They were properly in the solar system now. Sana found herself not wanting to be. She wanted to get home, of course she did, but being here meant the journey was coming to an end. There were still questions she had. She’d grown to love the Breakthrough’s layout, particularly as she heard the story behind it. 

“Before I even got Jihyo on board,” Dahyun leaned against the control panel, “we were renovating this place.” 

“Perfect timing,” the pilot added. “I hated and still don’t like the outside.” Her eyes were on the vacuum. 

The space debris here had gotten worse. Sana didn’t want to think about the reasons why. They steered clear of actual stations and planets, but they were roughly around Neptune now. It still wasn’t close enough to call for an . After Saturn, it’d be safer to call for an . 

“So you had a hand in this?” Sana regarded the sleek glass in front of them. It was a very wide view and likely very thick.

“Tried to,” Jihyo smiled, “had to work a lot with what we had, but this was the best part of it.” She nodded at the glass. 

“Artemis had this already?” 

Dahyun nodded. “With the amount of skirmishes, they needed a counter for the amount of precision shots Aphrodite took.” 

“Artemis ships are a beast,” Jihyo chuckled, “good shields and great armour.” She caught Sana’s questioning gaze. “Was a pilot for Kepler. Lotta skirmishes and a couple chases.” 

“And you encountered ships from Artemis?”

“It depended on why they were even here,” she shrugged, “either we were glorified guards or their pursuers ‘cause they raided a supply ship.”

“Aphrodite controls a lot of Coruscant,” Dahyun told her. “Including the manufacturing and deliveries. And if you found a place not under their first, they probably had a couple loyalists holed up there.”

Meaning some from Artemis went the Keplan system to take what they could. 

“There were none wholly loyal to Artemis?”

Jeongyeon snorted. “Real loyalty's a little ambitious. Even in Earth you’re gonna have ships and stations getting what they can outta deliveries or other systems to stay afloat.”

Sana whipped her head around. The woman’s words weren’t a disillusioned remark, but had come from experience. 

She raised her hands. “Didn’t mean to attack ya.”

“I know,” Sana replied. “But did you see that much discord in the system?” This was the information largely kept from her. The people like Mina and other agents were the ones to handle that. 

“This’s a whole system we’re talking about.” Jeongyeon glanced at her screen. “Come over.” She waved a hand. 

Sana smiled slightly at the order. Another thing unheard of unless it was given by her parents (or Mina). Yet she hadn’t listened much in the past. 

“You already know Pluto’s a mess.” Jeongyeon pointed at an epicentre of a lot of data. “I’m storing what I can, because, well,” a sheepish smile, “it’s stuff I wanna know.”

Looking at the logs, Sana saw signals streaming out and towards the dwarf planet. They were from Neptune, Saturn, stations in Kepler, as well as Mars and Earth. There were costs for the water export and their imports, but also ones certainly not within those parameters. 

“I’m not showing you this so it can be shut down,” Jeongyeon said. “I’ve friends who go to Pluto for a good spot right on the edge. They stay there, go somewhere else on the Belt, or straight to Kepler.”

“What are they handling instead?” Sana frowned at how much money also flowed through Neptune, even Uranus. Those planets and their stations were more for outposts against bandits in the area or from Kepler. Some were heavily armed, others less so, as they dealt with the movement of information. Nothing to warrent how much was being spent or earned. 

“The usual,” Dahyun said. “Foodstuffs, sometimes weapons, and information too, but it’s mostly just the supplies.”

They’d been letting this happen. There was no way MZ intelligence didn’t know about it. The losses at the edges of the system weren’t great, but not destructive on a relative scale. But who benefited from this? Families and lost individuals? Or the ones who attacked laboratories and other ships carrying diplomats or merchants? The ones acting on orders, used only to target others?

“I don’t want to shut it down,” Sana said slowly. “But there has to be a degree of control, of awareness, and the potential for proper aid to those who need it.” Even to her own ears, that sounded idealistic. 

