Chapter four

A New Start and Something New

Mr. Knight appeared as if from nowhere walking up the ramp carrying a large sack over one shoulder and a huge pot in the other one hugged to his side. The sack had a tied off cord and two handles. Fred looked to William seeing the large sack and chuckled at the thought of Williams dragging his house over to the ship. “May I ask what’s in the sack? Are you moving in”? He offered to take the sack from Mr. Knight who made a big grin as he passed the bag over to the much bigger man wearing a power suit. Mr. Knight held it in his out stretched arm as if holding an empty bag, knowing how it would play out. Making sure Fred had a good grip on the handles, he released it and quickly stood aside. Fred is a big man almost sixty centimetres (two feet) taller than William and wearing a powered combat suit pitched forward being pulled to the floor by the weight of the large sack. “I’m glad I didn’t give you dinner to hold. Are you okay”? William was still smiling as he took it back. Fred gladly gave the large sack back with a question. “What’s in that thing and why is it so heavy”? William answered with what had to be an even bigger grin “Oh, not much big guy, just a change of clothes for us and the house. I couldn’t decide what to bring so I brought it all. It was a simple as dragging it into a pocket space. I build the house with moving it in mind; you know a mobile home”. Fred looked confused anything in a pocket space generally has a fraction of the weight. “So, what weighs so much in the bag it can’t be just a house and some clothes”? William looked puzzled and then a sign of recognition. “Oh, our clothes have some strength suppression in them, so they are heavy Sky’s clothes are the heaviest by far, and I’ve got two sets of hers. The house is very special and very heavy too”. Fred shook his head with a grin of his own. “After Joe cast the muscle suppression spell she won’t need them.” William smiled with the thought of Sky wearing just regular clothing, thinking about how Sky would like it. The two walked over to the med-bay to see Sky, Rocssanna and Joe.

Fred and Williams saw Sky first jumping around waving her arms. The jumps she made almost put her to the ceiling, just about 3 meters (10 feet) well over Fred’s height. “Daddy I can remove the special suit now. Joe used his fake magic to cure me; I feel so free and light”. Williams looked to Joe; his face was a little pale and slightly slack-jawed. “Joe, you don’t look so good! What happened while I was gone?” Joe stood there not knowing what to say; it looked like he didn’t even notice the two walk in the door. Sky heard Fred talk to Joe and smiled. Fred walked to Joe and put his hand on his shoulder to get his attention. William at the same time went to his wife. Rocssy looked a little sheepish and whispered into Willy’s ear. “I think she got a whole lot stronger just now. Do you think we should tell them what we are, or wait till they ask”? William looked to Joe and Fred and made a quick decision. “Yes, we should tell them, after dinner.”

“Joe, what happened to you? I thought you were going to suppress her strength not enhance it”. Fred stared at the jumping girl how he thought would have moved sluggishly at best. She didn’t look remotely hampered by its weight, or it’s inflexibility.

“I, I, I did the right incantation, and everything was going well, her bodies movements slowed down as the spell progressed till she couldn’t move. Then she struggled a little and jumped up like she didn’t have any weight to her at all. I check the spells I use, and they were compatible". Sky came over to Joe. She had stopped jumping and was now sort of hop stepping from foot to foot. "Joe, thank you for the magic spells." She looked up to Joe not frightened even in the least of his greater size somewhat hesitant at what to do to thank him. She was puzzled by the look on his face, was it fear or shock. She didn't try too hard to work it out in her mind. Maybe a thank you hug would make him feel better she thought. Joe watched dumbstruck as she reached up slowly to embrace him in a hug. Rocssanna noticed, not thinking Sky would hug an almost total stranger, but she was. She called out to Sky to stop her, but it was too late.

Sky reached around him and gave him her gentlest squeeze of a hug. The one she gave her parents, they called them butterfly hugs. Joe's gee-suit buckled under the pressure; luckily it was also a lightly armoured combat suit. The amour of the suit saved his life, and the fact she wasn't trying to kill him. Rocssanna reached Sky as she stepped back from the hug. "Honey you know you shouldn't hug strangers; you might hurt them."

