Star Keepers: Nikola

Below are excerpts featuring another major character from my book. This time: Nikola.

NIKOLA

by

Paul Adams

Nikola bounced nervously in her seat, her fingers constantly dancing as she gripped the steering mechanisms in front of her. She had turned her seat back around to face forward while Ambassador Bardlun negotiated with the Woraugenn, just in case things turned sour and combat broke out. Her green eyes stared up at the ship above her, the type of Woraugenn ship that was still used as a go-to training hologram even to this day. Her stomach squirmed with anticipation, a small part of her hoping that things would turn sour, just so that she could have the chance to fly again.

            Nikola had loved flying ever since she was six years old and she had snuck aboard the ship her dad had rebuilt by hand and taken it out for a joyride. Her parents had been furious, but Nikola looked back on that day as nothing more or less than the greatest day of her life. While the captain and his officers discussed the situation behind her, and Bardlun negotiated with the Woraugenn, Long Tail providing translation for both, Nikola closed her eyes and remembered the feel of that ship as it took off into the sky, the thrill she felt as she dipped it back toward the ground and skimmed her parents’ country house. Then she remembered the hours she had spent in the simulators at the academy, the first time she had ever tried out the new Capture Mode technology, how it had made her feel even more alive than that first time flying.

            Growing impatient, Nikola turned her seat and console slightly to watch the conversation playing out behind her. Ambassador Bardlun was negotiating with the Woraugenn, speaking with eloquence and reserve, his deep voice punctuating every word with smooth clarity. She remembered that voice from back when he was her professor at the academy, how even those in the back row could make out every word of his deep, rumbling bass. As he spoke, the Woraugenn snarled and spat, its mouth a saliva-dripping combination of a reptilian maw and an insect’s mandibles, a long tongue whipping in and out. Long Tail’s voice translated each sentence within seconds, each statement growing fiercer and more hostile the longer the conversation went on.

            “Why are you here?” Bardlun asked, his voice rumbling. “This is an inhabited planet protected by the United Worlds. Are you aware that you are in violation of our peace treaty?”

The Woraugenn’s face twisted and it shouted something, the thick, membranous muscles in its glistening throat flexing. A few seconds later, Long Tail repeated, “The treaty does not matter. We do as our Kampsyn commands.” The warrior pressed its fist against its undulating stomach and snarled.

Nikola’s new captain leaned in to talk to the first officer and the combat officer. He glanced up past Nikola to look at the ship behind her, his blue eyes bright with intensity, as if his mind were calculating a hundred different strategies to outwit his Woraugenn adversaries. His face looked so young, almost no older than Nikola, that she couldn’t help but feel intimidated.

“This ship is from a splinter group,” the first officer Aghri was saying, “They don’t acknowledge the treaty.”

“Definitely hostile, then,” the captain said.

“Likely few in number, though,” the combat officer Qarian said. The Leadikan’s cold, gray eyes switched back and forth quickly between the golden vessel and the Woraugenn speaking with Bardlun, her nearly-human face set as if waiting for either to make a move she didn’t like, and her skin’s glow seeming to hum with her every breath. “I doubt we’ll see many more than these two in the area.”

“This ship handle that many, right?” Nikola asked.

The three commanders turned their eyes on her. Nikola started to blush, thinking she might have said something stupid like she felt she had with her pirate comment. To her surprise, she though she saw a flicker of a smile cross the captain’s face. “Certainly,” the combat officer said. “Perhaps not if it was modern Woraugenn warships, but these are Klym-class, the kind they used in the war twenty years ago. This ship was based on the ship that was based on the ship that was designed to fight these. These Woraugenns are clearly just religious zealots who feel their world leaders betrayed them and their god when they signed the treaty, and have set out on their own with the few resources available to them.”

Nikola felt emboldened by their positive responses to her question. “So they’re not too much of a threat, then?” she asked.

“In some ways,” the captain said, watching the ship. He rubbed at his long nose and stared up at the ship. “In other ways, it makes them more dangerous. They’re more desperate, more determined to accomplish something. This planet is a peaceful Cheqin colony with very little defense or weaponry. Perhaps they thought they’d have a better chance here.”

