Lace Ravine

Chap. 2: Lace Bites Off More Than She Can Chew - pt. 1

The following morning, Maisy didn't see Lace off. In fact, she didn't even drop her on Karma's moon as she had promised. She took her only so far as her last stop in that direction, the mining planet Desuit, then ordered Vin to give Lace back the keys to the clunker.

The human felt itchy as she waited for Phocorian man beside her rocket. It was guilt, maybe. Restlessness and eagerness to prove herself once more, definitely. Her weight passed from one curvaceous hip to the other, and she longingly gazed at her belongings through the hatch window of her ship.

The vessel was about the size of an old Earthan RV. It had been painted yellow at some point far before it came into Lace's possession, and now was a faded cream, with paint chips creating a snakeskin pattern along the side. It had two barrel-like thrusters on the bottom of the rear end of the ship, and mounted on top was a copper-colored cube twice her size, with eight tubes protruding from it that clamped around the ship like a bionic spider. This was her MDRC, created for use only by the sturdiest of commercial ships, but now retrofitted for her personal vessel. The Multi-Dimensional Rift Compressor allowed her to complete Infinity Jumps without too much strain on the driver or the vehicle.

The rocket was liable to crap-out at any point, but still provided the closest thing Lace had to a permanent home as she pin-balled around the cosmos. Most of her personal items, with the exception of the few she left in her small room within Maisy's ship, stayed in the jacked-up ride. It had just enough technology to let her live inside in minimal comfort for long periods. Life-support was the only feature of the ship that was always up to date. The refrigerating system was many decades old, and the waste receptacle mimicked those of the first transport vessels that took the humans to the galaxy centuries ago. Cruise-control worked enough for her to get at least six Earth hours of sleep a day. All in all, it was the best she could hope for, and everything she had.

Finally, the fit Phocorian arrived and relinquished the keys. Lace gave him a sleek smile.

"Thanks, bud. Knew you were lookin' out for me."

Vin stuck his hands in his pockets. "Fix this thing with Maisy, alright? I know you know she deserves better than this." Lace analyzed her feet for a bit, then opened the hatch on the side of the ship to crawl into. Before she stepped inside, she glanced back.

"I know, Vin." Vin relented with a half-grin, and as Lace disappeared, she called to him. "Take care of Pami! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Vin raised a red brow. "That gives me a lot of leeway."

Lace's Cheshire Cat grin was all that answered him before the metal clanked shut. Soon, the rocket sputtered and rumbled, shaking left-over dust from Artecca to the floor. Vin departed the room to open the bay's colossal doors. Lace watched them creak apart, washed with an overwhelming sense of relief, accompanied by a twinge of responsibility knocking at the back of her skull. From the driver's seat, she pushed forward on the handle, and began to roll to the exit.

Before her, broadening across the dirtied windshield, was the barren low-atmosphere landscape of Desuit. So flat you could see for miles, and all there was to see was ominous black mining equipment in the distance, towering over the emptied ground. One day, this whole planet, uninhabited by anyone other than maintenance crew, would be bled dry for Phocorian resources. But for now, it was almost at peace, approaching an understanding that its lifespan as a complete world would soon come to an end, and like Lace, all that was left to do was stare into the yellow sky, and count the stars.

After Maisy's ship was no longer hovering like a mother over its baby chick, with a toggle the back thrusters on Lace's ship burned to awakening accented by pointed blue flame. With all her strength, she pulled the sticky controls upward, and, leaving a cloud of smoke and dust to billow over the terrain, Lace's ship launched into the air, rocketing toward the stratosphere.