Chapter 14

Six space viewing lounges were located around the outer rim of the globular space ship: two on its north and south poles and four spaced evenly around its equator. Each of the lounges was a circular open room separated from space only by a high transparent dome. From the game room, located deep in toward the space ship’s core, Antaska, M. Hoyvil, and Potat were suctioned outward in a vacuum-powered elevator. They exited the elevator on the enclosed outer rim level and walked to the door of one of the lounges.

M. Hoyvil paused outside the open doorway and spoke to Antaska.

“I’m sorry I didn’t warn you about the game room, but at least I’ve remembered to give you an advance warning this time. You won’t see anything unexpected or shocking in this room. But some people experience dizziness or nausea the first time they go in here. The dome that covers this room is made of organic film material. It’s transparent, and it looks like you’re walking on the outside of the ship with nothing between you and outer space. Potat was very scared by this room when she first went in.”

Potat growled. She forcefully dug her claws all the way through the material of M. Hoyvil’s ship suit jacket and into his shoulder, but he barely felt the tiny pin pricks.

“I’m sorry if I offended you,” M. Hoyvil apologized.

He reached up and lightly scratched her behind both dark gray ears at once with two of the six fingers on his left hand. The growling transformed to a soft purr, and the claws were pulled back in.

Antaska cautiously approached the door to the lounge. A stairway led up from the doorway. Forewarned of what to expect, she crept slowly up the stairs.

Antaska didn’t experience the full effect of the sudden exposure to vast open space until she reached the top. She stepped forward into the lounge and revolved in place while looking up, down, and around.

An amazing and stunningly beautiful view of unfamiliar stars was on display in almost every direction from where she stood. From this vantage point, standing on the top edge of a ball-shaped object, incredibly small in relation to the vastness of outer space, Antaska felt as if she had been thrust out into space and could easily float away.

Swaying, she clutched M. Hoyvil’s right arm, slightly jolting Potat on his shoulder. Potat batted at her with a closed-clawed paw, and Antaska let go of the arm. The moment of vertigo passed, and she looked around again. Now she could appreciate the view of bright-colored stars, asteroid and dust clouds, and other features glowing like jewels in the deep endless blackness of space.

Round, dark green sofas made up of Verdante-sized chair modules joined in a circle were scattered around the room. The adjustable backs on the modules lowered loungers partly or all the way back to view space from an reclined position. Earth humans and Verdantes of M. Hoyvil’s age, and some extra-large adults, strolled about or sat in various inclined positions on the round sofas.

M. Hoyvil led Antaska to an empty sofa. He sat down, and she climbed up a step to sit in the chair next to him. Potat climbed down from his shoulder and sat between them. She fit easily in the extra space around Antaska, who was much smaller than the large seat. Potat began to kneed the soft fabric with her paws and outthrust claws.

“Stop that!” said Antaska.

She grabbed Potat around the middle and tried to pull her off, but Potat dug her claws in deep and held on tight. Antaska had to choose between letting go or possibly hurting her.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” said M. Hoyvil. “You can let her do that. She can’t hurt it. The fabric is self-cleaning and self-repairing, like all of the furniture on the ship.”

Antaska let go of Potat, and the two humanoids lowered the backs of their chairs all the way down to get the widest possible view of the stars around them. Potat stopped kneading and clawing and rolled over on her back to look up too. She seemed to be as mesmerized by the celestial panorama as Antaska. Once in a while, she reached up a paw as if to point or reach for a certain star.

As Antaska, Potat, and M. Hoyvil lay in silence gazing out at space, Antaska became aware of soft, melodious whooshing and humming sounds. She recognized the same sounds that accompanied the holograph program she watched in her room—the music of deep space. But instead of being a recording, this was real. And it was even more relaxing and calming.

Antaska’s thoughts drew away from her personal problems. Instead, she thought about the vastness that now surrounded her. The vastness that had, in fact, always surrounded her. As Antaska looked and listened, she thought she recognized a pattern, but it was so intricate that it was impossible to say that for sure.

More Verdantes of about M. Hoyvil’s age and their Earth human companions filled the empty chair modules in the sofa they reclined on. In her absorption with the sky outside, Antaska was only partly aware of them as the others sat down and reclined the backs of their chairs.

Soon, however, she heard more noises in addition to the sounds of space—the whispering of young male and female voices. Antaska didn’t pay attention to the words. But she noticed that these sounds, although more simple and less beautiful, seemed to harmonize with the space noises.

The space viewing lounge turned out to be even more fascinating than the virtual games, and again, Antaska lost all track of time. A tap on her shoulder from M. Hoyvil pulled her out of an almost dreamlike state.

“It’s getting late, and we should go now. Tomorrow is another full day of gym class and school. Are you ready to leave?”

With some regret, Antaska raised the back of her chair.

“Yes, I’m ready, but it’s even harder to leave this place than it was to leave the fighting game. I’m just glad I didn’t stay in that suit all night,” she said.

On the way back to their quarters, M. Hoyvil talked to Antaska about the virtual game and how she might be able to use it to fight back against her fitness trainers. Eegor hadn’t made any violent moves so far, but M. Hoyvil was sure that she needed to be prepared to defend herself against him as well.

“If you want, I’ll take you to the game room every other night when I don’t have to study. On nights when you aren’t using the virtual suit, I’ll get you some holo-movies of martial arts fights. You can play them in the main room of our quarters and practice the movements along with the holo-fighters. That will give you the experience of moving your body. That’s important for building the muscles, strength, and speed you need in reality, not just in your mind.”

“That sounds great,” said Antaska.

“My last piece of advice is this,” M. Hoyvil continued. He spoke from the experience of hundreds of years of martial arts practice. “Use the defensive moves you learn, like evasion and blocking, but don’t use any offensive moves against your trainers unless it’s absolutely necessary. They’re very aggressive, and they’ll get aggravated and hurt you back harder if you hit or strike them. Learn and practice offensive moves, but make them your secret weapon. And remember that a secret weapon loses power once it’s revealed.”

M. Hoyvil enjoyed playing the role of martial arts master, but he stopped talking when they entered their quarters. He saw Antaska cover the wide opening of her mouth with a hand. She made a soft yawning sound that he understood meant tiredness or boredom.

Then it almost seemed like Antaska knew what he was thinking because she spoke to reassure him.

“I’m not bored, but I’m completely exhausted and starting to fall asleep. I think it’s a great plan. And I really appreciate that you’re helping me with this. I’m actually looking forward to trying out some of the defensive moves I learned in the virtual suit tomorrow, but I need to go to sleep now.”

Antaska reached up and lifted Potat, who was asleep again, off M. Hoyvil’s shoulder.

“Goodnight then,” said M. Hoyvil.

Antaska said “goodnight” too and went to her room.

Then M. Hoyvil went to his room. He was pleased with how the day had gone, but he was very tired too.