Chapter Five
T'Nalia's face was a darker blue filled with concern for Jimmy, and she couldn't help but feel guilty, and while she analyzed the material of his suit with a special computer, she wanted to make sure to design a suit to properly dispose of his semen. When T'Nalia was concerned about something, her face turned a little darker. It was the way Dorxains showed dismay or if they were flustered over something. Making a better uniform for Jimmy wasn't only for him, but for her because she enjoyed his company on a sadistic level. His ways drove her crazy, but it was the kind of crazy that made her feel alive, and she didn't want to give that up. She didn't want him confined to his hovel, and only seeing him through a glass. She didn't want him spending the next three months of travel in his room because he'd grow bitter and depressed. Anybody would go mad if they had to spend four months in a hovel; it would be tantamount to solitary confinement.
T'Nalia believed Jimmy and her were destined to be married; but when it came to them having children, she was at a complete loss on how that would work. Every minute since he told her all those things, she opened her heart to the possibility that they would one day marry. Unfortunately, she still wasn't ready to tell him about the Yellow Lantern ring. In some ways, she felt like Jimmy already knew she had the ring, but he wasn't saying anything about it. He had more patience than anybody when waiting for T'Nalia to tell him the truth.
Suddenly the computer returned the kind of material that made his suit, and it was the same material that aligned the warp core, and with the help of the material replicator in the engine room, she'd be able to make him a uniform. It made sense that it was the same material used on the warp core because without that material, it would radiate the entire ship. And Jimmy had said that he would radiate the entire ship if he wasn't covered in the stuff. He said that his entire room where he grew up was equipped with the material, so he could relax without his clothes.
The material replicator was a large machine that took up the majority of the far wall in the engine room. There were twenty different kind of chemical containers attached to the machine, and depending on what she wanted, the chemicals mixed together in order to make the compound she needed. It was possible for her to make gold bars with the machine, but that was highly prohibited, and when the Doraxian inspectors audited the machine, they would know the captain of the ship allowed for one of the replicators to be misused. It was used to replicate quite a few items on a star ship. Most of the ships in the Doraxian fleet had a replicator, including her smaller ship. All she had to do was tell the replicator what she needed, and it would generate it in a matter of minutes. Some of the flight officers in the academy discussed making food with the replicators, and from what they said, it was pretty tasty.
So the replicator made the material for her, and she used her rudimentary sewing skills, and made him a uniform. She purposely placed a tube like pouch in the uniform that allowed for him to climax in it, unhook it, and dispose of it properly. It took about three hours to make the pants and the shirt, and it was enough to cover him completely. She laughed for a second, and thought she was a little crazy. She never thought when she first met him that she would be making him a suit, and she never thought she'd be using her ring to give him his first sexual experiences. When she finished with the suit, it looked almost like the suit that he already had, but with a few more pockets on it. She tried to use her ring to help her clean up the mess she made in the engine room, but it was now completely drained. She thought that was odd because she had a charge before she used it with Jimmy. It appeared that his special gift drained her ring, and now she would have to charge it as soon as possible.
Once she thoroughly looked over the suit to ensure there weren't any flaws, she ran, not walked to see Jimmy. She only did a visual inspection because her ring was drained. She thought about using her palm computer, but she decided against it. She planned on making him at least three other suits so he didn't have to wear the same one all the time. She didn't expect him to wear the same suit for the next three months, and if it wasn't for the powerful septic system, he wouldn't be able to take a shower in the ship. He had a small shower, industrial strength shower in his bay for people infected with a major contaminant. When he awoke, he told T'Rolo the specifications of what he needed, and he got it for him as soon as possible.
"Look, Jimmy?" She said with a huge smile. Holding the suit up for him to see, he was wide-eyed and happy. She was happy too because was scared she wouldn't be able to do it. She walked over to the door, and then said, "Go to the other side of the room."
"Pass it to me," he said. Running to the other side of the room, she threw it to him. "There."
"What's wrong with your ring?" He asked with a muddled look on his face. He picked up the pants, and slid them on his body. He turned around and around, and said, "Nice."
"My ring's drained, JImmy," she said. She walked up to the glass, and asked, "What are you doing?"
He laughed while he looked down at his pants, and he was using his supervision on the clothes. "I trust you," he said with a straight face. He looked more serious than anytime in their relationship. "I trust you more than anybody."
'Okay," she said, "But I did check for any holes."
"I know. I know. I trust you so much that I'm ensuring that when I step out of this room that you and everybody else will be protected," he said, "I do this every day, especially after a mission."
"How did I do?" She asked.
