Across the Galaxy: A Pirate's Path to Glory

The Avaritia crew

My arms began to feel like noodles. I was shaking from hunger and concentrating on fixing the ship got more and more difficult despite loving to do it. So I took a break and searched for Tristen. He said they were still waiting for his crew so I wanted to go and grab something to eat. I didn’t get to look for him since the door to the ship opened and loud laughter was heard. Three people entered the ship. Two of them seemed extremely drunk and used each other for support. The third one was behind them and kept sighing. The two drunk people seemed to be one girl and one guy. The girl was geadian which was noticeable because of her having one eye, red velvet skin and horns. The guy was probably ixego but he seemed too muscular for that. And the last guy was human. When they noticed me they stopped laughing, their eyes piercing. 

“Oh um, hi! I’m Dahlia! I was just-” The girl began to smirk. She let go of the muscular ixego and walked around me curiously. 

“Awww, Tristen brought new meat!” She chuckled while the ixego just placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Be nice Valerie.” He gave me a smile and did a humble nod. Valerie’s eyes still had curiosity in them but when she crossed her arms and lifted her head up, it felt like she looked down on me. 

“Tristeeeen! You really should stop bringing your one night stands on the ship. You’re only making Sylas jealous.” She just walked past me with a grin. I felt how it stung but I didn’t know what to say in return. The muscular guy shook his head and sighed deeply. 

“Just ignore her. Dahlia was it? I’m Zayn, nice to meet you.” He reached out his hand and I shook it. I was expecting a rough handshake but it was very gentle. I felt how my body slowly relaxed and he let go of my head before heading in and waited for me as well. The last person was walking behind me as well but kept quiet. 

“Great! Everyone’s here. I’d like to introduce our newest member Dahlia. She’s going to be our mechanic. I expect everyone to treat her with respect. Yes, I’m looking at you, Valerie.” Tristen reached his hand towards me and pulled me into the centre of the room before he glared at Valerie who just rolled her eyes. 

“Yes, captain…” She muttered under her breath. Zayn sat down beside her and shoved her lightly which did make her smile a bit. 

“You’re kidding, right? We already have a hard time affording food on some days. Now we have a new crew member? Did you think this through, captain?” Tristen placed his hands over my shoulders lightly which was a bit comforting. I just didn’t enjoy having everyone’s eyes on me.

“I saw her skills. I can assure you she fits right in here with is. I can feel that this was destined to be.” He looked at me with an encouraging smile which warmed my heart. He soon let go of my shoulders and I quickly took a spot on the couch.  

The human just sighed but didn’t seem to argue more. 

“I would say I trust Tristen but it’s hard when the crew he had picked out is us,” Valerie said in a light tone to which Tristen seemed offended but then got out a chuckle from most of them. 

“Jokes aside. Welcome to the Acaritia crew.” Zayn gave me a warming smile. I smiled back and took my time observing him a bit as well. It was rare to see someone like him muscular. The people on Vabone have reversed gender roles, the women being able to stand the heat and toxic air on their planet while the males had much more fragile health. 

He had dark skin and brown hair, with one of his sides shaved. He also had white flower petals tattooed on his right hair. He was wearing a neon see-through tank top. He was attractive, to say the least. 

“Let me introduce you to the rest of the crew too, Dahlia. I’m the captain obviously. Zayn, our sweetheart is the doctor of the group. Valerie our favourite bitchy goth. And lastly, our wonderful pilot/hacker Sylas who has anger issues.” The human raised his arms and seemed extremely offended. 

“Don’t expose my only character trait” 

“Ah s**t, sorry. Should have put a spoiler alert then.” Tristen grinned and messed up Sylas hair with one of his hands while the other three poked him. Sylas laughed but he tried to hold it in and soon shoved all of Tristen’s arms away. 

“You keep cheating with all of your arms! I hate you so much sometimes.” He groaned and soon stomped off. Tristen was still giggling and then he ran a hand through his hair. 

“ Zayn and I are gonna chill in our rooms and sober up. I am already gaging over the two of you.” Valerie slowly stood up and made a gagging gesture before leaving the room as well. Zayn flashed another smile before leaving which just left Tristen and me alone in the room. Only when everyone left did I feel how my stomach began to ache. The ship began to then shake, showing that Sylas started the engine. 

