6y 9m 3w 3d BV
John had been blissfully asleep until The Lost Minstrel informed him that there was someone at the ship door. In no shape to greet anyone, John groaned as he tried to ignore the ship’s incessant query as to what to do with the unknown visitor. He ached in places he didn’t know could ache. He felt Regalo kicked his sides.
“John for the love of all that is good please get the door,” the Gaoian moaned as he uncurled from his ball.
“I’m sorry who was carried up a giant tree last night?” With no reply forthcoming, there was a moment of silence before the Gaoian rose from bed and left the room. Hehe perks of being me. John thought as he ignored his aching muscles and went back to sleep. Unfortunately someone pocking his face woke him up.
“John wake up! Vanima is here and I’m tired and not a deathworlder.” Regalo mumbled as he collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to curl up into a ball.
I would do anything right now to make her visit as short and simple as possible so that I may return to dying in my sleep, he thought as his muscles protested. He rose from bed and shuffled out to see Vanima standing there.
“Good morning to you John.”
I swear to God if you woke me up just to tell me that I will murder you.
“Good morning Vanima. What exactly did you need me for,” he asked with his eyes half closed. Vanima gave him an odd look and replied
“Regalo said it was a ship captain’s duty to induct and settle in new crew members.”
Regalo you furry little shit you set me up!
John sighed and nodded. He slowly shuffled to the room opposite his and opened the door.
“This is your room. Uh…. Yeah just do whatever it is you do when you settle in a room,” John mumbled as he turned the lights of the room on. Vanima ducked slightly to fit through the doorway and looked around the room. The bedroom was a perfect representation of some of the corners that had been cut in the ship’s production to allow for redundancy. There were two beds on opposing sides of the room and a carpet between them.
“It’s very…. Sparse,” she commented. John sleepily nodded with her, barely registering the sentiment and started to shuffle out of the room. “Um John.” John stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to face the Qinis.
It really is give and take with you isn’t it God.
“I was wondering whether you could help me being in my things. The droids can’t exactly fit in here.” John internally screamed and somehow mustered the will to smile and nod. John slowly walked to the door to see a retinue of droids carrying a multitude of boxes.
I bet God is laughing his ass off in heaven isn’t he. What have I done to deserve this? I am but an innocent child lost in the sea of life. He mentally whined as he took one of his boxes.
“It’s as much as I could take with me without my father growing suspicious. After the concert and after party I’ll need to sneak onto this ship to leave with you guys,” she instructed him. John gaped at the large boxes and lifted one. Surprised by the lightness of the box he stacked them all on top of another and lifted them. His sore muscles whined as they struggled to keep the boxes balanced on top of one another as he carried them to her new accommodations.
“How could you need so many clothes? Regalo and I don’t even have as much as this box combined,” John grumbled. Vanima rolled her eyes at her fashion blind captain.
“Some of us enjoy looking nice. Is that a foreign concept to your species?” She whipped out her notebook and pen, ready to take notes.
“Well no I guess our fashion industries are kinda similar except we’re way more conservative with out clothes. By human standard’s that’s a very provocative gown.” Vanima was furiously scribbling down John’s answer. She really is planning to study me. John dropped off the boxes in her room and turned to shuffle back to bed. He was almost out the doorway when Vanima called out.
“Uh John.”
Why, oh sweet merciful God, why will you not let me sleep?
“Yes Vanima?”
“I ordered the medical room of this ship to be fitted with a scanner because honestly if one of you were injured the current… facilities, particularly the lack thereof, would barely manage to bandage a splinter let alone possible organ failure.”
“Possible organ failure?”
“We don’t know how your system has been reacting to all the alien food you’ve been eating since your abduction. For all we know one of your organs could be on the verge of failure,” she explained. John was shocked.
Damn she makes a good point.
“In fact it should arrive shortly after my-” The ship let out a beep, informing them someone was at the door of their ship.
