A Spaceman

Chapter 26--Jailbreak

"Soren, baby, be good for me today," I say, kissing his cheek before preparing to let him run in too school with the rest of the children.

He nods.

"Mommy has to go and talk to the nice police again, but I'll be back to pick you up, I promise," I say, squeezing him one last time. He smiles quickly at me and then goes.

I straighten up, rejoining the debate going on around me.

"She's not going anywhere," the overprotective highly dedicated and if I am not entirely mistaken smitten with my mother James Glenn says, as he and my mother and Alexander and Clarisse and Major Tom and that Shepherd guy my dad hated so much stand waiting for me.

"If it's going to stop him from evading the planet," I say.

"That's what I said," Clarisse says.

"It's not, he'll do what he likes anyway," Major Tom sighs, "We still need to bring you down for a briefing since clearly you may be in danger."

"Then Soren ought not have gone to school," I say.

"I don't have jurisdiction to bring the kid," Shepherd grunts.

"Yeah well then I shouldn't have to go," I say.

"Shut up, it's better than going to work," Alexander mutters.

"They only want to question you as to why Titus Card wants you so badly which they already know but this way they have record you were briefed; it's all very boring and it will go quicker if the three of you quit actually volunteering to do it," Major Tom says.

"That's what I said," Alexander says.

"You're included in that, you keep volunteering as well," Major Tom says.

"Well it's my place, I'm a Spaceman," Alexander says.

"You're a civilian now and it's nobody's place to wind up with their heads on a stake," Major Tom mutters.

"Just where did you get that analogy?" James Glenn asks.

"Yes what do you mean?" Shepherd asks.

"Am I the only one who got the official message with the official pictures? Yes, okay, forwarding to Shepherd," she says, punching at her wrist pad.

"What are you ----oh my god," Shepherd says, wincing as he stares at his wrist.

"Share," I say, trying to lean over.

"No you're not looking---oh god," Alexander says, stopping me from looking and stopping looking himself, Shepherd shoves him away.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say Titus Card impaled somebody's head on a stick?" James Glenn asks. He knew better than to try to look.

"Why would he do that?" Clarisse asks, disgusted.

"To talk to it," Major Tom and I say, in unison.

**

No heads on sticks to talk to. No Major Tom to talk to. No nobody to talk to. I want to share this moment with somebody but---well no I just want to gloat and monologue and doing this all of this in my own brain gets so depressing. But time to think. Time to focus. I bring all six usable planes into focus, the ninth plane is there today, buzzing irritatingly. But I ignore it. much more important things to think about. Like flying.

**

We creep around. Nobody notices us. We look like just everybody else with a hat pulled down almost over our eyes. Nobody reads the letters on our t-shirt. We find ourselves missing Spot and Rex. They would have fun walking around too. But they are little and squishy so they might be noticed. Nobody even saw us leave that place we were at. This will go so well for us. We tuck the bag under our arm and adjust our grip on the plastic bag of chloroform in our pocket. Almost time.

**

"Soren, don't you want to join us in the reading circle?" the excitable person who reads from books with small words in them says. I am lying under a table pretending I am flying a dirigible and I am very happy considering I'm so bored I want to cry.

I shake my head no.

"Okay, we're going to have fun, though," she says, I shrug and close my eyes, focusing really hard on flying and what flying feels like and what it feels like to fly.

**

I put on my suit, securing the helmet. I don't like the thing, but this way, I'm just another Spaceman. They won't recognize me from one of their own which is only a good thing. I may not need it. I almost went without and arrived in glory aa a conquering power. But that's ego. And contingency plan numbers eight through twelve involve being disguised as one of them so I put it on.

Curious. The ninth plane is focused on flying as well, or the adrenaline that I feel when I fly. The happiness. So two planes on flying. I close my eyes and enjoy the happiness. Finally its useful, thinking about something that makes me happy.

**

I crawl back under the table over to the wall. I want to get away from all of them and play by myself. My mommy and my grandma had a good game for us to play. I like having a mommy and a grandma, I decide right then and there. they are two people to play with. they were teaching me maths games and I like them so very much its adding the adding game they called it I count everything I see and get all the numbers then find relations between them like ten people five desks, so ten divided by five is two, and five times two is ten. And three girls and seven boys and three plus seven is ten and therefore two girls one girl one boy two boys two boys two boys, that's ten. That's how they would sit at their five desks.

I go through all this in my head and smile because it makes me smile when----

---something goes over my mouth and try to scream but I can't and I can't stay awake and I can't and I'm so scared----

**

The ninth plane vanishes. I stop what I am doing, halfway into my ship. The Isyglyn in front of me squeaks a question but I silence him with a wave. This does not happen. It fades away. I push it away. But it does not just disappear. I do not like this. Not one bit. this isn't normal. Something's gone wrong in my brain but what and why? I wish I knew why it was there in the first place.

I realize the heels of my hands are at my temples. I search every corner of my brain and it isn't there. I shake my head, moving my hands, I can't do this. It's gone now that was odd but it will not affect me. it does come and go this was more sudden, perhaps because I now must focus on the task at hand.

**

I wake up for a minute. I'm not scared anymore. Somebody is taking me someplace. If I weren't so groggy. I could figure out how to get away. I like playing games. Running away would be a game.