The interior of the airship was cramped, and a strange feeling of both exotic alien fantasy, and strange common sense technological wiring, piping and pluming. Darshanna seemed to be in her element however, humming happily to herself as she slid into the forward seat and started flipping switches and pulling levers. A slowly building humming and a thrum that I could feel in my torso and teeth started to build.

“Best sit down if you don’t want to get lost, miss {Spiritist}! She said with a slightly annoying perky tone.

“Urm. Yes. Thank you.” I looked around for somewhere to sit. This ship looked more like a converted cargo carrier or troop ship than anything I would call a proper airship. Eshaan grinned at me and pulled down a webbed shelf, and plopped himself on it. “Pretty sure this is just a converted short hop carrier. We had to use these all the time when hopping between ships in the fleet.”

“Oh.” I sat down next to him, and looked for something to strap myself in. There was a distressingly large number of buckles and straps and none of them seemed to fit together.

Eshaan smiled and demonstrated some extremely non intuitive buckles. I smiled back at him wryly. “Thanks. Never seen one of these before.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised. You never left … uh… Breezewood before, right?”

I smiled wryly again. In more ways than you could imagine. “That depends on if you count my previous experiences?”

“Ah, that’s right. You said. Did you ever have anything like this in your world?”

“Like it, but not close. Machines that flew in the air, but nothing quite like-“

“Ok folks, hold onto something, we’re going!” Darshanna’s voice cut my explanation short, and I was suddenly very grateful that I’d secured the straps first. The airship kicked like a mule, and a loud thrumming and magical tingle that made my teeth ache filled the air.

Alarms and blinking lights lit up across the control board.

“Do I want to know what any of that is?!” I managed to get out around the rumbling vibration that filled the cabin.

“The primary power coupling is failing, the secondary engine is overheating, and four assumed hostile ships have just launched behind us.” Daniyel replied in a maddeningly calm voice.

“So, no then, is what I’m getting from that!?”

Daniyel shrugged with elegant calm. “Can one truly know the mind of another? Where does one sit when faced with disaster? Would you face it with knowledge, even knowing you can do nothing, or would you prefer to remain ignorant, like the sand rose in the path of the desert storms?”

I glared at him. “Four incoming ships? Fast pursuit craft?”

He nodded once. “Indeed. Our escape was not subtle.”

“Hey! I’m doing the best I can here!” Darshanna interrupted, punching several incomprehensible buttons on the control panel, and swerving with the steering yoke.

The airship rocked and there was a sudden loud explosion outside, filling the cockpit with a bright yellow flash.

“They’re shooting at us!” She said indignantly.

Daniyel nodded with imperturbable calm. “They do that, when you steal military hardware from a secured base.”

“We’re not stealing it; we’re taking it back! I won this ship fair and square!”

Another explosion rocked the ship, closer this time.

“What about respect for military hardware!” Darshanna groused.

“If I could- ow! Interrupt.” I mentioned, the side of the transport slapping my head with an abrupt slam. “Why don’t I get a barrier around the ship, so we don’t, you know, die?!”

Darshanna and Daniyel blinked and looked at me. “You can do that?!” Said Darshanna.

“Hey! Eyes front!” I yelled.

“Oop!” Darshanna did something complicated and the whole airship spun, making me feel the mana potion I’d chugged suddenly want to make the acquaintance of my tongue again.

“Are all air pirates this insane?! Why can’t we outrun them, isn’t this ship supposed to be fast?!”

Darshanna stared grimly ahead, then twisted the yoke violently. I swear she jinked the ship just to make the hull smack my head again. “I haven’t had time to finish upgrading her yet! The Pelican can be fast! Just… not right now.” She gritted out.

I grabbed my staff and started focusing on calling for the Tower.

How do you think of these things?

Isn’t this common sense?

Barrier is the protection of the spirits of the world for living beings, I’ve never heard of anyone using it on an airship before!

So? I’ll just ask our Arcana. Summons have to be good for something!

This is a strange thing to ask the spirit’s blessing for!

It’s perfectly natural, they’re just protecting the living souls inside.

“If I might suggest… captain.” I barely noticed the hesitation in Daniyel’s words, as entranced as I was with my summons. “It might be time to use ‘that’.”

“No! I haven’t had time to properly test it yet!” Her words were punctuated with a nearby explosion, and several new red lights blossomed on the control console.

I closed my eyes and refocused on the summoning.

