The Astral Empress

“Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.”

Dawson fidgeted as he looked at the other passengers. Other than a few weak laughs, everyone else either looked uncomfortable or disturbed. Dawson even spotted one or two that looked ready to run for the exit.

At least he wasn’t the only one who thought the Captain’s opening statement was strange.

“Oops, that joke fell flat, huh?” said the Captain nervously chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. This caused some of Dawson’s fellow passengers to laugh a bit more naturally while Dawson felt pity for the Captain. Then the Captain continued.

“Anyway, I, Captain Yates, welcome you all aboard the Astral Empress, the first cruise ship that ever sailed the cosmos!”

As soon as he said that, the window blinds opened, revealing the millions of stars surrounding them, as well as a purple nebula. Even though they had been able to see space when they had taken off, Dawson heard many passengers gasp in wonder and delight. Not that he blamed them, Dawson had once thought he would never be able to go to space but now, here he was.

And the sight was still breathtaking.

“Now while there are now other cruise ships that travel into space, the Astral Empress is still reliable when it comes to your safety, comfort, and fun. There are several amenities and activities at your disposal, but first, I’m afraid that we must listen to the mandatory emergency evacuation drill. We don’t want a repeat of the Titanic, now do we? Heh?”

When the audience didn’t erupt in laughter, the Captain sighed and mumbled something about quitting the dark jokes into the microphone. Then he shook his head and motioned to one of the blue-uniformed officers behind him.

“Please listen to Vice-Captain Turner give her presentation,” Captain Yates introduced as he stepped aside while a tall lady wearing a tight brown bun walked up to the microphone.

“Hello everyone, I guess it’s my job to make this as clear, memorable, and painless as possible,” Vice-Captain Turner said as she clicked a remote, making the projector behind her light up with a slide titled ‘Evacuation drill.' She clicked it again, causing a diagram of the cruise ship to replace the last slide. “Now, as you can see there are eight different sections of escape pods, four on each floor. If the alarm does go off, please go to the closest section to you. Do not treat the alarm as an inconvenience and ignore it, please go to the nearest escape pods in order not to be accidentally left behind. Only a few people such as the Captain and I have access to the alarm, and rest assured that we will only push the button if there is something truly wrong.”

Vice-Captain Turner then continued on with the procedure of entering the pods and so on and try as he might, Dawson’s mind did wander a bit. He just couldn’t help but gaze out into the stars and just gawk at their beauty. Luckily, the presentation was mostly self-explanatory and Dawson had read through the safety pamphlet in his room beforehand so he didn’t feel that guilty.

“Well, that’s it,” Vice-Captain Turner finished as she clicked the remote one more time, revealing a slide with Captain Yates giving them a thumbs up. “Thank you for bearing with me and remember that we will be coming up to our first stop, Planet Primis, in two days. You are free to roam about the ship and make full use of our amenities.”

The conference hall was instantly filled with chatter as people began to leave. Dawson just stood there because he didn’t know what he wanted to do. Unlike everyone else, this trip had been a last-minute decision.

It was his boss, the owner of a botanical garden called Wilham Gardens near Washington D.C., that was supposed to be here. Dawson didn’t know how, but Mr. Wilham had gotten permission to get certain flower seeds from each planet the cruise was going to stop at. However, about a week before take-off, Mr. Wilham tore his left ACL while playing soccer at a work party. Not wanting this chance to go to waste, Mr. Wilham asked the manager to take his place.

Which just happened to be Dawson. The next thing he knew he was busy getting everything situated for his six-week trip out in space. He did not really have time to look at the itinerary.

Though, he did bring the schedule with him when Captain Yates called them for orientation. And Dawson did remember an observation deck on the diagram in Vice-Captain Turner’s presentation. Perhaps he should look through the schedule there?

Now with a destination in mind, Dawson left the room and headed to the observation deck. He did have to stop a few times to look at the map that he also brought with him, but he got there fairly easily. When Dawson opened the door and entered the room, he gasped.

The floor was made out of glass. Or, whatever the windows on the ship were made out of but the point was that he could see the stars through the floor. The entire room was see-through, and while there were benches and chairs, it didn’t take away the illusion that Dawson was walking through space.

Oh yes, he was very glad that he choose this room to visit first.

Dawson walked further into the room and couldn’t help but do a 360-degree turn. Forgetting about his schedule, Dawson just gazed at the cosmos surrounding him.

This was so much better than the planetarium. And Dawson loved that place.

“Hey, watch it!” Suddenly, he was stumbling after someone bumped his shoulder harshly. Thankfully, he was able to regain his balance and when he turned his head, he saw a middle-aged lady with heavy lavender eyeliner and blonde bob glaring at him.

“What do you think you were doing, huh?” she asked through gritted teeth as she gripped her giant canvas bag hung over her shoulder tightly. “Spinning all around like that, what are you, brainless? Do you think you’re entitled to do whatever you want?”

