Futuristic Who we are in space- NOVA N VROZEN

[nova_kane]

“Another hour? You have got to be joking,” Dahlia muttered under her breath, gripping the steering of her ship tensely after the AI had informed her of how much time was left until they arrived at their destination. The young redhead was transporting a lot of illegal technology in the cargo of her ship, all which were to be sold to suckers on a planet just a few hours from where she had been traveling recently. In Ocrarix, which was a planet that was currently experiencing conflict with their neighboring solar system and had limited resources, the life forms were desperate for this shit. It made Dahlia easy money, and she was good about never leaving a trace or giving it a second thought.

In fact, it was rare that she cared at all about the scams she pulled on people just trying to get by- but hey, it wasn’t her fault that they were gullible enough to buy this type of tech from a foreigner.

Dahlia sighed and glanced out the glass of her ship to the left, stars and asteroids glittering in the vast darkness that was space. Although she had seen the same views hundreds of times, it was never less intimidating when she’d think too deeply about it. As she leaned back, she saw a dusty pink planet off in the distance, with clouds forming a protective layer just outside their atmosphere.

“D43, what is that planet?” she asked the AI curiously, never having seen it before. The ship’s AI made a high pitched loading sound, scanning the environment around them to access the galaxy’s data base. Dahlia squinted her eyes as a screen full of coding opened up in front of her, a soft green glow being emitted as the planet was being searched.

“Minope Q29, a planet similar to Earth’s atmosphere. Oxygen levels at 21%, which is sustainable to humans. Water can be found on this planet as well, along with their own ecosystem,” the AI rattled off in a mechanical voice.

“Interesting…” Dahlia murmured, watching the screen as it pulled up a closer more in depth view of the planet, “is there anything dangerous here? Any civilizations?”

“No, there are currently no civilizations on Minope Q29. However, this planet happens to carry a valuable plant species that can be sold and bartered-”

The AI was cut off by a sudden blaring alarm. Dahlia covered her ears, her heard throbbing with the sound. “D43 what the FUCK is going on?!” she shouted over the alarm, the screen that had Minope Q29 suddenly flashing to a data report of the ship. She buckled herself into her seat and started pressing a sequence of buttons in front of her to manually disable the alarm, but it kept sounding through her attempts.

“Fuck!” she yelled, putting a four digit passcode into a small keypad on the arm of her chair. Suddenly, the obnoxious alarm cut off and the ship became silent once again, the ship’s report still flashing on the screen. Dahlia relaxed slightly, a look of concern painted all over her face. “D43, where are youuuu?”

“I have run a diagnostic report and it appears as though the core heating element is in need of replacement. Please find the nearest location to land and have the element repaired,” the AI finally answered, and before she could react, the ship started to automatically make a U-turn toward Minope Q29.

“No no no FUCK! This is the absolute worst time for this,” Dahlia groaned, slinking back into her seat as the ship brought her closer to the pink planet she had just been asking about. At least this planet is sustainable for me without any of the suits…she thought to herself with a sigh.

As they broke through Minope’s atmosphere, the ship started to descend. Dahlia watched out the front window impatiently as she made her way down. Within a couple of minutes, her ship was preparing for a landing over what looked like a large forested area, but none like she had ever seen before. The color of the plant life here was almost the same tone of pink/orange that she saw from space. It was beautiful, and she was surprised she had never heard of this planet until now. Dahlia could see a river that was running through nearby, and out of the corner of her eye…was that smoke pluming above the trees?

D43 had told her there were no civilizations, so someone must have also landed here recently… “Take us down near that smoke, but not too close,” she instructed the ship curtly, and it veered off toward the right to get a closer look. Unfortunately, the treetops were too thick to get a good look at what was beneath, but the ship was able to locate a clearing nearby. “Whoever they are…I hope they’re friendly,” she muttered, unbuckling her seatbelt as D43 touched down onto the ground safely. Not only was she stranded on a random planet...she wasn't alone. And to make it worse, she had a shit load of illegal tech in the back of her ship.

 

[VRozen]

Day fifteen . . . or was it sixteen; the ship's inner-mechanisms were already nearing their demise due to the motherlode that was tampered with which caused the crash landing more than a week ago onto the planet Minope Q29. So, enough time had passed to the point where oxygen had depleted and power couldn’t be restored to the ship. Esa, was nothing more than a sitting duck on this deserted planet where she hadn’t seen an inkling of life since she arrived.

This could have been avoided if it wasn’t for her line of work, bounty hunting. Esa doesn’t dabble in it as often as she should anymore, but that doesn’t mean that the lowly goons don’t know who she is when she is going around asking about a male named Vasir, her younger brother, and some other males with prices on their heads.

They must have known at least one of the males she had inquired about to go as far as sabotaging her ship which could have put an end to her if she wasn’t already close to this planet to make a semi-safe landing.

It wasn’t the fact that they almost ended her time early, it was the fact that they have added a dilemma on her efforts in finding her brother, the one who she was truly after.

She could have avoided such circumstances if her artificial intelligence had been a bit more aware of what was going within the vessel that he was controlling. He could have informed her of some tampering with the ship, but he hadn’t until the problem had revealed itself, which was a large explosion underneath the vessel.

“This is great, just great. You are lucky that this is a planet that I am able to withstand or I would have dismembered you already. Making sure you never come back on-line, you piece of shit.” The alien picked at the fire that she had been keeping alive her entire duration on this planet since the temperature dropped when night fell. It also served as a signal of distress that reached above the tall tree line.

“It isn’t so bad. Planet Minope Q29 is quite safe and doesn’t have any life threatening beings inhabiting it.” she knew it wouldn’t have been long before the artificial intelligence, Arlo, had chimed in from the gadget she had worn around her wrist.

“You forgot to mention no civilizations as well! Ugh, that is beside the point. How much longer do I have to sit here and wait for something . . or someone to see this terrible excuse of a distress signal! Since you couldn’t be decent and send out a distress signal before the ship powered down…”

As the female alien rambled on, it was as if her words had created exactly what she wanted. A vessel was soon heard entering the atmosphere which stole her attention from her gadget and to the sky above.

“I would advise against engaging with an unknown vessel. There is only one reason why they would be landing-“, it was almost as if the artificial intelligence knew what her plans were, but he was cut off by Esa placing her hand over her gadget to stop him from continuing any further.