I was just up there! John shuffled up the ramp back to the door to find a Qinis with a mask and cloak on. Beside the Qinis were a large container and a droid. John began dragging the container into the ship, much to the dismay of the Qinis. Vanima appeared shortly after John and signed off the container. John dragged the large grey box all the way to the medical room before collapsing on the small surgical bed, which shortly collapsed under John’s weight. The human cursed as he recovered from his unexpected fall. Vanima walked in and burst out laughing at the sight of the human groaning atop the broken surgery bed. She was still giggling as she entered a code in a panel on the box. The box opened to reveal a large bed with something akin to a giant barcode scanner suspended above it. There was a large terminal beside the bed and a box of cables underneath the bed. Vanima set about making the medical scanner operational whilst John dealt with his screeching muscles and pain.
“Alright the system scanner is working! Now if you would kindly, and gently, get onto the bed so I-, I mean we can see just what makes you tick!” John was a bit suspicious of the amount of enthusiasm Vanima exuded. He gently laid on the bed.
Vanima was giddy to say the least as John laid on the bed. The scanner hummed and whirred as it was confronted with the complicated human biology. After what was beginning to feel like an uncomfortably long time, it detected an implant in John’s neck that the machine labeled as foreign.
Hmm… I’ll need to examine that after I look at the results. She frowned at the results and asked it to scan again. After a restart and three scans Vanima looked to John in horror.
“A lot of your muscles have tears,” she exclaimed, “Your deathworld muscles have actual tears in them!” This is ridiculous! His body is simply ridiculous! She looked at the live updates on the terminal and was even more bewildered. She took a deep breath and composed herself. “Your muscles have tears and are actually regenerating at impossible speeds. Not only that but the new fiber is stronger than the old.” She brought up the number of muscles and kept being shocked. “You have 650 muscles?” She queried. She looked past the terminal to see John sleeping on the bed. Vanima rolled her eyes at the human and tapped away at the terminal.
“It seems you’re finally studying John.” Vanima nearly jumped out of her skin at the Gaoian’s remark. Regalo chittered as he walked up to the terminal beside her.
“His body is complex yet so simple. Do you know how his muscles work?” Regalo shook his head, awaiting the answer. “They don’t work like ours. Our muscles can contract and extend as well as turn to accommodate our range of motion. John’s muscles, on the other hand, can only contract,” she explained in hushed tones to him as she moved all the data from the terminal to her tablet. The pair walked out of the room, leaving the human to slumber peacefully.
“So what if his muscles only contract?” the Gaoian said with a puzzled look. Vanima rolled her eyes at the starship engineer.
“So if his muscles only contract it means they are orders of magnitudes stronger than ours. Not only that but a good deal of John’s muscles are torn up but his body is regenerating them at ridiculous speeds. He should be fine after a day of rest,” Vanima explained they arrived in the common room. She took a seat on the couch and Regalo sat beside her. She was reading the data pad and suddenly cursed.
“What is it? Is he ill,” Regalo asked as fear slowly gripped his heart.
“What? No it’s just his stomach really does have hydrochloric acid,” she confessed. She tapped away at the data pad in silence.
Regalo grew slightly annoyed by the Qinis’ silence.
I would like to know what strange things are in John’s body as well.
“So what other biological marvel is our esteemed captain harboring?” Surprising Vanima that he was still there.
“Well his bones are stronger than steel and significantly lighter. It’s honestly baffling how durable he is. I doubt anything short of an anti tank gun would stop him and even then I’m not sure if it would either kill him or merely incapacitate him from this data,” Vanima answered as she kept reading. She tapped away at the pad and the information was relayed to their television. Regalo looked up to see the skeleton of his friends standing on the TV.
So this is the kind of power John has?
“What about his organs? He’s been only eating alien food so his system must be struggling with it or at least he is lacking in some nutrients?” Vanima shook her head as she tapped away on her pad. The skeleton disappeared and a set of charts and graphs Regalo couldn’t understand.