“I’d guess they haven’t attacked yet because they hoped one of our ships would show up to investigate,” the first officer said. “Attacking a planet is one thing. Taking down one of the ships of the army that humiliated you, that’s something else. If they had outright attacked, a full squad of us would have been sent out, and they knew they only stood a chance against one.”

Nikola glanced back at Ambassador Bardlun’s discussion. “Why this planet?” Nikola’s former teacher was saying, spreading his fleshy arms in a gentle sweeping motion. “There are two uninhabited worlds in the next system with similar climates, surely one of them will suit your purposes.”

The Woraugenn got to its feet, towering over Bardlun, whose head only came up to its undulating gut. It shouted at him, its teeth gnashing and its tongue flailing around its head. Long Tail took a little longer than usual to translate, likely to find a less offensive alternative to what the Woraugenn had said. “You arrogant . . . moron . . . you think you can dictate to us our own religion? You think you can deny us our destiny?”

A faint beep sounded behind Nikola. “Captain,” the computer officer said. “The second warship is moving toward us. Energy signatures suggest it is preparing to fire.”

Nikola spun in her seat to see the golden ship above them suddenly dip and speed toward the purple surface of the planet below. The light changed in the room, and when Nikola turned to look, she found Bardlun and Long Tail once again on the bridge, the circle of white light around them gone.

“That guy hung up on us,” Long Tail said. “How rude.”

A flash of red light flared across the window. “Captain, the new ship has opened fire,” the computer officer shouted.

“So has the first,” the first officer pointed out. Nikola turned back around to see red flares flashing from the enemy ship’s face toward the purple planet below.

 “Qarian, your up,” Nikola heard the captain order. “Go after the first. Send drones to keep this second ship busy.”

After a second, Nikola heard Qarian get to her feet. “You heard him, everyone. Garrison, activate a drone. Two for good measure. Nikola! Geroff! We’re up!”

A thrill of excitement rushed through Nikola. This was it. This was her moment. “Capture mode, Commander?” she dared to ask. She glanced back to see Qarian give her a slight nod. Nikola cheered inwardly. She tapped at her console and got to her feet. Her seat and the console descended back into the platform she stood on, while the platform itself lit up with white light. Spreading her arms and closing her eyes, she smiled as she felt energy lift her off the floor. Tilting forward until her body lay horizontal to the floor, she felt like a bird in flight. She opened her eyes and a miniaturized image of the stars and planet outside the ship appeared on the cylinder around her. It was as if she were the ship, floating in the middle of space with the ability to go anywhere and do anything she wanted.

She looked down to see a swarm of small silvery orbs appear below her stomach as if emerging from an invisible hatch, forming up into two formations of five and speeding away behind her and out of sight. The drones. On her other side, the weapons officer was likewise now surrounded by a miniature recreation of the space around the ship. Unlike Nikola, however, his furry hooves were still on the floor, and he held a controller in each of his small hands. He held a stubby digit over the trigger of each, and his eyes followed the golden speck on the planet before him, his ratlike face wearing a look of anxious anticipation. Nikola smiled and faced forward, keeping her nose pointed at the speck on her own display, currently flying further and further away.

“Ready,” Qarian said. Nikola nodded, her whole body ready to burst with anticipation. After what seemed like the longest second in history, Qarian said, “let’s do this.”

Nikola tucked her arms back and tilted her face down. The ship tilted in response, diving toward the planet’s atmosphere and after the enemy ship. The tighter she tucked her arms in, the faster the ship went. She couldn’t help but smile. The ship functioned better than she had ever imagined, reacting to her every move as if it was as much a part of her as her arms or legs. The ship’s nose penetrated the upper atmosphere, and bright yellow trails of heated gas formed a cone around Nikola’s face. She felt the wind pushing back against her, slowing her progress, which only served to make Nikola push harder, refusing to let a little wind slow her down. Ahead of her, the small golden vessel grew bigger and bigger as it sped toward the planet, streams of red energy spilling from its face.

