When Alex had called the senior staff for dinner, he had done so to test the patience of the dragon on his ship. After two days of being on his ship there were no major medical emergencies which had brought relief, however, Alex had secretly wished there was one so he could see the young doctor under pressure and gauge out his level of expertise. From the reports the nurses have sent to him: Liyurch had untainted generosity, a passion for life, keen intelligence. All necessary qualities in his profession, however, what had angered Alex was the report from those same nurses who pointed out that some of the onboard luggage Liyurch had brought with him contained terrariums of particular insects and jars of parasites which had turned the spare storeroom into a bug house.
Alex watched the camera intently as the senior officers walked in one by one and let them be for nearly an hour now. He thought it had been long enough to see if the Dragon’s patience had worn thin and proceeded to enter the private mess. He let out a deep breath and forced his hand down on the handle to break the seal of the hatch and stepped into the Senior mess hall. Sitting around the massive genuine dark brown pine table was Major Fëderov; his stiff posture and uninterested expression spoke of how he despised being held back for seemingly no reason. Alex was certain that ever since he had set foot in the mess hall he hadn’t said two words. Sitting next to him was Milo, who unlike the Major next to him had occupied himself with a knife. When Alex walked in, Milo was in the middle of moving the knife through his fingers but his hand eye coordination was nothing to brag about. On the opposing side of the table, Lieutenant Gabby Hazaari seemed to be quite social with the dragon next to her. Liyurch, given his height, had opted to sit on his rear with his head comfortably high above the table and his tail had curled itself into a ball, his wings neatly folded close to his body as he happily spoke about his home planet. Next to him sat Junior Lieutenant Collins who, like Gabby, had taken a keen interest in listening to Liyurch discuss Draconic culture.
Their heads snapped toward Alex as they heard the sound of the seal breaking and the groan of metal as Alex pushed the door on its hinges. He took his seat at the head of the table before apologizing for the delay feigning an excuse that Admiral Valso used a Quantum Entangled signal to request a progress report.
“Liar.” Milo said suddenly.
Everybody had turned to face Milo with a perplexed expression, he folded his arm in and leaned back on his chair as he sternly looked at Alex. “Excuse me?” he said defensively.
“QE calls draw a lot of power and the shitty wiring in here can barely tolerate them. If you really were on call then half the lights on the ship would flicker.” Alex looked at the Lykan and smiled defeatedly, he knew there was no wriggle room to bullshit his way out of this.
“Alright, fine,” he scoffed. “I wanted to learn more about our guest-” said gesturing to the young dragon at the table. “So I delayed my visit to let him stew in here.”
“I see,” Liyurch chirped, raising a clawed talon. “You attempted to conduct a social experiment to see if my mental faculties would differ under certain conditions?”
Alex flicked his wrists and let out a thoughtful hmm as if to suggest it was and wasn’t the case.
“Doctor, I am hearing great things from the rest of the medical staff. However I have reservations regarding-”
“Oh yes, they are wonderful, very intelligent for humans.” Grayich interrupted. Alex maintained eye contact with the golden iris of the dragon but even he noticed the frequent glaces everyone else shot between him and Doctor Grayich.
“Doctor Grayich-“
“Oh, you can just call me Liyurch. My family does.” he interrupted once more.
“Liyurch,” Alex said, his voice mildly hinting at frustration. “Can you please explain to me why my nurses seem to think you have cages of parasites and slugs on my ship?”
In a sudden moment. the energy that clung to the air had dissipated as all eyes focused intently on the sand-coloured dragon. Curious to see how the dragon handled the accusations.
“Well, that is because I do. You see, we live in an age of advanced medicine but we neglect some of the simpler methods of healing.”
“Explain, how parasites are going to help me with a headache?” Fëderov spoke with a sarcastic tone.
“That is a very good question, Major. One of the ‘parasites’ I have is the Ranoss tapeworm.” Liyurch held his index fingers apart to demonstrate his example, almost a foot apart in length as he spoke. “Much like how ancient earth medicine involved using a tapeworm as a crude method of weight loss, so does the Ranoss tapeworm provide a benefit to the health of the host. But unlike the tapeworms of Terra, the Ranoss varieties can only eat their own mass in food from the host per twenty-four-hour cycle and can secrete a chemical compound which improves the hosts mood. Like removing any self doubt, increasing motivation, alleviates depression and aids in digestion.”
