Flying Burger (13 page)

Nikita and Melissa went outside the temporary hospital for a breath of fresh air. They saw some pretty wild-flowers growing by the roadside. These flowers looked like terrestrial sunflowers except for the colour, which came in pink, white, light green and purple. They exuded a pleasant fragrance, very much like menthol. Nikita suggested to pluck them for Veah. Melissa agreed. They returned with a bouquet of beautiful alien flowers. They got a vase and put these wild-flowers into it and placed the vase on the side-table beside Veah’s bed. This simple act of kindness brightened up the gloomy environment at once. The air was filled with a pleasant fragrance too.

The next morning, when Pollux the red giant star peeped out of the horizon, a shrill bird cry was heard. Some Vokon medical personnel opened their slit-eyes and looked around. Many living creatures were still deep in slumber. Samuel woke up the earliest. Finding everyone still sound asleep, he got up and quietly went out of the hospital. He loved gallivanting. Walking a short distance away from the hospital, he came to a quiet spot by a small stream. He saw a strange sight! There, right in front of him was a big furry tail wagging away! The head and body of this furry creature was inside some kind of dog-house, well almost, except that this house had tiny windows all around it. It could be a doll-house, for all we know.

Samuel looked around him and his eyes gleamed with mischief. He picked up a small stone from the ground and aimed it at this furry butt and threw with all his might. The furry creature gave a yelp, retreated from the dog-house, turned its head, bared its teeth and snarled at Samuel. Samuel got a shock, turned his back and ran for his life. This furry creature gave chase immediately and followed Samuel all the way back to the hospital.

This furry Goron dog ran into the patients’ compartment and seeing so many beds in front, it jumped! It happened to land on Veah’s bed and licked him all over the face. Veah woke up and found himself smothered by this furry creature. Very soon, his face was full of saliva. Still not satisfied with its show of affection, this Goron dog began to lick Veah’s waist. Veah finally broke into a laugh!

Veah’s father was awakened by this commotion. He turned his head and looked at his son laughing. Veah’s laughter sounded so strange to him, for Caros could not remember when his son last laughed! When the Goron dog jumped off the bed onto the ground, he saw the price-tag hanging around Veah's neck. Veah looked up at his father and smiled. This was also a strange sight, for Caros could not remember when his son last smiled at him! At this moment, Caros saw a photograph lying on Veah's bed and he took it in his hand. For one magical moment, he saw his deceased life-partner smiling at him. He smiled back at her and took a few steps backwards and fell right into the Lucenda river - an incident which happened fifteen years ago! The next scene to flash through Caros' mind was that of his beloved asking him to take good care of Veah, which happened nine years ago.

“Take good care of Veah…will… promise me?” she nearly ran out of breath.

Caros' conscience pricked him and his eyes turned moist. He looked at Veah smiling at him now and he smiled back. He reached out his right hand towards Veah, grabbed the price-tag hanging around his son’s neck and with a tug, pulled it off. He threw the price-tag on the ground.

Slowly as time passed by, the temporary hospital came to life again with a flurry of activities. Captain Jessie was making her rounds and happened to approach Veah’s father at this time. She ran a few medical tests on her patient.

“Condition stable. Should recover soon. Don’t worry,” she told Veah’s father. Veah heard this and felt happy. A big stone was lifted from Veah’s heart. When Captain Jessie finished her medical examinations and walked off to attend to another patient, Veah popped a question.

“Dad, could I keep this dog?” Veah pointed to the furry dog which lay quietly on the ground. It looked up at Veah, stuck out its tongue and panted. This dog looked like a terrestrial spaniel, with big drooping ears and was almost twice as large.

“Sure,” his father replied and smiled.

Three days later, a Vokon medical fleet landed at Proxy Radio Station. Just when the patients were brought out from the hospital and about to board this medical fleet, more spacecrafts of different shapes and sizes arrived on the scene. These spacecrafts belonged to the parents who sold their children in the slave market. These alien parents stepped out of their spacecrafts and searched frantically for their children in the midst of the patients. Many happy reunions occurred all round. It was a touching scene.

Captain Baldwin led his team members back into BURGER123 and continued with their space journey.

