Their journey to Whitelock was just the steppingstone they needed to start landing more contracts. Over the next few months, Kibum and crew managed to snag a couple more local runs but, on the whole, their longer trips started to become more numerous and further out. They weren’t quite ready for truly long-distance journeys yet – they needed to invest in better cryopods for that, or a larger ship – they did start making jaunts to the other side of the solar system. And sometimes… just beyond it.

                Careful, Captain. There’s an incoming school of voidbits you might want to move the ship clear of, the AI reminded Kibum as he smoothly steered the ship just beyond the boundary of their current solar system.

                “I see them,” he waved off, leaning forward to watch the schooling critters in fascination. He never tired of observing them in their journeys. Like up close stars, they flickered in dizzying patterns of whorls and abstract shapes. He felt he could lose himself for hours watching any such murmuration they came across.

                Captain.

                With a start, Kibum realized this particular murmuration was swarming right towards them. “Oops,” he gasped, tilting the controls hard to port. He hissed through his teeth when he heard a faint pattering of sound on the right side of the hull.

                Captain. We have come into contact with various voidbits.

                Kibum winced at the confirmation and wrinkled his nose. “Do you think they’ll be okay?” he couldn’t help but wonder.

                I am unable to say with one hundred percent certainty, sir.

                “Damn.”

                “Everything okay up there, Kibum?” Jinki asked over the intercom.

                “Yes,” he answered quickly, surprised by the question.

                “I thought I heard something on the hull,” he added when Kibum didn’t offer any additional information.

                “Yeah… I hit a couple voidbits.”

                “Oops.”

                Kibum’s thoughts exactly. “The computer hasn’t said anything though.”

                Incorrect. I said I was unable to ascertain the nature of the damage with one hundred percent certainty.

                “Yes, yes,” Kibum mumbled with a wave of his hand. “We’ll check the hull when we land, okay? Ercite. Any hiccups in the system?”

                There was a brief pause as the Dawbn obviously ran a quick check prior to responding, “The system is clear, Captain. No issues that I can see. Should there be?” they wondered.

                “No! Just making sure,” he forced a laugh in response, shaking his head. Ercite was too perceptive by far.

                “Hah! So long as it’s not a class five etherian, we’ll be fine,” Crawven announced as he suddenly joined the intraship communication. They had a small ship so anytime coms opened in any other department, a ship wide message was sent to allow everyone to listen in, just in case.

                “You just want a chance to try your new gun,” Kibum snorted, rolling his eyes at the comment.

                “Better to be overprepared than not,” Crawven retorted. “It certainly worked well in scaring off the class four on the last run.”

                Ercite laughed over the coms and even Jinki chuckled. “It wasn’t interested in us anyway,” the Terran reminded them.

                “It sure looked like it to me,” the Moladhi scoffed, clearly put off by his dismissal.

                Class four etherians are mostly large-scale debris feeders. They would have no need to attempt to consume the Shine.

                Kibum had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Especially when Crawven snapped, “I’m aware, computer! I did not ask for your automated response.”

                Apologies, Combat Master Crawven. Would you prefer I not inform you when information appears to be lacking?

                The Moladhi audibly sputtered over the coms. Before he could answer, Larad finally piped up. “Ercite…” he drawled with an amused tone.

                “What?” the Dawbn responded far too innocently.

                Jinki barked a laugh and Kibum finally broke his silence again. “I knew the computer had been sounding different lately.”

                “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ercite shrugged nonchalantly.

                “No. Keep it. I like it,” he explained promptly, a large grin on his face.

                “Captain!”

                “Alright, alright! Enough chatter on coms, crew,” Kibum laughed, shaking his head again as he turned to focus on the skies ahead of them. “Let’s focus now.” The general commotion died down quickly as they listened for the follow up. “We’ve just left the Olex star system now. Entering the open space in Quadrant 5 on the perimeter of OSS 1 and enroute to the planet Avov in the Fau solar system. Computer. What’s our ETA?”

