LOST REVENGE

Lost
Revenge

By
Hao Yang

Copyright ©2016 by Hao Yang

All Rights Reserved

The book is a work of fiction. All names,
characters, locations and invents are products of the author’s imagination. Any
resemblance to actual incidents, persons or locations is entirely coincidental.
No part of the book can be used or distributed or reproduced in any manner
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the
prior written permission of the author.

Head pain wakes me
up, but I don’t want to open my eyes. I remember my astronaut training and it
says if you just wake up from a coma, you should execute a quick playback to
see whether you suffer any memory loss. So here is my playback.

I was born in Dallas
Texas in 2015 and lived there until I enrolled in University of Houston. Around
that time I made up my mind to become a pilot and astronaut. After college I
joined the air force and became a fighter pilot. When I was promoted to
captain, I started applying for astronaut program. After 13 years of sending
resumes, I got accepted and I did know why. NASA mistook my name with someone
else and they were too embarrassed to correct it. Anyway, I went through all
tests, trainings and evaluations, ending up as a Mission Commander but with no
one to give order. At that point, human had touched down on Mars and Luna
station was just completed on the moon. Suddenly, for no reason, NASA and ESA
decided to go to Jupiter as if we are on a rescue mission for Optimus Prime. Everything
was in a rush and they didn’t even say the mission objective. All they could
tell me was “We will let you know when you reach Jupiter.” It’s just like that
and now we are on the way with my crew of nine astronauts.

No memory loss. This
is a good sign.

Listening to the
peaceful humming of equipment, I know at least Achilles is still functioning.
It is the most expensive spaceship with a price tag of 400 billion US dollars.
It is designed to go deep, very deep, into Jupiter.

Taking a deep breath,
I suddenly recall the three levels of fucked up. First, you know you are fucked
up. Second, someone tells you that you are fucked up. Third, everyone knows you
are fucked up. Right now I am at level one and I remember how I ended up here,
lying on the bed with head pain. I was in the kitchen with my fiancée Lily and
there came a strong shake. I dashed forward and grabbed the edge of the table.
Then everything went inverted. While I was holding on to the table, a sharp
pain struck the back of my head and that was it.

“Lily!”

Opening my eyes, I
slowly sit up in my cabin. As the Commander, I have my own room, even though
it’s only big enough for a small table, a chair and a bed.

I rub the back of my
head. Some swelling but no blood. The pain feels like something is drilling in
my brain.

“Commander, are you
there?” A sweet female voice flies out from the intercom.

“Yes.”

“How do you feel?”

“Head pain, but I am
all right. Bertha, what happened?”

“You had an
accident.”

“How about everyone
else? Are they alright?” Actually I am only thinking about Lily.

“Ah, actually—”

“What is it?”

“Maybe we can talk
about it in the bridge?”

“On my way.”

I get off my bed and
walk out of my cabin. Thanks to artificial gravity, we no longer need the
rotating carrousel used in the trips to Mars.

In the corridor, Bud,
our communication officer, is checking something on a panel. The name Bud is a
short version of his first name Budhpreetayana. He is an Indian, 30 something,
short, bald, dark skin and a little different from the rest of the crew. That
means his shape requires a special spacesuit. He always has a friendly smile on
his face and he smells like curry most of time.

“I thought we lost
you there, Commander.” Bud walks to me and pats my shoulder.

“It won’t be that
easy. Everyone is alright? Nobody else is hurt, right?” I am sweating.

“Yea, pretty much.”
Bud’s face stiffens,

“Who else is hurt?” I
am right at the edge of explosion.

Bud sighs and says,
“Lily is in coma.”

Fuck! That is exactly
what I am worried about! I know something is wrong. I can feel it.

I take a deep breath
and let it out slowly to recompose myself.

“She is fine, right?”
My voice is still shaking.

“Yea, yea. Don’t
worry. I gotta go to check the antenna. We have some communication problem with
earth.”

Hearing she is fine,
I settle down a little bit.

“I see. I need to go
to the bridge. I will talk to you later.” I say while walking away.

Achilles is like a
spindle but with a fat belly which starts at about one third from the front and
trails off gradually. The bridge locates at the top of the belly. It’s like a
submarine control room, but we have great view thanks to the huge window. There
are ten seats, two pilot seats at the very front and the rest seats along the
wall.

In the bridge, pilot
Bertha is sitting at Lily’s seat. She is a typical German girl with the look of
a young movie star, even though she is over 40. She cares for everyone and as a
result everyone likes her. I wish I could say that for myself. She loves
chatting and can go on and on like forever, if you count dream-talking. Beside
her, Lock is standing near the huge front window, his eyes fixed on Jupiter. He
is the chief engineer, but has a weathered face of a cowboy. He did grow up in
a ranch in Texas and did all cowboy stuff during his adolescence. That is why
we like to call him cowboy from time to time. He always wears his black cowboy
hat everywhere, but not right now. I don’t know why.

I clear my throat.
Both of them look back and nod at me.

“What do we have?” I
ask quickly.

“We went through an
asteroid shower.” Bertha says in a calm voice.

“I see. I remember
the strong shake before I was out. Any damage?”

“We lost contact to
Earth,” says Lock.

“For how long?”

“Seven days,” says
Lock seriously.

“Seven days?” I am
surprised, because it certainly doesn’t feel like seven days. It feels like
seven hours to me.

“Yes, seven days.”
Lock looks at his watch.

“Has Jim taken a look
at the problem?” I ask.

“He is working on it
right now. Oh, by the way, Commander, can you give me the access code to the
mainframe? I want to make sure everything is working there,” says Lock.

