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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Stefano!

Ace sat Indian style while he fed Tronimus a large carrot. He rubbed behind the capybara's ear. "You're my little giant piggy, aren't you?" Tronimus continued to chew and stare ahead. Ace grabbed a handful of pellets from a large sack and dumped them into a food bowl. "Alrighty, brother, I still have to filter your pool before you go back in."

A jolt of incredible force knocked him to floor. He caught Tronimus upside down and the capybara squealed and ran. "What the hell just happened?!" Ace ran to the ladder and started climbing up as fast as he could. Another jolt knocked him around in the ladder tube and a circuit exploded in front of his face. The sparks scorched his cheeks. "HOLD ON!" he yelled, hoping someone would hear him.

***

Roughly two hundred miles away, the Mieux Que Toi launched two more atomic broadsides. They raced with terrific speed towards the Sal Paradise.

***

Ace finally reached the command deck. Jones was already plugged into the console, white-knuckling the thrusters. "All right, I'm here!"

Ace strapped himself into the flight seat and pulled his goggles down. He grabbed the nearest headset and slid the connector into the laser socket. He gripped the controls and the video screen lit up.

A missile hissed past their cockpit window, leaving a curling trail of mist behind. Jones was in rare form.

"Barbaresco, I swear! Ok, let’s kick his ass. I'm ready this time. 90 degrees hard to port and ignore any lasers. We're gonna make it."

Jones replied with a swarthy cuss word and twisted the controls. The attitude thrusters burned white hot while the rocketship spun vertically. A solid rod of force struck the Paradise, slicing into the armor. Air escaped.

"Keep going!" Ace yelled. "She can take it!"

Ace flipped a switch and yelled into the radio, "Duke! Duke, buddy, sorry!"

***

In the engine room, Duke threw his ham sandwich and grabbed the straps. His string of cuss words was unending. In his special webbing, he was still able to manipulate the engine while remaining stable. He reached into his toolkit and pulled out a spin driver and tightened the bolts on the plasma injector. "I can use my torch to knock out the valve on the back up pump!" he yelled into his wrist radio.

***

On the command deck, Ace screamed, "Do it!"

***

As soon as the valve disintegrated, the fuel burned twice as hot, and twice as fast. The ship lurched and accelerated fantastically. Ace almost lost consciousness before his flight suit bladder pushed the blood back down from his head. Jones was working the controls and the organ pedal like the master pilot he was. "Bring us back to bare. I'm gonna kick his blank this time."

Jones pulled hard on the stick and jammed it to the left. Moments later, a target appeared on Ace's video screen. He locked the lasers onto it and opened fire. With his right foot he tapped a different pedal twice, and two missiles launched from a small tube on the side of the ship. He continued to squeeze the laser triggers.

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Tronimus

Duke pressed on the intercom. "Ace!"

"What?" Ace's voice came back.

"Get in here."

"I'm gettin' ready to swap out the vacuum tubes on the fuel sensor."

"You're gonna wanna see this." Duke let go of the intercom button.

Moments later, the door to Duke's office slid open, and Ace stepped through. He was wiping grease off his hands with a dirty towel. "What do I wanna see?"

Duke turned his video monitor around so Ace could see the screen. "I found this little big guy. He's about a year old and they haven't named him yet."

Ace looked at the monitor. His eyes flashed wide and he gripped the screen with both hands. "What? Are you for real?"

Duke chuckled. "For real. I know them. Used to be customers a long time ago. I guess they just opened up a shelter."

"I want him."

"Wanna go now?"

"YES!" Ace jumped up and down and clapped his hands.

***

"We knew someone was going to give him a forever home, so we didn't name him yet." The woman gestured towards an above-ground pool. "Go ahead, say hi."

Ace tip-toed to the pool and looked over the edge. A capybara was sitting lazily in the water. It looked up at Ace and paddled towards him. "He's coming to me!"

"He's very friendly, and very chill."

The capybara lifted itself out of the water with its front paws. Ace leaned in and let the animal smell him. "I am in love." He scratched the bottom of the giant rodent's chin. "I'll pay any price."

The woman smiled. "We rescue animals here. We want to make sure they have a good home. I know Duke, and he vouches for you. All we ask is you pay for the pool and his shots. But otherwise, he's young, healthy, and full of love."

Ace hugged the critter gently. He petted its nose. "Ah! I know your name! You're gonna be Tronimus."

"What?" Duke asked.

"Tron and Optimus Prime. Really old Earth stuff. Movie. Cartoons. Toys."

