The stone was located on a planet called Fargon—a planet located on top of a black hole.
How that was even possible, I have no clue. But I've been off Sola long enough now that just accepting the impossible and unknown was starting to feel normal.
The four of us stood in front of the tracker inside Tammy's work station while she sat at her desk. My eyes widened as I took in the hologram Tammy had pulled up.
Kiko examined the planet. "Fargon? Never heard of it."
"It's not a planet that's often visited."
Cashel sat next to Tammy. "Tell us everything you know about it, Tammy."
She gestured to the various holograms before us. "The only reason the planet can survive outside of the black hole is because of a natural-made substance that seeps off the planet and into the atmosphere. This substance is called Sage. The Sage creates two protective layers that act as a shield, blocking the planet from falling into the black hole."
She tapped on one of the holograms, bringing one to the center and enlarging it. The diagram showed the planet along with two smaller planets inside of a larger bubble, and at the bottom of that large bubble was a cone-shape spiral which I took to be the black hole.
"What are these smaller planets?" I asked, pointing to the two small balls next to the planet.
"Moons to the planet," she answered.
Cashel stood. "Set our course for Fargon," he ordered as he left the room.
Tammy nodded. "We'll be there in two days."
#
I spent those two days mentally preparing myself for our arrival on a new planet. Tammy said that it was nearly uninhabited, and that the main species were humans. Since it was supposed to be mostly unoccupied, I was expecting it to be almost like Dezner. But I supposed we'd find out.
The rest of the crew prepared for the journey in their own way. There was little talk or social interaction during this time. Rei and Kiko practically lived in the training room; the same for Tammy in her workroom and Cashel on the flight deck.
I grew anxious as the two days dwindled down to a few hours. My eyes wandered the ceiling in my room as I lay on my bed. What did being in this race mean? Were we going to risk our lives to try and rule the galaxy? No—we were trying to protect it. There was no denying that man—Ozias—was also trying to win the race, and he seemed highly capable of doing just that. Seeking power seemed to be the only thing he lived for, but why did he want Kiko's power so badly?
Tammy's image popped up on the ceiling. "We're meeting on the flight deck. Rei, stop daydreaming and get out of the shower; you're wasting all the hot water."
We met on the flight deck, wondering what the meeting was about. Rei gave Tammy a sour look.
"You didn't have to blast the cold water," she grumbled while drying her hair.
Tammy ignored her and explained the situation.
"We received a message from the main space port on the planet. It seems that Fargon will be destroyed."
"Destroyed?" Cashel asked.
"Apparently, the Vo stone was able to penetrate the two protective layers as it entered the planet's atmosphere. Usually objects can pass through without breaking the layers if they pass through at a slower speed. My guess is that the stone was traveling at an unnatural speed, as well as containing unknown power that could have disrupted and destroyed parts of the layers as it entered."
Kiko crossed her arms. "Well, what does that mean?"
"It means they're evacuating the planet, so we'll have to land secretly and illegally."
"Tell us something we don't usually do." Rei grinned.
"We'll have approximately two Fargonian weeks before the hole in the planet's layers rotates enough to face the black hole, destroying the planet."
Cashel thought aloud. "We're on a time limit to find the stone. Two weeks." He went to his chair on the flight deck and ordered, "Tammy, get us on that planet quickly and discreetly."
Tammy joined him on the flight deck. "Yes, sir. I've already calculated the trajectory of the stone and its approximate location. We should be entering the atmosphere shortly."
"Why don't we just let the stone get sucked into the black hole?" I asked from behind Tammy and Cashel, watching them set the Jago's new course. If one part of Vo was destroyed, then no one could win. Our problem would be solved.
"Someone could be on the planet right now searching for it. We can't risk them finding it before the black hole absorbs everything," Cashel responded.
That made sense, unfortunately.
