Stephan walked up the gangplank and met his crew. “We’ve got some drifters riding with us for now. My siblings and another guy. He’s the brother of the wounded girl who is our target. She holds the crystal. Kiera, she needs your healing aid as she was wounded with a serrated blade.”

“Yes, Captain,” said Kiera. She gathered Zen in her arms and walked to the med bay of the ship bypassing Val and Marek who were reclining on a couch in the common room. The ship was larger than it looked on the inside with two hallways and several rooms. Kiera headed for the largest room on the right side. It was well equipped with med beds and all sorts of medical equipment. From heart monitors to scanners of all sorts.

“Nice room,” Isaias muttered following Stephan through the room. Stephan laid Zen on a bed. Kiera was busy injecting a pain reliever into Zen’s bloodstream. Isaias watched as Kiera’s eyes became lights and she lifted Zen’s shirt exposing her wound to the open. The patch had fallen to the side and fresh blood was slowly leaking in places where her shirt had been torn from her wound.

Kiera pressed the two pieces of shredded skin together and hummed softly before shaking her head. “I’m going to have to cut her deeper and get clean skin to knit together. This skin is too jagged to piece together.”

Stephan winced. “That’s kind of brutal Kiera.”

Kiera looked up and cocked her head. “Would you rather she bled to death? My sensors tell me the blade nicked a major artery. She won’t stop bleeding till she’s dry.”

Isaias' gaze left Zen’s colorless form and he nodded. “Do it.”

Kiera grinned and her arm pulled back transforming into a blade. She swiftly cut a deeper cleaner slice into Zen’s side. Zen let out a small groan of pain, and the blood gushed out of the wound. Kiera paused to knit an artery back into one piece Then the arm turned into a stapling gun. Even Isaias winced at that. This is going to hurt like a bitch! I’m sorry Zen. This shouldn’t be happening to you! Damn it! He squeezed his fists until his knuckles were white. Marco came over to him and grasped his hands which by now had little moon-shaped slivers cut deep in the palms.

“She’s strong Isaias. She can take a stapling gun to the side.”

“Not without screaming the ship down Marco, so I’d cover your ears…Now!”

The first staple went in and a loud screech broke through the ship.

“Dang! She’s loud,” whined Marek from the common room.

The staple gun went down again.

Another scream and another..Then she resumed stapling until all twenty-one staples were in and Zen’s throat was hoarse from screaming.

Kiera sighed and her arm returned to normal.“She’ll rest for a few hours and be good as new. Those staples are biodegradable and will melt off when the wound heals. I knitted the artery back perfectly so there should be no internal bleeding.”

“Thank you Kiera that was..” began Stephan.

The ship suddenly tilted on its axis knocking almost everyone for a spin.

“What the hell was that!” yelled Stephan as he ran for the pilot room.

“How should I know Stephan? You’re supposed to be the pilot!” Marek replied “Bringing it up on the screen,” he said touching a yellow symbol on the big screen in front of him.

A sleek black craft was seen floating next to the ship, its thrusters burning lightly. It was hovering. Stephan walked over to the intercom system and buzzed them.

“This is Captain Stephan Marquez of the SMVK. You do know that you have just rammed us, right?”

“Give up the girl!”

Stephan scoffs. “Edline is not your property assassins!”

“We don’t care for the small spark. We care for the one who beat Yolinda. She carries something of interest to us.”

Isaias’s eyes widened. “They know about the crystal! That snake Yolinda must have told them!”

“She must have noticed it during the fight. That’s the only explanation.” Marco said.

Stephan turned to them. “Are you saying that the General Alliance of Assassins knows about the crystal!”

“They must have, otherwise they wouldn’t be after us would they, Pirate?” Isaias said.

Stephan bowed his head and pinched his nose. He commed the other ship.

“How did you come by this information?”.

“A little Shadow we tortured. It was awful hard to get it out of him but having a Traveler to rip out his thoughts and memories was helpful. We recognized the gem for what it was.”

Both Marco and Stephan winced at the idea of tearing thoughts out of someone. Both had done it, and it left the victim little more than a vegetable for a few hours up to days, depending on how it was done.

Marco couldn’t help but pity Shadow. He had helped them and in return was abused by the GAA.