Duke puffed his e-cig. "Did you ever grow up past 8 years old?"

"Tronimus. It sounds cool. And he's cool."

"Promise to take care of him?" the woman asked.

"Abso-freakin-lutely!" He went back to fawning over the capybara and scratched behind his ears.

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Astrum Cetacea

Caspia was in her bunk listening to mope rock and sliding her hair between her lips when her hatch tone sounded. She got up and walked over to the intercom. "Who is it?"

"Who do you think it is, Casp?"

She cussed under her breath. "I don't wanna talk to you."

He pressed on the hatch tone again. "Caspia, come on. I'll stand here and press this button until you go crazy."

She knew he would. She opened the hatch and Ace crawled through. He looked around.

"When did you find candles? And who the heck is playing on the stereo? Why is it so dark in here?"

She stalked over to her console and flipped a switch down. The music stopped. "Way to kill the mood, Ace. What'd'ya want?"

He realized he was rocking back and forth from foot to foot. He put one hand on his hip and the other on the butt of his flechette pistol. It calmed him down.

"We... I... Your Dad talked to me -- "

"Pop talked to you?!" A blue streak came pouring out of her lips. Ace never heard her cuss so vehemently. "I told him not to talk to you about that! What did he tell you?!"

"Everything. The crush. The kiss. Jealous of Kiara -- "

She stormed across the cabin and pressed the hatch button. It dilated and she got halfway through before Ace grabbed her arm. "Let go of me, you asshole!" She tried to yank it from him, but Ace's grip tightened. "I'm gonna rip him a new one! I specifically told him to not talk to you!"

"Calm down, Casp. Just sit back down and relax."

She snapped her head around and glared at him. "Don't you tell me to relax."

Ace sighed and let her arm go. "You got any beer or anything in here?"

She pointed to the mini fridge in the corner. "IPA's." She sat down.

"Gad, I hate IPA's. They taste like copper. They make your lips stick together." He opened the mini fridge and cracked a bottle open. He took a sip and made a sour face.

Caspia laughed through her nose. "Yeah, wish Pop liked IPA's."

He crossed the cabin and sat down on the bunk next to her. Caspia instantly stood up and walked to the opposite side. "So, what do you wanna talk about?"

"Your crush on me, Caspia."

"Crush? I hate your guts."

"No, you don't. Duke told me how you feel. The first kiss -- "

She shook her head and crossed her arms. "That was a mistake. I never should've done that. I don't know what I was thinking."

Ace took another sip. "We were ten years old, Casp. None of us knew what we were thinking."

Caspia's eyes started to water, but she fought it back. "I don't know, Ace." She dropped her arms and sighed. "I guess, I guess, well, you always seemed so aloof, so detached, but at the same time, you had incredible passion for things. Silly things. I don't know why you like superheroes. I didn't even know they still made comic books."

Ace curled his upper lip. "Yeah, Batman's basically Iron Man now with bat-wings. It pisses me off."

"Jeez, he's gotta be like 280 years old by now."

"It's comic books, Casp, they don't age."

She looked down at her feet and brushed her hair behind her ears. "When you first found the Paradise with Pop, when you brought her home, I could sense... I could just sense this incredible feeling of love coming from you. For the rocketship. When we started re-building her, I could tell you were finally in love with something. You poured your heart and soul into bringing her back to life. And when you took her for her maiden voyage, and I got to come along, I just stared at your face. I didn't look out the viewports, it was just motionless dots of light. And you didn't notice me. But I saw the way you touched the controls. The way you flipped the switches. You stared into those video monitors like they were some kind of beautiful woman."

Ace sipped his beer and listened.

"When I saw how much you were able to love something, something like a rocketship, I got jealous. I wanted that love. I wanted that attention. I never had it before. Jones always had his girl, Quimby won't date anyone who isn't as smart as him, so there was you. Your love for the Sal Paradise was infectious. I wanted to be a part of that love."

Ace was silent. He looked around the cabin. "Yeah. She is a beauty." He chugged the beer and set the empty bottle down.

"Caspia. That was a lot. But it was honest, and I understand. I'm sorry that I was never able to see what you were feeling. I mean, I've known you since... since before I can remember. Remember playing space patrol back when we were kids, and we chased each other into a broken down flitter?"

"There was a squatter living in there, and he scared the crap out of us when we got in! We took off running like jackrabbits."

They both laughed.

She snapped her fingers. "Remember that time we rubbed mayo on Pop's headset?"

