Jaki's World
                                                                         Chapter Six: ZOOMing Into Space!
                                                                                                                                                                                by Naia Zifu

Jaki sat in a very "Star Trek"-like captain's chair in his rocket ship while Eri, the small, frilled blue lizard he'd only grudgingly befriended took the helm.  Maybe she should be wearing one of those little dresses the women on that show did?  Nah, that might be overdoing things a bit.

"Captain, we're ready for liftoff," she reported.

"Commence countdown," Jaki ordered.

Of course they were both able to speak; in their imaginations, Jaki and Eri could do anything they wanted!

"Five. . . four. . . three. . . two. . . one. . . blast off!" Eri called out.

They both braced themselves in their seats for the incredible G-forces of liftoff as fire poured from the boosters of the rocket, carrying it higher and higher in the air.  The blue sky faded to a black deeper than any night sky, but full of so many more stars than one could ever see living on a planet.  Jaki had waited his whole life for this sight, and now that it was right in front of him, he found he lacked the words to even describe the beauty of space.

"What planet should I set a course for first, Captain?" Eri asked.

"Well, I've always wanted to meet the fish-people," Jaki said, "so how about setting a course for Planet Mermaid?"

Eri nodded and began working the various knobs, dials, and other thingamajigs necessary to the ship's operation.  Ah, that was what he'd hired her on for-- to work all those little things his own fins couldn't!

"Course laid in, sir," she reported at last.

"On my signal, all ahead, warp factor four," he ordered.  "I want to make sure we get there in time for dinner."

He was sure the people of a mermaid planet must have some really interesting recipes for preparing worms and sea monkeys.

"Aye, sir."

"Engage!"

Jaki wasn't really sure which direction Mermaid was from where he lived, or how far.  But for an imaginary journey, that didn't matter.  He wanted to be there by dinner, so sure enough, it was early evening when the shining blue jewel of a planet loomed large in the rocket's windshield.

It was a world mostly covered in water, dotted with small, volcanic islands which were its only land masses.  Eri expertly broght the rocket in for a landing on the coast of one of those islands, one which boasted a large sandstone castle with relief carvings of fish and other sealife along its facade.  The tops of all the turrets were done in graceful spirals reminiscent of seashells.  A series of decorative columns lining the walkway were made entirely of natural coral.

"It's beautiful," Eri said breathlessly.

But Jaki had already turned his back on the sight.

"Don't you wanna go in and have a look around?" she asked, tilting her frilled head.

"No, dear Eri, this is only the tip of the iceburg," he replied.  "If the people of this world can build something this nice on the land, just imagine what they must be able to do in the water!"

And with that, Jaki dove in to find out.  His frilly black and gold fins worked frantically to propel his small body deep enough and far enough to find one of the fish-people's underwater cities.  It would be hard for a fish like him, who needed to breathe air at the surface, to spend much time down that deep.  Maybe he should imagine himself a fishie scuba tank of some sort?  Or while he was imagining stuff, he could just as well imagine he had no such problems at all!

Eri had never especially cared for the water, but she cared even less for being all alone on a strange planet.

"Jaki, wait for me!" she called as she dove into the water.

Soon the pair arrived in an underwater city made of coral and landscaped with seaweed which swayed lazily in time to the currents.  Mer-people peered curiously out the windows of their coral houses at the strangers as they swam into town.  Who were they?  Where did they come from?  What did they want?  But no-one was brave enough to step up and ask, until they were passing a schoolyard.

A large group of children were playing with bubbles outside, but they all stopped to stare as the strangers approached.  One little mer-boy with dark, wavy hair and shining blue scales on his fin broke away from the group to swim towards the strangers.  His friends tried to stop him, but he reassured them with a smile that he would be fine.

"Hi," he chirped as he swam up to the strangers, "my name is Adaro.  What's yours?"

"I'm Captain Jaki, and this is my first mate Eri," he said.  "We heard stories about how lovely your planet is, and decided to finally see for ourselves.  So we flew all the way here in my rocket ship, and now we're awfully hungry.  Do you think we could have some nice worms to eat?"

"He would like worms," Eri said.  "I'm a vegetarian, so if you've got some fruits or vegetables, that would be enough for me."

"Sure," Adaro said without hesitation.  "Come on over to my place and we'll see what my mother is making for dinner."

