Chapter IV of Lands Beyond

     Somehow, he seemed to know what I was going to do, for he was waiting for me outside the door. When I came up beside him, he held out his elbow in an unmistakable gesture. Surprised, I looped my arm through his and we walked through the ship together.

     The few people that we saw looked as surprised as I felt at the sight of us. I guessed that this was not a common sight. Just how uncommon, I did not yet know.

     Our first stop was the landing bay, again. We watched as the fighters landed and were guided to the side to allow others to come in and land. Some of them had to be brought in via remote-control. These pilots were either incapacitated, or dead. The injured ones were taken directly to the infirmary, our next destination.

     I waited near the door while the commander walked among his men, patting a shoulder here, adjusting a blanket there, and speaking a word or two to all of them. I was amazed at this difference in him. He seemed to be an entirely different person.

     Outside of the infirmary however, he reverted back to his usual self. I suspected that only the injured were allowed a peek at his other side. Why he allowed me to see it as well, I do not know. Perhaps… but I refuse to speculate. That would only lead to trouble.

     The walk back to my cabin was a quiet one. There was no one about, and the guards had been assigned elsewhere, leaving the commander and me alone together. I was surprised by this, as everything else this man did surprised me. I suppose that it proves the saying to expect the unexpected.

     At the door to the cabin, the commander turned to leave. I stopped him with a hand on his arm. If any progress was to be made, someone had to make the first move, so I tapped my chest and said, “Brunhilda Von Schonhausen.”

     He only stared, so I repeated the motion and said my name again. Slowly, he repeated the words back to me. I smiled and nodded. He grunted and frowned. What was it with him and frowning? He was especially good at glaring, as I have reason to know.

     Anyway, he did not seem to be in a hurry to tell his name, so I pointed to myself, said, “Brunhilda.” and then pointed to him with a questioning shrug and a raised eyebrow. (Those eyebrows are pretty useful, don’t you think?)

     The commander folded his arms and stared at me. It was pretty obvious that he either wouldn’t, or couldn’t, tell me his name, so I shrugged and stepped into the cabin, closing the door firmly behind myself.

     I was left alone for several days after that, my only visitors being a pair of guards who addressed me respectfully and never stayed longer than it took to execute their duties, namely that of bringing me food and fresh clothing. I had no desire to draw all of the time; so consequently, I had plenty of spare time.

     There is only so much sleeping, pacing, calisthenics, or sitting around doing nothing that you can do before you get bored out of your gourd. Even if there had been books or something in the room, I would not have been able to read them. There was not even an instrument that I could play.

     I think it was about a week that I was locked up, although it was hard to tell, so it could have been longer. And I was locked in, as there was nothing on my side of the door that would allow me to open it. So I am sure that you can imagine my state of mind by the time the commander graced my doorway with his hostile presence.

     And man, was he hostile! I thought that we had made some progress in our rocky relationship, but apparently that was not the case. He was definitely steamed about something, and I don’t think it had anything to do with my choice of hairstyle, either. He stalked over to me and planted himself right in front of me.

     “Brunhilda.” He growled angrily.

     I nodded stiffly and replied coldly, “Commander.”

     For some reason, this seemed to aggravate him just a tiny bit. He grabbed my arm and forcefully pulled me from the room. I had to trot just to keep up, which was not easy in the narrow dress that I was currently wearing.

     I was at a loss to understand why he was upset with me, until I saw what awaited us in the landing bay. I could not keep myself from gasping in shock at the sight that lay before me. My shuttle had been put back together, but it was not the same.

     It looked as if every piece had been re-manufactured to be larger, thicker, and far shinier than it had been before. In fact, the total size of the shuttle was nearly twice what it had been. I also noticed that everyone was keeping a respectful distance away from it, as if they were afraid of it somehow. I almost laughed, until I saw why.

     Part of what made the shuttle shiny seemed to be a sort of electrical force-field. Whenever anyone ventured to close, a current arced out and gave them a shock. I was afraid to get to close, but I had to see what the source was of this strange transformation. None of what I had in the shuttle could have caused this, so I knew that they had done something to it. Just what, I did not know, but I was going to find out.

     I shook off the commander’s grip and began to walk around the shuttle, giving it a visual inspection from a distance, just to be safe.

     Some of the basic design had been altered, to accommodate its larger size. It also appeared as if the engines had been redesigned. I ventured closer, fascinated by the changes. I was so intent on this, that I did not realize just how close I was getting until I heard a soft voice.

     “Welcome, Brunhilda Von Schonhausen.”

     I yelped and stumbled back, nearly falling. “Who said that?”

     The shuttle vibrated slightly. “I did, my lady. I am at your command.”

     Regaining my composure, I slowly made my way closer. In response, the boarding ramp lowered. I paused at the foot of it, afraid to go further. Something my father was fond of saying ran through my head. No pain, no gain. With that thought in my mind, I stepped onto the ramp and began to walk into the shuttle.