                At our current speed and trajectory, we should arrive at the planet Avov in sixteen days, seven hours, and twenty-three minutes.

                “Everyone hear that?” Kibum asked, tilting his head to the side as if that would somehow help him listen to their responses better.

                “Yes, Captain!” came a chorus of responses over the coms.

                Content with that, Kibum returned the controls to the autopilot setting and leaned back to watch the scenery go by. Maybe he’d go down and help Jinki in the engine room before too long, but for now, he was curious about Avov. Of course he’d read up on it prior to taking the contract, but it never hurt to check again.

                Spinning in his chair, he focused on the empty space behind him and called up the holoscreen to get a better 3D visual. One of four life sustaining planets in the Fau solar system, Avov was a Varium settled world. It was far less stable than Earth 4.0 with a much-reduced gravity and constantly shifting continents. Well, he would consider them continents. It was more like they were expanding and shrinking plates that changed as much as a typical Varium did, dependent on the temperature of the sun on any given day. The atmosphere was not suitable for sustaining Terran life without breathing gear either, so they wouldn’t be landing on the surface of the planet. This was strictly to deliver a package to the orbiting space station just above the planet.

                Kibum would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious though. Maybe they’d be able to come back and check it out on their own one day. It might be fun for Larad to investigate especially. He was a Terran based Varium but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to adapt enough to remain on the surface without assistance. Ercite would probably be fine too. It wasn’t like they actively needed to breathe the same atmospheric mix that Terrans did. Though Crawven would probably be out of luck like them. He was even more sensitive to atmospheric changes on other worlds. A side effect of being Moladhi and having a more delicate internal constitution.

                Well, either way. The pay was going to be good when they got back so there was that. And they’d obviously have more opportunities to check out other planets in the future when they paid off this ship and were able to start adding on for longer distances and possibly FTL capabilities.

 

                The rest of the journey to the planet was relatively uneventful. They did have a chance encounter with a cosmic entity that unnerved Kibum and the crew a little bit. From a distance, it looked like a small, spikey rock that tumbled gently in their direction. But when it got close enough, it expanded rapidly like an old Earth pufferfish. Kibum called everyone up to get a better look at the novelty since the computer indicated it was relatively safe.

                The GP Cosmic Entities are considered benign and curious. They have been known to spook, however, and incidentally damage nearby vessels when they collide with them. Caution is advised but there should be no active danger.

                “That’s reassuring,” Kibum laughed once, marveling at the geometric structure. GP was short for geodesic polyhedron as that was the shape the entity resembled when fully expanded. That being the case, it was no surprise that it was capable of inflicting notable damage without much risk to itself.

                “It’s amazing,” Jinki grinned, wrapping his arm around Kibum’s waist to observe it as well.

                “Is this one native to the system, computer?” Ercite wondered, perched on Larad’s shoulder so they could see better.

                General Terran records confirm that yes, this one is local. In typical Terran fashion, they have nicknamed it Polly.

                “Color me surprised,” Ercite laughed dryly.

                “We’re not all like that,” Jinki defended himself.

                “Enough of you are,” the Dawbn shrugged.

                “I would wager the local Varium have simply named it GP-1,” Larad offered with a simple nod.

                You are not far off. GP Alpha is the other registered nickname.

                “Huh. Creative for them,” Crawven teased, nudging the Varium with his elbow.

                “Oh look. It’s shrinking,” Kibum pointed out as he watched Polly decrease in size to resume its original spiky ball form.

                We have been deemed neither a threat nor a novelty. Congratulations.

                “Really, Ercite?” Kibum laughed with a sidelong glance at the Dawbn.

                They shrugged and shook their head. “I only started the initial change in programming. Whatever the computer does now is on its own.”

                “Oh, self-learning algorithms,” Jinki smiled, patting Kibum’s side in a knowing manner.