Chapter 10

BURGER123 was cruising along at sub-light speed in a region of space where there were few stars. It was approaching the middle of The Void, a vast expanse of vacuum between star clusters. Mrs. Andersen and the children were all sitting close together on the U-shape sofa in the recreation quarter. Robot Beebo was standing close to Antonio. There was nothing much to do except talk. Samuel and Antonio were both feeling terribly bored. They wanted to do something exciting. In the past, children were seen and not heard. Children these days were different from the past, they wanted to be seen and heard.

"Let's play a guessing game," Melissa suggested. She liked guessing game.

"What do you call a person who studies biology?" She asked the first question.

"Biologist," Nikita disclosed the answer.

"Right. What do you call a person who studies diseases?" She asked again.

"Pathologist," Chen Wei offered the answer.

"Correct. What do you call a person who studies fossils?" Melissa asked the third question.

"Paleontologist," Mrs. Andersen said.

"Right."

Before she could ask the next question, Antonio butt in.

"So lame, I do not want to play anymore. Could we play robot spiders?"

"Count me out," Melissa said.

"Me too," Nikita echoed.

"Mrs. Andersen, Samuel make me!" Antonio complained.

"What did he make?" Mrs. Andersen turned her head to look at Samuel.

"Samuel! stop pulling Antonio’s ear."

"What is a demon?" Samuel stopped his mischief and suddenly popped this question.

"Demon is a human soul known as genie, ancestral spirit, or incarnated ghost, usually having evil intentions. Unlike soul, which inhabits the spirit world exclusively, demon assume bodily form in order to perform wicked acts. The most powerful demon is Sakunthala, the demon queen, who feeds on fear. She will haunt a man until he dies of fright. According to legend, Sakunthala died a tragic death, she was murdered in cold blood and her corpse was severed into many parts and never found. She was a vengeful spirit, intent on frightening people to death and would not rest until she achieved her aim," Beebo read from his data-bank.

"I have not heard of a genie, what is it like?" Samuel asked.

"Haven't you read 'Arabian Nights'?" Melissa asked.

"No," said Samuel.

"See, if you don't read, you don't know many things," said Melissa.

"I read what I like. I don't like 'Arabian Nights'," came the reply.

"A genie lives inside a magic oil-lamp. Whoever has this magic lamp is the master of the genie. If he were to rub this lamp three times, the genie will come out to serve its master," explained Melissa.

"Come out from where?" asked naughty Samuel.

"From the spout, don't you get it?" Melissa was losing her patience.

"Beebo, how does Sakunthala look like?" Antonio was curious as a cat.

"Awful."

"How awful?" Antonio persisted.

"Nobody has seen her face before. Those who had seen her face, never lived to tell," said Beebo. At this moment, the air-conditioning unit was working extra hard and a powerful gust of cold air swept through the room.

"I have never seen a demon before," Melissa was sceptical.

"Me too," Nikita echoed and shivered.

"Same here. Maybe it is not real," Samuel said.

"I am scared," Antonio said. He shivered visibly.

"Come here Antonio, let me carry you," Chen Wei offered.

At this point in time, Nikita really wished she was in Antonio’s shoes. As Antonio got up and walked towards Chen Wei, Samuel pounced on him from behind. Antonio dashed towards Chen Wei and hugged him tightly. He was almost in tears. Samuel did not give up and pounced on Antonio again. This time round, Antonio got such a shock that he burst into tears and cried loudly. Samuel leapt away, smiling to himself. Mrs. Andersen was terribly annoyed. She scolded Samuel and wanted to spank him, but he dashed off to take refuge in the pantry. Melissa was looking out at the window during this time. There was not much to see except for a few isolated stars. Suddenly, she saw a strange object in the far distance. She strained her eyes to have a better look at this object until she was squinting both eyes. She looked a comical sight.

"Everybody look! I think this looks like a big skull. It's floating towards us now..., it has stopped," Melissa said loudly.

"It looks like some kind of spaceship," Nikita said softly.

"Quite unusual," Chen Wei was curious too.

"It looks evil to me," Mrs. Andersen was filled with disgust.

"That is the spaceship belonging to Sakunthala," Beebo informed.

"Oh my goodness! Speaking of the devil, is she here already?" Mrs. Andersen panicked.

"Once you see Sakunthala's spaceship, she has arrived," Beebo informed.

Just then, the alarm sounded.

