Hawtness - Hawtness - Volume 2 - Chapter 13

“I’m a leaf in the wind. I’m a
leaf in the wind…” Andrew muttered under his breath.

“Saying it doesn’t make it true!”
I snapped as our ship approached the much large Star Cult ship.

“I don’t even think there is wind
in space,” Daniel added.

“There is solar wind…”

“Shh… none of that matter right
now. We’re about to pass through the shield.” Andrew responded.

An instant later, the entire ship shuddered as we passed through an invisible barrier. I waited for the ship in front of us to suddenly start firing, but as the seconds became minutes without being attacked, I allowed myself a deep breath.

The ship thumped again as we
landed on the side of the other ship. They actually hadn’t fled once they took Ryan.
I figured they must have been trying to break Ryan at that very moment so that
they could take over the weapons. That meant they needed to stay in orbit. They
had all but ignored the approach of our ship, so they must not have considered
it a threat. Well, Allan and the rest were already heading to the moon. They
had their job, we had our own duty.

“Alright; beaming up.” Andrew
touched the wristband that Allan had previously been wearing.

The familiar stretching feeling occurred and a moment later I snapped into place on a ship with far roomier hallways. With the chair gone, I fell back with Rune, landing between his legs with some force.

“Ah! My balls! Get off, Jane!”

“Hey, I thought you said I was
light!”

“Light has nothing to do with it
when your booty slams me between the legs!”

“Hmph.” I angrily got off of Rune and turned away as he grimaced and rolled up into the fetal position.

“As much as I enjoy seeing Rune
in pain, perhaps it’d be better if we all raised our hands?” Andrew said.

“Huh?” I looked up to see two
guards pointing guns at us.

I growled. “Damn it, Christopher.”

“Actually, I’ll have to take the
credit for that one. I couldn’t remember the exact coordinates Allan gave me.”
Andrew responded sheepishly. “I’m actually a bit happy we didn’t transport into
a wall or somewhere in the vacuum of space.”

“Who are you guys and what are
you doing aboard our STAR Wars Destroyer?” One of the men demanded, waving his
gun at us.”

I moved up front next to Andrew
with my hands up as Rune joined us a few moments later, still wearing a grimace
on his face.

“Hey, um… actually, you see…” I
tried to work my way through any kind of lie that wouldn’t result in us being
killed on the spot, but I suddenly found myself drawing a complete blank.

“Wait, a second.” One of the
guards spoke up. “I know you, don’t I?”

“Huh?” While these guys looked human, they were probably
some kind of alien species. I certainly only knew the one alien.

“Jane? Oh, my God, it’s Jane!”
The guard waved his gun excitedly, nearly jumping on the spot.

“The Jane? You don’t mean the
Jane, do you?”

“What other Jane is there? It’s her! She looks a bit the cover arts a
little whitewashed, but that’s not
unusual. It’s absolutely Jane!”

“I’m sorry… do I know you?” I
asked cautiously.

“Ah, no, sorry.” The guard
suddenly saluted. “My name is Craig, First Class STAR Wars Division.”

“And I’m Frienz, Second Class STAR
Wars Division.”

“We’ve heard all about your
exploits. Is it true you spit in the face of death himself when he offered you
immortality?” Craig asked excitedly.

“What?”

“Ask her about the werewolf!”
Frienz insisted, nodding between me and Craig in awe.

 “Is it true you can fight werewolves
barehanded?”

“Jane’s been fighting my kin?”
Daniel asked.

“Again; what? No, Daniel, I mean,
there was that thing in the past, but that’s not important.” I said, utterly
confused.

“Okay…”

“It’s true, look. He’s a werewolf,
but he’s totally subservient to her.” Frienz pointed out.

Daniel sniffed. “It’s only right
that I serve my mate.”

“Wasn’t Jane dating a rockstar?”
Craig asked.

“Oh, come on, no single man is
enough for someone like Jane, am I right?” Frienz winked at me.

“I’m not even going to comment.”
I shake my head. “Wait, where are you getting all this from? I was fighting the
Star Cult back then, how do you even know all this.”

“Correction, you were fighting a
splinter cell of the Star Cult,” Craig
said, “and you sent death itself to those who dared defy you. It’s all in your
book.”

