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Silence had been the main course during the six, going on seven-day trek to Earth, that and dehydrated meats. The ship was programmed to have one course and one course only, and that was to their home planet. After a few terrifying moments of “blast off” the ship was sucked into what could only be compared to the East Australian Current from Nemo, not that they could see it now since the screen that exposed the endless space surrounding them had been covered.

From then on, the ship leveled out, allowing the blood to rush back to their heads and get them out of their seats, exploring the space container for suits and food, hoping to find some useful information along the way…like how soon they would be arriving. The zero gravity hadn’t done much to ease their worries either. It had taken days to get used to, a feeling they had never had before. When the zero-gravity hit, Beta and the others had felt this constant sense of falling, having to tell themselves over and over that they were okay. It took a strength in the mind to get a handle on it, a strength not any one of them possessed.

In their space suits, sitting back in their chairs, it was still very silent. With an evident—and noisy considering the circumstances—sigh, Hershey leaned forward and flipped the orange switch labeled ‘BLIND UP.’ The plastic cover blocking the screen unlatched and slowly revealed it, so now they could actually see the sort of absence of light and life that drove them to the brink of insanity. The stars spread far and wide, some too close or too bright for comfort. They had met the occasional meteor shower or supernova, and the space phenomena were things they could never un-see or replicate, not that they wanted to. It was beautiful; there was a sort of calming to the complexity and misunderstanding of outer space.

It wasn’t empty, in fact, it was quite full…full of possibility and things too spread out to realize. It gave Hershey a little flutter inside his stone cold, unmoving heart, or maybe it was just the lack of gravity that made him feel so. Still, these spacious things never came too close. The sort of irregular space current they were gliding through seemed to not only hold them in but keep all other mesmerizing wonders of space out. Just the other day, Beta had seen what he originally thought was a star, but later realized was an asteroid engulfed in the flames of speed and circumstance. The three watched as the ball of fire crashed into a nearby planet, its entire identity wrecked and decimated from an object 1/200th its size. Still, as close as it was, there wasn’t even a hint of force pressed onto the ship or any physical feeling that the destruction had happened at all. In that moment, they had all agreed that for this much logic to go out the window with just a glimpse of something despite the norm…nothing could really be trusted inside or outside.

“It’s amazing how something so dark could be so beautiful,” Hershey said, staring out into the ghastly depths.

Matrix shrugged, looking out as well. “It’s amazing how something so beautiful could be so empty.” His voice was wary.

Beta smiled, something he only did when he was really at peace. “It’s amazing how something so empty…could hold so much potential.”

Matrix rolled his eyes, sick of the conversation already. He had something to say, so he was just going to say it. “Okay so is it weird if I say I’m kind of excited?”

Hershey looked at him. “No, not at all. I mean we’ve been on a planet that despite all of its movement and extravagancy…is pretty dead.”

“Please let that be the last death pun we make on this trip,” Beta muttered, rubbing his forehead as if that would make the headache go away.

The three of them chuckled, and they had to admit that it was good to laugh. But the laughter died when that first beat came back.

Ba-Dum.

“Guys.” Hershey caught their attention.

Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum. Ba-Dum.

“Yeah, I know,” Beta said, feeling his own heart begin to pound in his chest. “It’s nice to hear.”

Matrix put a hand over his chest, squeezing. It had been so long since he could feel his heartbeat that it seemed unreal, like everything he had done so far was unreal, a dream at most. “I never thought I’d feel that again…”

They looked back up at the screen just in time to catch the first hint of blue and green fast approaching before they were sucked into Earth’s atmosphere and felt gravity take ahold of them. “Be careful!” Hershey screeched as Matrix teetered on the edge of his seat, the butt of the ship going head first towards Earth’s ground.

The ship shook upon reentry to Earth, having not been in action for who knew how long. As it rocked, they tried their best to grip what they could and hold on for dear life. “How the bloody hell do you land this thing?” Beta asked between barred teeth as they lost their foundations, asses slipping out of the chairs. Matrix sighed. “The ship was built to go directly to Earth…but it wasn’t programmed to land, that’s supposed to be done manually.”

“So how do we get out?” Hershey asked, panic lingering on his tongue.

Matrix responded, “Not to be smart or anything, but I’m gonna guess through the door,” The Stak tried to find his balance as he turned so his chest was pressed against the back of the seat and in the direction they were falling. The only problem in getting to the door: it was roughly a five-yard drop to get from their seats through the door…and it wasn’t a big door.

Without anyone’s permission or confirmation, Matrix focused and used his power to unlatch and open the door. A suffocating wind broke out and swirled around inside the ship, making the already violently shaking and unstable ship whither from inside to out.

The three boys clutched onto the backs of their seats and stood on the dashboard, muscles in their arms tense as they were standing upside down in a near perfect handstand position, brains scrambled with the pressure. Their necks bent slightly up to look out the door at the open and familiar sky above them.

“I’m gonna try and propel you guys forward so you can—!”

But Matrix never finished. Without warning, Hershey was looking “down” at his feet where the screen was and screaming, “PLANE!” before they impacted.