Around the table, only Liyurch had seemed even remotely excited. “I can see nobody shares my enthusiasm, look, captain, as a healer it is my duty to decide what is the best method of help my patients should receive. Sure, my methods may be unorthodox but I genuinely believe that I can use these animals as an alternative, more natural method of treatment than modern medicine.”
“What do you have for a hangover, doc?” Alex sarcastically said.
“I have just the thing.” Liyurch said not noticing the sarcasm. “Draconian Blood worms. They like to live in the circulatory system and feed off any impurities in the bloodstream.”
“Doc, are you aware that for whatever reason, your family has decided to abuse their power to dump you on us to distance themselves from you?”
“Oh I most certainly do. I am… regrettably used to being shunned by my family. I don’t know what it is about me that is different. Ever since I hatched, I always felt different; instead of fighting and wrestling amongst my siblings I was always exploring or learning about something. My dad hasn’t hid his disappointment in me for not taking a more combative role in society.”
“Because he is the Sky Marshal of the Dragon Navy?” Fëderov said.
“Because he is the Sky Marshal of the Dragon Navy, yes.”
Alex covered his face in his hands as he groaned loudly, he almost swore he was feeling physical pain from knowing. His ship was a battle cruiser and not a kindergarten for high-ranking officials to dump unwanted family members upon. He looked back up to meet the drake.
“Liyurch,” Gabby said inquisitively. “How old are you, you don’t appear to be full height for a dragon and your voice sounds like you haven’t cracked fully.”
The dragon chuckled sheepishly to himself. “Well, believe me, Lieutenant, if it were physically possible I would be blushing right now.”
“Your voice still has its high pitch to it that most children have.” Fëderov observed.
“Well… I am actually forty-nine years old, but, given our longer lifespans it still means I am a child by our standards. Not even a teenager so to speak!”
Milo spat out his water when he heard Liyurch’s answer, even Zakhar Fëderov showed visible bewilderment. Alex’s mouth was left hanging in the air, the dragon sitting at the table like a large wolf or dog breed only with scales and wings, laughed at his colleague’s reactions.
“I take it you haven't interacted with dragons much have you?” He asked with a knowing grin.
“Only adults, and it’s mostly Councillor Silure Grayich who we would interact with.” Hazaari responded.
“Well, we can always take the time to get to know one another,” Liyurch spoke positively. “Major, tell me what it is you do and some stuff about yourself.”
Fëderov sighed heavily as he spoke with his heavy accent. “I am Major Zakhar Kodiakovich Fëderov and I come from New Krasnoturyinsk, Russkaya of Terra. I command the marine company on board.”
“…Is there anything more?” Liyurch asked inquisitively.
“Nyet.”
“Your turn doc, tell us about yourself.” Alex said firmly.
“Like I said before, I am forty-nine years old and I grew up under the shadow of my father. Ever since I could walk, talk and remember things I had an interest in medicine. I currently hold a Master’s degree in Toxicology, Virology, Medical pharmacology, Chemistry, Naturopathy, Radiology and a Philosophers doctorate in General medicine. And I graduated in the top ten of my class from the Alliance Medical Academy.”
“All this and you are still a child?” Alex asked quizzically.
“Oh yes.” The dragon said with a wide toothy grin.
Alex rested his chin on his knuckles as he leaned closer with intent to listen. Liyurch had soon endeared himself to the senior staff, Alex, whilst still hesitant about having him onboard, had to admit he may have judged the dragon far too early; he seemed to be quite intelligent for his age. Liyurch, whilst unsurprised, was still shocked to hear how little other Terrans understood Draconic culture.
“Obviously one of the things that is greatly exaggerated about us is our lifespans,” Liyurch explained. “ I mean yes we age slower and our lifespans dwarf most other Terrans but we aren’t immortal. Our average age is closer to six hundred years, though I do hear a lot of rumors in the Alliance Academy about a dragon who supposedly once lived three thousand years, though I doubt it. It wouldn’t be the only absurd rumor that I heard there. I remember, for months I kept hearing talk about some ‘secret experiment’ somewhere in Omicron Eridani, apparently it was some kind of hybrid project for mixed species relationships.”
The senior officers threw glances at each other at the news. Most wore a quizzical look. “Is that even possible? I thought our species were too incompatible.” Alex inquired with a raised eyebrow.
