The Twilights: The Basics of Secrets

Chapter 5

Azura

Sugloria was all I had ever known; the only planet I had ever seen and lived on. The view in space was glorious; a long and vast field of darkness with various sprinkles of light filing the space. The Haitov System was a large green swirl that shined throughout space. I wish I could have looked at it even longer, but the ship lurched forward and now the black space turned into a swirling cloud of purple. We were in hyperspace.

"Come on, let's go meet the crew," Jay said.

I followed him out of the large room and throughout the ship. It was a fair size freighter ship. The greyness and bulkiness of it reminded me of ships I would scavenge. We climbed up a ladder, taking us from the bottom half of the ship, up to the upper level. We then entered what looked like a lounge. It was a round room with a round couch in the center, and a small table in the center of that couch. There were other small seats and tables around the room and a large projector on one wall. The crew members were sitting and standing in the room and all focus shifted to Jay and I as we entered.

For the most part, I recognized everyone from briefly meeting them at one point during this past mission. I stayed a fair distance away from them as Jay went to stand near his friends. "Everyone, this is Azura Un-Hai. Azura, this is the crew. Brie Bosley is the captain of the ship, Russ Pew our combat fighter, Luna Fossey the doctor of the ship, Livia Fossey the technician, and Tor Blom our strategist."

I met Brie, Russ, and Livia back on the planet, and I just met Luna in the medical wing. This is my first encounter with Tor.

The crew was a wide variety of appearances. Brie was a wonie with light blue skin. Her black hair was still pulled back in a messy bun. Russ is an acrane with light green skin and ruffled long grey hair. Tied to his grey hair were a string of orange beads. Luna had long light purple hair, and her sister Livia had a dark blue hair that was cut very short. The pair had similar faces and body structure, but Luna was slightly taller. Tor Blom was a batros. They look exactly like humans, but are smaller than others. Brie was all smiles when I walked in. Standing next to her, Russ looked a lot less thrilled. Livia and Luna sat on the couch looking neutral, and Tor stood separate from the rest of them, giving me a more dubious look.

No one was saying anything. Russ stepped forward, waving the capsule in his hand. "Now that introductions are done, can we get back to the matter at hand?"

Livia took the capsule from his hand and went over to the large projector. From the capsule, a small silver disk fell out and into her hand. She placed the disk in a slit in the side of the projector. She tapped on the screen and several files came up.

"Do we have what we need, Liv?" Brie asked.

"I believe so. They look like the files we need, but I'll be able to see once we dock and get the passcodes."

"Where are we going?" I asked the room. All eyes, again, averted to me, but no one said anything.

"We're going to Keycara," Jay told me.

I felt stupid for asking, "Where is that?"

"It's in the Orus System. Which is heavily guarded by the Zarion, so, if you'll excuse me, but I'm going to make sure the ship can enter the system without being blasted into stardust." Tor spoke loudly and left the room.

"I'll join you," Russ said quietly and also, promptly left the room.

Livia and Luna also exited without a word.