Sky was shaking her head as if to say it wasn’t her fault. "It was a butterfly hug, like the ones I give you and Daddy! He even used his fake magic on me so I could go without the su"... Sky broke off as she realized what just happened to Joe. "I'm sorry Mr. Joe I thought the spell worked I was too happy and hopeful to see it didn't. Will you forgive me for breaking your nice suit? It’s not too bad, just a little squished’. She walked around him looking at the damage she just caused. “It’s really not all that bad? I bet mommy can fix it after dinner, the same time she fixes my eating utensils ".

Sky looked between Joe and her mom with a hopeful expression on her face. Joe smiled with a wince of pain. "I'm just a little tight around the waist. I'm just glad you weren't taller and crushed the chest of the suit. I think the next time we caste the spell you will have”. He winced in pain and took a shallow breath before continuing. “To have your suppression suits off." Rocssanna and William shook their heads; “Let’s eat first, magic and questions after. Let’s get dinner on a table with some soup bowls; Willy makes an amazing stew. I’m sure you two men would like a bowl of some”. Rocssanna motioned to the mess hall

Joe winched in at discomfort caused by the tightness around his waist. Joe didn’t like eating in a light combat suit, even more so when it was slightly crushed. “Um I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t plan on eating while being in a squished power suit. If it’s all good to you I would like to try the spell again now, but without the suppression suit on this time. I think that was the problem with the incantation I cast “. Joe said looking to Sky.

Sky blushed a little and looked down at her bare feet finding them very interesting just then. Rocssanna went over to Joe and whispered into his ear, so he and no one else could hear. “Sky doesn’t like to wear anything under her suppression suits even though we insist that she does. See the way she’s finding her feet so interesting; I think today’s one of those days she didn’t. Even if she did, whatever attackers were, the acid injected her suit would have eaten them. So, give us a bit of time to get the suits off and her somewhat covered”.

She looked at Joe and his discomfort. “I forget that those suits must be uncomfortable at best and you’re kinda squished.” She said the last giving Sky a glance and a smile, which Sky returned sheepishly with her long blue hair partially covering her blushing face. “Okay, guys could you give us a little privacy and some towels. Willy, could you get Sky some ordinary clothes for her to wear after the spell is complete. You’ve got to go quickly before the stores close. I hope nobody finds out who disintegrated the huge portion of the ancient forest. We’ll have everything set by the time you get back, Sky ready, for clothes and dinner on the table”. She smiled at Sky. “She’ll need some new clothes that will fit now that she no longer needs the suppression suits. One set of night clothes, at least two sets for daytime wear. One dress, pants and shirt should do for now”. Rocssanna motioned William to come closer and whispered into his ear. “She likes light blue underwear and doesn’t need a bra yet.” She smiled to him patted him on the back and sent him on his way. Joe came to Rocssanna and Sky to see if they need anything else. Rocssanna mentioned the towels. “Rocssanna, try and not let Sky touch anything especially after you remove the suits.” Joe turned to Sky “You are very strong right now, and you can crush anything in here like a marshmallow, so try not even to move, okay. I know you’re a nice young lady and we’ll get you all fixed up this time. I’m just going to leave while you and your mother get ready for the magical incantation “. Sky looked to Joe and met his eyes in a glance as he winced in discomfort. Sky mouthed the words ‘Sorry Mr. Joe’. She was as sincere as you could be. Joe had Rocssanna opened a drawer and took out two medium towels and handed them to Sky. “OK, Joe we’ll call you in when we’re ready for the spell.” Joe was going out the door when a wave of spent magic washed through them as a shimmering bubble of opaque blue covered the two ladies. Joe turned to look at the bubble in wonder when he heard Sky’s voice. “We will call you back in a bit, okay, and I promise to try and not break anymore, oops, stuff.” He could hear Sky whisper to her mother. “I didn’t mean to do that; um you can bend it, back right? I could try, but I would probably only crush it more”. As he walked away, he heard a loud metal groaning sound as if metal was being torn apart, followed by ‘mommy don’t look at me like that I won’t need it after today. Joe wanted to turn around and see but he couldn’t he forced himself to keep walking. He could hear more ripping metal followed by loud clanging of metal on metal. Then he heard Sky again ‘Mommy, it’s not that big of a dent they won’t even notice it, maybe! Everything I touch on this ship is so soft; I can’t wait to be weak as you and Daddy. Joe was amazed a nine-year-old girl, under one, and a half metres (4-10’) tall, thought two of the strongest human-sized beings in the universe he knew of were weak.

