Edited The Curse of the Wiccan

Chapter 9- Zxjek

The company got extremely lucky on the next six months until they needed a pit stop to replenish supplies. There wasn't a single occurrence that could have been talked about for ages to come when the ballad of Estella Porter was finally said and done. Sateron picked the next sister planet to stop on to refill their stocks. He chose wisely.

But this time they elected to stay together and not worry about it taking a few hours longer than necessary. Eugenio still felt embarrassed, but he ran into another graduate of the Valley of Queens Air Force. This is how Estella and Sateron learned his nickname of Globe Trotter.

He hated the nickname he received in school, but he thought it would have been long gone, but he ran into a homeless graduate of the Air Force. Estella knew they were light on men to man the four-man ship, so she invited him to join to earn a living again.

Estella would have preferred some female company, but she couldn't deny a graduate of the VQ Air Force. Her sense of loyalty forced her to hire a man she hardly knew, but Eugenio vouched for him despite the nickname being explained at length. Eugenio claimed he was top the class.

"How did you end up homeless in the Stzock galaxy?" Estella asked as he boarded the ship.

"That's a very long story," Viche laughed.

"We have about six months," Sateron joked.

"Long story short," he started, "I started running guns for the Triwiards and got roped into a bad lifestyle, then I started doing drugs and stealing the guns. This was just the easiest place to hide. The Triwizards have hardly any influence on planet Horche."

Eugenio looked at him like he was suspicious of something lacking from the very short autobiography. But Estella was a sucker for second chances, so she accepted every word he shared and even invited him to relax with her in the common room to talk more about his past. Estella thought of herself as more of a therapist than a spiritual guider she was claimed to be. She talked at length with Viche until it was time for Eugenio to go on break and get some sleep or workout for a few hours.

While Viche did seem troubled, Estella attributed it to not having work for the last couple of years. His long, untamed beard needed to at least be styled, and he would take that time to do so when Globe Trotter joined him, "don't call me Globe Trotter," Eugenio angered. He didn't trust Viche for turning his back on the Air Force, and he still didn't forgive him for what he did to get discharged from the VQ Air Force.

Viche cleaned up his beard and stood in the back of the cockpit to talk to Estella more. With Eugenio weary of him, and Sateron totally unsure he could be trusted, Estella was the only one he could really connect with. He hadn't had an at-length conversation for the last few months, and the role of social interactions could be pivotal in his mental health.

Estella really connected with him. She had been wayward at one point in her life, but the difference between her and him was the fact she had a strong support system to save her from all the bad decisions. Viche wasn't all that different from her, or so she thought.

After a while, the conversation died down, and Viche went to nap before his shift started. He may have been homeless, but he understood the value of hard work. Wanting to prove himself, he took command of the ship and smoothly flew through the Stzock galaxy.

This gave him time to talk to Estella once more. The man talked all the time, and it was really starting to annoy her. But she remained calm, although her replies were limited to one or two words. Viche clearly didn't get the point that there could be brief pauses in conversations, and that they could sometimes sit in silence and be content, but he didn't shut up until her shift was over, and Eugenio came to relieve her.