6 The Mysterious Suitcase!

With a golden ticket each in their hands, Bobby and his family of three came to the Galactical Space Center. They joined the small queue line for the ticket counter, and after waiting for another ten minutes, their turn finally came up.

"Show me your ticket, please," the female receptionist asked. Bobby took out the golden ticket and passed it to her.

"Golden ticket! Are you here alone, sir?" the receptionist asked politely.

"Nope, I am with my family," Bobby replied, turning toward them. Smiling, they all pulled out their tickets.

"Everyone is taking the VIP RIDE... Alright, please follow me," the receptionist led them inside the enormous apartment. She then introduced them to another female receptionist. "They are all VIPs, Cheryll. I will leave them in your care. Be good darling," she said, bowing slightly to them, and left.

Cheryll brought them into a humongous hall, where they saw twenty Gigantic Rank A spaceships.

"Wow! It is so cool," Margaret exclaimed in excitement.

Cheryll brought them inside a ship and showed them to their rooms. She quickly excused herself after exchanging some formalities.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Suddenly, a beeping sound chimed throughout the interior of the ship, and an announcement came.

"Hello! My dear travelers, this is your captain, Osvaldo Alvarez of the A221B45 Spaceship. Alright! Please fasten your seat belts. The voyage to our destination, the International Space Station D-981 in Exoplanet Gliese 667 Cc, will begin shortly. Thanks for your cooperation."

After ten minutes, he spoke again. "The destination is exactly 23.62 light-years away from Earth. So, by our current speed, we will reach the exoplanet within half an hour, give or take."

Currently, around an extremely luxurious dining round table, Bobby and his family were enjoying a lavish meal.

"Dad, why did you bring your old suitcase?... It has been 10 years since I last saw it. Also, why does it look exactly the same as before?" Margaret asked while pointing at the rusty old suitcase that lay in a corner.

"Mar, stop nagging your dad. For all I know, it's a family heirloom," Mia Bradford scolded her.

"Family heirloom! I see. Then, perhaps it may contain some precious artifacts, right?" Margaret said with a sly smile.

Hearing her playful tone, Mia hit the table. "Mom, what was that for?" Margaret pouted.

"I'm warning you, missy. Never mind your dad's old suitcase," Mia glared at her instead of cajoling her.

Margaret pouted even more. She moved closer to Bobby and mumbled in his ear, "Hey, don't you feel like there's something valuable inside that case? Maybe a century-year-old treasure. I have a plan. Why don't you help me open it while they're sleeping? Fifty-fifty!"

Seeing him remain nonchalant, she further insisted, "Look, you're a man of science. For all I know, there's a mystery with that old box. So, there must also be something that may pique your interest, right?"

"Nope, I'm pinning my interest on not opening it. If I were to crack the mystery, then I may lose my interest, like Schrödinger's cat joke," Bobby declined flatly.

"Schrödinger's cat joke! What the hell is that?" Margaret asked.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you haven't heard about Schrödinger's cat before," Bobby explained. "Alright, listen carefully! A great scientist named Schrödinger once stated that if you place a cat and something that could kill the cat, maybe a radioactive atom, in a box and seal it, you would not know if the cat was dead or alive until you opened the box. So, until the box was opened, the cat was in a sense both dead and alive."

"Blah-blah-blah. What's the point, Mr. Brainiac?" Margaret asked.

"The point is simple, once you know the truth about what's inside the suitcase, eventually you will lose interest. So, it's interesting for me to keep it without knowing what's really inside it. No?" Bobby replied.

Margaret seemed to be convinced by his reasoning and dropped the topic. The old suitcase remained a mystery and Bobby's interest in it never waned.

After the hearty meal, Jeremy spoke: "I and your mom will be joining a nearby local school. And your little brother will be away too. Mar, do you have any plans for a change?"

"Umm....." After a long pause, Margaret responded, "I've thought this through. Can I go to a military college?"

"Great! You have already ignited your Origin Chi for over 10 years. And I have already trained you enough. I believe this will be a new remarkable journey," Jeremy agreed readily.

"Uncle, according to the military book, after my enlistment to the Military, I got three quotas to recommend others in any military colleges. Mar, can you use one of mine?" Bobby suggested.

"Even better, let's do that," Jeremy agreed.

Oraga'aon Institutes of Space Science and Technology, Earth

Inside the Director's office, a beautiful lady was currently watching a holographic 3-D screen while sitting on the sofa. She was none other than Diana.

Director Kemino stood politely beside her.

They were watching the scene of Bobby and his family coming to the space agencies until they boarded the Rank-A SpaceShip.

"Batorākemino!" The stunningly beautiful lady called him in Japanese. When they were alone, they used to speak in Japanese.

"Yes, miss," Director Kemino replied in Japanese.

"Yesterday, when I followed those good-for-nothings, three bullies to teach them a lesson, suddenly a black hooded man came out of the blue and thrashed them black and blue. Subsequently, I followed him instead, using my shadow walk," Diana spoke, sipping her tea.

Kemino listened carefully.

Diana continued, "The strange thing is, he saw through my stealthy Shadow walk. Later, I came out and used my mind convulsion skill on him. For a moment, I thought that I had him. Rather, it turned out he was playing along with me." And she asked, "Did you believe it? My Convulsion skill didn't work on him."

After pondering deeply for a while, the all-knowing Butler-slash-Director Kemino asked another question, "Miss, did you find anything odd about him?"

"Umm, he called himself the infamous vigilante, 'Night Owl'. Another thing is that he right away found out my identity and he even mentioned my grandpa," Diana replied while brooding.

"Night Owl! " Exclaiming loudly, Director Kemino said, "Miss, you better stay away from him next time. No one knows who this Night Owl character is. He is a man of mystery, an extremely dangerous one indeed. You need to talk about this with Peter (grandpa)."

Looking at the screen, Diana said while keeping the teacup on the tray, "Oh! He has already left for Space Station D-981 in Exoplanet Gliese 667 Cc. I need to get ready, too." And she approached the entrance.

"Miss Diana, can I ask you something?" Director Kemino asked.

"I'll wait!" Diana replied.

"Under your order, I have been helping Bobby Bradford all these years and I agree he is a genius. But, at the end of the day, he is still a Defect. If your family were to find out about this, they will not take this lightly. And you may even be punished. So, what is your catch here?" Director Kemino asked.

Diana looked at him deeply and replied slowly with a stern tone, "Batorākemino, I know you brought me up since I was a baby and guided me in everything. For that, I sincerely respect you as my mentor and as a fatherly figure. But, I still don't want you to interfere in my personal feelings. Please, don't mind him."

Taking a long sigh, Director Kemino responded. "I understand... I'll be rooting for you two until the end."

"Thank you!" Smiling brightly, Diana rushed out of the room.

[1] Batorākemino: Butler Kemino in Japanese accent 

(Edited: 19 January '23)