When he came to, he was leaning on a white cot bed at the ship's med bay. He squinted at the harsh light flooding his eyes. He had thought it would be well equipped like he was taught in school, but the only things present in the small room were two beds that were so close a person could barely fit standing between them.
True, this wasn't a luxury ship. It must be one of the downsides of living in the known space's outer edge. The mid world must be different, he guessed, even their shuttles must look like luxury ships compared to theirs.
Before he could wallow more in the injustice of it all, the door whooshed open. Jomaira stopped at the entrance, head turned away from the door, eyes searching for something beyond Yahya's field of vision. When their eyes met, she paused for a moment, blinking slowly. Just before Yahya threw a joke to break the deafening silence, she rushed to him, her knee connecting with the side of the bed.
“Are you okay?” She asked between a grimace, her hand rubbing at her aching leg.
Yahya snorted. He nodded, wincing as the movement sent a flash of pain at the back of his head.
“Easy.” Jomaira eased him back against the hard bed. “You lost consciousness.” Her voice quivered. “I thought that you-” she stopped, biting her lower lip. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself. “You wouldn't wake up,” she continued. “You were convulsing, and you wouldn't wake up. No matter what they gave you, it didn't seem to work.” She blinked a few times, as if chasing away images from her mind.
Yahya smiled apologetically. “I'm okay, now. Sorry for scaring you.”
She nodded. She covered her eyes with the back of her hand to wipe the stray tears that had escaped the confine of her eyes. She looked up at the ceiling, blinking at harsh fluorescent light. “Don't do it again.” She sniffed.
Yahya nodded, ignoring the dull pain at his movement. “I promise.”
She handed him a bottle of pills. “Take this before every hyperspace jump,” she instructed.
She frowned. “It's odd. You should normally be able to handle it.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Jomaira clipped her mouth shut. She knew how sensitive that matter was to him. How he shied away from his heritage. She bit her lip. But before she could offer him an apology, he shook his head.
“It's fine,” he said softly, smiling. “I'll just…be careful next time.”
She nodded.
He was surprised too. With his luck, he was the only Araichian who couldn't handle space travel. It was funny, in a twisted way. His mother had always insisted he was special.
‘I guess I am after all special.’ He snorted.
“Come on. We should leave before they start asking questions.”
“Yeah.”
While Jomaira's powers were useful, they only lasted up to a couple of hours at most.
She helped him up. He signed in relief as he was still wearing his shoes. He didn't feel like bending, his stomach was protesting his movements already.
They made their way to the shuttle that would take them to the surface. The ship was empty, the other passengers already left for quite a time if the cleaning droids were halfway done with their job. It was a wonder the surface control didn't send anyone to see what was delaying them. They strapped themselves in and soon, the shuttle system was relaying its usual drill; travel safety, the papers required at the shuttle port, a quick introduction of the planet… But Yahya paid no attention to any of it. Instead, his eyes were glued to the shuttle window, where the planet surface was slowly coming into view.
Just like Andor, Ghatos was a desert planet. But unlike Andor, Ghatos had two oceans separating the main continent from the frozen poles. Yahya watched as the two white patches of ground disappeared as they approached the surface. The usual red and brown color of sand dunes overtaking the shuttle's view screen.
They slithered through the docking port and mingled with the leaving passengers of another shuttle.
They had eight hours till their next hyperspace travel. They would be in transit to two other planets before they would get to Marrakech. While they could hide in their respective shuttle waiting for takeoff, it wouldn't hurt to wander around the city and see the planet's preparation for the Unification day festivities.
While there was a direct flight to Marrakech, they thought it better to make a little detour on the way. Better see the world now than wait for another far-fetched opportunity again.
While Jomaira had often traveled with her family, Yahya had never once set foot outside of Andor. It was a chance in a lifetime to discover other cultures, especially when his mom would certainly ground him for life once he was back.
He better make the most of it.
The streets were crowded with visitors strolling in front of the stalls filled with miniatures of the capitol painted in the empire's colors, black and red. At the center of the square, a bigger miniature of the citadel loomed over the government buildings, the empire flag planted at its top.
Many of the populace were hanging decorations and painting the buildings's facade in strips of red and black. It looked weird and to some degrees, quite somber.
On the unification day's celebrations, other colors were frowned upon. For a whole week, all the planets looked like copies of each other, forgoing their distinct cultures and colors.
Andor was one of the few exceptions. No one cared for a small planet in the far corner of the empire, bordering the unknown regions. Yahya thought they were on the lucky side. The red and black would look horrendous coupled with the never ending sand.
They meandered around the streets, following the crowd of visitors. Some were already singing popular patriotic songs while dancing, their movements more like a herd of dromedary trying to sidestep a community of ants than a simple dance.
