Cai tapped his wrist computer as Nyx finished her meal, “Okay, let’s see how your pirate friends are doing.”

  Nyx licked her hand as she purred. Her belly was full for the first time in her life, and she felt sick. Sick, but good. If Cai killed her now, she’d die happy. Good food, and a beautiful man…

  Nyx’s purring stopped as she caught herself. Why was Cai making her think such weird things? Until this point in her life, men had been nothing but violent, crude, or sexual to her. The women were not much better. But him? His kindness was nothing but a trick. It had to be. No one could afford to be nice. Not when water and food were so hard to get. Yet here he was, giving her food she’d never even dreamed of existing.

  She looked around. But maybe he could afford to be kind? This ship… It could easily feed him and two or three others comfortably. More if they didn’t mind going hungry.

  From the center of the table, a hologram appeared, taking her from her thoughts, showing the sensor data around the ship. Nyx saw La La Land Station near the edge of the hologram. The one pirate ship, an expanding debris cloud, and most prominently, the planet La La Land.

  Nyx panicked, “Why’re we headin’ to the goddum planet!?”

  Cai looked completely relaxed, “To refuel. You know how La La Land sends refueling ships to the planet, right? The Donati and all other explorers like her refuel by entering the atmospheres of hydrogen rich planetary atmospheres and ‘scoop’ the hydrogen into the fuel tanks. We then use FTL to escape the gravity well. Although since Lalande C’s gravity is only about one point four gs we could escape without FTL.”

  More words Nyx didn’t understand, “Ya do this all the sparkin’ time?”

  Cai nodded and studied the hologram, “Yep. Gets a little bumpy, but nothing the Donati wasn’t designed for.” He rolls his eyes as he studies the hologram, “Looks like La La Land Station took out the small ship. Your ship is still chasing us, though. It’s even sending a call to surrender.” He looks at her, “I wonder if they’re hoping you’ll still take over the ship? I thought they’d give up when they saw they couldn’t catch up. The Donati’s computer is set to keep us going faster than them.”

  He sips from a pouch of water he’d gotten from somewhere when she was eating and hadn’t noticed.

  “Cap’n’s just bein’ stupid. Chasin’ the shiny.” She then looked at the debris field from what remained of the smaller ship and recalled the massive guns La La Land Station pointed at any armed ship coming and leaving. She wondered if it was a laser or a rail gun. Only an idiot or someone desperate would attack another ship near the station.

  “Well, we’re entering the gravity well. The Donati has heat tiles, I doubt they do.”

  Nyx shook her head, “Nah. Jus’ holes and more holes on the Az Gaper’s skin.”

  Cai presses a few holographic buttons, and a black rectangle appears in the hologram. Nyx recognizes the accompanying chime as a hail.

  Soon, the black rectangle changes to show a man. It’s Trevor. He’s almost as pretty as Cai, with full cheeks that show he eats well, all of his teeth, and flawless skin. His bushy eyebrows only dropped him down a notch, and his stern eyes reminded her too much of the captain’s woman. She also liked Cai’s shaved face over Trevor’s brown beard, which also reminded her too much of her old captain.

  “Trevor. You didn’t need to take out the small pirate ship.”

  Trevor sighed, then replied in a voice deeper than Cai’s, “They were attacking you with lasers, and this is neutral territory. Any ship that attacks another gets fired on. No warnings.”

  Cai shrugged, “They were? I didn’t even get a system notification, and the Donati has laser chaff.”

  “Well, if I don’t enforce the rules, they won’t take them seriously.”

  “I get it. No skin off my back if they knew what would happen.”

  Trevor did something offscreen, then continued, “Oh, did you find Nyx?”

  Cai glances at her, “Oh? Nyx? That adorable Felis you were telling me was sneaking onto the Donati?”

  Trevor nods. “Cai, she’s the last pure Felis I’ve seen in the last fifteen years. She could be the last.” Trevor pauses. “Look, you’ve been alone out there since Tom and Anthony left. And I’ve seen how the pirates treat her. Starved her nearly to death. If you find her on your ship… Well… I know you well enough to know I don’t have to ask. I’ll overlook her trespassing for now and penalize the Az Gaper’s captain.”

  Nyx felt her heart rate increase as Trevor talked about her. She’s the last Felis? Or one of the last?

