Chapter 15

“I wouldn’t risk landing on any habitable world, no matter how neutral they may be," Val said.

“So you want us to hide away on some stinky asteroid to scavenge fuel?” Rag frowned.

We sat on the bridge, listening to their argument. It had been ongoing for a while, and I started to feel we might fall asleep if it went on for much longer.

“Use your head, Rag, for once. The maggots must be looking for us, and a neutral planet will be the first place they would check."

“But none of them would dare to choose sides, being so close to Federation borders."

“Rag, did you really bang your head that hard? Do they need to? If the maggots ambush us on the approach, do you really think anyone will come to our help?”

“But how long will we need to sit on a stinky roid to scrape enough fuel?"

“Depending on mineral composition, it may take up to a week," Athena said, and the screen lit up with data as she spoke.

“Val, the longer we wait, the more ships they will put in this sector. I have a bad feeling about that carrier."

“So we could take a longer route and be safe or take a risk and be quick?” Ecrou murmured.

Mirage sighed.

"Yeah."

“I would rather be safe than sorry," he murmured.

I nodded.

“Me too..."

Mirage turned to the screen.

“But everyone is waiting for us..."

“One more jump and I should be able to reach the Fed on LR comms and call for help," Athena said, displaying more data on the screen.

Rag shook his head and leaned back in his seat.

“Too risky, Teena. Your encryption is too old. The maggots will intercept it, and they would be swarming down on us before any Fed ship arrived.”

“Grandpa would be careful…” I hesitantly ventured.

Val flew over to me and sat on my shoulder.

“You see, Rag. She has more sense than you."

He turned to me, and I tried to look away, but he just grinned.

“Fine! Teena, find us some stinky old roid."

I stared at him. Was that it? Had I decided for everyone? The other ones seemed to think so because they had already begun plotting our course.

I leaned over to Mirage.

“What if I got it wrong…?"

“Grandpa was always careful,” she whispered and patted my head.

It didn’t take long until our course was set, and we entered FTL once again. I really hope it was a good idea….

“Stable and clear," Athena announced.

The grey rock floated before us.

“Mineral composition?” Rag asked.

“Do I look like a miner?” she said, making him laugh.

I felt a thud, and we landed safely.

“Can we go outside?” Mirage asked.

I stared at her. Why would she want to do that? There was nothing there. Barren land covered in grey rocks and dust with only dark space above our head.

“Just stay close to the ship, okay?"

Rag swung around in his seat, grinning.

“It will be fun, but we need to be careful. There is almost no gravity out there. You need to do exactly as I tell you."

I nodded. Mirage was grinning almost as wide as Rag, her tail flapping wildly with excitement. We followed him to the cargo bay and halted in front of the airlock.

“Seal your suits."

We did as he told us and stepped into the airlock. He attached a thin metal rope to our waists and secured the other end in the ship.

“Are you ready?”

We took his hand. I didn’t know if I should be excited or afraid. It felt serious and very different from our other times going outside. The door opened and Rag stepped out on the ramp, and I hesitantly followed. My body felt so light, and my feet barely touched the ground as we walked.

“Ready to jump?”

He leapt into the air without waiting for our reply, and I felt myself lifting from the ground. I gasped. We flew up as far as the rope allowed us and slowly descended to the ground.

“Again… Do it again…” Mirage whispered in awe.

He sprang up again, and I clutched onto his hand. This time we stayed in the air, floating above the grey surface.

“How… How do you do that?” I whispered.

“Anti-grav drive in the suit”

“Can we do it? Can I fly like this!?”

Could I do magic…?

“I can show you how it works later. It takes a bit of practice."

“What else can you do?” Mirage whispered.

From one moment to another, he vanished, and even though I could still feel his hand in mine, he was nowhere to be seen. I gasped. Maybe I could learn to do it too and be like the others…

He kept showing us tricks, jumping into the air and descending until we were dizzy with excitement.

“Okay, enough for now,” he chuckled.

He descended one last time, and we followed him back into the ship.

“It was fun," I whispered as we stood in the cargo bay and undid our suits.

“It was," Mirage nodded.

“Can we do it again?”

“Sure, we will stay here for a while,” Rag grinned.

Mirage turned to him with a serious expression.

“And you will show us how to fly and do other things?”

He chuckled.

“I will, I will."

We ate after that, and I enjoyed another day with no rations. When we were done, we sat on the sofa. Mirage put her head on my lap, and I scratched her ears until she purred.

"Mirage…" I asked hesitantly. “Why… Why don’t you hope that… You know?"

I regretted asking it the moment the words came out of my mouth. She would only hiss and run away. She tensed under my hand.

“Because it’s pointless, Etoile. You only get disappointed…”

“I am sorry… I shouldn't…” I murmured.

“I only try to protect you…”

She reached out and stroked my cheek.

"I…don’t understand…"

She stayed quiet for a long while, still touching my cheek.

“When the maggots came to my village… Dad told me to hide. He promised to come and look for me. But he never did…"

She turned away, and I put my arms around her and drew her close.