Chapter 9

“Refuelling will be completed in 6 hours at the current rate. We will need a few more hours to finish the repairs. If you wish, we can leave by tomorrow,” Athena said as we sat in the kitchen, eating another ration.

“Can we help?” I asked, but she shook her head.

“All the process is fully automatic."

Mirage grinned.

“Can you teach us more? Those turrets were fun!"

“If you provide me with a sample of your writing system, I can translate the interface.”

I opened one of Grandpa's books, and a strange blue light enveloped it for a moment. She knew how to use magic? Then why couldn’t I learn it? It wasn’t fair…

“Do you need more books?” Mirage asked.

“No, it’s sufficient."

I didn’t understand what she was doing, and even though she did her best to speak simply and explain things to us, there were still so many things I didn’t understand. I wanted to ask her when Ecrou leapt on the table and chirped,

“We should rest now when we have a chance.”

Mirage yawned and stretched herself in the chair. I smiled. She was quite okay, as long as she wasn’t stupid about things…

I woke up with Mirage purring beside me the next morning. It had been such a long time since she’d done that. I smiled and turned to her.

“You finally woke up?" she teased.

She reached out to tickle my leg with her tail. I flinched but tried not to hiss. She’d probably woken up a while ago, so she had the right to be bored.

“We’re going today!”

I could feel her tail wiggle again, and I hissed at her before I realised what her words had meant. She’d waited until I woke up… I leaned over and rubbed my nose against her cheek, but she hissed and climbed out of bed. Yeah, she was stupid. I got up and put my suit on.

She didn’t look at me as we left, but she took my hand as we continued down the corridor. When we entered what Athena had explained was called the bridge, I was surprised to see her sitting with a stack of papers. Ecrou was perched on her shoulder, chirping so quickly that I couldn’t understand a word.

“What are you doing?” Mirage asked.

“Research! We are learning so much! She knows everything!”

“Why would you do that?” I yawned.

“Grandpa would want to read it!”

“But Grandpa…" Mirage whispered, but Ecrou leapt on her shoulder.

“We don’t know what has happened to him."

“He’s right…”

I put my hand on her shoulder. I really wanted to believe Ecrou was right. She shrugged off my hand and sat on her seat.

“Let's go!” she announced.

I sat on my seat. Why did she behave like this? I wanted to believe Grandpa was fine. Didn’t she...?

“We will leave at full speed," Athena said. “Atmospheric flight may be turbulent, but with the gravity generator online, it shouldn’t affect you that much."

“And they won’t see us?” Mirage asked.

“I believe they will, but we’ll be far away by the time they can do anything about it."

The window, or rather, the screen, flickered, but to my surprise, the strange sigils were gone, and I could read it. Position, core temp, core output, speed… I still didn’t understand what it meant, but being able to read them was at least a step forward.

I saw the cluster of rocks we’d climbed yesterday displaying, and with a low hum, we rose into the air. We soared faster and faster through the clouds until we broke through and I could see the night sky on the screen. We kept moving, and moments later, the stars seemed to melt into one continuous stream of white light. I watched with fascination, wondering what it meant. One day I would ask Athena about it.

“Where are we going next?” Mirage asked.

I looked at her, surprised. Since when was she interested in knowing that?

“Azoris. It used to be a mining colony. The ore has run out, but some decided to stay. It was in the neutral zone before I left. I should be able to update my databanks there. We might learn something useful."

Mirage frowned.

“What if the demons are there?”

“I will approach carefully. My scanners should be able to detect their presence, and I have enough fuel for another jump."

Mirage fell silent for a moment, but I could see her ears twitching.

“I want us to plan together from now on,” she announced. “I want to understand."

“I can teach you what I can," Athena smiled.

I stared at her. Was she really saying what I thought? Since when did she want to learn anything? She always ran when Grandpa tried to teach us and hissed at any book that had more letters than pictures. It was even weirder than when she told me she liked me.

I got up from my seat and squeezed myself next to her.

“Tell us how it all works."

We spent the next few hours listening to Athena explain until Mirage got so hungry that she dragged me to the kitchen for some breakfast. We sat at the table and ate another ration. It didn’t taste as good as last time, but maybe the new place would have some better food.

She put her arm around me.

“Don’t worry, we will find help and save everyone."

I froze. Why didn’t she mention Grandpa…? He was waiting for us too. Why didn’t she...?

“Grandpa will be happy when we come back…” I tried.

“Grandpa is gone, Etoile…” she murmured.

She tried to pull me closer, but I hissed at her and got up from my chair.

“No!” I shouted as tears filled my eyes. “Grandpa is fine!”

Why was she so stupid? Grandpa was fine… I looked at her through the tears, but she just shook her head.

"Etoile…"

“Grandpa is fine!”

I hissed at her and ran before she could catch me and say something stupid again. Grandpa was fine… Grandpa… was… fine….