Chapter Three: What the Storm Blew In
The wind smelled like rain as it blew, but it was a welcome reprieve from the heat. That was the thing about living in the South. Even when it was supposed to be cooling off, there could always be a random hot day that made it unbearable to be outside.
The little yellow house didn't have central air conditioning, so she had box fans and one unit in the window, and that was usually enough to keep her from going insane during the height of the summer.
Now she was sitting on her porch on the swing her brother had installed for her, sipping a glass of iced tea with mint and watching as the storm rolled in.
Hot, heavy days always heralded a storm. The air would be thick and soupy, almost impossible to breathe and clinging close one minute, and then a breeze would kick up, bringing with it the smell of ozone and rain as dark clouds rolled across the sky.
It was lovely to watch, like seeing time change right in front of her. The sky went dark and the sun was hidden, changing the light and making the whole world look eerie and strange before the first crack of lightning flashed.
Natasha remembered being young, back when her step father had still been in the picture. He would hustle her and her siblings onto the porch right before a storm. He was the one who taught them the trick about counting between the lightning and the thunder to see how far off the storm was, and it was always a game to them. The three children seated on the porch under his watchful eye, counting out loud as lighting nearly blinded them and then the loud boom of thunder had them scrambling to cover their ears.
"When I was your age, we'd dance in the rain," Paul told them. "I remember my mom screaming from inside the house that we were going to get fried like a chicken out there in the storm, but that didn't scare us. Wasn't until the wind started whipping through branches and we were soaked to the skin that we'd go in."
Natasha wasn't fearless enough to dance with lightning, so she did this, sitting on her porch with a book and a glass of tea, watching as the storm came.
The town would be a muddy mess by the time it rolled back out again, and it was just another thing that this place could ruin, the beauty and ferocity of a storm.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and she could hear dogs barking from the other side of the road. Parents would be shooing their kids inside, and people would be running out to make sure the windows and sunroofs on their cars were closed before the deluge happened.
There was no such thing as a small storm in Salem Grove. Everything was big and loud and terrifying, and Natasha could feel it crackling in her veins.
She'd been feeling cooped up and restless all day, pacing in the heat like a caged animal.
Anxiety and the need to do something prickled at her, and she couldn't tell where it was coming from. Of course, there was the usual desire to be anywhere but here, but usually that was manageable at least.
This was riding her, a strange feeling that started from the center of her and spread all the way down to her fingers and toes.
It was the way she'd felt when she was a kid, watching Paul get more and more fed up with Dorothea. Watching as his smile dimmed and then hardly ever was seen again. His eyes lost their sparkle, and more often than not there was a furrow between his brows as he fought off a frown.
And then one day she'd felt that restless, anxious feeling when she'd woken up in her bed, and by the time she was coming down for breakfast, the screaming had started.
Paul was packing, Dorothea was yelling and throwing stuff, her siblings were cowering in the living room.
It was one of those days that she knew she was always going to remember, and the same feeling of something looming on the horizon was inside of her now, which worried her.
What more could happen? Would her mother finally go insane and do something stupid while she was home alone? Part of Nat wanted to get in her car and drive over there, but it wasn't a very large part.
Nothing good would come of it, and the rain was already starting to fall.
So she sipped her tea and decided to wait it out. Probably it was just the storm. It would go away and subside soon enough.
As the sky got darker with the coming night, the storm built in intensity. The ground seemed to shake with the power of the thunder, and each strike of lightning lit up the view like it was day time.
Eventually, Natasha moved back inside. Rain was falling fast and hard, and the wind was just blowing it around, making it impossible to stay dry.
Even the windows rattled in their panes with the roar of the wind. She turned on the news, just to make sure there wasn't going to be a tornado or anything.
But the radar only showed severe thunderstorms, so she tried to make herself relax.
As the storm raged on, the uneasy feeling just got worse. Every crash of thunder had her jumping out of her skin, and the lightning seemed to sizzle through her, making the hairs on her arm stand up. It was the most keyed up she'd been in a while, and there was no reason for it.
She'd just decided that maybe she was hungry, and had opened the refrigerator to see what she had by way of leftovers, when the sound of a droning rumble broke through the noise of the storm.