Stephan smirked.“Be advised this is a GC vessel and you’re messing with the wrong crew.”

“We’re the GAA kid. We break the rules for our convenience. Now hand over the girl or…”

The loud whirring and clanging of machine guns being amassed were heard throughout the ship.

Marek whistled. “That’s not good.”

Kiera glared at Marek. “Thank you, Captain Obvious. What are we going to do about it?”

Stephan grabbed the pilot chair and undid the automatic flight pilot by overriding it. Marek grabbed the copilot seat, reading a complicated comp.

“All our systems are at max capacity Captain. We can outdo them if we head for this space.” He pointed to a light blue space on the map.

“That’s New Arctica.”

“It’s our best bet to rid us of them.”

Stephan grinned and grabbed the steering mechanism. Let’s rock this joint. Everyone hold on! Kiera make sure our patient survives this!”

Kiera saluted and headed back to the med room where Zen rested.

Stephan pressed the accelerator and shifted gears.

They flashed off.

Val whooped while Marek read out from the colored screen.

“We have a tail,” he said focusing on the red dot following them.

“I’ll lose them, hold on!” said Stephan.

The ship accelerated through the air. The other ship tailing behind them. A rain of rapid fire flew down on them and shook the ship. Kiera kept a strong hold on Zen so that the movement couldn’t jar her. “The sedative should keep her under for a few hours,” she murmured checking on the earlier stitches she gave. “All is in order. Now it’s up to Stephan not to kill us!”

“I can hear you K!”

“Good! Don’t crash! I can’t put everyone back together! I have set limits too!”

Val turned to Kiera. “Aww but K aren’t you a medical droid?”

Kiera flipped him the bird and Val laughed.

Isaias grinned and approached the bed where Zen was lying.

The ship leaned on its side and he went stumbling backward into Marco who wasn’t much better. The only one in their group enjoying the ride was Edline who was whooping from her seat on a med bed beside Zen. Electricity was running lightly through her skin.

He could see tendrils of the stuff leaping from the med bed and holding her to it.

So that’s how she’s hanging on.

Just as Isaias managed to stand upright, the ship dipped in the other direction so it's now him under Marco.

“Marco? Buddy? You are kinda heavy dude!”

“Complain to my brother who’s driving like a drunkard!”

“He’s only trying to…whoa!”

Isaias rolled and now he was on top of a blushing Marco. He lifted his arms up to hold his weight off Marco. His face is inches away from his.

“Um!”

Marco blushed.

The ship did a full roll and both ended up front first beside each other. Isaias raised a hand to where his head banged against the metal of the floor.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Could you fly a little smoother,” he screamed as he sat up. Marco rubbed his back. The ship tilted again and Marco ported them to the very back of the ship where there were footholds. He snapped his feet in place and Isaias did the same with his then looked for something to hold on to. A metal handhold was poking from the roof. He held one end. Marco held the other. This time when the ship tilted he leaned into the tilt like a surfer. Val looked over at them and laughed.

“You get used to it,” he said.

Isaias grumbles. “You shouldn’t have to!”

Marco chuckled while Val just grinned and kept sitting on the sofa, legs outstretched, arms behind his head. Not one hair was out of place.

Isaias was jealous of this as he hung for dear life when the ship went into a tailspin.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” muttered Marco as the ship began to rise, rise, rise then with a jerk begin to plummet fast. It gained momentum. Then it flattened and began flying again jerking him in the motion.

“I wish my baby brother would lose these guys already!”

“You and me both,” muttered Isaias feeling a little sick himself.

Val flipped upside down on the couch. “The stars have a long journey.”

Isaias blinked and looked at Marco who shrugged. He turned back to Val. “Dude, I understood zip of what you just said.”

“This isn’t the norm.”

Isaias sighed. “Better.”

Val grinned and straightened on his couch just as the ship began rising again.

###

Kiera sighed as her mechanical arms caught the expensive lamp that had rolled off the desk on the far wall. She couldn’t move and risk the girl from jarring her stitches. She was holding onto her while the ship bucked and rolled their pursuers off. Except these pursuers are persistent in their hounding.

She made sure not to bruise or jar the girl and walked around her to pick up some of the things that had fallen. Just another day for the SMVK although I have a feeling, things are going to get much more amusing from here.

