Friday Flash: The Princess' Game

We got no new flash fiction challenge from Chuck this week, so I went back to the last one and picked another title from the list. I'd already decided to write another story for Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, so I just used the title to give me an idea where to take it. Larry makes reference to a couple of Xavier's previous attempts at a little R&R, so I threw in the links to those stories.

The Princess’ Game

“Larry, I’ve signed us up for a week’s R&R on G37-X.”

“Indeed.” The AI materialized in front of Xavier Xanthum (in his standard form, a pair of glowing eyeballs). His tone sent a clear message to the human half of the partnership that ran the Wanderlust.

“Do you have some objection?”

“Not at all, Captain.”

Xavier sighed. Larry only called him “captain” when he disapproved of something Xavier was about to do. This was probably about Xavier’s choice of a rustic retreat for his holiday. Larry liked vacation in high-tech centers where he could find new toys for Xavier to install in the ship.

That was the problem, of course: Xavier was a space explorer, which meant he made money by discovering valuable new planets. He hadn’t had much luck lately. He couldn’t afford a holiday in the Silicon System, or even at Sunset Strip in the Viridian System.

“I want a quiet holiday,” was the way he phrased it to Larry.

Larry's eyes turned a funny color. "Are you sure, Captain?"

Xavier scowled. Larry only called him "captain" when he thought Xavier was making a mistake. "Of course I'm sure. A nice vacation on a quiet planet is just what the banker ordered."

Larry sighed. For a moment Xavier was distracted. How could an AI sigh?

"What?" The double problem of Larry’s disapproval and his human reaction made Xavier’s tone sharp.

"There have been problems with some of the vacation rentals, Captain."

"Like what?"

"Well, there was that time on SLVD 3246," Larry began.

"That was a perfectly lovely island, and everything worked out fine," Xavier said. "I fixed your retro-thrusters!"

"And there was the planet that appeared to be a singlemountaintop." 

"Just a minor annoyance."

"And the planet claimed by the Krrg."

Xavier sighed. "I still regret that one. It was so lovely."

They were silent a few minutes.

"Still," Xavier said, "I need some time dirtside, and I've no credits for a resort planet. It's a rustic retreat or nothing."

Larry gave up, but he expressed his feelings by maintaining a chilly silence for hours.

##

DVST 5489 looked perfect. Best of all, the beach villa came practically free with a tank of fuel. Essential ship’s maintenance done, Xavier settled into the villa, the Wanderlust parked beside it. Some spacers left their ships in the spaceport, but Xavier liked to keep his close. 

It didn't look like he'd need to make a fast exit this time, though. The only other sentients around were a bunch of children, females of the local species. They spoke just enough Universal to tell Xavier they were sisters, daughters of the local ruler. Princesses. Xavier watched them play from his beachside lounge, an indulgent smile on his face.

When he woke up he was securely bound on his chaise longue. The princesses surrounded him, dancing in a wild sort of way. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Not worry!" Shouted the lead princess when she saw he was awake. "Is game!"

Xavier relaxed some, but he would have preferred it if their game didn't involve tying him up. The only being who knew where he was and might come to his rescue was Larry—but a ship's AI had no body, Larry's eyeballs notwithstanding. Larry had no hands to cut him loose from his bonds.

Xavier squirmed some as the princesses danced around him, and liked what he saw even less. Beyond the rather cylindrical creatures in pink lace--that seemed to be a universal requirement for very young females of almost any species--he saw a larger and older local kindling a fire on the beach. That wouldn't have been so distressing, but the large—really large—pot next to it made him wonder.

"Hey," he called, hoping Larry would hear, too, even if he couldn't do anything.
He could call for help. "This isn't funny any more. Can you let me go now?"

The head princess danced up to him again. "Oh, no. Must finish game. You good game." This time when she smiled, he saw that she had very sharp-looking teeth.

That was when he remembered that "game" had more than one meaning.

"LARRY!" Xavier would be embarrassed later by his plaintive wail, but right now, he just wanted someone to rescue him. "Get me out of here!

When the princess went back to the dance—which now looked distinctly sinister—Xavier set to work at the cords on his ankles. He could just reach them with the hands tied behind his back, thanks to the yoga exercises Larry had insisted he learn when he'd complained of being stiff after their last planetary adventure. It had been something to do in space, and he'd gotten pretty good at it. Now it allowed him to bend his heels up to meet his hands, and he picked at the knots. 

He was so absorbed in that task that he failed to notice that the fire was now blazing, and the circle of princesses starting to close in. All of them bared their teeth, and he saw no trace of the cute youngsters he'd watched with such pleasure before his nap. "Larry!" he wailed one last time as the creatures closed in.

A great shadow covered them all, and Wanderlust descended. The princesses scattered with shrieks and tears. Xavier kicked off the last of the ropes around his ankles and dove for the ramp that Larry had let down. Larry raised the ramp before the princesses could recover and come after them, tumbling Xavier the last few feet into the ship. 