"Of course, I do. He about nearly beat me, Casp! What were we thinking?"

"We were kids."

"Listen, Caspia, a lot's happened since we took Kiara on -- "

There was a tremendous rumble. The ship rocked. Ace and Caspia landed against the wall together. Ace lept to the radio. "What was that?" he asked.

Quimby's voice came back. "I don't know! Jones is in his bunk."

Ace opened a small plastic cover and slapped the alarm button. Klaxons blared.

***

Jones leapt out of his bunk and slid into his bladder suit. He raced out of his cabin and started climbing up the ladder tube.

***

"Quimby," Ace yelled into the radio, "assume hostiles. We’re climbing up to the command deck!"

***

Quimby began to unplug and re-plug cables. "He better not flip the ship..."

***

Ace and Caspia exited the cabin and started climbing up the ladder tube. They slowly began to feel heavier, and climbing became harder. "We're accelerating." Ace looked down at Caspia. "Hold on, but keep going!"

They finally reached the command deck and the hatch popped open. Jones was in the pilot's seat, his goggles pulled down. Ace ran to the viewport. What he saw amazed him.

"It's ok," Jones said. "It was an accident. One bumped into us."

Surrounding the Sal Paradise was a school of astrum cetacea, better known as space whales. Their long, glittering fins stretched out, absorbing the ambient cosmic radiation with thin, crystalline structures. They circled in daring patterns around the Sal Paradise. Ace was breathless.

"How do they move so fast?" Caspia asked. "We're at a constant G acceleration, how can they possibly keep up?"

Jones lifted his goggles and swiveled to face her. "Nobody knows for sure, since we ain't ever caught one, but the scientists say they must have some kinda physical extension that can bend and push space around their wings. It's kinda like swimming, I guess. They eat asteroids."

The cetacea criss-crossed around the rocketship before one of them flashed a bright light from its tail. "What was that?!" Ace asked, staring out of the viewport.

"I think it's their leader," Jones replied.

The rest of the cetacea started blinking their tails, as well. Moments later, they were gone, darting away into the darkness.

"Wow," Ace whispered.

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Rubberband Man

Ace flicked the rubber band from his hand gun. It snapped back into Kiara's face. She cussed.

"I love it when you say cuss words!" He rolled over and snuggled her.

"Ace! That hurt!" She snarled and rolled over to the other side. "I don't like it when you make me cuss, it's unlady-like."

"But you're a lady." He rubbed her shoulder. She yanked it away.

"Sometimes I want to space you. Just put you in the airlock and space you."

Ace made another rubber band hand gun and flicked it at the ceiling. "Caspia wants to space me, too."

Kiara looked over her shoulder. She grabbed Ace by the nip of his neck and pushed him down. "What? What’s that supposed to mean?"

"She's Duke's kid!"

"What did you mean?"

"I think she has a crush on me. I don't know. I think it's been for a while now."

Kiara's jaws clenched. "Does Duke know?"

Ace laughed. "Seriously? We've been joking about it for about a month, now."

"I'm being serious," she said.

"So am I. She's Duke's kid, man, she takes care of the Paradise. She gets us our jobs."

Kiara jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow. "You're an ass! Don't even get near my cabin."

"But --"

The one good thing about living in the future is that you can't slam doors, but you can smack their buttons in anger, anyway.

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Caspia’s Crush

"Come on, kid, we gotta pay the shipper for the fuel."

Ace looked up from the video monitor. "Aw, man, he's about to kill the Rancor."

"You've seen it a thousand times, now let's go."

***

Ace slammed the aircar door shut. "It's my day off. Why you always gotta put a kink in my hose?"

Duke pressed the ignition and shifted the gears. The aircar raised, its engines tossing dirt and debris. "Just shut up." He pressed on the accelerator. "I got something I need to talk to ya about."

Ace pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, no..."

The wind whipped Ace's hair as they approached the loading docks. Duke puffed on his e-cig. "She's got a crush on ya, Ace."

He turned and pointed. "That is not my fault, Duke! I never once made a pass at her. She's like, she's like my sister, man."

"She remembers her first kiss."

Ace sighed and rested his head on his fist. "I was so grossed out, I wiped my lips with my sleeves."

Duke rotated the controls and the aircar made a stark dive towards the tarmac. The fuel tanker's pilot was standing outside of his vessel.

"You gotta talk to her, Ace. I'm her Dad. I don't know what to tell her. I wish her Mom was still around for things like this. But you gotta nip this in the bud before it affects work performance."

