U4: The Space Wanderers

Chapter 13: Back Then

Back at Stucky's, Sighlan was grabbing snacks for the road while Dirken was jumping around grabbing merch and taking pictures. Sighlan suddenly stopped as she looked at a particular bag of chips, Werble's Kinetic Chips. "Hey Dirken, remember these?" Dirken stopped his bouncing and walked over to Sighlan. "Oh, oh yeah! Hah, we used to snack on these all the time back at the academy during the late-night study crunch! Man we were so tired, but these 'wake-up' chips really kept us going." "Yeah, fun times... kinda makes ya miss school life, in a way. Hey, Dirken, do you remember the night before our graduation?" Dirken contemplated before clicking back. "Oh, I remember! We were out by the academy garden, star-gazing at the night sky! Almost feels like yesterday..."

-10 Years Earlier-

As the two of them laid on the grass staring at the stars, Dirken pointed towards the sky. "Hey Si, ever notice how crazy the stars look when there's no traffic obscuring everything? It's like an endless sprinkle of lights in a sea of dark purples and blues." Sighlan started to giggle. "Oh Dirken, you trying to write another poem again?" Dirken slowly chucks a small notebook and pen to the side as his eyes dart back and forth. "Uh, nooooo... Just, uh, just thinking how different our lives are gonna be soon, with the graduation and all."

"Yup, gonna be pretty different. At least we have the Ultimatum, and our dinky delivery job, right?" Dirken nodded at Sighlan's answer. "Yeah, though I've been thinking, we've just been delivering stuff between Ballex, Grate and Shri. It's fun and all, but have ya ever considered going beyond? Like, have you ever wondered what's going on at the other side of the universe, what their planets are like?" Sighlan was silent for a moment before answering. "Yeah... though, the universe is pretty big, where would we go?"

"Absolutely no clue! But think about the crazy adventures we could have! No matter what dangers come our way, were tough to strike 'em down! Nobody can or will stop us!" Sighlan started to Dirken, who didn't realize he was putting on a show doing bombastic poses during his talk. "You crack me up big buddy, now sit down before anyone sees, we could get in trouble being here..." Dirken then sat back down, closer to Sighlan. She then pat Dirken on the back.

"Welp, we'll see how our future plays out soon. You and me, we're gonna stick it to the end of time. We've known each other for a long time now, and we both know that some day, our names will be known around the galaxy. They'll call us 'The Famous Space Wanderers', and everyone will look up to us. You feeling what I'm feeling, Dirken?" Dirken smiled and gave her a nod. "Heh... still though, I honestly didn't think I'd get to this point in my life. Me, graduating on of the best academies on this planet. Like, I knew you'd graduate, you're one of the smartest people I know, but I didn't think I'd go this far."

"Don't think to harshly on yourself Dirken, you're a lot smarter than you think you are. And to be honest, I don't think I'd be able to graduate if I didn't have you by my side. As you said, we'll stick it to the end of time." Sighlan then held Dirken's hand, comforting him. "Thank you, Si. We'll always be together, no matter what." Dirken then laid back down with Sighlan, continuing to star-gaze at the night sky.

-Present Day-

"Welp, 10 years on and we're still going strong. Nothing really has stopped us now, so let's keep it, eh Dirken?" "You got that right, Si! Travelled so stars, delivered so many packages, fought so many foes, and now we even have a crew. Everything's coming up Space Wanderers!" Dirken then held Sighlan's hand and smiled. "You feel me?" Sighlan smiled back. "Yeah, I feel ya." The two of them then went up to the counter to buy the snacks and fuel. The cashier squinted than noticed who the two were. "Dirken? Sighlan? Oh crap, I haven't seen y'all in ages, what's going on with y'all?" Dirken squinted back before remembering who the cashier was. "Is that... Benton? Hah, didn't think I'd run into my old roommate! We're doing pretty good, with the delivery service and all that. How've you been?"

"Well, as you can see, I work at Stucky's. Despite graduating with y'all, my engineering career didn't really go all that well." Benton then raised his left arm, showing them that it was a mechanical prosthetic. "Let's just say I was kind of in an industrial accident..." Sighlan was shocked while Dirken's eyes widened. "Damn... sorry you had to deal with that. Uh... I hope this job is doing well for you." "I'm actually doing pretty swell here. Employees get discounts, and a free lunch! Well, I'm sure you guys are busy at the moment, so I'll just give ya the receipt and you can head on out. Hope we meet again!"

Sighlan and Dirken then walked out of the store holding a bunch of bags. "Alright Dirken, let's put all this stuff in the ship. After we're done, we'll meet up with the kids in a bit. They should be almost done over there." "Sounds fine to me, I'm sure they've been having some fun without us, but I guess it's time to wrangle 'em up." As the two of them headed to the diner, something odd was happening to their ship unknowingly. After a few minutes of walking, the walked into the diner, seeing the three kids finishing their meals.

"Goddard, Xanny, Hallah, y'all almost ready?" The three of them nodded their heads as they finished that last few bites left on their plates. They wiped their faces up with some napkins, gave the old man a tip, and headed towards Sighlan and Dirken. They waved the old man goodbye, as he waved back. "I hope you yung'ns have a nice day, and come back anytime."