Alpha Centauri

Twenty-Three - Raev

 I quickly lean that Jaden Everett is not a forced to be trifled with. Though she be but little, she is fierce. I'm almost inspired by her resilience.

The three of us strap ourselves into the cushy seats to prepare the journey into space. Nathan lets me take the wheel. "I'm guessing this is your first time in space, huh?" I ask, securing myself into my seat.

"Oh, no, we visited Venus last summer," Nathan says.

"Great," I say, copying his sarcastic tone, "then I guess I won't have to run you through the basics of interstellar travel."

I flip a few switches and punch a few buttons, feeling the engine rev up with power. "You two ready?" I ask, recalling the events that led up to this. I'm glad we repaired the space pod. There's hope that Julian and Nizami will survive, and when they do, their ship will be waiting for them outside the warehouse.

Nathan looks scared out of his wits, but Jaden looks like she's been doing this all her life. I have been doing this all my life, but there's still a tiny part of my that's terrified of something going wrong.

I take a deep breath. "Okay. Um... How do you do it on Earth? Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... fi—"

"Dude, hit the damn button," Jaden snaps.

I obey and bring one of my fists down on the button, shouting, "Ignition!"

I'm forced back in my seat, my four hands clamped down on the armrests, feeling like my skin is peeling off my face. I've done this countless times in simulations, but I've never gotten used to it.

It takes almost all of my vertebral strength, but I turn and look at Jaden. She's pressed to the back of her seat, her fists clenched, her eyes squeezed shut. I watch the atmosphere zoom by at unimaginable speeds.

Then I feel weightless, as if I had never been painfully pressed into his seat. There is only blackness ahead of me, beside me, and all around me.

I peel myself off of seat, unbuckles myself, and drift out.

"Holy shit," he hears Jaden gasp from somewhere he has yet to comprehend. "I heard roller coasters were cool, but that..."

I pull myself to the controls and scroll through each holographic screen. I tap a few buttons, restoring the artificial gravity.

I hear an almighty crash as I land gracefully on my feet. Nathan is lying crumpled on the glossy floor, rubbing his head.

"You could have warned us that you were turning the gravity on," Nathan grumbles.

"Where's the fun in that?" I settle back into my seat and lean my head back. We made it. We're home free.

"If you guys don't mind, I think I'll just sleep the rest of the way to Crenala," Jaden yawns. Without any input, she disappears into another room, the door sliding shut behind her.

"Okay then," I say. "I'm setting a course to Crenala." I use all of my hands to tap out a command to the ship. I punch the launch button, but the computer screen screeches at me, saying "Command invalid. Course settings cannot be overridden" in the Scriosian language.

"What's it saying?" Nathan wonders.

"I don't know. It says I can't override the settings."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't think it wants me to go to Crenala."

I frantically flip through the settings, looking for the coordinates of our destination.

"Oh no." I stare at the characters shimmering on the screen. "It's taking us back to the Scriosian ship dock."

"What's that?"

"It's where all our ships and space pods and such are stored on our journey into your solar system. It's just one of the small parts of an even bigger starship. The starship is called the Mikuris, which means "dominance" in the Scriosian language, by the way. This pod isn't exactly made for traveling long distances, but it has a warp enabler, so we could use it to get to Crenala. But, I can't change the settings. If I don't change them, the Scriosians will find you and kill you and punish me for not killing Jaden on contact."

"Can you delay it so we can try to figure something out?"

Before I can answer, the computer says, "Initiating course. Estimated travel time: four hours."