Arcana of the Tower, grant us your blessing, armor our vessel, and grant us safety.

We have heard your plea, child of æther. Your request is granted. We shall protect your vessel as long as we are able.

A door opened somewhere inside me, and my staff burst into brilliant white light, the dragon of the Tower pouring out of the door inside me, coiling into a shimmering silver white halo around the airship.

“What the blazing fires of Avernus is that?!” Darshanna squeaked.

“Summons of the Ancients.” Said Eshaan with a smug lilt to his voice. “You get used to it.”

Liar! I groused mentally, then added Thank you, Tower!

You are welcome, child of æther. I cannot protect you forever, you must be ready to move.

Right on cue, several more explosions blossomed, though the ship barely rocked this time.

“Hey, are we gonna do something about this or not?”

“I’m working on it!” Darshanna ground out. I pulled out mother’s journal and flipped through it. The rocking of the airship made it difficult. “Is the plan to lose them in the Tol Jaegren mountains?”

Darshanna shot me a startled look, then nodded tersely before turning back to the controls.

“Tower can defend us for maybe ten more minutes. Can we make the mountain range in that time?”

Silence, with a few juddering blasts. Then “No.”

I nodded. “Then we’ll have to use ‘that.’ Care to share?”

“It’s not ready yet!”

“Is it charging, or are you worried it’ll explode?”

Darshanna shot me an intense look. “What would you know about the backwash of charged elemental power pushed through a condenser core?!”

“Ooh, that sounds exciting!” Soriya chipped in. “We’ll either go really really fast, or explode! Possibly both!”

I looked back to Darshanna and shrugged. “Very little, but I trust my friend’s judgement on the matter.”

Otherme whispered quietly this isn’t the way to get her trust. Can’t you see she’s terrified? Like this…

Otherme guiding my actions, I leaned forward, reaching over the back of her seat and put my hands on hers over the yoke. I spoke, a gentle {Persuade} soothing her. “Don’t listen to your fear. Listen to your faith in your skill. You’re confident in that. You know your skill is real. That’s why you flew Pelican in the first place, isn’t it?”

The faint tremble in her hands stilled, and I felt a steely resolve fill her. It was an oddly familiar feeling, like when I’d decided on the right course of action, when I knew what I had to do and both halves of me agreed.

Darshanna snapped out “Daniyel. Go prep booster tank three for dump into the converter.”

Daniyel unstrapped himself and rose. “At once, captain.” He said without hesitation. I caught Soriya’s gaze as he left.

Oh! So it’s like that?

It’s like that. Otherme confirmed with a soft giggle.

“Soriya, would you help Daniyel?” I gave her a little smile. She smiled back broadly and nodded. She unbuckled her straps, and swayed her way past me, leaning down to whisper in my ear “I owe you one.”

“What can your friend do?” Darshanna said.

“You know her talents. You got her collar off, what do you think she can do with an elementally charged… what do you call it?”

“A condenser core! God, Is there a brain in that pink head of yours?!”

That hurt, a lot more than it had any right too.

“I’m trying to help.” I said softly, looking down at the deck in frustration.

Darshanna was silent for a moment, then nodded. “Sit down, and stop moving around.”

I did as she asked. A moment later, Daniyel’s voice drifted up from the back of the ship. “Captain! I believe we are ready to attempt the boost. The lady Soriya has done a binding ritual which she assures me will assist in stabilizing the core.”

“Right!” Darshanna called back. I could see sweat beading on her forehead. “Ok everybody! Hold on to something!” She flipped several switches on the board, which began to flash a disturbing shade of amber. She hesitated one last moment, then flipped up a bright red safety cover over a switch, and flicked it down.

The entire ship kicked like it had just been thrown by a giant. I was yanked sideways in my chair, falling hard against Eshaan, my hair plastered around his head.

This is nice. We can stay like this. Otherme murmured quietly.

I ground my teeth and struggled upright against what felt like an elephant sitting on my side, trying to push me through Eshaan, and down the hallway.

The ship rocked and creaked and groaned, the sound of overstressed metal loud in my ears. I could see Darshanna’s eyes, wide with fear and excitement, her knuckles white as she gripped the control yoke. I reached forward, and squeezed her shoulder.

“You designed her! She’ll hold together!” I yelled into her ear, over the screaming of overstressed metal.

Darshanna looked around at the console wildly, muttering “Easy baby, hold together, take momma home.”