                “Don’t put that on me,” he grumbled, pointing at his boyfriend with a warning finger. But then Kibum looked around at the rest of the group and blinked in surprise. “I am not that bad.” When he got stifled laughs and amused smiles in response, he reiterated, “I’m not!”

                “Of course not, love,” Jinki soothed, giving a gentle kiss on the side of his head.

                Grumbling under his breath, Kibum sighed. “We are changing it’s programming when we get back to Star Seeker’s Rest.”

                “Sure we are,” Ercite hummed in quiet response, turning so as to not draw further attention to themself.

                Kibum let it slide. This time. He was still fascinated by the cosmic entity they’d had a chance to see. It didn’t hurt they were also relatively near their destination. With a quick comment and dismissive wave, he got the crew to go back to their stations and resumed his watch on the bridge.

                A couple days later, they arrived at the orbital space station above Avov and were able to successfully deliver their package. They had the orbital crew do a quick once over on the Shine to make sure it was ready for the return journey and then settled in for a decent night of sleep in the docking bay. It would be a fairly long journey on the way back and this would be one of the only times they had a chance to eat together and then sleep simultaneously.

                Scattered around the dining room, they laughed and celebrated their successful trip to Avov. “To the longest journey we’ve made yet!” Jinki cheered, raising his cup with a grin in Kibum’s direction.

                “Here, here!” the others cheered as the followed suit.

                “Now that we know the Shine can handle this distance, it might be a good idea to start looking further out,” Ercite commented with a small nod.

                “It would mean better pay,” Kibum agreed with a heavy sigh.

                “I don’t mind the better pay but I would prefer to have better equipment before we shoot for further in the stars,” Larad cautioned, looking over his shoulder as if he could see the medbay behind and below them.

                “Are you doubting my ability to protect us with my weapons?” Crawven snorted, slinging an arm over the Varium’s shoulder and giving him a shake.

                Larad shifted to give the Moladhi a deadpan sidelong look himself and then shook his head. “I do not like that we have mostly secondhand equipment in the medbay.”

                “Hey. The cryopods are new,” Kibum reminded him with a finger pointed his direction.

                “Because they had to be in order to fly,” Jinki added with a shrug.

                “And they cost an arm and a leg because of it, thank you.”

                “You could have just asked Psitassi,” Crawven commented as he crunched on something hard and noisy.

                Kibum snorted. “Maybe you don’t mind being in debt to her for your weapons, but I’m already up to my eyeballs in it.”

                That is physically impossible, Captain.

                “I didn’t ask you!” he grouched at the computer, though even he had to crack a smile when the rest of the group did too.

                “Oh,” Ercite started to say, raising their hand to draw Kibum’s attention. “I heard this system has some pretty good solar waves if you’re interested in trying to ride any out of here,” they explained earnestly.

                “Yeah?” Kibum grinned, perking up considerably.

                “I know you’ve been dying for a chance to give them another go since the last time,” Jinki chimed in, reaching over to squeeze Kibum’s shoulder reassuringly.

                “Of course our captain would prefer to ride larger waves than those piddling ones in the Ki system.” Crawven preened at his compliment, beakish grin equal parts fascinating and unnerving, especially when he clicked it together in excitement.

                “If you want, I can call you up if we find any,” Kibum promised, holding up his hand like he was making a vow.

                “Yes!” the Moladhi cheered quietly, chomping on another crunchy bit of food from his plate.

                “Any other business we need to attend to?” Jinki wondered, glancing at Kibum first before looking around the rest of the group.

                “I promised Ercite I would play darts with them,” Larad added with a raised hand before he gestured towards the entertainment corner.

                Kibum laughed and motioned for them to go ahead. “Sure. I’ve got nothing else.”

                “Me either!” Crawven confirmed, stuffing the last of his food in his mouth.

                “You about ready?” Kibum asked as he looked to Jinki, reaching out to grab the other man’s hand lightly in his.

                “Ready when you are,” he grinned back wrapping both hands around Kibum’s. At Kibum’s nod, Jinki stood up and pulled him to his feet smoothly. “Let’s go.”