Xavier lay panting as the ship lifted into near-planet orbit. 

"Do you wish to return to the rental office?" Larry asked as Xavier stretched and bent and squirmed to get his hands around front, where he could attack the knots with his teeth.

“No.” They could keep the rent.

"Where would you wish to go?"

Xavier gave a deep sigh. He knew what Larry wanted, and he owed it to him. "To Paradise. We'll get you those new sensors." Xavier didn't really even mind. They clearly needed better sensors, or better sense, and he didn't seem to be providing it.

###

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2018
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!

L is for Lars...and Larry #AtoZChallenge

Two-for One: L is for Lars and Larry

Today it's one from my stories, one from Jemima Pett. 

Lars Nilsson

In a nutshell: Asteroid miner with a murky past and uncertain temper, trying to get through life with as much leisure to enjoy women as possible

Biggest secret: His motto may be 'if you can't beat them, join them'

Lars is one of the central characters in the Viridian System books by Jemima Pett.

The second character is mine: Larry the disembodied eyeballs.

In a nutshell: Larry is the manifestation of the AI/onboard computer of the good ship Wanderlust, home of Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer. Being an AI, he thinks fast and knows everything, but has a little trouble with things that require hands.

Biggest Secret: Larry is trying hard to develop a sense of humor and other human attributes.

Xavier, Larry, and the Wanderlust (and the ship's cat, Kitty Comet), feature in a series of flash fiction on this blog. Stories about the intrepid space explorers appear at random intervals when I'm inspired. Xavier had his inception when I needed a flash fiction for "X" during the 2013 A to Z Challenge. Check out the first story here. And because this is Friday, which is my customary Flash Fiction day, the crew gets another outing, a bit shorter than my usual flash fiction, at just under 600 words.

With the End in Sight

Larry was bored. Maybe a computer can’t get bored, but the AI system of Wanderlust had plenty of cause, and maybe more motivation than most. There wasn’t much to keep even a mid-quality AI busy in a one-man ship on a long journey across mostly empty space. Larry had to find his own entertainment.

Creating his physical manifestation had been fun for a while. Certainly the shock those glowing eyeballs gave Xavier Xanthum had been fun, and Xavier’s reaction gave Larry the incentive to go on with the impossible project he had in mind. But that had been ages ago. Xavier had long since ceased to think of Larry as anything odd, taking both his conversation and his eyeballs for granted. Maybe that proved he was succeeding.

Did Xavier, in fact, think Larry was human?

“Xavier, what am I?”

Xavier Xanthum, space explorer and at the moment, napper extraordinaire, jolted awake. He’d been dozing in the nav chair with Kitty Comet. They were nearing the end of the current crossing, and Xavier liked to be on hand in case Larry needed him for any tricky bits, though the computer hadn’t needed him so far.

Larry’s question had nothing to do with navigation, and Xavier was grumpy at being wakened.

“What are you talking about?”

“What am I?” Larry repeated. He had, quite literally, infinite patience.

“You’re Larry.”

The AI dared to hope. His eyeballs glowed.

“You’re the Wanderlust’s AI,” Xavier finished, dashing Larry’s hopes. Still…

“Can an AI hope?” Larry asked the question aloud as it occurred to him.

“Say, what’s this all about, anyway?” Xavier was more awake now. “Is there something wrong with your processor?”

“No, Xavier,” Larry replied with dignity. “I was merely…wondering.”

“Wondering what? Are you looking for some systems upgrades?” Now Xavier sounded worried. Changes to the ship’s computer were expensive. “We didn’t do all that well this trip, you know. But if there’s anything left after fuel and resupply, I’ll see what I can do for you.”

“I don’t believe I require any upgrades,” Larry said. “I merely wondered…”

“What? Come on, spit it out, Larry. What’s eating you?”

The eyes floating near Xavier’s left hand blinked. “Eating? I don’t—oh!” He had scanned his data banks and come up with the relevant references for the expression. “You are asking what I am worried about.”

“Yeah, that. What’s eating you?” Xavier drummed his fingers on his armrest and waited for the bad news.

“I just wondered,” Larry began for the third time. The sentence seemed to be giving him a lot of trouble, which was odd for something that could think as fast as the computer did. Comet looked up from her perch on Xavier’s lap, spotted Larry’s eyeballs, and reached out a paw to bat at them. “Hey, watch it, Kitty!” Larry actually sounded a little panicked.

Xavier laughed. “Relax, Larry! She can’t hurt you. Geez, you sound like you think you’re alive or something. Like those eyeballs have substance.” He laughed, then checked the nav screens, dismissing Larry’s odd behavior. “Well, trip’s nearly over. Looks like time to get to work.” He pulled the keyboard toward his lap, displacing the cat.

The eyeballs blinked and vanished.

The trip might be over, but it looked to Larry like he had farther to go. Xavier might treat him like a partner, but it seemed he still considered Larry a machine. As he retreated into his computations, Larry took comfort in that moment when he’d flinched. It was such a human reaction.

###

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2017
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!