Diversion To Urasha

James could see absolutely nothing, yet he could feel the dull ache in his head. He could feel the sharp pain in his chest. Undetectable voices clouded his thoughts. What were the voices saying? James tried to decipher them. They were telling him to…they were telling him to “WAKE UP!”

James’ eyes flickered open. Blurry figures surrounded him.

As the voices grew clearer, so did the figures. Lottie and Phil were both sat over him, their faces etched with fear and concern.

“James, you’re awake!” Phil choked. “Thank god you’re okay!”

James groaned in pain, using his arms to sit himself upright. “What’s going on?” he said, rubbing his wounded head. “Where are we?”

Phil leaned in close. “We’re on planet Urasha, James.”

James’ mouth dropped open, the full scale of today’s events finally dawning on him. “Urasha?” he whispered.

“Yeah,” Lottie responded. “We were attacked by an unknown enemy. The Earthship took too many hits, and we thought we were all dead. Then they stepped in.” She pointed to two darkly clothed males. “The Urashan people saved us, helping us to land here on their planet.”

“Saved us?” James repeated, again as a whisper. He looked across the sodden deck to find two male Urashans stood with Lisa, Karl and Zach. “Wow,” he muttered. “They really do look exactly like us.”

The Urashan people fascinated James. He had heard about them. He had been told about the way that the Urashans looked and sounded almost exactly like humans. Their accents were even similar James’ own Berkshire accent. Okay, so their fashion sense was a little sci-fi, but the Urashans looked literally no different to humans. James had heard that the only physical difference between the Urashans and the humans lay within the eyes. Most Urashans had silver irises. Though, the Royal Urashan family had golden irises, apparently.

James watched as relief spread out across Zach’s face. He watched as his comrades led the Urashans straight to him. Wow, their eyes, they were very silver and beautiful!

The slightly taller of the two Urashans was the first to speak. “We have examined your ship, Captain Harper. It is in no condition to fly. We must take you straight to the palace. It is there that our king will discuss your options with you.”

Phil nodded at the pale man stood before him. He agreed that speaking to the king was his only option right now.

“Can the boy walk?”

Boy? James thought. That Urashan man looked the same age as him! Nevertheless, James felt grateful towards these men. They had rescued him, saved his and his friend’s lives. Not wanting to be a hinderance to his team, James stood himself up. He wobbled a little, and Lottie and Zach rushed to his sides, each of them taking an arm to support.

“I can now,” James answered, looking into the silver eyes of the taller Urashan.

The Urashan nodded and began to lead everyone outside of the water ridden deck. As James limped his way towards the ship’s exit, he began to mentally prepare himself for his very first step out there into this alien world. Although he had heard a lot about the Urashan people, James knew very little about the actual planet. He had no idea what the general population was like. What was the population made up of? Just the Urashan people? Or were there other dominant lifeforms? Furthermore, what did the planet actually look like? He had heard that Urasha was a purple planet, so James could only assume that the sky might look a little purple, and that the planet would have other purple features. As humans had set foot on Urasha before, and as Phil seemed only too happy to be leaving the safe, oxygen filled Earthship, James could only assume that Urasha was like Earth, with its atmosphere containing plenty of oxygen. Like a lot of life sustaining planets, Urasha was in that all important ‘Goldilocks Zone.’ The purple planet was orbiting around its sun at a similar distance to what Earth was. This would mean that the planet would be of a safe temperature, at least.

At last, James and his comrades reached the Earthship’s exit. With the help of Lottie and Zach, James staggered out into the Urashan sunlight. The silver sun felt warm, comforting, as it beamed through the purple sky. As James continued to scan the daytime sky, his awestruck eyes noticed something red. James focused on the red object, realising that this ringed object must either be a planet or a moon, appearing at least twice as large as Earth’s very own silver sphere. “What’s that up there?” James asked.

Lottie stared up at the red version of Saturn herself. “Oh, that, that would be the planet Anscus. Urasha doesn’t actually have a moon, but this planet is kinda like their equivalent really.”

James must have only walked several more steps when he noticed the thick black wall stood a hundred or so metres in front of him. “Is that a wall?” he asked.

“Yes,” Lottie answered, this time, in a rather hushed voice. “That’s the wall to the Urashan City. It is said to have been built to protect the Urashan people from the other animals living on this planet.”

“So, there are other creatures on Urasha, less human?”

