Chapter Ten

Femka felt like she was trapped inside an ever-changing dream land. She could see the events that recently occurred happening again in her mind as she remembered them. At the same time her dreams would take her back home to Earth. She would be with her mom and Alexander. He and she would go about driving or something, going somewhere they've been wanting to go for awhile. Alexander did like road trips to other places after all. He was always driving his car. When her dreams didn't focus around her memories of home they created new ones. But they were so long. They felt eternal but they constantly were switching from new dream to new dream and occasionally picking up into another dream that already happened. There was a point where Femka was walking in a city that looked like Meridian in her current dream. The background was still warped and blurred. The sounds around her were muffled and every step she took changed the scenery around her in some way. It was turning into night and the sun went away in an instant. Everything around her turned into blackness. Femka felt like she was in a place between sleep and being awake. She was waiting for this moment for what felt like forever.

"I'm asleep," she said to herself. "No, my dream's finished. I know this feeling. Why can't I wake up? It feels like I'm stuck…"

Her body flinched as her eyes opened. She was paralyzed. Her brain was shut off. Her body was still locked in sleep but her mind was awake and her eyes glanced around the room. She was back at the garage in Ratchet's room. They made it to Igliak safely in spite of everything. The area was dimly lit from the light coming into the room by the rising sun. It was the crack of dawn. She continued to scan the room with her opened eyes. Her clothes had been changed into something lighter than the other outfit she remembered she was wearing. When her eyes drifted to the left she noticed an intravenous had been placed in her arm pumping some liquid through the tiny tube from a bag that hung by the bed. Her eyes went to the other direction and looked at her backpack on the floor on the other side of the bed. They must've been able to go back to Pokitaru and gather up their things. Femka finally let her eyes return to view her body. She felt like she was somewhat propped up. She tried to wriggle her toes but she could feel the struggle to wake her body up build up. Her eyes shut tight until finally a flinch. She let out a small gasp and turned her head to see the room completely now. Her exposed feet curled their toes up once or twice just to get the feel. She sniffled her nose feeling much better than how she did before. Her sickness went away in the time she was asleep. That thought crossed her mind as well.

"How long have I been asleep?"

She scratched her eyes after a small yawn left her mouth. Her arms felt heavier than usual. Oh, she must've been out for awhile. Femka diverted her attention to the door that was open. She could hear movement on the outside in hallway. She watched the shadow grow closer until it entered the room. Ratchet ambled through the threshold carrying something in his hands that was similar the intravenous by the bed. He didn't that Femka was awake until he was closer to the bed. He hurried over with surprise but a smile on his face. Femka was just as happy to see him, if not more. She lifted up her arms to invite him to her small embrace. He gladly accepted gripping around her gently putting the items he had with him on the table next to the bed. After a moment his head lifted and his hand rested on her shoulder.

"Nice to see you finally awake."

"How long this time?" she grinned small.

"Over a week," he said after chuckling through his teeth. "We took you to a hospital when we came back here but there wasn't anything seriously wrong with you—you were just tired. So, Clank and I've been keeping an eye on you from home."

"That would explain all the equipment and my gown, and also the lack of strength." Her hand flexed and a sigh traveled out of her nose.

"You're more high-maintenance than my ship," he teased taking his hand away from her and replacing the bag on her IV with the new one he brought. "But I'm relieved you're alright."

"So am I."

Her eyes followed him as he finished his chore and sat down next to the bed on a stool. His ear flinched as a different expression formed on his face. He looked like he recalled something.

"I just remembered. You kept trying to tell me something back on Ipsin's ship. You said it was important. It's not too late is it?"

Femka blinked confusedly for a moment and tried to call to mind what he was speaking of. Her eyebrows lifted when she was able to remember.

"No, it's not too late…" Her face began to turn a light shade of red. "But…" She was silent for a second looking at her hands as the cupped together.

"But?"

"I've… I've been thinking a lot. About someone. And when I thought my life was flashing before my eyes I could tell you about it then." Femka stopped and sighed annoyed. "But… I can't tell you. Not right now. I'd like to be more… Can I tell you later?" She glanced over to him.

"Sure, you can tell me whenever you're ready to. But, is there anything you need until then?"

"I really need to go to the bathroom."

"That's probably a good place to start. Let me see your arm for a minute."

