“Got her.” Kite read the blinking signals. “They’ve found the Abh.”
“Did they capture her?” Entoryua counted the minutes until his impending demise. It was a short lifetime, I guess. I never even got to tell my daughter what a blockhead she’s about to marry.
“No, not yet. Apparently they’ve wounded some more soldiers. One of them says he definitely saw her Frosh. There’s no mistake.” Kite smiled creepily. “There’s no way for her to escape this time.”
And Kite began issuing instructions to the pilot. The ship turned around and headed for the northwestern part of the city. Beyond the cluster of tree-buildings, there was a group of steeples.
“What are those?” inquired Kite.
“I told you, I’m not that familiar with Guzornyu.” While it wasn’t technically a lie, Entoryua knew what the steeples were, and the intentions of the people with the Abh.
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Guzornyu Municipal Undertaker. Temporarily closed, due to armed conflict.
The sign on the door clattered as Undertaker unlocked and swung the door open with a practiced movement.
“You’d think all this fighting would be good for business, but when the occupation army came, the government panicked and closed it,” explained Undertaker.
“What was the city afraid of?” asked Jinto.
“They thought the enemy might mistake this for an anti-orbital weapon,” explained Minh.
This only made Jinto more confused. “Weapon?”
When they entered the small building, Jinto saw the colorful spires that ran along both sides of it. He remembered catching a glimpse of these as they entered Guzornyu.
“So, these are huge graves?” asked Jinto.
“You’re confusing a graveyard and a funeral hall,” said a visibly disgusted Undertaker.
“Sorry. If they’re not graves, then what are they?”
“Coffins. You know, it’s criminal how little you know of our customs.”
“Forgive him,” Lafiel excused Jinto. “He has no common sense. When people die, they often want their remains to float in Dath.”
“Right. If we were Abh, we’d just toss them out the window or something. But since we’re not in space, we have to blast them off from the bottom of a gravity well.”
“In my home world, bodies are cremated or buried,” Jinto justified his ignorance. “If you want to float them in Dath, wouldn’t it be easier to do it from the Arnej?”
“Never been to a funeral, have you? It’s as much about the ceremony as it is about the goal.”
“I just assumed funerals should be, I don’t know, quieter.”
Lafiel shrugged. “That’s just a stereotype. Maybe this is because of our Abh origins, but we find the idea of floating in space forever comforting.”
“I’m not opposed to that idea,” Jinto said. Then, he realized what was happening, and shuddered. “Wait a minute. We’re not going to ride these into space are we?”
“Of course!” they all said in unison.
“I misjudged you, Jinto — you have even less common sense than I thought.”
He was crushed.
“Am I going to be able to pilot one of these ships?” Lafiel asked Undertaker. “I’m not familiar with them.”
Surprised, Undertaker replied, “You don’t have to fly it. It just goes up. That’s it.”
The blood drained from Lafiel’s face.
“I misjudged you, Lafiel.” Jinto seized this opportunity to score a point. “You have even less common — “
The look in Lafiel’s eyes made Jinto shut up and question his sanity.
“Is it at least airtight?” Lafiel asked.
“Of course, and there’s twelve hours’ worth of emergency oxygen.”
At the end of the hallway, they descended a flight of stairs below the surface. Beyond the stairs, there was a room with a bunch of display screens.
“Initiate funeral preparations,” Undertaker said to one of the screens.
“The funeral hall is closed.”
“Didn’t you hear? We’re reopening.”
“I can’t confirm that.”
“I hate disobedient machines,” commented Undertaker. “Daswani, if you will, please.”
Daswani nodded, and pulled a keyboard (Segeisu) out of his bag. He connected it to the Kuro and began typing with lightning-fast fingers.
“Voice input is usually faster, but Daswani is pretty good.”
“I can type faster than I can speak,” Daswani drawled.
“That’s the longest sentence I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth,” Bill said.
“What kind of fuel does it take?” asked Jinto.
“Hydrogen.”
“Hydrogen? Is it a nuclear fusion reaction?”
“No — combustion,” Undertaker explained.
“Somebody catch me if I faint,” bemoaned Lafiel.
“Don’t worry,” Undertaker assured them, “it’s been ages since our last accident.”
“There have been accidents?” Jinto’s eyes ballooned to the size of dinner plates.