“Geroff, be ready to fire once it comes in range,” Nikola heard Qarian order.

“Yes sir, madam,” the weapons officer shouted back.

Nikola flew even faster, and in a matter of minutes, the Woraugenn ship was no longer a tiny speck of light, but a massive three-pieced spacecraft with a massive head in the center and two arms branching out behind the craft, leading to two massive engine blocks. Both arms were lined with huge black turrets, while the red laser energy was firing from a different array of cannons on the center piece’s face.

 “Geroff,” Qarian shouted. “Fire now. Aim for the engines, and then those turrets along its port side.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the weapons officer shouted. Bright white energy shot from the front of the ship, just under Nikola’s shoulders, and struck one of the golden ship’s large rear engines. Nikola held her course steady, allowing Geroff to keep bombarding the engine until finally the enemy ship shuddered, its engine releasing a lot of smoke and ash in a trail behind it. Nikola then tilting her body along the contours of the arm, allowing Geroff to take aim at the turrets. Nikola was so focused on this task that she didn’t notice the purple cloud bank coming up on them fast until after the third or fourth turret was destroyed. She pulled up a bit by pointing her face upward while she and the Woraugenn ship passed through a barrier of thick purple clouds and burst out just a few hundred feet above a lush aqua-green landscape that stretched out in rolling hills and valleys, a large mountain range dividing the northwestern corner of her view from the rest.

Nikola felt like she could have sat and studied the beautiful landscape all day, but she had a job to do. The Woraugenn ship continued to descend, despite Geroff’s hammering at its side. He quickly disabled all of the turrets on its port side and Nikola swung wide to give him a good aim at the second engine. As the two ships got closer and closer to the surface, Nikola could see that the landscape was dotted with tiny groups of dwellings, spreading outward around large, colorful trees. The Woraugenns’ line of red fire struck one of the trees, setting it ablaze, and sending the creatures living around it, small, fluffy, yellow things apparently, running in terror.

“Nikola, get us around to the ship’s other side!” Qarian ordered. “We’ve got to take out the rest of their turrets before they can launch any troops.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Nikola flipped herself sideways, sending the ship drifting around to the other arm, Geroff pelting the craft as she went.

“Qarian,” the computer officer said. “The other ship’s taken out one of the drones and bypassed the other. It’s coming down.”

Nikola had to resist the urge to look back, knowing full well she’d wreck Geroff’s aim if she did. “Nikola, Geroff, stay on this one,” Qarian ordered. “Garrison, send out another drone.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Garrison said. Through the holograms in front of her, Nikola saw him tap at his screens and another formation of tiny silver orbs appeared out of thin air below her stomach, flying back the way the ship had come.

“And, Qarian,” the first officer said, “the tree.”

“Geroff,” Qarian shouted a few seconds later. “Get some flame-cover in there.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Out of the corner of her eye, Nikola saw the weapons officer wave his left thumb over the controller in that hand, changing its color from red to blue. Keeping the controller in his right hand aimed at the Woraugenn ship and bombarding it with lasers, he moved the controller in his left hand to aim at the tree and spray it down with a fine blue mist. Nikola pondered momentarily whether to adjust her flight path to give him a better aim at the tree. In the end, she settled on tilting her nose just slightly so that Geroff still had decent aim at both the turrets and the tree. Within seconds, the flames disappeared, leaving behind a slightly burnt tree with a line of scorch marks covering one side. Nikola re-adjusted herself to face the enemy ship once more.

“Get around in front and disable its laser turrets,” Qarian ordered. Nikola swerved the ship one more time so that the two ships were facing each other. Nikola flashed the ship a cocky grin as if she was personally facing down the ship itself, taunting it to give her its best shot. Behind her, Geroff pointed both controllers at the line of small gun turrets and fired. The stream of red energy spilling from the ship ceased abruptly, leaving Nikola’s opponent vulnerable and powerless. She pointed her chin at it smugly. That’s what happens when you mess with me, she mentally teased it.

