EPIC: A Demigod's Tale by Frodo Baggins

Chapter 7

The next morning, Strider took them further into the woods, until they came to a small clearing. Pulling off a large camouflage cover, Strider revealed an old but well-kept ship. 

Sam read the name of the ship. "The Bill Comes Due."

"It doesn't really matter, so long as you don't pay it," Pippin commented. "That's what I'd do."

"Thief," Sam muttered under his breath.

"That's kind of the idea of being a child of Hermes, yeah," Merri said. 

"No time to dilly-dally," Strider said. Without further ado, he boarded the ship. Luke, Sam, and Frodo quickly followed. 

"I think this ship needs a little something extra," Merri said, pulling out a can of spray paint he had stolen from a civilian in Bree. He scrawled the word always underneath the name of the ship.

"The Bill Comes Due Always," Pippin read. "Very nice. A great improvement, I should say."

"Agreed, Pip."

Sam appeared at the top of the ship's ramp. "Are you guys coming, or are you going to goof around out here all day?"
"Of course we're coming, Sam," Merri said, nimbly leaping up the ramp and clapping the other demigod on the back. Pippin followed his cousin and gave Sam a friendly smile as they passed into the ship. Sam frowned, irritated with the happy-go-lucky cousins. And now I'm going to be stuck with them on a small ship.

Like the exterior of the ship, everything was old, but well taken care of. The small ship was clearly meant for travel for two, maybe three, people at a time. With the large group, there wasn't a ton of space. Everyone fit comfortably enough, but there wouldn't be any privacy. Sam hoped the trip to Rivendell wouldn't take too long. Strider was in the pilot's seat, flicking controls and prepping the ship for takeoff.

"Everyone on board?" Luke asked without looking up from the controls in the co-pilot's seat.

"That's right," Sam affirmed.

At Sam's words, Strider closed the ship's ramp and took off. The trees thrashed in the wind created by the ship's ascent, and leaves tumbled through the air. The ship cleared the trees and shot into the air, on course for space. The sky turned from blue to black as the ship cleared Bree's atmosphere.

"Not a lot of traffic here," Luke commented.

"Bree is in the outer reaches of the galaxy. There's no reason for many people to come out this far," Strider said. Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a huge, hulking ship came out of hyperspace.

"Looks like they think there's a reason to be out here," Pippin pointed out.

Luke swore. Strider immediately changed The Bill Comes Due's course and accelerated while punching in the calculations for a jump to light speed. Bolts of light flew past the ship.

"Uh, I think they're shooting at us," Pippin said.

"What else do you think they're shooting at?" Luke shouted.

"Well, I can't hear anything, so it feels a bit, I dunno, anticlimactic."

"They're definitely shooting lasers at us," Sam said seriously.

"How can you tell they aren't plasma bolts?" Merri asked. "I always forget the difference."

Frodo snored quietly from the small dining area on the ship.

Strider deftly dodged the plasma bolts, and the stars streaked together as the ship entered hyperspace. Strider leaned back in his seat when the ship was safe in hyperspace.

"Nicely done," Merri said. "Do you have any snacks around?"

"There's some food over here," Pippin said, rummaging through Strider's ship.

Luke ran his fingers through his hair. "That was close. Do you know who that ship belonged to?"

"There are rumors of a dark alliance," Strider spoke softly. "It's possible that ship was in service to the enemy."

Luke mulled this over, as the Hermes cousins bickered in the background.

"We'll arrive at our destination in a few hours," Strider said as he rose from his seat. "I'll be in my room. Let me know if anything happens. Make sure nothing happens."