Chapter 12

Connie

^Somewhere in the far reaches of space^

~Oh, my God, I am so bored!~ I shouted in my own head.

Four days we have traveled, and four days I have sat around doing nothing.

There was nothing to see out the window, and nothing to do on the ship. Billy and Bob had gone into what I understood was a short hibernation period.

The ship was on autopilot, and with the supernova still hours away, I was on the verge of losing my mind. I knew every corner of the ship, from pacing back and forth alone.

I’d spent hours learning what I could from the ship’s systems and figuring out how things worked. But there is only so much learning a girl can take before she starts going crazy.

Billy had told me they would wake up today. Something about having to go into a sleep once a year for a full four days.

I checked the time on my phone, which seemed to always be fully charged, no matter how much I used it, and figured they would be up soon, so a little music wouldn’t bother them.

I ran through millions of songs on the screen next to my bed, and after fifteen minutes of trying to decide on what to listen to, I finally settled on Warrant’s hit song, “Cherry Pie.”

I turned the volume up and sang my heart out, pathetically, and wrong, along with the song.

For only the briefest moment, I wondered if the music would bother Billy and Bob, but as soon as the beat kicked in and my body started moving, I didn’t care anymore.

The beat took my body out of the room, and I danced, flicking my hair all over the place, and making my way down the long empty hall.

I was so into my dancing that when I finally stopped and looked up, I saw Billy and Bob standing at the end of the hall, watching me.

For a moment, I felt embarrassed and shy, but when the next song came on, I smiled wide and danced over to them.

“You’re awake!” I shouted over the music.

I heard their voice in my ear as though they were next to me. “You do not need to shout. We can hear you,” Billy said.

Bob said, “It is difficult to sleep when there is so much noise on the ship.”

I tried to hide my smile but failed. I couldn’t help myself.

Darkness was blaring out about how he believed in a thing called love, and when the chorus hit, I was possessed by the demons of music.

They looked at each other then, both turning their heads to the side, then looked back at me. I didn’t care. Back home, I was a shy, quiet loner.

Out here, a billion miles away from anyone who would judge me, I felt free. I could do what I wanted, and my two travel buddies would only assume that is what humans are like.

Billy and Bob turned to the bridge and left me rocking my air guitar. When the song was finished, I told the computer to kill the music and followed them.

“What are we doing?” I asked, out of breath.

“Preparing for the supernova. One more jump and we will be in position,” Billy said without looking at me.

Bob turned to me, looked at me for a moment, then turned back. He tapped a few buttons, then looked at me again.

“What?” I asked him, clearly seeing there was something on his mind.

“What were you doing? In the hall?” he asked.

“You mean dancing?” I asked.

“What is the purpose of…dancing?” he asked.

“What do you mean, purpose? There is no purpose. It’s just fun. Letting the music move you. Enjoying yourself,” I clarified.

He turned back to his panel, contemplating this. They were not beings of many words, but I was starting to pick up on their body language.

“You’ve never danced before, have you? Do you like music?” I asked him.

He glanced quickly at his partner, then turned to me.

“No. Our kind does not have music. Everything we do has a logical reason behind it. You said dancing has no purpose.”

“It does have a purpose,” I said. “To have fun. To enjoy the music. To feel free. It’s a way of expressing yourself.”

Billy turned to face us. “The dancing we have seen was different. Between two people. Never alone.”

This was interesting. “Where did you see this?” I asked.

“At a ball, many years ago, in the Grand Hall of the Vara king’s palace, in the Five Kingdoms,” Bob said.

I smiled. “This kingdom is starting to sound very interesting.”

“We will be there in sixteen months,” Billy said, and my smile fell. I had forgotten about that.

Back home, the longest a person would have to wait to get anywhere was a thirty-six-hour flight. Sixteen months felt like a lifetime.

“Well, as long as we get there one day,” I said.

“What is this—”

“Disappointment,” I said before he could finish his sentence. “I forgot it was going to take us that long to get there.

“I was looking forward to getting some fresh air, and away from these white walls.”

“You may spend the time in stasis if you wish,” Billy said.

I jumped off my chair. “I can? But then how will you study me?” I asked.

“I believe we have seen every emotion that you will feel on this ship already. We will better study you in a new environment.”

I nodded slowly. That wasn’t the worst idea in the world. Sixteen months on this ship with nothing to do would be painful.

This way I could watch the black hole form and go to sleep, then wake up when we get there.

“Yeah, I think I will do that. No offense, guys, but I won’t make it that long on this ship without going crazy.”

“We do not take offense. It is a logical step. You will be placed in stasis after the supernova. We will wake you three days before we arrive at the kingdom.”

“Your body will need time to recover, and you will need to learn the laws to follow there,” Bob said.

“Okay. Sounds good to me,” I said.

They turned back to the main screen, and as the white glow formed around the edges of the ship, I felt the butterflies form in my stomach.

I was excited about watching the sun explode, but to finally meet new people, and to get some time off this ship had me grinning like a fool.

We pulled through the wormhole, and on the other side, the screen tinted dark as we turned to face the massive white ball in the sky.