'Incredible," he said, "Terry paid thousands of dollars for my suits."
She sat on her cot for a moment, and Jimmy came out of his room, and sat next to her. They weren't touching or anything like that, but he was about as close as allowed. He had complete trust in her handy work once he viewed the material over with his vision. "I have to check the material as close as possible because an accidental contamination ends in death too."
She was leaning forward, and looking down at the ground. "In a minute, I have to charge my ring," she said with an uncomfortable grin, "It's weird without my power."
"I'd give my powers up in a heartbeat," he said with a smile. "Well, I'll give the power up that keeps me from being able to hold you while you sleep. That's my dream," he said smiling. "It's a huge dream."
She smiled. "You asked me not to ruin last night for you?" She asked. She looked over at him for a second. Her hands were clasped together, and then she asked, "What did last night mean to you?"
He sat back on the cot, and thought for a moment. He didn't say anything for what seemed like an hour. In any case, it was a long pause that nearly drove T'Nalia insane. "Every event in my life pales by comparison," he said. She had never seen him so serious. "It was so good. It was better than the first time I flew through the air."
"Oh, Jimmy. I'm nothing special," she said with an uncomfortable smile. "I don't want to start a fight, but wouldn't any old snaggletooth girl have made you happy?" She looked over at him for a moment, and he wasn't smiling at all. She knew she had offended him on some level, and that wasn't what she wanted to do.
"Quit belittling yourself," he snapped, "I have taste by the way. You may be Doraxian, but I know pretty when I see pretty." He paused for a second, and shook his head in disbelief. "Vivian, my father's girlfriend's sister is very pretty, and you're prettier than her, so I feel lucky." Jimmy grimaced. "I get the pretty girl, and it's upsetting when you don't see it."
She looked straight ahead for a second, and whispered, "Thank you, Jimmy."
"You're pretty without any make up," he said, "Think about that for a second. I mean I'm in love with the Blue Ghost. That's huge. Real huge." He walked back into his room, and said, "You should go charge your ring because the Blue Ghost will be needed."
She stood to her feet, watched him close the door to his hovel, and she gave him a kind of wave goodbye. Feeling uneasy about things, she walked slowly down the hallway. It bothered her that she was his only experience with a woman, and it was probably wrong for her to monopolize all his time. In some ways, she felt he needed more life experiences before being so serious. She remembered the look he had on his face when he climaxed, and it was love. At first, she thought he was just saying things, but she saw the love in his face. It was palpable. But if she walked up to him, and said that they should slow down a bit, he'd be inconsolable. It wasn't her bragging, but she could just tell because his eyes lit up every time he saw her. Besides, she was only speculating, and didn't have any intentions of calling off the relationship. It just wasn't going to happen, at least not in her mind. She went out of her way just to make him a suit that could not only protect her and all the people on the ship, but allow for him to ejaculate in it without causing a bio hazard. She laughed. "That's not funny," she whispered.
She walked into her room, and sat on the edge of her bed for a moment. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she tied it off, and then stood to her feet. Holding her ring hand high into the air, she chanted, "Poverty brings darkness! Wealth Brings light! As long as the customer has money, the Lanterns will fight." A green lamp appeared out of nowhere, and when she placed her fist inside of the Lantern Lamp, it asked for money.
The Lantern Lamp said, "It takes six gold coins to charge your ring."
"But I only have a ten," she said in a condescending voice.
"I don't give back change," the Lantern Lamp said as a matter of factly.
"So, I would lose four coins?" She asked in an inquisitive manner.
"It is what it is," The Lantern Lamp replied. It seemed indifferent to her concerns about being ripped off.
"That sucks!" She exclaimed. "I mean really."
"You knew the deal," The Lantern Lamp said.
She reluctantly put her ten dollar coin in the slot, and then said, "This is a rip off. I'm going to complain."
"Oh, get over yourself, Lantern," the Lantern Lamp said, "Quit acting like you're the first to complain. Baby!"
"You're flirting with me now?" She asked.
"You wish," the Lantern Lamp said, "Cheap, bitch!" The Lantern Lamp disappeared, and it left T'Nalia upset over its rudeness. She had heard that many of the batteries had attitudes, but she didn't realize it was that bad. Since the Lanterns had been around for thousands of years, it was probably a waste of time to complain. She had plenty of money, and the two bars of gold a month for a reserve Lantern was plenty, but she didn't want to lose four gold coins. She thought that was insane, and every time she thought about it, she wanted to call up the Lantern Corp, and complain.