Liyurch threw his gaze toward Alex when he spoke. “And you would be correct in your line of thinking. I even tried to pursue these rumors and…well, I am not saying there is any credibility to them but when the rumors went away, so did one of my classmates, interestingly.”
Members of the catering staff entered the room, each one holding a silver serving dish flatly on their palms before setting them down in front of each officer. Alex didn’t look up when his dish was exposed, he scanned the contents of it before he reached for a fork. The steam wafting off his vegetables all the while the smell of cooked meat with gravy traveled up his nose much to his delight. Throughout the main course, nobody spoke while they consumed their meal save for the scraping of utensils and faint noises of food consumption. Alex stared at his plate of green vegetables and slices of fish meat and methodically ate his meal. With the plates empty, the kitchen staff returned to collect them and disinfect the table. Alex was the first to speak up after the feeding. He merely asked them how their days were, but truthfully he didn’t care much.
Inside the cold CIC, Alex leaned over the holographic display table; he had adjusted the controls on the table for his own preferences. The staff that filled the room were idly sitting at their tracking stations while exchanging information to one another seemingly oblivious to their captain and senior officers in their presence. Hovering above the table a bright green replica of the Krath’let had flickered to life as the scaled down model rotated on its axis, joining him in his briefing was Clemens and Hazaari and Liyurch Grayich, simultaneously they were waiting on Major Fëderov and Commander Hammer to arrive. Clemens narrowed his eyes to study the freighter with its unusual design which consisted of a slender elongated frame that made up the front and mid sections, towards the aft which housed two large spherical tanks designed to accommodate gasses or liquids before joining to the main structure which housed the bridge, crew quarters and engine room had all been confined into the rear tower. The slender body of the Krath’let was surrounded by massive pillars that ran down the length of the ship; the top section of the fore and mid sections had an unusual geometric shape that seemed to follow no pattern or known engineering style, with closer inspection on the detailed hologram it showed that most of the fore section had been hollowed out to be filled with airtight containers. This had run down the length of the ship until it reached the base of the tower. The containers had been stacked as many as six or seven high while they were organized to allow a small path to be formed that seemed almost maze-like in between some of the containers for the crew to traverse.
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Clemens tapped on the controls on his side of the table and a display of text shimmered to light right next to the freighter but did not spin like its photonic counterpart had, Clemens studied the text as he intermittently looked back on the ship as if the dialogue had revealed something about it that could not be seen in its representation.
The doors to the CIC slid open leaving a tunnel of bright light pouring in as two silhouetted bodies walked in, the doors closed behind them as they approached the table, their forms were revealed when they got close enough for the light to hit their surfaces; Major Fëderov and Commander Hammer stood next to each other while looking at the hologram. The grizzled veteran crossed his arms as he observed the freighter while Milo had begun stroking the underside of his chin as he pondered.
“Now that we are all here it's time I told you what is going on.”
“Yes,” Fëderov said, “Can you explain why you are explaining this to us now?”
“Unfortunately, I wanted to tell you before we left Luna orbit but I am under orders not to reveal anything until we are well underway. Since we are twenty-seven hours away from exiting Jump, I decided it would be best to inform you all of what it is we are doing out here and not resting on our respective homes.”
Alex extended his arms outward to draw attention to the model of the freighter “This is the Independent merchant vessel: Krath’let” Alex continued. “Approximately seven hundred and fifty-eight point eight meters long, eighty-seven meters wide and one hundred meters tall at its highest. Onaga Class. Twenty-four days ago, this ship was last seen leaving port from an upstarting colony on the planet GF-1026/A; it's that new it hasn’t even gotten a name yet. According to all official records, this ship was hired by the local government of the colony to transport cargo to an undisclosed location near Barnard’s star.”
“According to these schematics, the freighter has engines that are capable of achieving a top speed of Jump Eight under a full load; it should have taken them almost nine days to get there.” Clemens said, looking at Alex
“You’re right Clemens, it should have, but it didn’t.” Alex replied.
“Not to question our assignment, Captain. But this sounds more like a job for the V.R.O. than us.” Gabby pointed out.