  Cai shrugs, “Hey, I won’t tell you how to run your sector. And… I fed her sweetened oatmeal with apples and a glass of milk.”

  Trevor laughs, “I knew it! But oatmeal? I guess her stomach might not handle anything rich after being fed nufuud for most of her life and being half starved. Bet it blew her mind.”

  “Purred the whole time. It was adorable.”

  Nyx bristled at the comment, but stopped herself from defending herself when she noticed Cai had a sad look in his eyes.

  Trevor’s own eyes softened, “Look, I know you’ve never been good with women, especially since… Well, good luck. And keep her away from the antimatter. Would be a shame if your ship lit up like a mini supernova.”

  Nyx wondered what Trevor meant by Cai not being good with women? And what was antimatter? And why would Cai have something so dangerous?

  Cai sighs, “You’re never going to stop trying to set me up, are you?”

  Trevor laughs again, “Anyway, you’re getting close to refueling. Never understood how you deep spacers could stomach doing that over and over. But enough of that. Good luck and thanks for the cheese.”

  Cai nods, “You too.”

  The transmission ends.

  Cai looks at Nyx, “Let’s get strapped in. It’s gonna get bumpy, and the change in gravity can be disorienting.”

  He pulls some straps from the chair and locks them into the seat.

  Nyx looks and does the same, “I’m not gonna be your woman.”

  A part of her tells her to at least consider it. She ignores that part of herself.

  Cai tapped some buttons on his wrist computer, “I wasn’t expecting you to.”

  The hologram shifts to show a live camera feed of the external view of the ship.

  The turbulent blue clouds of the planet ahead take up the entire view. The radar shows the Az Gaper breaking off, red text flashing a warning: ‘Engine failure likely.’

  Nyx purrs out a laugh, “Ha! Goddum shunks ran ‘er too hard.”

  A flash of Wrench’s face.

  Cai notices, “Something wrong?”

  “My only friend’s still on that dum piece o’ shunk. He’s a half-Felis and can’t hear a dum thing. Taught me everythin’ I know.”

  Cai nods, “Yeah, deafness is a common problem with half and quarter Felis children from what I’ve heard. It can’t be easy for him on that ship either.” He pauses, “Donati, project the route of the Az Gaper.”

  A moment later, a line appears showing the Az Gaper’s course. It’s still near the Donati’s course, but Nyx can see the small icon representing the Az Gaper turning.

  Nyx looks at Cai, “Can they escape?”

  “At this distance? Maybe if they can run their engines at full power for a few minutes. Can they?”

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  Nyx shrugs, “Engines are bein’ a sparkin’ mess on the Gaper. I’m thinkin’ so.”

  “Well, we have a few minutes until I need to have the ship prepare for scooping. Why don’t you use the restroom before then?”

  Nyx had no idea why Cai would tell her to take a bath now, “Why’d I want ta take a goddum bath right now!?”

  Cai just smiled his pretty smile, “Sorry, just an old Earther phrase. A bathroom can have a toilet in it, not just a bath or shower.”

  “Why’d ya want ta take a bath in the stink room?”

  “Stink room? That’s an awfully cute name to call the commode.”

  Another word she didn’t know, “Hey! It stinks when ya take a stink.”

  “I’d have thought pirates would use cruder words. I mean, you do seem fond of them yourself.”

  Nyx bristled and growled. It’s not like she chose to grow up among crude pirates, “Ya think I like speakin’ like those sparkin’ pieces o’ shunk? Wanted ta get big around those sparkin’ evil morons? Ta get beat every day ‘cause I was born Felis? Then you sparkin’ Never Dyin’ eatin’ food any pirate’d kill for every day like it’s nothin’ and we’re out here starvin’!”

  The icon for the Az Gaper rotates, and the projected course veers further from the Donati, but still to the planet.

  Cai listens quietly until she stops, “Even if I gave away all of my food, it’s only enough for a handful of people at best. And… the human race is dying. We’re down to eight thousand, and it’s going to get worse. The war destroyed most major production sites off Earth. Then when Earth disappeared… And with the pirate attack on Mars, Bernard station, and supply and mining ships, adding my ship would just delay the end by months. I did stop by to drop off parts for Trevor, but the Donati’s fabricators can only make parts so fast. Certainly not for a fleet of ships or a space station like La La Land. If their fabricator hadn’t broken down, I’d never have come back to give them the parts to fix it. Trevor still won’t tell me why he didn’t have spare parts for something as important as a fabricator.”