An oncoming plane’s wing slammed into the tip of their ship, spinning it completely around so for a moment they were right side up again before quickly and severely flipping back the way they were. Unfortunately, this made the boys lose balance on the dashboard and flip over. Matrix and Beta were able to get a grip on the seats, their feet dangling below, but Hershey wasn’t so lucky.

When the ship flipped his body did a backflip over the seat just the same, but his hands couldn’t hold him. Hershey gasped as his body went straight toward the door. Seeing it get closer, panic rose not just within him but within the other two when they realized he wasn’t going to make it through. In a desperate attempt, Matrix flicked his hand and Hershey’s position changed, shifting now towards the door’s open frame. As lucky as he would ever be, Hershey sailed through like a rocket, disappearing quickly into the sky.

“Hershey!” Matrix screamed, happy he didn’t splat on the ship’s metal but also terrified he would crash into the earth just the same. He gave Beta one last look before he let go of his own seat and allowed his body to slip through the door as well.

Beta cursed under his breath, not wanting to let go but knowing he had to. One wrong move and he would have a dislocated shoulder or brain injury even before wiggling his way toward and out the door. Still, with a gather of courage, Beta allowed his fingers to slip off the cushion and fall. His journey wasn’t as smooth as the other’s. He did hit his head on the edge of the doorframe before sailing through, feeling his body twist and turn in the open air.

The air felt thin, and needing it again was hard to adjust to. Beta could see in his foggy vision figures below him, yelling words he couldn’t make out. But something was off about them, they seemed…bigger. Beta squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, finally able to see.

Parachutes. They had parachutes.

“Pull!” Matrix was yelling, and Beta felt his suit, searching for some sort of string. He found it pressed against his waist and got a good grip before pulling it.

His back jerked upward violently, and for a moment he felt like he was flying before he started falling again, this time gentler. Beta took a deep breath in and then out, letting his head fall and dangle, his limbs tired of the strain. Beta’s eyes opened and he looked up at the unbelievably blue sky hiding behind his parachute. He never missed the color blue so much. Matrix lifted his finger, and then Beta was sailing down toward them at a faster rate.

His head fell as he felt himself being pulled down, and that’s when he saw it clearly. Beta glanced out over the terrifying waters of the Pacific Ocean. “Well, this isn’t good, is it?”

Once he was level, he turned to Matrix and Hershey. “Are you all alright?” Beta called to them, as if he was okay himself. Before they could answer, an explosion from up above rattled the air and blew them closer to the waters below. Beta and Hershey’s eyes went wide and tried to look back up at the exploded ship, unable. Matrix closed his eyes and sighed. “Yep,” the Stak said in response to Beta’s question. “We’re good.”

“Seems you failed to mention the ‘self-destruct’ part of the ship,” Beta muttered.

“I can only know so much, jeez.”

“Any idea where we are?” Hershey asked.

“Guess we’ll find out when we land,” Matrix responded.

“Woah!” Beta dodged as a hawk flew by his head, seemingly odd at the altitude they were at.

“Crazy bird,” Matrix muttered. “They were just one of the things that I hated about—Oh my God, I’m starving!” he cut himself off, clutching his stomach.

“Me too,” Beta said. Hershey just groaned, feeling it in his stomach as well. “Must be the atmosphere,” Matrix said. “They told us about this. Once we hit Earth our bodies start adjusting and changing to the environment. We need to eat again and rest, not exactly sleep. We also start to age, just relatively slower.”

“Slower?” Beta repeated, tilting his head forward like he was challenging the fact. “How slow?”

“Two years amounts to one, basically.”

“Speaking of inconveniently long-life spans, how long have you been up there?” Beta asked.

Matrix looked over at Beta. “Maybe three or four years. Why?”

“So you died in what, 2020?”

“Yeah, April I think. What year is it now?”

“2025.”

“We’re getting closer guys,” Hershey spoke up. They were still gliding far above the ocean, but it was clear Hershey was getting paranoid. “Squid, blue whales, basking sharks—I mean there are a lot of things that live in the Pacific Ocean, things that would have no problem killing us.”

“Fantastic,” Matrix muttered.

Beta’s breath hitched. “Um…still can’t swim.”

“Sounds like one of those pesky ‘you’ problems Beta,” Matrix said, but after seeing the terror on his face, he sighed. “Relax, I got you.” His gaze was still focused on the ocean before them. Beta looked at Matrix warily but nodded.

They hit the water gently, parachutes falling over them. Hershey landed about two yards away from Beta, and Matrix tried to use his telekinesis to give him some more time in the air, but it didn’t work so well. The Stak landed just a few feet from Beta. Beta was barely above the water, but he went under when the parachute fell over him. There was a great effort but an even greater struggle to get loose, the parachute wrapped around him. Matrix swam down and grabbed Beta’s arm.

Scared out of his mind, Beta instinctively jerked away. Matrix grabbed Beta’s torso and barely managed to get his friend and himself back up. Once they reached the surface, Matrix gasped for air. Beta yelped, still tangled in the parachute.