“Is this the first time you’re seeing this?” Jeongyeon asked. Her gaze was sympathetic. 

This group was seeing first hand—again—how naive Earth’s princess really was. Sana’s face warmed at that. 

“I’m not told very much,” Sana said softly. “That’ll change when I return.” She looked at the monitor. “What hold does Aphrodite then have?” 

“Nothing your people can track easy,” Dahyun replied. 

“Proxies,” Sana frowned, “or private accounts?” 

She nodded, pointed at a transmission from Eris. “That could be one, but so could the package from Mars or some random asteroid.”

“If you really wanna crack down right,” Jeongyeon stretched her arms over her head, “you’d have to do some major scavenger hunting and look into a couple thousand rich people.”

“Which is possible,” Sana added. “We do something like it for those who try to breach our software.” Or launched heists to other key places of the empire. The amount of threats were numerous, their effects usually less significant. 

Jeongyeon’s brow rose. Something very close to pride appeared in her eyes before it disappeared. 

“Clearly we didn’t find you.” 

She blushed. “I never took any signals.”

“But information?” It was a strange thought: casually conversing with people they’d have arrested in another setting. Did that make her a hypocrite? Likely so, but she knew these people. While she didn’t know as much as she wanted to she was starting to learn about their circumstances. That made it all even messier. 

“Maybe,” Jeongyeon said quietly. 

Sana smiled slightly. “I’m asking because I want to understand.”

They looked mildly surprised at that. 

“I can’t excuse much,” she said. “As pure anarchy would reign as it had when first settling Kepler, Coruscant, as well as the outer planets.” The histories talked of that and even more. “But there’s a reason my family and others have let that proceed.”

Jeongyeon looked at her for a long moment before shrugging. “I was one of them people who tapped into supply routes. We intercepted at the drop-off, taking cuts.” Her smile turned sheepish again. “It was a bit of a test to get into your arms routes and we just did it once before I got the hell out of that digital mess.” Her eyes flicked between the monitor and Sana. 

Sne nodded. “I won’t report you,” Sana said. She meant it too. “I’m quite sure Mina won’t either.”

“And Momo?”

She shook her head. “Give us a bit more credit there.”

“But you do want to stop it, don’t you?” Dahyun’s gaze was surprisingly unreadable. Was she expecting a specific answer? Testing her? 

“First I want to know why it’s not been relayed back to me,” Sana sighed, “and then we’d have to track the source of some things.” She waved a hand around the cockpit. “You said you took jobs and then started your business after you had what you needed.” She looked at the vacuum. In the distance, she saw a station. Likely for Larissa, but she wasn’t completely sure. “But we’d work on finding those in control. You can’t ignore the heart of the beast in favour of chopping of its limbs.” Especially if others would only take their place. 

The captain’s expression softened. “So you’re saying we’re the pinky?”

“Or big toe,” Jihyo suggested. 

Jeongyeon laughed softly. “Do you think the heart is in your royal court or something?” 

“They might be.” Sana shrugged. Already, those words were dangerous. “All the more reason to track those connections down.” There was a difference between finding ways to advance to make a living and doing the same things in the name of greed and political gain.

She had to find where that line was if she wanted to do anything for the issue. She also had to know exactly what the Minatozaki name was attached to and what it allowed. Or just turned a blind eye towards. 

“Isn’t it lunch time?” Jeongyeon stretched again. “I need a coffee.”

“Same here!” Jihyo called. She didn’t look away from space. She had a soft tenacity to her, one covered by humour and her love for the crew, but she showed how unwieldy she could be now and then. 

The three of them started to leave the cockpit. They let Jeongyeon go first. 

“Hungry?” Dahyun looked at her. 

