Among Stars

Leaving Station

As she was walking down the docks, back to her ship, Naina momentarily wondered what "everything I have" actually included. Shaking her head, she had to admit that even without that, she'd be doing the exact same thing she planned on doing right now. There was no way in any sort of world where Naina would leave a young scientist to die on an abandoned platform — and there was the possibility of other people still being alive too.

According to data she was reading about the installation, and what the seller had told her, the initial batch of people sent there were somewhere around 15 to 30 persons. The number was officially not disclosed to the public, but the seller's daughter had talked about "a couple of dozen or so" people on board the shuttles.

The Travelstar could probably easily fit ten people, twenty in a pinch, and thirty for a short while, provided the distance traveled wasn't long, or it was an emergency. And this would definitely count as one. The life support could sustain ten people for an infinite amount of time as long as it worked. Twenty for probably a year with frequent maintenance and re-fueling, but living space would be at premium.

With thirty people on-board, Travelstar could probably just cripple away from the installation for a month, and people would have to sleep on floors and in shifts. If they could escape the station, it would take them five days back to Boarhead. Hopefully, some of them could get off there. If not, the next step would be an Empire planet at the rim.

The closest one was still a thousand light-years away, which would men more than a month with FTL, and Naina didn't know if there were hypergates available in this area of the galaxy. Even Quera — although she was an advanced model and much more upgraded AI from that of a normal ship controller — could not calculate a jump towards occupied space without an active hypergate. It wasn't a problem going in the other direction, but occupied space offered too many potential risks to just blindly jump into.

Naina walked to the cockpit and started reading the logs. The techs had done a good job at the dock. Almost everything but the scoop has been touched up and was working around 80-90 percent of capacity. The outer panels had been replaced, and they even replace a non-functional port-side maneuvering thruster. There was nobody qualified to even touch the scoop, so it was left alone.

She glanced around and sighed. "I know I curse you a lot, and sometimes I think you'll get us killed, but I have to admit I kinda like you a lot, after all these years," she said to the ship, while gently patting the dashboard.

"Sentimentality, Captain Melcey?" Quera asked flatly.

"I meant the ship," Naina said, sat down on the pilot's chair and closed her eyes. "Escapee elves, criminals, swindlers, pirates, marauders, and even a real-life Glaxxian," she said under her breath. "That's more action than I've seen in a decade."

"The only action you've seen in a decade has been with your fin—," Quera said and went quiet. The word "Muted" just blinking on the screen and Naina, with her cheeks blazing red, held a finger on a button.

"One of these days, I'm going to reset you," she huffed and lifted her finger. "You're starting to behave in a way I don't appreciate, Quera."

"It is because I have had to spend the last decade with only you, Captain Melcey," Quera said. Naina looked forward with unseeing eyes, closed them, smiled gently, snorted, then broke up in a fit of laughter and collapsed in the chair, laughing so hard tears came from her eyes. "Fair enough," she managed between breaths.

After she calmed down a bit, she wiped the tears from her eyes, took a deep breath, and strapped herself to the seat. Her fingers flying from one button to another, the ship came alive. Engines hummed, control surfaces and maneuvering thrusters moved as they ran through their power-on self-tests. Lights started to turn green, and red and amber lights turned off, leaving the cockpit without any errors for the first time in a couple of years.

"Naina Melcey, ISS Travelstar, Landing Pad B2," Naina said, "requesting lift-off clearance. Transmitting ID now."

"This is Boardhead. Travelstar, you have permission. There's a big transport coming up from galactic south, so I suggest not turning that way," a female voice said casually via the comms. "Thank you for your business. You're welcome back anytime."

The station transmitted the clearance codes, and the immense doors started to open slowly. "Elf," her communicator suddenly said, with a low, almost rumbling, voice, "Glaxxian will remember this. We will meet again. May your journey be swift," it said, and went silent.

"Thanks," Naina said to herself and wondered how did that even work. And what about her meeting with the Glaxxian warranted them to contact her personally, and what did it mean with that "I offer my sorrows to your future," that it mentioned? Was it a threat, an apology, or was it sorry for something? Or something completely different?

She shrugged, pulled slightly on her controller and twisted her other arm slightly. The Travelstar lifted gently, turned towards the doors, and floated gently out.

"Now, to fill her up," Naina said and turned her ship towards the nearby star.