Yulia kept shifting her feet nervously as she stood next to Alex. He said her friends from Petrov were coming to visit. She was so happy she didn’t even wonder why they all traveled so far just to see her.
She was startled as a boom shook the air. When she looked up, she could see a glowing trail. Alex had told her what caused them, but she couldn’t recall the reason at the moment. She let go of Alex’s hand and plugged her ears as the booms started to get louder.
“You could have waited inside,” Alex reminded her.
She just shook her head. She wanted to be the first to greet her friends. If that meant standing out in the awful-smelling air and the bright light, she would do it. Alex had made her a wide-brimmed hat and some neat goggles that made it so she didn’t have to squint but she could still smell the air even from inside her mask.
Once the other kids saw her goggles, hat, and mask, she was sure the kids from the orphanage would want some for themselves. If she asked Alex nicely, he would make them some as well, probably.
The shuttle flared its engines – she gave herself a little mental pat for remembering that term – and set down on the landing pad a distance away. Even with the goggles, she turned away as the hot wind from the shuttle landing blew sand across the area. A shadow fell over her and she realized Alex had stepped in front of her to block the remaining dust.
She smiled up at him. “Thank you, Alex.”
He made his cartoon face nod.
Once the wind died down, she stepped out to the side to see the shuttle. The ship belonged to the Hawks. Apparently, that was a sort of bird. She wished this planet had birds, she wanted to see a hawk, or any animal other than a rat for that matter. Alex had shown her pictures of Earth animals from the learning modules, but it wasn’t the same. Her only experience with animals was with the occasional rat or bug on both Petrov and Eden’s End.
The ramp to the shuttle lowered and she was about to run over and greet her friends when she felt Alex’s hand on her shoulder. “Let them get used to the environment for a bit before you bombard them with questions. Ok?”
She nodded and held herself back, barely.
The first to step off the shuttle was Headmaster Wong. She was about to wave to the man but stopped herself. He looked tired. More tired than she had ever seen him look. And she remembered the time when he was up for almost three weeks straight monitoring two sick toddlers after their parents abandoned them.
Someone adopted the toddlers shortly after that though and the man went back to looking normal again.
The rest of the kids shuffled out of the shuttle, looking much like they had the night she got hurt. Her instinct was to try and comfort the smaller children. But the older kids were already doing that even though they didn’t look much better.
Finally, she waved.
When nobody waved back, tears started to well up in her eyes and she sniffled. Had they forgotten her already?
Alex kneeled down next to her as the group trudged across the landing pad. “They have had a much rougher journey than we did to get here. Give them time, your friends still care about you. I have an idea. Once we’re inside, why don’t you take them to the cafeteria? Get them some good food and then show them to their new home. Do you remember where it is?”
She nodded as she pulled up her goggles to wipe her tears away.
Alex smiled at her and gave her a warm hug. She liked his warm hugs.
The group was quiet as they moved into the facility. Headmaster Wong and Alex only shared a single nod. She wished she knew what it meant.
Yulia kept glancing back at the kids, feeling a bit awkward for some reason. She wished Sarah and Claire had been allowed to wait with her. But their parents had forbidden them from going outside.
“Headmaster Wong, I’ve asked Yulia to show the children to the cafeteria, if that’s alright with you. You don’t have to worry about their safety. The people here are nice, and the facility is patrolled by the Hawks. The children won’t be able to get anywhere they aren’t supposed to.”
“Thank you, Alexander, and hello again Yulia. I think that would be fine. Children, please go with Yulia.”
Yulia smiled brightly as she turned to the kids, but most just gave her tired looks in return. “…Um… follow me.”
When everyone just gave her a weird look, she realized she said that in English. She repeated herself so they could understand.
At first, she felt a bit self-conscious leading all of the kids, especially the older ones around, but soon she started chattering away so she wouldn’t have to think about it.
She heard someone in the back chuckle softly and say, “She hasn’t changed at all.” Yulia smiled when she heard that.
The cafeteria was in the Hawks’ camp. She didn’t get to come here often because Alex told her not to bother them unless it was an emergency, but she had been here a few times. One of those times she wished she could forget. She stopped and saluted the guard, doing her best to mimic the expression a few of the Hawks had shown her.