###

Up front, Stephan was leading the ship into a twirl. Marek was looking slightly green by this point and even he was starting to feel the dips and twists.

“What about the smog clouds of New Arctica?” Marek pointed to a hazy grey area. “This ship is the same color gray. We can lose them in the fog as long as you fly steady…please fly steady.”

“Fine Marek. Even I’m starting to feel the cartwheels here!” said Stephan.

Marek nodded and pointed to the grey area. “It’s about 30 meters north…turn us around S we’re headed east right now.”

“We are?”

Marek hit Stephan’s head. “How are you even flying with how bad at directions you are is a mystery to me. Head North…no that’s South…North idiot! Follow the computer!”

“I am! It’s not telling me anything!” Shouted Stephan.

Marek turned and stared at the comp screen before sighing and spinning it around. ”You had it backward, moron! No wonder you were heading South!”

A little red dot signaled the arrival of their tail.

“Hey, I fly by intuition! Hold on this guy is back!”

Stephan accelerated and pulled the gear shift, shifting gears to go faster. In minutes, they reached the smog clouds above New Artica’s industrial workspace. The clouds were so heavy it became hard steering the ship. As they counted on, their pursuer lost them in the clouds. What they didn’t count on was the sudden ricocheting of bullets off their hull.

“Echolocation? Seriously?” Stephan asked perplexed.

“You’ve got to admit it was smart. Engaging shields now. That’ll limit some of the ricochets hopefully enough to get away,” said Marek.

Stephan's eyes searched through the fog for a long pipe or anything metal. He found one not so far off and grinned.

“I got an idea. Go weapon’s hot.”

Marek touched a glowing green figure to the left of the wing.

“Going weapons hot. Mind telling me the plan?”

“I’m going to shoot my own round of ricochets at that metal pipe.” He pointed to a steel pipe a few meters away. “when they shoot at us again and trick them into thinking we are over there. Then blasting us away from here at light speed. The trick is to fire when they fire,” said Stephan.

“I got it covered,” said Marek as his silver eyes glowed. His vision expanded until he could see their tail’s exact location. Marek watched as he focused his finger on the weapon icon.

“Three...two…..one...Now,” he shouted as their assailant pressed the icon button and shot at them.

Stephan pressed the green glowing icon and the guns on the wings fired off a ricochet of bullets as a mass of bullets hit them. Stephan grinned and pressed a small blue button beside the comp as soon as the little red dot began to move.

“Here we go!” He whooped.

The ship disappeared into hyperdrive.

Isaias and Marco felt a pull on their navel and then a feeling of being pulled through a straw.

“My brother’s engaged in hyperdrive!”

“Why didn’t he do that in the first place instead of cartwheeling around!”

Val turned upside down on the couch. “It wastes precious fuel pods whenever we engage in hyperdrive. Those things don’t come cheap you know.”

“Doesn’t the GC pay for it?”

Val shrugged. “Depends on the occasion and what caused the use. Getting away from the GAA due to the crystal, that’s a good reason I suppose.” Then he turned back to face the front.

Isaias and Marco hung onto the handhold as the whole ship shook from the force of the hyperdrive. Things were floating from their places on shelves due to the almost gravity-less hold the sky had on the ship, then a sudden halt, and everything crashed to the ground. Isaias was almost thrown out of his foothold head first. As it was his knees crumbled and he fell face-first to the ground.

“Ouch! Damn, pirate!”

Marco laughed at his partner’s bad landing. “You can teleport like a pro, but you can’t space jump?”

“Bite me, Marco! Porting is way easier than this! I felt like I was being squeezed through a straw right now!”

Val tipped over slightly. “The unfortunate side effects of a hyper jump. I also felt the squeeze. It is quite unpleasant.”

Isaias slowly stood. “I’m not unbuckling till I know it’s safe to do so. Your brother is one scary flyer!”

“He’s always been a little hyperactive,” said Marco.

Isaias grabbed hold of the handhold and turned to Marco. “He took us into hyperdrive without being in space. I say that’s beyond hyperactive and straight into stupidity.”

“I never said he wasn’t dumb.”

Val snickered. “Stephan is full of effrontery, unlike the rest of us. That’s why he’s the Captain.”

“Huh?”Isaias asked.

“He’s bold,” Val replied

“Just say that first!”Isaias shouted.