Femka extended her arm out to him and Ratchet took out the small needle that was under her skin. She winced at the pinch but it quickly went away. Her caretaker helped her out of bed slowly. When her feet touched the cold ground she wobbled for a moment and used Ratchet as a means of balancing herself properly. Her legs were weak but eventually were able to prop and support her body. She smiled at her friend for all the care he's been giving her and she slowly but surely made her way to the bathroom not too far from the room. She had been through Hell up until this point. It had been two weeks since she was on Pokitaru and that meant she had gone that long without bathing. The mere thought of not showering for such a long time made Femka shudder and cringe. She was resting in her own filth for more than seven days and it bothered the woman to no end. Femka was always a bit of a hygienic freak. As soon as she stepped inside the bathroom she undressed and took off her gown and necklace. After living in Ratchet and Clank's home for so long she was familiar with everything that surrounded her. She accepted it as her second home. For all she knew, it may be permanent. Femka let the hot water spill on her face. It felt good. She stood there for a while letting it wash her tiredness away—along with the disgust she felt all over her skin. She scrubbed the filth off of her and cleaned her hair. When she finished her showering rituals the relieved woman emerged from the bathroom with her things and a towel wrapped around her proceeding to the bedroom to change into something fresh and clean. She stood before the window as she put on her clothes and opened the shutter fully. Her eyes watched the sun behind all the buildings as it rose off the horizon. Her wet hair hung over her shoulders and down her back. She let out a small chuckle when her eyes squinted. She remembered her glasses were gone again. No surprise there. Femka stood there for a moment just thinking. She wondered if Ipsin was really gone or not and then not to mention her methods of getting home still didn't even exist.

"What now?" she thought. "Do I just live out my life here and forget about getting home? I can't just do that. Clank said before that in theory I could get home the same way I got here." She shook her head. "And that's the part that's basically impossible. I mean, my solar system may be in this universe, but where? And if it's not, how do we make something happen like it did to get me here and how can we make it take me to the right place?"

She remembered the stories that the two told her. The Dimensionator came to mind but it was long gone. Something like that would be pretty helpful, unfortunately like her method of home travel, it didn't exist either. Femka sighed deeply feeling like she hit a dead end.

"There's got to be some way. I'm determined. I can figure this out."

She watched the sun rise up further a little longer and left the room thinking it best to eat something. For the past week and a half she'd been getting nutrients through a small tube. Her tongue and stomach were craving something solid by now. The light from outside was beginning to brightly fill up each room of the garage—it was refreshing to see this place again. Femka let her feet take her to the kitchen. She was getting the hang off all the button work that turned the lights or other things on. Her finger flipped a switch to light up the area better and she dug around for something to eat and drink. Her eyes caught the blurry clock on the wall that read 6:48. It was pretty early but she slept so long it didn't quite feel like it to her. The girl mustered up a light meal to start her off ate away at it quickly guzzling down whatever she had gotten to drink. She was tempted to watch something on television but she recalled her comm-link was missing. She had Ratchet's before but after she fell unconscious she only assumed that he had it back again by now. Speaking of which, she knew it was almost seven in the morning, but she wondered where the mechanic went. Was he already at work? Femka left the kitchen not before putting her dirtied dishes into the sink and roamed about the garage—it helped with her leg muscles anyway. Femka was accurate about her assumption. When she peaked into the hanger, the duo was working on some ship. They were quite the early birds—at least compared to her. Femka seemed to enjoy sleeping in late. Before she let her presence be known, she left the area and went back to Ratchet's room. She found her sketchbook in her backpack and pulled it out to sift through her drawings in it. She managed to draw quite a lot so far that she was running out of pages. Nevertheless, she took her things and went back to the hanger sitting on one of the metal steps and began to draw what she saw. Femka wasn't too particular with drawing things like backgrounds and objects; she was more into drawing busts or people or cartoons, but she wanted to try something different anyway. The two noticed her sitting there some time later but didn't disturb her—she was in the moment. She wanted to draw the scenery and the two at work. Drawing a ship was turning out harder than she thought it would be. Femka's face scrunched together when she held her notebook out in front of her to critique her work.

"No." Her head shook disapprovingly.

She gave up on the picture and turned the page to start something else unrelated until her creative juices ran dry. Her fingers lifted up several pages of her sketchbook until she was looking back at some drawings before she came to Igliak. Some of the drawings were just silly—she liked those the best. Most of them were characters he made up for stories she had in her head or for role playing, something she did a little too much back home. She looked out to the two having a thought shatter her flight of imagination and stood up from her spot on the stairs motioning towards the men at work.

"Greetings, Miss Femka," the small robot welcomed. "It is good to see you awake."

"It's good to be awake," the woman smiled holding her sketchbook. "I was wondering, could I talk to you about something?"

"Certainly."

Femka looked at Clank and then to Ratchet who appeared to have his body half way inside the side of the ship he was doing maintenance on and then back to Clank again.

"It's about Reiggel galaxy."

"Yes?"

"Well, I was curious. Since Ipsin said he knew everything about Nerotrium, or at least claimed he did, do you think someone else in Reiggel would know about it well enough?"

"I am certain that there would be more than a few who understand its element. But why do you ask?" The shutters of his eyes spun and blinked.

