Gavin turned and waved at the girl, gesturing for her to come over. She tentatively walked over to his seat, looking around. “Can you show us where to go.” He asked then pointed at all of them and then out the cockpit and shrugged his shoulders. The girl said a few things while looking outside but he wasn’t sure she understood. They were heading downhill and the ground was getting rougher with large rocks he had to maneuver around. There was a flat valley filled with sand dunes ahead of them which ran up to the base of some rugged looking cliffs. She hesitated, then pointed off to the left so Gavin turned that direction. As they were traveling, he wanted to ask about a few things he had been wondering about for a while. “It’s nice that I can finally talk to you. My name is Gavin Mathews by the way. What is your name?”
“My name is Lieutenant Ivers.” The pilot girl replied curtly. “Don’t you have a first name?” Gavin asked, glancing her way. “I don’t believe we are on a first name basis.” She huffed, not looking at him. “Hmm, in that case I’ll call you Ivy.” He said, smiling. “What, why would you call me that?” She asked, whipping her head around to glare at him. “I think it’s a cute nickname for you?” He replied, grinning wider. “Whatever, there’s nothing cute about me though.” She said softly, turning back around. Gavin still heard her and it looked like her cheeks had gotten red. Definitely cute he thought to himself.
“Anyway, explain how you ended up in the Talon?” Ivy demanded, pretending to be busy at the controls. Gavin told Ivy what he had seen and how he had climbed inside to see if anyone needed help and then had gotten transported along with the mech. “We should have automatically returned home if there was an accident. The power surge must have fried the navigational computer.” She concluded. “Is there any way to go back where we came from?” Gavin asked hopefully. “I need to inspect all the damage first, which will take time.” Ivy answered looking around the cockpit at the loose wiring and broken machines.
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“Fair enough.” He sighed. “I was also wondering if this so called AI you injected me with will allow me to speak other languages or do we have to learn the hard way? It’s great we’ll be able to understand them but if we can’t speak the language it’ll be difficult.” Gavin asked, scratching his head and looking at the girl standing next to him who was puzzled at their conversation. “Once things have settled down and we are able to rest, the AI will teach us while we sleep. After a couple nights we should be able to speak their language no problem.” Ivy replied, also looking at the confused girl. She noticed the attention they were giving her and started talking but of course neither of them could understand her yet.
Soon they reached the cliffs and he looked to the girl for more directions. It didn’t seem like they were being followed yet but it was only a matter of time. She pointed to the left again so he continued along the cliff face. In the distance he could see a dark opening in the cliff wall which must be their destination. It was a large cave, easily big enough to fit the mech. He slowly maneuvered into the cavern and Ivy turned on the exterior lights. The lights illuminated a rocky passage that ran into the distance. There was only one way to go so he followed the passage.
”So why did you come to my world in the first place or are you from the future?” Gavin asked curiously. “I’m no time traveler.” The girl laughed. “I’m a test pilot. The Talon is an experimental machine meant for exploration. Its jump drive is capable of instant transportation to random worlds.” She explained proudly. “Wow, that is impressive. We barely made it to the moon so far.” He said, impressed. The girl went back to check on her injured friend as they traveled down the tunnel. He didn’t know how long the tunnel was but it must come out somewhere since the girl led them there. He just hoped it was somewhere a little safer.