“Not yet,” Sana admitted. “Did you figure out what you wanted?” She looked back. Dahyun had been considering the new version of it and whether or not there’d be changes. She’d asked the people who spent the most time in it. Sana had come along. So often when she watched the captain work, the more she respected how Dahyun led. The crossover with the rule that awaited Sana was difficult to pinpoint, but there were pieces of it that she hoped to use. 

She nodded. “Almost the same, but a couple upgrades. Like a fridge.” A small chuckle. “But then they’d never leave that place.”

“Got that right.” Jeongyeon smirked. Then she went down the ladder. 

Sana’s eyes caught on Dahyun’s bright eyes, on the half smile gracing her lips. 

Jeongyeon got to the bottom and then was out of view. Jihyo wasn’t coming out of the cockpit any time soon. 

“You okay?” Dahyun turned fully to her. 

“Yes,” Sana grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, “very good.” She leaned in. She enjoyed the moment of silence and closeness. She enjoyed being there with Dahyun. A part of her didn’t want the journey to end. The other part of her told her it needed to end. Soon. 

____

“That’s Saturn?” Dahyun gaped at the gas giant. “Looks incredible.” She lifted her recording device and started filming. 

“So the rings are ice?” Chaeyoung was beside her, eyes wide. She was taking it all in, probably intending on recreating it somehow later. 

“Amazing.” Dahyun put down her device and just looked. Its surface flowed across it almost lazily. “Not like Kepler–138. That’s a midget.” 

Arms slipped around her waist. “Just wait until you see Jupiter.”

“Can you be gross somewhere else?” Chaeyoung winked. 

“It’s my first time this far out,” Dahyun shot back. “I’m staying right here.”

“Me too,” Sana said. She rested her chin on Dahyun's shoulder. 

Dahyun had to try hard not to pull her closer. It was ridiculous. She knew she should’ve kept some sort of distance, but the princess made it hard. Sana was both a flirt and a romantic. A terrible combination. 

So she reminded herself: Saturn was basically Sana’s inheritance. As were Neptune and Uranus, plus the Belt. They’d be hers, as well as the planets and asteroids coming up. Other people may’ve gotten big shares from a lot of it, but the Minaozaki rule was everywhere. She saw it in the ships, stations, monitors, and the news. 

But for now, they were still on the ship. Here, Sana was Sana and not princess Sana or Empress Sana. Dahyun was a, so far, nameless captain of the 2129 Breakthrough and not a space rat from Artemis. 

The planet went by fast, thanks to how Jihyo was pushing the engines. They were so close to calling the journey finished. She didn’t want to, but they had to get back. Even though the reason was terrible, she was also looking forward to building the next ship. 

“So you said this was a problem area?” Tzuyu asked. 

Sana nodded. “Favoured place for the stations to be overrun. With the materials we try to manufacture and the water haulers.”

“The water regions are the unstable ones?” Dahyun looked at Sana. “I’m picking up on a lil’ trend.”

“They're not completely underpaid,” she replied. “But for what they provide, there should be more. And the other prices required ensure they struggle.” A frown appeared. “Mars finances much of the water operations. They’ve given us numbers to show they need steep prices and sub-par wages.” 

“Who’s in charge of securing things again?” Nayeon asked. 

“Both,” Sana said. 

“I bet more Earthers than Martians reach ‘em.”

A small silence. Sana’s brow was furrowed. 

Nayeon huffed. “I think the outer planet duty gets kinda screwed over.”

“It allows some sort of security to be felt between Mars and Earth,” Mina said. Her eyes then flickered to them. Dahyun felt a bit scrutinised, as if the spy was the very scary sister who was scanning you for your flaws. 

“So you let those people scramble for money for the sake of politics?” Jeongyeon frowned. “Good I left.”

“It’s better to have that than an outright armed conflict.”

Surprisingly, Nayeon nodded. “The alternative’s Coruscant.” 

Mina looked taken aback. 

“But relations aren’t that bad between your planets, right?” The scarred captian's brow rose. 

