Soul Eyes

CHAPTER NINE

The Sisters were there. Their destination sat right there, just out of reach, beyond the glass of Loop'd'Loop. Jaysa's heart would not calm down. She had read about and seen pictures of The Sisters, but seeing them in person was another thing entirely. They were all massive, Hoard, the smallest, was reading at an approximated size of one point seven four million kilometers in diameter. No one had been here in a very long time. The map, until now, logged Hoard as one point two three million kilometers.

"This doesn't make sense," Jaysa said under her breath.

"What doesn't?" Remi asked from his seat. They had all been staring in disbelief at the three planets. Narso was the closest to them, covered in a haze of red and purple, spotted with green. Zero, the furthest and closest to this solar system's sun, Prime, was a black spot in the distance, a golden halo surrounding the northern hemisphere. Jaysa snapped a picture with the controls, knowing Rhies would want to see this.

"Hoard is getting bigger," Jaysa said, "check the map."

Her crew took the stairs so they could see the hologram. It did not take long for all brows to be furrowed in confusion.

"How is that possible?" Agatha asked aloud.

Jaysa shut the map down and shrugged, "We might be finding out. Now," she turned to face them all, "what's everyone's roles?"

"Remi and I fly to Narso and check in with Novi immediately. We don't leave the ship until we've found a safe place to land," Olivia said.

"Or abort," Jaysa kept eye contact with Olivia for a few more seconds, before turning to Novi.

"I stay here, unwillingly mind you, and provide air support. I'm also supposed to let Jorhn out eventually," Novi crossed her four arms, frowning. She still was not quite over being left aboard.

"You and I explore Hoard," Agatha elbowed Jaysa lightly on the ribs.

"Everyone is to check in with Novi every ten minutes," Jaysa added. "Now let's get our gear."

#

The crew and Jorhn loaded into the small planet fall pods. Each one was accompanied by a hovercycle in the back. Besides that, there was just enough room for two people. Jorhn, of course, took his own as no one could ride with him, nor did any of them want to.

Novi checked off the inspection for each pod, making sure to incapacitate Jorhn's craft by sending a virus to the navigation software. She almost smiled as the bug went through. Jorhn had done nothing wrong, he was only following his orders, but Novi and the others would never trust him. Not with so much at stake.

The two pods launched from the side of Loop'd'Loop and Novi watched them go. One broke away from its partner, heading for Hoard and Novi pushed down the lump in her throat. She had a very bad feeling about all of this.

Jorhn shouting from his pod came through the speaker system, disrupting Novi's thoughts.

"Why are you not out Jorhn?" Novi asked, trying to sound serious.

"You know exactly why," Jorhn was suddenly calm. "Send this craft now."

"Hold on," Novi pretended to be busy inspecting the controls. "Let me find the problem."

"Damn you girl!" Jorhn yelled, a loud thump followed. Novi was sure he had kicked something.

"I'm not showing any malfunctions on this end. Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Novi could not keep the smile off her face any longer, nor the humor from her voice.