A story from the Space Squad 51 Universe…
I didn’t think you’d come, but I’m glad you did.” Lucy Ashida smiled as radiant as a mini sun, a coy bend in her neck matched her slight blush as she glanced away, then met Nikili’s eye without a flicker of shyness. “Do you know what day it is?”
“That’s my line,” Nikili said, her dark mood slipping away. Spending time with Lucy never failed to buoy her spirits. “But it’s not Christmas.”
“No, today is Inside-Out Sock Day.”
“The best day of the year.”
“The most wonderful time of the year.” Lucy slipped her arm through Nikili’s. “Don’t hate me but I asked your daughter and estranged husband to meet us.”
“I need to see them, especially today.”
Side by side and arm in arm, they strolled down the main avenue on Orcus, where a parade was being prepared, finding Nikili’s daughter, who was plastered to Hook’s side. Nikili ignored her husband and picked up her daughter, swinging her around and slathering her with kisses. “Hey my lovely. It’s good to see you.”
“Mom.” Saverna gripped her tighter and rested her head on Nikili’s shoulder. “Are you coming home?”
The question broke Nikili’s heart, feeling her daughter’s pain, hating she was the cause of it. Hook took Saverna from Nikili’s embrace and placed her on his shoulders. “I want you to see every millimeter of the parade, Savs.” He waved at a waffle cake vendor and handed her up a sweet treat. All without looking at Nikili.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, breaking, cracking. Lucy steered her a few meters away by the elbow.
“I’m sorry,” Lucy said.
Part of Nikili wanted to scoop her family into her arms and love them like she once did. The other part of her, the one that ruled her actions and emotions, needed her to walk away, to protect herself, to give herself time to heal.
“I thought maybe the holiday might mend the rift between the three of you.” Lucy frowned and sidled over to a group of vendor carts. The most popular cart, one selling high tech sock garters, had only a few left in inventory. The latest fad had sold like fresh waffle cakes with fresh berries. “Want a pair?” She pointed at the holophoto of the model wearing her inside-out crazy socks and itsy-bitsy shorts, the garters accentuating her toned legs. The male model wore the garters with a kilt. “Hot, right? And guaranteed never to slip. We could probably perform complicated rescues in those garters.”
“Our uniform socks don’t slip and our pants would cover them.”
“I was thinking we could give up the pants and just go with the garters.”
“That hardly seems Orbital Rescue Services regulation. We’d be exposed to all sorts of hazards. That’s not safe, Lucy.”
Nikili’s brain had trouble processing the frivolous holiday cheer, stuck on her failure from a year ago. She had failed to keep a family alive her mother had adored and had been very close to. It was a horrific emergency with a space sick dad and a blowtorch on a ship with an oxygen leak. No one had survived, and Nikili’s mother had blamed her, had said she didn’t have what it takes. And she was failing again with her husband and daughter. Dropping her head into her hand, she wished to feel something other than sorrow, guilt, and a sense of being worthless.
Setting the garters down, Lucy bought two teas instead, handing one to Nikili. “My gift to you today is to ply you with treats until you laugh or puke.”
A chuckle rumbled in Nikili’s throat, but she swallowed it. She didn’t deserve to be happy. “You’re the only one who hasn’t abandoned me.”
“That’s not true. Saverna adores and idolizes you.”
Nikili stared at Hook and her daughter enjoying the holiday without her. “I should be with them. I should want to be with them. Why can’t I summon the energy? Why is it such an effort?”
“Because you’re not well. You should be in therapy.”
“And have my mother think even worse of me?” It was bad enough Ipsa didn’t think Nikili measured up and thought she wasn’t tough enough to be an Outling. “Please drop it, Lucy. I’ve heard you, but I think I’ll be all right in time. I just need more time.” She looked at the warm and pillowy waffle cake in her hand and took a big bite, not caring that the warm vanilla filling ran down her chin.
Lucy scooped it off with her finger and licked at the runaway filling. “Scrumptious.” Her smile bordered on flirtatious.
And as if a switch flipped, Nikili felt light. She nudged her way through the crowd back to Hook and Saverna. She noted the garters holding up Hook’s crazy socks decorated with tiny knitted red yo-yos and day-glow spangles.
“Where’d you get those?” Nikili yelled over the noise of the crowd.
“My sister made them.”
“Very festive.”
“What have you got on?” His gorgeous gray eyes roamed down her body to her feet. “Your pants are covering your socks. Where’s your holiday spirit, Kili?”
Relenting, she rolled up her pant legs to show off her socks of moons wearing sunglasses. The moons lit up periodically.
“Okay, those are nice.”
“Thanks.”