Sana shook her head. “Many would call it peace.”

“And what do you say?” Dahyun asked. The princess often defaulted to a diplomatic response. 

“Shaky.” A sigh. “But as you said, it could be worse.”

Then she saw it: the burden Sana would end up carrying. Complex relations between planets, stations, and even systems. The thought gave her a headache and for a brief, but mad, second, Dahyun wanted to share it. 

She dismissed it just as quickly. To have that responsibility—she wouldn’t be able to bear it. And that wasn’t even considering the fact that she was lower than an Earther peasant. 

Instead she looked at the moons and ships off in the distance. Mina had given them a decent signal that’d let them be about as uninteresting as a waste cruiser. 

It was an amazing shift, but Dahyun hadn’t even felt the need to check Mina’s work. She trusted that she was competent and would probably not sell them out. 

Then they’d call for a patrol. She’d meet official Earthers—Sana’s subjects. And she’d be showing her face to this world. To people she trusted less than Keplans. And the latter were explicit criminals. 

The only good thing about this was that no one would really care what she looked like and they’d forget that she’d ever been here. At least, that'd happen if everything worked out. 

____

Watching Mina’s reactions when she thought no one was looking had quickly become Nayeon’s favourite thing. Especially when it came to Dahyun and Sana. It wasn’t anything verbal, but she’d seen exactly how much Mina didn’t like the little glances exchanged between the two, nor the fact that they spent a lot of time together in the workshop.

The spy pursed her lips now, watching as Sana and Dahyun went to the ladder. Sana was pretty clingy, something Nayeon hadn’t thought Dahyun would like. She seemed to enjoy herself, which was some kind of consolation. 

Mina had a subtle furrow in her brow and she looked like she was about to step between them. Nayeon wondered if this was a normal thing for the princess or just something Mina didn’t think she had a right in interfering. That didn’t change the fact that she clearly wanted to. 

Then the spy looked back to the window, watching the ships that passed by. The rest had gone to have lunch. Nayeon wasn’t hungry yet. It also seemed like Mina wasn’t either. Or she’d lost her appetite? 

Nayeon could see the tension from here. She was also vaguely surprised that Mina could restrain herself here. There were other moments where the spy definitely voiced her annoyance, but this wasn’t one of them. 

When Jeongyeon had gone to the cockpit, while Tzuyu and Chaeyoung also went for lunch, maybe dinner for one of them, Nayeon decided she had to know. 

“So,” she plopped down beside Mina, “mind telling my why you’re raining on the romance parade?” She had a suspicion for why that was, but she needed to hear it from the spy herself. 

Mina looked at her as though she’d said something crazy. “Hm?”

“I’m not that dumb, Sharon. I see the looks you’re giving my co-captain and your princess.” Then she gasped. “Or are they jealous looks?”

The surprise turned into a frown. “No.” 

Nayeon knew that. “You sure?” She raised her eyebrows. 

“Yes.” Mina’s frown had deepened. 

She laughed. “I’m just messing with you. I can see pining looks from a mile away,” a pause, “which is why I knew our mutual friends had something, while you acted like it was a surprise.” And the fact that Sana was not subtle made it even better. 

The spy looked at her for a long moment. “Does Dahyun get attached easily?”

“Excuse me?” Nayeon frowned. Did Mina not remember that both Dahyun and her had made a system jump? That screamed ‘non-attachment’. 

“Does she get attached to people in a short time? Not unhealthily, I don’t mean that.” Mina sighed. “I mean romantically.”

“You say it like you hate it,” Nayeon fought a laugh, “are you a cynic too?”

“We have to be realistic,” she replied. “Wouldn’t you prefer it if Dahyun didn’t become lovesick once this journey ends?”

It clicked then. “How quickly does your princess get attached?”

Another sigh. Mina probably knew that she hadn’t been subtle. “We tolerate Sana’s other flings because they are always potential spouses.”

