“—She’s grown, Wool,” Haloo smiled sweetly and held out her hand, threatening to press the panel on the wall. “She’s growing.”
“Growing?” Wool collected Jelly in her arms and inspected her suit.
The underside, covering the belly, had torn at the seams. Her two hind legs bulged through the legs of the suit. Even the stitched named tag – J. Anderson – hung from the material.
“She’s gotten heavier.”
“What’s going on, Haloo?” Tripp was ready to take out his gun. He saw that Jaycee was already a few steps ahead of him in that respect.
“Oh,” Haloo giggled palmed the panel, “It’s okay, don’t be nervous. Something fantastic is coming.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that,” Jaycee squeezed the handle on his K-SPARK, “It’s not helping.”
“Good people of Opera Beta. I have something fantastic to show you.”
The door to Botanix slid open.
A thunderous draught flew along the walkway and shot through the door, carrying whatever remained of the pink mist with it.
In the distance a chorus of classical music wailed around. Quite unusual for Botanix. Haloo usually liked it quiet and peaceful in there, being the crew’s botanist.
Haloo’s hair lifted and rippled across her shoulders as she embraced the opened door, “Come, see…” she said as she drifted into the brilliant white light.
Tor took a deep breath and tilted his head. He was greeted by the metal disc housed around his neck. “You’re not seriously going to follow her, are you?”
“She seems to know what’s going on,” Tripp said. “It’s a room full of plants and fresh water—”
“—Correction, Tripp,” Jaycee interrupted, taking a step back, defying all reason to enter the chamber. “It was a room full of water and plants until that bomb went off. How do we know it’s not contaminated?”
Tripp considered the facts and pulled out his Rez-9. “Good point. You stay here with Tor. Make sure he doesn’t run off. Wool?”
“Yes, Tripp?”
“We’ll go in and see what Haloo’s got to say. We’ll take Jelly with us.”
“Okay,” Wool double-checked the proposal with Jelly. She did this by smiling at her face, waiting for as positive a reaction as a human could expect from a cat. Jelly licked Wool’s glove, excitedly.
“Okay,” Tripp thumped Jaycee on the back, forgetting that his exo-suit was made of much stronger stuff than his flesh and bone. “Ah, damn.”
“What did you do that for?” Jaycee asked, failing to get the joke.
“Just trying to be friendly.”
“Well don’t,” Jaycee snapped. “Just get in and get out.”
“We’ll be right back, as they say.”
“No, don’t say that,” Jaycee huffed. “Don’t say anything. Just go in there and get the hell out.”
“Yes, good idea.”
Jaycee yanked Tor’s Decapidisc around, ensuring it caused the man a healthy amount of discomfort, “If you’re not back in three minutes, I’m coming in there all guns blazing, leaving this headless piece of crap to paint the floor red. Is that acceptable, Captain?”
Tripp stared at the opened door, thinking over his response. “Yes, very good. Wool, let’s go.”
He waved Wool – and Jelly – along with him. Seconds later, they disappeared into the haze of white light...
They expected to see a ruined Botanix. Initially, that’s precisely what they saw.
Rows of plants stood before them in various states of charcoaled destruction.
Wool looked to the left. Jelly’s sectioned-off area in the corner sat relatively unscathed from bomb’s blast.
“Some damage done. Seems we can salvage a lot of it,” Wool turned to Tripp and gasped. “Tripp?”
He stared dead-ahead, eyes bulging, unable to speak. She turned her head forward and saw what he was marveling at.
“Oh… my… God,” she exclaimed. “It’s… beautiful.”
Jelly turned her head. A puzzled expression on her face formed, along with her two humans.
“Good people,” Haloo’s voice chimed around them, “Welcome to life.”
The immediate vicinity of Botanix was as it always was. The walls, however, broke apart like a shattered toy fifty feet ahead of them.
The rows of plants subsided, adjacent to the walls.
The second half – the farthest from Tripp, Wool and Jelly – transformed into a magnificent utopia.
A blue sky with white clouds and flying birds. Where the ground sunk, a glorious beach front, complete with crystal white sand ran all the way up to the horizon.
Looking down, they saw the water filtration system pumping its wares into a beautiful lake of sparkling blue water.
Even the air was a pleasure to breathe.
Tripp closed his eyes and took in a lungful. “It’s heaven.” He exhaled slowly and rubbed his face, ensuring he wasn’t stuck in the middle of a particularly comforting dream.
Wool walked forward with Jelly in her hands, wanting to involve herself further. “Did we die? Is this heaven?”
“No, this isn’t heaven,” Tripp whispered in quiet ecstasy. He walked alongside Wool, steadily approaching the end of the burnt plants. The glistening white sand crunched below their boots with every step, “Where are we?”
Haloo moved in front of them with a glorious grin on her face. She held her hand out, introducing the pair to the perfect rendition of life awaiting them.
“Where are we, Haloo?”
“Welcome… to Pink Symphony,” Haloo moved her hand to the sprawling ocean to their left, “Where everything began. And where everything will end.”
Tripp fell to his knees in utter awe. He cupped the lukewarm sand in his hands and let it waterfall through his fingers.
All the blemishes and varicose veins that had formed through years of service in the American Star Fleet fell with it. A thorough and vital rejuvenation.
Jelly was less impressed. Her whiskers buzzed to life, as did her infinity claws. She dug them into the fabric of Wool’s inner-suit, “Meow.”
“Whoa, Jelly.”
The cat landed on the sand, finding it a little too hot for comfort. She bolted toward Haloo in a haze of fury.
“Hey, girl,” Haloo kept smiling and opened her arms. “Come to me. I have a gift for you. You like gifts, don’t you?”
“Hissss...”
Jelly kicked a bunch of sand into the air as she skidded on her claws. She had no intention of going anywhere near the woman.
“Oh,” Haloo pulled a dramatic and sad face. “Don’t you love me, anymore?”
“Hisss…”
Jelly bushed her tail and flapped it around in circles, certain that danger was close by.
Haloo fell to her knees and wept. Quite the theatrical performance, she began muttering to herself as if she was speaking to someone else, “But I tried. Really, I did.”
“Maaah,” Jelly knuckled down and sat on her hind legs ten feet away from Haloo. She took no pity on the poor woman.
“What’s she doing?” Wool turned her attention to a giant tree shooting up a hundred feet or so from the center of the ocean. “And what’s that?”
Streaks of pink lightning streaked across the sky as Haloo continued muttering to herself through her sobs. “She’s here, now. She’s here.”
The light breeze turned into a gale. The clouds bleached across the perfect sky like spilled paint hitting a canvas.
“Aww, no,” Haloo fell sideways to the sand and lifted her hands to her face. “Please, leave me to die in peace. Haven’t I done enough?”
“Haloo?” Tripp stepped forward in an attempt to help her. Jelly scowled at him and forced him to stop. “Jelly?”