Therans In Space: Chapter 2

The ship coasted through space, their destination a solar system away. The zorgs had things under control, both pilots hooked into the system to direct them. That left the rest of the organic members the crew time to stretch their legs and wind down.

Jenny and Ya’Cahin were both walking down the hallway to the mess hall, a modified version of the old half circle room. Ya’Cahin had a pitcher on the table and a full glass at her side, Jenny a half empty one. She stared at a tablet counting the numbers that were flowing into the teams account making faces.

“Well we got paid. I think we got over paid actually,” She said arching her eyebrow. “I’m not gonna tell them.”

“They probably started smoking the thing once it digi transferred. Remembered to pay us later and gave us a number that sounded right. I remember a client forgot to pay us period. We had to go get it out of them.”

“Well I’m glad we didn’t have to do that this time. And speaking of jobs, could we not do something like this again? You know, going into hostile air space without some sort of cover.”

Ya’Cahin turned a glance at her, thought as she sipped from her glass and shrugged. “The pickings were slim and I doubted we wanted to do something mercenary related. Plus, this one even responded to our way overpriced advertisement. Any jobs worth it when you’re broke.”

“Depends on the pay,” Jenny said picking up her glass and sipping from it, her gaze on the drink itself.

Ya’Cahin grinned and leaned back, hands on the back of her head. “Well look at you turning into the little bounty hunter.” She glared at her captain who simply laughed in response. “I knew bringing you guys along would be a good idea.”

Jenny shook her head and focused more on the tablet cycling through articles on the galaxy news. It was her fastest way of learning about the galaxy. Especially since Ya’Cahin rarely cared about those things.

“So I’ve been thinking,” Ya’Cahin said and Jenny looked up at her, smirked, then went back to the tablet. “What was that look for?”

“Just an odd combination of words coming from you.”

“Remember I’m your captain and I can kick you off my ship at any time.”

She simply saluted at her near pouting friend, “Yes captain. What have you been thinking about?”

Ya’Cahin sipped her drink and swirled it slowly and then swallowed purposely wasting time. Jenny mentally raised a fork threateningly wobbling it in her direction. “Alright so space. Aliens. We have all sorts of technology that you guys didn’t have back on your own planet, right?”

“I figured that was obvious,” she said motioning to the ship they were currently on.

“Alice can’t talk because of the damage done. I’ve been talking to Ula and there’s a planet whose people work on body modification. Augments like wings, tails, I think some weird gas thing. But also on reconstruction. They might be able to fix her vocal chords. She might be able to talk again.”

Jenny stared at her speechless for a long moment. The thought of being able to heal her girlfriend in that way had never occurred. It seemed like science fiction, something that could never happen. But now, more than before that was very much their reality. A reality that made her eyes sting with tears for a second.

“Where is the planet? Will they really help?”

“If you can pay yes. And we just got paid a lot sooo.”

Jenny nodded quickly, her heart racing. “I have to talk to Alice. See if she’d want this first. But thanks, Ya’Cahin. So much.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m the best. Now go. Talk to her. I’ll tell the zorgs to set our course that way anyway. Just for something to do. It’s a quaint little system.”

Jenny got up quickly and hugged Ya’Cahin before going quickly toward the crew quarters. She walked down the long hallway with lights on the floor illuminating the ground. Instead of going down to the bridge she went to a set of ladders that went to the lower deck. It was a little darker down there but it was also where most of them slept. Past that was where the hanger and their armory was.

She walked to the room she shared with Alice and pressed her hand against a small hexagonal pad. It scanned for a second before opening up. There was a bed, a traditional one, in the corner, a few crates that could be formatted to be a table, a closet and a bathroom with it’s own door. If they wanted to shower they’d have to rotate through the communal one down the hall.

Alice was standing at the sink, washing her face, her mask resting on the crate. She was wearing pants, a tank top, and the old metal bracelet she’d given her. Her jacket hanging off the edge of the bed post. They normally wore black jump suits when they went out to the field but otherwise they wore simple pants and shirts.

Her skin hadn’t gained much color since leaving Therra. Rarely did they have any long exposure to proper sun light. But she’d been growing her hair again over the past year. But as she grabbed a towel and turned toward Jenny as she smiled warmly and Jenny returned it.

When they were in private, she didn’t mind showing her scars. Jenny reached up stroking her face gently. Alice closed her eyes and touched her hand and then looked at her with a tilt of her head.