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” Nayeon raised a hand, “you don’t need to tell me we’re space rats or something like that.” Because they were. Maybe that’d change after they got the payment and a new ship. 

“I wasn’t going to,” Mina replied. “But I’d prefer if we were realistic.” 

“Mina,” she laughed again, hoping that wouldn’t earn her the spy’s rage, “if Dahyun’s anything, it’s realistic.”

“Sana isn’t.”

Nayeon felt taken aback. Mina wasn’t that old. She was the spymaster, which meant a whole lot of work. And she was Sana’s subordinate, but she was talking like her older sister. “Did you two grow up together or something?”

Mina nodded. “And if you asked Momo, she’d tell you the same.” 

“But she’s not the one against this,” Nayeon countered. “I think you’re overestimating this. We’re there in a couple days.” She didn’t say it, but she’d been close to getting the ship to take a bit of a longer course. Dahyun was really enjoying her time with Sana. And if Nayeon wanted to be really honest with herself, she didn’t mind being around Mina anymore. She almost wanted to get to know her more. 

Mina didn’t look convinced. 

“Case one.” Nayeon pointed at herself. “You’re not gonna be attached to this, even if I’m way too amazing to be forgotten.” 

She snorted. 

“And that’s offensive.” She elbowed the spymaster. “But that’s my point. Even if Sana’s hung up about the one that got away, she’s gonna recover. It’s called moving on.”

“I know that,” Mina said. “And so does Sana.” Her eyes closed. “My point is that they have to be aware of the consequences—she has to be aware of them.” 

So the spy wanted to protect her. It seemed like the default when it came to the princess. She was sheltered. If the capture and this journey had done anything good for Sana, then it was probably that this time had been a reality check. 

“My recommendation’s to let it go,” Nayeon said. 

“Let it go?” Mina repeated. “So it can turn into,” her eyes opened, squinting, “what?” 

“A great time.” She knew Dahyun would probably not mention much of it to them, but she’d definitely think back to it. “Something both’ll get over.” She reached out, hesitantly. Then she patted Mina’s arm. “Let them have something.” 

She could see Mina’s point, as well as the real differences between her and Nayeon (also Dahyun). She was like the others, except Jeongyeon. They were ones who'd never left their system behind. Maybe they’d left homes behind, but those weren’t separated by huge swathes of space. They didn’t know what leaving everything behind them meant. Nayeon didn’t care about her family any less, but she could survive a lot longer without hearing even a word from them. The same applied to Dahyun. 

A part of her also thought it would be really good for Dahyun. She’d actually have some fun for once. 

“Don’t you have some romance behind you?” Nayeon asked. “In case you forgot, I’ve got one in this system.” And she hoped she'd never see her again. 

Mina gave her a look. “You talk about yourself in the romantic sense a lot.” 

“Because I’m a catch,” she winked at her, “but still. You got a fellow spy at home? Or someone who doesn’t know your true identity?” She allowed for a small pause. “Sharon?” 

Mina crossed her arms, but the corner of her lip had tugged up. “You’re quite the creative one aren’t you?” Then she sighed. “No one’s waiting for me. They’re all nicely in the past.” There was no hint of regret in her words. Maybe Nayeon was underestimating her. Or Mina was just excellent at hiding that how sentimental she was. Or both. 

“All?” she repeated. 

“Yes,” Mina said.

"How many?"

“Ten.” 

“Exes?” Nayeon grinned. With someone who looked like Mina, she wasn’t surprised at all. 

“I didn’t have the time for all of them to come that far,” Mina smiled slightly, “though it’s accurate for a few.” 

“Ah ha,” Nayeon couldn’t help but smile, “lucky them.” A part of her meant it. 

She rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s all from me.” She got to her feet. 

“Let them live,” Nayeon called as she turned away. “They’re big girls.”

The other woman only hummed. Then she was off. 

