Maurice was not dead nor was he truly alive. Wherever he was, he could hear the beeping and buzzing of machines, but nothing else. I had to be somewhere, he thought.
His mind traveled back to earth about almost five years ago.
* * *
He was out with his sister Sabrina. She was his mentor, and she made it a point to take him to the far end of town. He had just learned how to ride a skateboard. He was a natural. In less than three weeks, he could outskate everybody on his street, which was good because he’d brought the whole street with him just about. This was his other sister’s idea, Regina—the one he didn’t like. Sabrina’s twin.
He had to take some of the blame, he and his big mouth.
There was this odd place on the far end of town in El Segundo, where in the last streets by the beach and lots of abandoned streets were there. In fact, the houses were torn down because the government had made it a rare habitat for a rare bird that was on the verge of extinction. Fifteen blocks were abandoned because these birds only ate a certain flower, and this was the only place on the planet where it grew.
Anyway, Speed Street was the point of interest. Why? Because kid bikers, go-karters, and skaters alike had all tried and failed to walk away from suicide dip without any broken bones. So far, this street had a perfect record. Why? Well, at the bottom of the hill was an abandoned 1977 station wagon that made any turn at the bottom of the hill impossible. Maurice let the neighborhood kids talk him into challenging it.
“It was nice knowing you,” said his best friend, Daniel Black.
“Let’s get the show on the road!” said Regina.
Maurice dazzled the crowd, then he was ready.
“If you make it, I’ll get you a waffle cone ice cream,” said Sabrina.
Maurice was ready. He stared down at the hill and he was excited. Racing on his skateboard, he was picking up speed. Midway, he was going too fast. Gravity was kicking in. There was no way to stop. He was flying. Then he hit the bottom hard. He did a cartwheel over the station wagon and hit a tree.
For one minute, he was out like a light. All he could hear were the wheels of the skateboard spinning as he regained consciousness. He could hear the crowd of all those kids coming down the hill. He focused on Sabrina, who came down the hill with his waffle cone ice cream.
“Nothing to be alarmed about folks. I’m as hard as a diamond.” Not really. It hurt for weeks, but he didn’t have any broken bones, and he survived the hill. For one week, he was the hero.
* * *
This sharp memory brought Maurice back. Linda kissed him and Natalie was so overjoyed that her patient survived.
Within an hour, Maurice was back in uniform. He walked down the halls. He wanted to confront Tony. He even picked up a metal pipe along the way. Tony was going to get it, he thought, then he threw the pipe down. What did he need it for? He could kick Tony’s butt with his bare hands. He had before.
Maurice rounded the corner where he could hear Tony’s voice.
To his surprise, he was talking with Brian. They were studying Merek, one of the magic carpets. Maurice had to know how far they had come trying to understand anything about this mysterious artifact.
Steve was also present.
“Sorry about what happened,” said Tony.
Maurice forgot his anger. “What have you found out about the carpet? I really don’t like it being away from the bridge. It’s the ship’s main source of power, you know.”
“Sorry about that too, but Maurice, this carpet, it’s amazing. It’s like a map, a computer, a translator, everything. There are messages written into its tapestry, all about the human race. Like, for instance, there are six other human races besides us. No wonder we’re heading to Topaz, that’s our brothers and sisters. Also, this carpet has communicated something about funison energy. Basically, it works much like the ship, that is through magic. One type of energy can be turned into another or fused together to do what you want it to do. In essence, a source of perpetual energy. All you have to do is believe in it,” Tony said.
“Funison energy . . . I’ll bet we’re the first humans to discover this new type of energy,” said Maurice.
“Well, Maurice, I want you to touch the carpet. It wants to put the equation in your head. It won’t do it for anyone else,” Brian said, and Maurice did.
For a second he was about to black out again. Then he felt a weird understanding, like for a split second, he was the smartest man who ever lived.
Brian continued, “The secret is safe with you. Nobody can bargain, buy, or torture it from you. The only way to give it up is voluntarily. Keep that in mind.”
“I will,” said the captain.