It wasn't thunder, that was for sure. It sounded more like a plane passing overhead, only it was closer than she'd ever heard one before, and much, much louder.
A shrill sort of siren noise was layered above it, and for one moment, the noise was terrible and she slapped her hands over her ears, sure that a plane had been struck by lightning or something and was about to come down on top of her.
She ran to look out the back window, but she couldn't see anything. At least, not until the brightest flash of lightning yet lit up her backyard.
It was just a split second, but that was enough time for her to see as something came crashing down into her back yard with a sound that she didn't so much hear as feel all through her.
Something had just crash landed in her backyard in the middle of a storm.
For a moment, she stood there, gripped by indecision. It was raining hard enough to hurt out there, but maybe people were injured. Maybe someone needed help. If a bunch of people died in her backyard because she'd been too worried about getting wet to go see what they needed, she was going to feel like a jerk.
So she ran to the hall closet and grabbed her raincoat and boots, putting them on quickly. She grabbed the large flashlight from the drawer in the kitchen and then flung the back door open and dashed out into the night.
A flash of lightning gave her enough light to see to turn the flashlight on, and she shone it at the massive dark shape in the yard.
It was not a plane.
It was...hard to tell what she was looking at, actually. It definitely wasn't a plane, at least, not any kind of plane that she had ever seen before. For one thing it was shaped more like a city bus than a plane, and it didn't have wings.
It was massive, though, and it took up her entire backyard and had taken out the fence on the other side of it that sectioned her yard off from the land behind it.
She couldn't make out the color, even with the flashlight, and whatever it was...it was smoking gently in the rain.
"Here goes nothing," Natasha murmured under her breath, and moved closer.
There were no lights on in the thing or signs of life, but that didn't mean that no one had survived.
She banged on the side of it, surprised to find the metal warm and dry, even though it was pouring around it. "Hello?" Nat called. "Is anyone in there?"
No response.
She bit her lip and banged harder. "Hello? Anyone alive? Should I call the police?"
After a second more of silence, the panel she had been banging on turned transparent, allowing her to see inside of the vessel.
Of course, she didn't really get a good look because as soon as she'd leaned closer to peer inside, a big, blue face blocked out the view and made her jump back with a yelp.
Someone was definitely alive inside of there, then.
She watched as the person turned and said something she couldn't hear to someone behind them, and then they turned back and pressed something on the wall, making the panel disappear completely.
Now there was nothing between her and the...person, and Natasha wondered if she was about to be murdered. "Um," she said. "You seem like you're okay? Are you okay?"
The person tipped their head to the side, clearly confused. They turned their head and called something back into the ship/plane/thing, and it was a language she had never heard before, lilting and hard at the same time.
Someone inside called something back, and then the person stepped forward and out onto the grass.
Natasha looked up, and then up some more. It was very clearly a male figure, and he had a good two feet on her own unimpressive height. His skin was definitely blue in the light from the ship and the flashlight, and he had markings on his face and down his neck, which was the only skin she could currently see.
Dark eyes blinked down at her, and he said something else in that language.
“I’m sorry,” Natasha replied, shouting slightly to be heard over the roar of thunder that crashed around them. “I don’t understand you.”
The man made a face and then pursed his lips for a moment, looking lost in thought before he smiled and looked at her again. "Is this better?" he asked in halting and heavily accented English.
"Oh," Natasha said. "Yes. Much better. Um. Are you okay? Is everyone okay?"
He nodded. "Yes. We are fine. We got lost," he shot a dark look over his shoulder and into the ship. "And ended up here. Where are we?"
"Uh...Salem Grove?"
"Is that a planet?"
"....No."
"What planet, please?"
"Earth?"
He made a noise under his breath and then said something in his own language that was definitely a curse. He called back into the ship, and she didn't understand most of it, but the gist seemed to be that they were on Earth, and he was unhappy about it.
From inside someone said something back, and the man just sighed and rubbed at his face. Somehow, even though Natasha was soaked through from standing there, he was completely dry.
