Rings around the spaceship formed a bubble of curved space and the vehicle disappeared. The view behind the illuminators turned from calm starscape to a lenticular vortex.

Hefri stretched her arms after twenty minutes of the most profound focus. Her joints cracked stridently, and a soft shiver ran down her relaxed spine. The lack of gravity made her ponytail spread behind her head like a black halo.

"We escaped," she breathed, closing her eyes. "This whole piloting thing seems pretty cool..."

The botanist wiped his forehead, still panting harshly. He nudged his hood, knocking it from his bald head.

Staring at her with humility, he shook his head and said, "You just hammered the acceleration button like mad! We're lucky we survived!"

Hefri only rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder. "Erilaz, Andvari, are you okay?" she called.

"Hardly alive..." growled Erilaz from the depths of the corridor. "You could have killed us!"

Raising his eyebrow, the botanist glanced at Hefri confidently. "I told you."

Erilaz peeked out of the corridor, holding on to a pipe in the wall. His golden hair floated all around him, irritating his eyes.

"You," he called, brushing his hair aside and looking at the botanist. "Do you have some magnetic buckles?"

The botanist nodded. "Yes, in the locker."

He unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed on the chair. Leaping like a frog, he launched himself up. Floating limply, he reached his hands to catch the handle and opened the locker. He rummaged through it, took a bag out and threw it towards Erilaz.

"Here!"

Erilaz caught it. He found a set of buckles and strapped them to his shoes and thighs. The buckles helped with walking or sitting in zero gravity, stabilizing the posture and keeping the balance of the user.

"Andvari needs help," he said in a worried tone, landing on the floor. "Hefri, you got hurt too. Pilot, give us a medical kit," he ordered and added more politely, "...Please."

Hefri shook her head. "Andvari needs your help first. I can take care of myself."

The botanist pulled the medical kit from the locker. Erilaz took it and nodding with gratitude, he left the cockpit.

The botanist raised his eyebrows, looking at Hefri with care. "Are you sure, Vardir Hefri? Even in zero gravity, walking will be hard with that wound."

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Hefri smiled proudly. "When I was a child, I had to hunt in the coldest forest of the northern pole." She crossed her arms with superiority. "I killed many wild creatures and got hurt many times. I had to take care of myself or freeze to death."

The botanist lowered his eyes. He didn't want to insult Hefri in any manner but the dusty, foul wound worried him. Vardir were the heroes of Helvetto, and he was ready to do everything to help them whenever it's possible. That also filled him with fright. The most powerful warriors came to him, beaten and wounded. He could only wonder who did this to them.

Hefri swung her hand to dismiss his concern. "Thanks for the good intention but I can survive this."

Sighing, the botanist rubbed his eyes. He struggled to wrap his head around it, but this situation confused him too much. Even after this insane escape, he hardly winded down, but the exhaustion forced him to relax his tensed muscles.

"Will someone explain to me what has just happened?" he asked, propping his head with his fist. "All three Vardir Commanders jump into my ship in the middle of the closed zone..."

"Don't ask too many questions," Hefri said softly, looking at him with suspicion. "You're gonna learn everything when you return to Helvetto."

The botanist turned his face to Hefri and opened his eyes wider. "You were running. Who was chasing you? You're Vardir, you fear nothing!"

"Better tell me who you are and why you were there," she interrupted.

"I'm a botanist," he explained. "I was collecting some fluorescent moss." Terror glowed in his eyes again. He clenched his fingers on the armrest. "My family will be worried. My wife and two daughters. Vardir Hefri, you have to tell me... am I safe?"

Hefri smiled and gentleness appeared on her face. "As long as you don't claim you're on our side, you're safe."

"But..." The botanist shook his head. "I'm always on your side."

"Just pretend you don't like us," she added in a calm, soothing tone. "There are people who... have a problem with us."

He craned his neck towards her, and his face expressed even more dread. "What problem?"

"Never mind." She closed her eyes and swung her hand. "It's a... secret mission." She giggled, but it didn't cheer him up at all. "Just take us to..." she pursed her lips, trying to recall the planet name from the mysterious piece of paper. "To Xalmecka."

"Sure," he answered and lowered his head. If Vardir said it's a secret mission, then it's a secret mission, and he had nothing to do here. He could only think about his family and wonder how anxious they had to be.

Ulrika jumped out of a train on some shabby station in the corner of a seaside village. She found this hideaway at the very end of this continent, kilometres away from her workplace. Her wavy, messy hair flopped on her face and a long, slightly rumpled coat covered her casual dress. The only remainder of her makeup were grey smudges over her eyes.

She got rid of her LiqWatch long time ago so she asked a random girl if she could use her communicator.

"Bjarni?" she whispered to a LiqWatch, turning her back towards the girl.

"Ulrika?" said Arnorsson with a surprised voice. "Do they know about us?"

"I don't know what to do," explained Ulrika, panting and looking around. "I left the building but..."

"Did they escape?"

She shrugged and shook her head. "I messed up everything I could. I made a delay in a few systems... Thirty, maybe forty seconds. I don't know if it's enough. That's all I could do in three hours."

"Fine. Calm down." Arnorsson's voice expressed more and more tension. "Are you safe?"

She glanced at a group of fishermen strolling past her. "Maybe." Ulrika lowered her eyebrows with anxiety. "But I don't know if I did everything right. I panicked. A bit."

Arnorsson relaxed and began to speak slower, "Don't worry, no one else could help us more. Bye."

The call ended. Ulrika gave the girl's the device back and walked away.

"Bjarni, you will never repay this favour..." she threatened, smiling sightly at the very thought of her husband.