The next morning I paced back and forth on the bridge. Everyone was healing well but that was the only bright spot. I can’t believe they even considered stealing my ship! I started implementing changes to my security aboard the ship. No one was going to take it from me. I was a thief. You didn’t steal from a thief. It was an unspoken rule.

“Bob, what level of surveillance do you have aboard the ship?” I asked.

“I’m linked to every part of the ship, Captain. My sonic sensors allow me to see and record everything that happens aboard the ship.”

“Everything? Even my quarters?”

“There is a block on my access to actively monitor or review what happens there, but it is still recorded, Captain.”

“Update those parameters, Bob. You now have permission to keep tabs on my room if anyone enters my room that isn’t me… Unless I tell you otherwise.”

“Even if you are in the room, Captain?” he asked.

“Yes.” I paused before turning back to continue my pacing. “Have our guests said anything interesting?”

“Moonbeam has cursed your name seventeen times since she woke up this morning. Athena and Viper have both requested to speak with you and Salamander has started asking me questions about the ship. Should I answer them?”

“Better not. Tell Viper I’ll see him shortly and I’ll go see Athena first. She’s the only one I trust of the bunch.”

“I told her you’re on the way, Captain.”

“Thanks. Make sure everyone gets something to eat.”

Athena was looking much better. Already the bruising on her face had gone down. It was still swollen and discolored but she could see and she only winced a little when she saw me and tried to smile.

“How’s my holy friend?” I asked, returning her smile.

“Better, but it still hurts. Please don’t make me laugh.”

“That is a hard ask. I’m a funny girl,” I said.

Her body was healing but it would take more than one night. I wasn’t sure how long yet, but her body needed to recover the blood she’d lost too. Her gut wound had started to shrink but it was going to take another day or two. Still, three or four days for a gunshot wound? That was impressive, even by Radon’s standards.

“Ginny, what happened after I passed out? I asked, um, the ship's computer?” I nodded. “But it wouldn’t tell me.”

“That’s because Moonbeam and Salamander tried to steal my ship. They are locked in similar rooms to this one with a security bot guarding the door.”

“Oh, um… I see.” She bit her lip. “Does that mean we are your prisoners now?”

“Not you. I can’t imagine you’d do something like that. Those two are confined to quarters, along with Viper. He was seriously considering it but things escalated before he decided, so unfortunately I can’t really trust him either.”

“He’s a good man,” Athena said. “I’d trust him with my life.”

“Yeah, well, I might do that too, but I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him when it comes to my ship! And he’s a big guy! Rider is still unconscious but he should be okay. Can’t say I trust him either.”

“If you don’t trust any of them, why are they still here?” Athena asked.

“They are hurt. I’m not going to drop them off somewhere while injured. I’m sorry you got shot,” I said.

Athena waved it off. “It wasn’t your fault. It’s war. It happens. Are we really on a spaceship? We all grew up with the colony ship stories, but they are just that, stories. No one really believes them. They seem too… magical.”

“What’s so hard to believe about them?”

“They said it took over a hundred years to reach the planet. For a ship to hold enough supplies for that long for so many people, it would be so huge it would be problematic to move. Then you’d need fuel to power the engines to move it on top of that, adding more weight. Just seems so unbelievable.”

“They probably used an early form of stasis and had a mule tow it up to cruising speed, that way it would only have to deal with slowing down at the destination and food would be less of a problem.” I shrugged it off. “This ship isn’t that big, but it isn’t small either. I’ll show you around once you’re feeling better.”

“Thanks, your nanobot stuff is helping a lot already.”

“That's good.” We both fell silent for a bit. I leaned toward her. “Athena, Rose, are you okay? Did they… hurt you badly?”

“How do you know my name?” she asked.

“John. Um, North Star… he was shot when you were taken. He ran and warned us and the others but he… he didn’t make it. I’m sorry.”