                “Night guys,” Kibum waved, shuffling close to nestle into Jinki’s side as they headed for their shared sleeping quarters.

                “Night, Captain! Night, Jinki!” the trio called back in almost perfect synchrony. Kibum snorted and grinned, reaching over to grab Jinki’s hand in his and hold tight.

 

                As promised, a few days out from Avov, the computer announced, Captain. Fau has released several solar waves to our starboard side that we can intercept if you are interested.

                “Oh! Yes!” Kibum beamed, perking up in the seat as he looked around to try and spy them with his eyes.

                Showing them on screen now, sir.

                “Thank you,” he offered by rote. Kibum flexed his hands and then shook them out before a wide grin overtook his face. “Computer. Ship wide coms,” he instructed, taking the controls in hand. A quiet beep told him the channels had been opened. “Solar waves have been sighted. I’m taking manual control now. Crawven, if you want to see this, you better get up here now.”

                “Yes!” came the immediate response from the Moladhi followed by a muted bang and louder curse. “Coming!” Quiet laughter echoed the sound and then fell silent.

                “Have fun, Captain,” Jinki added, an obvious smile in his voice.

                “Of course,” Kibum snorted with an affirmative nod as he leaned the ship in the direction of the waves.

                Captain. Please be advised there is a small debris field located approximately five hundred meters above the waves we are on trajectory to catch.

                “I am advised,” Kibum responded quickly. The field wasn’t anywhere near where they should be so it wasn’t really a concern of his. The computer was merely giving him the lay of the land so he didn’t decide to try and do something foolish like a backflip into the same space as the debris field. He’d done something similar before, with no repercussions after the fact. It had been a near thing though.

                “Wow! You can actually see them in this system,” Crawven gasped as he came on deck and saw the on-screen visuals.

                He was right too. Like waves on old Earth’s oceans, a thin crest of light could be seen from the radiant dust blown from the orange sun’s fiery perimeter. Too fine particles shimmered like so much sand as they outlined the crest of the waves Kibum wanted to ride. It was one of the benefits of having a small ship. The large ones didn’t even notice the waves, but here, he could turn off most of the boosters and literally surf on space waves. Not that he knew what surfing was like in general, but he’d read about it in class and had fallen in love with the idea in space.

                “Oh! You should go for that one,” the Moladhi pointed, tapping Kibum on the shoulder to help draw his attention in the right direction.

                “I see it,” Kibum grinned, veering right to line himself up so he could get ready. The barest rumblings of turbulence teased the aft part of the ship and Kibum’s eyes narrowed in preemptive excitement. “Reducing boosters to fifty percent.” Crawven reached out to grab the back of Kibum’s chair as a stabilizer, just in case. There was a slight lull in the sensation of speed before a gentle swell picked them up, shifting the viewing screen naturally.

                You are currently riding the nearest solar wave, Captain.

                “I noticed,” he scoffed once with a crooked smile.

                “Can you go deeper?” Crawven wondered, gasping once when the edges of the wave crept to the front of the ship, easily visible with the eye now.

                “No problem,” Kibum nodded, taking a breath as he eased them into the wave, effectively submerging them. The turbulence intensified slightly, but it only manifested in a subtle hum throughout the ship. “Reducing boosters to twenty five percent.” Now that they were in the wave, the momentum alone should be enough to keep them going.

                Captain. I’m reading concurrent solar waves above and below the one we are currently riding.

                “Any danger?” he wondered, pausing just for a moment to make sure.

                Not that I can predict. However, there is a sizeable projectile on an intersection course with our current trajectory. It may be a piece of debris from the field above us, given its composition.

 

                “Should I get ready to blast it?” Crawven wondered, looking at the door curiously.

                “No. I should be able to avoid it just fine,” Kibum explained as he waved off the Moladhi’s question. “Understood computer,” he nodded, drawing up the trajectory line and making sure to move them out of the path. As they started to draw abreast of the object that was approximately half the size of their ship, both Crawven and Kibum whistled appreciatively.