“I’m not sure what the nutritional requirements are for a human but physically John is quite the specimen. There’s nothing wrong with him as far as I can tell. All his organs are working at capacities far beyond the normal but there is nothing wrong with them. If anything we could use a few of John’s organs ourselves.” Regalo looked apprehensively at the Qinis doctor and she quickly moved to amend her statement. “I mean that it would be useful if we could synthesize similar organs for commercial use. I mean look at this one.” She taped and a pinkish organ appeared with a long tendril snaking down from it. The long branch seemed to split off into thousands of little branches on the screen. “His brain is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. John’s species might possibly be one of the most intelligent beings in the galaxy, able to rival even the Corti. His brain may not seem large when compared to ours but it more than makes up for it in density. I’d need a better scanner to be able to tell you more but from this scan I can tell you that his brain is the most delicate organ I’ve seen.” Regalo was surprised at the fact.
You’d think a powerful and robust body would have a robust brain.
“Is it more delicate than ours?” Vanima nodded.
“Our brains compared to his is what his strength is compared to ours,” she explained in woefully simple and inaccurate terms. Regalo nodded.
“The only detriment I’d say his body has is the huge amount of energy it needs to run but I guess on his home planet Dirt that would probably be easy to come by.” Vanima shrugged and added, “a lot of these functions would probably make sense if we took Dirt into account.” She paused for a moment before saying, “Oh I almost forgot. We need to go to the theater to see if John wants anything special done for his performance.”
Regalo nodded as he stood up. He walked over to the kitchen and began preparing breakfast for them. “Vanima could you go wake John up? I’m making breakfast.” The Qinis paled at the prospect of waking up what essentially amounted to the lord of death. She slowly got up and left the common room. She’ll have to get used to him eventually. Regalo thought as he began making sweet dough.
John groaned as for a third time today he was woken up. He looked around only to see Vanima standing at the doorway with a really long stick.
“Was that really necessary?”
“Maybe. I don’t know how you’d react to being woken up.” John rolled his eyes as he got off the bed. He exited the door before he turned to her. He blushed furiously as he realised what he was eye level with and quickly turned the opposite direction. “Are you ok John?”
“Yes! I am so ok that ok needs to be redefined now lets go see Regalo,” he stammered as he quickly strode off to the common room. Vanima struggled to keep up with the human as he made it to the common room.
Regalo turned to see the human storm into the room with a bright red face.
“Are you alright John?”
“As alright as I’ll ever be! Is breakfast ready?” Regalo noticed his friend’s odd behaviour and cocked his head at it.
“Well breakfast is almost done. We’re going back to the theater to see if you want anything special done while performing. “ John brightened at the prospect of getting special effects in his performance.
Oh my God I am gonna look so freaking rad when I perform tomorrow. John began setting the table as Regalo finished up cooking. Vanima appeared at the door slightly out of breath. She huffed indignantly at John as she fixed her blue dress. She sauntered over to the table and took a seat. John took a seat on her left and Regalo on the right after he set the food on the table. Wordlessly the two men began digging in with little regard for manners and Vanima was visibly appalled.
“I do hope you don’t plan on acting like that at the after party!”
John looked up from his plate of sweet dough and gave Vanima a blank expression.
Vanima and rolled her eyes at the human and elaborated. “After the concert you’re expected to join the rest of us in the foyer to discuss your performances. Granted it’s often fashion designers who have the main event and they usually talk about what inspired them to design clothes and the same is expected of you. You’ll be amongst members of the Purity caste so do not do anything.” Regalo and John both cocked their heads in confusion and Vanima sighed exasperatedly. “The Purity caste is the highest rank for a Qinis to have! They are the most beautiful and richest Qinis! To be in their presence is a great honor. I’m only in the Malda caste below them and even then I’m only just barely a Malda,” She explained as she gestured wildly. “If you’re going to be amongst them then you need to compose yourself. You don’t just destroy your food just eat it as delicately as you can. It’s too late to teach you all the etiquette but please do not embarrass yourselves because that will reflect on me,” She pleaded.
The men gave her blank stares and resumed eating however with a lot less gusto than they started with. Vanima smiled appreciatively at their effort and daintily ate her portion of the dough. Soon they finished their meal in silence as John and Regalo attempted to mimic Vanima’s dainty mannerisms.