Between Joe and Fred, they lifted the pot to the table and served out five bowls of the fragrant stew. As they went about the task, Joe told Fred about what he heard when he left the two ladies. The soup smelled delicious and spicy; it was mouth-watering. It was kept hot with a simple magic spell.

Joe got his mischievous grin. “Fred doesn’t tell Sky right away of the reconstruction spell we have for equipment and structures on the ship. This could be fun seeing just how much damage she does before she gets her strength under control. We can even exaggerate the seriousness of the damage “. Joe was smiling rubbing his hands together snickering.

“Joe, what are you five-years-old? Alright, I’ll keep it from her till you tell her or if she looks like she’s about to cry. Then I’ll tell her and fix everything she’s damaged”. Fred smiled. “She has tried to embarrass us, jest for a jest.” Joe didn’t know when it happened or happened yet and didn’t ask.

Joe heard his name called by Rocssanna and that they were ready, Joe and Fred walked to the med-bay to see the bubble still there “Mr. Joe, you can walk through it; the bubble will disappear when you do. That’s! What I wanted it to do, just to block sight and nothing else”. Joe and Fred hesitantly walk toward the bubble, and it just faded from sight revealing the mother and daughter on the medical bed. The bed was a little dented up on a little closer inspection kind of twisted too. Sky looked to her mom pouting. “I knew he would see it, mommy; you should have covered it with the blanket.” To the side was a pile of twisted grey metal of the suits she wore, some pieces were balled up like a mud ball. Joe remembered that with the power suit on he could bend it a little and that was with a lot of effort. Sky sat up slightly, and the bed creaked a bit with her movement. “Sorry Mr. Joe it was a mistake, it’s a really weak table and the floor’...” Sky tried to draw their attention away from the damage she caused so far. Joe noticed a small pile of rags and quirked his eyebrow. Sky covered her mouth. “Oh, the towels are made of some type of paper too, because the first one shredded when I touched it.”

Joe wasn’t worried over a bent metal examination table; he could easily reset it to its previous shape. “Did you use magic to make the bubble Sky? You have no magic training so how did you do it?” Sky is trying not to move shrugged her shoulders. “It’s simple; I didn’t use magic, that was my telekinetic powers I picture what I want to happen and sometimes it happens. It works best if I’ve done it before like pushing and now the bubble.” Joe was about to ask another question when Rocssanna and Fred gave him a look, motioning to the towel. “Okay let’s get you fixed up so you can wear some regular clothes. Then you don’t have to worry about breaking things accidentally too.” He walked over to the computer console and accessed the incantation he used not too long ago. Joe tweaked the spell a little to compensate for his first mistake. He activated the spell with a few arcane words and gestures. The spell washed over her in waves and her movements slowed down, and she became still. Joe was at her side taking her wrist. “Try to move as slowly as you can. Try not to make any sudden movements. It will allow you to adapt to the suppression of magic and its magic on you”. Sky moved ever so slowly sitting up and not realizing the towel sliding down. Joe noticed this about to happen and turned his head, Fred’s head was already turned face slightly darker. “Sky your towel”! Rocssanna chided Sky. “Oops, don’t worry they must be gentlemen they have their heads turned.”