I snuck a glance out the cockpit windows, at the blur of ground underneath us. It really was just a blur. I grinned viciously, imagining the expression on the pilot’s faces behind us, the frustration of Khine as we vanished into the distance. Far faster than I expected, a line of grey and purple in the distance rapidly grew larger and larger. From the rear of the ship, I heard something pop and the smell of elemental energy crackle wildly.

“Captain, it appears that the device is at its limit.” Daniyel’s imperturbable voice carried forward over the continued screeching of metal. “I will deactivate the booster now.”

There was a loud BANG from the rear, and the feeling of an elephant sitting on me suddenly ceased, so abruptly that I almost whiplashed my head into Darshanna’s skull. The smell of overheated metal and ozone wafted from the rear, along with the high-pitched swearing of a certain {Elementalist}.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The console in front of Darshanna lit up like a Christmas tree, if Christmas trees only had red lights on them.

“Shit! SHIT!” The Pelican began to rock and shudder violently. “She’s not going to hold! I have to set her down! There’s an imperial excavation camp near the peak, I’ll aim for that!”

I felt my eyebrows climb into my hairline. Since when does a sky pirate know the location of imperial base camps? … I’m going to lose 100 zeni.

I looked over at Eshaan, and said in what I felt was a remarkably calm voice, for someone about to be involved in an airship crash “So, excavation camp? Is this one of those archeological digs you wanted to explore?”

He looked at me, eyes wide with a mix of fear and shock. “Now?! You want to discuss this NOW?!”

I shifted on my seat. “I can’t think of a better time. We’re about to ground near one, mother’s journal doesn’t mention a single word about these camps, you’re the resident expert, and I think Darshanna is a bit too involved to be having a conversation about them.”

“Shut up and let me concentrate!” Darshanna shouted. “Better yet, brace for impact!”

And that was all the warning we got, before the world was filled with the sounds of shrieking metal, burning fumes, and a tumbling white cold of frozen mountain air. I could feel the fading shreds of Tower as the impact tore the Pelican apart, softening the blows that most likely would have proven fatal.

I couldn’t help but grin inside. Shipwrecked on top of a mountain. How wonderfully jrpg romantic.

This happens often?!

Oh, at least every fourth game!

And then a flying piece of debris rudely slapped me on the side of the head, and everything went black.

I came to with the taste of fruit healing potion filling my mouth. I coughed violently, feeling a rapidly fading ache all up and down the side of my body. My butt and back were wet and freezing cold, but my head was resting on something soft. I opened my eyes to see Eshaan’s upside-down face over me. I blinked in confusion for a moment, then let out a shocked gasp, sitting upright.

I had my head in his lap?!

Eeee! We had our head in his lap!

“Lily? Are you ok?” Eshaan’s soft baritone brought me back around. I turned, seeing the worried look on his face. Looking around, I recognized the faint flickering shimmer of a magic tent’s soft glow, and beyond it…

Snow. I was sitting on snow. That explained the wet. Outside, what sounded like a howling gale. I glanced back to Eshaan. “Blizzard?”

He nodded, a look of relief washing over his face. “If you’re able to ask questions like that I guess you’re ok. I was really worried, Lilyanna! You had blood all over…”

I smiled wryly. Airship crash. Check.

“You should have saved a few for yourself.” I looked around for my staff. It was close by, and I felt another surge of relief. I hadn’t broken it this time! “Now, hold still and let me heal you.” I commanded.

Eshaan obeyed, for a wonder, and shortly the soft pearly silver white glow of my {Heal} filled the dome of the tent. When it cleared, Eshaan no longer looked like he’d picked a fight with a rock face. I nodded in satisfaction. I felt really good to be able to do that.

See? Otherme prodded gently. Healing feels good. Helping others feel better feels good!

I know that! I snapped back. I don’t object to the healing and protection! I object to what happens at the end of the story!

Well… we won’t let it. Otherme declared. We’re not like those girls. And we won’t let anything bad happen to Eshaan either!

I sighed. Alright, fair enough. You win some, you lose some…

“Well. For now, it’s impossible to find the others. We’d be lost before we got 10 meters.” Eshaan said.

I sighed and nodded. “They’re fine. We’ll have to wait out the blizzard.”

“How can you be sure?!” he asked worriedly.

“I just am.” I said with quiet confidence. After all, they were the party. They might be injured, cold, or possibly lost, but they wouldn’t be in mortal danger!

