Deep Space Adventures - 8. DSA Chapter 8

“Serine Highness, a message from Ambassador Durham on Earth,” the co-pilot said as he approached and handed Nathalia a note, before heading back the way he came. “A message from Lucas, informing us that Isaac has been accepted into Winchester College in England, and that he and Mason will have adjoining rooms,” my mother announced to the family, as we gathered in the executive lounge of the shuttle.

Isaac was with us, and he was still a little nervous being present around royalty, but he was slowly relaxing into his new role as my protector. We were now in our second day of the journey back to Earth, with one day to go till we arrived at Bermuda, where we would land at the UN Complex, like the way we left, and the boat should be waiting for us, to take us back home.

An earlier message from the Ambassador two days earlier, just before we left Ganymede, informing us, that he had booked flights for Isaac and myself, leaving Bermuda just two days after we land, so we would have very little time to unwind from the long journey, and that he had order all the school uniforms footwear and books that Isaac needed for school.

“What is this school like, that we will be attending?” Isaac asked me, “Well it is one of the oldest schools in England, with over 600 years of operation, and it has just 700 students aged from 13 to 18 years. We have six classes each week day, with sports and other activities after that.

As boarders, living away from home, we each have our own small bedroom, with a single bed, deck, chair, and wardrobe space, and we share a bathroom,” I explained. “What is a week day?” Isaac asked, and I realised that Isaac had a terribly lot to learn and get used to.

On Earth, because of the way the Earth rotates around our sun, we have 7 days in a week, five of those are days that we study in classrooms, and the other two days are called the weekend, where we have sport and social activities, and a thing called chapel, which is like a religious gathering.

One day is when we are on Earth, there is a period of daylight and a period of darkness just like on Ganymede, but the amount of time is a bit different. There is a total of 7 days in what we call a week, and there are 4.3 weeks in a month, and 12 months in a year.

During that year, there are four seasons, Summer, when it is hot and dry, Autumn when some trees have leaves that change colour then fall off, then there is winter, which is when it rains the most and is often very cold, and spring, which is when is nice and warm, new life arrives after winter, where trees and plants grow new shoots, and animals have new offspring,” I explained.

“What are animals?” Isaac asked, “Oh, boy do you have a lot to learn, animals are…” I was stumped for words to describe them. “Isaac dear, Animals are creatures, that roam the Earth, some are free to roam wild, while others are kept as pets and others are kept for livestock, which is what we eat,” my mum explained, “You kill to eat these animals?” Isaac screeched in shock, “Yes dear we do, well not all humans eat animal flesh, which is called meat, but a large population do.

Some people like those in Sahndrol eat fruits, nuts, roots and grains, and they are known as vegetarians, as they choose not to eat meat,” Mum explained. Mother, we better check to see if Ambassador made any arrangements for our dietary needs, as I feel that Isaac may not want to eat meat,” I said, “Yes, good point son,” she replied.

When the journey was finally over, we felt the shuttle bump a little as it landed on the roof of the central UN Complex, and as we exited, Lucas was there to greet us. “Welcome back to earth, I hope you all had a pleasant journey,” Lucas said to us.

“It was long as usual,” I grumbled, and Sam gave me a dig in the ribs with his elbow, and I frowned at him, “Lucas, this is my appointed protector, Isaac Otterman. Isnyl, this is Ambassador Lucas Durham, a former crew mate of yours and my fathers on the Star Voyager and now Ambassador representing the Empire on Earth,” I said making the introductions, “Nice to meet you Ambassador,” Isaac said in much improved English.

“Welcome to Earth for the first time Protector, we hope that you enjoy your time here on Earth,” Lucas responded in Drol, and I smiled at the way Lucas addressed Isaac. “Why did he address me that way?” Isaac asked, “Because if you are in danger, and you are acting to protect me, he has to obey your commands,” I replied.

“He is telepathic too?” Lucas asked, and I just smiled and nodded my head, as we headed downstairs to the awaiting boat, and on stepping outside, Isaac stopped still as he saw plant life, saw birds, a blue sky and the ocean for the first time. “I… I cannot describe it, I… it is beautiful,” Isaac said, as tears fell down his cheeks.