“No… H-how did it happen?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Gut wound, like you had but worse. It was bleeding a lot, and he couldn’t keep pressure on it. He collapsed after we got away and I…” I swallowed hard. “He died in my arms, he mentioned your name before he passed.”

“I knew him before the war. We grew up and attended school together.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

She drew in a deep breath and winced. “Yeah. Thanks for telling me.”

“Sure.”

“Hey, Ginny?” Athena said.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for helping. I knew you would.”

“I only did it because of you.”

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“What?” Athena drew back in surprise.

“When I heard you got captured, it made me angry. You were… kind to me. You had no reason to be but you showed me kindness just because. I don’t see that often and experience it even less.”

“Kindness is an easy thing,” Athena said.

“And yet it’s so rare,” I mused.

“Yes. You can only count on the kindness you bring with you. What everyone else does is on them. That’s why I always give it. If I want the world to change, I have to show it how. That’s why I always try to be kind to people.”

“You do a good job.” Our eyes met and in them, I caught a glimpse of something familiar. She hid it well but it was clear as day once I really looked. I’d missed it before. Maybe it was the torture that brought it to the surface or maybe she was just opening up more but it stopped me cold. Whatever the reason, I recognized it plain as day now. It was the same thing I saw anytime I looked in the mirror, a deep-seated pain that clings to your very soul. It marks you, some past event, or just day-to-day life that wounds you and sinks into your soul. I felt a weight settle on my shoulders as we recognized that same thing in each other.

Athena glanced away and blew out a heavy breath. “Of course I do. I’m awesome!”

I laughed and she moaned when the pain hit after trying to do the same.

“Hey, that one is on you!” I said, holding up my hands in defense as I grinned.

“That’s fair,” she said. “I’m just too funny for my own good.”

“And modest too,” I added sarcastically.

“Of course.” She nodded stoically and then grinned. It faded. “Thanks for coming after me, Ginny.”

“Sure. I repay my debts.”

“Kindness isn’t a debt that can be repaid. It can only be shared.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that profound statement so I told her to heal up and departed. I had no idea how I’d missed the deep wounds the girl hid in her past. She carried them well and her joy, kindness, and happy personality was nothing like what I’d expect from someone like, well, me. I got by on sass and good looks. Well, and my mad skills, but I didn’t really have friends.

Maybe distancing myself from others was another defensive mechanism. I risk my hide to help them and they try to steal my ship! The thought triggered another wave of anger. People were the worst. They proved that to me every day. I cursed and headed to see what Viper wanted.

The door chimed and I stepped back.

“Just a sec!” he called.

He opened the door a moment later. My eyebrows rose as I took in his bare chest, glistening with sweat. He flipped his shirt over his shoulder and gave me a cocky grin.

“Hello, Ginny. Did you need something?” he asked.

I shook myself. “Oh! Um, yeah. So, you wanted to see me?” I glanced around his room, looking everywhere but at him. There was nothing but the basics. A bed, closet, and dresser. The room was bare, as expected.

“Yeah, you got showers on this ship?”

“Yeah. Did you want to get cleaned up?”

“I do. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Okay…” I found it hard not to stare. “Do you mind putting a shirt on?”

He chuckled and his smirk widened. “Like what you see?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t falter yourself.”

He pulled his shirt on as he started talking. “So I’ve been thinking. You’ve got this big ship, that’s awesome by the way, I still can’t believe I’m in space. It’s great. I think Salamander is living the dream, even if he is a prisoner.”

“Unwanted guest,” I said.

“Right. Anyway, I noticed you have several other ships in the hangar. If you could part with one of those…”

“No.”

“Or sell it.”

“No,” I repeated.

“Rent?”

I sighed. “Was there something else you needed or was parting from my property the only thing you wanted?”

“Hey, Corinth could use a ship like this, even that one we escaped in would tip the balance away from annexation. Our resistance cell might not be able to afford to pay you, but the government could. Think about it. All the money you want, gold, silver… food? I’m just saying, we could work out some kind of deal.”