The man looked around him, taking in the ship that had crashed and her tiny yellow house and the land beyond it. Then he looked up at the sky and blinked, apparently surprised to find it raining.
"Your rain does not kill here," he said, and it was a statement, not a question.
"Uh, no. It doesn't," Nat replied. "Not unless you manage to drown in it." Another flash of lightning lit up the whole yard. "Or unless you get hit by lightning. It's not safe to stand out here."
He nodded and beckoned to her. "Come in. You will be dry and safe."
"Uh...are you sure? You just want me to...go in there?" This was like every story her parents had ever told her about kids who were dumb and got carted off because they took candy from strangers and climbed into their vans or something, but the restless burn in her blood was back with a vengeance. This was something new and different, and she was longing to find out what was happening.
"You're not going to try to kidnap me, are you?" she asked, getting right to the point, so no one could say she hadn't done her due diligence when it came to this.
He looked confused for a second, like he was trying to parse her sentence, and then he smiled and shook his head. "No. You will not be harmed or taken. You have my word of honor."
The way he said it made it seem like that was a big deal, and that was good enough for her. She was soaking wet and getting cold, and her curiosity was getting the better of her.
"Alright, then," she said, and took a step forward, letting him lead her inside.
Whatever she'd been expecting to see when she stepped in, it wasn't this.
She didn't know if she'd still been thinking that this was going to be some kind of plane, but her mind was having a hard time wrapping around the sight in front of her.
It was definitely long like a bus, but that was where the similarities ended. For one thing, it was much bigger on the inside than it appeared it should be from the outside. Just the parts she could see were about the size of a standard one bedroom apartment, though it was more like an apartment that was filled with knobs and screens and flashing buttons than a place to live.
It was some sort of control bay, she surmised, and it looked distinctly alien.
The man was standing in front of her, and was speaking in a low, urgent voice to someone sitting in a chair right in front of the windshield.
Whatever he was saying, it caused the person to rise from the seat, and then she was looking at two tall, muscular, blue skinned men.
Natasha's jaw dropped.
In the light of the ship, they looked as alien as their vessel. They were built like humans: two arms, two legs, one head, etcetera, but they were clearly not human. They had different shades of aqua colored skin, and the second man, who was a little taller than the first, had different markings.
They both also had scales. Shimmering scales in a lighter color than their skin tone ran up their cheekbones and over their foreheads, and it made her wonder where else they would have them.
Their eyes looked reptilian, glimmering in the light, and they were both staring at her, though not in a predatory way, thank god for that.
“And what is she?” the second man asked, arching a brow. “Is it a female?”
“A human, I think,” the first replied. “We’re on Earth.” He sounded very resigned about it. “Are you a female?”
“Last time I checked.”
“Does it change?”
Natasha swallowed her snort of amusement. “No. Well. Sometimes. That’s a long story.”
The two of them looked at each other and then back at her. “Our ship needs repairs,” one of them said.
“The landing was rough,” the other added.
“Well don’t blame me for that. I did the best I could with what I had. Which was hardly anything because you—” He seemed to realize he was arguing in front of a stranger and then stopped.
Natasha had no idea who they were or what they were, but she knew one thing. This was probably the most interesting thing that was ever going to happen to her.
“It’s going to be raining for a while,” she said. “Would you like to come in?”
In the morning, the rain had stopped.
The sun was shining, and everything was damp and dripping. Natasha knew that the rest of the town would be a muddy mess, but somehow, her house wasn't. It just looked like it had been washed clean.
She laid in her bed, wondering if she'd hit her head last night or eaten something bad.
Something that made her imagine that there were three giant aliens in her living room, waiting out the rain so they could take off back to their mission again.
And how fantastic did it sound?
Just flying through the galaxy, seeing things, learning things. Living. It was what she'd always imagined she'd do one day, though her scope had been limited to Earth, of course.
Now that she knew there was more out there, so much more, she wanted to see it.
It was that restless feeling all over again. It made her blood feel like it was made of ginger ale, fizzing and bubbling under her skin.
Her fingers tingled and her feet itched, and she wanted to go. She wanted to see.
