Chapter 14

Mirage sat in her seat as we entered the bridge, the turret interface flashing on the screen before her.

"Mirage…?”

She turned, hearing my voice, and I gasped. She’d cut her long white hair.

“He’s not dead! Why did you do that?"

“They are gone…”

“They are not! Grandpa is fine!”

She shook her head.

“He’s gone, Etoile. We should follow his last wish and save the others!”

“You are stupid!”

I lunged at her, but Rag caught me mid-air. I bit him.

“Let me go! Let me go! She’s stupid! Grandpa is fine!”

“Don’t fight each other. If bad things happen, you will regret it for the rest of your life.”

I froze hearing his words.

“But…”

I glanced at her, only to be met with her angry eyes.

“I only try to protect you!”

Athena put her arms around her and whispered something to her.

“But Grandpa…”

Rag hushed me, picking me up.

“We don’t know what happened after we left," Ecrou chirped from my shoulder.

“It’s pointless to hope. You only get disappointed…" Mirage whispered.

“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”, Rag said solemnly.

“That’s not fair…” I whispered.

“No, it is not..." he agreed and put me down. “But sometimes bad things happen to good people, so cherish the time you have with them."

I glanced at him and then hesitantly reached out to Miarage. To my surprise, she didn’t pull back, and her hand brushed against mine. I sobbed, and she pulled me closer. I ran my fingers through her short hair. It felt strange. Should I cut mine too? I’d always tried to look like everyone else, but now I’d met so many different people that I didn’t feel that I stood out as much.

But we had always done the same thing... But I couldn’t cut it short like hers, I still wanted to hope… Maybe I didn’t need to make it as short, only a bit. I rubbed my nose against her cheek.

“I’m sorry”, I murmured.

“Me too."

I turned to Rag. I felt bad about biting him.

“Sorry,” I whispered, but he only chuckled.

“Can’t get through this suit so easily."

I turned to Mirage.

“Do you want to go back to our room?”

She nodded and took my hand as we left.

She sat down on the bed as we entered, dangling her legs in the air.

“Do… Can you cut my hair too?” I asked.

She looked at me, surprised, but took her dagger and came up to me. Once it was done, my head felt so light. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such short hair, even if it was still long enough to reach to my shoulders. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I didn’t look that ugly, even if I didn’t have fur.

She crawled into bed, and I lay down next to her and fell asleep immediately, listening to her soft purr.

When we woke up, we walked to the canteen, and Rag told us that Athena had begun the repairs on the cargo bay. Most of the ship’s systems had been turned off, so we would float in space until we could start up the engines again.

I was starving, but we only had ration packs in the canteen while the real food was in the cargo bay, out of reach until they’d finished. I wasn’t hungry enough yet to have those. Mirage tried to tickle me with her tail, but I only swatted at her. I didn’t want to hiss at her…

She had almost grown unbearably bored by the time Rag got up from his seat.

“I’ll be right back. Just gonna check how the repairs are going.”

Mirage went quiet, and I glanced at her. She wasn’t stupid… I took her hand. I’d thought she would have hissed at me, but instead I felt her gently squeeze my hand in hers.

We sat there for what felt like an eternity when Rag finally returned, carrying a box. I let go of Mirage’s hand and ran over to him.

“Here you go," he grinned.

Mirage tore through the box in search of a good package.

“Wait, let me warm it for you."

She almost hissed when Rag took it from her. He chuckled as he walked over to the small kitchen unit in the wall. It took ages, but he finally came back with two steaming plates. I didn’t remember how it tasted, but it wasn't a ration pack, and that was all that mattered.

“Do we have enough for our journey?” I asked when we were done.

To my horror, he shook his head.

“I saved a few boxes. We should have enough for a few days."

Mirage’s ears drooped.

“I don’t ever want to eat rations again…"

“They are not that bad. If we ever need to start eating the protein tabs from the storage, you will miss rations, I promise."

He started to laugh but stopped himself when he saw our expressions.

“Don’t worry, we will need to land somewhere to refuel. With some luck, we can get food too."

“How much fuel do we have?” I asked.

“Around an extra 12%. Not what I hoped for, but it is better than nothing."

“So, will we land soon?” Mirage asked.

“Let’s see. They will tell us once they’ve decided on our course."

“Can we help?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“Leave it to them. They are better at it than any of us."

Mirage let out a sigh and stretched.

“What now then?”

“Try to get some rest."

“Boring…” I sighed, making him laugh.

“Space travel is boring, and when it is not, you wish it were."

I nodded. He was right. All those adventures I’d imagined were fun and exciting when I read about them at home felt totally different when you were in the middle of them. I would rather have an uneventful journey than another adventure like the ones we had before.