                “I’d wager that used to be a pretty large ship,” the Moladhi commented, head tilting in a very birdlike fashion.

                Captain. The projectile has fallen into the same wave we are riding. Caution should be- Warning!

                Kibum heard the sound as he instinctively yanked the controls to the left. Catching the front edge of the curved wave, the projectile slipped down the arcing crest and directly towards the Shine. “Hold on!” Kibum shouted as Crawven yelped. Even with artificial gravity and stabilizers, the Moladhi shot across the deck and crashed into the passenger chair. “Boosters at full power!”

                The engine whined and the Shine vibrated at the sudden demand. “Kibum!” Jinki’s worried voice was loud and clear.

                “Crawven! Get in the copilot chair! Computer! Status!” Kibum barked with a sidelong look at the projectile keeping pace with them as they both continued to slide down the curving edge of the wave.

                Projectile holding steady. If we continue on our current path in the wave, we will encounter additional debris. I advise breaking free, Captain.

                “Understood,” Kibum grimaced, pulling up on the flight controls to get them to surface. He breathed a tentative sigh of relief when they crested and he started to ease off the controls.

                “Everything okay up there?” Jinki asked into the resultant silence.

                “We’re good now,” Kibum called back, feeling his racing heart starting to slow down. He frowned slightly when the controls felt stiff and reluctant. They didn’t want to come free from the left leaning tilt they were in.

                “Whew. You had me worried for a second there,” Crawven chuckled, reaching over to clap Kibum on the shoulder, the distance an easy reach with his longer arm.

                “Me too,” he laughed once without looking up. “Computer. Run a diagnostic of the controls.”

                Aye, Captain.

                “Something wrong?” Crawven wondered, peering at the controls Kibum was currently messing with. He shrugged in response but held steady until the computer could report.

                Captain. The right booster rotational array appears to be stuck. I can see no obvious obstruction. However, though we are on top of the wave, we are still enroute to encounter the smaller debris in the latter portion of this wave.

                “Suggestion?” Kibum asked, still testing the controls. He didn’t want to risk damaging it unless it was necessary. The left booster worked and was trying to push them to the right but the right booster was stuck in a perpetually left direction, causing undue stress when he tried to steer.

                Break free of the wave entirely and cut boosters to take a look on foot.

                Kibum made a face but then sighed. “Understood.”

                “What? If it’s only stuck, why don’t you just yank it in the right direction to get it unstuck. It always works for me,” Crawven snorted, looking at the controls.

                “No. I mean, it might work but it could also damage the ship,” he reasoned with a shake of his head. “Best just to follow the computer’s suggestion in this case.”

                “Feh. That’ll take too long,” Crawven grumbled, already leaning over to push at the controls.

                “No!” Kibum gasped, reaching to stop the hand. But Crawven was larger and stronger than Kibum, and when he got a thought into his head, it was often difficult to dissuade him. He shoved the control stick to the right. The left booster turned full throttle, setting the ship trembling as they straightened out for just a second.

                “See?” he scoffed, looking at the horrified Kibum like he’d accomplished something.

                In the next second, the right booster came free with a sickening wrench. The Shine lurched to the right and crashed through the solar wave with a muted hiss of sound as fine particles washed over them. Alarms blared.

                Proximity warning!

                “Hold on!” Kibum screamed. His hands held the controls in a death grip. Wide eyes darted from point to point on the screen. The nearby projectile. The smaller bits of debris. The painful brilliance of the wave itself as it caught the sun’s illumination in blindingly reflective particles.

                “Novas!” Crawven cried out, bracing himself on the control panel.

                “Captain!” A myriad of voices howled over the coms as Kibum desperately tried to stop their tumbling spin. Stuck in the hard right position, they spiraled in a tight circle, rolling like a piece of trash in the wave. Small pings of sound echoed off the hull as bits of debris shattered against them.