It was so crowded that Yahya wondered how the workers got anything done. The celebrations were due in a couple of days but the decorations were still only partially finished. There was also a heavy military presence patrolling the city alongside the city guards, Yahya noted with a frown. While the planet was a bit far from the Outer-Rim, it was systems away from anywhere near the Mid-Rim. There was no need for such precautions.
Yahya trudged along, slithering through the crowd. He sidestepped a group of Ghatonian teenagers who by the looks of it had also skipped classes to be here.
Jomaira was squeezed next to him for fear of getting separated. But unlike him, her eyes weren't searching for gaps between the crowd to get to the other side of the street, she was gaping at the stalls littering the long of the way. Bags and other accessories were in full display, right next to the citadel's models. Her eyes danced from one stall to the next. At one point, Yahya had to steer her away from an incoming cargo transport.
“Look,” she said as she dragged him towards a stall that sold hairpins. She cradled one with a phoenix in flight adorning it and fastened it at the side of her hair. It clashed with her dark blue wavy hair, making her dark curls stand out.
“How is it?” She asked, her eyes glinting.
She always had an unhealthy obsession with phoenixes and legendary beasts, collecting all and everything that had to do with them. He still remembered in middle school when she had professed in her career of choice that she would grow to be a phoenix tamer, despite their teacher stating that phoenixes didn't exist.
There was no point in asking, she had already decided to buy it.
“It's good.” Yahya nodded.
Jomaira beamed and turned to the merchant. But as she was handing him the credits to pay for the purchase, she stilled. Her head swerved towards him so fast he winced at the pain she must be feeling. But the look on her eyes kept him from voicing his concern. Her eyes were wide with terror. Her lips trembled as she tried to speak but closed them with a click.
“What's wrong?” He asked, concerned.
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it once again. She tightly grabbed his hand and dragged him away. He barely had time to toss some credit to the merchant ignoring her call to get their change. Jomaira dragged him to an alley, eyes looking fearfully behind her.
“What's wrong?” He asked again. “What happened?” He had never seen Jomaira act as such, so afraid and agitated.
“There's a bomb!” she whispered, her voice catching at the end.
“What?” Yahya said, dumbfounded.
She looked back at the crowd, her eyes searching before she turned to Yahya. “Back there, I had used my powers to see if the merchant was trying to swindle us.”
Ah, Yahya nodded, she had often used her mind reading powers for such. They were quite helpful. Saved them hundreds of credits.
“Someone-” She swallowed. “Someone bumped into me and I accidentally read his mind. He has placed bombs all over the city.” Her arms flailed next to her in agitation.
Yahya stilled. He gawked at her, desperately waiting for her to laugh and proclaim it was all a joke. That she was teasing him. But when Jomaira looked fearfully back towards the crowd, Yahya sighed, his shoulders sagging.
Bombs?
What were they supposed to do?
All he ever wanted was to get to Marrakech!
“We should tell the imperial soldiers.”
There were many soldiers scattered around the city. They should just go and report the matter to them. They were better equipped to deal with terrorism threats.
“How?” Jomaira asked exasperated. “They'll hold us into custody!” Her eyes widened in horror. “Oh my god! My parents! What will I tell them?”
Yahya took hold of her hand and dragged her away from the alley, eyes scanning for a soldier nearby. “You'll use your powers on them, they won't need to know who informed them.”
“Right!” Jomaira nodded. “My powers!” But she still looked afraid and more agitated the further they navigated through the crowd.
They found a soldier not far from the stall Jomaira had taken the hairpin. He was standing alert, eyes scanning the crowd.
When Jomaira touched his hand, he turned narrowed eyes at her. Her eyes bore into his but his expression didn't change to the slack one, the proof that his mind was influenced.
“What is it?” He snapped, his eyes searching between Jomaira and Yahya before darting back to the crowd.
“Excuse me.” Jomaira's voice cracked.
He looked back but still his expression didn't change. It dawned on Yahya with horror.
Jomaira's powers weren't working.
He either was immune to her powers or Jomaira was too stressed to use them properly. In the years he had known her, Yahya had yet to see her powers not work on someone. It was probably the latter.
Yahya gently grabbed Jomaira's other hand and whispered. “It's okay, focus.”
Jomaira glanced at him, her eyes were bright with unshed tears.
“It's going to be fine,” he reassured her.
She swallowed and nodded.
The officer's scowl had deepened but before he could snap at them again, Jomaira turned her eyes at him, and in a blink of an eye, his expression turned slack and his hand relaxed in her grip.
“There are bombs in the city. You need to evacuate the people,” she whispered. The officer nodded slowly.
“Oh, and, you never saw us,” she added as an afterthought. She then let go of his hand, allowing Yahya to drag her away into the sea of people.
Author’s note:
Hi guys, thanks for reading! :)
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