“Yes.”

“Are they dangerous?”

This time, it was Zach who chose to answer James’ question. “Put it this way, bro, I wouldn’t like to encounter any of them. I’ve never been to Urasha myself, but Phil, he has. I know alotta other people who have, and well, let’s just say that Urasha’s animals aren’t quite as friendly as ours. The Universe isn’t a safe place, my friend. You don’t wanna know what I’ve seen. Urasha ain’t no better.”

James tilted his head back, expecting to see the wilderness behind him. He was shocked to see only the Earthship, and another tall black wall behind it. “The city has two walls?”

Lottie tilted her head back, seemingly none the wiser than James. “Oh yeah, go figure. I guess they must need extra security.”

At last, James could rest his tired legs for just a moment as he waited for the two Urashans to haul the wall’s entrance open. Once open, James entered the city, with the aid of his two friends.

As he walked on the hard, purple ground, James could already feel the nausea hitting him. It was as if a snake were squeezing his stomach, constricting it, trying to empty its contents. James had to think about something else other than his aching stomach. He could not afford to be sick right now. It would look disrespectful. These people had rescued him. They deserved his utmost respect. Although his entire body ached, James had to ensure that he remained focused on his new surroundings. This might distract him from his ailment.

The first, and perhaps the most obvious element of the Urashan City to stand out to James was the buildings. The buildings were not like buildings of Earth, with each of the buildings standing slightly taller than the average house back home. The structures were black in colour, built from a shiny marble material. The Urashan houses were thinner than houses were on Earth, with small round windows, and a less obvious roof which appeared to simply join onto the top of the tall structure, curving to create a pointy peak. There appeared to be no variations between the buildings. They all looked the same, and so did the people. Technically, the faces of the Urashan people were all different, as unique as human faces. But their clothes all looked the same. Even the older looking Urashans wore what appeared to be either black or brown, tight fitting, one-piece suits. Everyone on Urasha looked like they were walking around on the set of a sci-fi movie, not even noticing, or perhaps, not even caring that a bunch of humans were walking through their city.

Asides from the people, and the buildings, Urasha didn’t look very futuristic at all. There was no sign of advanced technology. The Urashan equivalent of a car appeared to look like a roofed carriage, traveling at a bike’s pace through the crowds. There were less vehicles, probably because there were no roads. There was no evidence of anything computerised on this planet, yet the Urashans had managed to master space travel. Funny that.

After ten more minutes of stumbling through the city, relying on the support of Lottie and Zach to keep him on his feet, James could begin to hope for rest, as he was led down a new quieter path between two buildings. The two Urashans had promised that the palace’s entrance was at the end of this alleyway.

As he walked free from the two black buildings, James immediately spotted the huge palace several hundred metres in front of him. The place looked massive! Like a castle. It shared that same black material as the rest of the buildings on Urasha, yet the royal structure was far huger than any of the other buildings James had seen today. This building looked intimidating. Yet at the very same time, it was too beautiful to look scary. The Urashans sure knew how to build an impressive looking palace.

As the palace got closer, James could feel that the ground beneath his feet had changed as well. It was no longer hard, creating loud sounding footsteps as he and his friends walked across it. Now, the ground was soft, made up of purple grass, only creating a soft sweeping sound as he limped over the top of it.

At last, James’ feet could rest again as he stood outside the large entrance door. The handle was gold, adding a royal beauty to the dark building. The taller Urashan twisted the handle, and James braced himself to take his very first step into this regal building.

The first thing to really hit James was the contrast. The palace’s exterior was dark, the darkest colour possible, whilst its interior was strikingly white. The only hint of black in this large circular room was the black squares on the marble floor, checkered in evenly with the contrasting small white squares. As he staggered his way to the other end of the room, James could feel his feet walking on the soft, red circular rug which took central position on the floor. The white walls were decorated with golden frames, and a mixture of silky red and golden furnishings.

James noticed another door immediately to his front. He’d reached the other end of the room, at last, stopping next to some comfy looking seat sized stumps.

Unusually, it was the shorter Urashan who spoke. “We will inform our king of your arrival here. Each of you, please sit on the seating provided whilst you wait.”

As the two Urashans left through the double doors in front of them, James plonked himself down onto the chunky seating. He sighed a pleasurable sigh as his aching legs sank right into the soft warm material of the seat. At last, he could get a proper moment’s rest.