Ace sighed. "I don't know why me."

"Ace, she only knows three guys her age. Jones is taken, Quimby, well, he's Quimby. All that was left was you."

Ace raised his shoulders. "But then why is it my fault? Yeah, she kissed me, but we were, like, 10."

Duke brought the aircar down onto the landing pad. "A girl's heart at 10 is all sorts of weird. She remembers it, Ace, and she still thinks about it." He puffed on his e-cig, then killed the engine.

Ace just stared ahead. "Dammit."

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Floating

Ace skewed the ship and cut off the engines. The Sal Paradise came to a relative stop. Everything became weightless in the zero gravity.

He unlatched himself from the flight seat. Kiara unbuckled, as well. "We are precisely seven hundred and seventy seven miles from New Rhea," Ace said.

He took Kiara's hand, and gently pushed against the back of the flight seat with his toes. They glided across the command deck to a hand-grip above the viewport. Ace caught it and brought them both to a stop. “If you look hard enough, you can see it. It’s over there, to your right, between that clump of stars. It’s that bright blue ball.”

Kiara squinted. “I don’t see anything, Ace.” She leaned in to kiss him.

"Hold on, it doesn't work that way --”

The force knocked Ace’s head against the viewport. He let go of the hand-grip and pulled Kiara closer. They floated slowly in circles like a pinwheel.

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Space Margaritas

Ace and Kiara climbed up the ladder tube. When they reached the command deck, he showed her the console. There were two bent cards on it.

"Ok. So, the thing is, you get two choices. Once you pick one card, you absolutely cannot look at the other one. No exceptions. You get to choose now."

"What?” Kiara shook her head. “No. I need to see both."

Ace grinned. "Nope. Doesn't work that way. Choose wisely."

Kiara crossed her arms. "I don't know, Ace. What if what I pick sucks?”

“Aye!” Ace feigned offense. “You think I’d take you to someplace that would suck?”

"Dammit, Ace." She snatched the left card and flipped it open. "The Horsehead Nebula.” She looked confused. “The Horsehead Nubula?”

"Yeah, it's my favorite nebula. I know how to get the Paradise into the right position so you can see it like all the old pictures."

"The Horsehead Nebula."

Ace gripped her waist and pulled her in close. "I’m kidding. It’s a tiki bar in Port Estero. We’ve got the whole weekend there.”

Kiara pushed Ace’s chest. “The whole weekend?”

Ace nodded. “The room is nice, it’s right on the beach. We’re up high. You’ll love it.”

“I want lotsa salt on my margaritas,” Kiara warned.

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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And Then Came Kiara

Ace pointed at the next cloud.

"A giraffe," Kiara said.

"You know, laying on the grass is gonna make us both itch."

"I don't care," she said, and rolled over and kissed him.

"What am I going to do with you?" Ace sighed. "I could take you to Antares. We could go to Io."

She put her hand on his cheek. "I don't care where you take me, just take me there."

"Well, when you say it like that, I'm gonna have to."

Ace leaned his head back into his hands and continued to study the clouds.

"Look at that one, it looks like a cow."

Kiara scooted across the grass and snuggled closer to Ace.

"Moo."

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Reflection

Ace stood on the command deck, hands clasped behind his back. He looked out the viewport and studied the stars. He saw his reflection for a moment, and stared at it. "This is everything you've ever wanted," he told himself. "You have your own rocketship. You have life-long friends who would die for you." He thought of Caspia briefly. "And life-long friends who would kill you." He chuckled. "It's good sometimes to talk to yourself, as long as you don't talk back."

He walked over to the main console and stroked it with his fingers. He resisted pushing the button that would make the strobe light flash outside the ship.

"I found you on accident." He was speaking to the ship, but he was actually talking to himself. "I found you, spinning in the void. I latched onto you and took you home. I -- we, all -- fixed you."

He walked over to the communicator. He picked it up, then put it back down. "I know this works, because Duke fixed it."

He slid his hand across a targeting video screen. "Remember when we kicked Stefano's ass? Yeah, that was pretty sweet."

He rotated a flight seat and sat down. He strapped in just to feel the tightness of the restraints. He breathed in deeply. "Yep.” He exhaled. “Everything smells like farts."

There was a chuckle from behind. Ace looked over his shoulder. Jones was puffing on his e-cig. "Once we hit planetside, we'll open the hatches and airlocks. Alleviate the funk."

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough to know that I know you love this piece of metal and fury with all your heart."

"It's the MRE's, Jones. Make everything stink bad."

