Our group stops as the ship-or whatever part of it comes into sight. I hear many sighs of relief. A surge of annoyance rises up in me, but I push it away, focusing on what I see.
A crater spans for around half a mile in radius, at the center of which is the ship piece. The ship piece is colored faded green, and students are clustered around it. Some spot me and go through a hole in the wall of the ship.
I frown. Had they made that hole?
A moment later, Ferra emerges. He waves at me.
"Don't stop!" I yell for my group's benefit. "We'll rest within the ship piece."
I hear a couple of groans, but the pace of the students behind me noticeably increases. I smile.
When our team reaches the site, I tell the group to disperse and await further instructions. I talk to Ferra. He's an emerald-skinned boy, with dark lines in concentric patterns all over his body. On his face, is a mixture of dirt and sweat.
"So, you told me there were signs of fighting," I say.
He nods.
"Yes. I'll show you."
He leads me through the hole, into the interior of the ship. It's dark, and my nose itches at the dust spread all around. We walk through the dark corridors into a lounge.
The lounge is spacious, with a couch, holo-panel and some other devices spread about. Right now, they are in different states of decay. The most noteworthy aspect is the bodies.
They are horrors. Their skin is warped around their skinny frame, and all of them are holding one weapon or the other. One body is missing its head.
Their eyes... I won't even describe those.
I grimace.
"I see."
On the walls, and floors are dark blotches, evidence of a shoot-out. I'm right next to one.
He nods at me.
"A girl in our team said the spatial storage devices are untouched. If we might get them working... we can recover all that is within them."
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My eyes are wide.
"I'll get to it. In the meantime, hurry up and get to Lizandra. Watch out for rebellious students."
He nods and smiles at me.
"Good luck."
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I frown as I study the destroyed engine of the ship. I'm crouched on the floor, two students—one girl, one guy next to me. The girl has her chest uncomfortably pressed against my arm.
She's been trying to and failing to, get in my good graces. I don't even know why she wants to, but I can't be bothered with that.
"We're screwed." The guy says.
"Shut up, Layen." The girl hisses at him.
"No, he's got a pretty good point," I say. The girl looks at me surprised. "Without the engine, we can't power up any of the systems of this ship. And making a new one—or fixing this one requires a Fabricator."
She frowns, and the guy throws an annoyed glance at her. She ignores it.
"Then what do we do?" She asks.
"I'm trying to figure that out, myself," I say.
"How the fuck did the engine get destroyed in the first place?" The guy asks.
"Sabotage," I say as I point to the bottommost layer of the engine. Covered by dust, but still glinting, is a thumb-sized pink crystal.
He blinks.
"Juptenyte?"
I nod.
"Formed only when a lot of Trail—which just happens to be this ship's fuel of choice, by the way, fuses. My guess is that someone manually overloaded the engine till it blew up."
"Jesus. What the fuck happened?" He says, looking slightly disturbed.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" The girl says, completely confident.
We both turn to her, expectant.
"It was a spy! And not just any spy, it was one of Fictok's."
The guy groans and I just stare at her. Fictok was a terrorist guild eradicated some decades ago, I don't remember why or how, but I do remember it struck up some big spur. She leans towards me, her nose barely touching mine.
"You don't believe me?" She asks, staring into my eyes.
I put my palm on her face and push her away.
"Ew." Says a girl standing at the door. The girl in front of me turns and stares at the newcomer, her eyes wide.
The newcomer is wearing a white top, and a small hat. Her shoes are blue and made up of metal. Her skin is pink, literally so, and her hair is dark blue. She's sneering.
The girl in front of me pales. I hold up a hand.
"If you girls want to chat, go do it elsewhere. I have work to do."
"And I came here to help you," The newcomer says.
"As if," The other girl says.
"I did. I might not be a builder, but I certainly know what she's up to."
The girl in front of me looks enraged.
I frown.
"If you have something to say, please do it soon. I am quickly running out of patience."
Girl-in-front-of-me clenches her fist and stares at Newcomer with burning eyes. Newcomer ignores her.
"Fine," She says, a little displeased. "She wants to get into your pants so that she can talk to Gyon."
I turn to Girl-in-front. She looks like she's about to explode.
"Okay," I say. "No one's getting into my pants, and even if they did, I doubt they can talk to my Mentor because of it. And then too, they wouldn't accomplish much." I turn to Newcomer. "Thanks for the warning, though it might have been... unnecessary." I nod at her.
She smiles and walks away.
The guy clears his throat.
"So it's clear. You're a slut."
"What?" The girl screams.
She punches the guy.
I sigh and massage my nose bridge.
I so fucking hate teamwork.
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