When they finished their meal John patted his stomach. “Alright bitchin’ lets go to the theater because I have some cool effects in mind for some of the songs I’m gonna play,” he excitedly announced as he got up. The trio got up and deposited their dishes in the sink before leaving. They sat in the hover cart as it meandered through the air.
“Dear Christ almighty does this thing not go faster,” John moaned as they floated serenely through the air.
“Yes but it’s very impolite to go fast. We’re a delicate and graceful race,” Vanima curtly replied.
“I however, am not so please oh merciful God please can we go faster,” John complained.
“Who is this god that you keep referring to,” Vanima asked as she looked quizzically to John. John gave her an odd look.
“Do you not have a God?”
“We don’t have a god,” Regalo informed him while looking at the scenery outside.
“Alright do you guys have a religion?” At that both aliens fully turned to give John a puzzled look.
“What’s a religion,” Vanima asked.
“Ok now you’re shitting me.” Vanima looked at John with a look of abject horror before Regalo explained.
“It’s his way of saying that he doesn’t believe you.” Vanima still looked at John dubiously as the human began explaining what religion was.
“Well… I guess religion is a belief system about things such as how the universe was created, what happens after you die, what is the meaning of life and other existential questions.” The aliens gave him a blank look.
“Things happen to you after you die?” Vanima asked as she pulled out her notebook and pen. John hesitated slightly as he tried to teach the concept of the afterlife to aliens.
“Well yeah I guess… In the religion I believe in, when you die your [untranslatable] is judged and if you’ve been good and charitable then you go to [approximation: paradise] and if you’ve been bad you go to [untranslatable]”
Man if they didn’t get it before now I got ‘em stumped, he thought as he looked at their faces.
“Some of those words you said didn’t translate. What is a sool? And what is hell?” Regalo asked, struggling with the word soul. John hesitated more as he thought of ways to explain the concepts to them.
“Well… A soul is like your mind. It’s everything that makes you you. Hell is a place your soul gets sent to if it’s judged evil. It’s a place of eternal suffering and the eviler you are the worse the suffering.” Vanima gave him a quizzical look as she paused in her scribbling.
“And how exactly do you know that this is what happens after you?”
“Well… You don’t.” At that both aliens looked at him dumbfounded. Oh they are just not getting it.
“How can you believe in something, no offense, that sounds like complete and utter madness,” Regalo asked as he tried to grapple with the concepts himself.
“Do all humans believe in this paradise and hell?” Vanima asked. John made a face as he contemplated his answer.
“Well a lot of us do I mean it’s a lot more complicated than that,” he tentatively explained. “In my religion there is this supreme being who rules over the paradise. Now this Supreme Being is called God and he essentially created the universe and stuff. He also made humans, according to the scripture. There’s a lot more stuff that happens but at one point he sends us his son called Jesus to teach us his ways and stuff. Jesus was capable of performing miracles and stuff, like walking on water and curing disease with his hands. Now we [impaled on a large piece of lumber] Jesus because he was spouting blaspheme according to the scripture of the time. Essentially Jesus died and came back to life 3 days later. After he came back from the dead he told some people to codify the truths and sent his disciples to teach them and then he ascended to this paradise. Now some of the people who believe in Jesus believe that he’ll one day return from the paradise and lead us into some battle against evil,” he finished as he looked to his friends Man I really should’ve just stuck to the whole heaven and hell shtick, he thought as they gave him confused and worried looks.
“John you are my dearest friend and you know I would never mean to hurt you but your species is mad,” Regalo deadpanned, “absolutely mad.”
John burst out laughing to the further dismay and worry of his companions. Holy shit this is bat shit insane. Here I am, ass end of the galaxy with a space elf, and a giant raccoon, preaching to them the message of our freaking lord and savior Jesus Christ. John Ash, interstellar Jehovah’s Witness.
“Yeah we’re bat shit insane,” he giggled as Regalo rolled his eyes and resumed his position leaning against John and Vanima slowly edged away from the human. John put his arm around Regalo once the Gaoian was comfortable. They rode the rest of the way to the theater in silence.