She stood in the middle of the room, and relaxed for a moment after the spat with the Lantern Lamp. It was how she moved past the Lantern Lamps' disrespect. The Lamp lived in a special place in the sixth dimension, and she pulled it out whenever she had to charge her ring. She laid back on her bed, and thought about life back on Doraxia. She dreamed about spending some time on the mountains outside of her village, and when she used to run for miles at a time. The air was so warm, and she loved the rich rays of the Doraxian's suns beating against her skin. For nearly two days, the ship hadn't moved an inch, and she was afraid that it would be an additional month before she took Jimmy up the Glassco mountains so he could see the beauty of her world. It was nothing more majestic than the Glassco Mountains, and she couldn't wait to return.
When she headed back to her cot in front of Jimmy's hovel, Prea Priot, T'Rolo's assistant was talking to Jimmy, and T'Nalia was heated. She walked up to her, and asked, "Why are you here?" It was obvious to everybody that she thought she had a monopoly on Jimmy's attention.
"Oh. Just wanted to tell you that we're taking off in two hours," she said. She had the biggest smile on her face, and it frustrated T'Nalia. "By, Jimmy. Nice talking to you."
"Bye," Jimmy said with a smile.
T'Nalia watched her the whole time as she walked down the hallway, and she actually had the nerve to look back, and say bye to him one more time. T'Nalia was so jealous that she had to lay down for a second. With the evil Lantern Lamp and Priot flirting with Jimmy, she wanted to scream. She didn't know why she was so angry over Prea being flirtatious with Jimmy, but she didn't want anybody encroaching on her relationship with him. Prea was a fast girl from Glassco University, and she had a reputation with everybody, and she knew if Jimmy's powers weren't deadly to life, she'd be all over him. It was obvious from the way she talked to him.
"She's nice," Jimmy said.
"I know you didn't!" T'Nalia screamed.
"Didn't what?" Jimmy asked. He had a look of confusion on his face, and his countenance changed completely.
"You like her?" She asked.
"You're being silly," Jimmy said, "She was only here for a few minutes."
"Then why do you think she's nice?" She asked.
"I said she seems nice," he explained. "You're acting all jealous when I eat, sleep, and breath you."
"I'm sorry, Jimmy," she said, "Just ready to get back home."
"It's okay," he said.
When the ship moved past the dead Parallax, T'Rolo called T'Nalia into his office to berate her about her relationship with Jimmy. There were plenty of Doraxian in relationships with other worlders, but T'Nalia's ascetic sect of people wouldn't approve. They were an elite class of Doraxians who set the standard of the entire planet. Her father was high up in the order, and a very wealthy man, and he would more likely than not have a problem with the boy.
"Do you know what you're doing?' He asked. He looked her in the eyes. "Our order frowns upon interspecies relationships."
"I didn't mean to fall in love with him," she said in a soft voice. "I tried to tell you that I needed time away from him. It was because I was falling for him."
"So this powerful creature can love?" He asked. He had a look of disbelief on his face.
"More than anything," she said, "He loves so much, and it's wonderful to be loved by him. I can feel his love without him even touching me."
"Amazing," he said, "We've collected his stool, urine, hair follicles, and everything tangible that we can," he said with a smile. "It's good to know that he loves."
"Not only that," she said, "He cares about other creatures large and small. He goes through great lengths not to expose people to his glimmer."
"I don't know what kind of relationship you guys can have," he said. "If you're serious, you will have to tell your father at some point."
"It's best to hold off for now," she said. Her countenance was serious. She grimaced a bit. "The ship is like a box, and I want to find out more about him before I risk being disowned by my family."
"You might realize that you don't love him once you're back with civilization," he said.
She laughed. "My love for him is pretty much cemented. I have no doubts about that," she said, "Things are complicated for reasons I can't say."
She stood up, and walked out of his office because she didn't want to talk about the Yellow Lantern ring. It was the fact that he was the Destroyer that scared her. Regardless of how she felt about him, he was destined to be an enemy of the Lantern Corp. She had a choice to make, and if she chose him, she would have to give up her ring.
"Where're you going?" He asked.
"I need to check with the Lantern Corp, and then see Jimmy," she said. She walked over to the door, and looked back at T'Rolo. "He's probably hungry."
Pulling out her palm computer, T'Nalia felt intuitive and studious, and the need to find out more about the three Yellow Lanterns she killed on Thoraxia. Jimmy had taken up the majority of her attention, and even though she didn't mind it, the three Yellow Lanterns wanted to eradicate the population of Thoraxia for a reason. Many aliens have attacked other worlds, and usually when that happened, it was for rapine, or in some cases, the complete eradication of humanoid life for repopulation with their own. If the Yellow Lanterns wanted Thoraxia, then it probably had an atmosphere close to their planet, but she wasn't sure. But if the Yellow Lanterns wanted to take over Thoraxia, and they were working for an alien government, then it would mean they'd be back, and maybe with an army the next time.