                “Turn off artificial gravity!” Kibum commanded. “Jinki!”

                “Engines okay! They’re starting to redline though,” he called immediately.

                “Ercite! Larad!”

                “Strapped in.”

                “Medbay’s a mess. But I’m strapped in.”

                “Computer!”

                Projectile proximity alert. Two hundred thirty-one meters and decreasing rapidly.

                Kibum grimaced. “Boosters at ten percent! Be ready for full power,” he instructed, sending a quick glare at Crawven.

                Aye, Captain.

                The nauseating spinning finally slowed. They were still tumbling towards the projectile but now he could see it.

                Two hundred meters.

                They winced as smaller bits of debris scattered across the screen sounding like hail.

                One hundred fifty meters.

                “My controls are stuck. I’m going to try and jump us over this projectile.”

                One hundred meters.

                “You can do it,” Jinki immediately supported, breathless and scared.

                Kibum wasn’t so sure. He couldn’t predict the wave any more than he could the fragging projectile.

                Fifty meters.

                There was no more time though. “Full power to boosters!” he shouted, ramping up the energy when the angle and projected trajectory felt right. The Shine whined. Kibum hissed as he lost sight of the projectile from their irregular rotation. It felt wrong…

                Collision warning!

                ! The Shine jerked as she was bumped from the top. Metal on metal keened. Alarms blared and the lights flickered. Kibum yanked at the controls in desperation. The Shine rolled and then jerked to a halt.

                Left booster caught in projectile. Engines at risk of overloading.

                Kibum froze. He didn’t know what to do in this scenario. It had never happened before. Jinki!

                “Do something!” Crawven yelled.

                Collision warning!

                Again? It was the only thought Kibum had before the ship turned sideways and a series of metallic and living screams hounded him.

                He out.

                And then came to with a gasping start. He blinked rapidly as blaring sound returned, pounding at his head. “Crawven!” he coughed, jerking in genuine fear when he saw the latticework of cracks on the window of the bridge.

                “Here,” the Moladhi groaned, floating nearby. Artificial gravity was off or down.

                “Computer?” No answer. The bridge was dark. . Sparks danced and leapt in his periphery. “Jinki?” Again. No answer. “Ercite. Larad!” he called in quick succession.

                “Coms are down,” Crawven grimaced, floating close to anchor himself on Kibum’s seat.

                Kibum’s stomach dropped when he felt a small explosion in the ship. “Where was that from?”

                “Huh?” Crawven wondered obliviously.

                He touched his personal communicator to try calling. “Kibum!”

                “Jinki! Are you okay?”

                “Engines are failing. You need to get to the evac pods,” he panted, in obvious pain.

                “Are you okay?” Kibum demanded again, yanking at his straps to get out of the chair.

                He was silent for too long after that. Kibum was about to go running after him when he finally answered, “Get to the evac pods first. I just need to take care of something here first.”

                “Come on,” Crawven urged, grabbing Kibum’s wrist and starting to pull him along.

                Kibum didn’t trust it. “No. I’m coming to you,” he insisted instead. “You can go to the evac pods. I’m going to the engine room.” When he looked up to make sure Crawven was listening, he saw the Moladhi was staring at the window with wide eyes instead. Alarm spiked.

                One arm wrapped around him first as they lurched towards the entryway. With a heart stopping boom, metal and layers of space proof polycarbonate collapsed. The cold hit him first, icy claws wrapping round and stealing the breath from his lungs. A deafening howl stole his hearing as he clung to Crawven like a dying man.

                Sudden silence and peace fell on him as they collapsed into a weak floating position. “Star shards,” Crawven gasped with a choking groan.

                “Crawven?” Kibum asked, looking up and then paling further at the piece of metal sticking out of his abdomen.

                “I’m good,” he gasped, his breathing sounding off.

