"Please?"

"No."

"Please~?"

"No."

"Pretty please~?"

Hope sighed, turning to Alex, "As much as I sympathise with wanting to smash some space debris... This shuttle will crumple. No."

"I will calculate the safes angles to ram from, I promise."

Laura smirked, "Now you know how me and John feel, with you taking your joy rides."

"A joy ride in a single seat mining tank and a joy ride in a lumbering shuttle are two different things!"

Dr Elune giggled as they watched the bickering back and forth, before returning to the book that was occupying their time.

Francis groaned as he climbed up the ladder, "We there yet?"

Alex tilted their head in confusion as Dr Elune rolled their eyes, "Long time since I've heard that one. And the answer is 'almost'. Thi shuttle is pretty fast... But I would rather not be ground to dust by the space debris around here."

Hope nodded with a grin, "Beautiful views out here, but next to no light, ages away from the trade belt, and hazardous to fly through. We would have been there in a matter of hours if this thing could safely go full speed."

Alex smirked as they nudged the control panel slightly, "I have been piloting well enough... Hook me up, and we might be able to do it."

Dr Elune threw a small cushion at Alex's chair, "Not you too... We have only been gone a few days. You can wait one more."

Alex grinned sheepishly as Hope piped up, "You know, if we had a more reliable power source.. You could look into shielding."

Ren glanced up from his screen, trying to research a little while he could, "I will make sure to ask around. Now, shush. We have extra fuel... You can spare a little on some sims."

"Nuh-uh. We need to ween Alex off those." Dr Elune sighed, "The moment we leave this planet's orbit, Alex would go nuts from boredom."

"Heh, an android with space madness... That would be a sight to see."

"Um, doctor... Is space madness actually a thing?"

"Hmm?" Dr Elune looked up from their book once more, before glancing down in resignation, putting the bookmark in place, "Oh, yeah. Pretty common, actually. You need to be tested for it to be allowed out of a haven, except for specialised transports."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Alex gulped quietly, "Oh. That sounds rather... Unpleasant."

Dr Elune nodded, "Yup. Boredom and near-isolation will drive a person insane, over time... Literally. So, we aren't letting you past the fourth haven till you can pass the test."

Alex nodded repeatedly, before meekly and quietly turning back to the control consol. Hope and Laura both did their best to hide tiny giggles, as Dr Elune calmly returned to reading, humming merrily. Space madness wasn't unheard of... But it was easily suppressed, most of the time.

Alex glanced up from the consol, and pointe ahead, "Hey, Hope... Is that it?"

Hope nodded with a sigh, "Ah, sweet haven... How I have missed you. Yeah, that is it. Will be another hour or two before we land, though. And docking proceedures are probably going to be troublesome..."

Ren glanced up, frowning... "We should have heard from my friends by now. It seems we are ahead of schedule... The comms are set up on the right frequency, yes?"

Alex nodded, "Yes, we have been pinging our location as is standard, with setting as agreed so they could recognise us. When would they be expecting us, exactly?"

Ren glanced at his screen, "Oh, uh... Tomorrow. That might be it. I'll send them a head's up..." Tapping away as he looked back down, Ren shook his head in wonder.

Hope, on the other hand, puffed out her chest proudly, "Hey, we might need to slow down for safety... But I am pretty good. We can always slow down, cruise along at orbit for a while."

Ren shook his head, "No, all good. I just got a response, the plan has moved to meet us at the haven directly... Should be fine."

Shrugging, Dr Elune got up with a groan, "I will go and neaten my things, then. Once we touch down, there is no telling how long the, ah, formalities will keep us busy. Any of you want something while I am up?"

"An escape pod?"

"Very funny. Back in a bit."

As the doctor walked down to the living quarters, they took a deep breath... It has been a long time. Let's see how the big cities feel now, after over a decade of station life.