Straya pressed a button that opened up the intercom channel.
“Arkei and Bob, wherever you are, hold on to something. We’re gonna take off.” With that, she took hold of the controls and brought the ship up off the ground.
Calico reached over and pushed a button which resulted in the hangar doors opening before them.
As the ship began to take flight, the bridge doors slid open and Arkei and Bob entered. Arkei pushed Bob toward a seat where he quickly sat and strapped in.
Arkei, before taking a seat of her own next to Reverie, leaned over close to Regan.
“The chair suits you, Captain,” she whispered, before turning to walk away. One of the antenna eyeballs protruding from her hair turned back to give Regan a wink. She slapped her ass for him as well.
I love this life.
Within moments, the entire crew strapped in, the ship lifted off from the compound, then it zipped into the sky.
As they entered the atmosphere, Regan got a glimpse of the mobster’s ship. It had been settling down near Mephistopheles’s compound, but was now clearly redirecting itself after their ship.
“Punch it,” Regan said.
Hell yeah. Always wanted to say that.
“Hey!” Bob interjected with some alarm. Regan turned toward him, expecting an important revelation. Instead, Bob announced, rubbing his scalp, “I have a dent in my head!”
Regan and the rest of the crew did their best to ignore him, especially Arkei who was still embarrassed about Bob’s accidental brain damage.
“Seriously!” he continued. “And some hair is missing as well! Isn’t that weird?”
“Very,” was all Regan said. “Straya, how’re we doing?”
“Working on it, Captain!” she said, but there was uncertainty in her voice.
The other ship was now following directly behind them, closing the gap quickly.
“I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing!” Calico shouted.
“I do!” Straya shouted back.
“Then why aren’t you pressing that button?” Calico said in a demanding and patronizing tone. She pointed to a button which was clearly marked: Hyper Speed.
Straya’s chameleon skin turned red—but only for a split second. “I-I was planning to. I was just waiting for the ship to get up to speed.”
“Look, Captain.” Calico turned and faced Regan. “I know this pirate thinks she can pilot anything, but this is a ship too advanced for her scrapper hands. I know how to fly this thing, and if we don’t get out of here fast, then Salvato’s men will catch up to us and take our asses down!”
Regan knew what had to be done.
“Calico,” he said. “Take the wheel.”
Straya didn’t argue and the two ladies quickly swapped seats. Regan could tell Straya was pissed from how tightly she held her fists closed, but he couldn’t do anything about it right then.
“But if you try anything,” Regan continued. “And I mean anything… then Straya is gonna have some fun with you—and I assure you that fun won’t be mutual.”
“Aye aye,” Calico said past gritted teeth as she hurriedly began pressing buttons and adjusting dials. “I just hope it’s not too late.”
Right then, the ship blasted forward. It accelerated at a rate that pushed everyone back into their seats.
They were off.
Chapter Four
Though the ship’s speed had initially pressed them all back into their seats, it was now so smooth that Regan couldn’t even tell that they were moving. It was very unlike Arkei’s ship, which made Regan wonder if this yacht had some technology that could dampen the perceived inertia.
He could see stars and galaxies whizzing by through the windows. It wasn’t quite the same as Star Wars light speed, but still, it was significantly faster than Arkei’s ship.
With these windows and this view, it was beautiful. In fact, space didn’t seem dark or lonely to him at all, but full and lively. Regan loved it.
No one spoke, taking it all in. The ship was soaring. They had gotten away from Mephistopheles’s compound, and likely evaded the mobster ship that had pursued them.
Reverie unbuckled her seatbelt, stood from her seat, and walked over to Regan. She put her hands on his shoulders and rubbed them slightly. She then just held them there. It felt good and relaxing.
That was when Bob said, “Oh, look. There’s a ship following us.”
Regan, who thought that they had evaded the attackers, now turned around and looked behind him. And though the pursuing ship wasn’t as close as it had been previously, it was there in the distance. Bob was right.
Straya groaned. “Dammit!”
“I’m on it!” Calico said, bringing up several screens, which showed up on various parts of the windshield.
Is it called a windshield in space?
One of these screens was a rear view. Regan knew he shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that the same ship was still right behind them, but their brief moments of speed had given him a false sense of hope.
Even so, Regan realized he was calm. He wasn’t worried. He was simply curious about the ship following them as much as he was interested in evading it.
He thought of Reverie’s hands on his shoulders, feeling them more deeply now. There was a warmth to them, and Regan assumed she was using her power to give him a sense of added calmness.
He smiled at this. He welcomed the additional strength to keep himself composed. This was his first go at being captain of a massive space yacht, so he could use the help. He had to handle his new position with poise and confidence. If Reverie could send a bit of serenity his way, he’d take it.
Calico then isolated the image of the ship that was following them and brought it up on a new screen of its own. It revealed the class of the ship, the vulnerabilities, the speed capabilities, and so on. It fascinated Regan, reminding him of a stealth jet on Earth, but huge. Much bigger than the new ship they were on.
