Interstellar Academy
12: Rescue
Nova and Rayn hid out for a couple days. During this time, they decided to share some secrets about themselves that they wouldn't have otherwise told anyone. Nova had even opened up to secrets she would never tell Jim. This made her feel extremely guilty, but what else was she supposed to do?
It was Rayn he turned into an open book first. He'd talked about his severing relationship with his dad, and how it'd been going on for a few years now. "Now that I'm 17, my father expects me to take up the family- or rather, just his- dream and capture and use sunmaids. I never found this 'hobby' of his appealing, but immoral." He had the look of remorse on his face, like feeling opposite his father was absolutely, positively wrong.
"That means you're a kinder, more compassionate person than he is. You're a nice person, Rayn. That's nothing to feel bad about." Nova gave him a small, encouraging smile.
He returned it. "I guess. What about you and your parents? I hope you have a better relationship than me with mine."
"It's… a relationship." She confessed to be the princess of Solara, to her and her twin's "competition" to be heir- though it was obvious who would take the throne.
"Are you just not powerful enough? Or do you not want it?" Rayn asked, interested.
"My father finds me too powerful, actually." She bit her lip. This was the secret she knew she should keep to herself- and Jim, eventually- but felt so comfortable right then she didn't care anymore. "I'm considered the most powerful sunmaid across the galaxy."
Rayn raised his eyebrows, in interest. "How so?"
She huffed, frustrated at how she would explain this to him. "My powers match that of a laser cannon… times thousands."
Rayn let this set in. Then he gasped. "Wow."
"Y-yeah. I mean, it seems like a big deal, but I've been able to control. If I don't, I could tear galaxies and destroy planets and… it's just ugly. I hate it." She rested her cheek on her knee. "I hate feeling so limited because of it. One would think that having so much power would bring so much joy, and it doesn't. It only brings suffering. People expect more out of you. People expect the best. I'm considered a genius on my planet, alongside powerful. I'm the ultimate ruler." She blushed at her rambling. "Sorry."
"Hey, no, don't be. I like listening to you talk." Rayn sighed. "We do need a way to get outta here though. Any ideas?"
Nova shrugged. "You would have more of a clue than me; I'm not from here. Obviously."
"Right. What about your friend? The one who solves problems all the time?"
"He's… I don't know. With his injury, I don't want him coming after me but-"
There was a rumbling going on outside. It shook the cove, pebbles and small rocks falling around them. Rayn grabbed Nova's hand and helped her outside, pushing passed the foliage.
"JIM!" Nova said happily. The boy scanned the area for the person who called out to him. Nova rushed out and waved her arms frantically, and he maneuvered the longboat close to her. She ran to the boat and wrapped her arms happily around his neck. "I knew you'd find me!"
Jim chuckled then stiffened as his eyes looked at the boy who'd been with his friend. "Uh… the guy?"
Nova let go and looked back at Rayn. "He's Rayn. His father is the one who captured me." She pressed a hand to his shoulder when he moved, as if he was going to attack the other boy. "No, he helped me escape. He's the reason I'm no where near those idiots right now."
Jim still eyed him carefully, but nodded his approval. "Thanks. For keeping her safe."
"A man's gotta do." He looked to his other two companions- a silver robot and an alien with human features save for his slightly pointed ears and green skin, his eyes round and black. "Ah, hello."
They simply waved, the moment growing awkward.
"We gotta go back, though," Nova said, looking at a now shocked Jim.
"Are you kidding me?"
"Why would you want to go back?" Rayn interrupted, pressing a hand to his head. "It was necklace."
"It's a map. To my planet." She faced Jim seriously. "What if they found it? If they capture another of my kind, they'd figure out any sunmaid can open it. They want to find my planet. Take a whole army there, Jim. I don't want to even think what the result of that would be."
Jim obviously didn't approve of this idea, but knew she needed to in order to protect her entire race.
"Fine. But we have to move fast."
The four of them hopped into the longboat and sailed away, hovering way above the Island, wanting to be out of sight of those blasted pirates.
"There! That's their hide out," Rayn pointed out, gesturing for Jim to sail on down. He didn't like taking orders from this new kid, but he was the only one who knew the Island heavily.
They snuck in the way Rayn and Nova had escaped, the tunnels not even tampered with, like they'd scoped this area.
"Rayn," Nova spoke up quietly, "Are you the only one who knows of this area?"
"Yep," Rayn answered simply, giving her no explanation.
Finally, they reached the room they'd kept Nova in, the tank now shattered to pieces and water marks all over the concrete floor. Nova was hesitant in going back in, but knew she had. She bent down and carefully searched through the glass.
"This isn't getting me anywhere," she grumbled.
"The shards are too sharp," Stav said, the glass not having an effect on him.
Nova's hand sparked, scales covering it. She did the same to other. Then she began searching more vigorously. Finally, right by the broken tank was the necklace. It was a small blue shell with her initials in elegant cursive. Wiping it carefully on her shirt, she placed it over her head and on her shoulders, where it belonged.
"I know ya'd come back," said a familiar, evil voice. They whipped their heads around to face a man with dirty blond hair like Rayn's, though is features were much older and more tired.
"Dad, look. Just let 'em go. This fight is pointless-"
"Don't talk to me, heathen!" his dad roared, shocking them all. What father referred to their own son like that?