                “Larad!” Kibum cried as he looked around for the Varium. He would know how to handle this. Another small explosion rocked the ship. “Jinki!” he immediately called, hitting his personal communicator again. There was no answer this time. “No, no, no. Answer,” he tried once more, placing one hand on Crawven’s shoulder. “!” he panted, bringing up the general condition of the ship. Not as comprehensive as what the computer could tell him, he knew that all the red blinking at him wasn’t good…

                Bridge out. Coms, controls, navigation, and power down. Life support failing. Sleeping quarters mostly destroyed. Engine room… critical. From the looks of it, it was likely to fail at any minute. But that was where Jinki was. Medbay was mostly okay but the cargo bay was redlining. . Another hit like earlier and it’d probably be ruined too.

                “Kibum!”

                He jerked like he’d been struck as he looked up to see Larad running his way. It was dark, yes, but Larad’s skin was darker still. Varium didn’t bleed that color. “Larad! What happened?!” he asked, eyes going wider when he recognized the color he was covered in.

                “We have to go. Now,” the Varium urged, grabbing both Kibum and Crawven to pull them along in the gravity free space. “Jinki is in critical condition. I put him in a cryopod but we have to get out of here now. Where’s Ercite?”

                Stuck on hearing about Jinki’s condition, Kibum shook his head dumbly. “I-I don’t know.”

                “Novas!” He stopped and held both at arm’s length. “I have to get them. Go to medbay through the hatch in the hallway to the engine room. The cargo bay is compromised. Opening the doors now will break the equilibrium in the hull and cause a rupture.”

                “What?” Kibum mumbled, panic and fear clawing at him. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything.

                “GO! The engine room is failing. We don’t have time!” Larad snarled, shoving the pair down the hallway so that he could go after Ercite in their coms room sequestered in a small space under the bridge.

                “Come on,” Crawven hissed, nudging Kibum with his elbow as he used his other arm to pull himself forward.

                The journey to the medbay passed in a blur of flashing lights permeating the darkness and wailing alarms. A series of small explosions sounded off as they were approaching the engine room though. The sealed door started to bow outward, the seal warping from heat and pressure. Crawven snagged the hatch handle and hauled it open so he could stuff Kibum into it first.

                “Crawven!” he shouted, relief giving way to horror as bluish orange flames roared above them, reaching into the tunnel and enshrouding the Moladhi with a sickening stench of burnt flesh and feathers. With an agonized howl, he dragged the hatch door back into place and went limp, a smoldering figure of whimpering pain and reeking flesh.

                “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Kibum cried, reaching for someplace safe to grab so he could pull the injured male along. There were no other thoughts then.

                Get Crawven into a cryopod. Get the cryopods into an escape pod. Get free. Get to somewhere safe. The cryopod closed easily and left Kibum in relative silence. The wail of the ship alarm continued unabated but he was otherwise alone. With an upward blurry glance, he whispered, “Larad? Ercite?” Despair choked him and made it hard to breathe. He couldn’t bring himself to look into Jinki’s pod yet either. It was enough to know that Larad had brought him to safety. He was alive. That was all that mattered right now.

                One functional escape pod. One he could manually pilot. No time to think. Another explosion and Kibum flinched. One gut wrenching look at Jinki’s horrifying condition decided him. He couldn’t trust himself to get him home. Jinki and Crawven in one. Autopilot to home. Kibum in the other.

                Drifting in the pod, he was drowning. Larad. Ercite. The Shine. Disappearing in the distance. Looking the other way. Crawven and Jinki’s pod flying away. Here. Kibum was here. Alone. Unharmed? How? Why? Alone. He was lost. A wail escaped him as he collapsed.

 

(a/n: Phew. Hit a bit of a dry spell there. Apologies. I still have a fair bit going on in my life but my Muse decided to come back and play at last! Though I'm not sure this is the kind of chapter you were perhaps waiting for... but if you've read the oneshot, you would have suspected something was going to happen at some point. Probably. I haven't started the next chapter but I do hope that you'll bear with me. ^_^ I'll do my best to get it out when I can. Hopefully sooner than this last one. >.> But as always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a fantastic day!)