A galaxy of dreams

An unexpected visit

"Incoming call for Astrid Seffings. Accept or deny?" Astrid gritted her teeth as she set down her tool and pushed a stray strand of unusually pale hair out of her face.
"Accept."
"Sorry to bother you, Astrid." the voice belonging to a teenage boy sounded,  "But we have an issue. Ambassador Salem and his wife have scheduled an impromptu visit. You know what that means."
Astrid groaned internally. She knew what that meant. Fancy dinners, criticism from Madeleine Salem, and political discussions with the Ambassador as they received their new mission. In short, it would be the most boring two days of the month. That was saying a lot, considering that they had been drifting in space for weeks without a mission. The complete lack of combat and thrill had made her cranky, so she sighed and said, "Thanks, Caleb. Give them permission to come aboard when they arrive. Tell Sienna, Hazel and Leland to clean themselves up and meet me at the hanger deck in fifteen minutes. This goes for you too. Astrid, out."
She quickly gathered her tools and ran out of the engine room. If the Ambassador himself was coming, it had to be a pretty important mission. That meant looking her best. Glancing at her watch, she cursed. Fifteen minutes to style her hair and get dressed into something decent and not covered in oil and tool grease like her present clothes were.
"And I have that dinner tonight..." Astrid complained mentally as she placed her handprint on the door to her room and it swung open silently. "At least I get to wear something besides my uniform." She tried to let the cool water calm her overexcited nerves, but the prospect of a thrilling mission with a nice dose of dangerous wound them up again. Nevertheless, she managed to untangle her hair and put on a clean outfit consisting of a gold T-shirt that brought out the golden flecks in her turquoise eyes and jeans.
"The Ambassador and his wife are coming aboard now." Sienna, her Third In Command, said as she sprinted into the hangar deck. "Goodness knows what Madeleine will say about us now. You, too pale, me too red..." Sienna rolled her eyes and threw up her hands in an exasperated manner.
Astrid grimaced, remembering the nasty comments that were all too true. Astrid was too pale. Thanks to the life she lived aboard the ship since age three, she had pale, almost white skin and hair and unusual bright turquoise eyes. Despite this fact, many of the enemies she had struck down in combat had called her beautiful, saying it was a shame she was forced to live the life she did. Astrid has to agree. The mother she had never known had sold her to the government as a little girl. She was immediately sent aboard this ship, trained to captain it. When her coworkers died or were moved, she had trained the four teenagers that worked with her now as well.
The doors swished open, jarring Astrid from her thoughts. She bowed low at the waist as the Ambassador stepped in, rising to study him. With dark, brooding eyes and brown hair, she knew he had gone through much to get in the safe position he did. With the ISG, or Interstellar Space Government, if you wanted to be safe, you had to first be in precarious positions. From the scar that was almost hidden by his sleeve on the man's hand, Astrid believed it to be true.
Next came the Ambassador's wife, Mrs. Salem. She, in turn, had blue eyes and blond hair which she kept in an intricate upsweep. Her eyes often looked down that large nose dotted with freckles of hers to analyze Astrid and criticize her. Madeleine thrives on gossip, and Astrid knew that once she returned on Second Earth, news of the "poor, orphaned girl" would spread and be whispered far and wide.
"Captain Astrid. A pleasure to see you." The Ambassador greeted her.
"The pleasure is mine, sir."
"I'm sure you remember my wife?"
"How could I forget the wife of the esteemed Ambassador Salem?" Astrid responded with a tight-lipped smile. "A pleasure to see you as well, Mrs. Salem."
"You look rather...well." Mrs. Salem answered, no doubt thinking of another word other than well. "I look forward to conversing with you at dinner tonight and the gala tomorrow."
Astrid tried not to frown. She had forgotten about the gala, if she could even call it that. There weren't even ten people attending.
"I as well." she said, smiling. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must see to last minute preparations."
Hazel shot her a look as if to say, "Don't you dare leave me alone with this insufferable woman."
"One moment, Captain Astrid." Madeleine Salem cut in. "You have yet to greet my nephew. I believe you know each other?"
For once, Astrid was at loss for words as a boy her age stepped in. Of course she knew him. A little bit too well, that is. It took all her might to plaster on a smile, bow and say: "Welcome aboard, William Dorian Salem."