The Light Blue Jumper Read online

  I decided to be subtle. “How were your years in Military School?” I asked, as an opener.

  “Very good. I hope that question is not a reflection of my abilities?” he queried, following it with a punch in the gut.

  “That tickles! Not at all. I’m sure you were a star student. Did you find much time to socialise?” I asked, leading him in a certain direction.

  “Now I’m sure you’re passing judgment on my training. That sounds like a trick question,” he laughed and struck me around my head.

  I aimed a punch at his face, which he avoided quite easily due to his relative elevation. “No, no, Lieutenant, I was just trying to imagine your life as a young cadet. What were your interests? Who were your friends? And so forth.”

  “Ah. I was a loner, totally aloof from everyone. Lethal was probably my only friend there,” he said. I tried to dodge the next punch by nimbly stepping to the side. Unfortunately, as nimble as I was, Salaar was quicker. His blow made me rock backwards.

  Perhaps I was being too subtle. I tried to steer the conversation gently towards the Princess. “Any romantic entanglements while you were young and rash?” I asked, jabbing at his left side. He avoided my advance easily. He was really good at this!

  “None whatsoever,” he said, knocking me over with a flourish.

  “No inclinations even?” I grunted, heaving myself up.

  “There was one, now that you ask. But nothing came of it.” He indicated that we would be taking a break.

  Finally! I was making some headway. “Who? Who?” I asked, bouncing up and down. I made it a point not to clap. It was imperative that Salaar remained unaware of the extent of my interest in his personal life.

  “She was a lovely girl. Completely out of my league though.”

  “I am sorry to hear that, Lieutenant, although it does not come as a surprise.” His ghastly appearance was unfortunately enough to ensure that he may well have been the only person truly qualified to be in his league. However, he could certainly take heart in the fact that the Princess could probably fit right in it too, with a bit of a squeeze.

  He grinned. “Yes, I think of her still at times and I wonder what became of her.”

  “By that I take it you are you referring to your thoughts in the recent past?” I needled.

  “No. I was expressing my thoughts of this very moment,” he said, to my surprise.

  “She is in her room, most likely planning an escape, is my guess,” I told him candidly.

  “Really? You know the Bulbonese I was talking about?” It was his turn to be surprised.

  I felt a sharp stab of pity for the poor deluded fool. Bulbonese females were the most beautiful in the Universe, barring Zaaronian females of course. If he was pining for a Bulbon he would never take any interest in the Princess. How could an outer rim female compete with the majesty of a Bulbon? My mission was doomed. “You are certain you are referring to a two-headed winged creature?” I asked.

  “Yes! With shiny scales all over her body.”

  “I hate to say this to you, Salaar, but you must give up all thoughts of the Bulbon immediately. Not only is she intellectually far superior, but physically her beauty is unparalleled, while your mental and physical prowess is negligible at best. How about considering someone who is ugly and stupid, much more suited to your genetic station in life?” I suggested helpfully.

  He looked like he was choking. “Are you all right Lieutenant?” I asked.

  “Yes. I am fine,” he wheezed. “Whom would you suggest?”

  “How about, let me see, I’ll have to think about it, give me a moment,” I paused for effect, and then continued, “The Princess! Why didn’t I think of this before?”

  “Because she didn’t ask you before,” he said mildly. “Please tell Dinaara to fight her own battles, Zaaro, otherwise I shall tell her you called her ugly and stupid.”

  “Merely stating the obvious, Lieutenant, nothing meant to cause offence,” I said, blushing.

  58. Princess Dinaara

  I was no closer to figuring out what Salaar’s special powers were. He was a good soldier, but that was to be expected. I hadn’t seen him do anything spectacular on board this ship. Maybe his special power was being dark, broody and mysterious.

  I decided to seek out Zaaro again and found him busy chatting with Salaar in the boxing ring.

  “Ah, if it isn’t the most popular IPF cut-throat in the Galaxy!” Salaar greeted me.