The trio exited the cart and walked into the theater. John had never fully appreciated the theater his first time around. Now with all the lights on, he stood in wonder at the sheer size of the room. God damn you could fit a ten thousand people in here. The room was as lavish as it was large. Precious metals and gems were inlaid into all the intricate designs. There was a high balcony in what John knew to be the best seat in the house. The room was practically a shrine to the Qinis’ delicate sense of aesthetic, from the intricate design of the walls to how the rows of chairs were presented. Qinis with blue tops were milling about the theater, each of them preoccupied with something. Several of them gave Regalo odd looks but soon took a renewed interest in their work as John glared at them. I dare you to make a comment about him. John gently got on the stage and looked to his companions. Vanima nodded at him and asked him.
“Alright John how many songs will you be performing?”
“I’ll be performing 3 songs.” Vanima nodded and spoke quietly into her coms unit.
“Alright anything special you want to do for the songs?”
“Yeah for the first song is it possible to flood the stage?”
“You might want to take off your shoes John.” No sooner than she said that water began trickling through pipes and onto the stage. John quickly removed his socks and shoes. Soon enough he was ankle deep in water. Yeah this’ll do nicely for the first one.
“Alright and how quickly can you drain the water?” No sooner than he had asked the water began to drain away and in mere seconds the stage was bone dry. That is just some freaky shit right there. John nodded as a concert plan began forming his mind. “Ok so for the first song I want the stage to flood like it was just now. I’ll take a bow and during that you can drain the stage. Then I’ll play the next two songs and then my bit is done.” John informed Vanima. The Qinis muttered into her coms and then nodded at John. This is gonna be a kick ass concert.
6y 9m 3w 2d BV
John stood nervously off stage as the models walked up the catwalk. “You’ll be fine John. You’re the best iolin player in the galaxy remember,” Regalo soothed the fearful human. He was dressed in his shimmering concert dress. It’s just a normal concert. You’ve done this like a bazillion times before you can do this. John Orion Ash you will kick ass at this concert. Regalo put a hand on his shoulder and John could feel his fears melt away. He looked to Regalo with resolve and nodded.
“Ladies, gentlemen and esteemed guests. It is my honor to present to you John Orion Ash!” The audience applauded politely as Vanima announced him. She gave him subtle thumbs up as they crossed paths on the stage. Slowly the stage began to flood with water and John made it to the center.
“Ladies gentlemen and esteemed guests. I present to you the music of my people.” And with that John began to play as the backing music came on. As the music coursed through the air John began dancing in the water, his fluid motions kicking up arcs of water.
Vanima felt her heart flutter as the music pulsed through the audience. The fast pace of the music set alight her soles as she began to lightly dance along with the music, much to the Gaoian’s amusement. She looked out to the crowd and could see a large number of Qinis tapping their foot or hand quietly to the beat. The build up near the end set Vanima’s heart rate skyrocketing as the tension mounted only to be released in one mighty surge once the music resumed. In that moment John looked like he was master of the water with his delicate yet powerful sweeping legs. The song ended and rapturous applause tore across the auditorium. She looked up to the balcony where the sole 3 Qinis of the Purity Caste were sitting and could see one of them lightly applauding. Vanima was over the moon. John bowed at the audience as the water drained away from the stage.
He took up his position once more and began playing once more. Vanima could feel something deep within her reverberate with the music. For the first time she felt free. Free from the caste, free from the need to repress her emotions to maintain her graceful and dainty demeanor, free from everyone’s expectations. It seemed even Regalo was not immune to this song as the Gaoian danced with little reservation. Vanima looked to the crowd and could see almost all of the Qinis taking a quite a liking to the song, even the 3 Purity Qinis! This is the finest day of my life, she thought as the music coursed through her veins. She had to fight back tears to salvage what little of her composure she had left. John took a bow and Vanima could now see two of the Purity Qinis applauding the young violinist.
