A galaxy of dreams

A dinner far from boring

Astrid's feet were the only sound as they pounded down the hallway and she closed the door, remembering at the last second who her guests were and catching it before it could slam. "How dare they bring him." she thought to herself, seething. "Do they not know who he is? Who I am? And now that there's an important mission coming up...No. I can't deal with him right now."
"Incoming message for Astrid Seffings. Caller had disabled the deny option."
"Leland." she fumed. The tech genius spoke the language of computers fluently. When he wanted something, he got it. This annoyed every crew member who'd ever stayed on her ship with him. His reputation preceded him with the nickname "Tech King 22".
"Astrid? Listen to me." Leland's gruff voice sounded. "Look...I don't know what's up between you and Willian, and I don't particularly want to. Here's what I'm telling you. Don't get distracted. Pretend he's not here. Treat him with politeness, but don't let him impact you. I've been on the receiving end of your stone face enough to know that you can block anybody else. You can survive these two days, okay?"
"Okay." she said. "Thank you, Leland. Make sure our guests are comfortable. I left a list in the lounge of food for the guests. Input it into the ICE, or Instant Cooking Equipment, and start getting it ready. Program the android to serve the courses in a half an hour."
"Sure thing. I'll make sure the food is on point."
Astrid smiled. "Thanks. Astrid, out."
As the message clicked off, Astrid went to go get ready. It was her only chance during the year to dress up other than the gala tomorrow, and she was looking forward to it. As a child, she hated dressing up. The dresses her former Captain would put her into felt like a cage for the adventurous girl who had big dreams. But now,  after she wore the same uniform everyday except on her scheduled "vacations" which were in reality days off that she had to herself, she had learned to enjoy the small things in life.
And so, when she entered the dining room with her white hair put into an intricate braided bun and a beautiful cobalt and copper off-the-shoulder dress, she strode in confidently. "Well...you certainly cleaned yourself up nicely." Madeleine Salem said as Astrid sat down next to her, "Although your skin is so white it makes you look older than me!" Astrid already regretted her seat in between Caleb and  Ambassador Salem's wife. "At least it's better than sitting next to him." she thought to herself.
"So... Captain." Ambassador said. "I believe you and your crew will like your new mission. It's very high paying, I've heard."
"You've heard?" Hazel asked from across the table.
"Yes. The payment will come directly from my brother-in-law and William's father, King James, head of the Interstellar Space Government."
"Darling." Mrs. Salem cut in. "I hate politics over dinner. It gives me wrinkles. Why don't you and the young Captain and her crew discuss it tomorrow, hmm?"
The Ambassador muttered a hasty apology and a nod as the first course was brought to them: grilled chicken over a bed of saffron rice and oven cooked crusted potatoes. The sound of cutlery clanking quickly filled the room.
"Astrid," William said. Astrid felt her stomach plummet, yet at Leland's encouraging glance, she put on a small smile and gave him her polite attention. "Tell us of your space adventures. I'm sure my uncle would love to hear it just as much as I."
"Be polite." Astrid reminded herself as she set down her fork and coolly recounted their latest escapade which included the capture of a pirate Lord near the Hexane galaxy and the unexpected purchase of a piano.
"As you can see, it has been a busy and entertaining month, Your Highness." she concluded.
William's smile faded somewhat, whether it was from the fact that the third course was green apple and walnut salad, a dish he hated that Astrid has purposefully chosen, or that she refused to call him by his first name like everybody else did.
"Do you have the instrument still, Astrid?" he asked.
Astrid gritted her teeth discreetly and responded: "Yes, indeed I do."
"Why don't you play it for us while we eat our cake? As I recall, you were the best player, always outdoing the Lords and Ladies children."
Sienna shot her a sympathetic look as she was forced to get up and sit at the piano bench. "The piece I will be playing for you tonight is Sonata in G major." Astrid said, before taking a deep breathe and placing her delicate fingers on the keys. She played gracefully and with skill, missing a note only once as one of her crew members sneezed, and as she finished she was applauded enthusiastically.
"That was entertaining." Madeleine said as she stood. "However, it is getting late. I will excuse myself so I may retire. The meal, and the music, was spectacular. Goodnight." As her and the Ambassador left the room, Astrid faced her crew.
"Leland, the food was amazing. Nice job tweaking the ICE. However, there's a bug in the control panel on Deck 5 that needs to be fixed. Caleb, I want a full diagnostic check run on the ship. Sienna, check life support systems. I don't want another problem like the last mission. Hazel, you're in charge of the preparations for the gala. I, meanwhile, will be continuing to fix the hangar deck. It's still damaged from the Congorian attack. Make sure you all get to bed on time so you're not tired tomorrow. Report back to me in an hour." The crew nodded and dispersed.
Astrid was heading up to her room to change into her work jumper when she remembered that William was still in the room. "With all due respect, as much as I'd like to entertain you, Your Highness, there's work to be done. If you go up to your room, there should be something on the podcasts from Second Earth that is suitable."
"That ought to take care of him." she thought to herself as she turned on her heel and began to walk out of the dining room.
"You don't seem very pleased to see me." he called after her. Astrid tried to assume a bored expression.
"Oh? And why do you assume that?"
"Your Highness? That nasty salad? The way you try so hard to treat me with cool politeness and nothing more? C'mon Starlight. I know you better than that. At least call me by my first name and not the last name I hate."
Astrid bristled at the childhood nickname, then sighed impatiently. She knew where this was going. They've had this conversation so many times before.
"Look, Your Highness, maybe...maybe our lives could've been different. But they're not. There's no point wishing they were. You are a prince. One day, you'll get to rule the galaxy. I realize you are used to everyone obeying your every command, but while you are on my ship, I will treat you the way I see fit, the way your title demands, and nothing more. The only thing I owe you, and myself, is that cool politeness. It's time for you to stop pretending and live your life with your last name, not the one you wish for. Goodnight."
Before he could say anything, she took off down the hall. She didn't breathe again until she was safely in the elevator on her way to the second floor where her quarters were. As she stepped into her room, she quickly undid her hair and slipped into her working jumper that was already covered in dirt. She had no doubt that the jumper would be completely filthy by the end of the night. Good thing the only people out and about were her crew. Hopefully.
Astrid made her way to the damaged hanger deck, pulled out her mobile tablet and entered the code HD2. The new system was Leland's idea. The ship was big and vast. As a result, crew members often needed a way to communicate and to see where each was. The new system assigned each area a code. As a code was entered into the system, it was transmitted to the other members of the crew. They could then locate them and use the com to broadcast a message for all to hear.
Astrid grimaced as the code was sent. She wanted to be alone right now, with her own dreams and her own thoughts. But as the Captain of the ship, she had to follow protocol.
The young Captain put away her tablet and made her way to the hanger doors. They were jammed and would not respond to signals to open and close. As she moved closer, she realized that this was caused by a disconnected wire in the control panel.
"That can easily be fixed.", she thought to herself, "I just need time to take out the wire without disturbing anything else. And time is what I don't have. At least not with our guests and the upcoming mission."
Astrid set to work, working hard to painstakingly disconnect each wire, test it and reconnect it again. An hour later, she had finally found the right wire, replaced it and shut the control panel.
"That ought to do it." she said to herself as she wiped her hands on her working towel, grabbed her tools and entered the code for her room, CR1 (Captain's Room 1), into the new system. She headed to her room and put on her pyjamas quickly. Astrid fell asleep not to her usual dreams of her unknown parents, but to the dream of her upcoming mission and pay, her guests and most importantly the particular guest who she loved and hated at the exact same time.