The Space Between

Prologue

"No matter what you do, you will never beat me."

Aja scoffed at this, knowing that at any moment her opponent would try to begin negotiating. The fool didn't even realize they were falling into the trap she had set and soon she would defeat them.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Nathaniel. You've never been able to see the forest for the trees and that is your downfall."

Nathaniel furrowed his brow and Aja worked to keep the smile off of her face. She couldn't give her position away just yet, she almost had him right where she wanted him. Nathaniel pulled a card from the deck sitting between them and grinned, his white even teeth looking more like a wolves teeth than a human. Aja swallowed and looked around at her crew whose hands had folded long ago. She was nervous she had overplayed her hand and would now lose. She would never live this down with all of the shit talking she was doing.

"All in," Nathaniel said.

"Call."

Nathaniel threw down his hand and stood with his fists in the air. "Boom, straight flush!" He danced and laughed, high-fiving everyone around the table.

"Nice hand," Aja said. She laid her own hand down without a word and watched as Nathaniel's face fell.

"Royal Flush? Are you shitting me?" he yelled.

Fateemah laughed loudly, holding her stomach and trying to keep her balance on the chair. One by one the others joined in her laughter until only one pair of eyes was free of tears.

"Better luck next time," Aja said, pulling her prize towards her. A nice haul if she said so herself. A battery, a drink ticket for any bar in the solar system, and twenty UNs. Not bad at all.

Aja stood and shook hands with her crew, making her way towards Nathaniel who brooded in the corner. He turned his side to her as she approached but she ignored his attempt at blocking her. He had been with her for a long time and she knew he wasn't mad at her. He was more mad at himself for falling yet again for her ruse. Aja grabbed his waist and hugged him. She missed the way his dark skin smelled, like honeysuckle in summer. When he didn't hug her back she moved to stand in front of him and hugged him from the front. This time his arms snaked around her and she sighed.

"I'm sorry, but you're such an easy mark. I can't help it if you don't learn your lesson," Aja said, looking up at him.

Nathaniel smiled at her and her heart leapt. Aja wasn't sure how he got to her so quickly, but wasn't she glad he did?

"It's okay love. I'll take my prize later tonight." Nathaniel winked.

Aja blushed. "I'll take you up on that-"

Before she could finish a loud bang sounded from outside the ship. Aja watched Harold stumble and fall as she clutched at Nathaniel. Another bang sounded and the ship lurched.

"Battle stations," Aja yelled. "Fateemah I need you to check our vitals. Madi, I need you to determine where the nearest station is so we can call for help."

"Yes sir," they cried immediately doing as she said.

"Nathaniel, how is it looking?" Aja commanded.

"Not looking good sir. I don't see anyone out there and nobody is responding to my contact attempts. It's like we were hit by a ghost."

Aja jogged to where Nathaniel sat at the command center. He was right. There were no ships showing up on the navigation. She listened as Nathaniel made another attempt to contact whatever was out there to no avail. Aja closed her eyes and tried to think about their next moves when the ship shuttered again, this time with a groan.

"We need to get out of here." Aja turned towards Madi as she disconnected her call. "Anything?"

"Ra is 20 klicks from here. If we use KiaKia we can be there in 5 minutes," Madi responded.

Aja turned to Fateemah. "How do our vitals look? Will we make it?"

"Not good sir. Our hull is taking damage and our weapons are disabled."

"Will we make it?" Aja demanded.

"Maybe," Fateemah said.

Aja looked at Nathaniel and smiled grimly. "We'll strap ourselves in when you're ready."

Nathaniel nodded curtly and began prepping for KiaKia. Aja and the rest of her crew ran to the other side of the cockpit, strapping themselves into their safety chairs. She watched Nathaniel work his magic as the ship groaned again. She prayed to the gods that they made it out all right and she promised to return to her duties if they made it back safely.

"Hold onto your butts," Nathaniel yelled.

Aja normally would've laughed at his Jurassic Park reference, but the dire circumstances made her laugh catch in her throat. She closed her eyes as the engines roared louder and though this wasn't her first time in a ship using KiaKia, she never got used to the stomach sinking feeling of it. The ship groaned one last time before it hurtled through space. Aja could hear Madi counting down their descent which brought her some comfort. Her eyes remained closed, however.

"We're almost there," Nathaniel yelled across the room. "We're 8 klicks away, preparing our descent. Ra is in view."

Aja sighed in relief. They were within reach of safety and they were in the hands of the best pilot in the system. Aja opened her eyes and saw Nathaniel smiling at her.

"Entering the atmosphere now sir," he said.

Aja nodded at her crew that it was safe to remove their restraints. She heard Harold unbuckle his when the hardest shudder yet went through the ship. Harold was thrown across the room as the ship continued to jerk.

"Harold," Madi cried, trying to loosen her own restraints."

Aja held her arm out. "Stop Madi. You'll get hurt."

"I have to help Harold," Madi said she she continued to struggle against her restraints and Aja.

Before Aja could reply, an alarm sounded in the cabin. She looked quickly at Nathaniel.

"What's going on?"

"We're losing pressure," Harold said. "Something must have pierced the hull and I've lost control. We're going to crash."

Aja's heart sank as her mind raced to find a way to save her crew. She looked above her looking for something to hold onto when she spotted oxygen masks. She grabbed at them and pushed them towards Fateemah and Madi who had begun to cry inconsolably. Aja helped Madi put hers on before her own.

Aja willed herself to look at Nathaniel who did not have access to an oxygen mask as he was still trying to control the ship.

"Brace for impact," Nathaniel said.

Then the world went black.