and—”
His recount was interrupted by a telepathic message from Mahhzee. Jorh turned to the Russian commander. “Maybe I’ll tell you more some other time. I hope you don’t mind.”
Dedrick realized she had asked him to change the subject and wondered why, but he figured she had her reasons.
“Of course, I understand,” replied the human.
The alien blinked again rapidly. He turned back his attention on his sister. She was leaning against Gahneo, and the two were watching the rest of the humans dancing joyfully to the old rock classic, “Rock the Casbah,” by the Clash. Both aliens looked quite entertained by it.
“Jorh, I am very sorry about your people…” Dedrick did not know what else to say. He was looking at his feet, thinking about his parents and his dog, Rita.
“I know, thank you. I am sorry about yours as well.”
The two were silent for a long while, looking at their friends celebrating Dedrick’s special day. At least, they all had their health, and life wasn’t so bad after all; at least, for now.
Chapter XI
Status report
“I’ll have the prime-rib,” finally decided François, giving the menu back to the waiter.
“And how would you like that cooked, sir?” asked the young man.
“Medium-rare, please.”
“Certainly,” he replied, as he turned and walked away.
“I always feel uncomfortable when someone calls me sir. It makes me feel old or something. Don’t you?”
“No, I can’t say I do,” replied Sabrina.
“Yeah, of course, I know. But I mean… Ok, it’s like calling you Mam. Doesn’t that make you feel older? I think we should all use names. We know his name, so why shouldn’t he know ours. I think it would make things more comfortable for all. Don’t you?”
“Yeah, OK. Whatever,” replied Sabrina. “So, where are Vera and Dedrick, anyway?”
“Well, I know I said they were coming, but I only said that because I didn’t think you would have, if I had told you it was just gonna be you and me.”
“François! I already told you, I’m not interested. You’re not my type! I find you obnoxious, egocentric, and you don’t respect women!” she said upset, slapping her napkin on the table.
“Give me a chance. Just this one time, please. I promise, I can be really nice. And look, I got us a table at your favorite restaurant.”
She had to admit, he appeared genuinely honest about wanting her to stay. And, truth be told, she did not find him so unlikable. On the contrary, although she would have never admitted it, she found the Frenchman quite charming and lovable, at times.
“I admit, you did good on the place,” she finally said with a sweet grin, seating back down.” I didn’t expect that from you,” she added looking around the room.
“Thanks!” he replied a bit sarcastically.
“See what I mean… No, I’m sorry. I gotta go.”
François caught her wrist.
“Please, stay… Please…”
After some hesitation, she sat back down.
“OK. But the first sign of—”
“Yes, yes, absolutely,” he smiled at her. She looked particularly beautiful tonight. She was wearing a stylish, shoulderless evening dress, and her dark curvy hair fell perfectly to one side of her face. She looked gorgeous. Prying his eyes away, he raised his hand and called the waiter.
“Garcon? Garcon? Jean-Luc?”
A half hour later, both laughing hysterically, Sabrina casually touched his hand.
“Do you wanna dance?”
“Dance? No, I’m a terrible dancer. Trust me, you don’t want to see me dance.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t be that bad. Come on, let’s dance,” she repeated, pulling him off his chair.
“No, I’m serious, I can’t dance.”
“Come on, François! You said you would do whatever I asked, remember?”
“No, wat I meant was—”
He finally gave up and let her pull him up. On the stage, the band introduced their new song. “Hi, everyone. My name is Corinne Bailey Ray. This song is called “Like A Star.” I hope you’ll like it.”
“Shoot! A slow one,” he thought. And then, it dawned on him. “That’s odd… What is Corinne Bailey Rae doing here?”
A few songs later, François was holding Sabrina in her arms, her head resting on his shoulder. Seizing the moment, he whispered something in her ear. To his pleasant surprise, Sabrina’s usual rejection of his clumsy advances was replaced by a longing look. Her lips met his.
The two had just returned to their table, when François, staring through the large bay window behind Sabrina, noticed a very bright star in the dark distance. He couldn’t tell what, but something about it looked odd. Suddenly, an alarm began screaming, and people began running in all directions. Above them, a red light was now flashing brightly. Unable to pry his eyes away, he stared, as the star grew rapidly. It was heading straight for them. Grabbing Sabrina’s hand, he tried in vain to run, but his legs felt too heavy and slow. Helpless, he could only listen to the tremendous roar of the speeding inferno, helpless as it crashed onto the building, sending him and Sabrina flying into the air. Their bodies were about to get crushed by the collapsing ceiling, when he woke up, drenched in sweat.