She'd told Kathy that she couldn't leave until her mother was no longer in the picture, but this was it, wasn't it? This was something that could get her to go. Because how many times were three men from outer space going to crash land in her backyard and tell her about the experience of a lifetime?
This was her chance, and all she had to do was convince them that they wanted to take her, a human woman they had never met before, along for the ride with them.
She'd done harder things than that before, surely.
Of course, there was always the chance that it really had been a dream, and she was going to walk out of her bedroom and into an empty house, but the idea had a hold of her now, and she couldn't stay in bed any longer.
She got dressed quickly, made a quick stop in the bathroom to brush her teeth and smooth down her hair, and then stepped into the living room, holding her breath.
......It was empty.
For a second, her heart sank all the way through the floor. It was like one of those dreams where you're in a loving, committed relationship with someone who cares for you more than words can express, and you just feel it in the dream, but then you wake up to a cold, empty bed, and you're alone again.
Natasha felt like she was going to cry.
But then the sound of swearing in a language that she knew she wasn't creative enough to dream up made her perk back up.
They were outside, and she ran for the back door.
There they were. All three of them.
Well, she could only see two of them, but she could hear the other one, the one doing the swearing, and she put it together that they were trying to get their ship going again.
Natasha drew in a deep breath and let it out messily. It was a beautiful morning, all damp and bright, and the rain had done wonders for the heat, although she knew that it would be unbearably humid by noon.
But what if she was gone by then? What if this worked?
One of them popped his head out and smiled to see her standing there.
"Ah, the human is awake," he called. "Did we wake you?"
"No," Natasha replied. "I actually...um. I wanted to talk with the three of you about something."
"The human wants to parley," the warrior said, sounding amused. "Tell me, what do you know of parley, little human?"
His tone was cocky and condescending, and Natasha popped her hands on her hips and gave him a look that she hoped conveyed what she thought about being talked down to. Even by an alien. "First of all," she said. "My name is Natasha. I told you that last night. You know, before I let three complete strangers hide from the storm in my house?"
His face fell a bit at that, and he had the decency to look sheepish. "Very fair," he replied. "We have been rude. Az, Alaran, come out here!"
A moment passed and then the other two popped fully into view. Now that she was looking at all three of them together, the differences were ever more striking than she'd noticed the night before.
The one in the middle, who had called the other two out, was the tallest. He was also the broadest and he had lighter skin than one of the others. His markings were more broad strokes, it seemed, thick lines and bands that wound around his arms and disappeared into his tunic.
She wondered where else he might have them.
The other two were shorter, though no less imposing.
The one on the left had the darkest skin, an almost inky sort of teal that made the scales on his face shimmer all the brighter. He was also leaner than the other two, still muscular and built for battle, but in a way that made it seem like he’d be able to move faster if necessary.
On the right was the lightest of the three of them, his skin like the color of the sky, but with more green mixed in. There were a few paler patches along his arms, brought out by his markings. His scales were darker and they glittered in the sunlight as he looked at her and then at the one in the middle, clearly waiting to see what would happen.
“We are the Dammen Ka,” the one in the middle said. “Warriors from far beyond the reach of your sun. We travel, searching out new planets and new people, ever expanding our knowledge of the universe around us. We help to right wrongs and we help to save the small where we can, in accordance to our oath as warriors. My name is Temos. And this is Alaran," he pointed to the one on the left. "And Azaniston," he pointed to the one on his right. "We thank you for your hospitality."
Something about those words made a fire light in her veins. Exploration, expanding knowledge. That was what she wanted to do. She wanted to see things and learn about them, and the three standing in front of her were living the life that she wanted more than anything.
The gravitas of the moment lasted for only a second before Azaniston broke into an easy grin. "You can just call me Az," he said. "My real name is too much and too grand for someone like me."
"And you can call me Nat," Natasha offered back. "It's just easier to say."
The two of them smiled at each other for a long moment before Temos made a show of clearing his throat. Funny how some gestures and things were apparently universal.
"Well," Temos said. "We should be on our way soon enough."
"And maybe this time we won't end up on the complete wrong side of the galaxy," Alaran muttered under his breath. "Lost in a solar storm."
