Immortal Space Chapter Four; New Things

Trent and Jeff walked down the street towards a destination Trent wasn’t sure of. Trent was taking in all the sights to really care. There were skyscrapers that were mostly very thick glass, as well as smaller shops with signs in the window proclaiming the various items they had for sale. The way the sun reflected off of the buildings made for quite a sight. He could see people going about their business and he could see the occasional slacker here and there too. He was also thankful to see a few spots of nature like a few trees dotted around the place. He knew they were planted by man but he was still always glad to see them. It was a shame there were very few natural forests left. Overpopulation had it's downsides. At least humanity had realised how vital plants were to life and had set up several tree farms and man made forests. They also served as natural preserves for the wildlife that would have lived in natural forests. Trent owned quite a few of them himself. Trent pulled a leaf from one of the trees they passed and stuck it in his pocket before turning to Jeff.

 

“Okay so first things first, I need some grub. You know anywhere nice then?” Trent asked Jeff.

 

“Sure do” Jeff replied, pointing to a shop in the distance. Trent could make out some tables outside, which identified it as a café. He sped up a bit, causing Jeff to run to keep up with him. Opening the door his nose was hit by the smell of well cooked food. Looking around he spotted some free tables and went up to the counter to order his food.

 

“What can I get you sir?” Said the guy behind the counter. He was the typical grease covered teenager you expect to find working at a fast food place. Some things never change, Trent thought to himself. Smiling at his thoughts he looked up at the menu and checked how much change he had.

 

“Just two burgers and some soda please” He said, turning round to Jeff asking him if he wanted anything.

 

“I'll take the same” Jeff said, after checking his own money. With their food in hand they sat down and started eating. Trent ate his first burger in a few bites; he didn't realise just how hungry he was. After taking some of his soda, he decided to take the second burger a bit slower. He decided to ask Jeff a question instead of digging straight in.

 

“Say, where is the shipyard around here anyway?” Trent asked. Jeff swallowed the burger he had in his mouth before replying.

 

“There's one a few blocks away. This is the closest food joint to there which is why I brought us here.” he answered. Trent chuckled and took a bite out of his second burger.

 

“Well I figured it wasn't the food.” he remarked. “Still, when you've not eaten in a few days anything will do.” he sighed.

 

“When was the last time you ate?” Jeff asked him.

 

“I think it was a day or two before I crashed. I was on my way back to Earth to resupply actually.” Trent replied. Resupplying was one of the few reasons he came back to Earth. Being curious about how much things had changed was the main reason.

 

“Oh”, Jeff replied before going back to eating his burger again. Then a thought struck him.

 

“Wait you can't die, do you really need to eat?” Jeff asked. Trent rolled his eyes.

 

“Well yeah”, was Trent's sarcastic reply, “My body still needs proteins and energy, and I get hunger pains just like everyone else. Let me tell you after going longer than most people can without food, you really start to hurt, and you get pretty weak too.” Trent explained. Jeff hadn't actually thought of that. The rest of the meal passed mostly in silence. When they were done they threw away their rubbish and headed out the door.

 

“Alright, which way now?” Trent asked Jeff. He looked around and couldn't see anything that really stuck out like a shipyard. Normally you could notice them from quite a distance.

Jeff looked around and pointed to a skyscraper. “It's just past that place over there”, he said. “Homeworld Shipyard.” That explained why Trent couldn't see it. A skyscraper like that would hide it quite well.

 

The two of them headed off together down the street. Trent was taking in the sights again. He really had been away for too long. He was a big fan of natural beauty, which he supposed explained why he enjoyed being in space so much. There wasn't as much natural beauty on Earth anymore. The human race may change the way the world looks but even they would have trouble changing the way space was arranged. He had some favourite spots on Earth but he was always being distracted by space. If he had stopped staring at the sun and turned round just a few minutes earlier, he might not have been shot down actually. Though he considered the trouble worth it for that sight. He was very content to just let the universe move around him and go with the flow.

 

They reached the shipyard and Trent let out a whistle as he looked around. There were ships of all sorts here. Some destroyers that were mostly military class but civilians were able to get some of them, mostly for protection. A few merchant ships that focused on hull space and shielding, with some weaponry to fend off pirates or thieves. Most merchants typically took an escort though if they expected any real danger. He found a desk in the middle and walked up to the it, this one operated by a tall woman with long blue hair.

