The Spaces in Between

Did I mention this was my ship?

Ben along with the rest of the students stood feet from the aircraft to wish you and Alex good luck. He seemed to have plenty more friends than you. As you stepped onto the ramp you met eyes with Ben. He seemed to be attempting a grin, but it was coming out more into a nervous line. You waved your hand to him and smiled comfortingly.

I love you.

He nodded at you.

I love you too.

You saw the smoke lifting from the entrance and walked up into the entrance of the cockpit. Luke hadn't given you much of a ship to work with, but this would do for the trip. You heard the loud echo of the steel door shutting and sealing behind you. This was it. This was happening. You sat down comfortably into the red leather seat in front of the controls. You strapped yourself in and started the compressors. You couldn't tell until now, but you really should have peed before you left.

You began to push down the starter buttons and felt the air pick up underneath the ship. You threw it into drive and relaxed your hands on the steering levers.

This day could not get any better.

"So lets get this straight, Luke put you in charge of this mission, but I still have to ride bitch in my own ship?" You could feel Alex's whiny smirk behind you.

Spoke too soon.

You planned to ignore him the whole way there.

You responded with silence. You pushed forward on the levers and picked up speed.

"Am I getting the silent treatment? In my own ship?" He began to hum. Annoyingly.

"Did I mention this was my ship?" He stood over you eyeing your form on the lever.

Just wait for autopilot. Just wait for autopilot.

You continued in silence.

"My dad bought this for me when I was only 12.. I told Luke we could use it seeming as though—" his words muffled out.

You finally broke atmosphere and gaped at the endless galaxy. Your eyes fixated on the blackness surrounding you. Only lit by stars.

You were interrupted by the annoying insistence of Alex's rambling. You set the ship into autopilot towards Alderaan and quickly stood up in front of him. You nodded and smiled sarcastically acting interested in his muffled words.

"— I really don't like to brag but this baby, you could say, could compare to the Melinum fa—." Before he could finish his words, you pulled your arm back and with all of your strength, you landed your fist right into his throat.

He held his throat and stumbled to the ground. He gasped for air. You shook off your hand in pain, but it didn't nearly hurt as bad as it felt good.

"I told you to stay ten feet away from me. I'd say you were about three." You sat back down comfortably. The only noises were the sound of the engine, and Alex coughing and groaning.

He struggled to get his words out solidly.

"Oh I'm sorry I can't hear you, transmission coming through!" You pulled on the bulky headset and leaned back in the leather seat. You heard nothing but silence. You were amazed at what you saw.

Balls of light lit up the dark navy space around you. Bulks of rock dodged your ship and floated their way through space. You spotted the red moon in the distance, bright and burning. You were always a fan of the color red.

You wished Ben could see this with you.

You leaned your head back. The silence was relaxing. Your eyes began to shut slowly..

~

The dark side - The dark side.

Ben! - Ben!

You jolted up, the words rang clear and echoed in your mind. You opened your eyes into darkness. Not space, but pure darkness. You shut your eyes hoping the void would disappear. Your heart raced as you rose to your feet. This was just a nightmare.

"Wake up— wake up." You said to yourself. Your own voice echoed into the void. You looked around you for an escape. But all around you was darkness. Your feet walking on what seemed to be thin air.

Suddenly you heard a loud crackling in the distance. Not knowing what direction to run you sprinted towards the noise, hoping it to be an exit. The crackling was getting louder the more you sprinted. In the darkness you spotted what you believed to be a tall figure in the distance. You felt relief. Which soon changed.

"Hello- hello?" You called out. You walked slowly toward the figure in hopes to find a way out. Your stomach filled with unease. Your mind told you to run away. Your feet strived for answers.

"Where - where am I?" You came closer to the figure, seeing he was turned around, back facing you. He wore black intimidating boots with a cape that concealed his body. The closer you got you realized he was masked. Black metal covered his head. The crackling was loud now.

The man didn't turn around. He stood still ignoring your call.

"Sir- sir." You slowly reached out your hand enough to lay a finger on his brooding shoulders. You suddenly felt a sense of fear rush over you.

With one swift turn the masked man jolted around to face you, with no hesitation he lifted his arm and raised a crackling red lightsaber inches from your face. You were frozen. You couldn't see much past the burning saber. But you were paralyzed with fear. All you could see was half of his mask as he tilted his saber towards your face. Your hot breath cracked against the burning saber. You stumbled back in order to get away. Instead you found yourself falling. You fell through the air that held you up.

As you were falling you looked up to see the masked man unhinge his mask. With one brisk movement he began to pull his mask off slowly. But before you could see his face you fell back into completely darkness. Back into the void alone. You looked around you and scurried for an exit. Suddenly in the distance you heard another noise. An alarm blared loudly and you grew uneasy with desperation. You found your groundings and sprinted towards the sound. It got louder and louder until—

~

Your eyes jetted open. You gasped for air and breathed heavily. You were back on the ship. It was just a nightmare. Red flashes covered the ship walls and the alarm blasted. You looked around to find Alex meshing buttons beside of you.

"Finally, good morning princess." He said sarcastically. You could still hear horsiness in his voice.

You stood up quickly and wiped the sweat from your forehead.

"What's happening? Why are the alarms going off?"

"Because, something's shot in the engine. We don't have the resources to make it to Alderaan we have to stop at the nearest planet to repair or were gonna blow."  He said while anxiously pressing buttons.

"Okay well then why aren't we doing that??" You rose from your chair and looked intently at the coordinates.

"Because," Alex hung his head down and stuttered his words, "the closest planet just so happens to be The Hutt Space."