Chapter 12

“We will reach Azoris in one hour."

I woke up to Athena’s voice in the speakers. We were almost there. I glanced around, and to my surprise, Mirage was still sleeping next to me. She looked so peaceful that I hesitated for a moment to wake her up. She grumbled for a moment but then seemed to remember we would arrive today and leapt out of bed.

Everyone was already gathered when we entered the bridge.

“Rag will help us land when we exit FTL. He’s really good at it! He will keep us out of trouble!” Ecrou chirped.

I glanced at Athena, and she caught my eye and smiled.

“I will help. But they are more experienced with combat flights."

Rag grinned from his seat.

“I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

“Like jumping with an unstable core?” Val frowned, flapping her wings in his face.

“Would you have preferred the maggots caught you and took you to pieces, screw by screw, trying to learn our secrets?”

She frowned.

“It was pure luck we made it."

He grinned

“It did work out in the end…”

We squeezed into our seats as Rag configured the ship. Ecrou was right, he really seemed to know a lot.

“Do we still have to go there? Didn’t Rag and Val tell you everything already?” I asked.

“They did," Athena smiled. “But we will fill the cargo bay with extra fuel for the journey.”

“And then?” Mirage asked.

“We’ll go to Federation territory. Rag knows the route of the recon ships, and with his codes, we will be able to pass through the barrier at any place."

I tried to picture it in my head. There was still so much we didn’t understand, but I hoped we’d got at least a bit better by now.

“Exit in minus 5," Rag called.

We strapped ourselves to the seat and sealed our suits.

“Are you ready?” I whispered to Mirage.

She nodded, and I took her hand. It would be okay… The screen flickered, and a large red boulder floating in space appeared on the screen. That was it.

“Stable and clear," Rag declared.

“Stable and clear," echoed Val, flying next to him. “No maggots in sight," she added as the planet grew larger on the screen.

“Permission to land granted. We are in their range," Athena announced.

“Can we have a look around when we land?" Mirage asked.

Rag glanced at Athena, and she nodded.

“Maybe we will find some nice food,” Mirage whispered, her eyes shining.

There was a thud, and Rag announced that we had landed safely. He turned off the engines and turned to us.

“Are you ready?”

“Ready, ready!” Ecrou chirped.

We undid our straps and bolted after him to the door.

“Just stay close, okay?”, he said as he stepped out.

I didn’t really know what to expect, but the bustling dock, full of strange-looking machines and even stranger-looking people, was beyond anything I could have imagined. Mirage took my hand, staring around as dazzled as I was.

I saw Rag glancing around as we walked, and I followed his gaze but didn’t see anything. Were we in danger? But then he wouldn’t have taken us here. Suddenly, the smell of food filled the air, and all I could think of was how hungry I was. Maybe Rag noticed it, because he led us to one of the food stands.

“Pick what you want."

He pointed to a small screen above our table. I peered at all the strange dishes it listed.

“We can take these two and share!"

Mirage pointed at two strange dishes. Rag peered around again, but I didn’t want to worry Mirage, so I just chuckled and agreed to her suggestion. The moment our food arrived, I forgot about it all. It tasted strange, but after a few bites I concluded that it was still much better than the rations we’d been eating so far.

“Is Val really in that box?” Mirage asked.

Rag chuckled.

“Sort of, she is a Holo just like Athena."

“A holo?”

“Holographic interface. The ship’s computer”

Mirage sighed in relief.

“So you saved your ship. I thought…”

“I saved what was important."

“She’s so different from Athena."

“They adapt to the people they work with. Apparently I had some bad influence on her…”

He grinned and ordered another round of food, and when we finally walked back to the ship, I was so full that I could hardly move.

“We will be ready in four hours," Athena announced as we entered the bridge.

“Good. The quicker we leave, the better. News of our arrival will reach those maggots sooner or later. I need to go visit a few people. I will be back before we leave."

“Be careful, Rag. Don’t do anything stupid this time."

Val gave him a look, and he grinned and disappeared through the door before she could say anything more.

“Will he be okay?” I asked.

“He should. Azoris may be full of Alliance spies, but no one wants to cause an incident. He is just stupid at times."

Val sighed.

“You know each other for a long time?” I asked.

“Too long. We have flown together for years. A few more flies and I will start to stink as he does."

I chuckled.

“Did you have another crew?” I asked Athena.

“Only a test crew, and then I left with you."

Val flew over to her.

“So that’s why you do everything by the book?”

Athena frowned.

“How else am I supposed to do it?

Val sighed and sat on her shoulder.

“We're supposed to learn from them and they from us. Except Rag didn’t learn anything, but the principle stays the same."

“How?”

Val scrunched up her face.

“Difficult to explain.”

“But what if I do it wrong?”

Val shook her head.

“There is no right and wrong. Manuals and procedures don’t tell you how to interact with your crew. It is up to you and them."

I felt bad for Athena. She’d been alone for so long. If only I had asked Grandpa about all the stuff I’d always wanted, we could have been friends long before this trip. I ran over to her and threw my arms around her.

“You see," Val smiled.

Athena glanced at Mirage, hesitantly opening her arms. She ran to us and threw her arms around us. I was about to say something, but in that moment, the door blew open, and Rag burst in.

“Take off! Take off!”

We froze, and Ecrou hid under my collar.

“But we…" Athena started.

“Emergency takeoff! Now!”

He got into his seat, and the engines roared to life. I screamed and stumbled to the ground as the ship veered.

“Full power to the thrusters! Emergency jump at 11k!”

“It’s too close,” Athena yelled as I was thrown against the wall.

“You can do it!”

“Rag! This isn’t Acuma! We will implode!” Val shrieked.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

"15k… I can jump at 15k!" Athena cried through the noise.

I felt someone pick me up, and the ship shook violently.

“Mirage!”