Episode 2: The Prize is Aurum
Harry suddenly stood up and grabbed Lark by the neck with both hands. He began to press his thumbs into his throat. Lark immediately tried to tear his arms away as his face flushed.
"Why don't you love me?!" Harry cried. Ron gasped and put his hands on Harry's shoulders, trying to pull him away from him.
"Harry! Get ahold of yourself!" Ron shouted. Almost instantly, Harry realized what he had done and released Lark. Lark coughed as Harry panted. "Harry! What's gotten into you?! Why the hell did you do that?!" He shouted again. Harry didn't answer right away; he was too busy trying to catch his breath.
"I don't know…" Harry whispered. Lark looked at him, looking startled. Ron sighed as he came to a realization.
"I didn't have any idea he would be some kind of reminder…" Ron trailed off. Lark looked over at Ron now, looking for answers. Ron made eye contact with him and shook his head as if he had nothing more to say, when in fact, he didn't want to say any more. Ron had failed to realize that Lark resembled Melfina, a name and face he was hoping would never come up again. Though they had both wanted to kidnap Melfina, Harry had developed an unhealthy attachment to her, further complicating things. It wasn't that Ron wasn't used to Harry's unstable mental state—he just never thought it would distract him from their mission like the way it had. Harry, in the end, proved that he could rise above his obsession, but it all ended in tragedy; this was also something he wanted to forget. He wanted to remember the Harry he knew two years ago that was logged in the Shangri La.
"How did you meet Lark?" Harry asked as if he wasn't there. Lark decided to wander around in the barn to get some space away from Harry.
"I found him." Ron answered.
"Where?"
"Well, here's the story. Remember how I told you about the restaurant I worked at was basically owned by Kei pirates? Well, one day, as I was takin' out the trash, I saw a pair of Kei pirates dump a large suitcase by the dumpsters. I heard them talkin', one of 'em sayin' 'It's defective, so just leave it there.' That wasn't the case though, but I'll get back to that. So, of course I got curious. It was the end of my shift, so I was able to screw around a bit. I opened the suitcase—it wasn't easy—and inside was Lark. Naked and everything. I was wondering why the hell the pirates would lock someone up in a suitcase like they were dirty money. Anyway, I closed the case, lugged the thing to my cruiser, and took him home. When I got home, he woke up and told me that he used to be a navigational system for a pirate ship called the 'Sedai.' Of course, I became very familiar with the Sedai not too long before Lark and I met. I've gotta tell you that story, Harry." Ron looked a bit excited now. "It was two years ago when you lived in the Shangri La." Ron smiled, instantly feeling a rush of nostalgia. He figured that telling Harry the story would help calm him down, and yet, prepare him for what Ron really wanted to tell him…
Ron looked up at the green skies of the planet Crone. It was a bit of a trip to the Rynex system, but he was glad that it was a small system between the Heifong System and Sentinel System, with most of its planets on the outer orbit of its small yellow sun. The planet was nothing but a large city full of skyscrapers powered by solar panels. The highways seemed endless and there was plenty of air traffic. It was home to the busy Cronians and many other aliens who could afford to live on an upper scale planet. Ron was in a district of the planet known as the Garden District, where the richest of Cronians lived. He was at ceremony for what was known as the "Annual Rynex Space System Race." The race took place between the two planets: Crone and the capital planet of Rynex.
Ron was in front of a small stage where a famous Cronian and his guards stood. The Cronians were an interesting race, resembling what Terrans called "mantids." They were bipedal, but they had the faces and arms of mantids. Among him were many different peoples, including Chinese space pirates and outlaws from all three systems. The famous Cronian introduced himself. He was white and fuchsia, with large brown eyes. He was dressed in a navy British cut suit and black loafers. He was definitely an older Cronian, as his voice crackled a bit.
"Greetings, fellow competitors! If you don't already know, my name is Russell Periwinkle and I am the host of the Annual Rynex Space System Race! And if you are here, you have RSVP'd for my little event! It is a pleasure to meet all of you! As you all know, the race is between Crone and our sister planet and capital Rynex! This is the 40th anniversary and I am so proud to have such a colorful group of peoples competing in my race!" Ron snickered as he looked around him for a moment. "Anyway, the race begins tomorrow, so please feel free to enjoy any of my luxury hotels! And one last thing to remember: I will not reveal the prize until the end of the race! So, don't get disappointed! You get what you get, so don't get upset!" He chuckled like an old man as he crossed his long, scythe-like arms. The crowd cheered and soon disbanded, going in all kinds of directions.