I sighed, and punched the ground. “I’m more frustrated that we lost the airship. Meadowlark, I was really hoping we’d get to keep it this early in the game!”

Eshaan looked at me strangely, then burst out laughing. “Lily, you are the strangest person I know! We’re wrecked on the side of a mountain, lost somewhere in the Tol Jaegren range, possibly near an armed Imperial excavation site, and you’re upset because the world isn’t matching the story from your world?”

I glared at him in frustration. “Actually, the opposite. I’m frustrated because it is matching the story!” I said heatedly.

He paused, then shrugged. “So what’s next?”

I laughed, a little bitterly. “You know, in my stories, you’d be the one telling me where to go!”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “But you already know. And…” he stroked his chin thoughtfully. “If what you said earlier is true, if you do something that I disagree with, I’ll still disagree with it, and not go along with it. So, all I’m really doing is asking a sage for advice.” He smiled brightly at me.

“You’re not fooling me, you know.” I punched at the snow in frustration.

“I’m not?”

“No. You just want someone to lead you, like you followed Commander Khine.”

Otherme gave a sharp little gasp. Rude! CRUEL!

It did actually look like that. Eshaan’s face crumpled, and he looked at the ground, an almost palpable cloud of gloom surrounding him.

That look was a bit like a kick in the gut. That was cruel of me. I reached out a hand in apology. “Eshaan, I’m sorry. That was cruel of me. I didn’t mean it to come out like that.”

He shook his head, and then lifted his eyes to me. I saw a new determination in them. Otherme made a little swooning sound.

“No. You’re right. I…” looked down and clenched his fist with a determination I’d not seen in him before. “I have been leaning on you too much! I have been asking someone else to chart my own course! I became a trooper to study the ancients, not march around in formation or guard archeologists!”

Oh spirits… I’ve done it again. A sinking feeling filled my stomach. I just triggered the hero’s personal growth.

That’s not bad. That’s good. Otherme said with determination. He needs to be self-reliant. We’re not his mother!

But now he’s going to rush off into dangerous situations and drag us along!

Oh? Otherme’s voice was full of sweetly sarcastic syrup. Like a certain heroine, rescuing her friend from execution? Hanging out with air pirates?

I swallowed. I couldn’t even say that was different, could I?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Well, if that’s the path… well the hero is irritatingly noble.

“So we’re going to find the others, right?”

He blinked in surprise then smiled brightly. “So I was right!”

I smiled back a little sadly. “Yes Eshaan, you were right. We’re going to find the others first, and then we’re going to head to the imperial excavation site for shelter, where we will surely find some ancient widget or another.”

He blinked, then smiled crookedly in puzzlement. “I don’t… Miss Lilyanna, I really don’t understand. You want to find the answer to this puzzle, don’t you? You want to chase down those shadows that came to life in the cavern, don’t you?”

I pressed my lips together, and nodded.

“Then this is the right course of action for both of us! Why… do you keep acting like you don’t want to do it?”

I sighed, and flopped back down on the snow, idly noting that being limber and athletic enough to do so was a very nice change of pace.

I looked up at him and crossed my arms. “Eshaan, how do you like it when somebody tells you that you have to do something? That you must take an action?”

He blinked and then nodded slowly. “Oh… Oh I see. Well, I suppose it’s different for me, I was in the army. You do have to do things you don’t want to, on orders, all the time. But don’t you want to stop the shadows from doing whatever they’re planning?”

I sighed, and nodded unhappily. “Yes, I suppose I do.”

“Then… this is something you should be doing. Something you know you need to do, even if you don’t want to.” He knelt down next to me and patted my knee with his hand. “And if you’ll allow it, I’d like to help.”

Yes! YES! Say YES! Otherme shouted loudly in my mind.

No! I don’t want to say that! What if he-

Oh give it up girl! He’s already fallen for us hook line and sinker! And it’s not like there’s some mind control to make you fall for him, unless he happens to be brave, and handsome, and tender and-

And dumber than a post? Shut it. I get it. You’re hot for him too. I’m not you, remember?

That is a point that we disagree on. But for now… we are stronger with allies than without. We do not know what we unleashed in the cavern, but it is tied to the Ancients, and a protector who also happens to study the Ancients would be most helpful.

I let out a long sigh.

“Lilyanna?” Eshaan’s voice was as tight as a bowstring.

