The Neko's Tail (Book 2 of Astara)

Asla

"One more try and we'll leave it for today," Artemis promised.

He pointed to a letter on the tablet and Elias frowned.

"R?"

"P," the tiger replied.

The neko grumbled under his breath.

"Cheer up, you have most of them down already. I'm really proud of you; most people need a year to learn this much."

A beep drew them out of their study and Artemis rubbed Elias' head before leaving the kitchen.

The alarm grew in urgency and the tiger frowned. Rushing toward the command room, Artemis threw himself into a chair. Scanning his instruments with practised ease, he realized they were five minutes away from colliding with an asteroid.

"Elias! There is a suit in the bottom of my dresser! Put it on and get in here!" he yelled, his fingers flying over the ship's controls.

Glancing at the computer, he confirmed they were in the sister system to Asla. There weren't any asteroid fields on this side of the portal; not in this system anyways. Where had an asteroid come from?"

Pushing the thought aside, the tiger throttled down and dipped the nose of the ship. They should shoot past the asteroid with at least a mile of space between them. It was cutting the manoeuvre way too close, and he called for Elias again.

The neko appeared silently, dressed in a large baggy yellow suit. A glass helmet was held uncomfortably in his hands, and Artemis took the orb from him.

"We're passing really close to an asteroid of some sort. There is a chance we could crash, and if that happens it's likely the ship will break open. I need to put this helmet on you so you can breathe if that happens," he said quickly.

"What about you?"

The tiger bit his lips.

"I'll be okay," he lied. "I can get my own suit on really fast."

Elias nodded uncertainly, and Artemis placed the helmet over the neko, making sure there was no breach in the seal between Elias and the outside universe.

"There," he said, his throat catching. "We'll be okay. But if anything happens, you stay in the bathroom, okay? That's the safest part of the ship."

Elias nodded again. His arms embraced Artemis, and the tiger touched the top of the cat's helmet.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. I just need to slow and slter our direction ten degrees and we should miss whatever that is completely."

Turning Elias away, Artemis went back to his anxious study of his instruments, showing a minute to collision. He flicked a marker onto the object. If they missed it, he would turn back an figure out exactly what was floating this far out in relatively uncharted space.

Further reducing the ship's speed, Artemis held his breath. The alarm sped up even further, settling into an insistent pattern demanding attention as the ship slowed to a stop.

They had missed.

Elias crouched in the bathtub, feeling small and insignificant in Artemis' clothes. There was no airflow and he could barely hear. The pants were nearly impossible to walk in.

There was no second suit. This was the only one Elias had seen. The tiger was going to die for him. The thought crushed Elias, and tears streamed from his eyes as he cowered in the tub. Not for the last time, the neko wondered if he had made a horrible mistake following Artemis.