Instead of going to a hotel, Ron went back to the Shangri La.
"Welcome back, brother. So, tell me all about it!" Harry answered, lights on the keyboard blinking on and off.
"Well, it's true what they say. That Periwinkle is certainly a rich man who likes to play games. I suppose that's what you do when you're rich." Ron replied.
"That doesn't answer any of my questions, Ron."
"Alright, alright. It's hard to describe what he looks like. Why don't you tap into the database and look it up, huh?"
"Fine." Harry said in a slightly annoyed voice. He went silent for a bit and Ron sat down, crossing his legs. He waited when Harry suddenly spoke up. "He looks nothing like a Terran… Why are their eyes so big?"
"Hell if I know, Harry."
"I want to hear it from you. Why are we doing this again?"
"I thought you liked going fast." Ron snickered.
"I mean it."
"Well, we're trying to win that prize... though I wouldn't know what it is…"
"What do you mean? He didn't tell you?" Harry sounded frustrated. Ron laughed.
"He does this every year. All I know is he's very rich and he's a ship collector. So whatever he's 'donating' must be good. Why else would twenty ships show up?"
"Twenty? That's a lot…"
"Yeah, but I only saw a few of 'em. They don't look so tough!" Ron exclaimed. Harry laughed cockily.
"Nothing's faster than me!" Harry cried, the lights on the keyboard glowing bright.
"You know it, Harry." Ron laughed...
That evening, Ron was sleeping in the back of the ship when he heard a noise. He woke up to a dim room and looked around. He then heard the noise again, detecting that it was coming from the main door. Ron's eyes thinned as he got up. He then whispered.
"Harry. Wake up." The lights in the ship grew a little brighter.
"What is it, Ron?"
"I heard something…" Ron's eyes darted from the left to the right.
"It was probably me…" Harry replied.
"No. It was a… a bang?" Ron walked over to his coat and pulled out a gun. Suddenly, there was another bang. Ron approached the door with caution. He was about to unlock it when an alarm went off. Harry let out a scream.
"Someone is messing with me! Ron? Ron?! I can't see you!" Harry cried. Ron growled and opened the door to see some tall man on the side of the ship. He was pointing at a small hole he had made with a wire coming out of his finger.
"You're asking for it." Ron said with his teeth as he pointed his gun. He took a shot, the bullet bouncing off of the ship. The tall man jolted and withdrew the wire from his finger. He turned to look at Ron. He had long arms like an orangutan. His face was a Chinese yellow and red monkey mask with a wild gaze. Ron didn't ask any questions and just began shooting, but the man just dodged the bullets, flipped back, and escaped into the darkness of the night. Ron's arm slowly lowered. "I don't have time for this." He muttered.
Ron returned to the ship.
"Ron! I can see you again!" Harry cried. "What was that? I saw some… some kind of mask!"
"So did I. Some bio android was out there, trying to hack into you."
"What?! How dare they!" The lights on the ship got really bright, one of the bulbs above popping. Ron sighed.
"Calm down, Harry. Just run an analysis or somethin'." Ron set his gun down and looked for another bulb in a closet. Harry grew quiet as Ron installed another light. He suddenly spoke up.
"He was looking for coordinates. He stole some coordinates in the Sentinel system. He didn't get much though—just coordinates for Sentinel III."
"His mask was Chinese. I think I saw him at the opening ceremonies. A buncha guys had masks that looked like that. But what the hell would he want with coordinates?" Ron sat down, trying to think.
"I don't know…"
The race was about to begin. Among eighteen ships there were a couple that Ron had picked out that might rival his: The Orchid, piloted by Russell's best; The Cinis, piloted by the Sharnese; the Theama, piloted by the Octnua; and the Sedai, piloted by the Watao pirates, the Rynex System's Chinese pirates. Ron was specifically frustrated with the entry of the Sedai; he was sure that the Chinese pirate that was hacking into his ship last night was aboard.
"So, are you ready, Harry?!" Ron said as Harry ran a last minute diagnostic.
"You know it, Ron."
"We're gunna beat the crap out of the Sedai!" Ron exclaimed. Soon, a transmission came through. It was Russell Perwinkle.