“I’ve got some maybe great news,” she said carefully signing as she spoke to keep in the habit. She motioned toward the bed so they could sit. They both walked toward the bed and she sat down. Jenny sat crossed legs while Alice just turned to look at her.

Pausing in thought Alice moved her hands quickly, making the proper motions with her arms and hands. Jenny stared at her hands and tried to remember each sign. They’d had to relearn sign to match one that was spoken across the stars. Ya’Cahin taught them all, doing decent translations from their own version.

Alice picked it up fast, then Seth, and Jenny. Even though she’d gotten confident at its Alice still had her own way of doing it. It was like speaking Alice and sign at the same time. Alice smiled and slowed it down as she repeated the question, “What is it?”

Nodding she concentrated and said, “Thank you. Anyway. Ya’Cahin found a planet that works on physical augmentation. Imagine super surgery but for extra body parts and stuff,” Alice nodded a small smile on her face. “They can also work on smaller things.” She looked down at the bed. “Like scars,” she touched her cheek and face. “And maybe even internal damage.”

Alice touched her neck and Jenny nodded quickly. She traced her hand down to her throat then signed slowly, “You mean. They can fix my throat. And my voice?”

Jenny squeezed her hand tightly and nodded again. “That’s what Yaya made it seem like.”

Alice stared at the bed for a long moment her hands trembling. Taking back her free hand instead of signing to her she tapped the metal bracelet twice. It had been so long since they had used that method of communication.

She took Jenny’s hand and placed it against her neck. She felt the rough burn scars there and frowned but Alice moved her hand to her lips. She opened her mouth forming words slowly and signed, “I want you to hear my voice.”

She nodded. “Then let’s go talk to the captain.”

She reached behind her taking her mask and then stared at it. She dragged her fingers across it and made a small smile before pressing it against her face. Standing Alice grabbed her jacket and sliding it over her shoulders as she looked at Jenny. She got back up as well and squeezed her hand.

The pair walked onto the bridge but it was relatively quiet. Tahu and Ula were in both of the pilot chairs, plugged into the ship with their eyes blacked out. Their fingers moved absently, making small corrections here and there but for the most part they weren’t going to be responding to anyone.

Seth was still at one of the side consoles scrolling through the display. Jenny couldn’t see it from there but Seth was Seth. She was pretty sure he was scrolling through the news and catching up on things. All of them did their best to get it together though Trey was blissfully ignorant of the galaxy events. She was pretty sure he was like that before the meteor.

Ya’Cahin was in the captain’s chair with the tablet from before. She had a serious look on her face, like she was deep in her thoughts. It made Ya’Cahin look much older than she was, or maybe she was just very old. She was way older than she was that was for sure. But Ya’Cahin looked over her tablet to them and grinned.

“There’s my frist mate. And Alice. Great you’re both here. So, Jenny told you right? Are you in?”

Alice quickly signed, “Yes Captain. Thank you.”

“Great. Awesome. We should be there soon. This ships a fast one. And it’s no problem. You’re part of the crew.”

“What was with the face?” Jenny asked.

Ya’Cahin smiled and waved it away. “Nothing. Just a promise to keep once we’re done here. I’ll fill you in later.”

She tossed the tablet onto the chair as she stood and walked toward the bridge and stared out at the window. Watching hyper jump speed past them. She took an even breath and then glanced over her shoulder as Jenny and Alice watched with her. Jenny was watching with wide eyes, her mouth slightly open. “I’ve seen it a lot and yet it still gets me.”

Jenny simply shook her head. “We’re moving fast as light. On our planet that was impossible. Science fiction. Stories.” She said as she looked at her captain. “But this is real.” She pressed her hand against the glass of the window and felt the ship vibrating with how fast they were going. Alice’s hand joined hers and she smiled feeling infinitely calmer.

But Jenny kept it there feeling the vibrations through her hand but also through the metal of the ship itself. Her free hand found Alice’s and gave it a squeeze. She looked at her but found reading the mask to be harder than just reading her body language. When Alice looked at her, she tilted her head and raised her hand signing “What?”

“Just nerves,” she said then asked Ya’Cahin. “What kind of planet are we going to?”

“We’re going to the Ura system. The planet is Aralagi. It is a liquid based planet. Really thin atmosphere. If it didn’t have regular storms I’d forget it was there. The majority of the civilization is under the water.”

“Under the water?”