“Nikola, head for the other ship,” Qarian ordered. “Enemy craft neutralized, Captain.”

“Thank you, Commander Neru,” the captain said. “Ambassador Bardlun, make contact with the disabled vessel. See if they’re more willing to cooperate now. If not, send a drone to escort the ship out of the planet’s atmosphere.”

Bardlun nodded. “Yes, captain,” he said. The light changed in the corner of Nikola’s eye as Long Tail made contact with the enemy ship once again.

Meanwhile, Nikola pointed the ship back toward the sky on an interception course for the second ship. Within moments, the golden craft came into view, white lights flashing around it. Smoke billowed from one side as the drones had already taken out half of the large turrets on the ship’s starboard side and one of its engines. As soon as it came into range, Geroff opened fire, bombarding the Arrowhead with white laser fire. The enemy fired back, red energy blazing across Nikola’s face. Nikola squinted through the flares of light and tilted herself to one side, skimming the ship away from the stream but keeping her nose pointed straight at the enemy ship. In only a matter of seconds, the laser array was destroyed and the stream of red laser fire ceased.

“Good,” Qarian said. “Now, get us around to its port and finish off its turrets.” Nikola swerved in that direction, but the Woraugenn pilot, it seemed, was keen on protecting that last row. The ship dipped away from Nikola’s swerve, making sure to keep its port side out of Geroff’s aim.

Oh, Nikola thought, So that’s how you want to play it. Nikola swung the ship against the swerve, rocketing the ship toward the starboard side instead. Geroff had his aim ready and blasted the two remaining turrets on that side.

“Geroff, Nikola, keep on it,” Qarian said. “Garrison, get those drones moving around the ship, try to keep it cornered from every angle.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Nikola piloted the ship in a kind of dance with the Woraugenn craft, with the ship swerving wildly to keep its remaining turrets out of range, and Nikola working her way around the ship to get at the turrets, all the while both ships raced toward the ground below. With the help of Garrison’s drones and Geroff’s deft aiming skills, the turrets were picked off one by one until only three were left. Four hundred feet from the ground, the Woraugenn ship suddenly swung wide and pulled up, catching Nikola by surprise. She swerved in order to get back on track, but not before she noticed two black spherical objects shoot from the remaining turrets and hurtle toward the ground. Nikola adjusted herself, and Geroff managed to get a hit on the turrets, destroy them before they could launch any more.

At the corner of her screen, Nikola watched as the black spheres slammed into the surface, leaving deep divots in the earth behind them. Qarian made a sound like a growl in the back of her throat. “Mr. Garrison, we have soldiers on the ground. I need a drone back here immediately. Leave the others to deal with this one. Nikola, head for the ground.”

Nikola dipped, shooting straight for the spot where the black spheres had landed. As she approached, bright cracks appeared across them and they burst open. Two massive green figures emerged, standing at more than eight times the height of the small yellow creatures running in terror around them. The Woraugenn soldiers stepped out of their pods and started chasing down the planet’s inhabitants.

At his consoles in front of Nikola, Garrison the computer officer tapped one of his screens and quickly flung his hand backward towards Qarian. The small square of light sped past Nikola, briefly pasting itself on her cylinder as it passed. Qarian put out her hand and the image stopped in midair before her. Under her control, one of the silver orb formations broke away from the Woraugenn ship and shot toward the ground. “Nikola, Geroff,” she said. “Give me air support but be careful of the civilians.” She tapped at her screen and said, “Capture Mode.”

Light glowed in Nikola’s peripheral vision as the small screen expanded, enveloping Qarian in another cylinder of light. Down below, Nikola could see Qarian’s tall frame take shape around the drones speeding toward the planet’s surface, complete with her mane of curly hair and her glowing skin. The tiny second Qarian stepped onto the grassy landscape a few feet away from where the Woraugenn soldiers were terrorizing the local population, one of them holding a particularly young pair of the creatures by the back of their beaked heads.