"Greetings, everyone! The race is about to commence! Are you ready? As you know, my best pilots will be competing against you in my lovely ship, the Orchid! Are you afraid of losing? The only thing I must ask of all of you is to remember that this is a clean race! That's what keeps our race so great! Do your best!" Russell said, letting out a chortle. The transmission ended. Ron chuckled.
"See what I mean? That old Cronian likes to play games for sure!" Ron sat forward.
"I understand now…" Harry replied.
Suddenly, a transmission of a countdown began from 15. Harry grinned, grinding his teeth. The Shangri La revved once.
3. 2. 1. GO!
The Shangri La shot ahead, cutting through space like a needle. As expected, the four ships Ron had suspicions about were not too far behind.
"They can't even catch up, Harry!"
"Duh!" Harry laughed…
The Shangri La was making its turn before Rynex when the Sedai got dangerously close.
"Tryin' to cut me off now, huh?!" Ron shouted. Ron navigated the Shangri La out of the way until the Sedai was behind them. "Knew they were going to be trouble…"
They were on their way back to Crone when suddenly, the Sedai sped up to fly above them.
"Ron! They're right on top of me!" Harry cried.
"What the hell are they doing?" Ron growled. Suddenly, arms began to emerge from the Sedai; four arms, in fact. Harry gave a visual and Ron's eyes grew wide. The arms reached forward, trying to grab the Shangri La. Harry slowed down so they could miss. "I knew they would be trouble."
"I'm engaging in combat, Ron."
"You got the right idea, Harry." Ron grabbed two throttles and four arms emerged from the Shangri La. The Sedai slowed down and used its thrusters to turn itself vertical and began to swing its arms at the Shangri La. The Shangri La turned itself vertical as well and its hands moved to grab the wrists of the Sedai. The Sedai struggled to get its arms free, but Shangri La tugged and tugged back by pushing its thrusters away. "Push it!" Ron cried. And suddenly, the Shangri La pulled the arms of the Sedai out of their sockets.
"Easy win!" Harry cried. The Sedai was thrown off balance and the Shangri La turned and headed back towards Crone. The Sedai drifted quietly towards Rynex…
Soon, there came the awards ceremony. The Sedai and its pilots had been disqualified while the Shangri La was celebrated for not only winning the race, but for defending itself in a "dignified manner." Russell then revealed the prize: An antique ship known as the Aurum. The crowd expressed their disappointment with silence. Everyone had expected something like Dragonite. They soon dispersed to leave Crone. Ron was a little frustrated because he now owned another ship and basically had to have it lugged to Sentinel III. It would rust in his hanger, he thought. Before Ron left, Russell pulled him aside.
"There is one thing I must tell you, MacDougall: 'If the maiden is lost, then the knights will come.' A very wise man told me this. His name was Gwen Khan. Not sure if you heard of him, but I felt the need to tell you because he said it had something to do with this ship." Russell whispered. Ron wondered what he could be talking about.
"Whatever." Ron simply replied. He was still disappointed. He made a shallow bow and returned to the Shangri La.
"So, what was the prize, Ron?" Harry asked.
"A ship. An 'antique.'" Ron replied in a somber tone.
"You're not going to replace me, right Ron?"
"What do you think?" Ron sat back. Harry laughed…
"So that's what happened two years ago, Harry. This thing has been sittin' here since. But I've gotta tell you something. This ship is one of the many reasons why I had to get you out of the Shangri La. You see, this ship needs one pilot… and two brains." Ron said, smirking.
"'Two brains?' What do you mean?" Harry looked over at the Aurum. The ship was a yellow gold, similar to Shangri La, with white stripes. It was shaped like a Mockingbird in flight, for it had almost wing-like fins.
"Yes. Two brains—like you and Lark. And Harry, even though I know you've just been becomin' acquainted with the world, the truth is… I want to explore space again. And as much as I love the Shangri La, I've already had everything in the archives transferred over to the Aurum. You see… there's something very special about this ship and I want to see what it can do. So, what do you think?" Ron put his hands on his hips. Harry smiled.
"I think it's going to be a lot of fun!" Harry answered. Suddenly, Lark was running towards them from the back of the ship. Behind him was a man chasing him, wearing a yellow and red Chinese monkey mask. Ron's eyes widened.
"Help!" Lark cried. Ron pulled out his gun.