 

“See anything you like sir?” She asked Trent with a playful smile. Trent ignored her flirting for the moment and looked behind her and pointed to a ship that was a good size for him. It was small but livable, just what he was after. Something he could live in, but not so big that he'd get too lonely and be tempted to take too many people with him. From the information on the board above it, this ship held 4 or 5 people comfortably. It was also known as “The Piranha”. The weird names people think for their ships thought Trent. Still he wasn't much use at naming things himself sometimes. The few times he had bought a ship first hand he hadn't bothered naming them at all for a while until he randomly thought of something.

 

“How much for The Piranha back there ma'am?” Trent asked the receptionist/saleswoman. She looked slightly disappointed at this reply before regaining her demeanor and checking the records.

 

“Let's see here...” she said, thumbing through the pages “Ah here it is. The Piranha, 4 person ship but can handle five, 2 manned gun turrets and 3 automatic ones, missiles can be mounted but you need a license for those.” At this Trent pulled out his license. The lady gave it a once over and handed it back, “Okay so you can have missiles attached. It also comes with a heavy duty shield and an engine that while not that powerful, can be upgraded. Though it's light speed engine is out, and you'll have to buy a new one. Because of the engine it's on offer and will currently cost you 30,000 credits.” she finished. Trent checked the money in his pockets. He was just shy, having only 28,000. It'd been a while since he had needed a new ship. He turned to Jeff.

 

“Hey Jeff could you lend me two grand? I'll pay you back pretty quick.” He asked. Jeff was taken a bit off guard, but he had grown to like Trent. He thought having a reason to keep him around, like him owing money, might not be too bad. He thought he might have made the decision a bit fast, but once he had made it, he knew he wouldn't be able to convince himself not to.

 

“Um, okay, but let me just go get it.” Jeff said once his mind was made up.

 

“There's a cash machine over there sir” The lady said, pointing to an ATM that was outside a bank across the road. She had a little trouble comprehending just who would walk around with twenty eight thousand credits in their pockets. If he was going to pay cash then he had to pay it all in one go. At least the ATM was close and Jeff wouldn't have to walk far with a large sum of money. Jeff thanked her and went to the machine. He came back a few minutes later, two thousand credits in hand. He handed it over to Trent who handed it over to the lady along with his own 28,000 and asked her for The Piranha. She took his money, put it away, and gave him the paperwork to sign. Once that was all taken care of she handed him the launch codes and ignition keys he would need to take off, as well as the keycard to open it up in the first place. Trent and Jeff went to the ship, opened it up and had a look inside. It was roomier than Trent thought. He found the cockpit, which had two main chairs at the front and then three smaller ones behind those. He found a kitchen, complete with a fully stocked fridge. He wondered about the quality of the food, and decided he should check it out later. Or maybe just replace it outright. He found a main sitting area in the middle with a large table, and what looked like a projector in the middle of it. He found that the ship had 4 bedrooms. Each one had it's own bed, causing Trent to believe something on some other part of the ship became a bed. He found a medical bay, and a fairly large hold too. All in all he had found a great ship. Or so he thought. It was then he found the engine room. The lady wasn't kidding about the engine. It was in terrible shape. The only reason it was still in the ship was to show the person who was buying it how it was fitted. He figured he was going to need a new one. He already owed Jeff money too. After finding everything he went back to one of the bedrooms and laid on the bed there.

 

“Now what?” Jeff asked him as he walked into the room. He'd had a look around the ship himself and found it to be very impressive. He'd never been in a starship before and so the experience was very new to him.

 

“Now,” Trent replied, shutting his eyes and sticking his hands behind his head, “I try to get some sleep. Neither of us slept last night, you must be tired too.” Trent surmised.

 

“A bit”, Jeff admitted sheepishly.

 

“Well get yourself on a bed and get some sleep. This ship is partly yours you know.” Trent said, surprising Jeff a little. He smirked as he heard Jeff walk off to another bedroom. Jeff also had a pretty big smile on his face. He couldn't really believe he did actually partly own a ship. He found another room, laid down, and dreamed about what he might see if he took off in this ship that was partly his. 