____

After Jupiter, Mars seemed really small, but with the amount of spacecraft and stations surrounding it, it clearly lived up to its position as the second major planet of the solar system. The closer they got to Earth, the faster this journey had become. Either that or Jihyo had upped the ante on the engines. Either way, the days had passed by like a blur. 

The ships right beside them were unsettling too, but Dahyun didn’t have time to learn to live with it. There was also the added bonus that they were a lot more intact than the Breakthrough was. If some type of attack happened now, they’d at least have a few Earther ships between them and the attacker. 

“Fighting in this area is very rare,” Momo said. “Not only does it violate the laws, since the patrol allows for there to be no probable cause, but they also don’t have the means to be very successful.” 

“We’re in their territory,” Dahyun frowned, “don’t they have a pretty good position for it?” While the guard had probably tried to make her feel better, she’d just made Dahyun more nervous about getting attacked. If Aphrodite had its claws in Mars, then they would have a real hard time getting back out of here. They'd have a hard time anywhere, but even worse if that was the case. 

“With a full mobilisation, yes,” Sana replied. “But they wouldn’t do that here and we have a fair amount of ships positioned in the case for any sudden attack.” 

Dahyun only nodded, keeping her eyes on the Martian ships. They were divided by colour, some black, some blue, some red, and some grey. The grey and black gave her pause. They were like the ships that had attacked them in the past weeks, but she knew for a fact that Earth had similar ships too. Still, she wished the Breakthrough were in a better condition. She wished she could’ve gone to Eros and fixed it up properly. 

“We also have the better arsenal,” Sana said, taking her hand. 

“What about tactics?” Dahyun asked. “We were pretty outgunned by the Aphrodite ship and still brought it down.” With questionable decisions and a lot of luck. Those same decisions and good luck could bless the Martians and then they’d be, for lack of a better word, screwed. 

“The leadership we have is well trained?” The corner of her lip tugged up. “We’re safe, Dahyun. I promise.” 

“Okay.” She stood, going closer to the kitchen window. She stared up at the Earther ship on their flank. “They a good pilot?”

“Also well trained,” Sana replied. “They wouldn’t send the amateurs on this mission. Unless they’re the cook.” 

Dahyun snorted. “You got schools for cooking?” She knew of apprenticeships here and there, but they were few and far between. 

“There’s a lot of space and demand for it.” A pause. “You’ll probably get some of the best cooking in this galaxy once we land.”

That made her smile. “I’d hope so.” It also gave her pause. They’d be eating bio-foods. Maybe some of it would be synthetic, but she’d heard of the luxury some planet-born ate. Would they really get that too? 

“Does Mars know who’s being escorted?” Nayeon had come into the kitchen. “I don’t see anything on their comms, but,” she trailed off. 

“No,” Mina replied. “They will know it’s someone of high regard and might suspect it’s Sana. All the more reason for them not to attack.”

“Unless they still want to bring her back.” Dahyun wondered if that ship that’d dragged them was here. She’d recognise it pretty easily. She also didn’t want to look for it. If she saw it, what if they saw them? And if she saw an Aphroditan ship, she was pretty sure she’d have a hard time keeping it together. 

“We have witnesses,” Mina said. “They can’t act against that.” 

If I wasn’t this close to freaking out, I’d be able to figure out a way, Dahyun thought. If she wanted the money, or whatever political gain these people were after, she'd be able to hatch up a plan with the others. The question was only: how desperate were the Martians and/or Aphroditans?

“Come on.” Sana pulled her from the kitchen, going straight for the workshop. When the door closed she pulled Dahyun into her arms. “You and the rest will be alright. The most dangerous part‘s passed.” Her voice held a certainty Dahyun had rarely heard. Was this the voice of the royal version of Sana? “My people want me back as much as you want to get your crew back safely.” 