  Nyx slowly calms as Cai speaks. She didn’t know how bad the human population was. She was possibly the last Felis, and even though she hated humans, she couldn’t imagine them going extinct, “Why ya be goin’ around out there instead of helpin’ around here?”

  “We’re looking for a new planet for humanity.”

  This gave Nyx pause, “Yer lookin’ for a new planet like Earth?”

  Cai nods, “Yeah. We’ve found planets we could terraform, but that would take centuries and machines we don’t have. If you come with me, you can help me look. Though this ship could be automated if we had to.”

  “Bein’ out there in the black with ya for years?”

  Cai nods, “Do you know why this ship is designed for a crew of three when it can run just fine with one or none? It’s because humans are social creatures. We need to socialize. I’ve been making do with VR, but it’s not the same as being with real people. That’s why Trevor told me to take you. At least part of the reason.”

  Nyx tried to process his words. Why did Cai have to use so many words she didn’t know, “Yer gonna be teachin’ me some ‘o those Never Dyin’ words?”

  Nyx wanted to know all she could. About everything. She wanted to be as smart as Cai. Get away from her past as far as possible. Find her friends from before the pirates took her. Her siblings.

  Cai nodded, “I was thinking of teaching you, yeah. Got lots of programs that can teach you like I was on Earth growing up.”

  The icon for the Az Gaper flashed, the warning message more urgent. It had turned to do an escape burn, and the line showing its course cleared the planet, but the warning flashed something about detecting engine instability and overheating.

  Nyx wasn’t sure if she was happy, but there was one person on board she didn’t want to die, “Think we be gettin’ my friend?”

  Cai shook his, “No. It’s too dangerous. The Az Gaper is an old frigate, and the Donati is just an explorer. Yeah, our ships are about the same size, but your ship has more powerful weapons. The Donati just has a mining laser and a grappler. We’d also have to deal with your old crew. That and docking while at full burn isn’t the best idea.”

  A flash and the icon of the Az Gaper began tumbling through space, a shower of debris expanding into space. With no more thrust, the computer corrected the course to show where it would enter the planet’s atmosphere.

  Nyx growled, “Sparks! Goddum it to sparkin’ bilge!”

  She looked at Cai, who watched solemnly, “I’m sorry. Maybe they can escape if they have the power for an emergency FTL jump?”

  The Az Gaper’s tumbling slows.

  Nyx perks up, “Sparks, they’re still fightin’!”

  Why would she feel relieved? Other than her friend, they were all scum she felt no pity for.

  Her friend. Wrench. The one who taught her everything. Who helped keep her safe. Who was like a father to her. Her only family.

  Cai tapped a button on his wrist computer, “Computer, calculate the odds of rescue for the crew of the damaged ship if we use the grappler.”

  A number appeared on the hologram: 0%

  “Sparks.” Cai swears unexpectedly, causing Nyx to glance at him, “We’re just too close to the planet. Their only chance is if FTL.”

  Nyx growls she knows there’s a chance the Gaper’s FTL got taken out in the explosion, “Goddum it!”

  She straps in, thankful her suit is hiding how puffed up from nerves her tail would be right now, and purrs to soothe herself.

  Cai taps his wrist computer, and he looks uncomfortable as he glances at her, “Computer, begin refueling sequence.”

  There’s a beep in acknowledgement.

  Nyx grips the table and expects the ship to turn as she doubts they want to keep heading straight at the planet.

  Instead, a timer appears for a little over three minutes.

  Cai glances at it, “Looks like we still have a few minutes.”

  There’s a clanging noise, and Nyx jumps from fright in her straps and hisses, “Sparks!”

  Cai smiles. “That’s the hydroponic system preparing for low gravity.”

  More noises. Nyx notices the coverings over the plants dropping to seal them. She also notices the chickens and cow running off to hide in tiny rooms she’s noticed for the first time.

  This just sets Nyx’s nerves off more, and she continues her self-soothing purrs and watches the Az Gaper instead of asking questions.

  Cai says nothing to her and watches the screen.