"Okay. I think if I could find the right person and tell them about what happened to me, maybe they can help me get home don't you think?" She seemed optimistic.

"It is possible. But I know nothing of their galaxy or its people; I am sure the same goes for Ratchet. We are only familiar with Ipsin's species and we do not know what he even was, or what planet he came from."

"Maybe someone at the museum knows?"

"Hmm…" The little bot broodingly tapped his chin. "Then we shall inquire within."

"Great!" she wriggled in her spot with excitement. "Can we go now?"

"Miss Femka, I do not believe that the museum is even opened yet."

"But it could be opened by the time we get there."

"Your eagerness is reminiscent of someone I know…" Clank glanced back at his friend.

"So, then that's a yes?" Her smile remained ever bright.

"I will be waiting out front when you are ready."

Femka smiled happily holding her drawing pad up to her chest making a small squeak of delight and ran back inside. Ratchet took his head out of the compartment of the ship he'd been working on in time to see Femka's happy expression and giddily run back into the building.

"What's she so excited about?" he asked Clank taking off his gloves.

"We are going to the museum."

"Don't you think she's overreacting?" he perked a brow.

"It is not the museum she is excited to see. She would like to ask about Doctor Ipsin so she can find what his species is and where he is from. Miss Femka hopes to gain this knowledge so that she may visit his planet and potentially find a way home. She believes that there may be another who understands this Neroltrium and that they could possibly aid her if she explains her quandary."

"I guess that could work. Actually…" The Lombax pondered. "It's too bad Ipsin's friends were just as crazy as he was, otherwise I'd say ask them." His head shook.

"Either way, I am sure we will figure something out."

Clank began to exit the hanger to meet Femka out front. She was already prepared to go. She still only wished she had her glasses, those made her life much easier. Right now, however, she was focused on finding a way home. When she noticed Clank coming she put on her eager face and stood up straight raring to go. The small robot arrived at her side and they began their walk. Femka would have to rely on Clank's comm-link for language interpretation when it came time to speak with someone. The universe was a scarier place when you couldn't understand anyone. When they arrived at the great building the doors were closed. The opening hours still hadn't commenced, they had least ten more minutes. Until then, Femka sat herself firmly on the stoop of the museum and waited. A Markazian was approaching the building noticing the two sitting there. A strange look was on the woman's face. She didn't think people were this anxious to visit a place like this so early. Femka's eyes lit up when she noticed the woman casually ascending up the stairs.

"Oh, Miss!" she jumped up dragging Clank with her. "I have a question, please."

"Hm?" She turned around.

"Hi, um… I need some information about a former employee."

"Oh, I'm sorry but it's against regulations here to release personal information about our staff."

"Even if they quit?" she said with a quirky smile.

"Afraid so."

"Darn…" Femka sighed. "Thanks anyway…"

The two watched as the woman entered the museum and Femka sat back down on one of the steps with a heavy sigh.

"I am sure we will be able to obtain the information somehow," Clank said in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Yeah, but how?"

Femka sighed putting her chin on her palms and stared out to the city in front of her. Two men caught her attention as they started walking towards the museum entrance. They looked eerily familiar. Her eyes squinted to try and gain focus and then suddenly her eyes went wide.

"Clank!" she whispered. "Those guys! It's the two guys who attacked me in that alley." She stood up hastily. "I can't believe they have the nerve…"

"It would be best to stay away from them, Miss Femka."

"No way. I bet they know everything if they were in cahoots with that lunatic." Femka left her spot and started towards the two men. "Hey!" she yelled out and the two looked. "Yeah, you!"

Both men stopped in their tracks after recognizing the woman. Her hair first gave away her identity.

"Don't you move! I need to pick a bone with you two!"

"Wait, wait! If it's about that thing that happened in the alley, it wasn't our idea! Ipsin set us up to it and we weren't really gonna kill anyone!" one answered waving his hands in a panic.

"Yeah?" Femka scowled standing in front of the two aliens who were far taller than she was. "After all the stuff I've been through in the past month or so I don't think your excuses will get you out of harm's way. I need some information and if you don't give it to me I will beat the ever-loving-shit out of you."

The two stared at the short-fused woman before them and remembered what she did that night.

"Alright! Calm down! What do you need to know?" one said in fright.

"I need to know what species you are, where you came from and if there's anyone on your planet that knows about Neroltrium like Ipsin did. Talk."

"We come from the Reiggel galaxy from planet Sepria," the other answered. "We're called Remiliens. There was one guy that Ipsin always talked about—a mentor, I guess—who was teaching him about the Neroltrium. His name was Haden Marlow but because Neroltrium is illegal where we come from he was banished. We have no idea where to, though. Honest!"

"He is telling the truth," Clank said joining Femka's side.