That was another thing she’d learned. Many seemed to genuinely love the princess. There’d been a lot of stuff in the cheaper media about certain near-scandals with Sana, but otherwise people respected her. Dahyun hadn’t read into much more. It was too surreal. 

“What can I do to take your mind off this?” Sana pulled away. “Should we start on the room layout? The kitchen?” 

Dahyun chuckled. “You wanna work now?” 

“I want to work with you on something,” Sana dragged her to a workbench, “and the faster the plans are done, the better, right?” Her brown eyes just about sparkled.

Dahyun felt a wave of gratitude then. She didn’t know how to express it. So she leaned in.

Sana didn’t move away. If she hadn’t imagined it, the princess had leaned forward at the last second. 

It lasted longer than Dahyun had expected. Every time she wanted to pull away, she remembered where they were and how close the end of the trip was. When the thought crossed her mind, she only pulled Sana closer. 

Then they broke away. 

“Is your room still freezing?” Sana asked then. 

Dahyun’s face was already burning, now it felt on fire. “It’s not warm.” 

The princess laughed, a bright sound. “We’ll see then.” She pulled her to her feet and out of the workshop. 

Dahyun had to laugh as well. 

Sana cocked an eyebrow at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” she smiled, “just wondering if you lead people like you do me.” Briefly, she wondered if they were making a mistake. If she should pull away properly and stop this from going any further. 

Then she she pushed the doubt down. 

The princess winked. “Not like this.” 

The door opened and Sana pulled her in. 

_____

Earth looked like a paradise. With its vast oceans, sprawling landscapes, and rolling clouds, it looked less like a planet and more like a painting. Most only ever knew Earth either from films or certain images transmitted over live. Not many liked them, because it was a reminder that there was a planet thriving with bio-foods and wealth, while the rest of them were under their rule or semi-enemies. 

Nayeon didn’t trust it. Aphrodite shared much of that kind of beauty and she knew what lay underneath that atmosphere. She knew Earth's veneer would be thicker than her old home. That worried her more. Now that they had to be on Earth until their next ship was finished, they’d have to deal with these people as well. People who didn’t wear masks, but manoeuvred behind the scenes more than most Keplans could ever dream of. Nayeon could find her way around that, but most of the others couldn’t. Tzuyu was the most likely to handle it with grace and Dahyun could manage it for a while, but the rest had limits that would be surpassed the moment they landed. 

She sighed. They’d taken this job thinking it would be an easy way in and out. It hadn’t been easy coming in, but they’d survived. Now they had to build their way out, hope Aphrodite didn’t have people on Earth to go after them, wasn’t expecting them at the periphery of the system, and wouldn’t manage to hunt them down when they were back in Kepler. 

She missed the days in between where she hadn’t had to care about this part. Dahyun had jumped to considering it before she had. And now her co-captain had a fair amount of plans for the new ship. Nayeon had next to no idea for how they’d stay alive. The last part of this mission had flown by. Now she had to get to planning.

Proper communication hadn’t happened with the ships or the planet itself. With the amount of attention on their entourage, it was a hazard, something Nayeon definitely agreed with. Now she just stared at the planet in front of her. She spotted the moon out of the corner of her eye, knowing it was also well decorated with settlements and other infrastructure. She didn't care much for it. At least for now. 

“What’s the matter?” Mina was beside her, gazing at the globe with something shockingly close to happiness. 

Nayeon was both surprised she’d ask and torn on whether or not to answer. Would she ruin the spy’s positive change of mood? Did that matter? Conversations with her had become actually polite. Mina also had a slight obsession for keeping her winning streak in any game they put in front of her. 

“I will make sure the Emperor and Empress know how much was put at risk during this journey,” Mina said. “There's ample evidence for that, should any other doubt it, and all with have my word.” Her eyes then left the window to look at Nayeon. It clearly took a lot. She’d missed her home. The spy was sentimental. “Which may not count very much for you, but it does here.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Do Earthers really trust their spies that much?” In Coruscant, if you did that, you'd end up floating through space without protection. Sometimes they gave you protection, but no tether. Some people spent ages in vacuum: alone and drifting off, no way to contact someone. 

