One in Twelve Thousandth Percent

Chapter 10:

When I wake up, I'm still in bed. Whoa, that was a wild dream. I go to sit up and can't. I look down and see Misaki laying on my arm, also asleep. I wonder when she came in? I stroke the side of her face. "Hey, babe wake up." I lean down and kiss the top of her head.

"Mmmm, hey hon. Is it morning yet?" I chuckle. "Yes, kinda. But we still haven't launched yet. Computer, what's the time?"

"The time is 11:22 hours."

Well I don't need that alarm anymore. "Computer, cancel the alarm." "Alarm canceled." Misaki sits up and yawns, not even fazed by the random notification. "How long have we been asleep?" I sit up and stretch. "Well, I came in and laid down at 10:15. You must have come in sometime after me." She shrugs. "I wasn't paying attention to the time when I snuggled up next to you." I roll my eyes. "Of course, babe. Haha." We both get off the bed when the ship-wide comms go off.

"Parker to the crew of the ISS Angel. We are nearing departure time. I need all hands to their designated locations. Repeat, we are nearing departure time. All hands to their designated locations."

I hold my hand out to Misaki. "Well, shall we?" She smiles and takes my hand. "Of course." We head over to Engineering. "Did you have any place where you were needed?" She shakes her head. "No, what about you?"

"I just have to be in the FTL room when Annabelle fires that thing up." She smiles. "Now, that sounds like fun. Let me know and I'll come with you."

"Parker to Craft." My eyebrow pops.

"Craft here."

"You want a front row seat when we launch?" I look at Misaki who nods at me.

"Sure."

"Then get your skinny ass up here, quick."

"Yes, ma'am."

I tug on Misaki's hand. "Let's go." We find the nearest lift and hop in.

When we reach the bridge, Meira turns to look. She sees us hand in hand and waves us over.

"I wanted you to be here when we did this. It's a good thing you brought your lady with you. Without the two of you, we wouldn't be doing this today." She looks at the time. 11:55. "Alright, let's get this show on the road, yes?"

"Parker to Cargo Bay."

Some random person replies. "Cargo Bay here."

"Is everything all set down there?"

"Affirmative. Bay doors 1 through 5 are all sealed. And I think that we have everyone we're supposed to."

"Perfect, Parker out." She turns to the front viewing screen. "ISS Angel to ISS Colony Janus."

Zintoris shows up on the screen. "Janus Colony, Zintoris here." When he sees the two of us standing next to Meira, his disposition changes ever so slightly. Anyone who wasn't actively watching wouldn't have noticed, but because of the drama we had with him the other day, I noticed. Misaki squeezes my hand to signal that she also noticed.

"We're ready to launch."

"Affirmative, Parker. Safe travels. Oh, one more thing before you go." He says.

"Yes, sir?" Meira cocks an eyebrow.

"I hereby promote you to the rank of Captain of the ISS Angel. Good luck out there." That shocks us all.

"Thanks a lot, sir. Parker out." The screen goes black. "Ensign Bray? Activate main engines." Kaz smiles. "Awwwww yeah... I've been waitin' for you to say that." Kaz hits a couple buttons and the ship shakes ever so slightly as the main engines power up.