Nikola heard the captain and first officer get to their feet. “Garrison, two more drones, please,” the captain said.

Qarian’s double sprang into action. She held out her hands and beams of white energy shot from the corresponding drones, straight into the hostage-holding Woraugenn’s chest, throwing him back and making him let go of his captive. Qarian dove forward, seeming to catch the creatures in her arms but actually suspending them with a weak force field and gently depositing them on the ground. She then spun and kicked at the Woraugenn, blasting it in the face with her leg’s corresponding drone.

Two more screens zipped past Nikola’s cylinder as two more drones landed a few feet away, perfect replicas of the captain and first officer, placing themselves in-between the second Woraugenn and a family of the yellow creatures it had been going after. The Woraugenn held out its right arm, a long, spearlike spike jutting out of its claw. The Woraugenn swung at the first officer, but the spike passed right through his midsection as the orb there moved out of the spike’s way. Aghri pointed one hand at the spike as it came out the other side, blasting away shards from it.

Nikola swept the ship around the battle, creating a barrier between the fighters and civilians. Here and there, Geroff let off a shot, but only when he had a perfect shot on either of the two Woraugenns.

Soon enough, through the crew’s teamwork, they made quick work of their opponents. Qarian’s opponent lay on the ground with a steaming hole in its rubbery chest armor, while Aghri and Gavin had their opponent immobile in a force field. Several of Qarian’s drones broke formation and swirled around their downed opponent, lifting it up with their own force field and binding it together with its companion. A trio of orbs broke away from the circle and faced the Woraugenns, taking the place of their respective crewmembers.

“You are hereby under arrest by the authority of the Star Keeper Corps,” Gavin said, Long Tail translating for him from his station. “You will be taken into custody, and you and the crews of your ships will be transported to the nearest Star Keeper Base to await further processing. Understood?”

Gavin didn’t wait for any response before waving his hand and sending the orbs and soldiers speeding up toward the Arrowhead. Qarian followed quickly after. Only Aghri’s drone remained behind. He crouched next to the family of creatures the Woraugenns had been threatening. “Are you alright?” he asked them, helping them up. Long Tail translated in a sort of whistling, squawking language. The creatures squawked back, Long Tail repeating that they were okay. “Get to safety,” Aghri said. “Please.” The creatures hurried away and Aghri stood, waving his hand up to send the drone away. The cylinders of light surrounding all three commanding officers disappeared.

Taking their cue, Nikola said “Manual” and returned her feet to the floor. The cylinder of light around her disappeared and her seat and console returned.

Qarian turned to face Gavin. “Situation under control, Captain,” she said. Nikola turned in her seat, an image of the planet below following her around. A strand of Qarian’s curly hair hung in her face. Gavin was breathing heavily, and Aghri’s golden eyes were still staring at the planet, his hand rubbing at his right ear.

Gavin smiled and took a deep breath. “Thank you, Qarian. Great job, everyone.” The captain fixed Nikola with his intense blue stare. “Good flying, Lieutenant.”

Nikola puffed out her chest proudly, adrenaline and pride flowing through her. “No problem, Captain.”

 “Well,” Long Tail said. “I had fun today.”

“Capture Mode.”

            The circle of light glowed under Nikola’s feet. She could feel her feet lifting off the floor, antigravity making her body tingle with anticipation. She spread out her arms and leaned forward, the biggest smile she could muster crossing her face, letting her pleasure run free now that no one was watching.

            A red light blinked over her head. “Please choose simulation setting.”

            “Train of thought, please.”

            “Please wait.” Nikola heard a faint hum around her and felt a buzzing at the nape of her neck. “Simulation synchronized to your thought patterns,” the computer voice said. “Please start your simulation.”

            Nikola focused, remembering yesterday’s battle. The moment the image crossed her mind, the wide, green fields and enormous trees of Hentu III materialized beneath her, the purple sky spreading out above her. Nikola dipped her left arm, speeding toward the ground without a moment’s hesitation. The tiny villages grew bigger and bigger, until finally she pulled up at the last second, buzzing the head of one of the small, yellow creatures, who shook his fuzzy nub of an arm at her as she passed. She sped up toward the enormous tree the village was built around, circling it once, twice, three times, four, five, before spotting a large opening between the branches and shooting into the canopy.