"Power production, reduced by fifty percent. Room temperature, ten degree Celsius," DATA informed. Many of the lights in the star-ship began to flicker. Some lights went off completely. The light in the recreation room flickered for sometime and finally shone at half-intensity. Everybody felt cold all of a sudden. At this very instant, two screams were heard, one following another, one higher in pitch than the other. Samuel dashed into the room, shivering from head to toe. He looked pale.

"I saw...,I saw a ghost!" Samuel stammered. After saying these words, he broke into tears.

"Orrr..., come here you naughty fellow. Let me hug you," Mrs. Andersen took pity on him. Samuel dashed into her embrace. She patted him gently on his back and said soothing words to him. After a while, he calmed down and was able to reveal more details of what he saw in the pantry.

"I…I saw a white ghost in the mirror, she has a big ball of green hair on her head and green lips with one sharp teeth sticking out of her mouth. She was glaring at me with green eyes! Then, she wanted to catch me. I saw her green fingernails. I screamed. She also screamed," Samuel related his horrific encounter.

On hearing that there was a ghost in the pantry, Chen Wei immediately gave Antonio to Nikita and rushed into the pantry to take a look. He scrutinised every nook and corner closely, even lifting up the cover of the waste disposal bin to inspect inside. He could not find any ghost in there. Next, he went into the restroom to look further, but was still unable to detect anything unusual. A big mirror with flowery border was hung above the wash-basin. The reflection in the mirror revealed an extraordinary handsome teenager, with piercing and intelligent black eyes. His mouth was parted slightly to reveal sparkling white teeth. When he smiled, a small dimple was visible at the corner of his mouth. Close-cropped, black hair grew on his head. Together with a fine chiselled nose, smooth complexion and dark eyebrows, a desirable Prince Charming in the mirror smiled back at Chen Wei.

Without finding anything out of the ordinary, Chen Wei returned to the recreation quarter. Everybody was relieved to hear that nothing was found in the pantry. Samuel was still in shock and refused to believe Chen Wei.

"I saw the demon. It was there in the mirror!" Samuel insisted.

Chen Wei smiled, thinking to himself, “how can I turn into a demon?”

"Sakunthala has chosen to haunt Samuel. No one else can see her," Beebo informed. On hearing these words, Samuel burst into tears again, clutching Mrs. Andersen tightly.

"Could we ask the Sorceress of Azura for help?" Melissa asked.

"The Sorceress may be powerful but sorcery cannot exorcise demons," Beebo said.

"What are we suppose to do then?" Melissa was beginning to worry.

"You need the Holy Water from the Shrine of The Almighty for exorcism," Beebo searched his data-bank before answering.

"Where is this Shrine of The Almighty?" Nikita asked.

"The Shrine of The Almighty is found in the Holy Ground at the centre of the Universe. To travel there at warp speed requires thirteen billion years," Beebo said.

"By then we are all dead. Is there a shortcut?" Nikita reasoned.

"Yes, through the Time Gate. The Sorceress of Azura will be able to help," Beebo said.

Suddenly the spaceship was rocked by a powerful force throwing everyone off-balance. The alarm system was activated again and a loud siren was heard all over the command deck.

“DATA, what is happening to the spaceship?” Mrs. Andersen had barely spoken these words when the spaceship experienced another jolt and threw her on the floor. She remained sitting on the floor, grapping the leg of a chair.

“A powerful external force has gripped the spacecraft,” said DATA.

“Could you break free?” Mrs. Andersen asked.

“Affirmative.”

Barely were the word uttered when Mrs. Andersen began to float in the air due to a loss of artificial gravity. All the kids were also floating in midair. They were laughing and shouting away, enjoying the weightless condition. Out of playfulness, Antonio started to swim across the room using breaststroke, laughing hilariously along the way. When Melissa followed suit, no one was spared laughing as the plump Indian girl presented such a comical sight. Antonio began to chase Samuel around the room in midair. Samuel began to chase Melissa. Nikita just floated quietly nearby, hoping Chen Wei would chase her. At this point, Chen Wei was not to be left behind. He did a flying-kick through the air with a holler, capturing everybody’s attention, especially Nikita, who thought it was so heroic. For a moment, Mrs. Andersen was bewildered but she regained her composure quickly.

“Watch me!” Mrs. Andersen declared loudly. She then proceeded to perform a series of cartwheels across the room in midair. Everybody laughed for it was indeed a rare sight! Before anyone could stop laughing, the spaceship started to spin furiously. Everybody was plastered to the wall, unable to move an inch.

