The Hero of the Infinite

By Julia Skinner

Purple rings lined Human’s eyes, darker than usual. Yyinx clicked his tongue as the boy walked into the main deck. “New look?” he asked.

Human stared at him, then slowly twisted his face into something he called a smile. “Yeah, man. Doesn’t it do great for my lovely complexion?”

Yyinx studied him. It looked terrible for his complexion. But Yyinx didn’t say that. He tried to raise his scaled face in a smile. “Of course.”

Before Human could see Yyinx’s eyes changing to violet, indicating this lie, Yyinx turned toward the Infinite’s consoles. It was a good name for a ship that had never been defeated. Well… hadn’t been defeated since they’d acquired their hero. Yyinx glanced back at Human.

Though almost as tall as a Xaon—Yyinx’s people—Human was rather puny, with his skeletal thinness and only half as many arms as normal. He wasn’t sure exactly how old Human was, but he had a new feel about him. Yyinx estimated he was about seven star-turns. Whenever he asked, though, Human always laughed and said something about being “ancient.”

But that is impossible, Yyinx thought, idly scanning the Infinite’s path through space. From what little he knew, Human’s kind didn’t have ancient life spans, unlike the High Xaon or Pllearin.

Human tapped a reddened area of the Infinite’s display screen. “Hey, Yyinx? Is that—”

The Infinite’s alarm erupted into a scream.

Yyinx scrambled over, clicking his tongue to the roof of his mouth. The flashing part of the screen highlighted the anti-grav engine. Yyinx sucked in a breath. “No, not…” He gripped the sides of the monitor. It showed radiation pulsing from the engine’s star stone. When cold, star stones were as safe as a sleeping Quaran kit. But the Infinite’s stone was currently burning three times hotter than usual—likely a malfunctioning regulator—leading to the engine room’s imminent incineration.

“Captain!” the panicked voice of Kari, Yyinx’s second-in-command, crackled over the ship’s comms. “We’ve got a problem!”

“I see it,” Yyinx said. “That stone is going to destroy the whole engine room if it isn’t disconnected soon.”

“I can extinguish it,” Human popped his knuckles. “Just tell me how.”

“It won’t hurt you?”

“Course not!” Human smiled, purple ringing his eyes. “We’ve already discussed this. Plus, a little vortex radiation will probably help me sleep better.”

Yyinx shifted his feet. Was this… humor? Joke? “This is worse than the poisonous gas incident.”

“Yyinx,” Human patted his shoulder. “I took care of that, just like the explosion in the left wing. And the mutiny incident, and remember when that meteor tore off our fuel line?” He tapped the monitor and smiled. “Tell the crew to stay away from that engine.”

“Very well,” Yyinx said, trying once again to get his stiff face to smile back.

James ran through the corridor of the Infinite, bones aching with each jolting movement. Get to the engine room, he thought. Grab the star stone, deadly vortex shuts down. The crew can repair whatever went wrong. Easy peasy.

What was one more death sentence?

He skidded around a corner, fighting back a cough. The crew—Yyinx’s occasional hesitance aside—thought he was immortal, a hero, someone who could take hit after hit with no problem. Humans were rare this far from Earth. And when you did find one? They were a slave for some rich spacelord. The day he ran away from his master and stumbled into Yyinx’s ship, he thought his life was over.

But it turned out that was when it really began.

Within a year of living on the Infinite, he’d finally found a family.

James grinned as he dashed through the door of the engine room.

Yyinx startled as Kari came bursting into the command deck. “Captain!” She clicked her tongue urgently.

“Is the star stone safe?” he asked.

“Y—yes,” she said, “but Captain, there is something wrong with Human.”

He froze. Something wrong… with Human? Impossible.

“I think the radiation—”

“No. This is deceit.” Yyinx waved her away. Maybe a joke. Human had been trying to teach the crew about those things. After all, radiation didn’t hurt Human’s kind as it did other species.

“There is something wrong with Human,” Kari repeated, glaring at him. Her eyes did not turn violet, as they did whenever a Xaon lied.

But… Human? Something twisted in the pit of Yyinx’s stomach. He started toward the hall. Human had saved them many times, and not once had he been broken. Yyinx nodded to himself. If Kari wasn’t playing a joke, then Human was. Like when he threw up the other day on the deck and made Txxine clean it.

That’s it. This must be a joke.

But as he rounded the corner to the corridor leading to the engine room, raspy breathing trickled into his ears—breathing filled with holes. Breathing that sounded like… like…

“Human?” Yyinx hurried toward the boy. He was slumped against the wall, right outside the dark engine room.

Yyinx knelt beside him. “Human?” he repeated. Human’s eyes barely flicked open.

“Hey… hey, I’m just…” He sucked in a ragged breath. “Just resting.”  Yyinx nodded. Of course he is all right—then Yyinx paused, squinting at the dark rings around Human’s eyes.

Purple.

Lies.

He let out a slow hiss. “This is deceit.”

Human coughed, his entire body shuddering. “I love how brilliant yet clueless you Xaon are.”

“You… the radiation…” Yyinx felt pressure building in his chest. “You said it wouldn’t hurt you!”

Human grabbed one of Yyinx’s hands. “Not… as much as losing any of you would.”

“No.” Yyinx shook his head. “No, you are…” Immortal, the word surfaced in his mind, bright, fierce. “You can’t...” He trailed off as Human squeezed his hand.

“I always dreamed… of being a hero when I grew up,” Human whispered, voice barely audible. “Thank you.”

And the hero of the Infinite gave a small, lopsided smile as he drew his last breath.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Julia Skinner is a eighteen year old writer, blogger, and ice cream enthusiast. When she’s not working on one of her (many) Fantasy novels or flash fictions, she can be found playing video games, happy-ranting about one of Brandon Sanderson’s books, or wondering just how many germs are on the door handle (probably A LOT). Julia strives to bring glory to her Savior, Jesus Christ, and if any good comes from her journey, it’s because of Him.

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