“That’s where things get interesting: After our freighter mysteriously vanished, the V.R.O had dispatched this ship.” As Alex spoke he tapped on his control panel which had produced a far smaller ship than the Krath’let glowed to life as it hung in the middle of the holographic display. Much like the freighter next to it, the ship had a sleek almost aerodynamic frame which was ruined by its aft section which consisted of three massive engines which were bigger than that of the rest of the ship. The front section sported inverted canards out of both sides of what seemed to be the cockpit of the small tug. The canards held a cylindrical apparatus underneath each wing which bore resemblance to a torpedo tube.
“The V.R.O Procyon Lotor. A typical well-equipped tug was dispatched eleven days ago out of Alpha Centauri. Upon exiting Jump the Procyon Lotor released what would be their final transmission saying they may have found the Krath’let and relayed their coordinates.”
Fëderov uncrossed his arms as he began to speak “And then this tug also went dark, right?”
“Correct. Both STARCOM and the V.R.O have ruled out engine and communication equipment failures on the Lotor. If one failed, they would have returned to port by now or sent a message indicating their troubles. If they suffered both then they should have fixed it by now”
“What about pirates?” Milo said with an eyebrow raised. He maintained his crossed arms against his chest as though he was barely interested in what was being said. But Alex had known him long enough to know his friend’s tell.
Alex shook his head with his eyes closed. “STARCOM has considered that a possibility, however there has been no recorded pirate activity in the region for over a decade now. If pirates were responsible for the Krath’let then why attack a defenseless tug when you got a fat, juicy target like the Krath’let to raid?”
“So what is our plan, sir?” Said Milo sternly.
Alex pressed a button on his controls to enable the ultrasonic sensors in the table, when Alex reached out with his arms and parted them away from each other, the holographic frigate had grown in size almost seemingly to occupy the entire CIC with its light green form, however its depiction ended at the table’s dimensions and only a small portion of it now existed within the confines of its display. With steady manipulations of his hands, Alex brought the hologram to display a shallow circular protrusion extending out of the ship.
“The plan is this: Once we have located the Krath’let we will begin broadcasting our presence to them, if they do not respond we go to the second phase which is Major Fëderov preparing two teams of marines, along with some of your engineering staff to board the ship. Clemens will bring us into the Portside airlock and we can extend our umbilical tube for insertion and begin a deck-by-deck search while our engineers will head for the engine room and try to fix whatever may need fixing.”
“I can spare ten engineers for this; I’ll draw up the roster later.” Milo stated.
“Whilst the marines and engineers are on the Krath’let, the Phoenix will then disembark before departing to begin searching for the Procyon Lotor and keep an eye out for any pirate activity. Okay, any questions before I adjourn this briefing?” Alex concluded. He let the question hang in there as he scanned the individual faces of each of his senior officers. When none of them spoke up Alex pushed himself off the table.
“Good, briefing adjourned.” Alex said.
The Senior officers left the hologram table and walked together on their way out of the CIC before going their separate ways. Alex stayed behind to turn off the hologram display. As he watched the holo-emitters power down and with it letting the holographic models of the two ships slowly flicker until it was snuffed out of existence. It left Alex to ponder over possible scenario outcomes, wondering if this was truly a trap. Once he had sat back down behind his desk In his office he had been glossing over the status reports submitted to him but in reality, Alex hadn’t actually read any of them properly for in his mind he kept thinking whether or not this was an elaborate trap.
He thought back to his earlier days when he was still a young Ensign, fresh out of the academy. Ambitious, eager to please, full of bright ideas. Alex chuckled at how naïve he used to be back then on his time aboard the Royal Sovereign, a Maelstrom-Class Destroyer he got the honor of being a part of its first crew. Always eager to please his superior officers just like every other freshly minted cadet with an ounce of ambition. He thought back to his time aboard the Royal Sovereign when they thought they were responding to a distress call from an Apollo-Class hospital ship that had been hit by a solar flare and incapacitated in the Epsilon Eridani system. He recalled how he was resting in his claustrophobic bunk when suddenly the lights in his room transitioned to a baleful shade of red followed by the voice of Captain Delli ordering all hands-on deck for a rescue operation. Alex rushed to put his suit on but in the struggle he had clumsily blocked the only way out of the room while his fully suited up bunkmates barked at him to hurry up so they could leave and attend their stations when without warning a violent shake had sent all three men and woman colliding with the wall. In their frenzy to leave and get to their stations they hadn’t noticed that their Lykan comrade had slammed against the bulkhead with such force that his skull had cracked open, smearing his blood on the wall… A fact that they found out too late when things had settled down. Alex was stationed on the bridge as a gunnery officer, however his arrival was only met with the deaths of almost half the bridge crew including the first officer and Captain. Several consoles had erupted into flames, many of the glass pane windows on the bridge had their blast shields down while another few had cracks along the glass. In the ensuing chaos, Alex abandoned his station and took over as acting captain, nobody complained or questioned why a young inexperienced officer was now in charge, they just wanted somebody to command. Pirates with anti-alliance sentiments had faked the distress call and deployed mines to lock on to the ship when it had exited jump, Alex was able to get a distress signal sent out before their communications equipment was destroyed and narrowly fought off the pirates long enough for two neighboring destroyers to receive the distress call and rush to assist.
