SIX

JANA - Three Months Later

Hello Journal, in case you've forgotten who owns you, I'm Jana Gee.

It's been three months since I've written in here because I have been incredibly busy. Non-stop busy and constantly on-the-go.

With a population of nearly 2000 people on Red Genesis along with about twenty-thousand animal, plants, birds, and aquatic species; being the only Engineer onboard who had some knowledge of the climate requirements of all the species and even fussy humans; had been one ordeal after another.

Then there was the monitoring and slight repair work of the ship itself which was almost an entire job. The atmospheric pressure on the ship was rougher than anyone had anticipated, which caused instruments to erode faster. But thanks to the remarkable expertise of the cockiest Captain across the Galaxies, Captain Thomas, we were able to utilize less fuel and more gliding, lessening the impact overall.

When it came to Thomas, I had to admit, he was a surprise. Still cockier than anyone I've ever met, but more competent, intelligent, gifted, and charismatic than anyone too. He was a mystery to me, and someone who just seemed to have the talent to push my buttons more than anyone could.

"Hey Bunny," he said, walking by as I looked over some instruments at the lower deck. I haven't seen him in weeks, and when I did, he was always busy talking to the passengers, organizing and hosting socials for them, holding meetings with the Officers and Crew, reading reports. He seemed to be everywhere and anywhere when I've seen him, and always surrounded by people, especially women. Young and old. The ladies couldn't seem to get enough of him, always asking him for help or to join them for something or another.

"Hi, Thomas," I said, intentionally leaving off the word, "Captain" which he had once told me was unnecessary. "Fancy seeing you down here in the Engineering area. What's up?"

He was alone for once, and it seemed so unlike him. He looked around, as if he was checking things out. "I wanted to check on the fuel," he said.

As if he didn't know where to look and as if he didn't get the daily reports on the level of fuel we had, I pointed to the screen on the side wall, which gave a reading on barometric pressure, fuel, and whatever we needed to monitor for Red Genesis to run smoothly. "Is there something you needed to know?" I asked.

Thomas frowned for a second and said, "I wonder if we sped up the ship a bit more so we can arrive at New Earth half a year earlier than what we had planned, how that would affect the ship."

I did the calculations and said, "It can be done, but it would increase the usage of everything, causing us to deplete whatever we have stored completely. In other words," I said. "We have better land on New Earth right on time or we may run out of fuel completely in space."

"I see," Thomas said. He frowned again, shaking his head. I could see whatever he was thinking about was really worrying him only he said nothing for a while.

"What's going on, Thomas?" I asked moving close. "Do we have to try to land earlier than planned?"

He looked at me as if he was contemplating something heavy on his mind, weighing his shoulders down. Finally, he said, "I don't want anyone to panic. I don't know if it's certain yet, but yes, we may have to try to land earlier."

"Why?" I asked.

"I know you tested the highest in psychological and emotional stability, Jana," Thomas said, "Out of all the passengers on the Red Genesis, you came in close to my score on strength of will. Maybe slightly higher."

"You just said I came in the highest," I said, almost teasingly.

He smiled and then ran his hand over his hair, "Maybe slightly higher than me."

"You really are the most arrogant person I've ever met," I said.

He actually laughed this time and said, "Yeah, you've told me a couple of times since the first day we've met."

"Knowing how my mind works then, Captain," I said, "you can tell me the truth and I won't panic."

Thomas smiled, "That's what I like about you, Bunny."

"Jana," I corrected him.

He moved in a little closer to me, almost to the point where I could feel the heat of his presence. "But I love calling you my pet name for you. You're pretty cute like a bunny."

"Please," I said, walking past him to stand in the hallway.

"Hey, having a nickname like ‘Bunny' isn't so bad compared to the nickname you gave me – ‘Pop Idol Boy', which is pretty insulting to have when you're the captain of a ship this size."

"Well, it suits you," I said. "Three months later, and you still remind me of a Pop Idol."

"What…because I enjoy going on stage in the concert hall and entertaining the passengers with my singing and dancing abilities?" Thomas asked.

"Uh huh," I said. "That and everything else," I pointed to the way he was dressed.

"I like to dress fashionably," Thomas said. "My hair, too. Nothing wrong with that."

"No," I said, "But really, Thomas, were you ever in a boy band? Did you ever post dancing videos on Tik Tok or whatever social media platform like that? You seem to fit right in with the bad boy Pop Idol type. And you must love all that attention from the girls."

"Truthfully," Thomas said, "I was in a boy band, I hate to admit it."

My mouth dropped, "Nah, really? No way. I was just joking about all that…"

Thomas shook his head. "Yes, really. Ever heard of Space Boyz?"

I thought hard. "Sounds vaguely familiar."

He pulled out his pocket-size computer called the Zipline because of how it was the fastest portable data and voice communication system on Earth. "Ever seen this?"

I looked over at the photo he was showing me. Three young men wearing silver suits with slicked back blue, green, and red hair. One was playing the keyboards, while the other one was on drums, and another on guitar. My eyes shot wide open. "You mean you were in this boy band?" I asked. "You're huge!" I blinked my eyes again. "So huge! Why did you stop?"

"That was me about ten years ago," Thomas said. "I got tired of the lifestyle and decided to pursue my passion about space. That's how I got into the space program."

"But you're still able to entertain our passengers better than anyone else," I said. "We lucked out having you as a captain."

