“We are at the given
coordinates Captain.”
“Sage…” He gave a small
sigh. “I keep telling you, I am not
your captain.”
He looked out at the
void in front of the ship, a few stars, but nothing else.
It had been a long
journey to this point. He’d gone on faith and would continue that way.
He breathed and
lightened as he turned to face Sage. She was beautiful, with bright aqua-green
eyes like the Taozian sea and long red hair like the mountain range of
Terra-Li.
“But thank you, Sage.”
“So what now, oh wise
one?” A sharp tone came from behind.
He turned to look at
Avaylah sitting in the pilot’s chair. She released the controls, pulled her
long blonde hair all over one shoulder and swung her legs up over the arms of
the chair. Her pale blue skin glistened in the odd lighting they had rigged on
the command deck, but she was a beautiful woman, if not for her crappy
attitude. She was just with them for the money and the adventure, which was
fine by him, they each had their own reasoning for being there. So long as none
of their reasons kept him from achieving his agenda, all was good.
Despite her crappy mood
most of the time, this woman in particular, was a hell of a pilot. Best he’d
ever known, so he was glad to have her on board… even if she was working out
her personal issues on his time.
“We wait.” He turned
back to look out the front view screen. “He’ll be here.”
Honestly, he didn’t
know if he’d be there or not, but faith… it was all he had.
“Tell us again… of the
story.” Li beckoned.
He closed his eyes and
smiled. Something about Li’s wide-eyed innocence always reminded him to not
take things so seriously. He’d never met a species quite like Li’s before. He
was as effeminate as he was masculine and while his pointed ears and soft
purplish-grey coloring wasn’t necessarily unusual, sometimes, looking into
those two perfect crystals he called eyes, he swore Li held the secrets of the
universe.
“Not right now, Li.
I’ve told you at least twenty times. Right now, let’s
just wait and be patient.
All our planning and waiting should be about to pay off.” He pressed the button
on the panel in front of him that would give him the com to other areas of the
ship, this time, to med-deck. “It should be any minute Carlisle. I don’t know
what shape he’ll be in physically, but I’m reasonably certain he’ll be flipped
out mentally. Are you ready?”
“Yes Captain.” The
soft, sure voice sounded back at him.
“I’m not…” He started
to growl as his frustration built, but quickly cut off the com and looked to
Avaylah. “Didn’t I tell your sister to make sure her programming included her not calling me Captain?”
Avaylah raised both
hands in an innocent posture. “Hey, I am not my sister’s keeper.”
He decided to quit that
fight while he was still ahead. For three months he watched Avaylah and her
sister, fight it out while they readied for this moment. He didn’t entirely
understand it, and it wasn’t his business. He simply made a mental note to
check in with Brynna on the ship’s medical AI as soon as possible and went back
to the com.
“Thank you Carlisle.
We’ll let you know when we need you.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Professional as always.
He appreciated the
technology, but there was just something personal lacking when you used AIs.
Sadly, the one thing he had not been able to procure for this mission, was a real doctor, so the AI would have to do.
“Well, she may mess up
on protocol, but she’s something else to look at, am I right?”
“Stick to your stars
Oz.” He shut the kid down fast without even looking at him and rolled his eyes.
Oz had been a last
minute addition when he realized just how potent the black hole on the other
side of the dimension was. He needed someone who could navigate that kind of
path and Oz had proven himself more than once as a genius of cartography. The kid could just gaze at a star system and
see how to navigate it. It was like he could speak to them on some level. The
kid had such a gift, it should have had the world at his feet, but he’d been
born on the poorest sector of one of the nine worlds of Kanvore. People there
had no hope of any life outside of what they already knew. Finding Oz had been
a miracle, for both of them.
Now if he could just
get Avaylah to stop looking at him like he was the first meal she’d seen in an
era, he’d feel a lot better. It was obvious the kid had hit the gene pool
lottery in looks, what with those dark curls and blue eyes the color of cobalt,
but he was young and naïve, and he felt personally responsible for keeping him
safe at the very least. After all, he made a promise to the boy’s mother.
He realized he was
treating the kid like he was seven, when in truth he was at least twenty moons,
but when you were as old as he was…
age became something you judged by wisdom and experience more than how many
times stars had circled planets since that soul arrived.
“Boss…” Oz spoke up.
“Something’s happening. I’m getting an anomaly three hundred meters off the
port bow.”
Avaylah walked up
behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
She was a Cassarian
woman and the Cassarian’s were legendary for their women and their ability to
lure men into everything from giving up all their money, to outright death.
They were the legendary sirens of old Earth reincarnated in a shimmery blue
form that was hard for anyone to resist.
Even he had a hard time
not losing his equilibrium when she stood so close.
“Well, I guess this is
it.” She spoke. “So let me ask you one thing, what do we do once we get him? This
legendary figure you’re so sure will be here. Then what?”
He thought about that,
the complications, the implications.
He looked over his
shoulder into dark eyes.
“I guess you’ll just
have to trust me.”
“I don’t do blind faith
very well, but for you…” She shrugged.
“There it is boss!” Oz
spoke excitedly from his station behind him.
He looked out the view
and a small ship had appeared as if by magic. No visible portal and he knew
there’d be no explanation on the readings.
“Sage, employ the
grappling hooks and bring that ship into bay three just like we practiced.”
His heartrate was
speeding. He had already failed at this once, he couldn’t let it happen again.
“Adjusting for velocity
and…” Sage maneuvered, wrinkling her nose and sending her mouth into a strange
grin as if that were needed to get the best grip on that ship. “Got him!”
There was a collective
sigh and a cheer from Oz.
He closed his eyes. The
tricky part was over, but the next part would be far more dangerous. He hit the
com button. “Carlisle, meet me in Bay Three.”
He started to leave the
bridge without a word, only to have Avaylah call him back.
“Hey Thoron!”
He stopped and turned
to face her.
“What do you want the
rest of us to do now?”
“Get us to Vatra nine
and hang out in the gasses in the lower regions. Sage and Oz, keep all com
channels open and make sure we’re not being followed. Li, you’re with me.”
“Yes, sir.” He
immediately came beside him.
“And quit calling me
sir, it’s Thoron. Has been for a really long time, it’s all I know to answer
to.” He gave Li a playful slap on the back and turned to head down to Bay Three
where he knew for a fact, he’d have a ton
of explaining to do.
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