Elio traveled through the tight innards of The Antigone, passing the cargo hold, weapons locker, vault, and engine bay, eventually reaching the lower portside forward section and entering his cabin. It was slightly cramped, like most parts of the ship, but it was densely furnished with a bed, desk, wardrobe, porthole, bookshelves, and chair, all basked in the violet light from the lamp. The walls were adorned with old signs, posters, and pictures, and the bookshelves lined thick with various trinkets, ancient philosophies, cheesy love stories, and magna-discs. He emptied the contents of his jacket and trousers, that being a pack of cigarettes, a flip lighter, a small folding pocket knife, his wallet, and an extra handkerchief onto his desk and hung his coat on the wall near the door. He removed his waistcoat, hanging it in the wardrobe, and rolled up the sleeves of his long collared shirt, revealing his scarred and tattooed arms, covered in an eclectic collection of his traditional Skjoldic rune tattoos as well as tattoos he had acquired on his travels; a Makotonian sun tiger, a Chikauaki eagle, a Javedan cobra, the ice wolf that Skjolic travelers got for protection and the like. He then removed his worn black leather pistol belt after removing his revolver and knife. After typing a password on a panel on one of the cabinets, it opened and revealed a decently sized collection of handguns, blades, and other small weapons. Elio unloaded his revolver and placed it in the empty slot. His collection included both the modern small caliber magnet-assisted firearms that were the standard in the galaxy, and some of the antique chemically propelled handguns that he liked to curate. He picked up his blade and examined it. It was an interesting weapon, with a broad blade that curved towards the opponent and a worn wooden handle with brass fittings. He had acquired it on Gewaldi II from an ancient tribe of warriors after unwittingly assisting a coup on their planet that had gone in their favor, Elio was under the impression that his cargo would be food and clothing, not explosives and weapons, but that was a risk of his line of work. He gazed out of the porthole, seeing the faux atmosphere of Adamo IV fade away. After running his fingers through his medium-length jet-black hair in a mirror, he grabbed his wallet, cigarettes, and lighter and stuffed them into his trouser pockets. He then exited his cabin and ascended the ladder into the galley and common room.
“Hey El, why don't you come sit here a minute” Rayan said, sprawled on one of the couches
“Nah, I better talk to the boss first,” Elio said
“Aye, she's up on the bridge”
Elio nodded and climbed up a second ladder to the bridge of the ship. He entered the densely packed bridge and saw Dorian and Leora huddled around a console.
“Set heading 235, let’s avoid that solar flare” Leora commanded
“Aye, that’ll add an extra day at least, we could skirt around it and get us a little boost,” Dorian responded
“That might be the best, baby, little bit of tricky flying through”
“Isn't that why you got the best?” Dorian responded
“I guess” Leora turned around and saw Elio “Isn’t he the best” she said motioning towards Dorian
As Elio was opening his mouth to speak Dorian beat him “Don’t need your input *starboy*, thanks”
“Fuck off Dor,” Leora said, shoving his arm “He’s in *love*”
“Fuck off both of you, I don’t need your advice,” Elio said
“Alright man” Leora put her hands up defensively “What did you need anyways”
“Just letting you know that Ana’s gonna be fine, she needs a few days to heal completely”
“Alright loverboy, thanks for taking care of that,” Leora said
“Yeah no problem” Elio climbed back down the ladder
“Who do you think is gonna ask first?” Leora asked Dorian
“I think both of them would die first” Dorin responded dryly
Elio entered the lower level and walked into the galley. He opened a refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of beer.
“Hey, get me one too” he heard Rayan shout at him
Elio went into the common room, handed Rayan his beer, and sat on one of the couches.
“Thanks, man,” Rayan said with a mouthful of food.
Elio grunted a response and opened the beer, enjoying the cold, dark liquid. He put a cigarette in his mouth and noticed that Rayan motioned to give him one. He pulled another one out of the paper package, lit both, and handed one to Rayan
“You know, these things used to be bad for you,” Ray said
“Oh really? Why was that?” Elio responded
“Not sure”
Both men pulled from their cigarettes, savoring the sweet flavor
“You know, you still owe me a game of Court,” Rayan said picking up a deck of cards
“You’re on,” Elio said, sitting up at the table
Rayan shuffled the cards and dealt them, two for each person. Elio glanced at his cards, a Duke of Stars and a Three of Ships.
Rayan moved to get something from his pocket “Wanna play for some big boy money?”
Elio chuckled and retrieved his wallet “Didn’t think you’d have the nerve”
Both men bet and Rayan dealt the flop cards, a Six of Moons, a Prince of Suns, and a Three of Ships. Elio raised and Rayan called. Rayan dealt the turn, a Cross of Suns, not good. Both men called. Rayan finally dealt the river, a Duke of Stars. Elio showed his cards, a two-pair, with a smirk.
“Shit!” Rayan exclaimed, revealing his Six of Moons pair. Elio chuckled and took the pot.
“Mind if we join you, boys?” Leora asked, she and Dorian having exited the bridge and acquired beverages
“Why not” Rayan said, as the pair pulled up chairs.