“Yes, Eshaan. I would be grateful to have a friend on this adventure.”

The sappy smile that spread across his face was disturbingly warm to witness, as he squeezed my hand gently.

I am so going to regret this.

That also is a point that we disagree on. Otherme’s voice was prim.

We sat in the magic tent for a little longer, waiting for the storm to die out. I poked my head out once or twice, but the fierce wind almost tore my hair off my scalp, my braid flapping like a pink banner in the storm, so each time I retreated back inside. I started a small fire with one of the elemental crystals we had, and cooked a small meal for us while we waited. Simple camp food, but Eshaan happily ate it all and proclaimed it the best trail rations he’d ever eaten. I smiled and shook my head. It really was impossible to stay mad at him, he was like a giant puppy dog.

Fortified by warm food, and with the blizzard starting to weaken, we collapsed the tent and headed out into the forest.

“I don’t suppose your seer sight tells you which way to go?” Eshaan said.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t have a guidebook.” I smiled and patted my pouch. “I checked, mother didn’t mention anything about ancient ruins or excavations. Just that the passes of Tol Jaegren are very troublesome at this time of year. We’ll need to be on the lookout for Yeti. Yeti, and Snow Worms, and White Mantis and Cutterpillers.”

Eshaan shuddered. “I- ugh. I hate bugs.”

“What?! You were fine with the undead bugs in the sewers!” I protested.

He smiled awkwardly and shrugged. “Those were more like undead than bugs though!”

“You are so weird.” I said, but smiled to take the sting out of it. I peered out into the fading blizzard. “Well. Maybe we can use some actual logic for once. We crashed. The debris should be spread out in a long line. If we follow the line forward and back, we should find our friends.”

Eshaan nodded. “Now you’re talking like a trooper!”

I glared at him. “Not funny. Let’s go.” I set off.

Behind me, I could hear the smile in Eshaan’s voice as he snapped out “Aye aye, ma’am! On the trot!”

As I had hoped, the crash was clearly marked by great furrows. The blizzard had mostly been horizontally blowing snow, so the path of the wreck hadn’t completely been erased. As we slowly worked our way along the furrows of the wreckage, I caught sight of a brightly flickering fire. Heading towards it, I found Soriya and Daniyel huddled around a shelter made of broken logs and brush, keeping watch over a fire.

I waved and called out as we trudged up to them. Soriya looked up, Diabloi held ready, but when she saw us broke out into a huge relieved smile. She leapt up and rushed over, giving me a tight hug, then stepped back looking me up and down.

“Are you alright? Is everything ok?”

I smiled wryly at her. “You mean aside from being stranded in a snow storm on a mountain peak after an airship wreck?”

“Yes, aside from that.” She smiled cheekily at me.

I smiled back at her and shrugged helplessly. “I’m on an adventure with my best friend, and a group of air pirates. Things are just peachy.”

“Good!” she nodded firmly. “Now come over and get warm.”

“Why didn’t you set up a magic tent?” Eshaan asked as we settled around the fire.

“We were unlucky enough not to have such supplies.” Daniyel rumbled. “Fortunately, Miss Soriya was able to use her elemental mastery to keep me warm. My desert blood does not agree with these mountain heights.”

Soirya patted Daniyel on the arm. “My pleasure.”

“But, now that we are reunited, should we not go in search of the captain?”

I heard that little hitch in his voice again, almost saying her name. Possibly not even the name she’d given us.

Eshaan nodded. “Yes! We should find her quickly! Lilyanna says we need to beware the white mantis and cutterpillers.”

Daniyel smacked his fist together. “Insects. Easily dealt with.” He rose and nodded. “Let us go.”

Soriya used her magic to put out the fire, and we trudged into the last fading wisps of the blizzard, swirls of blowing snow and cold wind. I could see that Daniyel was not doing well, despite his brave front. It seemed he really was unhappy in the cold.

I was suddenly hit with a brainwave. “Soriya, let’s use a ritual to put together a heat shield! I’ll add {Healing} and you can add {Flare} and we can put up a healing zone that wards off cold!”

Soriya perked up, and we started working out the magical formula for the spell.

Eshaan coughed. “Not to put too fine a point on it, ladies, but maybe we should put up a tent while you work this out?”

I flushed, and Soriya grinned. “He’s got a point.”

“Yes, he does.” I muttered, then nodded.

“Yes Eshaan, please save us from our own foolishness.” I smiled at him.