Saverna’s socks went up over her knees and twinkled with glittery clouds and winged pigs. At least Nikili thought they were pigs. Like most Outlings, she had never seen one. On her tiptoes, she spoke to her daughter. “Didn’t you get the garters? Didn’t Dad buy you any?”
“I didn’t want them,” Saverna answered. “I have a surprise.” She giggled and stuffed the rest of her waffle cake into her mouth.
Nikili had missed that sound. “I can’t wait to see your surprise.”
Saverna pulled down one sock part way to reveal another sock of lime green accented with dots and lines in different colors. Nikili didn’t know what the design was, but her daughter was so proud to be wearing them. “The parade is starting,” Saverna squealed, turning her attention away from Nikili, clapping and bouncing on Hook’s shoulders.
The first float was a giant sock on a giant leg, held up by a giant pair of the popular new garters. Music boomed and blared as the float rolled forward. Citizens, dressed up as socks, shot confetti cannons loaded with paper jokes. Saverna caught some.
“What is a pirate’s favorite sock?” she shouted.
“I don’t know. What?” Nikili answered.
“Arrgh-gyle.” Saverna laughed so hard, Nikili feared she would tumble off Hook’s shoulders. But he kept a firm grip on her.
A team on the float pushed some holobuttons and pointed at their giant sock.
“What’s it going to do?” Saverna clapped with glee.
Without warning, Hook groaned and jerked, about to topple. Nikili grabbed onto Saverna before she hit the ground, setting her down gently. “What’s wrong with you?” she snapped at Hook.
“Huckamucka, look at that.” Lucy tugged on Nikili’s sleeve. The sock float people all had their underpants around their ankles and fell as they lost their balance.
Nikili noticed the same had happened to Hook and everyone else in the crowd wearing the popular sock suspenders. She squeezed her daughter’s shoulder, glad Saverna wasn’t mooning the entire population of Orcus. “Why are they mooning us?” she yelled so Lucy could hear her.
Her eyes twinkling with mirth, Lucy shrugged. “That’s the problem with socks. Once they go rogue, they always pair up against you.”
The float behind the sock was a giant ball of yarn and knitting needles making socks, actual complete socks, tossed out to the crowd. The flailing people on the float battling their lowered underwear, clutched onto the giant knitting needles, jerking them out of alignment, which sent the ball of yarn, four stories high, spinning. The end of the yarn caught on a garbage can, and the yarn started unspooling. One citizen scrambled to free the yarn, but became tangled. Those trying to help him then became tangled.
“It’s knitting us together,” a citizen yelled.
The yarn rolled off the float into the troupe of acrobats behind it. The performers on stilts wearing extra long socks toppled into the crowd, dragging yarn with them, knotting it further, creating an intricate web of yarn, caught limbs, and squirming people.
“Nothing unravels a parade faster than an enthusiastic ball of yarn,” Nikili commented. “Should we get this disaster under control?”
“Don’t spoil the fun.” Lucy pointed at the yarn ball. “Besides, it’s not done yet. I think it’s best we stay out of the way until the ball comes to a stop.”
“Yeah, we don’t want to end up snarled up in the yarn.”
The yarn smashed into the float behind the acrobats, which was for the Orcus Market Shops. Their giant stuffed sock broke open, spilling out stuffing which blinded the float operator. The float suddenly veered off course and smashed into the confetti and glitter factory. Glitter and confetti exploded like a flood, spilling out the doors and windows, clinging to every surface. Orcus would sparkle for generations.
The main street was lined with mooning people stuck with their underwear around their ankles, others caught in a web of yarn, and people walking about with clouds of glitter trailing them. Laughter bubbled in Nikili’s gut and burst out of her mouth. She couldn’t stop laughing. Lucy was in tears from laughing so hard.
Lucy snorted, “Have you heard diamonds are forever? False. It’s glitter. Diamonds wish they were this persistent.”
“How are we going to clean this up?” Nikili scanned over the scene. “Giant lint rollers?”
Their comm links went off simultaneously, a magenta numeral one floating in front of their faces.
“Copy,” Nikii answered dispatch. “Squad 51 already on scene.”
“Guess our day off is canceled,” Lucy frowned.
“For the most bizarre disaster ever.” Nikili covered her mouth to hide her giggles.
“Where do we even start?” Lucy shook her head.
“With the device controlling the garters, which pulled people’s pants down.” Keeping a hold of her daughter, Nikili approached the float with the giant sock and killed the power to the device. Finally, people could pull their pants up.
“Happy Inside-Out Sock Day,” the operator said miserably. “The device was supposed to knock everyone’s socks off, not our briefs.”
Nikili laughed, shaking her head. “You just gave us the best holiday ever. One we’ll never forget.”