“What book?” I demanded.

It didn’t even take a second
before one of the men pulled out the book and handed it to me. I looked down at
it with confusion. The cover had a picture of some strange white girl who was
way more attractive than me.

“Jane of Fairmont High,” I mumbled the name of the cover as I
flipped through the pages.

“That’s
just book one. I own all of your books. C-could you sign it for me?” he
asked hopefully.

He handed me a pen and so I
signed the back of the cover. The author’s name was Tim Dalton, which made no
sense to me. I didn’t know anyone with that name. When I handed him back the
signed book, he looked like he was about to skip.

“So, you’re saying these books
are being spread all around the galaxy?” I asked slowly.

“Yes, yes! You’re absolutely
famous to any space-faring civilization.”
Frienz stated.

I looked back at the three guys.
Why were they all looking at me with respect and envy! This was hardly the kind
of thing to get excited about. Someone had been writing embellished lies about
me and spreading them all over the galaxy. Who could do that? Who would do that?

“So… since you guys are fans…” I
swallowed hard at the words. “Then, would you be willing to do us a solid and
take us to our friend, Ryan?”

“Ryan? Ah, the robot! You must
have been the people we took him from! I can’t believe it! We just ran into
Jane when she’s performing one her famous rescue missions!” Craig said
excitedly.

“Hey, can I take a picture?” Frienz
asks, positioning himself next to me. “The guys are never going to believe
this. Say Racht!”

“Uh… Racht!”  There is a flash as I hold up my hand in a
Vulcan salute.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“You’re taking us?” I asked in
surprise.

“Of course! You’re Jane!”

The boys and I look at each other,
but I finally shrug and start following the two guards, who cheerfully ask me
questions as we walk down the expansive halls. The questions are mostly
harmless; things like what my favorite food is or what is Earth-like.

“Yeah,” Frienz was saying. “You
know I’ve been stationed on Mars for the last five years and I’ve never managed
a visit to Earth. Since it’s so close, it’s silly I never went.”

“Wait, there is life on Mars?”

The two men laugh. “Of course,
there is life on Mars, why would you think differently?”

“Well, it’s just that… we never
saw any proof of manmade structures.”

Frienz snaps. “What about the
canals? You can’t tell me you don’t see the canals.”

“The canals! We see them… we
just… thought they were… I don’t know, natural?”

“What? That’s crazy! Of course, they’re man-made. Next, you’re going to
tell me UFOs are swamp gas from weather balloons trapped in a thermal pocket
reflecting the light from Venus.”

“They’re not?”

“Aliens, every one of them.”

“And the rednecks?”

“Well, if you’re going to abduct
somebody, you might as well abduct the least believable person, am I right?”

“Oh, my God. They were right all
along. My entire worldview has been
shattered. Every day, I’ll wake up no longer understanding my place in the
world. I’m merely a speck of dust on the wind of destiny… Oh, hey Ryan.”

We had walked into a room and
Ryan was sitting there in the middle of it. There were a few others and he was
hooked up to a few cables, but he otherwise seemed fine.

“Jane… you came…” Ryan’s eyes
widened in surprise.

“Of course.” I straightened my
back. “I may not always keep my promises, but if you need me, I’ll always be
there. That’s what friends are for.”

Ryan cocked his head, and then a slight smile formed on his lips. It looked
surprisingly charming on his rather delicate features. “Friends? Yes… I’d like
that. Jane’s friend.”

“What are we, chop liver?” Rune
replied grumpily, pushing into the room with the rest.

“What are all these people doing
here?” One of the men that appeared to be tinkering with a nearby computer
console demanded.

“Hey, you; unplug our friend,” Andrew demanded.

“Andrew?” The voice came from the
doorway we just entered, and we all turned to see Andrew’s uncle, Gabriel.
“What are you doing here? I thought I told you to go home.”

“You…” Andrew’s voice darkened as
he glared at his uncle. “You took our friend just like that. You’d think we’d
leave so easily.”

“How did they even get this
close?” Gabriel turned to the two men who had escorted us.

“Well, ah, as to that…” The two
guards became flustered and pointed at
each other. “It’s Jane! She came on the ship …”

They stopped speaking as Gabriel
glowered at them. “Don’t believe everything you read. Lock them up. We’ll dump
them off once we’ve broken into this stupid robot. He’s proving more difficult than I anticipated.”

