CHAPTER TWO

It takes emergency services all of two hours to notice us, and send someone out to get us. Our ship gets pulled into the attached shipyard, and a couple militia officers pull up in a shuttle to the cargo bay airlock to pick us up. Inside the shuttle one of the officers asks us our side of what happened. I explain to him that our Father activated Red Alert from the bridge while we were down in the Recreation area. Something happened while we were on the way, and the whole front of the ship was destroyed, along with our father, and all of our personal possessions. I go on to explain that I pulled up a tactical display, showing a hostile ship approaching a third ship. That I then fired missiles at the enemy ship, one destroying the engine, and the other hitting a missile coming out of the hostile ship's front launcher. And how that killed the pirate because of the size of the resulting explosion. Throughout my explanation the officer looks to Amelia for confirmation and she nods every time. The officer faces me after looking to Amelia one last time.

“Thank you for your cooperation you two”

He says with a slight smile. Just as we finish, the shuttle docks with the station. When we walk out, a group of people are waiting for us. There is a man in a more formal version of the uniform the militia officers are wearing. There is a lady who is dressed in a fashion that suggests that she is a nurse or doctor. There is a reporter for some reason, and there is a man holding a cat carrier. That last man stands out quite a bit when compared to the others. The militia man comes forward first.

“Hello there young ones. I'm General Elijah Sands. But you can call me Sands. What are your names?”

He looks to me first, and I reply,

“My name is Jonathan, sir. Jonathan Forrest.

He looks to Amelia.

“That is my sister Amelia, sir”

I tell him. He looks back to me and asks;

“Why didn't you let her speak for herself?”

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“She is mute”

I tell him. As he looks to her, Amelia gives a shy little smile and nods slightly. He turns to me again.

“Well, after you two are done with this,”

He gestures to the other people in the room,

“Then come down to my office. I’ll send directions to you via email.”

He walks off, and the doctor comes forward. She quickly checks us for external injuries, and tells us to come down to the station’s med bay later. The reporter comes third, asking about what happened. I explain that the pirate attacked us, and that I fired back because the bridge was destroyed. I didn't go into any more detail, and when they tried asking Amelia about it, they didn't get anything there either.

Lastly the man with the cat carrier comes forward. He comes up to us and says,

“Thanks for saving me you two. I have come bearing a surprise or two in thanks.” He lifts up the cat carrier, and there are two kittens sitting calmly inside. One of the kittens meowed, and the man explained,

“These two little kittens have just reached the age of adoption. When you saved my ship you not only rescued me, but also these kittens and their mother. As thanks for saving us, I want to give you two these kittens to join you on your future adventures, whatever they may be.”

I smile.

“Thanks for the kittens sir, but are you really sure you want to give them away?”

“I am very sure. They would have been put up for adoption either way, and this way they’ll get to go on adventures, more than any simple person staying at a station.”

I look at him confused.

“Who said we had plans for ‘adventures’? What if we do stay at a station somewhere.”

“I know that wouldn't happen buddy. You have an adventurer’s look in your eyes. You will definitely encounter action and adventure sometime down your path.”

With that he puts down the cat carrier and walks off.

“You didn't tell us what the kittens need!”

I shout after him, but he ignores me. I turn to the cat carrier, and look in. The kittens still are just sitting there calmly. But I notice something beside one of the kittens. It’s a piece of paper. Paper. No one uses paper anymore, where the hell did he get that from. I ignore that fact, grab the paper, and read it. It lists a type (and brand) of litter, and a brand of food with flavour preferences. It also has a note saying that the carrier has a card in it for getting a discount for whatever we get the kittens. I look to Amelia and shrug.