  The Az Gaper is no longer tumbling and has even relit one of its four engines. She’d guessed engine two blew up as it was the most fussy lately, one of its fusion coils rupturing and oxygen mixing with the hydrogen fuel. Probably.

  The Az Gaper’s trajectory changed, but nowhere near enough to escape the planet. They’d bought seconds, maybe a minute, before they’d enter the atmosphere. The computer even had a timer until impact. A little over five minutes.

  The timer counted down for the Donati. When it hit zero, she felt herself become weightless for a moment, and the ship went quiet as the hum of the engines stopped. Then the sound of thrusters as the ship turned.

  Nyx watched as the Donati’s icon rotated, and as the live feed showed the planet’s roiling clouds in much greater detail than she’d ever wished to see, moved to show the familiar stars of space.

  Then her seat reclined, causing her to let out a frightened hiss, until she was looking directly at the deck above.

  The Donati’s engines roared back to life, and she instantly felt herself pressed against her seat. The sounds of metal from Cai’s cooking area clattered as the ship vibrated. She was used to deceleration burns, but the Donati’s engines showed how powerful perfectly maintained engines could be. The Az Gaper had no hope of catching the Donati if Cai had been serious about running away.

  It was all she could do to not pass out as the g-forces pressed her into her seat.

  There was a new timer, but she couldn’t read the word displayed next to it. It was mercifully short, and when it hit zero, she felt the g-forces lessen considerably.

  The Donati then rolled so its belly faced the planet and the engines roared back again. Strangely, she felt a pull that wasn’t towards the engines. Was this because they were so close to the planet now?

  The chairs adjusted so their backs followed the pull of g-forces and gravity, and she watched as the plants above moved to follow it as well.

  The shaking started now, and Nyx let out a distressed whine as her ears flattened against her head.

  Cai, looking relaxed and even slightly bored, says, “This is the worst part. Want to listen to music?”

  To Nyx’s great embarrassment, all she can manage is a mewl, which caused Cai to give her an amused look which would normally have caused her to yell defensively but she was too frightened to do anything more than another, albeit more angry sounding mewl.

  The shaking grew stronger, and a new system message appeared, “Refueling.”

  New clanging noises, and Nyx reflexively jumped as she hissed in fright, only her straps keeping her in her chair.

  Cai laughed, “It’s just the hydrogen collectors deploying. This is a mini Neptune, so the gravity isn’t too strong. We could even return to orbit if we need to, though it’ll use a lot of fuel. Better to just use FTL when we’re done.”

  Nyx barely listened as all of her instincts told her she was going to die.

  There was a beep, causing Nyx to jump again. She had her eyes closed now, waiting for her certain death.

  “We’re heating. The Az Gaper is too.”

  Nyx opens her eyes and stares at the Az Gaper. It’s since passed the Donati since they did their deceleration burn.

  Images of her life onboard flash in her mind as she watches the numbers she assumes are heating increase. She won’t miss it. Crawling through tiny crawl spaces filled with jagged metal to repair another broken part, the crew’s abuse and hatred of her, always feeling hungry and scared.

  Her friend… Maybe he’d be happier dead? If only she could have brought him on board the Donati too. Or would Cai not want him because he can’t hear or wasn’t a woman? She still didn’t know why he was being so nice.

  The Az Gaper disappears, leaving bits of burning debris.

  ‘FTL jump detected’ flashes on the screen.

  Nyx sighs in relief. Wrench was alive. The pirates were too, but if it meant Wrench living, then she was fine with it.

  Cai hmms, “Looks like they got away. They should have done it earlier.”

  “Cap’n was wantin’ you dum bad.”

  “Well, maybe they’re okay, but the Az Gaper lost a few engines, so they might have to retire it if they can’t repair it.”

  “Wrench is bein’ the best goddum mech’ic I’ve seen. ‘S why cap’n keeps ‘em.”

  “I see. Here’s to hoping he finds a better crew.”

  Nyx watches the fuel percentage climb, “Goddum right.”

  Nyx wonders if he was by the engines when they exploded, and a sinking feeling forms in her gut. But he’d have been right there in the engine deck keeping the engines alive as long as possible. He’d have been there when the explosion happened. He might be gone, but if he were alive, she’d save him.