"He'd better be…" She gave the man her stink eye.

"I am. But that's all we know. Marlow was banished years ago, about the same time that Ipsin was. He was a Remilien, too, but, word to the wise: if you do actually intend on going to Sepria, you'll find it to be very dangerous to talk about him or even difficult to talk period."

"Yeah, good luck," the other Remilien shrugged.

"Luck or not, I need to find him. Well, gentlemen, I appreciate your cooperation. I must bit thee farewell."

The two researchers stared at each other for a moment as Femka ran off on her way with the small robot that accompanied her.

"What is she up to?"

"You know what? I don't care anymore. I'm done with being curious. I'll stick to what I know."

"Isn't that kind of contradictory to our profession?"

"You know what I mean…"

The two men walked inside the museum to carry on with their life, while Femka and Clank, meanwhile, were headed back to the garage. Femka was more excited than earlier. She finally had some lead. All she needed to do was locate this Haden Marlow and interrogate him.

"No, not interrogate, ask questions, interview… He has to know something about dimensional-traveling via Neroltrium. If he doesn't, then maybe my story will jog his mind."

Femka continued her solitary, mental conversation until she arrived with Clank to the garage. She entered through the hanger running inside to find the mechanic to tell him the partially good news. She found him inside the main building about to leave almost running into him and causing a small startle between the two.

"Guess what?" Femka spoke with her eyes wide.

"…What?" the Lombax gave back the same expression.

"I think I potentially know how I can get home, or at least the way to helping me get home."

"Uh huh…"

"I talked to some guys and found out what Ipsin's species was—Remilien—and then I found out where he came from—planet Sepria—and a guy who could help me—Haden Marlow. But…"

"But?"

"I don't know where this Haden Marlow guy is." Femka's shoulders sank.

"How did you even get this information in the first place? And how do you know that this guy can even help you?"

"Well, I don't really know. And I got the information from the two guys who were with Ipsin that night in the alley…"

Femka's eyes bashfully looked away as she could feel Ratchet's judgmental stare.

"You know they could be lying to you."

"No, they weren't. Clank said they were telling the truth. And I believe it."

"Indeed, that is what I said," Clank replied walking past the two.

"Well, then what's your call?" the Lombax asked folding his arms.

"I want to go Reiggel and look for Haden Marlow starting on planet Sepria."

A small pause of silence lasted between them for a moment and Ratchet's eyes focused onto Femka as he sighed with a tilt of his head and smiled small for the benefit of the doubt.

"Okay, we'll go. But first I need to give you something before we work out the details."

He motioned with his finger for Femka to follow him. She did so wondering what he needed to give her. They entered another room that seemed to be full of computers and other assorted things—and especially junk. Ratchet grabbed some things off of a table and turned around to Femka presenting them to her.

"This is your new comm-link. Don't lose it." He took her hands and pressed it between them with his over top of them. "If you have to glue it to your hip, then do it. And…," his voice delayed handing her another item. "These are a new pair of glasses for you. If you have to staple these to your forehead, then do it. Next round's on you."

Femka smiled but looked down out of embarrassment putting her glasses on her face and securing her communicator to the belt she wore.

"Thank you…" Femka's voice was small.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured. "I'm pretty sure most of the things that happened to you were circumstantial anyway."

"Mm, story of my life." She shrugged and fiddled with a strand of her hair. "So…"

"Keep your shirt on, we'll go in a couple days. I've still got a few things to do around here."

"Sorry. I'm just excited." She laughed nervously.

"It's alright. I think I'd be too in your case," he smiled kindheartedly. "I need to get back to repairing that ship in the hanger. Stay out of trouble, Fem," he said patting her shoulder on his way out.

"I'll try."

Femka's head followed Ratchet until he was gone and she looked at the stone around her neck and fiddled with the gem looped onto it.

"To think I was happy to have this thing just because it looked pretty. If I didn't need you I'd chuck you out a window." Her eyes glared at the inanimate object as it glowed slightly with her dramatic stare.

Besides Femka talking to herself, the woman figured she'd spend her free time (until the fun began) relaxing and catching up on her independent studies of the Kyzilian language. Last time Femka had her lesson she was sure she was coming to a breakthrough. Why not continue? That's what she thought to herself after leaving the tech room and going to her usual spot in the living room and soon she picked up right where she left off. After about an hour of studying Femka looked at her papers and books and smiled crooked with a small sigh that came through her nose.

"It's silly of me to think like this," she thought, "but when I get home none of what I learned here will matter. I'm doing this for no real reason other than fun I guess. And when I'm home I won't see them again. It's really… upsetting me…"

The translator put down her writing utensil and folded her arms on the table placing her chin on top of them.

"But I'm so homesick it hurts. And at the same time I'm not… This place feels like home, too."