Alex’s thoughts turned back to how he barely managed to escape death when he was younger and now, he was about to embark on a mission that may turn out the same way. A glimmer of hope in the back of his mind tried to reach out to the forefront of his conscience to reassure him that there were no recent indications of pirate activity in the supposed region of the freighter, but that didn’t stop the fears from creeping in of how he could end up like Captain Delli. Limply flat on the ground, half his face burnt off and bits of glass and metal shrapnel perforating what remains of his body leaving dark red blood to stain his uniform. Blankly staring out the bridge. He closed the terminal on his desk as he began to wander aimlessly around his office, thoughts about his demise plagued his conscience as he curiously explored the idea of what would happen to his possessions and who shall inherit everything he owns.
Finally Alex had pushed the morbidly curious thoughts that had occupied his mind far enough to give him the motivation to go back to his desk. He let out a sigh as he sat down on his chair and opened up a communication channel to the galley and asked for them to brew him some green tea with mint and have it brought to his office. During his wait, he worked on writing up his reports that were going to be submitted to STARCOM once they left Jump. He had only written up the first page when a knock on the hatch caught his attention and a young satyr from the Hospitality department walked in holding a cup of tea. Even from the hatchway, Alex caught a whiff of the minty scent in it from his desk, he stood up and closed the gap between the two of them so he could graciously take the cup from her. He looked down at her name and saw Yeoman H. Lake. He thanked her and she proceeded to walk back out the way she came in.
The cup had a rubber grip on the center of the cylinder which Alex held with both his hands. The steam from the water gently danced upward and away almost entrancingly like the ghost of a flame. He brought his lips onto the rim and tilted the cup ever so slightly to sip on it but he was not prepared for the intense searing heat that the water held, it burnt his tongue and seared his taste buds till they went numb before he moaned in pain and instinctively opened his mouth to spit the liquid back into the cup, he sat it down on his desk and continued his report. Inside his mouth he rolled his tongue against the back of his teeth to see if the sensation of touch still remained. He was mildly disappointed at how numb the top of his tongue was now.
“Captain Rowan we have an incoming QE signal coming direct from STARCOM” Hazaari’s voice suddenly announced. It caught Alex off-guard for a moment.
He opened a channel to Hazaari “Thank you Lieutenant, route it to my wall monitor.”
The black rectangular monolith on the opposing side of the office came alive with the dark blue background and rotating logo of STARCOM before Admiral Valso materialized before him wearing his full crisp uniform and cap. Alex saluted him and Valso returned the salute promptly.
“Sir, I was just in the middle of writing my progress report, what can I do for you?”
“Captain Rowan, is this channel secure?” he said with a sullen expression.
Alex looked puzzled before answering. “I can put my office down on Black mode if that is what you mean?”
“Please do so, Rowan. Listen to me carefully, once you are in Black Mode I will be transferring you to Councillor Silure Grayich, he wishes to speak to you directly.”
Alex nodded with a raised eyebrow. “Of course, sir.”
He walked back towards his desk and tapped away at the keyboard panel and engaged black mode, the glass that showed the vast and wonderful colours of light outside his office quickly became a panel of pure black that seemed to attract light and not reflect the bright displays inside the room before a secondary layer closed in by a blast proof bulkhead. In the ceiling above were sounds of vents sealing themselves shut leaving no possible trace of a sound leaving from his room. Alex walked back in front of his display to see Admiral Valso had once again been replaced by the shield logo of STARCOM with Transferring call… in bright blue text.