“We are just a bunch of silly goofs. But we really don’t bite.” Tristen explained but had pride in his eyes when he spoke about his crew. It was a nice change from my mother’s usually disappointed eyes. 

“Um… I never finished fixing the ship but… Can I eat something before I continue?” I bit my lip, feeling a bit embarrassed to ask after I overheard them feeding me was a burden… 

“What kind of question is that? Of course not!” He laughed before he began to lead the way to the kitchen. He was joking but I felt how my heart stopped for a second. 

“Take anything you’d like. I have to go and take a call from our head captain.” Then he left as well, barely explaining where anything was. I looked around first then looked inside the fridge which had mostly drinks. I found some simple frozen dishes in the freezer which I heated. I grabbed a sweet drink and sat down. Somehow… I was in a completely different place but I was still sitting at a table, eating alone. Trying to distract me from my thoughts by placing earbuds and listening to some music, didn’t help. The food was almost tasteless and it was either very hot or very cold. The work clothes were smelly as well. 

I felt the ship moving. It was too late to turn back now… I was stupid enough not to have brought any spare clothes… But I thought I would regret going if I returned home or mom would stop me. I let the work sink into the food and I planted my face into my hands, feeling the scent of metal and oil. Sighing, I let the tears fall. Maybe it was wrong… To have made such a big change in such a short amount of time. It’s almost as if I miss my home planet already. 

“So, I just spoke to the head captain and he said that there is a cargo ship on its way. He said it’s a simple one with barely any security. So it is perfect for you for the first time!” Tristen returned and he shared the news. I quickly wiped my tears as I smiled. 

“That’s great!”

“We’ll discuss more tomorrow. We need to get some rest. When you’re finished I’ll show you your room. It’s small but, we don’t have anything else.” I nodded and quickly finished my meal before I followed Tristen to my little room. The rest of them shared a room and had bunk beds and all. I got a much smaller one, the bed taking most of the place and had a small wardrobe as well. 

“Not the best but… We have a high tech screen installed in every room. So relax and watch a movie or videos. I just dragged you off out of nowhere I know. The rest of the members came from prison or a junkyard. If there is anything, just message me okay? The pirate life is supposed to be a fun adventure!” He patted me on the back then opened the wardrobe which had tons of snacks. 

“Feel free to grab another drink and some snacks as well.” I gave a nod and we exchanged info so I could message him. He added me in their group chat as well. The Avaritia crew chat. 

“When I wanted to start a crew they asked me which sin suits me the best. When I left my planet everyone constantly said how greedy I am for wanting more than a simple farmer life. So that’s what I picked and… That’s how the name Avaritia came to be for the crew. We all yearn for something more isn’t that right? ” He glanced at me and smiled. We returned to the kitchen and I grabbed another soft drink. He grabbed a beer and said he’d join Zayn and Valerie, watching some dumb movie. Then he left and I returned to my room. I looked at the door and took off the pants and climbed on the bed, taking the blanket and placed the snacks next to me. Then I began to scroll through the different shows. I decided to put on something familiar. A space romance movie that was a light watch. The intro music already made me feel much better as I curled up in bed and sipped on my soft drink. My phone was also getting tons of messages so I checked it out. 

“Where should I park the ship?” Sylas messaged and Tristen soon replied.

“Somewhere around Peclite. The cargo ship is supposed to come from there.” Then they began to send gifs and jokes. I read a few of their previous messages, wanting to get a better feel of them. But I didn’t understand half of what they said and it made me feel somewhat left out. I stopped trying to decipher their messages and focused on the movie instead.  

Drinking up and eating most of the snacks, the movie was over. I quickly cleaned up a bit before laying down and scrolling through social media. The rumours about a third sun turned out to be false however they discovered a new moon around Vabone. Then I looked at clothes… I felt jealous, not liking to be in a plain t-shirt. But I didn’t want to risk my other expensive clothes getting dirty. Oil stains are impossible to get rid of. They still haven’t created dirt-resistant clothes. But they probably think that if a person can afford to wear fashionable clothes they don’t work “dirty” jobs. 

I could feel how my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. With my phone still in my hand, I fell asleep.