“Shush, it wouldn’t hurt to go check it out. They should be more concerned with why I am wandering around this empty planet than the other way around.” she stood from her resting position and grounded out the orange embers with the heel of her black boot. It was convenient for the ship to be landing near where she currently was, but she wasn’t going to go in unprepared. Before she left she grabbed her things which fitted nicely in an oversized backpack as well as her weapon of choice, which was a handgun. Just in case.

Esa made her way through the thick forest which took her quite some time, but she eventually arrived at the clearing where she caught a glimpse of the ship. As well as a figure standing near it. All she needed was a ride to the nearest service planet that sold vessels, but that was if this person would cooperate. She wasn’t afraid to use necessary force.

“Hey, excuse me! I need a bit of assistance. Is there any way I can catch a lift with you to an inhabited planet?” emerging from the thick brush her irises narrowed as she tried to make sure it wasn’t anyone else coming out of the ship that she would have to worry about, besides, she had already made it known that her dominant hand held a weapon in it.

 

[nova_kane]

God, it’s fucking warm on this planet, Dahlia thought to herself as she leaned over the engine bay of her ship, a bead of sweat dripping down her pale forehead. Unfortunately for her, she only knew how to pilot space crafts, not repair them. This was quickly becoming a nightmare as she continued to frequently check over her shoulder with every snapping of a twig or rustling of underbrush beyond the clearing. Although D43 hadn’t detected intelligent life, that didn’t mean there wasn’t dangerous life out in those darker parts of the forest.

After fiddling with the ship’s inner computer for a few moments longer, she sighed, straightening out her back and hearing a slight pop. “I’m getting too old for this shit…” Dahlia murmured, glancing down at the little screen on her prosthetic. She had programmed the ship to connect to the chip in her arm a few months back for convenience purposes, and didn’t regret it. “D43, are there any transmission signals around here? I don’t wanna be stuck if whoever started that fire can’t be trusted…”

“I have been unable to pick up any transmission signals, Dahlia. Please replace the heating element before attempting to take off again,” the AI replied, to which the redhead rolled her eyes.

Her stomach gurgled slightly, the hunger pain gnawing at her insides. Dahlia had limited resources, but thankfully she had enough to sustain her for a couple of days while she tried to reach a signal or repair the ship herself. She was hoping that the first plan would work out, as she didn’t have a replacement for the part needed. A huge veggie pizza would kill right now…

“Dahlia, someone is near,” D43 beeped out, and immediately the narrow panel in her prosthetic opened and her hunter’s knife dropped into her hand. She turned slowly, seeing a woman emerging from trees. She appeared human, but her scent…was different.

As the woman called out to her asking for a lift, paranoia washed over Dahlia as she realized this may be an ambush. There was a chance this girl really needed help, but how could she be sure? She swallowed, unsheathing another knife from her boot into her other hand. “What’s your name and what are you doing on this uninhabited planet?” Dahlia called out, her voice unwavering and untrusting, “Don’t come any closer, my ship is armed.” She took a deep breath, her heart racing as her eyes darted around the clearing to ensure she was alone.

 

[VRozen]

Her boots gilded against every blade of grass beneath them as each step she took was slow and light. Anxiety crept up her spine, eventually giving her a slight chill as she needed herself to be ready to move if this person wasn’t too keen on their request for help.

As she neared closer though, the figure was made out to be a woman and to her to surprise it seemed to be human; smelled like one too; since Esa didn’t exactly see any strange attributes to their figure. Well, besides one of the arms in which she couldn’t even form a thought about it before Arlo chimed in curtly.

“Anthropoid, with one arm that is technologically enhanced, armed w-“ Esa was quick to respond with a quick acknowledgement to shut him up since he would have kept rambling on about her profile if left up to him. It was as she quieted him down she then heard the woman speak as she was now closer. As her AI said she is armed with what seemed to be a knife, but luckily not with a handheld firearm like she was. Hearing the female respond to her she quickly stopped making her way closer.

“The names Esa; my vessel was sabotaged and the engine is damaged beyond repair. I unfortunately had to make an emergency landing here . . . just as I see you have done the same.”

Glancing to the opened engine bay and error message she could see glowing from inside the ship indicated that she was indeed correct. But, making this observation wouldn’t lessen the tension that was thick in the air between the two as they were two strangers seeing if the other could be trusted or not.

“I assure you, I am alone. I also noticed your ship is in need of a repair. I can see if I can repair it for you, but I would still need a lift off this . . forsaken . . planet.” Her words were honest, especially the last part since she had been here for too damn long. Even through saying all of that she had enough decency to shealth her weapon on her belt to display that she was less of a threat and didn’t intend to do anything.

It hurt to be this desperate for a ride, but she was at the mercy of this woman before her and if not her then whoever landed next on this planet and who knew how long that would be since it had already been a great amount of time before this woman showed up.

 

[nova_kane]

Dahlia raised an eyebrow, her eyes narrowed into slits as she listened to the stranger continue explaining how she ended up on this planet. Her body relaxed ever so slightly when she assured her she was alone and put away her weapon, but Dahlia continued to grip the knife. Esa’s offering to help repair her ship sounded like a dream, but how could she ensure that she could be trusted? What was to stop her from murdering her and stealing her space craft to escape this desolate place? However, if she didn’t accept this girl’s help, Dahlia would be stranded unless she was able to find transmission signals.

After a long, tense silence, she sighed. “D43, is she alone?” she inquired, looking over her shoulder. The ship opened a panel on the side, which opened up into radar technology. It blipped softly for a moment as turned in a 360 to scan as far as a half a mile out. When it was finished, the radar closed back into itself.

“No other beings detected, Dahlia,” the AI quipped, confirming Esa’s claim that she was indeed alone. She took one last look back at the open engine bay and groaned. This girl could not find out about the tech in the back of her ship or else she was toast. Who knows who she works for and what her business was?

“Fine. You fix my ship, I give you a lift back, you forget you ever saw me. Got it?” Dahlia barked, waving the knife in Esa’s direction. She turned on her heel back toward the ship and waited for her to approach. In a quiet whisper, she looked down at the screen on her wrist. “If she tries anything, kill her,” she told her craft in a low voice, which in response her arm glowed a soft blue.

