The False Star

Captain Finnian, the famous intergalactic photographer, looked at the screen on the back of his camera and frowned. “That’s weird.” He muttered to himself.

He held his camera up to the front window of his spaceship and snapped a few more pictures of the countless stars in front of him. Each time he took a picture he adjusted the camera settings before taking the next one. After several pictures he looked at the screen again, this time a look of confusion coming over his face.

“Hey Quixly!” He called to his loyal co-captain, who also happened to be his best friend. “Come take a look at these pictures. I can’t figure out what’s going on.”

Quixly, who had been studying star charts while eating some Chulaplugg stew, got up from his desk and hurried over to Captain Finnian. “What is it, Captain?”

Captain Finnian handed the camera over to Quixly. “I got a new camera setting that can change the color and brightness of the stars without changing anything else in the picture. It measures the specific star wavelengths to know which part of the picture to change. It’s not a setting I’d use much anyway, but it’s not working on one of the stars in the picture. What do you think is going on?”

Quixly clicked through the pictures on the camera, and he saw what Captain Finnian was talking about. In each picture the stars were different colors, but one star near the middle stayed white every time. Captain Finnian had adjusted the stars’ brightness in some of the pictures too, with that same star not changing. In the final picture he had dimmed the stars completely, making it a completely black photo other than that one, unchanging star.

“I see what you’re saying Captain, that’s hard to explain” Quixly said, deep in thought as he looked at the pictures. All the sudden his eyes got wide, and he ran over to his star charts and started sorting through them frantically.

“What is it, Quixly?” Captain Finnian asked as he watched his friend make a mess by throwing charts all over the place. Quixly was a species with four arms and three eyes though, which enabled him to search through his star charts with comical speed, and he soon found the one he was looking for.

Once he found it, he compared the star chart to the picture, then ran back to the front of the ship and compared the chart to the stars in front of them. “Gee wizzy dizzy!” He finally said. “Captain, I know why that star isn’t changing in your photos! Because it isn’t a star! It isn’t on my chart! Wowza, how strange. I wonder what it is?”

Captain Finnian grabbed the star chart and held it up to his view out the front window. He saw hundreds of thousands of stars on both, he had no idea how Quixly could spot a discrepancy like that. But Quixly was the brightest navigator he’d ever met, albeit a bit quirky, and he completely trusted his judgment. 

“That is weird.” Captain Finnian said thoughtfully. “What on plant ZX-30 would look like a star if it wasn’t a star?” He pondered about that for a moment and then smiled. “Well, there’s one way to find out! Quixly, set our course for the false star, we’re gonna go check it out!”

“Yes sir!” Quixly replied, and quickly punched in some navigation directions on his control pad. “Hi-dee ho let’s go!” he said with excitement as he pushed the final button, sending them off towards the strange “star” at hyper speed.

After a few hours of flying their spaceship came to a stop, the strange star-like object glowing brightly in front of them. Even from up close it looked just like a star, and they needed to use their protective sunglasses to see it. “This is as close we can safely get to it without burning up.” Quixly said.

Captain Finnian looked down at his control panel for a minute, and then pushed forward on the acceleration to get closer.

“What are ya doing!?” Quixly yelped frantically. “If we get any closer, we could burn up! Our ship isn’t designed to get this close to stars!”

“I know that, Quixly.” Captain Finnian replied with a chuckle. “But you’re forgetting something, this isn’t a star. It’s as big and as bright as one, but it’s putting off almost no heat. Our ship will be fine, I want to get a closer look.”

Quixly gulped audibly, obviously still scared of the idea of getting closer. “Are ya sure that’s a good idea, Captain? What if it’s a giant spacecraft made by evil people who want to kill us? What if they pull us in with a tractor beam and lock us away forever? What if I never get to see Xankandria again, or worse, what if I never get to eat Chulaplugg stew again!?”

Captain Finnian looked at Quixly and raised an eyebrow. Xankandria was Quixly’s new girlfriend. They only met a few weeks ago, but they hit it off great and seemed like the perfect match. “Did you just say you like Chulaplugg stew more than you like Xankandria?” 