Thomas' eyes shot wide, and his eyebrows lifted, "You really think so?"

"Yeah," I said, walking away. "So, that was the big secret? You were in a boy band for real… well, that's good to know. If you'll excuse me, Captain, I have to get over to the other side of the ship to check on the plantation. Our system is doing well enough growing the plants on board, but I have to check the atmosphere there once a week."

"Good," Thomas said, seemingly relieved that we were ending this conversation.

As I made my way over to the other side of the ship to our horticulture and garden area where farmers and plant experts had already grown fruit trees, vegetables, and flowers in pods, I noticed the area was empty. It was dinner time, and most likely everyone was in the restaurants or food court area where meals were being served.

An atrium of exotic plants was held in one area, which needed specialized temperature. I walked over to the atrium and felt instantly transported to the tropical jungles of Old Earth. The smells, the sounds of jungle wildlife, and even the moisture in the air felt so real.

I noticed another person in the Atrium besides myself. Someone I've not met before. "Hello?" I asked, approaching the bald man who was dressed in a drab colorless shirt and pants, almost like prison garb. He didn't respond. "Hello?" I asked again, getting closer.

He was staring out into the space as though in a daze.

"Hi," I said again. "They're serving dinner now. If you want to get something to eat, now's the time…" My instincts instantly warned me to be careful as the man suddenly turned towards me, his face grey while his eyes had gone completely pupil-less.

"Oh," I gulped.

In an instant, the man or whatever it was had leaped towards me like a gigantic spider.

A hand pushed me out of the way, "Go!"

I fell to the ground but crawled back up, watching as Thomas fight the creature with a thick wooden staff. Like a kung-fu master, Thomas leaped in the air, hitting the staff on the creature's head, while twirling it around to hit it in the back of its knees, knocking it to the ground.

The creature sprawled out flat on the floor, motionless.

"Are you hurt?" Thomas turned to me. "Did he touched you anywhere?"

"No," I shook my head. "You stopped him before he could get close to me."

Thomas' face relaxed, and he gave a big sigh of relief. "For a moment there, I was really worried. I thought…"

"Watch out!" I yelled, running towards him and shoving him out of the way. The creature had gotten up and was about to stab Thomas in the back with its long spear-like arm when I blocked its arm with a kick and went down on my knees to side-sweep its legs out from under him. He fell backwards but jumped up with a half flip to land on his feet, surprising me with a sudden spear punch into my right shoulder, spearing through my muscles straight through. "Ouch!" I yelled stumbling backwards.

Thomas caught me before I fell back, the searing pain burning through me like hot metal. He laid me gently on the ground before taking his staff up and leaping straight at the creature. The creature blocked Thomas' blow with both its arms, then pushed up with a strength of several men. Thomas went flying through the air, landing on the ground on the opposite side of the Atrium.

"You," the creature finally spoke. Its pupil-less eyes gaze at me. "You must die."

"Not if I can help it," I said, pulling out my metal cross pendant from my neck and wrapping the chain around my fist.

"You two, the mother and father of the new human must not live to have this human. You two must not procreate, must not bring forth the new human…"

I looked over at Thomas, who looked just as confused as I was. Before I could turn my head back to look at the creature, it was no longer in front of me.

"Where did it go?" I asked Thomas.

Thomas shook his head. Then he slowly looked up.

Out several feet above us, the creature was plastered flat against the ceiling of the Atrium's dome like a spider easily hanging upside down.

"Watch out!" Thomas yelled out as the creature came flying towards us with the speed of a falcon. The creature nearly side-swiped Thomas, as I leaped out of the way.

"The mother of the future new human!" the creature hissed. "You of all must be eliminated." It rushed like lightning towards me, hitting me in the chest as I slammed into the glass wall of the Atrium, breaking chunks of it in pieces.

"Jana!" Thomas yelled out.

"Thomas!" I cried out. My body was exploding in a myriad of pain.

The creature grinned as it brought its spear-like hands close to my chest, ready to puncture me through with it straight in the heart. He had me pinned against the shattered wall of the Atrium. Not even Thomas can get through to save me. "You will be no longer," the creature hissed.

This was not how I wanted things to end. This was not my mission. To end in defeat was unacceptable.

"No!" I yelled out as strongly as I could. "I will not let you have any power over me, you Monster," I pushed back with all my force. "You will not harm me or my future child." I raised my fist wrapped with my necklace and spiked with my cross using its sharp edges like a ninja star and pushed it through the chest of the creature as hard as I could. "I command you to leave now in God, my father's name! Go back to hell!" I shouted into its ugly face.

My fist went straight through the creature like butter as if it held no resistance to the force and power in my hand. Then the creature's entire body exploded, turning into black mist.

I felt the heaviness lifted and could see straight through to Thomas who was standing in awe in front of me.

Realizing that I had held my breath the entire time after the creature vanished, I finally breathed.

Thomas seemed to catch his breath too. Then I was in his arms as he held me tight. "Jana," he said so softly like a prayer. "Jana, my girl," he leaned in to kiss my forehead. "Are you alright? Are you…" he stared into my eyes for the longest time before he groaned, "Oh screw it!"

Then his lips were on mine. And I was kissing him back.

How long were we kissing, wrapped in each other's arms, I couldn't tell. But that night, when we emerged out of the Atrium, it was way past dinnertime.