“The heating element is fucked, and I don’t have a replacement,” Dahlia informed the stranger as she got closer, “so unless you can either fix this one or have another, we’re both stuck here.”

As Esa approached, Dahlia glanced over and met her gaze, realizing that this woman was breathtaking up close. Clearing her throat, she looked away and nodded toward the ship to assess the situation.

 

[VRozen]

The woman tensely waited for a response as she stood there with her hands dangling at her sides. Just say yes damnnit. Her mind screamed internally as she hated this anticipation. She noticed how the woman looked almost past her and Esa couldn’t help, but look behind herself to see if anything or anyone was there. She turned her head swiftly back after not seeing anyone else herself and realized she was probably making sure she was true to her word. Well she didn’t think she would go as far as commanding her ship to pull out a weapon on her.

“Arlo, is that a weapon or something else?!” the alien inquired softly as the radar deployed itself. Her arms had tensed up almost instantly ready to move out of harm's way since she couldn’t exactly see that far.

“Radar technology detected.” her artificial intelligence, Arlo, had alerted her which put her mind at ease a bit as she loosened up a bit. Good, at least this woman wasn’t trying to do away with her so quickly.

After that was done she tilted her head slightly before she finally heard her response. Esa was quick to respond with a curt nod as her eyes watched the knife she held as she did so. Has she finally met someone that has their guard up more than she does? It seemed so. With their deal in place she drew closer to the ship and eventually she made it to the ship’s engine bay and got the rundown of the problem. Esa reached inside of the engine bay to find the heating element in which to their luck was fixable.

“It isn’t as bad as you expressed. Your heating element is still intact, the issue is faulty wiring which gave too much power to the element which cause it to burn out.” she spoke as she disassembled it and pulled it out to show the woman the issue.

She got this brief moment to take in this womans appearance before having to focus back on the problem at hand. Sick arm.

“I can get this rewired and back up and functional in about an hour since you are lucky I salvaged some parts from my old ship while on my stay here.” Esa announced before she placed the heating element back on the side of the vessel before beginning to shift through her large bag for what she needed.

“In the meantime, my savior could keep me company; starting off by introducing themself. .” her eyes flicked up at her before going back down to her tools and getting everything spread out before beginning her to make sure they can leave pronto.

 

[nova_kane]

Dahlia watched over Esa’s shoulder as she fiddled with the engine bay for a moment, releasing the core heating element from its connectors. A small burst of steam hissed as she pulled the part out to show her, watching where she was pointing. At this moment in time, Dahlia realized just how little she knew about bigger pieces of tech, especially space crafts. She had assumed that it was all very similar, but then again this was the first time she had her own ship that…wasn’t stolen. This girl is clearly intelligent, she thought to herself, knowing that she might have met her match.

She groaned, feeling stupid for leaving on a small trip without ensuring everything had been working properly, but D43 hadn’t warned her about any possible issues. At least it was an easy fix, and Esa could help her with the repairs. Dahlia just hoped that this stranger wasn’t as big of a piece of shit as her, because she would have been doomed from the start. Soon she would have her ship fixed, drop this hitchhiker off at the next nearest planet so she could call for help, and she could go on about her day dumping off all of her stock in exchange for liquid cash. As long as Esa didn’t snoop around the trunk of her craft, she would be fine.

The woman’s voice interrupted her train of thought as she caught her gaze, a small smirk curling up at the corner of Dahlia’s lips. She knew she couldn't give too much about herself away to this stranger, so she shrugged and leaned against the cool metal of her ship and slid down into the grass next to her. The knife stayed in her steel hand for easy access just in case- she still didn’t trust her fully. “I’m Dahlia,” she replied, amused, watching her work curiously. She wanted to redirect the conversation away from herself and didn’t mind making it obvious she was doing so. “But you’re not from around here, are you? Not even close.” Her eyes glinted, making her really hard to read.

 

[VRozen]

The only way that Esa would offer her help on something was if she was highly skilled in it and working on large vessels was one of her niches. It made her and her brother a quick buck learning how to fix on these things for the idiots that drove them for a living, but didn’t know how to repair them. After they learned how to fix every component of a vessel it was almost like taking candy from an infant. Suckers they were, trusting some kids, but they did get the job done. That is with a high price though.

As begun to work on repairing the wiring she expected to learn more about the woman now sitting beside her, but she was sadly mistaken when that wasn't the case. Well at least she had got her name before the conversation took its own turn into something she didn’t want to discuss. Humans, they were always so interested in aliens till this day. Esa could tell by the glint in Dahlia’s eyes as she asked her question that she had yet to answer. She definitely did not need her finding out what species she truly was this early on since that could definitely foil her plans in getting a lift.

“What a strange question to ask someone you’ve just met. Is it that easy to tell I am not a native of this galaxy?” a laugh emitted from her as she kept her focus on attaching the wiring to each connector.

“I am not from around here, but thats probably because of the way I look. I am a human hybrid which explains my appearance.” lies, lies, lies, she had to lie, but it was for her own sake. Kluashae’s were still seen as a ‘high level threat’ in many planets and even galaxies - and don’t think that hasn’t cause high alert to the people themselves who have their image of how those ‘savages’ act.

“Now, since you got to ask me something personal, what about that arm of yours. How did you acquire that?” the woman inquired as she began to rummage through her pile looking for more connectors for the other set of wires before switching them out.

 

[nova_kane]

Little did either of them know, they were both keeping secrets from each other. Dahlia had a feeling that Esa wasn’t giving her the complete truth about who she was, but of course, she wouldn’t be either- and it was smart to keep it that way. She knew better than to go around leaking every detail about herself, especially in the shady business that she dealt with.

Dahlia chuckled, looking up at her, “I dunno, you’re the only one I’ve seen so far…but then again I haven't been here for very long.” A human hybrid, huh? She thought to herself, her gaze wandering back toward the edge of the clearing. Her curious brain wanted to know more, but she dropped when Esa inquired about her arm.

Dahlia’s face fell and she was silent for a moment, hesitating slightly before shaking it off and shrugging with a smirk. She lifted up the prosthetic so she could see, gripping it into a fist and spreading open her palm. The mechanical technology ran all the way up to her shoulder, attached by thin and sleek steel plates that were molded to her skin. “You mean this ‘ole thing?” Dahlia asked, inspecting it closely.