“Yep. The planet is almost 90% liquid. There are platforms on the surface that take you under and that’s where the cities exist. Well city might be the wrong word. The place where we’re alive is more like a town, business area. The natives that live there are really secretive and don’t allow outsiders in their cities.”

“If they don’t like outsiders why do they allow people like us at all?” Jenny asked.

“Who knows. I’m not that deep on their history. I think some of them wanted to interact with the greater system they were in. Especially after they found space travel. And they realized that they could make money off some of the natural resources that they harvest from the ocean floor.”

“Huh, even out here money makes the world go round,” She said and then turned toward the window as the ship jerked out of hyper jump and floated forward. There it was a big grey orb. She had expected it to be some kind of blue. She could see large patches of black along the planet’s surface though they were scattered around the surface.

Tahu and Ula unplugged from the ship and took a moment to get reacclimated. Tahu was the first one ready to move and stretched his arms over his head and then looked at them. “And we’re here. Well at least mostly here. Who all is going down? I nominate myself.”

“Well that’s four of us,” Ya’Cahin said and turned as the door wooshed open. Trey walked in yawning obnoxiously with Rizier behind him.

“Oh, we’re on a new planet? I want in,” Trey said smiling sleepily at them.

“’Want in’,” Jenny said and rolled her eyes. “I guess that makes five of us. But let’s cut it there. Don’t want to leave the ship under staffed.”

“What you’re expecting trouble?” Ya’Cahin asked half jokingly.

“Expecting trouble? No. But preparing for it doesn’t hurt.” She looked at the planet again and shrugged. “Doesn’t hurt to be cautious right?”

“I won’t argue that. Me and you should get some amps to take with us. Going armed isn’t going to be wise but going defenseless would be stupid.”

Ya’Cahin led the way with the other four following behind her. She took the ladder down to the lower floor and then went all the way to the back of the ship. Tahu separated from them going to get their ship ready. Going toward one of the tables she touched a container. The lid glowed and then split apart revealing several stones fitted into frames with wires looped through them.

She picked up on the blue rocks and felt a tiny surge of power that made her eyes glow for a second. She turned and handed open to Jenny. She took it and stopped as the rocks flashed and the power showed in her eyes before settling down.

“I always forget what its like to touch one of these things,” Jenny said looking down at the amp.

“It’s a shot of adrenaline for psykiks,” Ya’Cahin said. “Though the one a day rule is mainly for you guys.”

“Why can’t I get one? Don’t want us mad with power?” Trey wiggled his fingers at her and tiny pinpricks of light appeared around the tips. They popped and sparkled slightly and she waved them away.

“That’s exactly why you don’t need one yet,” Jenny said and then turned to Alice. She eyed the stones but she never felt the need to use them. “You ready?”

Alice nodded and reached out brushing her fingers across Jenny’s cheek. She leaned into the touched for a second and smiled. Alice touched the amp lightly then pulled it up slightly tucking it into Jenny’s shirt. The four of them left their armory and went into the garage.

Tahu’s scout ship was there more than ready to get into the void of space. The ship was humming and hovering slightly. The bridge was lit up as Tahu moved around getting the last finishing touches for the preparation. They watched them approaching and waved at their team. “Almost left without you guys.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Ya’Cahin said as her eyes glowed for a moment. She jumped and floated forward and landed behind him and the sat down. Cracking her neck she smirked at Tahu who scowled. “What?”

“You’re gonna magic in my ship again.”

She resisted the urge to cackle as the three terrans huddled into the cargo. Buckling in Jenny hit the side of the ship and with her magnetism made the sound boom louder. Tahu nodded as they pushed down on the thruster, the ship hissing to life.

Checking a few switches they turned the ship as it hovered slightly turning around.  The cockpit came down and attached with a small sucking sound and getting snug. “Alright Ula, we’re ready to take off. Drain the garage,” Ya’Cahin said.

Ula heard her loud and clear and dragged her fingers across the display on the ship before tapping a button. An alarm sounded loudly as the massive doors to the garage closed. A vent started going off along the walls, the air was being sucked out and the gravity turned off.

The alarm slowed to a halt and they were in silence when Ula’s voice came through the intercom, “You’re safe to head out. I’ve marked on the map the landing pad closest to the surgeons who deal with physical alterations. We’ll be in the atmosphere waiting for you.”

“See you soon!” Ramming the thruster forward they jolted out into space, angling toward the vast stormy grey planet.