John began playing his final song of the night. Vanima closed her eyes as the peaceful tune washed over her mind. She felt a certain sorrow grace her mind but it wasn’t crushing nor overwhelming. It was the same sorrow she felt when she waved goodbye to the mori bird she used to keep as a pet and later freed. That bittersweet goodbye of letting something you love free, knowing they’ll be happier in the great mysterious expanse of the world. A solitary tear managed to sneak past her ironclad composure. She was quick to wipe it away before it could interfere with her makeup. She looked up to the Purity Qinis to see all three of their composure faltering ever so slightly. At the end of the song John was met with deafening applause and a standing ovation, even the three Purity Caste stood to give the human applause. John bowed and then went off stage.
John was still feeling the concert high as he walked to his friends off stage. The next sets of models were already walking up and down the catwalk as John arrived.
“John that was absolutely beautiful,” Vanima exclaimed quietly as the human packed away his violin.
“The best music I’ve ever heard as usual,” Regalo added as he embraced his friend. John delicately and slowly wrapped his arms around the Gaoian for a moment before they let go. John was abashedly smiling at the floor. The trio quietly walked off the backstage and to the seats reserved for performers and watched the last 2 fashion shows.
Ok wow, I thought we had fucked up clothes but these guys take home the gold. Oh God is that a nipple??? Is that a nipple!! Oh no just a weird piece of fabric. They really just do not have a concept of modesty. Oh god that is a lot of cleavage. They all have a lot of cleavage now… God is real. Soon the fashion show ended and the audience began filtering out through the rear exits. John shifted nervously with his case as he followed the crowd. He felt Regalo take his hand and the fear ebbed away from him. So long as I got you buddy I’ll kick anything’s ass. John entered the foyer and realised just how difficult talking would be. Oh my God I am at crotch level. Dear sweet Jesus have I not been through enough? Vanima quickly flittered hither and tither like a social butterfly. It was when John saw her compared to her other kinsmen that he realised that Vanima was essentially the midget version of a Qinis.
“That was quite the playing John Ash,” A mellifluous voice graced his ears. The duo turned only to be met with three crotches. They looked up and saw three of the most beautiful being they had ever seen. They were elegantly dressed in an azure shirts and billowing white trousers with a red sash holding them up. Their hair was a golden sheen unlike the brown or black of the Qinis around them. The other Qinis were a head shorter than these ones. John looked around and saw that the other Qinis had bowed. He and Regalo quickly bowed as well much to the Purity Qinis’ amusement. “No need for such formalities with me John Ash. I am Aran Morus. These two are my children. This is my daughter Vellana Morus and my son Orino Morus. Who might your Gaoian friend be?”
Regalo bowed deeply and answered, “I am Regalo of the clan Ash.”
Oh sweet Jesus I am so honored. I’d bear hug you ya lil shit if it didn’t kill you. Aran in turn bowed his head at the Gaoian.
“Well met Regalo of the Ash clan. I would like to cordially commend you on your performance. It unlike anything I had heard before. I would like to dine with you and your Gaoian friend here as well as the shrewd Qinis who signed you on as the main event,” He announced as he searched the crowd for the Qinis who had chosen the human. Vanima slowly walked to John’s side and bowed. Aran nodded at the small Qinis. “Carry on,” Aran announced and the Qinis resumed their socializing.
“Come let us be seated,” Aran commanded as the trio followed the elven beauties to one of the few tables in the foyer. The chairs adjusted to accommodate for the trio’s short height and elevated them to the Morus family’s height. Almost immediately meals were brought to them. John was offered a measly piece of what looked like tofu.
I am going to starve. John looked to Vanima for instructions as to what to do. She began to delicately eat impossibly small pieces of the pitiful mound of alien tofu. I am going to starve slowly. John and Regalo mimicked her and ate their meal small piece by small piece. Oh my God this tastes awful. It’s like Brussels sprouts had children with vomit.
“So John Ash, tell us about yourself. My children are most enamored with your music,” Aran revealed much to the embarrassment of the kids John noted.
“Well I am a Humanity from Earth. I’ve practiced the violin since I was able to hold it,” John replied as anxiety tore his mind apart. Is this the answer they want? Have I accidentally insulted his intelligence? Sweet merciful Christ how do I know!