It must have taken around fifteen minutes for the Urashans to have completed their discussion with the king. In that short waiting time, the group of humans had used this time to discuss their situation. James had filled everyone in on what went down in the lower deck. He had retrieved the faulty screw from his pocket, and he had shown it to an aghast Phil. Once James was done complaining about the fault, the discussion had turned towards the present situation. Phil had made it clear that he would do allthe talking once in the throne room. The captain had admitted that the king wasn’t the easiest of people to talk to, so it was best that the communications were left to someone who knew how to talk to the Urashan leader.

Ending the conversation between the humans, the two Urashans emerged from the door. “Come, into the throne room. Our king is waiting for you.”

Once again, Lottie and Zach each took an arm of James’, helping him through the open door. This time, the room was slightly less contrasting than the exterior, with its grey walls a shade darker than the white walls of the reception room. Once again, the room had a red rug, only this time, it was square, matching the shape of the room. James’ eyes immediately darted to the velvety red throne which was sat on top of an area of square flooring raised two steps up from the rest of the floor. James could see three people. He could only assume that the king was the one who was sat down on the throne. He had two people stood on either side of him. The first to catch James’ attention was the woman stood to the king’s left. Why had she been the first to catch James’ attention? Well, to put it as simply as possible, the woman was stunning! The tight black costume paying the most perfect compliment to her healthy curvaceous figure. The woman’s skin was white, pale, and her hair was long, dark, reaching just below her shoulders. Then there was her face, James had never seen a face quite like it. Normally a face had a fault of some kind. But this young woman’s, her face was literally perfect. Her nose: the perfect size. Her lips: tastily rouge. Her eyes, those irises, they were golden, and easily the most beautiful eyes James had ever seen. This woman had a familiarity about her that James couldn’t quite pinpoint. Perhaps it was because she looked like his ‘dream woman?’ Or maybe it was the way that her subtle golden collar and golden jewels appeared to embellish her dark costume. James shook his head, it was wrong to compare this stunning woman to the palace door and its golden knob.

James prised his eyes away from the woman, moving onto the man stood to the king’s right. Like the woman, this man was kinda flawless in appearance. He was tall, with his muscles ripping through his tight black costume. Naturally, the young man’s costume didn’t reveal as much flesh as the woman’s, for he had no bust to pull such a look off. Nonetheless, and although perfectly straight, James could tell that the young man was very attractive. His short dark hair was combed right back, shining beautifully with his golden irises. The man had a somewhat moody expression. Unlike the king. The king was sat on his throne with a very conceited look about him. Compared to the other two, the king was rather frail looking. As opposed to having a healthy complexion, the man seemed thin, bony, and perhaps even a little unhealthily pale. In all fairness, maybe he looked a little ill because he was sandwiched between two younger adults who appeared to ooze heath and fitness. Unlike the younger male, the king’s hair was longer, chin length, and combed back to make a longer version of the young man’s hair. His golden collar was far more pronounced than the two’s stood next to him, and at last, the king raised from his throne, standing on his feet.

“Humans!” he began in that same English accent. “Welcome to planet Urasha! I am King Cryston. And these two fine young specimens here are my son and my daughter.” He pointed first to the young man. “This young man here is my son, Crystos.” The king pointed next to his daughter, grinning proudly. “And this gorgeous woman is my beautiful daughter, Crystaline.”

Once again, James found his eyes wondering over to Crystaline. To his surprise, her eyes immediately met with his, twinkling with what James could only describe as a mischievous little sparkle. The moment of eye contact didn’t last very long, with James’ eyes too shy to keep hold of the gaze, and Crystaline’s, her eyes lost interest, returning to the empty air in front of her as she continued to listen to her father’s words.

“So, now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s get down to business, shall we?” The king held his hands together, as if excited by the very prospect of discussing the human’s misfortunes. “It appears that you have gotten yourselves into a little spot of bother?” The king looked to the captain, expecting a response from the man.

“Yes, King Cryston. We were attacked, though we don’t know who by.”

“Ah, a sneaky assault then. Vile isn’t it? It really gets to me how some creatures in our Universe can be so...so cowardly and sneaky like that. I mean really, it’s such a disgrace.” The king paused, again waiting for a response from the captain. He looked a little disappointed when Phil remained silent. “So,” the king went on. “If I may ask, Captain...how did you end up here? What were you doing so far away from home? Planet Earth I believe?”