            Once she entered the canopy, her surroundings changed. Each branch grew, as did the gaps in between them until she found herself in a tangled maze of never-ending branches. She dipped and swerved, working her way through the maze toward an ending that didn’t exist. She smiled, imagining she was one of her favorite racers, deftly maneuvering her way through an endless series of asteroids. As soon as she thought it, the branches changed into asteroid, the purple sky beyond shifting into the endless blackness of space.

            An enemy racer zoomed into view on her right, dipping toward her in an attempt to ram her. She envisioned an enormous asteroid to her left. She counted silently: one, two, three; then swerved out of the way of her rival, causing him to wipe out on the asteroid. She laughed with glee, pulling off an aileron roll just to show off. She glanced at the empty space beyond the asteroid belt and decided it was time to do some free-flying. Immediately, the asteroids melted away, leaving her in the empty blackness of space.

            She spent the next several minutes roaming through space, doing flips and rolls and generally going wherever and doing whatever she wanted. For a moment or two, she imagined a squad of enemy fighters to face off with, and once she plunged into the heart of a sun, but for the most part, she spent her time simply enjoying her unlimited freedom. Once she imagined an enormous sea beast swimming beside her, she decided it was time for a change. Immediately, her world became flooded with water, sunshine glimmering from somewhere high above. The sea beast beside her let out a satisfied groan and swam away, leaving Nikola in the endless ocean.

            She was about to jet off after a swarm of fish, when a deep voice interrupted her thought. “Time to come to the surface, little bird.”

            The water around her vanished, and she found herself speeding toward a Pindarian’s enormous gray fat rolls. She pulled up tightly, nearly crashing into his giant pink ear. Ambassador Bardlun’s watery eyes glanced up at his old student, a faint smirk on his flabby jowls. “I suppose we are on insect setting now?” he rumbled.

            Nikola blushed. “End simulation,” she said.

            Bardlun the Enormous disappeared, returning Nikola to the Arrowhead’s simulation room. A much smaller version of the ship’s cultural officer sat in the simulation room’s viewing chamber, looking at her the same way the giant had. He raised his thick arm and waved his claws at her.

            Nikola stepped out of the simulator and through the door at the end of the room. Bardlun reclined on his floating chair, his fat rolls nearly hiding it beneath him. He held a small blue bag in one paw and jiggled it absently, letting Nikola know that several small round objects were contained inside. Replays of Nikola’s simulation played across the screen before him, showing different shots of her scaring a poor Chekian, spinning around an asteroid, zipping through tree branches, and nearly flying up Bardlun’s giant nostril.

            “Are you sure your people are primates?” Bardlun asked, his deep voice echoing in the small, insulated room. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were more of the avian variety.”

            “I wish,” Nikola said, sitting down in the seat across from him, folding her hands restlessly across her lap. She sat taller than Bardlun’s squat, obese frame, but she still felt as if she were looking up at him as he reviewed her latest paper on the history and cultures of the United Worlds. The old Pindarian smiled at her, one arm resting on a set of books piled on a small second platform beside him.

“Captain!” Nikola started, hopping to her feet and knocking the table a few feet over in the process. She quickly saluted. She wasn’t quite sure yet what exactly the protocol was on meeting her superior officers during casual hours. She felt sure someone had covered it at some point in the Academy, but she didn’t want to take any chances. The captain cut off his conversation with Long Tail and studied her. Those intense blue eyes scanned Nikola over the same way they had studied the enemy ships earlier that day. Nikola fidgeted uncomfortably, suddenly all too aware of the faint smudge near the hem of her uniform where she had dripped some eggfin sauce. Her right hand desperately wanted to sweep up the jelly beans scattered across her tray.

“At ease, Lieutenant,” the captain said, his mouth curling up in what Nikola hoped was a faint smile. “We’re off duty.”

