2132:Phoenix

Chapter 16

It was warmer now, but Calepus had disappeared. Warmer clothes sat on the foot of the bed, but I just put them on top of my other clothes. He even left warm socks with grippies on the bottom so I didn't have to bother with shoes that were too big for me. The only time we got shoes on the ship was when we trained, or I did at least. The gymnasts never got shoes, I don't think the swimmers did either. I knew there were a few ice dancers on board, but they worked with weights and ran, never allowed to practice their passion. I guess laces are joking hazards, but there was velcro. I found Calepus in his chair staring at the stars. His stare was intense and focused on a certain part. Maybe it's where we are going, or maybe it's where we came from.

"Good morning, Lexi. Did you sleep alright?"

"Was the bed better than the floor?" He laughed and pulled his hands through his hair.

"It was just a tab bit more comfortable. One more jump and we'll be there. It's not much to look at from space, but I promise the surface is nice, albeit a bit boring."

"Nothing like home?"

"No, it's nothing like Earth. That place... it's like a hundred planets merged together. Even the biggest planets have the same flora and fauna, they just are adapted to the specific weather of where they live."

"Will it be cold?"

"We'll be inside most of the winter." He turned his chair now and I sat in his lap. He seemed a bit shocked but let me make myself comfortable as the ship prepared for its final jump.

"Will there be things to do?" He smirked as if discovering a dirty joke. What was he... "Not that way," I whined. He was just as bad as my friends back home. He chuckled and scratched my arm lightly.

"We will find plenty of things to keep us occupied. With that imagination of yours, maybe I'll have new stories to read."

"I don't know if I can do that anymore."

"Then I'll teach you some of my favorite galaxy histories and we can watch documentaries and make up new recipes. You can teach me some of your earth games, and I'll teach you some of mine. You can tell me some of your history. In the summer we can play in the river. Whatever you want we can do." That sounds amazing, carefree life of learning and teaching forever. Nothing was perfect though, we'd have to survive somehow.

"What will we do for food and money?"

"This ship is a colonizing ship, it has everything we'll ever need plus some." The ship made its final jump. Purples and blues shifted in the black night and engulfed the ship like a dark wind.

"You've gotten stronger," Calepus murmured as we sat in the dark. He was right with time and desperation I was nearly a block of muscle. It felt so awkward the first month everything was just way too easy. I got used to it. I don't know if I'll keep up with it, maybe just normal workouts from now on. The blue lights started to flare as we came out of the hole in space to reveal the tan planet. I chuckled at how boring it actually was, after all this chaos I'm going to live on a wheat planet for the rest of my life.

We landed on the planet's surface and put everything away where it was supposed to be. I forgot I needed shoes when Calepus locked up the cabinet, so he gave me a piggyback ride outside so we could watch the ship transform. It was interesting and complex and I got very bored very quickly.

"Calepus?"

"Hmm?"

"How fast can you run?"

"Are you bored," he taunted, and his hands gripped my thighs tighter.

"Well..." before I could finish he took off over the plain towards the river. The warm sun beat down on me. As we made our way across the plain. It was wider than I was expecting and roared like a white water rapid. "This is a better moat than I was expecting."

"A moat?" I guess the translator devices they implanted didn't fully understand the human language.

"A ring of water around a protected place to make sure an army cannot easily attack. It's an older defense." He contemplated it and looked up at the mountains. The map only had a few large mountain ranges on this planet, but this was a more remote blip that was in a remote level of foothills. Unique, like the people that were now inhabiting it. Something moved on the cliff face slow and hidden in the rocks. "Predator?" There was a group of birds perched not far below where I saw the movement. Their squawking had ceased and they listened. I tensed as I saw the movement again. I couldn't tell what it was but the birds did not like it and from the way Calepus stilled, I assumed he wasn't a fan either.

"They should stay in the mountains, but let's not give them a reason to try to cross that river." He walked back to the ship, that had finished its transformation. It looked like a dome. Windows existed everywhere that reflected the harsh noon sun. It wasn't huge, but we only needed it for two people so it would be more than enough. We walked in and the interior was much like the ship. White and metallic decor. Glass acted as a railing on the second floor, but other than the two semi-circles that did not attach to each other, there were no rooms. A half-circle couch was pushed into a ledge that lead to a living area with a tv. A glass table sat by a kitchen with more white chairs. It was going to get so dirty.

"I'm going to go set up a few things outside. Stay here please." I nodded and made my way to the first set of spiral stairs to see what they led to. This half was a large tiled area with an open shower with three heads, a large bathtub, a wall of mirrors. A toilet and a sink. The semi-circle was walled off for privacy, but there was no door that I saw that could stop someone from coming up the stairs.

I did walk up to the door in the bathroom to see it lead to a small equipment room with weights and rowing machines. And a screen, probably for workout routine videos. The floor was padded in blue squishy stuff that reminded me of the tumbling tracks on the ship. I was itching to do something so I went to the bench. Hundred reps with the bar, easy as it's ever been. I felt the sweat building up so I dropped the heavy layers and moved to squat. Hundred twenty reps with the bar. I knew I could do more, but I didn't have a spot and I don't want to get hurt. Not this early on. I worked on my core a bit then ditched my shirt, it felt slimy. It was one of the most disgusting feelings in the world to have a cotton-like shirt covered in sweat clinging to you. I found a towel and body aerosol to quickly remove the smell of my workout before heading downstairs. I went to explore the other staircase but Calepus was already strolling back through the door with sweat gleaming on his brow. I guess he wasn't expecting to come home to me in a bra and pants, but he recovered from his shock and smiled.

"Get a good workout in?"

"Enough," I shrugged, but a smile played on my lips; I felt good. I tried finding cups but there were so many cabinets to go through.

"Lex," I looked to find him knocking on a cabinet that opened to reveal cups and bottles, it was right under the sink too for convenience. He filled two large red cups and set one on the counter before striding up the staircase I came from.

"I'm going to shower, if you need anything just call. Oh, the tv remote is in the table by the couch, works the same way my old one did."

"Thank you," I called out in a sing-song voice. I hopped down onto the couch and felt lighter than I had in months. What can they even carry on the outer edge of the galaxy?