The guard was one she knew, Zorina. The woman eyed her up slowly before looking over the trail of kids following her. When Yulia glanced back, she could see most of the kids were looking away from Zorina’s scary expression. Yulia knew the woman was nice though. She turned back to glare at Zorina for scaring her friends, but the woman had a slight smile on her face and she returned Yulia’s salute.
“Miss Kane, what brings you by today?”
“Cafeteria!” she declared proudly.
Zorina nodded and waved them through. “Cook has stew on today’s menu. Eat up.”
With head held high, she marched into the camp with her arms swinging back and forth.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Now, Yulia had been hungry before, so she knew how awful it felt, but the kids from the orphanage practically inhaled the food and went back for seconds. Nobody said they couldn’t and the cook seemed perfectly happy to serve them as much as they wanted, so she didn’t complain.
After their second bowl, the younger kids looked about ready to pass out.
“Is there a place to sleep nearby?” one of the older kids asked.
“…Um…” They had a place to stay, but that was quite a walk still. She didn’t think the younger kids would make it that far. And some of the older kids looked equally as tired.
The cook cleared his throat. “Ahem. Feel free to use the bunk tent. Everyone is on duty at the moment, so you won’t disturb anyone for at least the next six hours.”
“Thank you!” she said, hopping up from the table. “Follow me!”
Once all of the younger children were set in the cots, someone walked up beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked over and saw it was Markus.
“Hey, shrimp. Been awhile. I see you’re doing ok?”
She scowled at the nickname but nodded her head when Markus smirked at her indignation.
“You can show us around after we get some sleep. We didn’t get very good sleep on the ship.”
“Sorry,” she said.
“Why? Not your fault. Not anybody's fault.”
“Can I ask why you left Petrov Station?” She had been curious, but Alex wouldn’t tell her.
“…It doesn’t matter.”
She knew what that meant. The only time Markus didn’t like talking about something was when she asked him about pirates. Her gut churned at the realization and she felt somehow responsible because her parents had been pirates.
“You’re it.”
“Huh?” she asked, startled out of her thoughts by the words.
“I just tagged you, you’re it.” Markus smiled broadly at that before walking off.
She blinked in confusion for a moment before it hit her. “Hey! That’s not fair!”
The older boy turned around and shushed her, making her clamp her mouth shut before she yelled again. No tagging others during sleep, naps, or dinner, those were the rules. She kicked her foot against the floor and stomped out of the tent with a huff. She would find a way to be not it after everyone woke back up.
***
Alexander waited for the children to disappear out of sight before he spoke quietly to Headmaster Wong. “Do you need to eat and rest as well?”
“I’ll be fine until the children are settled. Thanks for asking though,” the man grunted as he sat at a nearby bench. “Stars above, I never thought I would be planetside.”
“You lived your entire life in space?” Alexander asked in surprise.
“My entire life aboard Petrov Station. Figured I would die there as well. I never had any need to leave. Yet here I am. I may not even be alive today to be thankful for this if it wasn’t for Captain Na. Don’t be too harsh with him, okay? The man’s had it just as rough as the rest of us for the last four months.”
“What happened exactly?”
The man shrugged tiredly. “Na might be able to answer that question better than me. I was just on his ship with the kids doing a field trip when I got asked if they would like to take a quick trip. I wanted to say no, but the kids overheard and, well, you know how kids can be. I’m glad they changed my mind. Next thing I know, Mrs. Wu is filling me in on what’s happening and we are getting ushered into the mess aboard Na’s ship and strapped in for violent maneuvering. I have never been more terrified in my life. More for the kids than myself though.”
“That’s awful.”
Wong nodded. “We survived, that’s all that matters. What happened next was even worse. We got stuck aboard his ship for over two months at some STO outpost station. They wouldn’t let the kids aboard the station at all, so they were cooped up on the ship that entire time. Then we finally left there and came here. That took another month and a half. It was like I was raising fifteen cranky toddlers all at the same time! There was nothing to keep them occupied other than me and a few videos that were age-appropriate on the holo aboard the ship.”