“Y-yes, sir,” Nikola said, dropping her hand quickly. She remained standing, staring at the captain awkwardly until she remembered she should probably sit back down.

Long Tail chuckled. The captain and communications officer turned away, placing a small square on the food console. Nikola took a deep breath and placed her hands in her pockets to keep them from fidgeting. The smell of mashed potatoes and gravy filled the air, along with the tangy bite of a jaffa fruit and the faint fruity smell of a pastry. The captain turned back toward Nikola, carrying a tray loaded with the corresponding foods. The communications officer on his shoulder was licking his lips and rubbing his scaly claws together in excitement.

“Mind if we sit here?” the captain asked, approaching her table.

Nikola stared up at the captain. She felt as if he’d just asked her to take over command during a critical battle. Her captain, asking to sit across the table. What if this was a test? What if she said something stupid? A meal was an awfully long period during which any number of career-ruining mistakes could be made. Stop it, Nikola, she thought to herself. It’s fine. It’s fine. Slowly, carefully, she shook her head. The captain set down his food and sat on the plush, cushioned seats. Long Tail fluttered off his shoulder, spinning his tail to fly himself down to the table, picking up a small pastel-colored pastry off the tray. The captain and communications officer dug into their food, and Nikola started straightening up her jelly beans to look busy.

            “Doing alright, Lieutenant?” the captain asked.

            Nikola’s stomach flipped over with nerves. “Oh, yes, Captain,” she said quickly. “I’m doing alright. Just—just watching the race.” Her fingers twiddled against the tabletop, her eyes wandering around the room to avoid making contact.

            “Oh, yeah, the race,” Long Tail grumbled, pulling apart his pastry, revealing a creamy center. “Can you believe what happened with Solar? An asteroid in the second leg. Just disgraceful.”

            “Oh, um, yeah.” She remembered the particular event, and she wanted to say that she could have made that turn, but she didn’t want come off as bragging to the captain. “Tough luck.”

            “So,” the captain said, scooping up a bite of potatoes, making sure to get a particularly large jaffa fruit with it. He looked almost as nervous as Nikola felt. “Which racer are you rooting for, Lieutenant? Giva or Maxes?”

            “Neither,” she said. She grabbed up a few stray jelly beans and took care to eat them one at a time. “I tuned in halfway through. I guess I’m probably leaning toward Maxes, but that’s probably just because he’s cute.”

            The captain’s ears turned bright red, and he looked down at his food. Long Tail picked apart another pastry, muttering something under his breath about Maxes’s flying ability. Nikola decided it was best to focus on the race, and they spent the next few seconds in silence as Maxes and Giva sped toward the finish line, the handsome Leadikan face of Maxes floating in a square over his racer.

            “So,” Nikola said. “Who are you pulling for, Captain?”

            The captain hazarded a glance at the race again. He mixed his potatoes for a second. “Ceriah.”

            Nikola tilted her head. Her mind ran through the racers she’d seen so far in the race. “Isn’t she in—?”

            “Twelfth place, I know,” the captain said, intensely studying a jaffa fruit he’d picked out. “She’s been in twelfth place all race.”

            “All season, more like,” Long Tail said. “Gavin here’s had a crush on her since freshman year at the Academy.”

            The captain’s ears went even more red than they had before. “I have not. And you’re not supposed to call me Gavin in front of the crew.”

            Long Tail licked a bit of frosting out of his pastry. “We’re off duty, remember.”

            The captain let out a sigh and shook his head. He flicked his utensil at the lizard, splattering a bit of potato across his scaly face. Long Tail grinned, his tongue flicking out and swiping the potato off his face. Nikola couldn’t help it. She started laughing. Long Tail and the captain started laughing too. The captain’s face split into a wide smile and his blue eyes danced like fresh water. He caught Nikola’s eye for a second and his smile dropped. He cleared his throat and sat up straighter, dropping his gaze back to his food.

