Intergalactic Express : A Hitchhiker's Journey

The taste of iron was not mixing well with the overwhelming taste of bourbon. A fog sat heavy in Quinten's head. The previous night was a complete blur. The vague memory of drinking with a woman in red cascaded across the surface of his thoughts. She was quite the beauty.

Smiling to himself, Quinten struggled to find a comfortable position where he lay. Rolling over expecting to find his pillows he was met with a brief trip to the floor. Rolling over he opened his eyes to find a long and narrow room with a wall mounted couch on both walls. Strange. His room didn’t have so many windows, or a bar. In front and behind him lay two doors, no doubt exits. This was definitely not his room. And, based on his luck, this was most likely not the room of that woman from the night before.

Turning to lay on his back he could feel a small rumbling from the floor. Strange. His room definitely did not rattle like this. It felt as if his room was in motion, giving the odd shake every now and then. Had he ended up on some ship? He had wanted to try that new luxury cruiser heading for the Helios system. Any excuse to leave Earth, and his family.

Sitting up he became aware of how sore his body was. Quinten gently massaged his stiff jaw, his teeth clenched as the pain radiated from the right side of his face. The fog began to lift, he had been in a fight. Judging by the pain in his body he had not done so well.

Grabbing the bench Quinten lifted himself onto the cushion and turned to the window. Pulling back the red curtain Quinten was met with the black canvas of space with trillions of stars staring back at him. Definitely not on Earth. Taking in the fact that he was somewhere in space, from the corner of his eye a startling realization caught his attention. He was not on a cruiser. No cruiser he knew of had what looked like….a rail-car? Scanning to the left and the right he could see rail-cars stretching on for miles with no end in sight. Rubbing his eyes, Quinten took a step back. This was impossible. Was he on a train in space? Going back to the window Quinten peered below only to find what looked like tracks made of light. They shimmered as the train sped through the void of space. By the looks of it, the train showed no signs of slowing. How did he end up here, and where was he?

Searching his pockets for some clue he came up empty. No ticket or receipt to fill in the gaps of memory. Sighing, Quinten got up and strolled toward the door by the bar. There had to be someone who could explain what was going on. Surely he was not the only passenger. Passing the bar, Quinten hesitated. A drink would calm his nerves. His eyes narrowed on the bottle of Macallan 54, a vintage from the 22nd century. Edging toward the bottle his right arm tightened. The bruises that covered his body reminded what got him into this predicament. The taste of scotch was still rich on his tongue. Sighing to himself he decided that a drink was probably not the best idea. Taking one last look at all of the bottles Quinten shook his head and moved toward the exit.

Grabbing the cool steel handle, Quinten could feel the heft of the door. Pulling proved to be a challenge as the door did not want to budge. Straining, Quinten continued to pull when he heard the sound of a door closing. Turning to see who his guest is, Quinten was taken aback. Orange eyes stared back at him, studying him. Just his luck, a Faelarian woman. Her blue skin highlighted those orange tattoos that graced her face by both her eyes leading down her cheeks and her neck. The pattern, almost floral in appearance, was mesmerizing and only helped to highlight her flowing purple hair. Her frame highlighted by…a red dress. It was her. The woman from the night before.

Her eyes narrowed as she took him in. Crossing her arms and swaying her hips, her displeasure radiating out of her. “And what do we have here? A human man.” Her velvety voice nestled into his ears. “How did you get here, human?”

Quinten’s voice caught in his chest. He was about to answer the Faelarian when another Faelarian woman walked into the room. Her green skin was covered in the same tattoos, only hers were brown. Her flowing hair, a beautiful deep red, framed her soft face. Her red eyes stared into his hazel eyes. She very much looked like the first Faelarian woman, only her face was softer and eyes warmer. Sisters perhaps?

She turned her attention to the other Faelarian woman, “NOLA! This isn’t the exit either!” Where the first woman’s voice was velvety and sultry, this woman’s was high and vibrant. Energy radiated out of her. “We’ve been looking for hours and we still don’t know where the conductor is.”