“I lost it a couple of years back in an accident.” First lie. “It was a machinery thing, my arm got caught while helping a friend repair a piece of her farming equipment. Two of the gears had mysteriously gotten something lodged in between, and unfortunately, it became ‘un-stuck’ before I was able to remove my arm, and…” her voice trailed off. Second lie. The lies came to mind so easily, and her words were sincere as they slipped off her tongue.

It’s not like she could tell this stranger the real story about how her arm was actually taken because of a debt she owed. Two years back, she had sold some juiced-up tech to the wrong group of people, and when they realized they had been scammed they sent someone after Dahlia. She was followed to a motel room after a night out of partying, and they took what was rightfully hers, leaving her beaten and bleeding out to die. If it wasn’t for the early morning maid service that came by to clean her room and found her, she might not have made it.

Dahlia swallowed at the painful memory, her eyes glazed over for a moment. Finally, she blinked, chuckling softly. “Guess I should stay away from heavy machinery, huh?” she said with a grin, meeting Esa’s gaze.

“Now your turn,” she cooed, raising an eyebrow coyly, “where were you headed when you crashed here?”

 

[VRozen]

Esa listened to the other with her full attention as she worked. Towards the end of her explanation though, Esa watched intensely seeing as it was rough on the woman to speak about it. She would say she regretted even asking, but she was curious to know. Once their gazes met she swiftly looked back down at the element in front of her as she moved on to the other set of wiring, almost finishing up before she would need to test it.

“Agh, nowhere in particular. Just . . looking for someone as of right now . . my younger brother specifically.” her mind wanted to lie, but her heart couldn’t as any help she could get was something.

“I have little to no leads on him so I am currently making my way through the galaxy.” her fingers worked quickly as they wrapped a corrosion protection on the wiring before getting to her feet. She didn’t exactly plan on staying on that topic for long and luckily the heating element was repaired.

“I think this should do it. Let me get everything hooked up again and then we can test the system out to make sure everything is connected properly.” rubbing her hands on his pants to get rid of any oils, she wasted no time getting back into the engine bay rewiring and connecting everything again.

“Let me know if that error message disappears once I get everything reconnected!” Esa shouted as she wanted Dahlia to go and check.

 

[nova_kane]

Dahlia tilted her head as she listened to Esa tell her briefly about the purpose of her trip in the first place regarding her brother. So she was looking for someone…gosh, the universe was pretty large for her to be searching for one person. She could tell that the topic was also a bit uncomfortable, as she changed the subject quickly to show her the status of the repairs.

“I guess we’ll see here in a sec!” she quipped, jumping up to peek into the engine bay. She had completely fixed the heating element and wrapped it back up better than it was before. Dahlia made her way to the ship’s door, pulling herself up into the pilot’s deck. Her craft was big enough to fly up to three people and had enough space for storage. “D43, what’s the status now? Did that help?”

The AI scanned the system to run tests, a large halo screen popping up in front of her. A little loading signal spun around and around for a moment until a data report flashed in its place. “No problems detected, Dahlia. Everything is clear for the ship to take off.” For a moment, the thought of leaving the stranger behind flashed through her mind. She could just pull up the loading bay, which only took a couple of seconds and she’d be free to get off this godforsaken planet. No one would ever know, and she wouldn’t have to deal with dropping her off anymore.

Dahlia sighed as her conscious took over, and she watched Esa below as she waited for her response. She couldn’t leave this girl here…Instead, she would just take her to the nearest planet to drop her off, do her good deed for the day, and be back en route soon enough.

However…something inside her just couldn’t do it. Dahlia rolled her eyes- when had she gotten so soft? She input her passcode into the keypad to her right, starting up the spacecraft with just a push of a button. “We should be good to go!” she called out to Esa from the doorway, waving her hand and signaling to her, “Get whatever you need from your ship, and I’ll be taking you to the nearest planet.”

As she waited for her new travel companion, she did a bit of programming to do a search on nearby planets that she could take her to…this time ones with civilization, and maybe something to eat before she got outta there. The results her AI had found popped up on the screen. “The planet of Cerenia, about thirty minutes away, is a good docking station to find space crafts.”

Dahlia slid down into her seat in front of the steering command, opening up the compartment in the arm of her chair and grabbing a small device with a mouthpiece. She pressed it to her lips, gently pulling in a plume of smoke that was mixed with a calming herbal blend she picked up recently while she was visiting the Hub, trading it for a piece of tech. She sighed in elation, sinking into her seat as she waited for Esa to board.

 

[VRozen]

Esa hadn’t exactly thought about the possibility of Dahlia having a change of heart and leaving her stranded on this planet instead of giving her a lift. She had just assumed after speaking with her and being true to her word about fixing her ship that she wouldn’t have a change of plans at the last second.

Connecting the last wire to the connector was satisfactory as it seemed that everything fitted perfectly right where it was supposed to be. Esa’s head peaked out of the engine as she was done working on it and gave the ‘okay’ to Dahlia to actually power on the vessel. After a few moments she got the approval from her temporary travel companion that the ship was up and functioning correctly. This prompted her to quickly go and retrieve all of her belongings and place them back into her bag before boarding the ship.

Upon entering she nonchalantly pressed a button that would close the loading bay behind her. Ah, it felt good to be back in an enclosed spacecraft and not out on the open all day.

“Told you I could fix it, see what a little trust in a stranger does for you.” the female joked as she set her bag down before nearing the front where the seats and control panel was.

Esa sat down in the chair adjacent to hers as she then gazed up at the screen showcasing the nearest planet that did have civilization like she asked for, but it had a few issues that wouldn’t be in her favor. Species restrictions and it wouldn’t house the correct space craft she were looking for. Nervousness swept over her, but she had to play her cards right in order to seek another request from her new acquaintance.

“I know I said to drop me off at the nearest planet with civilization, but the planet Cerenia isn’t one that I would advise landing on. As you can tell the restrictions, heavy regulations, and lacking space craft merchants isn’t ideally the place to drop me off at.” by touching the screen she was able to lose focus on that planet and shift to a much larger one. Yereveus. One that acted as a hub and was more ‘traveler’ friendly opposed to the previous one, the only downside was that it would take a bit longer to get to.