“Poor phrasing on my part. Although a few coffins have blown up in the past, none of the passengers ever died as a result.”
“Oh, great.”
“Quit fooling around, Undertaker,” said Marca.
He grumbled a little, until Daswani looked up from his Segeisu and gave Undertaker the thumbs-up.
“Initiate funeral preparations,” said Undertaker. The machine whirred to life and began to guide Undertaker through a series of preparations.
Meanwhile, Marca took Jinto and Lafiel to the launch tube. “Let’s go, you two. Our destiny is calling.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Struggling to extract information from the Imperial-style terminal, Kite cursed. Entoryua took a cruel satisfaction in Kite’s distress.
Eventually, Kite figured out how to translate the data. He appeared disgusted.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Clasbul-style funeral launches?”
“You never asked.” Entoryua shrugged, anticipating a blow to the face.
Sure enough, Kite clenched his hands into fists. But instead of punches, he pelted Entoryua with guffaws.
“Do they really think they can get away like that? There’s no way for her to escape this time.”
Kite spoke to the soldier next to him, who promptly began to issue flashlight signals.
✦ ✦ ✦
A red light came on above the door leading to the third launch tube.
“Please wait while the casket is fueled and adjusted for flight.” An automated machine brought the new coffin into the launch tube.
“When I was a kid,” Bill reminisced, “they used to launch them from the surface. But now, with the growth of the city, they do it from these underground tubes. It’s strange, because the funeral hall was here first.”
Eternally nervous, Jinto had a new concern. “Hey, will the Labule mistake us for a weapon?”
“A hydrogen-propelled ship?” Lafiel wrinkled her elegant nose. “It would only be a good weapon if you wanted the Labule to laugh themselves to death.”
“Oh.”
“Besides, my Kreuno emits a friendly signal. They’ll recognize us as allies.”
“Marca,” Minh’s voice came through a loudspeaker. “They’ve come for us in the fire department’s ship. Not to worry, though, our launch preparations will be done in one minute.”
“What will you guys do if the enemy comes after you launch us?”
“We’ll be okay.” Marca smiled. “We’ve made allowances. We know Guzornyu like the back of our hands; there’s no way we’re going to let those clods catch us. You’ll have to be careful — you’re vulnerable once you leave the launch tube.”
“How can we be careful? We can’t steer it!”
“I know the Abh are atheists, but what about you?” Marca asked Jinto.
“Presbyterian Fundamentalist. Not devout or anything, though.”
“Then, Jinto, it’s up to you,” said Marca, placing a hand on his shoulder, “to pray.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Where are the reinforcements?” Kite demanded for at least the fifth time.
“They’re here,” announced a relieved soldier.
“Finally.”
Five aerial ships cluttered the airspace over the funeral hall, and began flickering their flashlights at each other in coded signals.
“Just five?” whined Kite. “This place is huge! Those ships don’t even look armed.”
“They want to know where to land,” said the soldier.
“I don’t know. All we can do is look for the rocket that’s about to launch and destroy it upon sight.”
Entoryua knew that the funeral hall fired all its coffins from underground, and that the ones on the surface were purely ornamental, but he wasn’t about to offer that information.
Come on, Abh. Hurry up. If I’m going to die here, I at least want the satisfaction of knowing that you outsmarted their entire army.
✦ ✦ ✦
The light above launch door three turned from red to green.
“Hurry. It’ll launch in thirty seconds,” Minh announced through the loudspeaker.
“Please, don’t forget our Menyu,” Marca requested.
“Yes, I’ll ask without fail.” Lafiel climbed into the coffin.
“You too, young man,” prodded Bill.
“Okay. Thanks again, for everything.”
“Just return the favor, okay?” Bill winked.
Jinto laid down next to Lafiel. Almost instantly, the coffin sealed itself and was sucked through the door. It was pitch black.
“How humiliating,” muttered Lafiel, “riding in a ship with no external Frokaj, no Gooheik — no lights, for crying out loud!”
“This isn’t a ship,” Jinto reminded her. “It’s a coffin. For dead people.”
“You’re terrible. Don’t touch me.”
“I can’t help it — it’s too small to not touch you. Ow! Watch it — I’m wounded you know.”
“I thought it was just a scratch,” Lafiel said coldly.
“I’ve been known to exaggerate from time to ti-yi-yi!”
The coffin shook violently, prepared for liftoff.