Immortal Space Chapter Three; Further Introductions

Hey gang, sorry about how long it's been since I posted an update here. It's been a good few weeks now. I've had some major problems with my publisher which I talked about on my main blog. I had trouble even looking at Immortal Space, much less posting it here or working on it more. Right now though I'm doped up on energy drinks so let's do this!
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Dr. Osborne was on his way to the morgue in the morning when he heard laughter coming from there. He was pretty sure only Jeff should be in there at this time, and was slightly worried he'd gone mad from all his time alone with the corpses. Jeff was young after all. When he opened the door however he saw Jeff sat on a chair next to the autopsy table and a man sat on the table itself. He was wearing a leather jacket and a hat from what Osborne could make out; his back was turned and he was laughing.

“What's going on in here?” Dr Osborne asked. Jeff’s job description stated specifically that no unauthorised people were to be allowed entry to the morgue. It was pretty much his one and only job and he’d seemingly failed at it. Jeff nearly jumped out of his seat and the unknown man looked around. He looked almost familiar but Osborne couldn't quite place him.

“H-hello Dr. Osborne,” Jeff said to him, “I was just talking to Trent here about some of his adventures.” Jeff explained, motioning to Trent.

“Trent?” Osborne asked, starting to go a bit pale, “Why the only Trent in here is the stiff in that free-”. He had looked over at the freezer in question, and he found it was open. “Well...just who is he then, and what happened to Mr. Saxon's body?”. Dr. Osborne demanded. Now it was the other man's turn to speak. Trent, for it was he, turned around and saw a fairly tall African American man staring at him in disapproval. He was clearly not expected. Not that he expected to be. He was supposed to be dead.

“You're looking at it doc” he said before hopping off the table and shaking Dr. Osborne’s hand,

“Trent Saxon at your service. You might want to rethink your autopsy procedure by the way, it sure hurt when you cut me up.” he joked. Dr. Osborne just stood there with a dumb look on his face, completely perplexed. Trent turned to Jeff and pointed at Osborne’s face,

“Hey that's the look you pulled Jeff. What is it with people and pulling that face at me?”

This just caused Jeff to laugh, which brought Osborne back into the room. He looked Trent over, and noticed something.

“Wait a second”, he said, holding up Trent's hand, “You're missing a piece of your finger. Trent made it out in one piece, amazingly. Now just who are you?”. Trent took his hand away and put it into his pocket. He produced a severed fingertip and held it up.

“Here it is. I have a bet going on with Jeff. We worked out the details overnight”. Trent explained.

“A bet?”, replied Osborne, “Just what is going on here?” He was finding it just as hard as Jeff had to process everything that was going off in front of him.

“Well”, said Trent, putting the finger back in his pocket, “if my finger grows back, then I get a date with Jeff's sister. He showed me a picture of her and she's pretty cute. Plus he really thinks it can't grow back.”

“Well he's quite right”, said Osborne, “fingers can't grow back and dead people can't get up. Especially after they've been autopsied on!” Dr. Osborne flustered. This caused Trent to sigh.

“Say Doc, is there any way I can convince you that I am Trent Saxon, in the flesh?” Dr. Osborne thought it over for a minute, rubbing his chin in concentration.

“Well”, he decided eventually, “Where was your corpse found? No information has been released yet.” Trent whistled and put his hands behind his head.

“I'd love to answer that, but wasn't I already dead at that point?”

“Ah, but you said you couldn't die.” Dr. Osborne pointed out. He felt that he had already won the argument before it even had a chance to begin. Whoever this man before him was, there was no way that it could be Trent Saxon. It still left the mystery of what happened to Trent’s body, but that could be handled later.

“Well, I can and I can't. I die but I'll always come back. When I die it's like I'm just asleep. If something that bad happens to me anyway. I stabbed myself in the heart for Jeff over there without any trouble, but my brain was pretty damaged in the crash, and my body was absolutely mangled. Even if you can't die, would you want to be awake for that pain?” Trent asked. Even when dead it was like some small part of his brain was functioning and he had instincts that other people didn’t have. It knew when it was safe to revive him and when to wait a little longer. Osborne did think that was a good point. Even if you can't die, you can still feel pain. There are points where pain is incredibly intolerable.

“You stabbed yourself in the heart?” Dr. Osborne asked him.

“He sure did”, spoke up Jeff, who had been watching all this quietly. He pulled out a scalpel and threw it at Trent. Trent caught it and then plunged it into his chest, like he had the night before. Dr. Osborne grimaced at the sight.