“Preferably Yereveus, that would be the perfect drop off spot if you don’t mind. It says that it will take about ten hours to get to.” ugh, she was asking for a bit much now, but she didn’t want to be stuck on a planet where they wouldn’t have anything she needed and heavy patrol.

 

[nova_kane]

God, this girl just wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted, was she? Dahlia sat back, amused at her bold request as Esa started tapping on her halo screen, pulling up Yereveus’ info map. Normally she was extremely picky about letting others touch anything in her ship, but she let it slide just this once since Esa was easy on the eyes.

“Ten hours, huh?” she teased, chuckling wryly as she pressed a small blue button on the smaller more accessible control deck between the two. Seatbelts that had been wrapped up within the backing of her chair slithered out of their mounts, safely clicking her in. Before Esa could respond, the same thing occurred in her chair, strapping her in and snatching her back slightly.

Dahlia hesitated slightly, looking up at the screen. She chewed on her bottom lip in thought, knowing Esa was right. Cerenia had extremely advanced security lockdowns, and if they took that route her craft would definitely be searched. She knew she couldn’t risk getting caught with two hundred pounds of illegal stolen tech in the back or else she’d find herself in federal prison for life. The only other planet that would work was the one Esa suggested. The trip was long and boring, but it seemed like they didn’t have much choice.

See, this is what happens when I help people, she thought to herself, taking a deep breath. “Fine,” she complained, waving her hand in Esa’s direction, “You definitely owe me for this, a ten-hour trip with a stranger is insane.” Dahlia’s words were meant to come across as a joke, but there was a bit of bite to her voice that made it obvious that this was an inconvenience for her. “Alright D43, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Without much warning, the ship jolted slightly as it started to take off, lifting itself from the clearing and pulling its legs into the open panel below. The trees danced violently as hot air blasted from underneath them to assist in ejecting the craft into the sky to gain speed. Dahlia grabbed the steering in front of her, tilting it back and curving to the right as they escaped the hazy pink atmosphere behind.

_____________________________________

Once they were out of Minope’s range and moving at a calm speed through the galaxy, Dahlia flicked a few switches above her and set the ship into autopilot. The seatbelts retracted back from where they had come out of, letting Dahlia relax a bit more. She reached for the respirator that she had drawn smoke from earlier, taking in a large puff and sighing. The herbal scent mixed with a hint of sweet strawberries filled the room, and her head buzzed with a light high.

She had felt only slightly guilty for complaining about the trip they were making, but Dahlia had 10 hours to figure out what she could get from this. Of course, her mind would go straight to wondering how she could take advantage of the situation, she had always been that way. She looked out for herself, and nobody else. It had always been this way, and she didn’t plan on changing this anytime soon.

“So tell me more about your brother, what’s he like?” Dahlia inquired suddenly, breaking the heavy silence that had plagued the ship. Her eyes were glossy as she turned to face Esa in her chair, pulling her knees up to her chest. “Or is it like, a super dark secret that you’re not allowed to discuss or something?” She rested her chin on the top of her knees, a quizzical expression across her soft features.

 

[VRozen]

Hearing the human beside her repeat the main detail out of what she said made her fidget a bit since it was much to ask. Esa was going to suggest looking for a different planet as a compromise, but she felt the seatbelts of the chair come around, strapping her in, before she could even say anything. Well, if they were buckling in this must have meant that they didn’t mind as much as she thought and with hearing confirmation of their trip shortly after she couldn’t help but be elated.

“I express a great amount of gratitude to you.” she was quick to thank the woman due to the tone that was used in her response. Granted, if she were in the same situation with a stranger she wouldn’t be too pleased either. “Don’t worry I will treat you when we arrive at Yereveus, you have my word.” soon after she spoke her attention was taken by the take off sequence - non-existent - as they were suddenly blasted off the planet. Looking down she was actually grateful that she was off that planet and it wouldn’t have been her resting place.

---

As things settled in the vessel Esa got a bit more comfortable as that is all she could do on such a long voyage to the next destination. In the meantime she occupied herself with a snack that was nestled in her pocket as her attention was more focused on her personal device. Where she shifted through a few systems and databases now that she had a decent signal once again. Her mind was occupied with finding any inklings of her species being detected anywhere in this galaxy, but it seemed pointless due to how even herself avoided those types of systems to not get picked up within these same systems.

With her focus on this, Esa somewhat forgot about her companion that was situated beside her, well not so much due to the scent that filled her anterior nares. It was sweet and she didn’t quite mind it, with her being sensitive to smells due to being a tracker this scent wasn’t quite bad to say the least. Even if it did bother her she had no right to say anything since it wasn’t exactly her ship and they were still considered strangers.

Considering how quiet the ship was she was a bit thrown off by the sudden sound of her voice. This caused her to stuff her mouth with her little snack as she turned her attention to Dahlia. Oh, I was asked something, she thought, as she quickly swallowed and cleared her throat a bit before giving a quick smile.

“Oh, no it isn’t anything like that.” her features relaxed and softened as she thought about him briefly. “It’s just that I haven’t seen him in a about nine years, so it's difficult looking for someone that you haven’t seen since they were sixteen years old and you only have a picture of them from that time.” others may say it's a shot in the dark that someone may recognize his name, or picture, but she was willing to take that shot.

“There isn’t much to really know either since I haven’t seen him since then and don’t even know what he is doing now, but what I do know is that when he went off with this crew they weren’t the most honest and noble. So, he’s probably running with a bad bunch . . .” Esa explained as that was truthfully all she had known and she would tell anyone the details regardless of anything if that meant that anyone could point her in the right direction.

 

[nova_kane]

Dahlia listened intently as she spoke, again wondering how someone could even begin to search for someone who seemed so unsearchable. Nine years was a long time, plenty long to get lost in such a cruel and unforgiving universe. Esa must have cared a lot about her brother, not that Dahlia knew what that was like. She had no siblings and grew up alone, so it was hard for her to imagine loving someone so much that they still had hope that they were out there.

“Are you sure he’s not dead?” She asked after a long pause, clearly not understanding nor reading the room, “That’s a long time to hold out hope you know. Do you ever feel like you’re wasting your time?”