“DATA, what is happening?” Captain Baldwin’s voice was heard over the spaceship’s inter-com speakers.

“Is someone trying to be funny with me?” the Captain sounded furious. He was in his private quarters enjoying some quiet moments with his wife. He hated to be disturbed in whatever way during these times.

“The spaceship is gripped by a strong external force,” said DATA.

“Put up the deflector shield and navigate to sector L358. Warp speed ahead,” Captain Baldwin ordered.

”Affirmative.”

Before long, everything returned to normal and everyone was back on their feet. Antonio was still chasing Samuel around the room on foot, not gotten over the excitement yet.

“Nikita, please call the Sorceress of Azura to help us get rid of this demon,” Mrs. Andersen told Nikita. She detested demons.

Nikita closed her eyes and concentrated hard. She thought of nothing else but the magic Ring of Azura, even the most dazzling image of Chen Wei was momentarily erased from her mind! The magic ring on her finger began to glow a brilliant purple. Suddenly, the serene and beautiful Sorceress of Azura appeared at one corner of the room enveloped in a purple globe of shimmering light. Everybody saw her and felt a strong power emanating from her presence. She smiled knowingly at everyone.

"I can help to open the Time Gate. Ordinary mortals cannot step on Holy Ground. Nikita has the magic ring which will protect her from the Holy Light from the Eternal Lamp." Having said these words, the Sorceress took out her magic wand with a purple star at the tip and pointed it at the wall opposite her. She cried, "By the Power of Azura, I call upon the Time Guardian to open the Time Gate. Power from four corners of Fontasia, I command you to flow..., flow to Azura!" A blinding streak of purple light shot out from the star at the tip of the magic wand and hit the opposite wall. Immediately, this streak of purple light opened up a pentagonal void on the wall! The Sorceress lowered her magic wand and told Nikita to enter this void in order to get to the Holy Shrine.

"Nikita, show your reverence to The Almighty," the Sorceress reminded Nikita before she stepped into the void. Once Nikita stepped into this pentagonal void, it closed immediately and she seemed to have been swallowed up by the wall. Finding herself in a region of extreme brightness, she closed her eyes automatically. Remembering the Sorceress' words, Nikita went down on her knees and put her palms together slowly in front of her and bowed her head. She began to say a quiet prayer. The magic ring on her finger began to glow and the power within it began to envelope her in a shimmering purple glow. After what seemed like eternity, a gentle breeze began to blow around Nikita, caressing her lustrous black hair and beautiful young face. She opened her eyes slowly and saw a momentary vision.

In the far horizon, the Eternal Lamp floated high in midair. A sparkling white flame burnt in the centre of this lamp, casting numerous rays of Holy Light in all directions. This was a huge lamp made up of pink lotus leaves. These lotus leaves were stacked layers upon layers on top of each other. There were at least ten layers of bright pink lotus petals on the lamp. When Nikita looked down, she found herself kneeling on the surface of the water in the middle of a huge lake! She was enveloped in a faint purple glow. She saw many water lilies and round leaves floating on the lake. A white vase appeared before her eyes, floating above the water. This Holy Vase shone with such a bright light that Nikita had to close her eyes once more.

When Nikita opened her eyes again, her hands were still joined together in front of her. However, she found herself back in the recreation room with everybody staring at her and the white Holy Vase on the table nearby. The Sorceress told Nikita to bring this Holy Vase to the place where Sakunthala appeared and sprinkle some Holy Water on the floor. She obeyed and brought the Holy Vase to the restroom. Samuel refused to go along and kept insisting that the demon was in the mirror. Only Chen Wei volunteered to follow Nikita to exorcise the demon. When both of them stepped into the restroom, a foul stench greeted them. All the restroom facilities had automatic self-cleaning tools attached. The cleaning process ran like clockwork and hence, this type of stench came from an unknown source - definitely alien.

Following the Sorceress' instruction, Nikita gently tilted the Holy Vase and spilled some Holy Water on the floor. Immediately, a demonic scream was heard and many white bubbles formed where the Holy Water touched the floor. Nikita went to the wash-basin and spilled more Holy Water into it. A louder demonic scream was heard and finally a hollow hissing sound resembling that of a snake faded away into the distance.