  “Lovely to see you too, Salaar! Could I borrow Zaaro for a few moments?” I asked, smiling.

  “It’ll be very difficult to spare him. He was teaching me the finer points of boxing,” Salaar said, in mock seriousness.

  “Maybe he can write them down for you to memorise, considering you were just standing around in the ring. I didn’t actually see either of you boxing,” I needled.

  “We had just finished. Let’s go for a walk, Princess,” Zaaro said, stepping out of the ring. “By that I mean walk and talk, both,” he clarified.

  “Yes, I understand,” I assured him.

  “I was just clarifying, in case you thought otherwise, which would be a perfectly reasonable assumption.”

  As we started walking, I noticed that Zaaro seemed to be preparing himself to say something. He would take a sharp breath and turn towards me, pause for a moment and turn away again. The third time he did this, I asked him whether he wanted to tell me something.

  “Actually, there is something. I am not quite sure how to phrase it, though.”

  “Be direct,” I told him. “I find it’s always the best approach.”

  “Ok, Salaar is pining for someone. Someone whom he has admired for years but had always thought was out of his league,” he disclosed readily.

  It was nice to get confirmation for what I had suspected all along. “Really?” I asked feigning disinterest.

  “Yes. He admitted it to me in so many words,” Zaaro confirmed.

  “What did you say to him in response, Zaaro?”

  “I told him he was right to think she was out of his league and that he should forget her.”

  That wasn’t quite what I wanted to hear. “Oh. You are right about the first part,” I said, “but I guess it’s not in his control, how he feels.” I began smiling at the implications.

  “Yes, that’s what he said. I told him to focus his attention on someone more like him, but he just wouldn’t agree.”

  I was smiling a lot by then. Zaaro was still saying something, but I had tuned him out for a second. “I told him he needs to be more realistic in setting his goals. I hope you won’t be offended by this, I don’t understand why you would, but Salaar seemed to think so.”

  “Why would I be offended, Zaaro? I’m taking it as a compliment actually.”

  “See! I knew Salaar was wrong. I told him he should turn his attention towards someone similarly unappealing physically and limited mentally.”

  “I agree, but I bet he won’t give up.” I grinned.

  “Yes. He said the same thing when I told him to think of you instead of the beautiful Bulbonese creature he was intent on pursuing,” Zaaro informed me.

  There were very few occasions when I was stunned into silence. This was certainly one of them. Salaar actually had no interest in me. He had been pining for someone else all these years! After Military School, I had concluded that his apparent lack of interest was due to some misunderstanding about my brief flirtation with Lethal. Now it was apparent that Zaaro was the only one who thought I was the right girl for Salaar and I wasn’t quite sure how to receive that particular vote of confidence. I would have to think of another way to get information out of Salaar.

  59. The Good Doctor

  “I have already told you Dinaara has been sent here to eliminate Zaaro. I have figured it all out. Once she has done away with him, she will simply jump back to the IPF ship,” I told Madam as I snuggled deeper into my bathrobe.

  “This is all just speculation. You’re assuming Dinaara is a Jumper and
she has instructions to kill Zaaro. Also, that she orchestrated being taken prisoner by us. There are too many ifs and buts in this theory.”

  “BUT, what IF I’m right. We are risking Zaaro’s life and possibly the future of our Movement by not taking preventive measures.” I stood my ground.

  “What would you have us do?”

  “Shift Dinaara to the ship’s prison and assign Lethal to guard Zaaro.”

  “I cannot do that, Good Doctor. I have to maintain good relations with Dinaara. We need the outlying kingdoms to break free and Dinaara is our bargaining chip,” Madam told me firmly.

  “Well then, we have to make contact with them in order to raise our demands for Dinaara’s safe return.” Being a man of action and few words, I immediately asked Central Command to put me through to the King of Dinaar, despite Madam’s protests.

  “Greetings, Your Royal Highness,” I said, as soon as I was patched through.

  “This is a very busy line and prank calls will not be tolerated,” said a very cross voice on the other end.