“Okay…okay!” Matrix pulled the parachute off, freeing Beta inside. “You’re okay,” Matrix said, breathing heavily.

Hershey swam over to them, shivering slightly. “Hey,” he said casually. “I don’t suppose anyone else was thinking we could really use a Tenti right about now.”

“I was thinking more Cider but sure,” Matrix replied. The three of them looked out in all different directions for land, but Matrix was the one who found it. “There,” he said, squinting and pointing to the large strip of land in the distance. They saw green hills and rocks jutting up from the water, but also a smidge of civilization beyond it.

“Great,” Hershey said. “So, then you do realize that we’re stuck and there’s probably an 87% chance we die out here?”

“You sure there’s not a decimal somewhere in there Hersh?” Matrix said sarcastically, keeping Beta afloat with one hand gripping his arm. Hershey just grunted and pushed up his glasses that were thankfully still intact. In fact, they had stuffed all their backpacks into their suits before falling. Food was really the only major thing absent for them to survive—other than complete exhaustion—so it was unlikely they could stay out there for long. The weather was pretty warm, but the wind blew it all away when it hit.

“There’s got to be some way out of here,” Beta said. “Matrix, can you move water?”

“Sorry, that’s a level 50 skill I haven’t unlocked yet, comes with a keychain and everything. What about you Hersh?”

Hershey turned to Matrix and flattened his eyebrows. “Yeah, no, ask the only person with fire powers in the group. What a smart move—”

“Okay, you’re useless,” Matrix realized, cutting him off. “Beta?”

“All I can do is heal myself and hear voices in my head, and I’m afraid neither of those seem to be working at the moment.” It was a lie, or some of it was. His powers, as extensive as they were, really weren’t working.

“Isn’t that helpful,” Matrix said, again, sarcastically. “What about that tantrum the first time I met you in the room?”

“One-time event I’m afraid.”

“Right, of course. It’s not like we’re dying or anything.”

“Whale.”

Matrix and Beta turned to Hershey in confusion, and Matrix was dangerously close to making a fat joke before the Nat pointed up. “…Whale.”

Matrix and Beta watched in slight horror as the beast emerged from the depths of the water and cast a shadow over them. “Whale,” Matrix and Beta said in unison. “Killer Whale.”

The black and white mammal floated before them, now unmoving. Matrix already had fear running through him. The whale didn’t attack, it just stared at them. Seconds passed before the beast made a sound and Matrix cowered. It began to turn, and as they thought it was going to swim away…it didn’t. It just floated like that, tail outstretched to them.

“I think it wants us to get on its back,” Hershey said.

Beta nodded while Matrix was utterly confused, looking back and forth between the three beings. “How the hell did you get to that conclusion!?”

“I sensed it.”

“…Sensed what?! It’s a goddamn whale, Hersh!”

Hershey inched closer, holding his glasses still as he climbed onto the flat and surprisingly sturdy tail of the mammal. Matrix jerked forward, dragging Beta with him. “Wait, Hershey!” Matrix hissed. Hershey ignored him and sat on top of the whale’s back. He scooted up near the fin and turned back to the others.

“Don’t worry, it’s safe.” Hershey stroked its back, immediately wiping his hand on his suit afterward. “Slimy, but safe.” The whale made another noise and Matrix raised an eyebrow. Beta just looked fascinated.

“Is this how marine mammals act around humans in distress?” Beta asked.

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve been dead for five years,” Matrix snapped. Hesitant, he grunted and swam toward the creature.

He helped Beta get on the whale’s back and proceeded to get on himself. Matrix sighed in the lovely heat coming down on him now that he was out of the water. “Now what?” his grumpy tone communicated.

“Hold on,” Hershey said. Building up a lot of tension, he tapped the whale lightly on its back and it started to move. The beast swam, leaving its back bare to the surface, flapping its tail and fins slowly as they moved toward land.

“Slower than I would’ve thought,” Matrix said.

“Well it is a whale swimming above water,” Beta added.

When it dodged rocks, the movement was slow but very obsolete to the point that Matrix almost slipped off. He grabbed Beta’s waist tightly, and Beta grabbed Hershey’s, who was holding onto the fin low on its back.

They were all soaking wet and the wind made it even colder as they moved. Frequently, the orca’s tail would fly up and then fall back down, causing water to fly up from the ocean and hit them in the back and neck.

“This definitely was not how I pictured my big return to Earth,” Beta said to himself, which didn’t stop the others from commenting on it.

“Yeah, well, this place is just full of surprises isn’t it,” Matrix added.

Once they were close enough to the large rocks to swim the rest of the way, the whale turned slowly and the three boys fell off and splashed near the shore. As the Killer Whale turned around and began to re-submerge under the water’s sheet, Matrix called out, “Thanks Moby!”

All they wanted to do after getting to the edge of the steepish, rocky cliffs was sleep, even if it was just the afternoon. Beta peeled off his suit and the others did the same. It didn’t really matter how many boat drivers or tourists were watching them.

They needed their rest for what was in store.