Her question was brash, but honest. Not usually the type of response you’d give a stranger, but nonetheless Dahlia meant well. She just genuinely couldn’t see the logic in searching for so long. She didn’t realize that her comment could be taken poorly, and quite frankly she didn’t care much. She didn’t have much of a filter, and it probably explained why she didn’t have many friends.

“Dahlia, you can’t just ask people things like that-” D43 chimed in, to which she rolled her eyes and again waved her hand in dismissal.

“What, are you suddenly a conversationalist expert now?” Dahlia retorted, pressing a few buttons on the control panel beside her. Her seat started to lean back, folding out into a wider platform. “Mind your own business.”

She rolled on her side to face away from Esa, sighing in exhaustion. “I’m sorry if that was insensitive,” she quipped, looking out the glass beside her at all of the passing stars, her eyes a bit glazed over. Dahlia yawned, placing her arm under her head to get more comfortable.

 

[VRozen]

Esa wasn’t too sure how the woman in front of her would react to such information, but the words that came out of her mouth were not exactly what she were expecting. The female's eyebrows raised slightly in realization before resting in their previous position as she went into deep thought. In the brief moment she thought about it, Dahlia was right. How would she know if he were dead or not and all this time searching for him was pointless. She wouldn’t know, not unless she confirmed this information through her own due diligence.

She couldn’t lie though, she appreciated how for once someone wasn’t afraid to voice their true feelings and thoughts towards a situation. It was refreshing and a lot of times can be an eye opener and Dahlia did just that. In a way her artificial intelligence was right, but with her own situation she was glad to have been asked questions like that.

“No, no, she is right. He could be dead for all I know and all of this could be for nothing and a waste of my time since I could be occupying my time with something else. But, I have to hold out hope until I can find any relevant information on him.” her jaw clenched slightly as her fingers wrapped around the edge of the seat, gripping it.

“You wouldn’t understand, I would literally pay anyone if they could find information and the whereabouts of my brother, that is how desperate I am . .” her words amplified towards the end before she stood up to relax her muscles as just speaking about it made her want to already get back out there and continue her search. It was something she had her mind fixated on and she wouldn’t be able to stop unless she found out he was no longer traveling amongst the stars.

 

[nova_kane]

Dahlias ears perked up as Esa expressed how she would be willing to pay anyone who could help find her brother, looking back over her shoulder at her. This girl couldn’t be serious, could she? Would anyone ever be dumb enough to take on a mission to help her find someone that had been missing for several years? As she pondered this thought, weighing out the pros and cons, she realized something.



She was the one that would be dumb enough to potentially help locate Esa’s brother. Not for free, of course, or out of the kindness of her heart- but for money, which was something that Dahlia adored. If she didn’t want a life of luxury, she would have done something boring with her life like becoming an accountant, or a mother, or…



D43’s voice interrupted her train of thought, snapping Dahlia out of the clouds for a moment. “A faster route has to Yereveus has been located,” it told them, the ship swerving to the left slightly. “There’s a wormhole up ahead that will cut the trip by three hours and forty seven minutes. Do you wish to proceed?”



Dahlia sat up, looking toward the screen as D43 uploaded the data in front of her. Anything that could save time would be well worth it, especially because she wasn’t actually sure if she wanted to help this girl yet. She huffed when she read over the bottom text, informing them that there were a couple of disadvantages to this route.



“Heavy meteor activity?” She murmured, squinting her eyes at the screen. Maybe it isn’t worth it… she thought to herself, rubbing her temples in frustration. She kept reading, and saw that there was also a federal checkpoint right outside of the wormhole where they would be exiting. Fuck…she couldn’t go through a checkpoint right now, it was too risky. If they decided to do a random craft search, she’d be done for. “D43, why would you even suggest this if it was potentially dangerous? We can’t risk going through a whole meteor shower… we have precious cargo on board.”



Dahlia looked over at Esa and winked playfully, trying to distract her from what she had just read. She tapped a few buttons and the screen disappeared as the ship positioned itself back to its original course. She swiveled her chair toward Esa, her legs crossed as she took another hit off her respirator. “So anyways… you mentioned you’d um, well… pay someone to help you? Just how much are we talking here?”

 

[VRozen]

Esa had walked around and stretched within the ship as she got her mind off of the whole thing. During this she had began to eat another one of her small snacks before she heard the artificial intelligence suddenly come in. A faster route? That would probably appease Dahlia since the quicker they got there the quicker she can go on her way. Esa walked from the back of the ship, after it shifted, to the front of the ship where she looked at the details of what the alternative route that they could possibly take.

She didn’t read too much of it since she didn’t want to overstep her boundaries as she had already previously done so instead she sat back down in her chair and looked out the window. Her attention was only brought back when the word ‘dangerous’ was pronounced, but with the way that Dahlia had winked at her made her slightly roll her eyes in amusement that she would say something like that.

“Flattering, really.” she responded before she got comfortably situated back into her seat even though they weren’t going to take the dangerous alternative way. Didn’t matter to her either way since she was just enjoying the ride. So to do that she rested her head back and crossed her arms, relaxing. Esa didn’t exactly have a chance to rest her eyes even briefly due to her hearing a squeak in the chair next to her and the words that followed afterwards.

“What? . . oh yeah I did say that.” she replied with raised eyebrows, was Dahlia interested in helping her? “Well it would depend on if the person is actually able to find valid clues that lead to the next. Then the price continues to rise by about five thousand dollars, but if they can hold on and outright find him then I would pay them in full. You know a big lump sum.” Esa explained as she could see by the glint in the others eyes that they were interested in what she were talking about. If money was a motivator than so be it, as long as he was found. She was willing to give up over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in total if need be. Arlo, her artificial intelligence, would disagree with the amount being given, but she can just pick up bounties again later on if her savings were dipped into during the efforts of finding her brother.

“So, what do you say? Does the stranger want to help another stranger?”

 

[nova_kane]

Although Dahlia often traveled alone, she had a lot of connections throughout the galaxy that she could attempt to get information. All of these acquaintances that she’s met over the years had either met her through the buy/sell/trade markets, forums on the ethernet, plastered in clubs and bars, or well…hookups in her bed. In other words, she had a large amount of resources that could make this a bit easier than it would be for the average person.