“They trust me.” 

Nayeon didn’t doubt it, but couldn’t help but consider just how much influence Mina held. Yes, Sana may’ve been the future empress, Momo maybe a killing machine, but Mina was Earth’s spymaster. Nayeon knew enough about Aphrodite’s to not underestimate this woman for a second. Even if she was a terrible winner at Mario Kart and found ways to cheat really easily. 

“There might be people sent after the people whose faces they saw on this ship,” Nayeon said. “I don’t know what they’d want with the others, but they’ll want me and Dahyun dead.” She looked at her gloved hand. The Earthers wouldn’t take kindly to Keplans. Something told her that the scars would make it worse. The metal arm would just be the cherry on top. 

“And you want to fake your death again, don’t you?”

“Plus the rest.”

Mina frowned. “We could give you a ship, erase what we can to trace it back to us, and you could be on your way.” 

“Dahyun’ll build a ship out in Kepler,” Nayeon shook her head, “and that’s a little harder than what your facilities will let her do.” Dahyun would also hate every second spent in a ship she didn’t know. And the rest, including Nayeon, probably wouldn’t either. Dahyun had a sense for keeping things comfortable. Chaeyoung made sure it still looked good. Together, Nayeon was pretty sure they'd have the best ship in the three systems. 

“Won’t it take too long for what you want to achieve? They’d know you were here for very long. It wouldn’t be hard to assume you got a new ship in place.” 

“I know,” Nayeon sighed, “and I’ll figure out how we get that, maybe we sell it like there’s some great tour of Earth and the Minatozakis have a new prototype.” Though there was no way she’d leave a safe compound just for sightseeing. “How’re things with Kepler?”

“Better than with Coruscant,” Mina replied. “And easier to handle than that with Mars.” 

Nayeon smiled slightly. “Enough to invite a bunch into the system?” A sure distraction. When they left, the rest of them could join that mini fleet of ships. 

The spy’s brow rose. “That’d send a very mixed message.” 

She raised her hands. “It’s a plan I’ll go over a bunch and then it’ll still need time for Earthers to process it.” 

“So this is just an idea?” Mina looked almost in disbelief, but if Nayeon wasn’t imagining it, the corner of her lip had risen. 

“It’s an idea.”

One that had the potential to fail before it even entered the discussion. It was also one that could go wrong really fast even if it was accepted. And even if it worked, that ‘mixed message’ could mean the broadcasting of a shaky alliance between systems. That was something that went way beyond what this whole trip had meant, but it was one option for them getting out alive. A flux of Keplan ships to leave Earth. The Earthers wouldn’t care much if there were more than expected, only if there were fewer ships. 

“You’ll go over that with me first,” Mina said. “And if I think of something less mad and impactful, I’d hope you’d listen to me as well.” 

Nayeon winked at her. “I always listen to ya.” 

The spy rolled her eyes before looking back at her home planet. 

Nayeon looked at the blue planet, hoping desperately that it wouldn’t become their grave. 

_____

Author's Note

I'm not sure if I've already said this, but I'm taking a fair amount of liberties with space travel in this story. The time it'd actually take between these planets with conventional ships is far longer, but here there's different ships with very different engines and boosters. Luckily, this isn't a hard sci-fi story. 

This is the last part of the journey portion of the story, at least the trip to Earth. From here on, we'll finally be on the planet we call our home, but the others of the Breakthrough do not. This chapter was a lot of transition between space and Earth, but I hope it's got enough character details and interactions that'll have kept you reading. 

Would love to know your thoughts about the journey up until this point! I'm also curious if you've any predictions about how things will be on Earth now! Or just general comments about how Saida and Minayeon are developing. 

Stay healthy and I hope you're all doing well. See you in the next chapter!