Chasing the Stars

Chapter Two

CHASING THE STARS - CHAPTER TWO

As the crew arose, one by one, Copper slowly awoke. It was the running of showers and the steam that floated around the corridors that woke her up eventually, reminding her of last nights haul. She clambered out of bed and took a shower herself, eventually joining the crew at the dining table. The entire crew was in a ridiculously happy mood, as their debt was about to be paid off. If it wasn't for that monster haul, Copper would be stuck on the same old slog, doing the same old thing.

The crew were all stood in the cockpit of Mimsy, the ship as they drove to the nearest dealer. Copper was buzzing with excitement, so much so that should couldn't stand still – like the ship's engines she was buzzing with electricity. As they neared the bullion dealer, Copper paid less and less attention to the stars and planets around her and focused on the small, clean in front of them. The building loomed on the screen and slowly got larger and larger until they'd parked directly in front of it.

Copper walked to the bay and began moving the skip to the crane for ease of movement. As Shady and the crew negotiated the price, she hauled the skip outside of the bay and onto the building's docking area. A small, weasel-like man walked over and helped move it into the bullion room where it would be purified and melted into gold.

His associate walked over and handed her a credits card, but she refused and told him to fetch cash. The man clearly annoyed went to fetch her a cash payment and returned moments later with the fifty thousand credits worth of money. She watched with satisfaction as he flicked through it with one whetted finger and counted it before handing it over. As Copper was walking out she looked at the work notice board, and began reading posters. Many were boring and only held her interest for a few moments, but there was one poster that her eyes latched to.

The poster was white. A massive picture of ship racer populated most of the space on the page, except the title which was smaller and slotted underneath it. Featuring a large exclamation mark, one sentence screamed that it was most competitive race in the galaxy, whilst another However, with the amount of free time she would have after paying off her debt, she could get better at racing. The crew were already in the ship, waiting for her.

She ran to the doors and walked in, stumbling as the ship lurched forward. It began flying slower toward her company's bank, Auron Co. With the fifty thousand in her smooth fingertips, she would have more than enough money to pay off her debt. She walked back to her dorm and decided to get undressed.

As she slid off her top, her fingers trailed over the scarred tissue that littered her body. She could still smell the explosion. She could still see her brother's face urging her to run, to get in the escape pod. Tears falling, Copper realized that she hadn't got a purpose anymore. The one task that had consumed her life – paying off her dead father's debt, had almost been fulfilled. She had the very means in her hands. But as the same time, Copper didn't want to let him go.

Once she'd paid of the debt, it would be like letting go of her father. It would be like letting the last vestiges of family go.

Copper took a deep breath and re-visited her past. Copper would wear her scars like medals.

She undressed completely and slid on some work jeans and a top splattered in paint. Her copper colored hair was pulled back in a loose bun. She wiped the oil on her hands on her jeans and washed the dirt off her face. Now reasonably clean, she took the money with her to the front of the cockpit and asked Shady question.

“How long Shady?”

He looked at the speed dial, and then his watch before replying “about 10 minutes.”

“If I pilot, we'll get there in five.”

Shady rolled his eyes and got out of the chair and sat in the passenger seat next to Copper. She smiled at him before sitting in the seat taking control of the handles. Ake and Sal were asleep in the passenger seats on the opposite side.

The pilot room was large and spacious. Like the grav-sling room, it had a brushed metal floor but the walls were different. Instead of raw wires on the floor, it had cardboard and wooden panels on the walls to block in the raw wiring. The cockpit door had long been broken and taken off, so all that remained was the twisted remains of it's hinges. The pilot and passenger chairs were made of lousy foam that had been picked at in the long time it had been sat there so it was yellowing and grubby in some places. On some chairs there were small oil spills from Copper's jeans that had soaked in leaving some chairs brown and oily. Tossed carelessly around the cockpit were numerous tools from Copper's tool belt. They were mainly concentrated around the wooden paneling where she'd been repairing it.

After a few minutes Copper was orbiting Earth and waiting to be allowed in.

“Hello, this is air warden control. Airship Mimsyyou are clear for Earth re-entry.” spoke a young man. His speech was followed by the crackling of the intercom whilst he waited for Copper's reply.

“Copy warden control, we're entering now.”

“Crew, buckle up! Sal, Ake wake up now unless you want a pay dock.”

The two woke up, startled and buckled in. Copper revved the engines and flew in at breakneck speed, gunning the engines with ease. As the cockpit began to heat up, Copper pulled fiercely up, gently leveling out the plane's height. Keeping her eyes on the black dot that was her runway and looming closer and closer she began to adjust her rudders. Although they were red hot, she managed to slow herself down to a comfortable speed and screeched her way on the runway's track.

She looked behind her at her crew and laughed at their faces. Sal was a pale and looked ill whilst Shady and Ake were laughing at her. Copper chucked her a brown bag and Sal looked at her appreciatively before throwing up this morning's breakfast. The rest of the crew unbuckled themselves whilst Sal staggered out of the cockpit, bowlegged.

She took a deep breath of fresh air as she stood on the tarmac of the space port. Around Copper were many other ships, some in a greater stage of disrepair than hers. At the end of the spaceship terminal loomed a massive building, so tall it overpowered it's brother and sister buildings with ease. The windows were made of massive sheets of glass, so clean that the building was painful to look at.

Copper's eyes searched the building with familiarity, the curves and edges of the building etched into her memory. She'd been here many times before, with her father before the accident. The building looked the same as it did when she'd last seen her father alive. Painful flash backs swam to the surface of her brain – flashes of the explosion, the explosion that ripped her family apart. Copper had been coming here since she was young, her small pudgy feet walking on the same cracked pavement for 10 years.

She was nervous. Her crew surrounded her like shield, as her trembling fingertips clutched the envelope of money in her hands. This was it. This was her freedom. She walked through the doors. The constant sound of planes landing; the smell of engine oil nearly overwhelmed her. But she managed to hand the envelope over to the lady sat behind desk and choke out her account's number.

“I'm sorry, there's been a problem.” Spoke the lady and that was when her knees gave out, before Ake caught her.

Author's note: Votes and comments are always appreciated! If you liked this chapter, remember to show your appreciation!