“I don’t make deals with people who try to steal from me,” I said coldly.

“Says the thief. Look, I was tempted to side with those two idiots, but I didn’t. It would be wrong, even if the ends do justify the means, which I don’t believe they do, your help would save a lot of lives. Good people like Rider and Athena. Please think about it. I mean just look at me,” he said, turning and pulling his shirt up so I could see the bullet hole. I was mostly healed. “Those nanobots removed the bullet and I’m nearly healed. It’s only been hours. Just think of all the lives that could be saved.”

“Are these the lives of ‘good’ people who steal my things? Or the lives of the politicians whose policies start wars?” I asked. “Do you think the common people and victims of this war will see any benefits if I gave you some? Your technology base is so far removed from what’s required to produce them that your nation would never be able to supply them to anyone but the elite, and probably never would even if they could get away with keeping them to themselves. Certainly not in your lifetime! I don’t plan on parking my ship in orbit here to supply you either so you can forget it.”

“Then help us advance our tech base.”

“I have no idea how to do that, besides, I don’t trust you or your people with that knowledge.”

“We’re fighting for our freedom, Ginny.”

“I don’t care what you’re fighting for.” No one ever helped me when I was struggling to survive. “I went out of my way to help you people already and you repaid me with betrayal.”

“That was Moonbeam and she’s emotional because Rider’s hurt.”

“What is Salamander’s excuse?” I demanded.

“His entire family was killed in the war. What wouldn’t you do to avenge your family?”

“My family left me on the sidewalk when I was a few weeks old. They can rot in a ditch for all I care,” I snapped. “What’s your excuse?”

“Hey, that’s unfair. I didn’t side with them,” he said.

“You thought about it. I could see it in your eyes.”

“Of course, I thought about it!” he snapped. “That’s my home down there getting overrun. What would you do to protect yours?”

“No idea. Never had one!”

“Your ship then!” he pressed.

I stiffened. That hit closer to home. I’d fight to keep it. No one was going to take it from me. I didn’t even steal it. I found it and claimed it fair and square. Just the thought of someone trying to take it from me made me bristle. I hated the thought of killing, even in self-defense I wouldn’t want to. I knew protecting myself was right. That I’d be justified but I didn’t want to live with the blood on my hands. Even if they deserved it. Still, if someone tried to take my ship I’d stop them, even if it meant killing them.

A national identity though was different. I didn’t really understand why these people didn’t just move. Their homeland was occupied by an invading force. They could just leave. Move someone else. I’d never had a home before, or a sense of pride in my country. The government was more of an enemy, as much as an entity like that could be. I’d always lived up to my name, traveling from one place to another like a gypsy.

“The answer is no.” I held up a hand to forestall his protests. “I’ll take you all back to the planet after you’re healed, and we’ll go our separate ways.”

“You’ve never been a part of something greater than yourself, have you?” he asked.

“In my experience, there are two kinds of people. Those who exploit people, and the exploited. Neither appeals to me.”

He stared at me for a long moment. “There are good people out there Ginny, communities that help each other just because it’s the right thing to do. Those are the kind of people I’m fighting for.”

“People like Athena are a rarity. I risked my life to help her and in return your people tried to steal my ship. I’m better off alone.”

He stared into my eyes. “That sounds like a lonely way to live. How do you stand it?”

“Better than getting stabbed in the back,” I said. “Besides. I’m used to it by now. I don’t need anybody else.” You can’t depend on anyone but yourself.

“I’m sorry about Moon and Sal,” he said. “I hope you find yourself a community someday. They're out there, you just have to look. Even if some of them have people like Moonbeam. We’re all human. We all make mistakes.”

“I know, and you had your chance.” I swallowed. The emptiness in my gut seemed to expand a little. I left feeling hollow and alone. I’d always been a loner, so why did I feel lonely? I tried to shake it off, but my mood was bleak the rest of the day.