"Computer, how many slaves have the Man-bots taken from Thoraxia?" She asked the palm computer. It floated in front of her while she sat on the edge of her bed.
"Hold on, Lantern," the computer replied. Red dots flashed on the face of the computer. "Three million two hundred thousand."
T'Nalia looked surprised for a moment, and immediately said "I thought the max was two million."
The computer replied, "The additional slaves were due to a penalty placed on Thoraxia ten years ago."
"Computer, can you give me some leads on why the Three Yellow Lanterns attacked Thoraxia?" She asked.
"Not only leads, but the exact reason," The computer said. "Their planet is called Brion-Noir, and they killed it with Gamma weaponry that stopped their planet's core from rotating."
"How long ago?" She asked.
"Approximately a century ago," the computer said, "It's estimated they have twenty years left."
"Why did they use Gamma weapons? Aren't those outlawed?" She asked.
"They didn't," the computer said, "The Poradia invasion force that attacked them did, and it destroyed the planet."
"Do we have something that can jumpstart their core?" She asked.
"No. You have somebody who can start it," the computer said.
"Who?" She asked.
"Jimmy. He's the Destroyer," the computer said.
"But that's with the Yellow Lantern ring," she snapped.
"If you love the boy, then why are you choosing to lessen him?" The computer asked.
"The Yellow Lanterns are evil," she snapped.
"They're not the ones enslaving worlds," the computer said, "The boy has the morals needed to guide the universe in a kinder direction."
"How do you know?" She asked.
"By the simple fact that he has all the power he has, and doesn't use it to get his way," the computer said, "He's not manipulating the function of the crew or the ship. Could you be that humble with his powers?"
"Maybe," she said.
"It takes a special kind of person to dispatch a being like Parallax, but treat you with gentleness and kindness," the computer said.
"You make a good point," she said.
"Just remember that four billion people are waiting on your decision to let the boy be the god he was meant to be."
Later that morning…
T'Nalia wandered back down to Jimmy's hovel, and to her dismay, Prea was sitting on her cot waiting for Jimmy to finish his meal. She stood in the middle of the hallway carrying his Madi Meat and pip egg sandwich, and she was kind of heart broken that he let somebody else give him food. Prea sat on her cot with her cute smile, wide light blue eyes, and long girly girl hair, and it made her so mad that she could barely contain herself.
"You're dismissed, Prea," T'Nalia said, "I am back on the clock."
"It's okay," she said with a huge smile.
"Listen, I am charged with watching him," she snapped.
"You make it sound like a job," Prea said, "I enjoy Jimmy's company."
"If you don't get your narrow ass out of my area, I am going to show you the full power of my Lantern ring." T'Nalia walked over to Prea, and the girl took off down the hallway.
"I guess you got this," Prea said peeking around the corner.
"Leave!"
"You're so jealous," Jimmy said. He put his mask on so T'Nalia could walk into the room, and he grabbed the sandwich from her.
"Haven't you eaten?" She asked.
Jimmy showed her the other plate of food, and he hadn't touched it. "I was fake eating it."
"Why?" She asked.
"I only trust you giving me food," he said, "And only you."
T'Nalia smiled. "I will step out so you can eat," she said, "Sorry about being so jealous." She grabbed Prea's plate of food, and left out of his hovel, and she felt good that he didn't eat her food. It was petty. She knew it was small minded of her to be so jealous, but everything was crazy. She knew she was wrong for withholding the ring from him. It was on her mind every since the ring came into her life. In some ways, it felt like a test that she was destined to fail. She thought about taking the ring, shooting it deep into space, but in the end, it would be futile. He was destined to be the Destroyer, and no matter what she had to say about it, it was destined to happen.
When she tossed Prea's plate of food in the trash, she approached her. She had her hands on her hips, and confronted T'Nalia. "I can't believe you're acting so jealous," she snapped, "All he talks about is you."
"I love him," T'Nalia said, "If you didn't know, now you know."
"Oh. I know," she said, "Everybody knows, and nobody is trying to get in the way of that." T'Nalia leaned against the hallway wall with her arms folded. "You're the Blue Ghost, the hero of Glassco, and your jealousy is unbecoming. Every Glassco citizen loves you including me."
"I'm sorry, Prea," she said softly. "I'm just under a lot of pressure." She walked off down the hallway, and headed to her quarters.