The Way Back [Book 2 of One Tragic End to a Million Stories]

Boarding

There it was. For the third time. The Invisible II. Somehow, every time the Captain pulls up to it, the beauty of the ship never ceases to amaze them.

However, beauty or no beauty, the Captain was terrified. Last time they boarded that ship, everything went nuts.

This time was different, though. Oh, yes. This wasn't like the last two times. The first time, they boarded normal. The second time, everything was all glitchy. This time, however, wasn't like any of those, because this time, the Captain had Mark boarding with them instead of already waiting on the ship.

It had been a month since landing on the planet, and the only reason they were still using the Invisible II instead of a smaller ship was because there were colonists begging to go back to Earth. Turns out, they had some family back on Earth. Some that couldn't come on the Invisible II with them.

The Captain's coffee time with the crew on Thursday the next week at nine o'clock went great, although there was some bickering between Mark and Celci. Nothing hugging it out couldn't fix. How did they hug it out? The Captain had ordered them to. Okay, maybe that was slightly for the Captain's entertainment. And, they earned a death glare from Celci. But when they apologized enough, Celci eventually forgave them.

And now, Celci was back on the ship, along with Burt, Gunther, the rest of the crewmembers to take care of the ship, and some colonists, too. Unfortunately for the Invincible II, it would need a new Captain and Head Engineer. The old ones will have mysteriously been put in prison.

That's right, Mark was coming with the Captain to prison. After all, he couldn't leave his best friend to themself and never see them again. He had to go with.

And now, there they were, again. Boarding the Invisible II for the third time. With a friend, this time.

"Visual tower, this is Shuttle Marmota approaching docking bay four. Closing the blast shields." The blast shields closed, startling Mark a bit, who had been lost in his thoughts.

"You okay, Mark?" The Captain asked their companion.

"Yeah, just... We're going back onto that metal monster, and... after what happened, I..."

The Captain put a supporting hand on the engineer's shoulder. "We're gonna be okay. Got it?"

"I... Yeah." Though Mark wasn't really convinced, he did not want to fight with the Captain.

"Shuttle Marmota, you're clear to dock," A voice said on the communicator.

"Copy you. Hey, are we still up for that coffee? It's fine if you're busy. I just... I'm gonna get it right,  this time. We're gonna land in five... fo--!" The Shuttle pilot was interrupted by the ship violently shaking, telling the three that he did not, in fact, get it right, this time. "So, uh, coffee? Or... Like I said, beer's cool."

The Captain winced. They felt bad. They couldn't have coffee with the shuttle pilot if they were in jail.

"Ooh... Actually, I'm gonna have to turn you down on that offer. I'm sorry I feel really bad to let down one of my fans. I'm just... really busy... I'm sorry..."

"Oh." The Captain could tell that the pilot was disappointed.

"Uh... I have to go. Sorry. ...Again. Um, bye." The Captain then turned to leave the shuttle with Mark.