“We were on a rescue mission, and we found ourselves passing your planet. I’m sure you know the rest.”

“Well, I know you were assaulted, and that my men had you land here. May I ask, which species you were rescuing? Your own? Have you humans gotten yourselves into little a spot of bother?”

Phil sighed, “no, not our own. Have you heard about the problems over in Nebowska, King Cryston?”

“Ah! Now that you come to mention it, yes, I may have heard a little something about that, yes. How very noble of you to travel all that way to help them.”

“They’re one of our greatest allies. Why wouldn’t we?”

“No reason,” was all the king responded with. “It does however seem, that in embarking on a rescue mission, you have endangered yourselves, and well, perhaps for nothing if you have no ship to fly with.”

Phil could only respond with a grim nod. He knew that the situation was looking hopeless.

Appearing a little boosted by the captain’s feelings of defeat, the king continued, “dear oh dear! I must admit, it is quite the predicament you humans have gotten yourselves into, isn’t it? If you have no operational ship, then how will you return home, to your precious loved ones?”

Phil shrugged, “I don’t know. Perhaps we’ll be stranded here.”

The king shook his head, “no, no, no! Nonsense! We couldn’t really have that happening, could we? You know as well as I do, that if worst came to absolute worst, we would lend you our ships so that you could all get back to your precious planet.” The king paused for a bit, rubbing his hands together as he continued with his words. “We both know, however, that us flying out all that way would be less than ideal, wouldn’t it? I hate to admit it, but our ships aren’t quite up to your space traveling standards just yet, are they?”

Phil, swallowed nervously. “No, your honour, but they’ll do. If we could just get back home, we would be forever grateful to you and your people.”

The king clapped his hands together excitedly. “Oh, Captain, I’m very sorry, but your lack of hope does bring a little smile to my face. Why settle for the second-best solution to a problem when you can have the best? I think we could work out some sort of arrangement, don’t you think?”

Phil’s face lit up with hope. “Oh yeah? What sort of arrangement?”

“Oh, let’s not be so impatient, Captain. What’s the rush? We can discuss this little arrangement of ours later, over dinner perhaps?” The king paused and looked towards James for the very first time. “And besides, I think we have far more urgent matters to be dealing with right now, don’t you think, Captain? The boy is injured, is he not?”

James felt a strong sense of uneasiness as the king brought him into the conversation. Phil reluctantly confirmed the injury, and the king continued with his articulately spoken words.

“Well luckily, we have just the right method to heal the boy. My beautiful daughter, Crystaline, can work wonders, just you wait and see. Crystaline, my dear, you will take the injured boy into the medical room and see to it that his injuries are healed.”

Phil took a protective step in front of James. “I think it would be best if I went with him.”

The Urashan king looked smug. “Why the need? Crystaline is more than capable of looking after the boy? Don’t you think? And besides, we have that all-important arrangement of ours to discuss, don’t we?”

Phil looked right into James’ tired blue eyes. “James, are you gonna be alright? Because I can come with you if you want me to?”

“I’ll be fine,” James promised, feeling Lottie’s anxious grip tightening around his arms. “Really, I’ll be fine,” he added, promising his best friend, this time.

Phil reluctantly agreed to the king’s offer, thanking him and Crystaline at the same time. Phil’s response seemed to please the king.

“That’s better. We’re a bit less hesitant now, aren’t we? A little appreciation goes a long way, Captain. We are only too pleased to help. Crystaline, my dear, when you’re done with the boy, meet us in the palace restaurant, that’s where we all will be.” Cryston looked towards the captain, “discussing our little agreement of course. And not to mention the very fact that I’m looking forward to becoming acquainted with the rest of your human team.”

James looked up to Crystaline, feeling intimidated at the very thought of being alone with this woman. After gaining some rest on the seats earlier, James felt a little stronger, strong enough to walk without the aid of his two friends. As he freed himself from Lottie’s grasp, he promised her once again that everything would be fine, that he would see her soon. Then he turned to look at the beautiful princess. Her face was somewhat smug, as she watched him. Then at last, Crystaline spoke her first word: “Come,” was all she said, turning her back on everyone to enter through the door behind the king’s throne, clearly expecting James to just follow her. James did follow her. Before he closed the door behind him, he took one last glance at Lottie and the rest of his team, as they all watched him with concerned expressions on each of their faces.