Elio puffed on his cigarette as Rayan dealt again. Leora won this round with a four-of-a-kind.
“Can’t wait to get back to Brinnan, what’s it been? Two months?” Rayan stated
“Almost three by the time we get there” Dorian responded
“Shit, really? Fuck…”
“Yeah, you gonna go see your sister?” Leora asked
“Of course, someone’s gotta be the best uncle in the galaxy”
“Oh yeah, I forgot you got a niece, what's her name again?” Leora continues
“Melina, little Mellie” Rayan answered joyfully, it was rare to see him care for other people as much as he cared for his sister and niece.
“She still married to that shithead?” Dorian asked matter-of-factly
“Easy there man, I don’t like the prick either but he makes Lyssa happy and he can provide for them, they got that nice house in Barduna”
“Oh s-shit, Barduna. Wouldn't mind settling there someday” Elio said
“Oh? Maybe with some nice girl?” Rayan said with a wink
“Or a good man, who was that nice guy on Remnova again?” Leora said with a smirk
“I think his name was… Warren… no, Warrick! That's it” Rayan laughed
Elio’s ears turned a shade of scarlet “Forget it, fuck you guys”
The whole table erupted into laughter
“What about you Ley, is there someone waiting up for you out in the galaxy?” Elio asked.
Leora instinctively twisted a silver ring on her right hand “That’s none of your fucking business” she snapped defensively
Elio saw Dorian giving him a sign to not push it “Sorry Ley” he said regretfully
Leora took a deep breath “Sorry El, you didn’t deserve that, I should've gotten mad”
“It’s fine, n-none of my business” Elio held his hands up
Leora sighed “I’m gonna go check on Ana”
She stood up and descended the ladder to the deck below, traversing the familiar corridors of her ship until she came to a door, she heard music on the other side. Leora gave a few gentle knocks.
“Yeah, come in,” said a muffled voice on the other side
The door slid open and Leora stepped into the room. She noticed how neat and tidy Ana kept her cabin, her desk and bookshelves filled with old books, small plants, and worn trinkets. A magna disk player was spinning on her desk, playing a sweet old Javedan song. Leora took note of Ana, she had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a loose-fitting tank top, bandage on her arm, and her hair put into a messy bun. Elio was right to be sweet on her, Leora thought, she was very attractive. She also noticed the younger woman was holding a glass filled with an amber liquid.
“How’re you doing?” Leora asked
Ana looked up, Leora could tell she had been crying a little
“I’m fine Ley, what do you need?” Ana responded with a sniff, trying to put her bravest face on
Leora sat on the bed next to her and put an arm around her “What’s wrong honey?”
Ana laid her head on the captain's shoulder and let a tear roll down her cheek.
“Come on, talk to me” Leora rubbed her shoulder gently
“I-I- I got sloppy today” Ana choked out
“Aw, honey, don’t worry about it, everyone has to take a shot or two”
Leora gently lifted Ana’s head off her and rolled up her sleeve, showing a lifetime of wounds, scars, and other marks masked by scattered tattoos, she pointed to a particular one on her bicep.
“This was the first one I got in this business, I was still a girl, not even six months after I left Talio”
“What happened” Ana asked, taking a sip from her glass
“We were hauling cargo, some sort of spice I think. I left one of the crates unsecured and it came down and got my arm, I could barely move it for a couple of weeks”
“Oh shit”
“Yeah, at least you’ll have a hell of a story for your first one” Leora chuckled
“Yeah, it’s just… I panicked, and put everyone in danger”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zWrdWBvYh
“You're still young, how long have you been with us?”
“Umm.. about a year I think”
“See? You’ve come so far since then. I remember that little Javedan girl sitting high in her dad’s palace”
“Yeah,” Ana smiled “I guess so..”
“Hey, you’re doing great baby, don’t let this get you down” Leora gave Ana a hug “How about you come up and get some food, there's a game of Court going”
Ana smiled, “That sounds nice”
Ana followed Leora out of the room
As they ascended into the common room, the pair of women heard Rayan curse loudly and saw Dorian collecting a tidy sum of money, showing a very rare grin. Both girls sat at the table, it had been some time when the whole crew had sat together. Rayan reshuffled the deck and dealt more cards. The crew played cards long into the night laughing, cursing, arguing, and joking over drinks, cigarettes, and cards. After what a lesser man would call too many drinks, Elio returned to his cabin, calling it a night. He removed his shirt and boots, exposing his wide chest to the cold air, Elio kept his cabin cold, still being from a snowy planet after all unlike Rayan who kept his cabin, as Elio described, “akin to a sauna”. He lay in his bed, staring out the porthole at the distant stars moving by. He could always reflect in space, enjoying its calmness and solitude. He hit a button on his magna-disc spinner and his room filled with the dulcet, flowing melodies of Skjoldic classical music, always a calming force on Elio. He placed his watch on the nightstand and took a sip of water, Finally relaxing, his eyes drifted asleep.
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