"It feeds us, Ace."

Ace sighed. He tapped a few buttons on the console. A map of the solar system popped up on his video screen.

"I want to go somewhere new, Jones."

"Ybor. Nothing but clubs and bars. LEO’s ride local animals there. We could dip out right quick if we had to.”

“Ybor. Let’s do it.” ***

The native LEO inspected Ace's ID with a torch. "Are you still registered to live on New Rhea?"

"Well, I was still born there."

The LEO snapped his eyes up and flashed the torch onto Ace's face. "You bein' smart, boy?"

"My permanent home is on New Rhea."

"So, where were you two headed?"Jones pointed at a club about a half a block away. "Right there, sir."

The LEO turned. "I didn't ask you, son."

Jones clenched his jaw, but stayed quiet. He shot a glance at Ace.

"So," Ace said, gesturing towards the LEO’s mount. "How come you only ride those flontoms?"

The giant ostrich-like creature snorted and shivered. The LEO patted its nose. "It’s easier to navigate the streets on these guys than vehicles. Everything’s too close together here. Besides, they're noble creatures."

Ace nodded his head. "Can they run fast?"

"Oh, heck yeah," the LEO replied.

"Can they fly?"

The LEO shook his head. "No, they lost their wings a long time ago -- "

Ace punched the LEO square in the jaw as hard as he could. "Alright, this is it!"

They took off running. The LEO tried to jump onto the flontom's saddle. He fell, with one leg hanging from a stirrup. "Shit! Get those guys! Stop them!"

Ace and Jones pushed themselves through the crowded street. They came to a side corner. A beautiful woman was standing there, smoking an e-cig. "Oh. Hello. Come in here!"

Ace didn't waste any time thinking about it. The woman slid a door open and all three stepped in. She slid the door shut. "LEO's, eh?" She puffed on her e-cig. "What did you boys do?"

Jones caught his breath and looked around. "Ace, I think we jumped outta the fryin' pan and into the fire..."

Five men appeared from the back of the room, brandishing knives."I think we got got, Jones."

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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She’s the Sal Paradise

Sparks flickered over Jones' facemask. He sighed and turned off the torch.

"Ace, man, really. Are we gonna get this done within a year? I think you bit off more than you could chew."

Ace looked at the chassis up and down, the framework, the pylons. "No, Jones. I've never been so in love with something in my entire life."

Jones sighed. "Whatever. It ain't my dream, stupid (muffled)."

But there was a reason to his dream. Ace rode the lift up to the top deck and stood inside. This was his find. He saw it. He took it. It was spinning for decades in the void, and he recognized its beauty.

***

"Duke!"

A cussword replied.

"Duke! Launch a tow cable. I want to bring her in."

"She's old."

"She's beautiful."

Duke centered the electromagnet onto the hollowed out rocketship and launched the cable. There was a brief hiss of escaping gas. He caught the ship square in the middle. "Well, it's your's now, partner."

The cable tightened and the ship stopped its spin. "I'm bringing her home, Duke. She's mine."

"You've got pretty good taste, my friend. She's a Charger. What do you think you’ll name her?"

Ace looked at the vessel harder than he'd looked at anything else before.

"Sal Paradise, Duke. She's the Sal Paradise.”

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Under the Bleachers

"Ew, does everyone stick gum under here? That's so gross."Ace looked up at the bleachers. "You get in trouble, Coach will make you chisel it off with, like, an ancient spoon."

Ace surveyed his surroundings. No one was there. He stepped in closer to Savannah and took her hands in his. "I'm really glad you came," he said. "To New Rhea. I'm sorry for the reason, but if you want, I can make sure you and your Mom can work at my Dad's friend's garage."

She smiled and tilted her head down, but then looked back up into his eyes. She searched them. He was telling the truth.

"I... I don't know. I don't know how things are going to go. We're kinda hit up, and..."

A voice came from behind, "I can help you."

Ace looked over his shoulder. It was Stefano Barbaresco. His black hair was slicked back and he was nursing a prepubescent mustache.

"Dude, you're fifteen, shave that shit off," Ace said in contempt.

Stefano stroked it.

"You're just gonna get zits if you keep doin' that."

Savannah looked at Ace. Her face was confused.

Stefano stepped deliberately between them. He grasped Savannah's hand and lifted it up to his lips. He kissed the knuckles. She yanked her hand back. Stefano chuckled.

"I have a ship. It is my own. It can take you to any star you want to go to. Aristotle... He's still cleaning stalls on Duke's garage."