“Mainframe? That is
for Zeus' higher function. What do you need that for?” Zeus is the
supercomputer running most daily chores.

“Just checking.” Lock
sounds nervous. That is the first time.

“I will do that.”

“Well, you just woke
up and you have this head pain going. I just want to help.” Lock says
sincerely.

“Well, thank you. But
I am fine. How is Lily?” I don’t have time for this shit. Lily must be waiting
to see me.

“All right. Suit
yourself.” Lock looks unhappy and quickly leaves the bridge.

I turn my attention
to Bertha.

She gives me a kind
smile and says, “Lily is fine. She is still in coma—”

“I see. Well. Who was
in charge for the past seven days?”

“Roy, but we all miss
you.” Her voice is soft as usual.

“OK. I will talk to
him after I see Lily. Let me know when we get in touch with Earth.” I head
directly to the medical bay.

Achilles has eleven
compartments and the medical bay is right below the bridge, but I am running
anyway. When the door slides open, I dash in and almost hit Dr. Akio. He is Japanese
and of course a big fan of Sushi. He even brought some onto Achilles along with
his chopsticks. His sleek figure, small teeth, and deep eyes remind me of Dr.
Hannibal Lecter.

“What is the rush,
Commander?” He sounds like Dr. Lector as well.

“Where is Lily?” My
eyes searching the room, I completely ignore Dr. Akio.

“She is over there.
The second ward. She is still in coma.” Dr. Akio says in a low voice with his
right hand covering half of his mouth.

I run to the second
ward, knocking over a chair.

There she is, on the
bed, covered by white sheet, with all kinds of types attached to her body. She
looks tired, dark circles under her eyes, her lips swelling. I lean forward
slowly and brush her wavy blonde hair with my hand. They feel like silk and
they are shining like silk as well.

“She is fine. Don’t
worry,” says Dr. Akio.

“What happened?”

“Same as you. A chair
hit her head. You think we should bolt them on the floor?”

“Her status?”

“All vitals are fine.
It took you seven days to wake up. For her, maybe longer. How about yourself?”

“You are the doctor.
You tell me.”

Akio freezes for a
second and then squeezes out a smile, but no word.

“Anyone else is
injured?”

“No.”

“It must be a big
rock?” I try to be funny.

“Oh, yes,” says Akio
nodding like those shaking head toys.

I pull over a chair
and sit next to Lily.

“Commander, we are
all very worried about you.”

“Thanks. Now leave me
alone.”

Akio smiles politely
and leaves the medical bay.

I just sit there
looking at Lily. We are going to get married once we reach Jupiter. This is her
idea. She always likes to be the first and she told me that we would be the
first couple entering Jupiter. Thank God, we don’t have other couples onboard.
I told her that I would make sure no one else get married so that we could
claim this honor.

“Lily, you gotta wake
up. If not, we can’t get married.”

Lily turns to her
right side and the sheet slips down to her waist.

I am holding my
breath and looking at her without a blink.

Nothing except her
rhythmic breathing.

I sigh, lean forward
and pull the sheet over her shoulder.

Suddenly a weird
feeling stings me like a bee. I freeze there and let it sink in. It is like
those moments when you sense something wrong but can’t put a finger on it.

What is it?

Something is missing.

Something is missing!

I slowly grab the
edge of the sheet and pull it down to her waist where it rested several seconds
ago. Looking at her from this angel reminds me the way she lies in my arms, her
soft body, her scent and her smooth skin. I scan up and down, but can’t really
figure out what is missing. I hold her left hand in my hands and kiss its back.

The ring! The wedding
ring I bought for her is gone.

I quickly search
around the bed.

Nothing.

Then I comb every
inch of the medical area.

Still nothing.

I remember see the
ring before I passed out, so it must be in the kitchen. It probably went off
when the chair hit her. She never takes it off. It must be in the kitchen. I
head to the kitchen right away.

Thank God-the kitchen
is only about the size of a two-car garage. On one side, we have sink, pantry,
fridge and cabinets. On the other side, an oval table and ten chairs take all
the leftover space. I used to complain how small this kitchen is, but now I am
grateful. I kneel on the ground and start looking. I believe it is still here.
If someone already found it, he or she would give it to me.

Soon I am soaking in
sweat, my knees hurting as badly as my head. I don’t care. I will find it. I
will find it!

One hour ticks away
and I get nothing.

If someone found it,
would he or she give it to me?

OK. Let’s think about
it.

NO. 1, Lock. He is
one of my best friends and he will be my best man in the wedding. If he found
it, he would give it to me. Besides, he is married. What does he keep a ring
for?

NO. 2, Jim. I know
him less than two years. He is a Briton with some royal lineage. He is rich and
care for reputation, a little too gentleman though. He wouldn’t even pick it up
if he saw it. One funny fact about Jim is he can’t bear the sight of blood and
he keeps a blindfold in his pocket just in case there is a blood test.

NO. 3, Bud. Except
his duties, he seems to only care about his own stuff. We have to take one guy
from India and if I had an option, I wouldn’t take him. He might take the ring,
because he comes from a poor family. You know what they say: if you were born
poor, you have it in your genes. I definitely need to ask him and see how he
reacts.

NO. 4, Charle. He is
the reactor specialist. Being a French and having a look of young Jean Reno, he
can pretty much get any girl he wants. He bought a bottle of best French champagne
for this trip and selflessly claimed that he would share it with everyone. He
is a very handy man and can pretty much fix everything. I can tell he likes
Lily and cares for her. If he found the ring, he would put it back to the exact
place on her finger instead of giving it to me.