The new trajectory Cassie and Re’A had come up with did not result in any significant changes in the overall time needed to reach Gaia. Although Cassie travelled at 2, or even occasionally the full 3 knots, they still had to slug-though inhabited areas, and the time re-fuelling around isolated stars was often not worth the extra speed.

  Dorothy got used to her roommate, as she liked to call the alien, more easily than she’d thought. Although, since the arrival, the technician only ever slept in her assigned pod, during daytime, it seemed as if the alien was the one trying to avoid her. The latter also seemed to be noticeably bothered by the narrow hallway and overall claustrophobic feel of the ship. Dorothy wasn’t sure if that was because the alien was used to different ship arrangements from the Onshore, or because she occupied more physical space than the technician.

  She also wasn’t very talkative, and only ever started conversations to report on or inquire about something. Cassie more than made up with her own small talk though, so at the end of the day the two balanced themselves out.

  In the month or so they had spent together, they did inevitably get to know each other. Re’A was now aware of Dororthy’s full CV, her list of exes and why they’ve broken up, her opinion on Nitrate-based engine coolants, and her preferences when it came to sun-jump engines, be it dual, or the other three varieties they came in. Dorothy on the other hand had found out that Re’A did not like the peach-flavoured meal packs, and could survive for a few minutes without oxygen if needed. The technician also noticed that the alien only ever made use of three of her four arms, but she never got an answer as to why, despite asking twice.

  Somewhere a week into their journey, they had received a call from the zodiac, asking them what they were still doing in the sector. Dorothy told them that she was following her original mission. If the experimental warship knew about the origin of the signal, or the now alleged disappearance of the star-harvester, they did not make it known, nor did they try to contact Cassie again. Dorothy speculated that it was because they did not want to engage in Onshore territory. In addition to being larger than the Earth’s moon, the zodiac did not have enough manoeuvrability to freely fly around Onshore space. And their permanent crew of at least a hundred people prevented them from entering Hyperspace without risking looking lives.

  When Dorothy brought up this topic on a whim to the other two women, it quickly shifted into an interrogation about Onshore interstellar travel.

  “But my files say you have ‘hyperspace gates’ built-in every star system.” Cassie argued, after Re’A denied ever travelling through the purple clouds of that parallel reality.

  “I have never accessed one.” She confirmed.

  “I don’t understand how your ships travel in between systems.” Dorothy intervened. “It would take years at light speed, which we’ve established Onshore crafts cannot reach, and cryogenic technology hasn’t been perfected either.”

  “Envoys are allowed to cross these gates, but passage is not free. And only prozins are allowed to access them. Polges travel for free.”

  Dorothy glanced up at one of the many cameras hidden throughout the ship for an explanation.

  “Ah, let me explain some vocabulary pumpkin. Prozins is the main social class, that which is composed of workers, merchants, military man and women, and other people with an active occupation. Polges are the elite, those that are too rich and powerful to abide by the rules of society.”

  “So how did you end up on the outer ring?” Dorothy asked.

  She was no longer surprised by all the backwards societal rules of the Onshore, at some point curiosity had taken over. She had also come to understand some basic geography, as she now knew that ‘the rings’ referred to three concentric regions of space, each further away from a central cluster of galaxies. The central ring wore its title ironically well, since it was located in what some could call the centre of the known universe.

  “I am not sure, I do not remember anything prior to arriving on Vostok 13.” Re’A replied. “That is a space station, different from the one you were on before.” She then clarified.

  In the couple of weeks spent together, the alien had picked up this annoying trait of explaining the obvious to Dorothy. Of course, the latter suspected that it spawned from the fact that their definitions of ‘obvious’ had very little in common.

  “So you grew up on Vostok then? How was it?” Dot asked, diverting the conversation.

  Re’A’s mandibles twitched, which Dot had come to associate with discomfort of displeasure, perhaps even frustration or annoyance.

  “I’m just curious because I’ve grown up on a planet.” She shrugged.

  “Despite being offered the chance to leave on multiple occasions.” Cassie added, as if growing up Earth-born was a bad thing.

  Re’A turned towards the screen, as if asking for more clarifications, but did not outright say anything.

  “It’s complicated,” Dorothy tried to explain, “I don’t know about your parents, or guardians, or whatnot, but mine did a stellar job of brainwashing me into adapting their way of life.” Dorothy looked away from the other woman for a second.

  Some topics still felt dour, even centuries later. But this was something the crew of any ship would have found out just by looking at her, so she decided it would only be fair to share this information with her new crewmate as well. Plus, she needed to say it before Cassie’d get the chance to cut her to it with her own version of events.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “My parents were what you’d call naturalists,” She began. “They believed in unity between man and planet, and in some form of sacred integrity that had been broken during the last war and that had to be restored. They were both great people, don’t get me wrong.” She turned to meet Re’A’s eyes. “Mum was a microbiologist, dad was a pharmacist. Perhaps they still are.” She shrugged again. “But they didn’t believe that they had a place in the stars. They thought that if mankind had fucked up our planet ‘that bad’ that they would do the same again and again, and that fighting that was like fighting a tsunami. So instead they stayed down to Earth, and fixed what they could; made medicine, terraformed land, told me stories of times before the war.”

  “There was another war before that, if you’re wondering.” Cassie chipped in. “And one before that. And a whole series of tiny ones even earlier on. The history of mankind can be summed up with wars, revolutions and dead kings.” She added in a wannabe optimistic tone.

  “I understand that.” Re’A nodded. “From what I have been told, my people also have lost a war.”

  “We do not have records of that.” Cassie noted. “How recent was it?”

  “Thirty or so years, maybe?” Re’A answered. She sounded unsure.

  “How bad were your history classes?” Dot teasingly asked.

  “I did not have any.” The other woman responded. “I was only ever taught speech and mathematics.”

  “And some basic physics, chemistry, navigation and piloting.” Cassie added, no doubt going off the skills she’d seen Re’A demonstrate during their planning sessions.

  “Academically I mean.” The alien clarified.

  Dorothy smirked.

  “You learn on the job, and at the end of the day you’re only going home with what you need.” The technician said, thinking back to her own experience.

  The alien’s tails twitched, and almost hit the edge of the open bay window.

  “Why, what’s so funny?” Dorothy asked, going back to the current conversation and pretending to be offended.

  “Probably your distaste for higher education, Dot.” Cassie answered, feigning innocence.

  Dorothy had never thought about how strange it was that a synthetic voice could imitate voice intonations so well, and how the true meaning of Cassie’s words was always so clear that even aliens could pick up on it, until Re’A asked about it one day. Dorothy attributed said technological marvel to the diagnostics the patch-fixes Cassie was running twice a day. Her personality had become much more stable after they had left Cosmos 6.

  Re'A did the tail thing again, which seemed to be her way of expressing amusement. She was about to say something, when her head suddenly turned towards the bay window.

  “A ship is approaching us.” Re’A said.

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