"How was I supposed to know that there would be more than one storm?" Temos asked.
"By checking the radar? You know the expensive piece of tech that was specially modded into our ship for just such occasions?"
Temos gave Natasha a look that was so reminiscent of a 'you see what I have to put up with?' look that she couldn't help but laugh. For creatures from a far off planet, they were very...human.
Or maybe humans were just modeled after other creatures. Who knew which had come first.
Either way, Natasha liked them, and she knew she had to act if she wanted to get anywhere with this.
"Um," she said, and then cleared her throat. "I wonder if I could ask for a favor?"
Temos gave her a grin. "Then you do know how to parley?"
"Not...not really."
Az's face split in a soft smile. "It's not complicated. Whenever two or more individuals from differing or just different sides or species sit down and have a chat it's called a parley. It's usually used for negotiations in times of conflict, but when one party owes something to the other, it is a good middle ground. Since you gave us shelter from the storm, it is within your rights to ask something of us now."
"And I am interested to see what you would ask," Temos said.
And now was her moment. Natasha inhaled, taking in the smells of wet earth and the metallic tang that seemed to be coming from the ship in her backyard.
"I would like to come with you," she said. Better to just get it out now, right? Deal with convincing them once she'd said her piece. "The life you just described, the exploring, seeing new things, the traveling around together, that's...that's what I've wanted my whole life. There's so much out there, so much I've never seen. So much I might never see, especially if I stay here. There's nothing here. Do you get that? There's literally nothing here. This is a place where nothing happens and nothing changes, and I hate it. I want...I want to explore and see and learn, and I think I could do all of that and then some if I went with you."
She closed her mouth and looked at the ground once she was done with her speech. It sounded...almost childish now that she heard it, and she could just imagine that the three of them would laugh at her. This silly human girl who thought she had the right to ask for something so wonderful from them.
"You are a human," Az said, his voice sounding more thoughtful than scornful. "And you would want to travel the stars?"
Nat looked up at him, hoping her sincerity was clear in her face. "Humans have always wanted to travel the stars," she said. "I bet it's beautiful up there."
"It is," Alaran interjected. "It's beautiful and expansive, and unlike anything you will ever see on a single planet. But it is also dangerous and lonely and vast. And you might never see your home again."
"Good," Natasha said with feeling.
"Do you mean that?" Az wanted to know.
She thought about it for a moment. She thought about her little yellow house and all the effort she'd put into it, and she thought about Kathy and her friends at the coffee shop. For a moment, she even thought about her mother and her siblings.
"No," she said finally. "But...it's nothing I wouldn't give up for a chance to live, even for a little while."
“Temos?” Alaran asked. “What do you think?”
Temos was quiet for a moment. He looked around the yard and then out, past the fence to the street beyond. He tipped his head to one side and looked at her, almost as if he was trying to see through her, trying to see what made her tick. He narrowed his eyes for a second, and Natasha held her breath.
“I think it would be amazing,” he said finally.
“What?” Nat said, unable to hold it in. “Really?”
“Yes.” He grinned at her. “I thought from the moment that I saw you, Natasha, that there was something about you that I liked. I have never met a human before, but I think you are extraordinary, and I think that you would fit in with us very well.”
“But, Temos,” Alaran said. “She cannot fight, she cannot fly the ship. What would we even do with her?”
“Teach her,” Az said, chiming in. “We teach her and let her teach us. We learn.” His smile grew as he thought about it. “Just think, we will be the only Dammen Ka with a human in their entourage.”
“I do not think that is anything to be envious of,” Alaran muttered.
“Of course it is. The others don’t have one, and so they will want one.” Az looked at Natasha. “We’re envious creatures by nature. And once we find something we like, we want to keep it.”
“Sounds like dragons,” Natasha said with a smile.
“You know of dragons?” Temos asked.
“Well. I mean, only what I’ve learned from stories and stuff.”
“There are stories? About dragons? On Earth?”
Natasha laughed. “Yes,” she said. “I can tell you about them if you want.”
“Oh, do. Oh, please do.”
