Traveling ten light-years to a distant solar system was one of the more questionable decisions Sasha had made in her short life. But it was better than going to Proxima Centauri. That was where all of the partiers went, and she didn’t want to be around them at the moment anyways.
Especially not around Nora and her ilk, Sasha thought.
The strange pull Sasha felt earlier had worn off, and she was left in an angry stupor, trying not to punch anything. It was probably a good time to get some more tea, it had been a few hours, and they’d been wandering aimlessly. Or, she could stew in the bitterness and send Nora passive aggressive messages.
Or maybe, Sasha just wasn’t fun enough to be Nora’s friend in the first place. What if she was depressing or boring or clingy? She probably was all of those things, wrapped up in one uncomfortable package. It was a wonder she had any friends in the first place. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTjLT45bYX
“My sensors indicate more emotional distress. I would suggest counting to ten and taking deep breaths,” Ellen said. “Or drinking some more tea.”
Sasha did as suggested. In, out. One to ten. It helped calm the trembling that she didn’t even know she had. About five minutes later, Sasha held a steaming cup of chamomile tea in her hands, her breathing a little more even. She had almost forgotten about the Friend-Who-Would-Not-Be-Named, yet again, but that was only because she had spilt the last cup on herself and the physical pain overshadowed the emotional.
Running a hand through thick, springy locks, she scanned the infographic of the Leda system she’d pulled up on her dash.
The Leda system had only one star, slightly larger than the Sun. Orbiting it, were five planets, and their many moons. There was not much information on whether or not they were inhabited. There wasn’t even a human colony. So, there was absolutely no reason for Sasha to be out here, besides claiming a planet for herself.
Just imagine a planet run by me, Sasha thought. It would be full of downers.
“I think we should just go to Orion instead-”
“Sasha, my scanners have just picked up traces of another carbon-based lifeform in our general vicinity.”
Indeed, there was a faint blip on the map, a little ways away from the ship. It was too faint to be another vessel, but it was impossible, because that would mean-
“They’re not in a ship! They’re just floating out there! We need to help them! They might still be alive.”
“You do not know who they are-”
“Turn off the autopilot, Ellen!”
“Sasha-”
“Ellen, please!”
Ellen must have realized that this was a battle that she wouldn’t win, because the autopilot was turned off and Sasha had control of her ship once again.
“Aye, captain.”
Sasha gripped the controls and moved in the direction of the blip, ignoring the nagging in the back of her mind that suggested that Ellen was right all along. It took a little while, but she found them floating motionless, spacesuit reflecting Leda’s light. Sasha began to slow down in order to avoid hitting the person and causing more damage. God knew that she wouldn’t be able to live with killing a living being, even if it was accidental.
Fortunately she was able to slow down enough (thank goodness for physics class). Now that Sasha was a bit closer, she could see that the person’s spacesuit wasn’t like anything she’d seen on earth. For one, it was form-fitting, which revealed their--his--physique, and Sasha could feel blood rush to her face. Something else she noticed was that his helmet was either nonexistent or made of some very thin glass, because she couldn’t tell if he was even wearing one.
Sasha turned on the tractor beam and watched wide-eyed as his body was pulled into her lower decks. She made sure to turn autopilot back on, and rushed down to the lower levels.
“How is he, Ellen?” she asked breathlessly as she stopped in front of the airlock door, her need for physical exercise obvious.
“I am not sure. I suggest taking him to the healing chamber. From there, I can assess his condition.”
Sasha attempted to hold up his full body weight when he was fully inside of the ship, but it was almost like his body was made up of ninety nine percent pure iron, one percent Earth bricks. Sasha didn’t know where he came from, but what she did know was that he needed to lay off going to the gym.
She wasn’t even halfway to the healing chamber when her legs began to tremble and her back began to cramp (if that was even possible) from exhaustion.
“Sasha, I know that you possess the strength of one hundred teenage girls, but I’m beginning to believe that you’ve gotten quite rusty in your training. Allow me to activate the microgravity.”
“Shut up, you hunk of metal,” Sasha grumbled as she and her cargo began to float.
“This hunk of metal is what is preventing you from dying a slow, painful death.”
“True.”
Carrying the man, or boy, Sasha still couldn’t tell, became so much easier and she was able to get him into the chamber bed in record time.
After she went back to grab another cup of tea, she took the time to get a better look at him as Ellen checked him for injury.
He had short, platinum blonde hair, and skin that was almost white. His jaw was set in a tense position, even in his sleep, which made Sasha even more curious to figure out where he came from. Her eyes trailed down to the rest of his body. He certainly looked like he spent a lot of time at the gym, with the hard lines of his muscles accentuated by his suit, which seemed to be a strange shade between purple and green. On his hip was something that looked like some kind of lightsaber from the old Star Wars movies. If Sasha’s predictions were correct, he’d be able to wield it like a pro, and if he took her to be hostile, well… who knew what would happen?
Sasha gulped and choked out a laugh. What had she been thinking, bringing on this strange person onto her ship? Ellen had a point. But she still couldn’t leave him to die, even though he could probably break her neck with his bare hands. It would be best for her to take his weapon, at least until she knew he was friendly.
She reached for the strange weapon. It was slightly confusing to take off, and her shaking hands didn’t help any, but she managed to do so with her superior taking-things-off skills.
“Scans are sixty percent complete,” Ellen said.
“Okay,” Sasha said, trying to mask her growing anxiety
“Don’t you think you should wait until he’s awake?”
“What.”
“If you’re going to procreate with him, you should wait until he’s fully conscious, in order to be sure of his consent. Don’t wait too long, though. Your father has said, and I quote, that “I want grandchildren before I turn senile.””
Sasha was glad that she wasn’t eating or drinking anything, because she still managed to choke on air.
“I wasn’t- I didn’t- I’m going back up to the bridge. Tell me when he wakes up.”
She turned and fled the scene as quickly as possible, face burning, leaving behind a rather amused AI.
ns 15.158.61.17da2
