Chapter 39: Sick To My Stomach
"But seriously, we have some meds in sickbay for you if you need them," said Jun Li pushing himself off the wall and crouching down beside me. "And you did better than some of the officers that have been on my bridge during a hyperjump. Some of them passed out and banged their heads against a console."
I rested my cheek on my forearm which was around the basin of the alien toilet and looked up at him. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I asked with a smirk. I was already feeling better and I knew that I would eventually get used to it.
"Did it work?" he asked as he cocked his head and looked at me.
"Not really," I replied deadpanned.
"Then no, I wasn’t trying to make you feel better. When I do, it will be in a way that works," he replied in the same tone as me causing me to chuckle.
"Thanks," I said studying his very human face.
"No worries," he replied, picking up some very human phrases.
"You’ve been studying the internet," I laughed as I stood up and swayed a bit. He gently caught me under my arm and held me steady.
Now that I was no longer within the vicinity, the toilet disappeared back into the wall, leaving a clinically white bathroom. I would have to do something about that.
"Fo shizzle," he said. "Smoke weed every day."
I looked at the robot in front of me and blinked a few times. "Please, just don’t," I said with a shake of my head.
"Did I say it wrong?" asked Jun Li looking at me like I kicked his puppy... or more like I spilled coffee on his computer.
"No," I admitted. "But Snoop Dogg you are not," I chuckled with a shake of my head. And now I had a very particular song in my head thanks to an AI learning what it meant to be human.
"Understood," he said with a grin. "Sorry."
"All good," I replied with a wave of my hand. I wanted to laugh so hard right now, but at the same time, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He was trying.
Taking a deep breath, I walked back towards the bridge. It was amazing what a good song stuck in your head would do for your mood. "Alright, Jun Li. Let’s go again," I said as I slipped back into my captain’s chair and wrapped the blanket around me.
"Are you sure about this? We can always do another hyperjump later, you know that right?" asked Jun Li as he took his seat at the same console that he was in before.
"We have a saying where I am from when you fail at something. It is that you need to ’get back on the horse’. Essentially it means that you need to confront any failures, pick yourself back up and keep trying until you get it right. I failed the first time, but I won’t the second. And I won’t let a setback like being sick to my stomach stop me from jumping in the future."
"That is smart," admitted Jun Li. "Alright then, let’s ’get back on the horse’. Engaging hyperdrive. Countdown... 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1.... engage!"
I clenched my teeth together, forcing my stomach to say down this time. Besides, there was nothing left in it to throw up anyways. I closed my eyes, no longer able to take the lights from the stars in front of us shooting by, leaving nothing but white, blue, and silver streaks in their wake. I cracked my neck back and forth, trying to release some of the kinks.
It honestly wasn’t that bad as long as your eyes were closed. In fact, it reminded me a lot of a rollercoaster ride. The force pushing you back into your seat as the wind whipped by, causing your cheeks to ripple, the feeling of going up, down, and forwards, knowing that if you opened your eyes the world would just fly by.
It was the reason why I hated rollercoasters, that and the fact that my stomach couldn’t handle it. Hell, my stomach barely handled turbulence in an airplane, let alone a hyperjump.
"Done," said Jun Li as I felt my body start to relax on its own. I opened my eyes and looked at the man strapped to the seat in front of me. "You did a lot better than time," he continued with a smile. "And see, it’s not that bad."
I don’t think that I will ever be willing to do that again, no matter how many more times I do it. But he was right. At least this time, I didn’t puke my guts out. I guess that was an improvement. "Thanks," I said when my jaw was able to work again. Yawning, I tried to restore the pressure in my ears, kind of what I did when the airplane I was in experienced turbulence. "How many are left?"
"We are a matter of Earth weeks away from the sector, and then I will have to contact the Helur to arrange a meeting," replied Jun Li with a shrug.
I thought about it for a moment. There were still a number of things that I wanted to be able to get done before that meeting, such as putting together an outfit, figuring out what weapons I actually want to sell, and getting to know how my armor works better, just in case of emergencies. "Let’s slow down then," I said as I realized that it might take me a couple of weeks to be able to get everything sorted the way I wanted it to be.
"Understood," said Jun Li with a shrug. Turning back to the console, he leaned over his chair and typed a few things into the system. "It should take us about 19 Earth days before we reach the Sector. Maybe even longer to figure out which planet the Helur is on before making the exchange. Was there something that you wanted me to be doing in the meantime?"
"Can you look at our weapons and see which ones you want to sell off?" I asked as I cocked my head. I didn’t know if it was a residual effect of the hyperjump or what, but the idea of selling off supplies made me a bit sick to my stomach.