She glanced at Ace. He grimaced and turned his back, but he didn't leave.

Stefano gave a hands up. "Eh."

Ace couldn't help himself. He screamed and grabbed Stefano by the lapels and slammed him against the bleacher pylon. He kneed him in the groin. Stefano bent over in excruciating pain.

"Not this time, Stefano! Not this time! You can't have her, but I'm gonna..." He balled his fist and hit Stefano square in the temple. Stefano fell, unconscious. Ace knelt down and whispered into his ear, "You can't hear this, but don't forget, I'll never forget this. You don't get this one, Stefano. Not this one.

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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The New Girl in School

When the door slid open and she walked in, the principal holding her shoulders, twelve-year-old Ace felt something strange twinge inside of his chest. She was fair skinned, with long, black, silky hair, and prominently arched eyebrows. She had her hands clasped in front of her.

"Everyone, we have a new student. I want to introduce you all to Savannah."

All of the students waved at her. She broke a smile and waved back with one hand.

"Here, there is a desk saved for you right over there." She guided Savannah to her chair. It was directly across from Ace's.

She sat down and settled in. The principal patted her shoulders."If you need anything at all, come to my office."

She left the room.

The teacher smiled and held his hands behind his back. "I understand if this is new for you, but if you'd like to introduce yourself, you're more than welcome."

She tucked her hair behind her ear. She shook her head no. The teacher nodded, and resumed his lecture.

"So, the radius of a Superluminal Zone depends on the spectral type of the star. The easiest way I remembered it was OBFGKM.... 'Oh Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me. O, B, F, G, K, M.' Can anyone tell us what kind of star we orbit?"

A girl raised her hand. "Yes, Kiara."

"G-type, V." She put her hand down and her body slightly shivered with pride.

The teacher nodded again. "Yes, you are correct."

***

Ace looked over his shoulder at the new girl. He smiled. She smiled back. He whispered, "My name is Aristotle, but everyone calls me Ace. It's nice to meet you, Savannah."

He extended a hand. She did the same, but instead of shaking, they shook pinkies.

The teacher looked up. "Ace, pay attention."

"Sorry", they both said in unison.

***

The tone alarm sounded and the class was over. Everyone picked up their electropads and put them away. "Guys, be ready for a pop quiz tomorrow! Read your required!" He dropped his pad into his satchel.

The kids left the room.

***

"So," Ace asked, elbow to elbow with Savannah. "Where'd you come from?"

"I came from Crimson Bank."

"Oh," he replied.

"No, it's ok. Mom got rid of Dad and now we're here on New Rhea. She had to work over time, but we scored passage."

"Sweet!" Ace smiled. "Who with?"

"Derring Transport & Shipping."

Ace stopped and stood still. "That's my Dad!"

She cocked her head. "No way!"

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billyheaning-blog · 7 years

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Jovinah & the Tadpoles

"Jovinah! Come here! Look at this." Ace was crouched over a ditch in the grass.

"Momma and Duke say we shouldn't leave the garage fence."

"Just come over here and look!"

Jovinah sighed and flapped her arms. "What?"

"Look!"

Her eyes rolled and she walked over to the ditch next to Ace. She knelt down.

"Do you see 'em?" Ace asked.

She gasped. "Yeah, I do! What are they?"

Ace gently scooped several of them up into the palm of his hand. "They're tadpoles, Jovinah. They're gonna turn into frogs."

They squirmed around. Jovinah tapped one on the head. Its tail flipped back and forth.

"Where did they come from?" she asked.

"I think they come from the sky. They only show up when it rains."

"Let's keep one!" she said, smiling widely.

"OK!" Ace put them back into the ditch and ran to fetch a pail. He came back. "Which one do you want?"

She stared into the flooded ditch. "Hm. I want... I want *that* one!"

Ace followed her finger and scooped it up. He plopped it into the bucket of water. "Let's go get some spinach from the store so we can feed it."

"But I want to name her," Jovinah said.

Ace was puzzled. "How do you know it's a she?"

"I don't know," Jovinah shrugged. "I just know."

"Ok, cool."

Jovinah concentrated on the tadpole. "She is... she is... She is Eliope."

"Eliope!" Ace repeated.

They both raced across the yard to the general store on the garage. Duke saw them. "Hey! Hey!" he yelled. "Where ya'll goin'?"

Ace lifted the bucket and yelled back, "We're gonna go feed the tadpole! Her name is Eliope!"

Duke just shook his head and smiled. "Have fun, kiddos."

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