Quixly’s eyes got wide when he realized what he had said. “Oh no! Did I say that!? I’m new to this whole dating thing, I didn’t mean to say that! Don’t tell Xankandria! …. Besides, I do really like Chulaplugg stew…”

Captain Finnian laughed. “Don’t worry, my lips are sealed. None of that matters anyway though, we’re not gonna get sucked into a tractor beam by some crazy evil organization who wants to kill us, that’s ridiculous.” 

Right at that moment all the lights flickered on and off several times, and the ship started to pick up speed towards the giant false star. Captain Finnian tried pulling the ship away, but his efforts were futile, the ship was completely out of his control.

“Hmm, maybe it isn’t so ridiculous.” Captain Finnian said. “But hey, I’m sure they aren’t evil.”

The speaker system came on and a mean, robotic voice came through. “You have two minutes to explain who you are and why you’re here, or we’ll blow your puny little spaceship into a billion pieces.”

Captain Finnian gave Quixly a sheepish smile and a shrug, as if to say, “whoops, you were right!” Quixly would have glared at him if he wasn’t so busy shaking uncontrollably with fear.

Luckily Captain Finnian didn’t get scared as easily as Quixly, so he responded to the voice with confidence. “My name is Captain Finnian, I’m an intergalactic photographer. We came here when we saw that your “star” wasn’t showing up in our photographs like real stars. We wanted to see what was going on.”

There was a pause, and then the voice said, “What do you mean it wasn’t showing up like other stars?”

“Well, to the naked eye it looks the same, but I have a camera app that measures the specific wavelengths of stars, so it knows what to edit in the photo. Your star has a different wavelength of light than natural stars. So, it must be fake. Did you build it yourself? I’m very curious.”

There was silence for a full minute after Captain Finnian spoke. It seemed that the evil person who had been talking with him was just as surprised at Captain Finnian’s calm demeanor as Quixly was scared of the situation. Finally, the voice came back through the speakers. “We’re going to pull you into our space station to talk to you further. Prepare your ship to be boarded.”

“Sounds good. Thank you!” Captain Finnian replied. 

Quixly added, “Thank you sir! Thank you, kind sir! Thank you very much for not blowing us into a billion pieces!” He then looked at Captain Finnian and whispered, “what do you think is going to happen to us?”

“I’m not sure,” Captain Finnian replied. “But just follow my lead. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

A few minutes later their spaceship reached the false sun and was pulled in through a small opening. Once inside the spaceship landed, the opening behind them closed, and the voice came through the speakers once again. “Open the door, we’re coming in!”

Captain Finnian quickly opened the door, and in walked three people. The first was a very large man who seemed to be half robot, half person. Behind him were two more people, a man and a woman, who were regular sized and not robotic, although they were both strong and tough looking. None of them looked like they would hesitate to kill Captain Finnian or Quixly if needed.

“Welcome to our humble spaceship.” Captain Finnian said to them as they walked in. “What can we do for you?”

The big robotic man spoke with authority. “Bring me your camera. Let me see how our star wasn’t showing up like others.”

While Captain Finnian didn’t frighten easily, he also wasn’t stupid. “Yes sir.” He said politely, and he quickly grabbed his camera to show the large man. He explained how it worked and showed him the different pictures, just as he had shown Quixly earlier. Once he was done, the big man grabbed the camera and angrily crushed it in his robotic hand.

“Phroqit!” He cursed. “I was led to believe our space station was indistinguishable from natural stars, and yet an amateur photographer finds us with a simple camera app!?”

“I don’t know if I’d use the word amateur…” Captain Finnian started to say.

“SILENCE!” The large man roared at him. He then looked at the two people who followed him on board. “Bronxin, you stay here and keep these two idiots out of trouble. Atheepla, you come with me. There are some engineers who need to learn a lesson.” With that he walked out, followed by the woman. The man, presumably Bronxin, stayed on board, holding a laser gun to Captain Finnian and Quixly. 

After the other two were well out of earshot, Bronxin whispered “are you really the Captain Finnian? The famous intergalactic photographer?”

Captain Finnian smiled in surprise. “Yes, I am! And this is my co-captain Quixly.” He gestured to his quivering green friend, who gave a small wave, his eyes glued to the laser gun still pointed at them.