It looked like the ship of a villain, as if nothing about it declared an ounce of peace.
This ship meant business.
And it was gaining on them.
“It might get rough,” Calico said. “Empath, you need to get back to your seat!”
Regan could tell that Reverie didn’t enjoy taking orders from Calico, but she did as she was told, recognizing the severity of the situation at hand. She took her seat and as soon as she fastened her belt, Calico turned the joystick a hard left.
The ship spiraled into a new direction. Regan took a deep breath. He could feel Reverie’s strength still lingering in him. He concentrated on that feeling, focusing on it to keep it with him. To keep calm.
Calico pressed a series of buttons and continued to roll the joystick in new directions. Regan felt a quick vibration all over the ship, like a force field of some type, or so he assumed.
“Point defense, boys and girls!” Calico shouted. “Though I’m sure the pirate knew that already.”
Straya glared at Calico, who purred with laughter. “We’ll survive,” she said. “This ship has a Mark-2 system. We’ll be able to evade most anything, especially with a professional at the helm.”
Regan smirked at this.
Just then a series of red lights started flashing. An alarm sounded soon after.
“What’s that?” Regan asked.
“Type-2 missiles,” Calico said. “A gift from the mobsters on our tail.”
“Let’s see you evade those,” Straya said, then she spun her chair around and started messing with the buttons and levers on the control panel near where she was sitting. She knew what she was doing, her experience in missile defense was clear.
Calico pulled back hard on her joystick and the ship started to climb straight up.
Regan thought of movies and video games. He remembered how missiles would latch on to the objects they were following. “Shouldn’t we drop some decoys?” he asked. “You know, flares or whatever so the missiles will chase after them instead?”
“Seriously?” Regan said. “We have to outrun missiles?”
“Well, we can hope that our shields absorb the explosions,” Arkei replied, less than convincing. “And the point defense system is high quality. It should work.”
“That’s it?” Regan asked. “Just wait for them to hit us and hope we don’t explode?”
“We can also shoot them down, but at the rate they’re gaining, that might be difficult,” Calico said.
“We’ll be able to outrun them once I get this FTL drive powered up,” Straya said, still adjusting levers and pushing buttons.
No shit?
“We have an FTL drive?” Regan exclaimed.
“Sure do!” Straya shouted.
“Yeah, Mephistopheles spared no expense when he put this ship together,” Calico said.
“Seriously!” Arkei shouted. “He became flashier than he used to be.”
Calico purred again with subtle laughter. “That may have been my doing, actually. I always wanted to pilot a ship with an FTL drive, so I might have convinced him it’d be prudent to have one.”
“Well, shit!” Regan said. “Let’s make the jump! What are we waiting for?”
The alarm still beeped. The red light still flashed. On the screen to his left Regan could see that the missiles were getting closer and closer. He was sure that they would smash into them within moments.
“We have to get the coordinates right,” Straya said. “We don’t want to zip right into a black hole or something like that.”
Oh yeah. That checks out.
Calico then flipped a switch and a hologram of coordinates popped up before Straya.
“There ya go,” Calico said. “Make it easy on yourself.”
Calico then turned the ship hard again, this time spiraling downward. She was still working at evading the missiles.
“Keep us straight!” Straya shouted. “Or I won’t be able to nail down a coordinate!”
Straya was tapping various points on the hologram map. It became clear to Regan that she was charting a course.
“You pick a coordinate and I’ll get us there!” Calico shouted. “But first I have to keep us clear of these missiles while you take forever plotting the course!”
A missile slammed into the back of the ship. It gave them a subtle jolt, but the point defense force field clearly prevented it from doing any damage.
Regan watched on screen how the explosion was absorbed.
Damn, that’s cool.
The ladies cheered at their escape from damage. Bob cheered as well, though Regan was sure he had no idea what he was cheering about.
Poor little guy.
Just then, a small red button lit up on Regan’s chair. He looked at it curiously. It seemed like an important thing for the captain to be familiar with. It was on his chair after all.
Without asking anyone, he pressed it.
Calico recognized the action and shouted for him to stop, but she was too late. Another screen popped up at the front of the command room. It showed a narrow face: gray skin and round sunglasses covering squinted eyes.
The creature wore a short-brimmed fedora that leaned to one side, and his shoulders revealed a pin-striped suit jacket.
Seriously? This dude looks like a 1920s gangster.
Regan knew as soon as the alien opened his mouth that it was Salvato. There was no way this alien was anything other than a mobster. Somehow the stereotype carried into space.
“Stop your stolen vessel now,” Salvato demanded. His voice was gargled, like he needed to clear his throat. But that also gave him a unique edge. He sounded threatening, as if he had been through a great deal in his life.
“Uh, yeah… no,” Regan replied simply. “I don’t think so. You showed up and tried to shoot us down. We’re getting the hell outta here.”
Salvato’s face lit up as if hearing ‘no’ wasn’t something he was used to. His lips curled over and he leaned closer to the screen, almost appearing like he was about to lean into the command room.