Temos was practically bouncing with excitement, and it took years off of him. He was clearly the leader, maybe the oldest of them, and he began giving orders quickly. “We should wait until nightfall to leave,” he said. “So that the humans don’t get alarmed. We will finish repairing the ship, and you, Natasha the brave, bold human, you will pack your things.”
"Oh my god," Natasha whispered. "Oh my god, it's happening." It was actually happening. Unless this was some kind of cruel trick and they really meant to leave without her, this was happening. By nightfall, she would be well on her way to getting out of here, maybe forever.
But there was so much to do. She had to pack, and she had to call Kathy and give notice and say goodbye. She needed to call her siblings and let them know she was done taking care of their mother.
It was so much, so fast, and she needed to sit down before her head spun off and ended up in orbit somewhere.
A hand settled on her shoulder, and she jumped and looked up to see Azaniston standing there. "It will be a lot to take in," he told her. "Are you sure you are ready for this?"
Natasha nodded, determination and excitement bubbling just under her skin. "Yes," she said. "I am so ready."
"Good, then. Make your preparations."
That was easier said than done, all things considered. She had no idea what she wanted to take with her, and since packing was much easier than thinking about what she was going to say to her family and her friends, she focused on that.
Clothes, some trinkets that she didn't want to leave behind, her laptop? Would there be wifi in space? Did aliens have more advanced technology than she could even conceive of?
In the end she just got her two duffel bags and started filling them with things that she thought she would need. Surely there would be places to get more clothes and things out there in wideness of space.
There were probably whole planets with exciting civilizations on them. Markets and shops and bars like in the movies.
Maybe she would get the dragon three to tell her about their home and how things were there.
Thinking about that was easier than thinking about how she was going to tell people. She couldn’t exactly be like ‘hey, some aliens from a planet I’ve never even heard of are going to take me on a journey through the stars, okay bye’. At least not without sounding like she was crazy. But she couldn’t just disappear, either.
People would worry, and she didn’t want that.
It seemed smart to start with Kathy. Kathy was the one who was always telling her to just go for it, and now she was doing that. Maybe she’d understand.
As luck would have it, it was the one day a week that Bean There was closed, so Kathy was at her house and not at the cafe.
Nat had thought about calling or sending a text or an email, but this wasn't really an email sort of thing, was it? Kathy was more than her boss. She was a friend, and she was one of the people who supported Natasha leaving this place more than anyone else. This was a conversation that they had to have face to face, especially since it involved Nat quitting abruptly.
So she left the dragon boys in her backyard working on the ship and drove to Kathy's place.
She had a nice home, as nice as they came in Salem Grove. A little yard with grass that was browning from the hot summer sun and the lack of time to work on it. Inside she could hear Charlie, Kathy's massive Great Pyrenees puppy barking excitedly.
"Chuck, take a pill," Kathy called when she came to the door. "Nat, I thought that was your car pulling up. What's up? Is everything okay?"
"Sure it is," Nat said. "Can't I just come visit my friend when I feel like it?"
"You can, sure," Kathy said. "You usually text or call first, though. And you've got this look on your face."
"What look?"
"I dunno. It's like a mixture of scared and excited."
Natasha sighed. So much for playing it cool. "That's pretty much right," she said. "Can I come in?"
"Of course. I'm excited to hear whatever's going on. Chuck's off the walls today, so watch out."
Like she needed a warning.
The dog was less than a year old, but already he was the size of some full grown breeds. Charlie was also fluffy, the color of steamed milk, and one of the cutest things Nat had ever seen in her life. He yapped and jumped around her feet until she knelt down and submitted herself to Charlie's careful sniffing and enthusiastic snuggling.
She wondered if the mighty Dammen Ka had dogs. Or even if they knew what dogs were.
"Is this a tea conversation or a wine conversation?" Kathy called from the kitchen.
That was an interesting question. "Probably a wine conversation all things considered," she admitted. "But I have to get back home soon, so let's stick to tea." It wasn't like she was going to be able to tell Kathy the whole truth anyway.
"Tea it is," Kathy said. "So what's going on?"
"You know how you've been saying that I need to just start doing stuff for me?"