“Go on, take it out, so you know it's not fake”, Trent said to Dr. Osborne. Osborne did as he was told. He pulled out the scalpel and checked it over. He also checked out the wound on Trent's chest. It was right where his heart should be, and the scalpel was covered in blood. It was totally solid and even he couldn't deny that he really had just seen a man shove a scalpel into his chest and appear completely unharmed. Into his heart no less.

“Okay”, Osborne conceded, “You may be Trent, you may not. Either way you certainly do seem to be pretty hard to kill. But you have to appreciate how difficult this is for a person to take in.” he said with a little exasperation. Nearly everything that medical science had told him was being disproved right in front of his eyes. Trent cracked a smile.

“Well your boy Jeff there took it pretty well” Trent said, pointing at Jeff. Jeff stood up and walked to Trent and opened his arms, practically taking the man in.

“Well it's just so freakin' AWESOME. I'd love to not be able to die, wouldn't you?” he said to Dr. Osborne. “Imagine what you could see, and do”. Dr. Osborne sighed and shook his head.

“No I don't think it would be all that good”, he said, “imagine all the people you love dying. I mean, you'd get bored eventually wouldn't you? Your heart would break again and again. You wouldn't be able to stay around people because you'd just be so afraid of losing them. Right, Trent?” Trent laughed out loud at this and stuck his arm around Dr. Osborne.

“Man you could not be more wrong. When I was growing up, we were confined to just this one planet. I saw it all, and then when I had done. I went again! Things had already changed, there was already more to see. Eventually we humans finally got around to discovering faster than light travel and space was opened up to us. There was even more to see and to do! By the time you've “done everything there is to do”, you realise there's even more to do, even more to discover. Humanity changes in the blink of an eye. Look back to the invention of the internet, do you think people even twenty to thirty years before then would ever believe what the internet could do? Hell when I was growing up we didn't even believe in faster than light travel. We didn't think we'd ever truly see the stars.” Trent said. His voice was full of wonder and excitement. Even after everything he had done and seen his eyes were still open to new possibilities. One thing his travels had taught him was that space really was near infinite. There was always more to discover and he never tired of discovery. His face took a more sombre and sad expression before he continued, “Yes, you can easily lose people you love. Yes, it still hurts when they die, or they go. It hurts anyone when someone leaves their life. It doesn't make a difference how long you've lived. If anything I'm thankful that it still hurts. That I'm still capable of feeling that loss. I'm thankful I even met them. Even if they left my life, for a time they were in it, they made it better. They made me better. Think of all the people you've met in your life, how they improved you, or changed you. Now think of how many people you could meet who could do that in two lifetimes. Now think about ten, and just keep going. It is always, always sad, but it really does still make me happy they were there. That they cared about me. That I was able to love, and still am. I don't think I could ever get tired of that. I hope I don't at least.” Trent said, looking away wistfully as memories of his departed friends came back to him. Dr. Osborne thought about his wife, and his kids. How much they had changed him, and how glad he was to know them, and be loved by them. He thought back to the friends he had made over the years. Trent was right, he realised. It hurt when someone left your life, but he knew he was glad that they had been in his life. He knew that he was glad he had met them, and he knew that he hoped he always would be. “Enough of this depressing talk!”, Trent said, slapping Osborne on the back, causing him to jump in surprise. “I’m pretty hungry and I need to find me another ship. It's also been a while since I was back home, so I need someone to come with me and tell me where to get them. Who's in?” Jeff ran up to him, almost literally jumping at the chance.

“I'd like to come, my shift ends when the doctor turns up anyway.” Jeff said, pointing to Dr. Osborne.

“Well that's one down”, Trent replied, turning to face Dr. Osborne, “How about you doc? You want to come?”

“I'd like to,” replied Dr. Osborne, “but I have to start work now, I've only just got in. Maybe I can chat with you later” he offered. He was very curious about Trent and would welcome the chance to ask him questions. He wouldn’t have minded studying him a little too, to see what made him tick. There might have been biological evidence to suggest why Trent was the way he was.

“Sure thing Doc” Trent replied, pulling up the collar of his jacket and tipping his hat. “Until later then.” Jeff followed him out the door leaving Dr. Osborne on his own. Osborne poked his head out the door after them. “By the way, the name's Osborne. Daniel Osborne, not 'Doc'!”, he shouted at them. Trent raised his hand to show he got the message and continued on the way out, Jeff beside him.

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This is one of my absolute favourite chapters just because of the speech that Trent gives to Doctor Osborne. I remember when I was that optimistic about life. I should, I wrote it after all.