"AWESOME PAWSOME"
Part 1
The main cabin of the Star Bucket was silent except for the steady hum of quantum-wave engines running at cruising speed.
Zana leaned back in her big soft easy chair.
"This sure is the life, eh Rivvie?" she said. It wasn't really a question. More like a satisfied statement of fact.
"I mean, here we are, on the way to our next gig, trucking comfortably through space at half a million times the speed of light. I could get used to this."
"You should be used to it by now," Rivqua mumbled. "We've been out for a month." She sat dozing in the other chair, uninterested. Outside the window planets and star clusters zipped past like fireflies in a wind tunnel. "Just don't stick your head out to feel the breeze."
"I like my hair the way it is, thank you. So where are we playing tonight?"
"We're not," Rivqua said without opening her eyes. She sank deeper into her seat. "After twenty-five sold-out gigs on twenty-five nights straight on twenty-five different planets, we finally got a night off."
"Whoa, shock to the system!"
"It's a one-off. Don't get your hopes up."
"I certainly will. It's a good opportunity for the reflecting on, and the perfecting of, our art."
"You go, girl," said Rivqua with a sleepy sigh. She pulled the blanket higher and snuggled in for some proper shut-eye.
Zana looked out the window again. Hmm. How can a rock star like myself make good use of this unexpected free night, she wondered. Productive slacker time, that's how.
She was just about to order a soft drink from the ship's computer, and copies of the reviews from the previous twenty-five concerts, when a loud crackle came through over the radio. Followed by a voice.
"Mayday mayday! This is research station Moleculus! Can anyone hear us? Mayday! We have an emergency! Is anyone receiving us? Mayday! Over!"
Zana looked over at Rivqua.
"Sounds like someone wants something," she said.
"Probably just a telephone salesman."
"Think so?"
"Yup," said Rivqua, pulling the blanket up over her head.
"Man, the tricks they pull these days."
Once more the signal broke through, crackling with interference and static. "Mayday! This is research station Moleculus! Please help us! We're in mortal danger! Someone, please! Is anyone out there? Mayday! Over!"
Zana's eyebrows tightened.
"Either I'm gullible or someone's actually in trouble," she said. "Should we give them the benefit of the doubt? What do you think?"
From under the blanket came an irritated grunt.
"You're gullible."
"What if I'm not? This just might be serious. I'd say it's giving off a pretty serious-sounding vibe. If I were to measure the level of seriousness on a scale from one to ten, I think I'd put it somewhere between six and-"
Rivqua sat up with a jerk and yanked off her blanket. "Oh all right!"
She hit a button on the nearby console and shouted. "Hello! Blonde Plutoz here! We're receiving you all too loudly and clearly! What's going on? Who are you? If you're selling something we're not interested!"
"No no!" the voice replied, grateful for a response. "This is an emergency! A real emergency! We have a giant beast on the loose here! It's destroying the station! You must help us! Over!"
"A giant beast?" Zana exclaimed, looking pleasantly surprised. "Are you saying, like, some kind of a monster type thing? Over."
"Yes! A huge monster! A giant destructive beast! Please hurry! Over!"
Zana gave her sister an excited smile.
"That does sound kinda cool."
Rivqua rolled her eyes and muttered angrily for a couple of seconds.
"Okay!" she snapped. "We're locking onto your coordinates! We're on our way."
The Star Bucket banked hard and whizzed off in a new direction.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the "Awesome Pawsome" adventure...
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