The Great Black Yonder

   (When we last left Fred, he met a clumsy guy named Anthony, then his hotel room exploded with him and Jonathan inside)

   Well, perhaps exploded is the wrong word.  There was an explosion, but it came from beneath their room and rocketed them up like rocks from a volcano.  The shock knocked Fred onto his back and he was glued there by the Gs as they shot up, up, up.  Their ascent slowed, and eventually stopped.  But instead of plummeting back down like Fred had expected, they hung in the air.  Everything had gone dark too, which was odd because it was barely past midday.
   Fred got to his feet and switched on a light.  Jonathan was lying in one of the beds, and as the light came on, he smiled.
   Fred glared at him. “What just happened?”
   Jonathan gestured to the window. “Take a look.”
   Fred walked over to the window and drew the curtains aside.  His jaw dropped.  Outside, everything was black.  Not black like dark, or nighttime or anything, but black.
   “Bottom right-hand corner,” Jonathan said.
   Fred turned his gaze downward and craned his head.  He could just make out a green and blue orb.
   “Holy cow!” he yelled. “Is that earth?”
   Jonathan laughed. “Yes, that is earth, and yes, we are in space.”
   “But…but…but…but how!?  We’re in a hotel room.”
   Jonathan shrugged. “What can I say?  Today’s technology is capable of anything.”
   “But it’s a hotel room in space.”
   “Your point is?”
   Fred didn’t have an answer, so he didn’t try. “Holy cow!”
   “Come away from the window, Fred.  And close the curtains.  We’re about to rotate to be facing the sun, and if the curtains aren’t closed, we’ll be blinded.”
   Fred hurriedly stepped back and closed the curtains.  Then he jumped onto the other bed, the action making him think of a question. 
  “Does this place have artificial gravity or something?”
   Jonathan nodded. “Yes.”
   “Cool.”  Fred bounced around a bit, then stopped. “Where are we going?”
   “We’re going to dock in a space station in about ten minutes.”
   “Sweet.” Fred frowned. “Wait, why?”
   “Why what?”
   “Why are we here in space?  I thought you were gonna help me stop the PEANUTs!”
   “And I will.  In due time.”
   “But why not now?  And speaking of the word why, which is rapidly becoming my least favorite word, you never did tell me how you know so much about everything.”
   “That’s because I can’t.”
   “Why not?”
   “It’s classified.”
   Fred groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re a part of M007.”
   Jonathan laughed. “Oh no, nothing of the sort.”
   “Then who are you?”
   Jonathan sighed. “I can’t tell you.”
   Fred glared at him. “Don’t make me ask ‘why’ again.”
   Jonathan shrugged. “I’m sorry, Fred.  I can’t tell you now.  Maybe, possibly, sometime later.”
   “When’s later?”
   “Not now.”
   Fred grumbled, but didn’t say anything until a few minutes later when the ship began docking procedures, at which time his questions poured forth again.
   “Does this ship have auto-pilot or something?”
   “Yes,” Jonathan replied.
   “Is the space station disguised as a hotel too?”
   “Yes.”
   Fred snorted. “Why?  Are you afraid aliens will come along and blow it out of the sky?”
   “Yes.”
   Fred was surprised. “Really?”
   “Yes.”
   Fred narrowed his eyes. “You’re just saying that to get me to shut up, aren’t you?”
   “Yes.”
   "Fine, be that way."
   Fred crossed his arms and sulked.  There came a dull thud and Jonathan got to his feet.
   “We’ve docked,” he said.
   Fred didn’t reply.
   “All right.  You don’t have to talk to me, but you do have to follow me.”
   Jonathan opened the door and went out and Fred followed.  Once outside, he gasped.  Mainly because a  passing janitor splashed him with some water, but partly because the space station looked cool.

    To be continued…