Aran nodded his head gracefully. Vellana pensively placed a finger on her lips before asking. “I’ve never heard of your race before John Ash. Where exactly is your homeworld?”
John balked at the question unsure as to reveal to them he was an abductee or come up with a flimsy lie that’d probably fall apart under any amount of scrutiny.
“John is actually an abductee. We were abducted by the Corti a few months ago,” Regalo responded cordially as he delicately ate his meal.
He is so much more suave than me. The Morus family seemed mildly shocked by the fact. Vanima added,
“You have our condolences. It is a pity that such unfortunate events have led you here,” Aran lamented.
“N-no no it’s no problem at all. I adore playing my instrument, whether it is amongst the stars or amongst my own so long as I can perform I’m happy,” John assured the patriarch. Regalo smiled at the human and John felt more at ease amongst the high society.
“If it is not too much to ask, may I see your instrument? I am most curious about the device that can produce such beautiful and diverse melodies,” Orino asked. John nodded and tried to get off the chair only to have it slowly lower itself. Eventually John reached the floor and he opened his case. He withdrew his beloved violin and got back on the chair. He handed the instrument to Orino. The Qinis huffed slightly under its weight.
Please don’t drop it. Please don’t drop it. Please don’t drop it. Orino felt the varnished wood, his fingers grazing the faint ridges. He slid his fingers up the D string, feeling the taught metal. He tried playing it but only managed to produce quiet squawks. He passed a weird barcode reader machine over the instrument. The young Qinis handed the instrument back to the human. John replaced the instrument in its case.
“It must take a great amount of skill to produce sound like you did. How long have you been practicing this instrument exactly,” Orino asked.
John paused a moment as he did some mental math. “I have been practicing this instrument for 17 years now.” Everyone save Regalo was stunned at the amount of time the human had dedicated to the instrument.
“Of course it should be no surprise considering the skill you have demonstrated tonight. I’m curious what is you instrument made of,” Aran asked courteously as he continued to eat.
“Ah well it is made of wood. The white part of the bow is made from hair of an animal from our planet. Although I’m not sure what kinds of wood and the exact hair my violin is made of I’d need to ask my mother for that. She was a very talented musician and before I went off to study my instrument in depth. It’s around 30 years old and cost a lot of money when my mother bought it. She passed it on to me once she retired from her career and I’ve been playing it ever since,” John recounted.
“Father we should produce some of these instruments. I’ve taken a scan of the dimensions of John Ash’s instrument. I’ve sent them to the fabricators to reproduce from the wood here and hair from the Ulian bird. May we offer John Ash the first one? In gratitude for allowing me to see his instrument,” Orino asked his father. Aran nodded and replied.
“It would only be right to give the first violin to the gentlebeing who brought it to us. Miss Dukkoti if you would arrange for John to go to the refineries to collect his gift,” the patriarch ordered dismissively. Vanima had done her best to appear as small as possible during the entire dinner.
“Yes your fairness,” she squeaked.
“Now that that has been settled what of our Gaoian guest. Where do you come from,” Aran asked as he turned to face the furry sapient.
“I hail from my homeworld Gao but was abducted by the Corti whilst on route to our new colony on Gorai. I was going to start a new clan there but we all know how that endeavor fared.” The Qinis tittered quietly at the small joke.
Regalo you smooth motherfucker I could bare get them to smile! What is your secret?
“I am a ship engineer by trade but I’ve become care taker of John Ash,” he informed them, mimicking their style of naming. “I take care of the ship and John pilots it.”
Regalo regaled the Qinis with funny stories of John’s innocent misconceptions of the galaxy and its denizens. John blushed slightly at the embarrassing tales but took them in good nature, had it been anyone other than Regalo recounting these tales the human would have been furious. Their meal came to an end as Aran stood up from his seat. Instantly, an unnatural silence fell as conversations stopped mid sentence.