“You will halt and return my—” Salvato started to say.
But the screen cut off, vanishing in an instant. Regan looked around the room, and it was Calico who met his eyes.
“Yeah, I turned him off,” she said. “Don’t listen to a word he says. He’s a maniac who kills people for fun. We need to get moving.” Then she turned her gaze toward Straya. “Which means the pirate needs to get this shit into gear!”
Straya didn’t respond. She just exhaled and kept going at the hologram coordinates.
Regan thought about Calico’s reasoning, and he felt fine about not talking to a space mobster trying to kill him right then, but he did wonder about Salvato’s last words. What did he want returned? Did something on the ship belong to him? Did the ship belong to him?
Regan again couldn’t help but think that Calico knew something else that she wasn’t letting on. Even though she was seemingly helping them get away, he’d have to monitor her.
Another series of alarms went off, interrupting his thoughts. More missiles. But not two this time. Twelve.
They showed up on the screen and were coming at the ship fast.
Calico lifted a covering, which had been protecting a red button from accidentally being pressed.
“I’m going to engage the FTL in five seconds, so you better have those coordinates ready!” Calico hissed.
“I’m close!” Straya shouted.
“Four!” Calico said.
“What’s your projection ratio?” Arkei asked with concern. Regan didn’t know what this meant, but he assumed she was discussing room for error in mapping out the jump.
“Never mind!” Calico shouted. “Three!”
“Two!” Bob shouted.
Dammit, Bob.
Straya then locked a hologram coordinate into place and a golden through-line established itself across the map.
“Go!” Straya shouted.
Calico pushed the button.
The subtle hum of the engine began to grow louder. Vibrations ran through everything, and all the lights in the command room became brighter, as if power was being pushed to every part of the ship.
Regan felt it in his toes. In his fingertips. He felt the skin on his face tighten and pull back.
The entire ship felt as if it could explode, its energy being drawn from everywhere… but only for a moment, before it released forward.
The ship launched ahead and even though Regan had seen it in movies, it wasn’t the same. Nothing could prepare him for the sheer force of power that drove them all forward. It made perfect sense then why it took so long to prepare the energy. This was clearly dangerous technology. Amazingly advanced and wonderful technology, but it could lead to an accident in no time.
But no accidents happened. The girls had planned it out correctly. They had worked together, despite the tension, and the ship was now coasting at an exhilarating rate. The stars made lines by them. Regan felt like he could get lost watching the lights whiz by. It was magical.
They had evaded the missiles, the gangsters, and were traveling to new parts of space. Regan relaxed into his captain’s chair and looked around the command room. He put his hands behind his head and smiled. “Good job, everyone.”
Chapter Five
The alarms shut off, the blinking lights stopped, and the screen of the attacking mobster ship minimized after going blank. They were in the clear.
Regan let out a long exhale and rubbed his hands along the armrests of his new captain’s chair. In his mind, he had just completed his first voyage as captain and successfully evaded a powerful enemy. The day had gone well, so he decided everyone should relax for a bit.
“Where are we headed?” he asked, turning his gaze from the star beams outside the ship back to his crew sitting at their stations.
Just then Calico lowered a lever, bringing the ship
out of its FTL jump. It wasn’t abrupt. In fact, it was the opposite. It was smooth and, like the rest of the ship’s technology, it reminded Regan of the power he was sitting on. This ship was spectacular, and Regan knew that wherever they went, it would make for an impressive arrival.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere,” Calico replied. She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned back in her chair.
Arkei unbuckled too, then stood up and stretched. She walked over to the hologram map and began moving her fingers through it, checking diagnostics and data of the surrounding area.
“She’s right,” Arkei said. “We’re nowhere, or at least nowhere that matters. We’re far away from all the shipping lines and commercial traffic. This isn’t even pirate country.” She turned and smiled at Regan, clearly satisfied with their location. “There’s nothing out here for light-years. It’s a good spot for us to catch our breath.”
Regan unbuckled his seatbelt, as did Straya and Reverie.
Bob, however, had somehow fallen asleep during the action. His head was arched back as he snored loudly.
Little guy’s all tuckered out.
As Regan was about to stand, he noticed a small blinking light near Calico’s piloting chair. He couldn’t tell if her next move was sneaky or just quick, but either way, she pressed it and it stopped blinking. He watched her for a moment longer and soon enough the blinking light came on again, and again she quickly pressed it to make it go off.
Before he could consider addressing it, Calico turned to Arkei and Straya. “Thank you for handing the controls over to me. I’m sure it was hard for you two ace pilots to do that.”
Straya simply smirked. Regan could feel the tension between the two of them specifically. If he unleashed Straya on her, he knew she would tear the feline apart. And depending on whether Calico had sneaky motives regarding that little red button, that was exactly what he would do.
“Thanks to me we can all relax and rest for a while,” Calico said, putting her arms behind her head and her feet on the command console.
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