So they followed him through the streets, and as they did, they noticed they seemed to be picking up a crowd.  Curious mer-people trailed along behind them, hoping to find out more about these strangers who came from another planet.  By the time Adaro cheerily announced their arrival, probably half the town was gathered outside.  As the two were led in, townspeople peered in at them through the doors and windows.

"Is it all right if I have a couple of friends over for dinner?" the little mer-boy asked his mother.

"Of course," she replied, lightly poking at Jaki with a finger.  "But I think they may want to eat more than just this."

Jaki flared at the woman, both for poking him and for mistaking him for something to eat!

"They're not the meal-- they're the guests!" Adaro protested.  "They're just here visiting from another planet.  Don't worry-- they don't eat much, being as small as they are.  Jaki just wants to eat a few worms, and Eri would like something without any meat."

"Well, I'll see what I can do," his mother said.  "It's really not often we get visitors here, especially not ones that come from outer space!"

"So are all the people where you come from fish and lizards like you?" Adaro asked.

"No, we've got all kinds of animals there," Eri said.

"And the woman who takes care of everything," Jaki added.  "She's the one who told me about this planet.  She used to own it, of course."

"She what?" Adaro asked incredulously.  "No she didn't!"

But Jaki was insistent.  "She did!  She told me so herself.  She used to own just about everything up until a few years ago."

Adaro's mother stopped chopping seaweed and looked over at the visitors suspiciously.

"This woman you speak of," she began cautiously, "she wouldn't happen to wear a lot of gold, would she?"

"Sometimes," Jaki replied.  "You know her?"

With no further words, Adaro's mother lunged after him with the knife in her hand, and Jaki only narrowly avoided being sliced up.  He flared and tried to charge the much larger woman, but Eri grabbed him and held him back.

"I think we should just go," she said.

Jaki, who was almost never afraid of a fight, struggled to get free.  Finally, Eri had no other choice; she bit him.

"What'd you do that for?" Jaki demanded.

" 'Cause these mer-people will do a lot worse to both of us if we don't get going!"

Jaki looked around, and he could see that the crowds of people outside were looking every bit as upset as the mother.  He may have been a brave little fish, but there was no way even he could fight off so many!  Reluctantly, he followed Eri as she slipped out through a window that was ajar.  The pair darted and weaved through the angry mob and swam for the surface as fast as they could.  The angry mer-people were in hot pursuit, but since this was their imaginations rather than fact, of course Jaki and Eri were faster.

The pair got back into the rocket, where Eri frantically began working knobs and flipping switches to activate the launch sequence.

The mer-people were just as adept at getting around on land as in the water.  The sudden change from water to land seemed to have their legs a little wobbly, but even that didn't slow them down much.  The distance between the mob and their little space ship was quickly closing.

"Hurry up and lift off-- they're almost here!" Jaki demanded.

"I'm doing my best," Eri said, "but these things take time!  Blasting off in ten. . . nine. . . eight. . ."

"Sevensixfivefourthreetwoone, MOVE IT!"

Eri pushed the button for liftoff, and flames shot out from the rocket's boosters once again.  One of the mer-people dove for the rocket as it shot off, trying to drag it back down, but it slipped through his arms and shot off into space.

Jaki sighed with relief.  "That was close!"

"If I may suggest something, Captain, next time we're visiting an alien planet, don't tell the natives about your owner!"

"Agreed."

"So where are we headed next, Captain?"

"Well, I did hear about this one place," Jaki said.  "How does a planet full of unicorns sound to you?"



©2008 Naia Zifu ([email protected]), all rights reserved.
Galaxia is a SM character I don't own rights to.  Jaki is a black and gold halfmoon betta fish given to Galaxia by Neo Queen Serenity while she was guest-starring in a holiday special over on Court Intrigue. Eri is entirely of my own creation.  "Planet Unicorn" ref intentional but meant to be harmless.  As always, I'm not trying to make money off anyone else's ideas.
Jaki's World started out as a way to amuse myself while waiting for actual gaming to begin on This Chaotic Universe (http://chaoticuniverse.proboards105.com), and meant to take place during that version of reality.  I'll likely do some fic along a similar line, however, which these should just as easily fit into.
Yes, I know that's not how rockets really work, but a fish and lizard don't ^^ .  Besides which, it's all imaginary, so try to suspend disbelief.