“And your parents know that you're traveling?” The receptionist looked at Jomaira, one eyebrow lifted, daring her to lie to her. “Alone?”

Jomaira smiled brightly, her smile almost splitting her face in two. “Of course, we're to catch up to them,” she said with false cheer.

The receptionist narrowed her eyes down at her. “Your mom didn't say anything about that.”

“She must have forgotten. You know how things get with my two brothers, those two little devils.” She faked a chuckle at the end, rolling on the sole of her feet.

Two little devils. That's one way to describe the two troublemakers, Yahya guessed. Aunt Jannat must be tearing her hair out by now. The last celebration, they had set the city's buffet on fire with fireworks. The little devils had sent him the video. The governor's fake wig had caught fire in the middle of his speech. It was hilarious, but also frightening.

The receptionist hummed, her lips pursed. “Still I can't give you two tickets to board the shuttle.” She glanced at Yahya from the upper rim of her thick glasses. “You still need an adult companion.” She glanced between the two of them. “Or your parents can fill in for an unaccompanied minor service.”

“Come on, they just forgot in their haste,” Jomaira whined.

“Jomaira, the rules are the rules,” she said. "But I can contact your mother and she can send me a visual request for the unaccompanied service.” She reached for her Comms.

Jomaira flailed in front of her. Yahya found the scene comical despite its gravity. “No, no, no, no, I wouldn't want to bother her. You know how she gets when she's irritated.”

The woman turned to Yahya, completely ignoring Jomaira's frantic flailing. “You still need your mother's explicit agreement to leave the planet. According to the records, you've never set foot outside Andor, right?” She didn't wait for him to reply before continuing. “You'll need a minor pass and at least one parent's permission. Get me the required documents and I'll get you a pass in less than a cycle.”

She fiddled with her Comms to call Aunt Jannat. Yahya glanced at Jomaira and gave a slight shake of his head.

Just before she pushed the call button, Jomaira huffed a 'whatever' under her breath and nearly threw herself forward in her haste to reach her. As soon as Jomaira made contact with her, the receptionist stilled. She relaxed, her eyes glazing over.

“If mom hears about this I'm done for,” she muttered under her breath. she looked at Yahya. “Three days?”

Yahya nodded. Three days was enough time for him. He wouldn't do much, he just wanted to visit his father's grave.

Jomaira gave him a sharp nod and turned to the receptionist with a determined face. “You will give us a three day pass,” she said slowly. “And an unaccompanied minor permit.”

The receptionist nodded. Her fingers moved around her keyboard in a slow and lethargic way. As if in a trance.

As Jomaira made to remove her hand, Yahya hurriedly reminded her to erase her memories. Jomaira startled, but thankfully her hand was still connected with the woman.

“Right, I almost forgot.” She turned back to the woman. “Forget everything that happened now. You didn't see us,” She instructed.

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“Of course.” the receptionist said slowly.

Jomaira paused. She stood awkwardly for a moment looking at the woman, unsure of what else to do. “Did I forget something else?” She glanced at Yahya.

Yahya furrowed his brows thoughtfully. “I don't think so,” he said, his voice tilting up at the end, making it sound more like a question.

Jomaira hummed, her gaze going back and forth between the woman and their surroundings.

“We should leave,” Yahya said.

“Right.” She let go of the woman's hand.

The receptionist was still unmoving, her eyes staring unseeingly. It wouldn't take long before she awakened from her trance-like haze. They better leave before she catches them red-handed. While helpful, Jomaira's powers were always tricky when used on the same person more than twice. Each time, their minds became more aware of the foreign intrusion. They better kept it to a minimum.

With a parting glance, they hurried away towards the shuttle.

“What are you kids doing here?” The officer stationed at the shuttle's entrance narrowed his eyes at them. “Where are your parents?” He looked around and upon seeing no adult in the vicinity, his scowl deepened even further.

“We've got permits.” Jomaira waved the two chips like two well earned prizes.

The officer checked the two chips and when they turned green, he said in a monotone voice, telltale of the many times he must have said the same sentence that day: “the Empire wishes you a safe and enjoyable trip.”

He waved them into the shuttle, not sparing them another glance.

Space travel was exactly like Yahya had heard in all those videos they showed in class. Stars looked distant, like blinking lights, bright but not enough to illuminate the darkness of space.

He stared with unblinking eyes at the sight before him. His first time on a ship, a real ship, and not some holographic construct. He couldn't believe his eyes.

When they hit hyperspace, for a split second, it seemed their ship was frozen in time. It hung still, then jerked forward. The stars streaked around the transparent windows, blending into long strokes of blinding whiteness.

Something new, but expected.

But what he hadn't expected, what he hadn't imagined, was the pain.

It hit him like the opposite of what he imagined hyperspace was like, a blinding white light streaked with black flames shooting directly into his eyes. Even with his lids shut, Yahya could feel it burning his retinas. As the pain bored into his eye sockets, he recalled a warning their science teacher gave them once. Never look directly at the sun during a solar eclipse.

His teacher was right, he thought as dark spots invaded the edges of his vision. He could feel Jomaira sitting leisurely next to him. She looked at him quizzically, one of her brows lifting up, nearly disappearing under her dark blue fringe.

How? He wanted to ask. Why was he the only one affected?

Ah, certainly another failings of his biology.

She turned to him, her brows knitted in worry. She called him but she sounded so far away. As if she was calling him from the deep of space, only the echoes reaching him.

She grabbed his hand, her touch sending a tingling sensation spreading from his hand to his arm to all over his body. She looked away in alarm, speaking frantically to someone just outside his field of vision. He wanted to see who but he couldn't move his head.

Jomaira looked back at him, her alarm mounting to full out panic. He wanted to reassure her, to tell her he was going to be fine. It was just one of the side effects of hyperspace travel, just like their teachers had once told them. It affected some species more than others.

But he shouldn't have been affected. As an Araichian, he should have been fine. Araichians were known for their high tolerance to hyperspace. They were the first species to live among the stars. Many forgoing their planet to spend their lives under the artificial lights of a starship.

But not him, it seemed.

He tried to speak, to form words of any kind, but his mouth would not cooperate with him. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Jomaira's blown out panicked eyes and the man who had allowed them entrance on the ship, holding a needle with an ominous green liquid inside.