Jim, who had a rough spot where fathers go, crunched his fist angrily the man.
"Come here, little sunmaid. You don't want your precious friends and my BETRAYING son to get hurt, do you?" The man was feeding on her emotions, mainly her guilt. Jim knew enough about Nova to realize her next move before she made it.
He held a hand out, keeping her from moving.
"We can handle ourselves, thanks," Jim growled, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh?" The man looked between Jim and Nova several times before the story sunk in for him. "I see what's going on here. The sumaid's gotta little boyfriend? How sweet. Well, boyfriend, there are other fish in the sea, if you know what I mean!" The man laughed at his poorly judged joke, no one else but the two lackeys he'd brought along laughing with him.
Jim only cringed, growing frustrated and angry with this game. He slowly pulled a flintlock from his back pocket and fired, hitting the bigger lackey. The man flew back, shocked and hurt by the blast. Stav and Ruse also pulled out their weapons, Stav turning his arm into a gun, Ruse holding a flintlock of his own.
"Alright, hold on. Hold your fire now." Rayn's father stepped forward, and Stav shot a warning blast at him. The man stopped in his tracks. "We don't need to hurt anyone now, do we?"
"I hope not," Rayn muttered. Nova glanced at him. He looked pained by this whole situation.
This was his father. The man was messed up, angry, and a gigantic jerk, but the man raised this boy. Of course he'd feel an ounce of guilt about all this.
"Hold on," Nova said, forcing Jim to lower his firearm.
"Nova, don't-"
"I'm not," she said, looking at him solemnly. "But you're right, we don't. So let us all go. All of us."
"After all the trouble I went to look for your kind!" the man boomed, stomping one foot irritably. "I spent my entire life, left my own wife, abandoned all responsibility because for me, this was living. This was what life meant!" He punched his standing lackey in the gut, causing him to double over. "I HAVE GONE THROUGH TOO MUCH LITTLE GIRL!" His eyes were an angry red now, and his shape began to change. His arms grew more muscle, and through his shirt came another set of arms. He grew twice his original size and had to bend over menacingly just so he wouldn't completely go through the roof.
"Why?" she whispered to herself. "Why do I bother being a negotiator, really?"
Jim grabbed her hand and switched his flintlock out for a pocket knife. He lunged toward their enemy and pressed the knife into his ankle. The beast growled loudly, the entire room shaking. "Come on!" He led the way out of the room, pulling out his gun once more. They ran through the large building, which now seemed never-ending while being chased, and out through the tunnels, their longboat destroyed.
"Oh no!" Nova squeezed Jim's hand, who held hers just as tightly.
"CRAP!" Ruse cursed. "Now I'm not getting my deposit back."
"Yoo hoo!" they heard above them, a smile crossing over Ruse's face.
"Ah, sis, I knew you'd come through for us!"
"You know me: perfect timing." She winked and motioned for Helena to lower the longboat. They gathered inside, Helena and Charlotte confused by the newcomer, but not questioning it. "Take her away, girlfriend!"
"I told you not to call me that!" But Lena obeyed, pressing the lever and flying away.
Now they were back at the Academy, including Rayn.
"Do you want some help getting home?" Nova asked him. They'd gotten a long-needed shower and she was dressed in fresh pajamas, her hair in a loose ponytail that ran down her back. "I know you want to get back to your dad."
They sat in the girls' lounge inside the dorms, drinking some type of bitter, warm beverage that almost resembled tea. The television was on, but no one was watching it.
"Nah. I mean, I do want to, but I wanna let things calm down."
"Do you think they followed us?" Ruse asked, bringing up the question they'd been avoiding.
Everyone was contemplative awhile before Nova finally said, "No. I strongly believe they didn't. No offense, but I don't find your father that strategic."
"He's not," Rayn said, shrugging. "He wanted me to be the brains behind everything." Everyone raised defensive eyebrows at him. "I obviously wasn't part of that last bit. It didn't work, right?"
This caused a short round of giggles.
They went to bed, Nova and Jim finally left alone like they wanted.
"Sorry our little vacation didn't turn out as you wanted," she said quietly, holding her glass though now her drink had gone cold.
Jim chuckled, taking the mug from her hand and setting it on the coffee table, then he leaned close to her, not close enough that anyone would suspect anything, but close enough that only she could hear him. Looking her dead in the eye, he said, "It wasn't ruined, Nova. It was just another adventure. When I'm with you, honestly, there's no such thing as boring."
"Strange," said Nova, smiling sweetly. "I've always thought the same of you."
They remained staring at each other, their eyes searching the other's for something they wouldn't dare say. Then the clock struck midnight and they were shocked out of their stupor. Her face was a bright red, and he ran a hand through his hair.
"We're complicated," Jim said simply.
"I know," Nova answered shortly.
"I better get to bed." He waved good-bye before hobbling away, heading back to his dorm.
As he reached his door, a large figure stood beside it, smoking a cigarette. His initial thought was it had to be Rayn's father. He pulled out his flintlock and pointed it.
"Hey, hey, Jimbo!" The man hopped into the light, a familiar, large smile on his face. "Still don't know how to pick your fights, do ya?"
"Silver?"
A/N: OMG TWISTATION. :ooooo I was waiting to bring Silver back. And how inopportune for Jim: his leg is still busted up. What a shame ;P
