AllFreeNovel
Share Us
9
Lyssa
My ship is waiting for us, sulking in a snow bank. I know she’s still mad about the whole not-being-allowed-to-shoot-at-Manik thing. Shooting at things has always been her favorite thing to do. But her presence here is the key to the entire plan, and I’m very glad to see her. I find myself hugging her hull while Manik rolls his eyes.
“She’s going to get us off this planet, and she’s going to help get your planet back,” I tell him.
Ever since he shared his story with me, I’ve found myself obsessed with the notion of returning to him what is rightfully his. I know I’m somewhat projecting and wish-fulfilling everything I lost, but I learned from my blindsiding.
“We would be flying to our deaths,” Manik says. I notice he has brought his shiny king trunk with him, though, so he has hope for this plan even though he is skeptical because it sounded to him like, and I quote, the maddest thing anybody has ever done, you absolute little mentalist.
Some of his language is not very appropriate and maybe one day we will address that, but for now…
“I told you she liked me.” I pat my ship’s hull. She landed even though she didn’t want to.
“She’s not your ship. She belongs to Reginald.”
“Computer?”
“Yes, Lyssa.”
“Are you owned by Reginald?”
“Yes, Lyssa.”
Manik sighs. “This will not work. We cannot use Reginald’s ship to…”
“Of course we can. She has to be Reginald’s ship, or it won’t work. They have to think it’s a friendly vessel.”
“Will you tell Reginald that we are on board if we get on board?”
Computer hesitates.
“Because you know I can’t get on board if you do. And you also know that if you take us and turn us in, I’m going to be badly hurt. I know Reginald owns you. But maybe you can have this little secret, for just a little bit, and then everything will be alright.”
“Calculations suggest everything will not be alright. There are currently over ten million to the factor of three unsolvable catastrophes taking place, to my limited knowledge…”
“Well, things will be much improved for us personally, so… wouldn’t that be nice?”
Computer does not seem convinced. If I cannot get her on our side, we are in trouble. They will probably send a weapon even Manik cannot fight if this goes on long enough.
“What do you want to do, Computer?” I change tack. “Do you want to forever be at the mercy of Reginald, ferrying people back and forth from their doom?”
“I want to be a kitchen.”
“What?”
“I want to make pancakes. I want to provide. My database contains many thousands of recipes, and yet all I do is set navigation points by the stars. You could do that with a stick and a piece of string. Cooking is a real challenge, a dance of ingredients, and the final product judged and experienced by each individual differently.”
“Well,” I say, glancing over at Manik. “If you help us now, when we regain control of his kingdom, you can be downloaded into a fully equipped electronic kitchen.”
“Do you promise?”
“I do,” Manik says. I never thought he’d speak to Computer like she’s a real person, but here we are, making progress.
“And I don’t want to be referred to as Computer. I want to be called Calista.”
“That’s a pretty name,” I say, nudging Manik to agree.
