Hitch Hike

1. Home

    The ship's bowels were full of wires and pipes littered with small screens and colorful lights. It made you think of a metallic forest with bioluminescent plants and bugs. 

    Next to a wall, a bright lamp sitting on a working table full of tools was shining on a young woman tinkering with the exposed side of an engine.

    The black messy bun on top of her head was in danger of disintegrating, and many loose strains were already falling on her wet face and neck. 

    With only a small strapless top and overalls, her shoulders and chest were sparkling with blue smudges and drops of sweat from the effort. 

    Green eyes were focusing on the connections her slim and white hands were doing. You could see that all her attention and every fiber of her muscles were working towards one goal. 

    Besides drinking water a few times, hours upon hours passed without her interrupting her work. 

    "And done," a big grin widened on her dirty and full of engine lubricant face. The brand new Type 7.05 Antimatter convertor she worked her ass off to save money for almost five years was finally installed and purring softly inside the engine of her small and cute Slicer.

    She stood unmoving and listening while reminiscing at the moment her boss – aka her mother's boss, owner, and lover – gave her freedom and a ship. A damn new and freaking expensive Slicer.

     Not that she was ever a captive in the real sense of the word. Travix Von Andar, the boss of Travix Trading Space Station, bought her mother at an auction when Ana was just a spoonful of cells in her mom's womb. Monique Sanchez, a human female, was lucky to get under Andar.

    He treated her as a regular employee and eventually, even as a lover. As for Ana, he was a strict but fair boss since she could remember.

    As she grew, the work she was assigned to was not hard for her age, and as Ana slowly matured, she understood that her boss was pushing her to learn. 

    To learn any and all kinds of skills and information that will be of help in the future.

    By 18, she was an experienced software programer and a damn good ship mechanic. 

    She knew how to survive in different environments and how to fight well enough to even stand her own against a 7ft Ursalin male. 

    The knowledge about trading was comparable to a stinky Frogalian her age, which was an achievement indeed.

     They were known as a species that thrived on trading and nothing else. Their home world had no worthy products to sell, but you could find them all over the universe as one of the richest merchants. 

    Over time, she picked up knowledge about most of the numerous species that made a stop at Travix Trading Space Station, also known as TTSS in sector N25. 

    At 14, her mom got sick with an incurable disease and, on her deathbed, told Ana: "Andar will allow you to do what you want soon. My beloved child, be a good girl and obey him till then."

     On her 18th birthday, Andar requested to have dinner together and presented her with a Slicer ship.  

     "Your freedom is what I own your mother. This ship is what I give to you for all the work you have done over the years. It's new, with 0 light years registered."

    "But pup, if you think you can take it and go anywhere you want, you are dreaming with your eyes open. I removed the antimatter converter. No space jumps for you till you work and buy it yourself."