“That’s it?!” I asked angrily.
“You’re just going to ignore us?”

“You should be lucky I’m his
uncle.” Gabriel frowned, turning away. “If it was someone else, they’d probably
just toss you out an airlock.”

Andrew lowered his head, a pained
look on his face. My heart felt for him
and I couldn’t just let him sit there in pain. I took a step forward and
grabbed Gabriel’s arm. The man turned back, looking down at my arm with a
fierce expression. For a second, I thought he might actually toss me out of an
airlock, but I pushed forward anyway.

“You owe your nephew an
explanation. You may not believe everything, but you know that I was there during
the signing of the treaty. Why are you trying to destroy the peace your brother
fought to create?!”

Gabriel turned back and glared.
“Is that what you think this is? You think Michael wants peace? That’s just
wishful thinking. When the first shot is fired, it won’t come from the demon
side, but our own.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way!”
Rune suddenly stepped forward, causing Andrew to look over in shock. “My father
and the Demon King are close. I can talk to them.”

“You. I thought you smelled of a demon.” Gabriel pointed. “However, I’m shocked
to see Andrew around your kind.”

Rune suddenly looked at Andrew.
“Andrew, I… I’ll fight you on a lot of things, and if you want a challenge,
I’ll take you on any day. But… I don’t…. I don’t want to kill you. You’re not…
I mean…”

As Rune lowered his head, unable
to say anything more, Andrew raised his. “Rune… I get it. However, just because
you don’t want to start a war doesn’t mean you can stop a thousand-year feud.”

“Why not?” I demanded. “Because it’s hard? Is that all it takes for Andrew to give up? To roll over and let countless lives die?”

“Jane…” Andrew stepped back like
he had taken a physical blow, but when he looked at my face, he suddenly grew somber
and nodded resolutely. “No. You’re right. We’re the future. One day, I’ll be
Heaven’s Keeper and if I let these old prejudices soak in, then I’d have
already failed.”

“What are you saying, boy?”
Gabriel asked, watching Andrew cautiously.

“I’m saying that even if I defy
you or dad, I won’t let that war happen. These satellites; they won’t be the angels’
power. They won’t be the demons’ either.
Or the humans. They’ll be here to keep the peace; to defend this planet.”

“And you’d give the power to this
robot?” Gabriel asked, just the slightest tug at the edge of his lips giving him
the essence of a smirk.

Andrew’s eyes flashed over to
Ryan and then back and, after a few seconds of thinking,
he shook his head. “No… this kind of power, it’s too dangerous in the hands of
someone that can be broken into or manipulated. No offense, Ryan.”

“None taken,” Ryan responded.

“Then who?”  Gabriel continued to grill, a slight glimmer
in his eyes.

Andrew glanced over at Rune, and
the two boys nodded in unison like they had just come to a conclusion.

“It’d have to be her, right?” Rune said.

“Huh? Who?” I asked.

“You, Jane.”

“Huh?” my eyes almost went
cross-eyed. “What? Me? Wh-wh-why? I’m human! You can’t expect me to be trusted
with that power!”

“She’s not simply human though…”
Gabriel muttered, rubbing his chin as if he was considering it. “Yes… I see it.
Perhaps the stories… aren’t entirely lies.”

“See it? See what?” I demanded.
“I don’t even know what you guys are talking about! I don’t want this power!
Power corrupts!”

“It’s exactly because you don’t
want the power that you’re the right person for it.” Andrew failed to reassure
me. “Power doesn’t corrupt, it merely attracts those easily corrupted. For you,
Jane… I think you are the only one.”

“It’s in agreement then. Robot, please encrypt the satellite grid to
this lady.” Gabriel said.

“Ryan! Don’t do it!” I commanded.

Ryan gave me a sweet smile that made my stomach sink. “Jane ordered me
to act how I wish. I think Jane is the best person to control the satellite
grid.”

“You damn nerf herder!” I cried out.

“It’s done. The satellite grid is
in standby mode. It’ll only respond to Jane using a 21-point verification
process that will be near impossible to counterfeit.”

“Just… freaking… great…”