"Yes..." Kathy said slowly. "And usually you change the subject because you don't want to talk about it."
"Well, now I want to," Nat replied. "Something's happened. Something big, and I can't go into a lot of details, but it's giving me the chance to get out of here, and well. I've gotta take it."
"Wow. Okay, this is definitely going to be a darjeeling kind of talk."
While the tea was steeping in the little pot on the coffee table and Charlie was laying with his head in Nat's lap, staring up at her adoringly, Natasha told Kathy all she could.
"I met some people last night," she said, wishing she'd prepared a little better for this part. It needed to sound believable and not like she was voluntarily signing up to be human trafficked. "And they're traveling all over."
"Met them where? It was coming down last night."
"I know. Their bus broke down in front of my house last night. So I let them come in to stay dry and wait out the storm. We got to talking, and it turns out the three of them just. Travel. They just roam and see things and learn things and find new things, and I asked if I could come along. They said I could."
"So let me get this straight. Three strangers, men, I'm assuming?"
Nat nodded.
"Three strange men break down in front of your house and you want to go traipsing off with them."
"I know it sounds crazy, Kathy. Believe me, I know. But...it just seems like a sign. I've been talking about getting out of here for so long, and now here's a way for me to do it."
"Or a way for you to end up on the back of a milk carton."
"That's only for kids."
"You know what I mean, Nat. Like, don't get me wrong, okay? I'm happy for you. I really, really want you to be able to get out of here and see the world, even if it means I have to find a new barista and you won't be around to hang out with anymore. I know how much this means to you. I just don't want you to end up in a bad situation because you were too eager. And wow, I never thought I'd have to talk to you about being too eager."
"Exactly. You know me. I'm the person with a million excuses. My mother needed me. She doesn't have anyone else. It's not the right time. But here I am, saying that none of that matters anymore, and I'm going. Shouldn't that tell you that I'm sure about this?"
Kathy sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, I suppose so. Did you at least find out about these guys? Are you sure they aren't running from something?"
"I'm sure. They seem really cool, honestly."
She still looked reluctant, but Natasha had already dug in her heels about this. "Kathy, I love you, but I'm not here to ask your permission to go. I'm just here to tell you I'm quitting and that I'll be gone for a while. I have to do this."
"Yeah, I get that. I do. If you're this excited and this sure, then there's no talking you out of it. Just...be careful, okay? Promise me that much."
"I promise. If it seems sketchy, I'll make them let me out and I'll come back here and you can say you told me so."
"Good. That’s all I ask."
It wouldn't be that easy, of course, considering that she and the dragons would likely be in another solar system. But maybe their whole honorable warrior thing would extend to taking her back home. Who knew?
This was uncharted territory, literally and figuratively, and she was both terrified and excited for it.
Kathy hugged her tight and made her promise to call and check in when she could. Natasha made the promise, even though she knew it likely would not be that easy to do.
Charlie, seeming to sense that goodbyes were being said for the long term, was extra affectionate, licking her face until Kathy had to pick him up so she could leave.
By the time she got back to her house, she was tearing up, but she wiped her eyes and walked around back, checking on the progress of the ship.
"Are you alright?"
She looked up to see one of them, Az she was pretty sure, looking at her. "Sure. Why?"
"Your eyes are wet. Humans are one of the species that express emotions through moisture in their eyes, aren't they?"
Something about the absurd construction of that sentence made her burst out laughing, and she felt better. "I guess you could say that, yeah. I'm fine. Just went to say goodbye to a friend."
“Ah. Were they excited for you?”
“Sort of. More worried that I’m going to be murdered by strangers.”
“We would never,” Az said, looking offended. “Did you explain to her that our moral code keeps us from hurting innocents and that we would hardly agree to let you come with us just to do something to hurt you?”
Nat grinned. “No, I didn’t. I just told her to trust me. I didn’t explain about the whole flying away on a spaceship thing. She thinks you’re just weirdos with a bus.”
“I don’t know what a bus is,” Az said. “And she would have been more excited if you’d told her the truth.”
“I really doubt that. How’s it going out here?”
That made him brighten, and he smiled. “We should be ready to depart by sunset. According to the starnav, that’s in less than a gintor.”