The two men left the room chuckling in mirth and called back to them without turning ‘“We’re going to turn on the artificial gravity so you can get used to our gravity. By then William should be back with some clothes for you. We’ll also change, once the gravity is changed back to our liking.”

Shortly after Joe and Fred left the two ladies, William arrived with Sky’s new clothes. “Honey, great timing we were just finished with the magic incantation. We’ll need the clothes to see how effective the spell worked”. William went to Sky; it won’t be too easy to replace them for a while.” Rocssanna hugged Willy and took the bag of clothes. She then guided him out of the room. “Go find Joe and Fred and wait for us, I’ll get changed also. We’ll have dinner after and see about answering all the questions the two hosts will likely have. Now go so we can get started”.

“Daddy thanks for the new clothes.” Sky called out to his retreating back. Rocssanna waved her hand as if outlining a circle around them. Sky knew what her mother wanted and the magic powered the spell, and a magic bubble sprung up around them this time it was blue with what looked like clouds floating lazily across the surface.

“Nice touch honey it looks really pretty it looks like an um, um, the sky.” Rocssanna said with a grin. The bag with Sky’s clothes was the first one they opened pulling out the new clothes. The first thing Sky seen was a set of plain sky blue underwear and one of pinkish red. Each consisted of two pieces, a quarter top and shorts style panties. She took the blue ones and started to put them on She gently was being careful not to tear them as she pulled them up. She tore so many underwear in the past she gave up trying to wear them under her suppression suits. They went on with no problems. The top was new to her; she never wore anything like it, tag to the back she pulled it on over her head. It came down just above her belly, and it looked funny to her. With little hesitation, she pulled it back off. After years of wearing a suppression suit or two, she was happy to feel the air on her skin. Next was a choice of dark blue fabric pants and a pink tee-shirt or a sea blue dress with some sparkles across the thick shoulders straps. Both of which she would have never worn before today. She decided on the pants and top, just in case she tore something, she didn’t want it to be the pretty dress to get ruined. The new clothes felt nice against her skin. They didn’t cling like the suits did making her feel clammy. “Mommy I could get used to not wearing those special suits. Too bad Daddy didn’t get you new clothes also.” Just as Mrs. Knight finished putting on a simple sleeveless green summer dress, Joe’s voice came out from nowhere. “We are going to lose ten gees’ in five, four, three, two and one one gee starting now.” Almost instantly Rocssanna’s hair went fuller with beautiful big waves in her hair. Sky’s hair just fluffed up a little bit. “Sky you should still try and not move too quickly for a little while. Let see if the magic adjusts to the new gravity”. Sure enough, another a wave of magic flowed through her taking away most of her incredible strength to make her seem like a normal human girl. Once dressed they took one last look at the fading sky bubble and walked towards the delicious smell that was dinner.

The three men waited for the young ladies to arrive for the evening meal. Rocssanna and Sky had seen the two men for the first time in their patrol uniforms since they arrived. The gee-suits made the two seem bulky and awkward. Without the extra girth, they moved with the dexterity of master martial artists. Even though the uniforms, you could tell they were not fat or thin but very fit. Fred was even bigger than Joe; his arms bulked out the sleeves of the shirt. As the two ladies took their seats, Joe and Fred stood up with a practiced grace from formal training. William just looked at the two and grinned till he considered Rocssanna’s eyes, he stood as well, a little pinker. Sky watched the three men puzzled and looked to her mother who nodded to the men who took their seats once again. Joe stood up and said a kind of singsong mantra. After Joe sat down, Sky picked up her spoon which felt oddly heavy for a second, and spooned up some stew and started eating. Joe and Fred spooned up some of the thick and heavy broth. Joe took the first taste of his stew; it was rich with flavour and had an odd weight to it. He nodded to Fred with a smile, who then dug-in with gusto?