Galaxars (Hiatus)

{Chapter 31}

Sheila's POV:

Estella took her time preparing for the trip. It was her first time traveling with her new 'friends' and she wouldn't shut up about it. But then again, I'm excited. It wasn't as dangerous as Ashley's mode of transportation which means I had more time to observe what happens when a ship traveled very fast.

     We had our beauty sleep and ate some food Estella cooked. She also handed us new clothes, this time suited for exploration. It resembled a spacesuit, and you could customize it to be in any color you wanted. Estella didn't give us helmets after we explained that it isn't necessary thanks to the core chip.

     We lounged in the control room waiting for Isha and Estella to calibrate everything. Isha was enthusiastic and knew how every nook and cranny worked even after only learning about it visually in books. Estella never ceased her amazement and followed along, only correcting if she got information wrong, and continuing to watch. When the ship was ready they returned to face us.

     "So how exactly does your ship work?" I asked.

     "Scouts are small and incredibly fast; we'll travel to that unknown planet in no time. We all stay in the control room and I'll summon some chairs. The belts will keep us intact while we zoom past the coordinates shown on Isha's device." Estella pressed some buttons and I yelped after chairs appeared from the ground. Isha nudged Estella like she forgot something.

     "Aren't you going to tell them the rules of space traveling?"

     "There are rules?" Sabrina tilted her head while playing with the belt.

     "Duh, they don't just hand out ships for randos to fly anywhere they want to. I registered as a scout because it's the most exciting of all the jobs and it's not boring at all. The rules are. It's mostly to inspect if the planet's geography is safe and has valuable resources—all that useless info. Likewise, I've already cut my connection from the SP who cares about it."

     "Are you sure you're not going to tell them?"

     "What difference does it make if we tell them—we're not here to investigate a new planet for SP to ruin. Come on, buckle up, I do have to warn you that you still have to hold on tightly." She gestured for Isha to come to the control panel while we got comfy sitting down. Erricah sat beside me a few feet away from my own chair.

     "The space jump is the worst part—probably even more nauseating than core chip teleportation. It's like your brain flies out of your skull and is floating around somewhere while your body stays behind. The first time it happened to me after I snuck into a ship, I couldn't move for a hot second out of shock."

     Yikes, isn't that comforting?

     Isha assisted Elaine and Sabrina into their seats. Elaine's squealing around while the latter's silent and calm.

     "Hand me the coordinates and let's jump there." I overheard Estella ordering Isha, while she grabbed the phone-like invention and typed it on the control panel. "Alright, let's go! It's gonna start up very slow due to how far this is."

     Estella and Isha have seats directly in front of the panel while the four of us are behind them. She pressed a button and a countdown began. I looked at Estella as she leaned back in her seat with an expression of pure joy on her face.

     "Three, two, one . . . ignition!" The engines roared to life and the ship started moving at a slow pace. It stayed like that for several seconds before it began to pick up the pace, faster and faster. Soon, we were hurtling at tremendous speeds.