“Lina, you were supposed to wait for me to give you the all clear. You remember what happened in the last room.” Nola’s arms gripped her hips in frustration. The two women were definitely familiar with each other. But why had Nola not recognized Quinten? Granted, his memories were still in a haze, but he definitely remembered speaking with her.

“And where exactly are we?” The two women looked at Quinten, as if remembering he was also in the room.

Lina cocked her head to the left and pointed at Quinten “Who is the human?”

“That’s what I was trying to figure out before you came in and interrupted me.” A vein began to throb in Nola’s forehead as two fingers massaged her forehead. Twirling her hair with her finger Nola turned her attention back to Quinten. “We are still sorting out the where. All we know is that we woke up here with no memory of how we got here.”

“Same as me I see.” Of course they were clueless. Just his luck. Still there had to be someone who knew what was going on. “Well, I should be going then. No use standing around.” Waving the two off, Quinten grabbed the handle once more trying to open the door.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Lina poked out from behind Nola shaking her head.

Tilting his head back he looked at the two from the corner of his eyes. It was a shame he couldn’t remember Nola, maybe he met this Lina as well the night before. At least they did not remember him either.

Quinten struggled with the door, pushing all his weight to budge the stubborn piece of metal. “Yeah…” He was beginning to get winded, this door was far too heavy, “why is that?”

“We don’t know what lies on the other side of that door. What we do know is that it won’t be the same as this room.” Nola was definitely the more direct of the two. No nonsense. Nothing like Quinten’s taste. But she was gorgeous, and that blue skin. He always had a weak spot for Faelarian women.

Looking to apply some leverage Quinten placed his left foot on the frame and pushed with all of his might. The door began to moan as he began to move it inch by inch.

“Men, they never listen, especially human men. I don’t know why we even bothered.”

“Don’t be that way Nola. He doesn’t know what’s going on, and he wouldn’t believe you if you told him. I know I would have thought you were crazy if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”

Ignoring the two, Quinten continued in his struggle. There was no way he was going to be bested by a door. If he could survive his family for twenty-six years he could manage this.

The door began to give way and rumbled as he finally got some traction. A bright light peered from behind the door, getting brighter with every step. As the door opened he could what hear was sounded like....moving water? It was strange, even the air began to change in smell. He could swear he smelled…fresh air? It was nothing like the recycled air on ships. No this was undeniably the fresh crisp air you could only encounter out on a planet.

The door flung open with one last effort, and with it came Quinten falling through the threshold. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Air rushed through his hair as he fell through clouds. Plummeting through the air he could see water closing in fast. But how? Was he was no longer on the train? Turning his body he could still see the door with Nola and Lina looking down at him. He could see Nola's judging eyes and Lina's confused looks taking in this new room.

Still on the train then. But how? He couldn’t afford to think too much as the body of water was approaching fast. Bracing himself, Quinten came crashing in with a giant splash. This was definitely water.

Laying on his back in the water Quinten gazed at the sky, or was it the ceiling of the train? It was hard to tell as it looked like any planets sky filled with drifting clouds. He could even see what looked like two suns soaring in midday.

Wherever he was, he certainly was not on an ordinary train. How could a rail-car hold this much water? Examining his surroundings he could make out a mass of land a 100 meters to his right. This place was enormous. But it was still a rail-car, at least he thought it was. There had to be another door somewhere. Or, at least some people around. Quinten began to swim toward the land. Moving proved....difficult. The pain from his body was not pairing well with what he was sure was one hell of a hangover. Pausing every few minutes to stop from throwing up, Quinten looked at the approaching land mass. The closer he came, it became clear that it was a small island.

Well this mystery just keeps on getting bigger. At least now I know I am not alone, I wonder who else I’ll meet on this train. Judging by the speed we are nowhere near our destination, or maybe we don’t have one? I’ve never been on a train, let alone a runaway train. Coupled that with the weird rooms in the rail-cars, who knows. This could be fun.