The man paused and breathed in deeply before coughing.
“Sorry about that, I’m working on restoring the air systems.”
Wong waved away Alexander’s concern. “I’ll take this foul-smelling air over the recycled smell of body odor aboard Na’s ship any day. I suppose I should see what the kids are getting up to, you have another guest.”
Alexander had seen Captain Na and the rest of his crew arrive, so he didn’t need Wong’s head nod to point them out. Standing beside Wong was Eva Wu. He was glad the older woman had made it off the station.
He nodded his avatar and pointed Wong in the direction of the camp. He was sure the kids were still there. Then he turned and headed for Na.
Unlike the children, Na and his crew were escorted by Travers and his team. He waited patiently for the mercenaries to complete their search. He knew they had been searched before entering the shuttles, but the Hawks liked to be thorough. Alexander could respect that.
Once they were done, Alexander approached. “Travers, can your people show them to the cafeteria? I wish to speak with Captain Na.”
“Sure thing, Alexander. Come on, follow along.”
Alexander started walking away, forcing Na to hurry over and keep pace. Once they were alone, he spoke up. “It doesn’t feel nice, does it? To have your agency stripped away from you as someone else decides what’s best for you?”
The man sighed. “No, no it does not. I’m sorry for what we put you through.”
Alexander stopped at the man’s words and turned to Na. “Apology accepted. Now, tell me what happened to Petrov station. Should I be worried?”
The man explained everything he had learned about his fellow Captains and what occurred during the coup. He went into much more detail than he had during their brief video conference.
After telling his story, he slumped onto a bench and placed his face in his hands. “I don’t even know what became of the rest of my family. Those bastards at the STO blocked every attempt we made to try and communicate. It shouldn’t be possible with Qcomms, but obviously it is. They even destroyed my ship's communication gear before we left. The only way we could communicate was by tight band laser link which only the Navy still uses. If Captain Matthews hadn’t been in a former Navy ship, I doubt he would have ever picked up our message.”
“Why do you think the STO is refusing to attack the pirates?”
“Who knows? Politics probably. Some asshole is likely up for election or reelection. Then this whole pirate uprising comes up, making them look weak. They are either trying to squash it or use it to their advantage to seem like they are cleaning up the mess out here.”
Alexander frowned at that. “That’s deplorable.”
Na snorted. “That’s the STO for you, as for your question earlier. Yeah, you probably should be. If the STO isn’t going to come down hard on the pirates, it will simply embolden the rest of them. I don’t know how many are on this side of STO space, but it probably isn’t pirate-free. I assume that was what the weapon demonstration was for?” he asked, finally removing his face from his hands and sweeping back his unruly mop of greasy hair.
Alexander realized for the first time just how unkept and tired-looking the formerly pristine-looking man was. “Something like that.”
The man simply nodded. “Thank you again for allowing us to land. T- Things were getting bad aboard the Destiny.”
“The Destiny is the name of your ship?”
“The Moonlit Destiny,” Na smiled sadly. “My father named it in honor of my mother.”
“How much time do you think your people will need to recover from this ordeal?”
“A month, at least. More if possible. But we aren’t going to be allowed back aboard my ship until your friends give it a good once over anyway.”
That was true. “I’m afraid Eden’s End doesn’t have much in the way of amenities. But what it does have is space. If any of your people need to be alone, there are plenty of places to do that. The Hawks will turn them around if they wander where they shouldn’t. So long as they don’t get into confrontations with anyone else or break any rules, they are free to do as they please while here. Just tell them to go by Petrov station rules. Those should be close enough until they learn what's acceptable or not. …I’ll see about getting messages out to their families.”
“You would do that for us?” Na asked hopefully.
“People deserve to know you and your people are still alive. Just be aware, both, Matthews and I will be reviewing any messages that go out. I don’t need the STO knocking at my door because someone on your crew decided to spill the beans about the invasion.”
“That’s more than fair. Thank you again, Alexander. I knew you were a good man after I sent Eva to speak with you. I just wish my fellow Captains had seen it. Then again, if they were involved with pirates, it explains a lot of their rash actions.”