  “I am calling on urgent official business,” I began as the line was disconnected.

  “I don’t think you understand, this is top priority,” I said when I was reconnected.

  “Identify yourself,” the disembodied voice told me.

  I was about to when the line was disconnected again, giving me enough time to collect my thoughts. What an unfriendly household! Madam chuckled and walked out, telling me to stop trying, as she would handle it.

  I decided to be direct and concise in my next attempt to speak to the monarch. I also put the line on manual so their auto-disconnect wouldn’t work.

  “We have the Princess. If you want her back, allow us safe passage when we reach and let us refuel,” I said. Suddenly there was a crackle at the other end and a new, important-sounding voice intervened.

  “The Princess is dead. Who is this?” the important-sounding person asked.

  “This is The Good Doctor, who am I speaking with?” I enquired in return.

  “I am the undersecretary to the King.”

  “Oh. Please put the King back on. No offence, but I have to speak to the man in charge. Similar ranks, you know, much in common, makes for easier negotiations,” I explained.

  “The King doesn’t speak on datalines,” the undersecretary said.

  “Then whom was I speaking to earlier?” I asked.

  “That would be my undersecretary.”

  I was going to have it out with Central Command later. The least she could do was to get hold of the right person before patching it through. “The Princess is alive and well. We would like to bring her home to you,” I told him.

  “That is a pleasant surprise! In exchange for safe passage and fuel? That seems fair,” he said.

  “Supplies and provisions also,” I added.

  “Of course, it’s the least we can do,” he accepted graciously.

  “We would also like weapons.” I racked my brains for anything else I could demand, since negotiations were going spectacularly well.

  “Agreed. Please give us your coordinates so we can estimate your flight trajectory and time of arrival,” he requested.

  “Right, just one more thing.” I had almost forgotten but not quite. “We will need to set up a rebel base in one of the outlying regions.”

  There was silence at the other end. Maybe I had asked for too much. I was about to backtrack when the undersecretary agreed. What a pleasure it was negotiating with such a fine fellow. I would be sure to look him up personally, perhaps send him a gift. An antique pen holder would be nice.

  “Your coordinates?” he asked again. I had forgotten to answer his query.

  I thought about it for a while, but decided to be cautious. “I am afraid I am not authorised to disclose that information.”

  “Are you sure? We can prepare properly for your arrival if you do.”

  “Yes. But it would be indiscreet and that is against my nature. Let our arrival remain a surprise.”

  “How about we give you a surprise instead?” a woman’s voice rang out over the ship’s PA system. “Luckily you stopped your auto-disconnect long enough to give us time to put a trace on your ship. Prepare to be boarded by the IPF.”

  I disconnected the dataline as alarms started blaring on the ship. The IPF must have been monitoring calls to the kingdoms. Why had the nice man said the Princess was dead, though?

  60. Lieutenant Salaar

  I raced into the control room to find Madam pacing from one station to another in agitation.

  “I’ve sent Lethal to secure Zaaro and Dinaara!” she told me without stopping.

  “All shields activate!” I shouted to Central Command.

  “Should we jump?” Madam asked.

  “We can’t. They’ve got us locked in a retractor beam. Our shield will give us five minutes at most,” I told her. “Prepare to land on Dephron!” I shouted to Central Command.

  “Landing sequence initiated,” Central Command responded.

  “How will we land with the IPF ship locked to ours?” Madam asked, perplexed.

  “Then we will land together. Increase speed to maximum!” I shouted at Central Command.

  “There is no need for hysteria, you know the consequences. By land, do you mean crash?” Central Command asked for clarity, before following my instructions.

  “Salaar, we forgot to alert The Good Doctor!” Madam yelled in horror as we plummeted to the ground.