As she pondered her options, her eyes grew wide. Five thousand dollars just for some leads?! She thought to herself, her nose crinkled up in thought as she wondered what the total “lump sum” she had referred to was worth. It’s not like Dahlia had a full calendar, and she usually never stayed in one place for too long. The only thing was, she needed to sell the last several items she had hidden away in the storage toward the back of her ship so they weren’t carrying anything hot around. She knew that she could find a lot of potential buyers on this journey and make even more cash. Plus, it was probably a lot safer than the planet she had originally wanted to go to due to war.

After a few moments of silence, Dahlia nodded. Esa had a confidence about her, but she could still see the masked desperation behind her eyes as she asked her to help. She figured that not many people probably would want to and the only reason Dahlia was because of the greed and her connections. “Fuck it, I’m in,” she told her with a smile, standing up out of her chair, “follow me for a sec.”

Dahlia tapped in a sequence of buttons on the screen over her middle console, which opened up a section of the floor toward the rear of the piloting station. There was a small set of stairs that would lead down to the bottom of the ship, and as she waved her over, Esa would come to see that it appeared to be a small bedroom of sorts. It was lit up by soft pink neon lights that were strung around the room toward the low ceiling, with all sorts of photos and posters littering the walls. In one corner, there was a decent-sized bed big enough for two people to sleep in, ruffled and messy with lots of blankets and pillows. Next to it was some kind of monitor set up, where three glowing screens attached to the wall over a desk that was scattered with loose papers and notebooks and a comfy chair pushed underneath.

“Watch your head,” Dahlia told her, ducking down slightly as she walked down the short flight of stairs that led into her room, “bathroom is back up near the main deck, by the way.”

The ceiling was only slightly taller than Dahlia was, and anyone with added inches would have to be leaning over so they didn’t bump their head. “Home sweet home,” she continued, pulling out the desk chair and relaxing into it, typing away at the computer keyboard in a flash. One of the screens pulled up a server, which had multitudes of forums to post on for millions to see. “This is where I’ll be advertising,” she explained to Esa, clacking away. When she turned over her shoulder to look at her, Esa looked unsure. “Don’t worry, it’ll be super minute details- just enough information to get him out there so we have higher chances of getting a lead. Do you have a photo of him?”

She reached over to a mini fridge that was beside the desk, swinging open the door to peer inside. The soft white light shone out onto the floor as Dahlia dug through the contents. "We have a long ride...want a drink?" She asked her with a small smirk, pulling out a half-full bottle of clear liquor.

 

[VRozen]

This would be her first time offering money for any leads as well as direct help in the search of her brother. Before she simply just asked around and hoped for any answers as many were too busy to pay a ‘human-hybrid’ bounty hunter any time of day. Well this time with offering a reward she didn’t think anyone would ponder on the idea as easily and seem interested. Esa patiently waited as she watched Dahlia ponder with a slight tilt of her head. She did anticipate her answer since through all of this, she was quite desperate on the inside for any type of assistance.

Noticing a nod of the head from the other female earned a smile from her as she perked up. “Really?! I am glad you will assist me.” her eyes traveled along with her as she stood up. Was she already eager to get started on the search or was she just that excited. Well she found out soon enough when she was told to follow her. What she didn’t expect was to be led down somewhere, she had assumed it was a storage area, but was way wrong. As she ducked down slightly due to the warning, when she lifted her head up to look around the room looked like sleeping quarters instead. It was nicely decorated and she took a brief moment to look around, especially at the posters that littered the wall. As the other typed away on the computer she was distracted by the room until her attention was taken by the human speaking.

“Huh, advertising?” she questioned before going over to where she was sitting down and gazing at the computer screens. She wasn’t too sure about advertising since he wasn’t like a missing person or anything, she just wanted to find him. Besides, she didn’t want her details out there for people to see. Esa has even began to part her lips to ask about it being anonymous, but it seemed that Dahlia picked up on her concerns rather quickly. “Oh, I see, that seems fine then . .” she said before taking a moment to dig in her pocket for the picture she asked for. Swiftly, she handed over a picture of her brother, Vasir, when he was around sixteen years old, she was also in the photo and around that time she was eighteen, but Dahlia could easily crop her out of the photo. It was the most recent photo she had of him and her together and it was also the last.

Her eyes moved back to the screen as she scanned the server and its contents. She didn’t know what to think of it since she never posted information on these types of things, but instead she gathered information on whoever she was hunting from these types of servers. Esa leaned against the desk slightly before she looked down to see what the other was doing. Ah, liquor, this should be fun. “Sure, but it's going to take a lot more than half a bottle to get me drunk.” she mused as she grabbed a cup and let her pour her a drink.

“Do you really think you’ll get a lead doing it this way. I have never tried searching this way.” the female admitted as she'd rather keep her information offline due to her line of work. “Also, since we’ll be working together now does this mean I’ll have a designated place on this ship or would I need to still buy a new vessel.” her lip upturned as she added a bit of amusement to her tone, taking a sip of her drink afterwards.

 

[nova_kane]

Dahlia glanced over at the photo Esa was showing her and waved her hand in front of it, scanning and uploading it to her desktop from the ethernet connection in her bio arm. She spun around in her chair to face the screens, the photo appearing in front of them in a program. It didn’t take long for Dahlia to edit Esa out to make the main focal point her brother and draft up a quick post she would be sending out to all of her contacts, which they could in turn send to theirs. She had a lot of people that owed her favors, and in that moment she felt pretty good about clicking send. The ad description read: HAVE YOU SEEN ME? PLEASE CONTACT DAHLIA @ ETHERNET SERVER #187483.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got more,” she replied with a smirk, looking over her shoulder at her as she sipped on the bitter clear liquor. She pondered Esa’s questions for a moment, staring back at the computer screen in thought. There was a short silence until she finally turned back around to face her. “I think I’m confident in my skills enough that we can get close enough for it to mean something,” Dahlia responded, catching her gaze, “And I suppose it would be unnecessary for you to get another ship right now, it would just be more fuel…” Her voice trailed off, giving it one last thought.

She definitely needed to unload this tech somewhere if Esa was going to be traveling with her on her ship. Yereveus was locked into their coordinates and was one of the first of many in the stretch of galaxy close by, smaller planets dotting that area every few miles or so. The last time Dahlia had been out that way was about a year back, and she remembered that she had a friend not too far from the Hub who stayed on a planet called Ruria. She decided she would shoot her a message to see if she could hold onto her stash for a while until this little trip was over that way, Esa wouldn’t stumble upon any of her goodies.