We approached a translucent light-green screen. We saw, on the other side of that protective layer, an unstirred planet. It was mesmerizing, full of different colors. It was hard to imagine all of this would be gone in two weeks.
Everyone watched as we crept closer to the Sage layers. As soon as the ship made contact, we were flying through the greenish liquid. Out of nowhere, an alarm sounded, then another, and suddenly everything in the ship was flashing and making noise.
Tammy quickly worked the panels. "We're losing power; the layers must be disrupting our power source. The backup generator needs to be turned on manually."
Cashel jumped out of his chair. "I'm on it," he said as he ran out of the flight deck.
The alarms continued to ring and flash as we made our way through the light-green, liquid screen. As soon as we broke through the first layer, everything, including us, began to float.
I hesitated and clung to Tammy's chair. "Wh-what's going on?"
"The gravity binder must've died," Rei said, hovering near me.
I was wary at first, but eventually, I had to admit it was fun floating around so freely. Kiko and Rei didn't seem as amused, and they were more controlled while floating than I was. I wondered how many times they'd done this before I came along.
The ship began passing through the second layer, and Cashel's voice came through the speakers. "I almost have it, but it needs some—"
The power completely died inside the entire ship, and everything but the sun-shield went dark. Through it, we could see that we were almost through the second layer.
"Brace yourselves," Tammy warned before Rei, Kiko, and I were slammed to the ground as gravity returned. We all groaned and were slowly getting back on our feet when we felt our weight leave the safety of the steel floor again. It wasn't the gravity binder this time—we were crashing.
Floor, wall, roof, wall; everything was spinning. I gave up trying to grab hold of anything and tucked myself into a protective cocoon with my head in the center. We'd lost complete control of the ship. You shouldn't feel anything with a quick impact death, right? Flesh slammed against me with a quick grunt. I couldn't tell who it was, and my thoughts suddenly turned to a pain in my arm where I crashed into a protruding switch.
The cycle of body and object impacts happened a few more times before the lights throughout the flight deck suddenly flickered back on and Tammy was able to regain control. With a precise snap, the Jago regained composure, and the engines sputtered to full-throttle.
My body had finally stopped moving, but my mind was still reeling as I staggered up to the empty pilot's chair. That was probably a bad idea because I saw how close we were to the surface of the planet, and we were approaching it rapidly.
"Is that land?" Rei nearly screeched.
"Prepare for a crash landing," Tammy said just as the three of us were finally able to stand up straight again.
The ship shuddered and gave a hard jolt as we connected with the ground. Soon enough the three of us were flying in the air again before being hurled back onto the steel-grated floor. I didn't need to see out the sun-shield to know the ship had bounced, based on the impact that had us rolling around again.
Finally, with one final jolt, we stopped moving. It was quiet as everyone tried to regain their bearings.
"Are we done crashing?" Rei asked weakly. The three of us were now a tangled mess of limbs and bodies, crammed at the foot of the flight panels.
"I hope so," Kiko answered.
No one moved. Then Tammy, who'd been in her seat the entire time, unbuckled her restraint and stepped over us.
"The only smart one," I said wearily.
Rei rubbed her head. "Is Cashel still alive down there?"
"Yes," Tammy said, checking various panels and gauges around the flight deck. "He made it into an empty, stationary cargo bin just in time."
Rei, Kiko, and I finally got ourselves separated and on our feet.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," I mumbled before stumbling down the hall to the nearest bathroom.
Maybe I shouldn't have eaten before that whole ordeal.
My head was throbbing so I splashed some cold water on my face to clear my senses. I'd never known how much I took standing still for granted. All I knew now was that I was done with anything spinning for a while.
When I finally dragged myself out of the bathroom, I heard a faint knock coming from the cargo bay door. It sounded like it was coming from outside.
That was odd.
I walked over to the large door and pressed an ear on it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I nearly fell backward.
Abruptly, the bay doors creaked and jarred open, revealing someone I didn't expect to see in the far reaches of the galaxy.