  61. Commander Lethalwulf

  I had been keeping a close eye on Zaaro and Dinaara walking along until the alarms started blaring and I was called away by Madam. When I rushed back to carry out her instructions, they were both gone. I had a hunch they might be in the cargo bay, considering Zaaro had developed a fondness for taking long walks around the ship, but I didn’t see them there. I started calling them on the PA system, asking them to report to the control room. When I saw no sign of them I assumed they were in their respective quarters. I was heading over to check when the crash-landing protocol was initiated and I belted myself into the nearest seat. They would hear the announcement too and Dinaara would know what to do.

  62. Princess Dinaara

  I had just sent out a message from my quarters saying there was no update on Salaar’s powers and further instructions were required, when a cacophony of sirens sounded. We were under attack. But by whom? I hadn’t alerted the IPF to our whereabouts as yet. In fact, I had clear instructions to protect potential assets until my mission was complete.

  I instantly ran to check on Zaaro, luckily my room’s door seemed to be left unlocked of late. I entered his room to find him covering his ears. “The alarms are very loud,” he whispered.

  “I know, there is no need to be scared though. I’m sure it’s just a drill,” I lied.

  Just then the crash-landing signs started flashing. I grabbed Zaaro and tried to make him assume brace position, but he kept lifting his head to try and talk to me. “It’ll be all right,” he said, trying to reassure me. “Statistically we have quite a good chance of surviving. There may be some horrific injuries, for instance, amputation is quite common, but you will be relieved to hear that decapitations and out and out dismemberment are actually quite rare.”

  “What a relief,” I said, as I forced his head down on the table and kept it there, hoping it would keep him quiet, and safe of course.

  On impact, the ship crumbled all around us and we were flung out towards the barren, rocky terrain. I could see flames leaping skywards as the remains of the Second Light disintegrated. My mind raced, I had to find Salaar. If he was belted down he would still be in the wreckage. I started to run towards the debris, blood gushing from a wound in my forehead and obscuring my vision.

  “Salaar!” I shouted, I even called out to Lethal and Madam, but I didn’t hear any response. I turned back to check on Zaaro, but could no longer see his form near the rocks. That was good. It meant he could move. I continued to try and sift through the flamin
g wreck, smoke burning a hole in my lungs. My instructions were to recover the list and protect potential assets. Salaar and Zaaro both fell in that category.

  I saw what was left of Zaaro’s quarters. Nothing. They were completely smashed through by a large boulder, which now sat exactly where we had been. It was fortunate that we had been catapulted when we had, or we would have been one of the unlikely scenarios Zaaro had casually mentioned.

  Where was Zaaro? I redirected my efforts to finding him, since I had made absolutely no headway in searching for Salaar. I scouted the barren landscape in all directions. It seemed an eternity before I saw Zaaro moving ponderously towards me, dragging something behind him. He would stop and start, walking two steps and stumbling to a halt, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

  “By the planets! It’s Salaar!” I cried out as I ran to him. I eased Salaar onto his back. His eyes were closed and there was blood spewing out of a gaping wound in his side.

  “I wish I could turn back time. It’s my fault. I gave the instructions to crash,” he groaned.

  Zaaro suddenly started whispering in Salaar’s ear. All I heard were snatches of, “Do it,” and, “You can.”

  Instantly, it became clear to me. Salaar could turn back time. That was his special power!

  “I know now, Salaar, and I agree. You have to turn back time!” I chimed in with Zaaro. There was no way I would find the list if the ship was destroyed, and it would be a black mark on my impeccable record.

  He laughed despite himself. “I really can’t.” Red foam bubbled through his lips.

  “You usually manage it when you’re being violent. Come on, shoot me.” Zaaro was certainly being very blasé about imminent death.

  He took out the gun in Salaar’s holster and aimed it at his own chest. “Go on. You prefer a knife?” He bent over to look for one around Salaar’s hip, when Salaar tried to wrench the gun away from him. “Zaaro, I had imagined telling you this very differently, with a lot more preamble, but now will just have to do. It’s you. You have the power. I have never done anything,” he whispered urgently. It had the desired effect as Zaaro stopped struggling and sat back down with a thud. Then I heard the gun go off.