Bronxin saw what Quixly was looking at and put the gun away. “Sorry about that, don’t want to frighten you. Just under the boss’s orders, you know! Anyway, I can’t believe it’s really you guys! I’m such a huge fan of your photography! I have the picture you took of the Painted Candle hanging up in my office!”

“No way! I remember when we took that picture. I can’t believe you actually have a copy hanging in your office!” Captain Finnian was beaming. 

“Wowza!” Quixly said, more confident now that the gun wasn’t pointing at him. “I can’t believe ya referred to it as the Painted Candle! I’m the one who came up with that name!”

The three of them laughed, talked and bonded over photography for a few minutes, and then Bronxin became more serious. “Finnian, Quixly, I’ve been wanting to give up this evil life and devote myself to photography for years, but I’ve never had the opportunity to leave. You two obviously need my help to get out of here. I think we can all help each other. If I break you out of here, will you teach me more about photography and help me get started with a new life?”

“Absolutely!” Captain Finnian responded enthusiastically. “That’s a great deal! But how are we gonna get out of here?”

Bronxin smiled. “Leave that part up to me. You just need to get in position to fly out of here quick on my signal.”

Captain Finnian and Quixly ran to the control room to get ready. Bronxin closed the spaceship door, and then made a call on his communication device. From the control room it was hard to hear everything he said, but Captain Finnian managed to catch the phrases “execute the prisoners” and “under orders from Master Zvonix.” He hoped Bronxin was actually on their side, but at this point they didn’t have any other options.

A few moments later the giant door to the space station opened up, and Bronxin yelled, “Now! Fly out of here before they stop us!” Captain Finnian manned the controls and zoomed out of the space station. Once they were out Quixly entered some coordinates into his screen and yelled “hi-dee ho let’s go!” as he pushed a button sending them into hyper speed. They were safe at last.

Bronxin walked into the control room and started talking to them more about the giant space station. Master Zvonix, the massive half robot man, was an evil villain intent on ruling the universe. The space station was his disguised hideout where he was preparing countless weapons and people to help him take over the universe. Master Zvonix would kill anyone who tried to leave, and he disabled any long-distance communication devices in the space station, so no one could report to the intergalactic authorities what was happening. Bronxin had been stuck in the space station for years, and his only connection to the outside had been through photographs the new recruits brought in. He especially loved Captain Finnian’s photography, and he had promised himself that if he ever escaped, he’d become a photographer too.

The three of them laughed and cried together as Bronxin spoke. Once he finished, they immediately contacted the intergalactic authorities and police force, who would be able to stop Master Zvonix and destroy his space station and thus his evil plans. They then got to work teaching Bronxin photography. He was a slow learner, but he was determined, and over the course of a few weeks he improved dramatically. As a final project, Captain Finnian and Quixly took him to the Painted Candle, where he took his own photo of it. Tears welled up in Bronxin’s eyes as he looked at the photo and realized how far he’d come from the confused man who joined Master Zvonix years ago.

The next day, the three of them were eating Chulaplugg stew at a planet not far from the Painted Candle. “Well, Bronxin,” Captain Finnian said in between bites of his stew, “you’re sure you want to stay here? We’d be happy to take you on one more adventure if you’re willing!”

Bronxin smiled. “Thanks guys, but my mind is made up. I’m ready to settle down and start a new life here.”

“I don’t blame ya!” Quixly responded, his mouth full of stew. “I’m tempted to stay here too; this restaurant is amazing!”

Bronxin chuckled. “Wow, I’m really gonna miss you guys. Quixly, keep me updated on your relationship with Xankandria. Finnian, keep sending me new pictures you take. And I’ll make sure I see you both at any nearby photography conferences.” He got up and gave them each a hug, and then walked away, ready to start his new life.

“Wowza, I’m gonna miss having him around.” Quixly said.

“Me too.” Captain Finnian replied. “You know, taking pictures really helps us see the beauty in life. But developing friendships is what makes life beautiful.”

“Very true. That, and good food!” Quixly said with a smile.

“Well, I can’t argue with that!” Captain Finnian said. He looked down at his now empty bowl and turned back to his friend. “So, let’s order some dessert!”