He put up the tent immediately. “This is our last one, if-“

“You need not worry.” Daniyel interrupted. “The captain keeps an ample supply of all useful materials on her person, and the wreckage of the Pelican should provide more.”

“Oh, well that’s good then.” Eshaan nodded in relief.

Our little group huddled in the tent while Soriya and I worked out the Ritual. Drawing a magic circle in snow was fairly easy, and then it was a simple matter to repeat the same basic outline as we’d done at the Cavern.

“Spirits of Health and Spirits of Fire, Spirits of the world and mist, guard us as the children we are, wrap our bodies in a cloak of healing warmth.” we chanted. The circle flared bright red gold, and the air around us suddenly heated to a balmy summer’s day. We all let out a sigh of relief, but Daniyel’s was the loudest. He bowed deeply to both of us.

“I find myself once more in your debt, ladies. It will not be forgotten.”

Soriya let out a little smile as she said “Well good. A witch likes to know her favors are appreciated.”

He smiled at her broadly. “Indeed they are.”

I pretended to find something interesting to stare at in the snow. Eshaan just looked clueless.

Breaking camp once more, we trudged off into the snow following the line of devastation left by the crash. We had to detour around several obstructions, and there were indeed white mantises and cutterpillers (white ones, of course) that lunged out of the snow. A few swift punches from Daniyel and even swifter cuts of Eshaan’s blade, and they vanished into memory. I was hopelessly lost, the whiteness all looked the same to me, and if it wasn’t for the trail of footprints behind us, I’d have thought we were going in circles. Eshaan seemed to know where he was going though, and his intuition or whatever he was using paid off. We soon came upon the glowing bubble of a magic tent in the middle of a large pile of wreckage.

Daniyel stopped and turned to us. “My friends, I must ask a great favor of you. Allow me to go first. I must speak with the captain alone. Please, I beg you, do me this favor?”

I glanced over at Eshaan, then Soriya, and back to Daniyel. To my surprise, before I could say anything Eshaan spoke up. “Of course Daniyel. We understand. We’ll be waiting here.”

I looked over at him in surprise. Well well. That little spurt of personal growth is showing some good.

I nodded when he looked over, and he smiled at me as Daniyel trudged towards the tent and vanished inside.

“Everyone’s got secrets, right? Everyone’s got a right to keep those to themselves, as long as they don’t harm anyone else.”

I blinked even more, and Soriya’s grin was so broad I swore I could see canary feathers poking out of her teeth.

“Well… yeah. I guess that’s true.” I looked back towards the dome of the tent just in time to see it collapse. Darshanna’s eyes were suspiciously bright, and I was pretty sure she’d wiped off tear tracks as well, but her smile was determined as she marched over to us.

“Ah, my loyal crew! Reunited, we can plunder the greatest treasures of the Tol Jaegren expedition!”

I stared at her for a moment, trying to think what to say, and Eshaan jumped in again.

“Absolutely, Miss Darshanna. No, captain.” He smiled at her. “Happy to tag along on an adventure with you at the helm.”

She jerked her head to stare at him, her eyes filled with surprise and a touch of belligerence that he was making fun of her. He simply smiled at her, and I could see her gradually lowering her guard, a slight flicker of pride in her.

I’ll be damned. He… he was cheering her up! That’s… not actually dumb!

That hussy! She’d better stay away from Eshaan if she knows what’s good for her!

Oh give it a rest, you. She’s kind of cute herself, you know?

That seemed to silence otherme.

“So! While you lot were lollygagging about, I was scouting the imperial garrison!” Darshanna gestured grandly. “They’re just over that ridge, hunkered down. Looks like a short team as well. We’ll sneak in and steal whatever they’re guarding right out from under their noses!”

I put my hands on my hips and said “How about we just ask first?”

Everyone stared at me.

“What?!” I said defensively. “Nobody ever just thinks to ask what they’re doing! They don’t know how we got here, they don’t know we’re being chased… why don’t we just… ask?” I turned to Darshanna. “I think the pro thieves call this ‘casing the joint’?”

Her eyes slowly widened and a wide grin spread across her face. She shook her finger at me. “You… I like the way you think! You can be my ensign!”

I rolled my eyes. “No thank you.” And a mischievous urge suddenly filled me. “It’s co-captain, or nothing.”

Eshaan burst out laughing at the look of startled shock on Darshanna’s face.