“Since you said you were headed in this direction before your ship went down, I think it would be a good idea to still head toward Yereveus since you haven’t searched that part of the galaxy. We can still stop at the hub to pick up anything we might need and maybe get you into a real bed to sleep in after being stranded for two weeks,” Dahlia told her, leaning back in her chair as she took another drink, crossing her legs and catching her gaze. “Are you sure you won’t mind traveling with me on this ship? I unfortunately only have one bed, so that means we'll have to share.”

Although her face was amused, a hint of mischief glinted in her eyes as she finished off the rest of her glass, setting it down on her desk with a clink.

 

[VRozen]

Esa wouldn’t have expected that Dahlia’s words would have eased her mind about this whole thing, but she began to have a little faith after she had seen the finished product of the advertisement that she put out. Hopefully they got at least a nibble, it would save her so much time and effort if someone had at least seen or heard of him recently.

The alien took another sip of her drink as she gazed over at the other. This new confidence that was in the air is just what she needed to stay positive through times like this and besides she could even take this time to enjoy a travel companion again after not having one for so long. Years have past since her last journey with a crew, those were some good times though, ones that shaped her into who she was today as well as gave her the knowledge she needed.

Bringing up the living arrangements was something they needed to think through. It wasn’t like she hasn’t slept in tight quarters before, but she was used to her own ship. “That is what I thought of as well, but I didn’t exactly know if you wanted a stranger imposing on your current arrangement.” amusement laced within her tone as she was only joking around for the most part. “I don’t mind sharing at all, but we’ll have to see if you still don’t mind after this voyage to Yereveus. Bunking with me may be hell for you and not the other way around. It may lead tk us just needing a bit of an upgrade, how does that sound?!” her eyes beamed slightly at the thought of a new ship since the one she previously had was with her for some time. She also took sharing a bed with this female as a challenge, those were surely her instincts kicking in.

Esa had downed the rest of her drink once she saw that the human did as well. But, now with this whole ship talk was over it made her reflect back a bit on how little she knew of Dahlia’s circumstances, and if she had any prior. “You know, now that I think about it, you never told me where you were headed before I decided to hop on board with you. This new partnership must have put a damper on whatever business you were tending to?!” she peered down to gaze at Dahlia briefly before pouring herself a bit more of the liquor as then pressed the cup to her lips.

 

[nova_kane]

“I don’t mind at all, promise,” Dahlia told her when Esa asked her about the current sleeping arrangements, “It would be pretty great if we had a bigger ship since we’ll be traveling a lot…don’t take that as me just not wanting to sleep in the bed with you though.” She smiled as she stood to her feet, stepping over Esa’s legs to the other side of the bed where she let herself collapse, the soft mattress almost pulling her into the fluffy blankets. Her head became a little warm from the buzz as she looked up at the dark ceiling, tiny specks of glowing white lights flashing softly like they were under the real stars.

“I was actually headed in the opposite direction of Yereveus,” she admitted with a chuckle, turning her head to the side to glance at Esa from where she sat. Dahlia knew she couldn’t tell her the truth, obviously- there was no way this girl would have paid her to help. “I’ve been away from my home planet for several months, and I just wanted to visit some friends. I travel a lot and I really like exploring new places. I’m a bit of an ‘adventurer’ if you could call it that.”

Dahlia smirked, kicking her boots off. “I make money running errands for people basically- like a space assistant? I dunno I haven’t given it an actual title yet. People pay me to travel, that’s how I like to look at it really.” Only half of that was true. She made the lies seem so believable so easily that it felt like a normal conversation with a friend. Meanwhile, all of her secret tech was stashed away in the back of the ship, which was only accessible from the outside with security measures attached to keep everyone out.

“Do me a favor, yeah?” Dahlia queried, pointing at the bottle on the table, “Be a gem and pour me another drink? I already laid down and I’m not sure if I can get back up." She paused, and added, "and I wanna know about you. Tell me what kinda stuff you get into if you're not out there valiantly looking for your long-lost brother?"

 

[VRozen]

Esa pondered for a brief moment on what they could do if the sleeping arrangements somehow didn't work out. "Perhaps, if things don't go as planned we could shop for a larger ship and you could place yours in storage for the time being. Simply courtesy of you joining me on my search," she said with a smile since that would be great if they had larger living quarters if possible. Letting the alcohol set in a bit she had relaxed her shoulders a bit as she watched as the other moved from where she sat and to the bed.

Hearing where they were headed before they encountered each other made her raise her eyebrow a bit as she wondered what exactly she was doing. “Ah, I see. I should have guessed that since that is what many do, same as myself sometimes when I am not working. Just travel around for a bit. Exploring new places is always a thrill.” she said with a chuckle before she set her cup down on the counter before letting out a deep sigh.

Esa stared up at the ceiling as she listened to what exactly Dahlia did. She tilted her head at first as she tried to understand exactly what she did, but soon understood what she was getting at. What she explained all checked out to her, she didn’t expect much from a human to be quite honest. A simple job is what she imagined for her. The alien had straightened up a bit when she was asked to pour Dahlia a drink and tell a little bit more about herself. Ugh, she hated lying, but you can’t go around telling people that you are a bounty hunter for a living.

“Well there isn’t much to me. As you saw I fix things. Ships, gadgets, artificial intelligence, and even create a few things for money. As you can tell the artificial intelligence I have is a work in progress, he over talks.” she chuckled as Arlo, the AI, lit up to say something but she quickly brought her hand over her wrist. “Then I dabble in a few side hustles that are brought to me every now and then for a good price.” Esa said as she reached for the bottle and poured her another drink. She then placed the bottle back down before she picked at her own clothing a bit.

“You know what, before making myself comfortable I should freshen up a bit. I have been camping out for some time and I wouldn’t want your furniture to smell and get dirty.” she pushed herself off of the desk and stretched slightly. “I’ll be in the bathroom upstairs, I won’t be long.” Esa winked at the girl before she made her way up the steps and to the bathroom with her bag. Getting the conversation off of her was a good thing since when prompted she could talk too much at times and let some things slip out if not thought out beforehand.