             Nikola furrowed her eyebrows, studying the captain as he picked out another jaffa fruit. She fidgeted in her seat, her eyes flitting between the race where Maxes was just pulling ahead of Giva and the captain. She turned her bag of jelly beans toward him. “Would you like some?” she asked.

            Gavin glanced back up at her. His eyes lingered on the bag. “No, thanks,” he finally said.

            Nikola offered the bag to Long Tail. The little lizard shrugged and picked out three red ones. He peeled open another pastry and pressed one of the beans into its filling. He took a bite and licked his lips. “Mmm,” he said with a smile. “Thanks, Newbie.”

            Nikola grinned. She popped a few more jelly beans into her own mouth, and they watched as Maxes flew through the goal ring, Giva following minutes behind. Long Tail downed two pastries, and the captain worked his way through his potatoes. Nikola started to settle back into her seat, her fingers not fidgeting as much.

“It’s Yakimenko, isn’t it?” the captain said, breaking the silence. “Nikola Yakimenko?”

            “Yeah,” she said. She fingered for more jelly beans, but she appeared to be running out of green ones. “It’s Russian. Apparently, I’m descended from the first cosmonauts.”

            The captain raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

            “Yeah,” Nikola said. “I’m not really sure who, though. I always kind of zoned out when somebody tried to explain it to me. I was always better at flying than I was at history or . . . well, pretty much anything else.” Nikola felt herself going a little pink in the face, knowing this wasn’t something she should be telling her captain. She glanced up to see the captain’s blue eyes quietly studying her. “You’re one of the Kents, though, right?” she said quickly, “Like Orion Kent, and Admiral Kent?”

             “Yeah,” he said, looking down. He stirred his fork in his remaining food for a moment. “Orion Kent’s my dad.”

            “That’s pretty cool,” Nikola said. “I mean, being raised by someone like Orion, you were probably born to be a captain.”

            The captain let out a heavy sigh. “I guess,” he said. He scooped up another jaffa and stared at it as if it were a device he didn’t quite know how to use. He stuck it in his mouth and chewed, his eyes shifting back and forth uncertainly. “I did get the highest marks in my class, so I guess that means something.”

            “Except for flying, coincidentally,” Long Tail put in, finishing off his last pastry. “You should have seen him in the simulators. He flew like a diseased fish that had somehow sprouted wings only fifteen minutes before. Maybe you two should have tutored each other.”

            Nikola wanted to laugh, but she checked the captain’s reaction first. To her surprise, she found the captain smiling warmly at his friend. He allowed himself to laugh a little and caught Nikola’s eye. “Maybe we should have.”

            Nikola smiled. The captain leaned back in his seat. “So, you like being a pilot?”

            Nikola’s smile widened, despite herself. Her eyes wandered to the wide window of stars stretching across the wall above them. “I love being a pilot,” she said, her fingers absently playing with the small pile of green jelly beans she had just managed to extract from the bottom of the bag. “When I’m in Capture Mode, it feels like I am the ship, soaring through space like some kind of giant bird, free to go and do anything I want.”

            She smiled for a second before remembering that she was still talking to her commanding officer. “I mean, of course I have a job to do,” she said. “So, I can’t really go and do anything I want. I just . . . never mind.”

            The captain glanced up at the star-filled window, a wistful expression crossing his face, his blue eyes seeming to trace constellations across the expance. He took a sip of the creamy, perpetually spinning beverage in front of him. “But you do definitely like flying?” he said.

            Nikola smiled. “A little bit,” she said. “What about you? Do you like being a captain?”

            The captain continued to stare at the stars above, his eyes gazing at them as if he’d love nothing more than to leap from the ship and swim out to them. “I don’t know,” he said.

Nikola offered her bag of jelly beans once again. “Are you sure you don’t want any?”

            The captain studied the bag. “I suppose,” he said. He reached in and pulled out a single green bean. He popped it in his mouth and chewed it up. “Welcome aboard, by the way.”

            “Thank you, Captain.”

            They ate in silence for a moment, before Long Tail spoke up. “So, the race is over. Can we change the channel already?”

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