“That it truly is, my friend, come along, we have a boat ride to take now,” I responded, as we walked to catchup with the rest of the family. The next two and a half days, were crammed full of activities, as I tried to get Isaac to try out as many activities as possible, as well as teaching him all about the different things that are on Earth.

In the evenings, I showed Isaac a number of nature documentaries, so he has an idea of what other creatures there are around the world, I showed him an educational globe of the world, and told him as much as I knew about most of the countries around the world.

I taught him as much as I could about some of the history on Earth, about some of the different cultures and some of the war conflicts that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.

When it was time for us to leave Bermuda and head for England, Lucas informed us, that he would be joining us, to make sure that we arrive safely at the college, and get settled in, and we caught a cab to the airport, to catch our flight to London.

“Your form of transport is very strange, do other parts of this world have this too?” Isaac asked me, as we travelled to the airport, and I chuckled at the question, and Lucas looked at me from the front seat, “I will tell you later Lucas,” I said to him, “Yes, all over the world we have, what are called cars or vehicles, but they have other names too, depending on their size and shape. That is called a bus, which transports large groups of people on a set route, we are in what is called a taxi or cab, where we pay the driver to take us to a specific place, those other cars can be called a jeep or off road vehicle,” I explained.

“This is all very confusing, so much information to digest, I think is the right word,” Isaac said quietly, “Yes that is correct, and yes, you have a lot to learn, but be patient, and it will all become natural to you, like it is at home,” I replied. “I think it will take me many rising moons to digest all of this information and all of the incredible things that I have seen so far,” Isaac whispered.

“We are going to a place called an airport, and we will be flying in an aircraft, which is like a shuttle, but it is much slower and a little noisier, than a shuttle, and it will take us from Bermuda to England, which is where the college is that we will be attending,” I explained.

“Why didn’t we just fly directly to this place where we are going, and why is so far away from your home?” Isaac asked. “Because we needed to spend a few days getting you used to your new surroundings, breathing the air, and being in open spaces where there is no need for airlocks and shuttle bays, and to teach you as much as possible about life on Earth, before we commence college,” I replied.

Lucas had arranged a Diplomatic passport for Isaac, identical to his and mine, allowing him easier processing through the airport, and when the aircraft began to take off from the Bermuda Airport, Isaac’s hand was clasped over mine, and the look on his face was of horror, he was not enjoying this at all.

When the plane began to level off, I felt his hand loosen a little, “You can let go now my friend, we are in the air now,” I said to Isaac, who let go and looked over me, towards the window beside me, “So much blue, it is hard to describe it, oh what is that white stuff,?” Isaac said as we passed through some clouds.

“They are called clouds, which consist mostly of moisture, and when they are heavy enough, the clouds release the moisture, which is called rain, and it drops to the ground, the blue that you can see is what we call an ocean, it is all water, that is salty, and the oceans can be very deep,” I explained, “Oh!” was all he said in reply.

We chatted for a lot of the flight, mostly telepathically, so no one else would hear us, and as we prepared to land, and the plane was going lower, the effect of the air pressure to the ears made Isaac look horrified, as if he was about to die, and guessing that the air pressure was the cause of his look, I smile.

“Relax, it is just the air pressure, yawn a few times and it will help to equalise the pressure in your ears,” I said to Isaac, who did as I suggested and he was soon smiling again. “What caused that, I was so afraid,” he said to me, “When the plane goes up to large heights and then back down again there is a changing of the air pressure, so that is why you have to yawn, to try and equalise the air pressure in your ears,” I explained.

“Oh!” was his only response, as he clutched onto the arm rests again as we dropped lower and lower, and I noticed that he had closed his eyes tight, so I just put my hand on top of his, to let him know that he is not alone, and I relaxed as we came into land at Heathrow.

“Am I glad that is over, I would prefer not to fly this way ever again, it is to frightening,” Isaac said to me as we walked along the gangway towards the terminal, and after we collected our bags from the baggage collection area, we headed to the 1st class passengers area of customs and quarantine.

“Anything to declare today sir?” the border control officer asked me, “No, both of us just have a large suitcase each,” I replied, “I only asked you sir, as you are first,” the officer said, as he signalled a colleague to join him, “My friend here speaks very little English, he is still learning,” I explained.