“A what?”
“A gintor. You know, forty-six squandils?”
“Right. Well. I’ll try to be ready in thirty squandils. Will that do?”
He beamed at her. “It will be perfect.”
About four hours later (which really just made her even more confused about what a gintor was), the sun was going down. Natasha had packed her things, she’d said goodbye to Kathy, and left a note under her mother’s front door for her, telling her she was leaving. She’d called and arranged for her utilities to be cut off, and she’d left a message on the machine of her landlady. No use in paying for things she wouldn’t need anymore.
When she came back here, if she came back here, Salem Grove would be too small for her. After seeing the vastness of space, there was no way she’d be anything even remotely close to content here ever again.
But Natasha didn't want to think about coming back. That was looking too far ahead, skipping over the journey itself. There were so many things out there, just waiting to be discovered or passed through or explored, and she wanted to see them all.
The butterflies in her stomach had turned into a swarm of bees, and she kept waiting for one of the dragons to tell her they had been just kidding about taking her with them. Alien practical joke or something like that.
It would devastate her, if that happened. She knew that. She'd come so close to being free, to being more free than she'd ever imagined she would be, and if they took that away from her now, it would hurt.
They just kept preparing, though, and finally, just when the last of the light was dying and the sun had sunk behind the horizon, a triumphant noise from the back told her that whatever they had been doing to the ship was done now.
Natasha drew in a deep breath. She looked around her home one last time, and then she stepped outside.
Her bags were still sitting on the back step, and as she came out, she could see Temos exiting from the ship and coming over.
He grinned when he saw her. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," she said, grinning back. "I'm completely ready."
He bent down and picked up all three of her bags with ease. "Come, then," he said, and led her onto the ship.
It was the same as it'd been last night, long and bright and packed full of things she didn't understand.
Where it had been making a weird wheezing sound the night before, now it was humming, almost purring, and she could feel it under her feet.
Temos led her through the long hall and to a door. "Press your hand here," he said, gesturing to a glass panel on the wall next to the door.
Natasha did, and a lavender light flared with a loud beep. "Confirmed," said a disembodied and robotic female voice.
"The ship's AI," Temos explained. "This is your room. It needs your hand to open it unless you give us access."
"My room?" she asked, feeling lightheaded.
"Yes. Humans have their own rooms, don't they? If you are to travel with us, you will need space."
It wasn't a beautiful room by any means. It was functional, with a bed, a closet, and a screen in one wall. There was also a window that was currently looking out at the lot across the street, but once they were up in space it would be a much better view.
It was spartan, but it was hers.
"Thank you," she said, hoping he knew she meant for more than just the room.
Temos smiled and put her bags down. "Take off in seven," he said. "You'll want to be in command for that."
There would be time to take in her room later. She followed Temos back out and down another hall that led to what must have been command.
It was the space she'd seen before, with the consoles and lights and sensors everywhere. Alaran was already strapped into a seat, and he gave her an impassive nod when she walked by him.
Az was running his fingers over the screens set into the massive, curved equivalent of a dashboard. "It should be smooth skies out of here," he said, addressing Temos when they walked up. "No solar storms this time, Temos."
Temos grinned and dropped into a chair. "I think we've had plenty of excitement already."
"Now he's had enough," Az muttered, lifting his eyes to meet Nat's. "You'll want to strap in," he said. "This is going to be rough at first."
She didn't have to be told twice. The straps were easy enough to work, and she made sure she was buckled in and not going anywhere while Az started the sequence that would get them off the ground.
"Equalize cabin," he said.
"Cabin equalizing," the AI responded.
"Prepare flight module."
"Flight module prepared."
"Coordinates entered."
"Coordinates read."
"Lift off sequence activate."
"Activated. Lift off in five. Four. Three. Two. One."
And then the whole ship jerked. The humming grew more insistent and there was a great whoosh of flames that she couldn't see, but she could hear and feel as the ship kicked into gear.
It was fast, faster than she would have expected, and before she knew it, she was being tossed back and forth as the ship rose and rose and rose and then streaked off, leaving the Earth behind.