“Not my jam,” Val said smirking

Isaias blinked. “But you can say something like that,” Isaias said

“Opportune moments are like the stars,” Val replied.

“And we’re back to the confusing sayings,” Isaias muttered.

Val grinned. “It is not confusing to my companions.” Then he stood from the couch to join Marek who was slamming his fist over Stephan’s head.

Isaias turned to Marco who was grinning. “Did he just tell me off?”

“I believe he was saying you were not one of his companions and yes he was telling you off. I would have too, you know,” said Marek

“He was confusing me! I didn’t mean to make him feel bad or anything.”

“You should say that to him not me.”

Isaias shrugged. “I’ll apologize later. He’s with his boyfriend right now.”

Marco paled slightly.

Isaias's eyes narrowed. “are you homophobic Marco?”

Marco didn’t answer and that was answer enough for Isaias.

“I guess that’s my answer,” muttered Isaias.

Marco glared. “I don’t have to share my entire life with you!”

Isais bent over and undid his foot restraints, stepping out of the footholds and shook his legs. “At least the cartwheels are over. I’m going to check on Zen.”

He walked to the back of the ship leaving Marco alone.

###

She blinked as the lights shone on her face. Where am I? How did I get here? Where is here? She tried to get up but something heavy had her tied to the bed. What is this!

“Don’t move around too much or I’ll have to staple you again. You don’t want that now do you miss?”

Zen looks into large round eyes cut by shards of sand brown in between their slightly sienna brown irises. Did that sword user capture me? What about Edline! What!

“Easy there, hermanita! You’re safe…well as safe as you can be with pirates anyway.”

She looked over to find Isaias and beside him was standing Marco. But where is?

“Zen! You’re awake!”

“E-Edline.”

The little girl wore a sand-colored shirt and brown pants that were shrunk to her size. She still wore the small sandals and yellow ribbon in her hair. She glanced at Isaias who was wearing the same outfit he was wearing before the crystal jump. Marco was also dressed in his Guerrero uniform. No adornments. Their faces though were healed. I remember them having a lot of scuff marks from their fights. The fights! I must have won but…I was injured…I remember now. I fainted.

“H-how long?”

Into her mouth went a small ice chip and she took the cool refreshment swirling it around with her tongue. It soothed her throat.

“You mean how long were you out? Give or take two days. We are currently in China,” said Stephan.

She looked at the speaker noticing his mountain lake blue eyes.

“So it’s you that’s rescued me huh.”

Stephan grins. “We do keep running into each other.”

“You’re really not a High-class brat, are you?”

“I can be.”

Zen yawned, her eyes slowly closing again.

“It’s the pain shot I gave her earlier. It’s still in effect. I suggest we let her sleep it off. My calculations state she should be out for a while yet, enough for her wound to have healed enough to move by then.” said Kiera.

Marek stood. “So, what are we going to do now? Our fuel pods are running on empty. We have enough to reach our base and refuel, so I guess we’ll just cruise you home.”

Isaias shrugged. “We did promise to stick with you to the GC, but our mother will be worried about us.”

Stephan looked over at a sleeping Zen.

He pointed his thumb at her. “She needs time to recuperate before we take you to see the GC, so I guess we’ll cruise you guys home as long as you stay there this time!”

“No promises there. Zen is the Negotiator of the familia and I’m a Guerrero. We’re always moving about despite our mom’s wishes. We have jobs to do within the hierarchy of the familia.”

“The General Alliance of Assassins is after you now because of the crystal. They’ll probably send somebody after it. It’s imperative it stays safe.”

Isaias nodded. “Don’t worry, as long as Zen is wearing the crystal, it will be kept safe. You have my word.”

“The words of a gangster aren’t much.”

“Neither are those of pirates!”

Stephan grins. “Then we are agreed— no moving till we can get the crystal to GC.”

Isaias sighed. “I said we’ll try. Zen and I are part of a hierarchy and it doesn’t help that we are Low caste. Whatever they say we do but how about this? I’ll send an immediate message to you guys of where we are going so you’ll know where to pick us up from ... hopefully not from anything as severe as before.”

Stephan held out his hand and Isaias shook it.

“Deal.”

Neither noticed Zen’s eyes rolling.

Men.