“It is time to bring this festival to an end. We have witnessed great beauty today, both in sound and in sight. I bid you all a safe journey home.” The Qinis bowed deeply at Aran before slowly and gracefully trickling out of the room. Aran checked his communicator then turned to Vanima. “Miss Dukkoti John Ash’s gift is ready if you would take him to the fabricator then to his ship.” Vanima nodded as she bowed as if unsure which part of her body was meant to bow. The Morus family serenely walked out of the theater. Soon enough only the crew of The Lost Minstrel was still in the foyer.
“Vanima you seemed a tad tense during dinner,” Regalo chittered as he slid off the chair.
“My God I was worried she’d die of embarrassment,” John laughed. Vanima blushed furiously as she pressed her lips together. “It’s not my fault you two were eating like absolute brutes! My word I was mortified! It’s lucky that you can turn emotions to sound John or you might not have even been invited to dine with them!”
Both John and Regalo shrugged. Ah fuck it. It’s not like I’m staying here any longer. John thought as they walked over to Vanima’s hover cart. As they rode Regalo leaned on John and the human automatically draped his arm around his furry friend.
“This will do wonders for your fame John,” Vanima told the human as she set the address for the fabricators.
“Really? How so?”
“Well a family of the Purity Caste adored your music and even invited you to dine with them as equals! Notice how they called you John Ash but I was called Miss Dukkoti?” John reviewed the dinner in his mind and surely enough what Vanima said was true. Regalo chittered slightly causing both of his companions to turn to him.
“John by the time we arrive at Gorai I’ll need you to fend off all the females trying to offer me mating contracts after they’ve heard of what I’ve accomplished. Travelled across the galaxy and become a celebrity.” John laughed with his friend as he imagined an army of giant lady raccoons chasing them across the green planet. Vanima rolled her eyes at the men and added.
“Honestly you two, do you even have a planned route to Gorai?”
“Ah well the fun part is we make up the plan as we go along isn’t that right Regalo?”
“It most certainly is,” the Gaoian chittered. Vanima sighed as the two men laughed away the ride. Soon they arrived at a stout short tree. A Qinis was waiting for them at the platform. He was wearing a blue jumpsuit and was holding a case. The Qinis bowed and silently offered the case to John. The human gently took the case.
You could at least let me get out of the damn cart. The cart hovered away towards the hangers of the city. The trio entered their abode with sighs of relief at the stronger gravity.
“Alright time to skedaddle out of here,” John announced as he started to make his way to the bridge, dropping off the two violins in his room. Regalo nodded as he followed John. Vanima followed them out of curiosity. John sat at the nav unit as Regalo took his seat on the coms unit. Vanima contented herself to sit in the captain’s chair, overlooking the two men.
“Set thrusters to maximum! Heat up the plasma cannons!” She pointed at each of them respectively. They chuckled at the Qinis’ orders as they rolled their eyes at each other.
“This is The Lost Minstrel to Sefsek control tower requesting take off.”
“This is Sefsek control tower to The Lost Minstrel you are cleared for take off, please follow the route sent to your navigations unit.” “Copy that Sefsek control tower.”
John slowly gunned the kinetic thrusters of the ship and followed the route displayed on his navigations screen. The Lost Minstrel snaked through the forest before breaking out of the tree line.
“Sefsek control tower to The Lost Minstrel you have free range of flight.”
John cracked his knuckles before he started accelerating through the atmosphere. I may be accelerating faster than protocol but this is way cooler than protocol. He thought as he was pushed into his chair. They broke atmosphere and serenely glided through the vast emptiness of space.
Regalo moved to the FTL terminal and projected the star map.
“Alright we’re there.” He pointed to the flashing system. “We can either go through an active warzone and straight to a mining colony in Dominion space or we can circle around Celzi space to this system here which is controlled by the Celzi race then from there Jump to the trading hub here. The warzones in this area are minor skirmishes so we should be able to fly by undetected,” He informed them. Regalo turned to John. “Which route captain?” John pondered as the aliens stared at him intently. Fast and risky or long and safe? I could survive the risky route but will they? Slow and steady wins the race I guess.
“Set course for that Celzi system. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Aye Aye Captain setting course for the Ungolo system.”
And with that The Lost Minstrel jumped to FTL, embarking on another journey.