After a solid minute of seeing the text in bright blue and the STARCOM logo perform its fourth cycle rotating before it dissolved into an image of an ancient dragon diplomat sitting on his haunches and his wings tightly folded into his body. Its scales were of a dull dark gray colour while its belly scutes contrasted with a fiery red colour. The set of horns on the reptile's head had ornate patterns intricately etched onto them which even the wall monitor was able to capture in its clarity. On the wrists of his forelimbs were gold bangles and bracelets with small jewelry attached. But the most stunning feature of it all was the piercing gold eyes that seemed to peer into Alex’s soul even from the vast stretches of space that separates the two individuals.
“Captain Rowan, are we talking in privacy?” Silure spoke. His voice grumbled softly as he spoke with excellent articulation.
Alex breathed deeply. “Yes sir, we are. Black Mode is engaged. Nobody but us.”
“Good, when we are finished you may only speak of this to your most trusted advisor on your vessel and only in great confidence for what I am about to tell you must not leave our mouths.” Alex furrowed his brows and sighed deeply as he stared down the barrel of the reptilian diplomat with a stern disposition. Subconsciously he had spread his feet at shoulder length and joined his hands behind his back as he listened to the Councilor. The dragon took a deep breath before finally opening its large jaw to speak.
…
Alex’s face had twisted itself into grim determination leaving his blood to boil and a mental landscape with no room for error. His heart throbbed and pounded in his chest and his restraint to hide it had transitioned itself to let him walk faster with purpose; he would have collided with the doors if they hadn’t opened up for him. His long strides carried him with great haste through the CIC and into the bridge.
“Midshipman Clemens;” Alex barked. “ how long until we enter Real-space?”
Zachary Clemens turned around to face Alex, locking his bright green eyes with his captain’s “I estimate about ten more minutes, sir.”
“As you were,” he said sternly.
Alex slumped into the chair and tapped on the controls on the armrest, a small screen popped out of the arm rest and Alex accessed the ships armaments. He tapped the ‘Torpedoes’ tab and it displayed a list of type and number of torpedoes for each type which Alex kept swiping the screen through the many different types of armaments One in particular caught his eye “CX-75 Atomic torpedo L-Y” Promptly, he tapped on it and a schematic appeared that had slowly disassembled the torpedo and displayed all parts in a spherical pattern. At the center of the sphere of parts was the warhead, shaped like a thermos inconspicuously hidden in the primary casing. Alex zoomed in on the warhead and pulled up the specifications of the device.
Low yield, only two kilotons, a few of these targeting specific regions might cover enough ground. Alex thought to himself.
He stood up again and this time went directly into the CIC and looked around until he found an officer at his station. Alex slowly crept from behind the Warrant Officer, a Lycan with light brown fur who had been closely observing his monitor seemingly unaware of his captain behind him until Alex had gently tapped his shoulder. When he rotated on his chair he tensed up at the sight of Alex.
“Relax, uhhm…” Alex stuttered as he tilted his head to catch the name of the officer on his shirt. “Officer Bellin. I understand you are a Missileer, correct?”
“In combat I am, yes. Right now, I am working on adjusting the targeting system.”
Alex leaned in close to the Lycan, close enough that he could almost pick up his scent with hints of the body spray he used this morning. “Listen to me closely, Officer.” Alex softly said. “I want you to prepare the fore torpedo tubes, one through four with CX-75 torpedoes and be ready to fire when I give the order. And I want you to keep quiet about it, is that understood?”
The young Lycan nervously nodded his head. “Sir, why do you need that much fire power for a rescue op?”
Alex pushed himself off the chair and stood tall above Bellin “Hopefully we won’t need them. Remember… not a word to anyone.”
He swung on his heel and walked back to the bridge. Shortly after he had sat down, Clemens announced the ship's departure in two minutes. Alex set the automatic announcement which had replaced the lighting with warning lights and a buzzer had sounded off. Alex had tightened the belt straps after he clicked them into the central buckle. Clemens counted the last ten seconds, once he had reached zero the view in front of him had leaked blackness into the tunnel of light until nothing but the familiar blackness of space surrounded them, A wave of green and light blue mist shot off from the hull before disappearing into the void. In the distance a small star no larger than the size of a grain of sand with a faint glow being emitted from a than those around it. Alex tensed up when the ship exited Jump space and the inertia pulled him forward tenderly, however he kept his wits when he didn’t see anything but the emptiness around him.
“Alright,” he said confidently. “Let's find these people.”