Dawson knew he should should apologize even though he was pretty sure she bumped him, not the other way around. But as usual, the words stayed in his throat.

Ever since he was a teen, if there was a situation where he didn’t have to talk, he wouldn’t. It wasn’t that he was afraid of people, or he didn’t know how to communicate. He didn’t get the manager position just by avoiding people after all. Dawson knew that he needed to overcome his dislike and while he has gotten better through the years, he still had a long way to go. But...

But it was a very strong dislike. He would rather just stay quiet, especially when it came to confrontations like this.

Because even if he did apologize, was she really going to listen?

“Yeah right, I can tell by the way you’re looking at me that you’re not sorry,” the lady continued crossly after Dawson shook his head. “Who are you?”

Without a sound, Dawson took out the lanyard that was under his shirt and held it out towards the lady. He had expected some people to ask him questions so Dawson attached a copy of his ID and the signed permission slip that allowed him to collect the flower seeds to said lanyard. However, to his surprise, the lady didn’t even glance at the laminated documents. Instead, she grabbed the midnight-blue strings right near his neck and pulled him close to her wrinkled face.

“No, you're a full-grown adult, use your words. Or do you think you're somehow better than me?” The lady accused as she clutched his lanyard so tightly that Dawson felt some of his air get cut off. Dawson tried to pry her hands off only for her to slap his hands away. “No, don’t manhandle me you shameless-”

“What is going on here?” Dawson turned his head and saw Vice-Captain Turner standing in front of them, her arms folded and with two officers behind her.

“Ah perfect!” The lady cried. “Arrest him! He assaulted me and is-”

“Are you Ms. Paige Johnson?” Vice-Captain Turner interrupted her.

“Why yes, how do you know my name?” the lady asked, her tone now apprehensive.

“Well, because the employee watching over the security camera in our gift store saw a woman fitting your exact description slipping a few novelty pens, t-shirts, and other products into your bag,” Vice-Captain Turner explained before she took a step forward, her cold eyes fixated on Ms. Johnson. Now, will you please stop choking that passenger and let us see your bag?”

Ms. Johnson’s face paled before she took off, finally letting go of Dawson’s lanyard as she did so.

“We’ve got a runner!” cried one of the officers into his walkie-talkie as he and the other officer raced after the lady. Meanwhile, Dawson suck in a deep breath and rubbed his neck, quickly finding the imprints the lanyard had given him.

“Are you alright?” Dawson turned his attention back to the Vice-Captain and saw that her eyes were now concerned. He nodded out of instinct, though he wasn’t lying. Dawson could breathe, and the slight pain the lanyard had given him was already easing away.

“Good,” Vice-Captain Turner said with a nod. “Don’t worry, she will be taken to one of our small cells immediately and will stay there until we arrive back on Earth. Will you like to file a claim?”

Dawson thought Vice-Captain Turner was getting a bit ahead of herself since they hadn’t even caught Paige Johnson yet but right then, Dawson heard a loud smack. He turned around just in time to see the lady fall over backwards from running straight into the window.

He sighed. Truth be told, he would rather go back to enjoying the observation deck without having to go through all the trouble of filing a claim. Who knew how long that would take? What if Ms. Johnson even had a trial when they get back to Earth and they wanted him to be a witness?

But as Dawson watched the officers handcuff the lady with his hands still on the imprints on his neck, he knew what he had to do.

He didn’t want Ms. Johnson to think she could get away with almost choking anyone else, including those not from his species.

“Alright,” Vice-Captain Turner said with a smile after Dawson nodded. “Would you please come with me then? I promise to make this as short and painless as possible Mr…”

Dawson showed her his lanyard and thankfully, she just leaned forward instead of grabbing it to pull it closer to her.

“Dawson Ford, ah yes, I remember now,” Vice-Captain Turner said as she straightened back up after a few seconds. “You’re the one who was allowed to gather and bring home flower specimens in place of Mr. Wilham. That’s smart to bring your documentation with you. I wouldn’t want to explain several times to nosy passengers that I had authorized permission to gather seeds either.”

There was no lie in her eyes, which were a beautiful dark brown now that he thought about it. They reminded him of the fresh soil Wilham’s Garden used to cultivate their new seeds.

“Well, shall we go, Mr. Ford?” Vice-Captain Turner asked right as the officers passed them with Ms. Johnson in tow. Dawson paid no mind to Ms. Johnson’s hateful gaze on him as he nodded with a smile before following the Vice-Captain out of the observation deck. When he got to the door though, Dawson couldn’t help but look back at the cosmos one more time.

Space really was as breath-taking as he thought it would be. And Dawson had many more opportunities to gaze at its endless wonders in the upcoming weeks.

With this thought in mind, Dawson smiled and closed the door behind him.