Anarchy

Hilarious Encounter

“Where are we heading?” Azrael asked as she snapped into the seat.

It had been a week and a half since each of them took turns slowly opening up to the others. Now, they were all feeling stronger than ever before. An entire month and a half had passed since Azrael, Solara, and Talis arrived on Helix station, joining the misfit crew of creatures that shouldn’t but absolutely got along.

Now, after taking time to talk and train, they were more confident in their skills. Specifically, Solara’s weaving ability was faster, and her threads were named for what they could do. Sticky was for catching and climbing. Soft was for comfort. Then they discovered she had a third thread ability. One where her webbing was so strong, Valiant could hang his whole body weight on it and it didn’t break.

Talis was the same stoic doctor he’d been upon arrival, but now he referred to both Azrael and Solara as ‘his’ girls.

As for Azrael? Well, she learned that her baseline was not as limited as she assumed. After mastering her telepathy, she turned to her matter manipulation. Then levitation until she had a handle on it. Telekinesis was easy, learning to fight with it was not. Then they found out as a team that she was able to teleport to any area if given a basic description and a general direction.

Today, they were finally going shopping for much-needed supplies.

Trykerius sighed, turning to the girl sitting with him in the cockpit of the frigate he’d finished fixing the week before. The flashing control panels settled as he checked each piece of the system before igniting the primary engine turbines. “I need to grab a cargo of ship and fighter parts on Nyx colony. Then we’re going to Gaia 2 to grab seeds for my hydroponics room, and a few crates of fruits, vegetables, and cooking ingredients. After that, we’re heading to the shopping district on Centara Station.”

He triggered the safety signal, then the locator beacon. Satisfied they were working correctly, he nodded and set the data pad in his lap back into the holding slot. “Good. All systems are green. Novidia, is your fighter secured?”

Something banged in the back, followed by a hiss of frustration. A cry of triumph reached them alongside Solara’s high-pitched giggles.

“Finally, yes. The damn hook wouldn’t stay put, but I got it,” Novidia answered. “Misha’s here.”

“Great, some muscle to add to our little merry band in case we get into any trouble,” Trykerius said as he grunted a laugh.

Minutes later, Azrael slammed her hand down on the cancel launch button. “Stop! Not yet!”

“What did you see?” Misha asked, his attention focusing on how Azrael’s eyes had flashed a bright indigo. Holding her by the arms, he motioned for her to breathe before bringing up his wrist com. “Axel, scan the outside of Helix for unknown signatures.”

Minutes passed as Trykerius delayed the launch. His eyes never leaving the girl, he noticed her breathing calming slowly. Then the com lit with an incoming transmission from Axel.

“Nothing visible to the naked eye, but the advanced scanner I made is picking up six unknown life forms. Possible head hunters or Coalition soldiers.” The Avian’s voice was calm, though they all knew he was anything but. “Oh, I love this place. Artemis Belt just moved slightly. The deviation moved a nice-sized chunk of rock toward the life form signatures. Their thrusters showed up on the scan.”

“Can we get an actual visual?” Misha asked, a growl building in his chest.

Azrael moved to the far side of the frigate, her hand coming to rest on the cool metal. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus, but locating whoever it was turned out to be difficult without a direction. “Misha, ask him to give me generalized lat and long.”

“Heard that, Ax?”

“Got it,” Axel replied. “Lat bearing 27 degrees. Long is 32.”

Moving until she faced the right direction, the young woman gasped softly. “Found it. Novidia, come with me.”

Silence fell around the crew as they stared at her.

Misha scowled, his scales flashing frantically under his skin as his eyes started glowing red. “Excuse me?”

“Where exactly are you going with this?” Novidia asked, one paw on her hip.

Smiling in a way that made every predator with her take a step back, Azrael checked the charge on the sidearm she’d been given. “I’m going to make them back off. To do that, I need on that ship with someone silent and deadly enough to watch my back.”

Trykerius smirked. “If you can get on board, we can plant listening and tracking devices small enough that they’ll never find them.”

“I’m bringing the micro-transmitters now,” Axel commented.

As soon as the equipment was with them, Novidia grabbed Azrael’s hand. For a brief heartbeat of time, nothing happened. Then they were gone, vanished into the vast darkness of space.

When she opened her eyes, the gold glowing in the darkness of what appeared to be the engine bay of a large ship, Novidia stared in shock. “Wow.”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty cool power, but it’s exhausting,” the nineteen year old stated as he knelt and clipped the transmitter under one of the room’s exposed ribs. “They won’t look in not-so obvious places.”

“Good idea,” the Katzenfurg whispered, silently climbing the ribbing of the room until she could access the primary atmosphere vents. Crawling until she reached what appeared to be some kind of common room, she clipped another transmitter to the inside of the ventilation.

When she returned to where she left Azrael, she frowned. There was the psychic, but she wasn’t alone. Standing in front of her was a man who looked similar to Trykerius.

“Who are you and how did you enter my ship?” the man asked, his hand already holding the blaster.

Azrael smiled that same slow, knowing smile from the frigate, making Novidia shiver. Relaxing, her hands in her pockets, the young woman didn’t even flinch when the blaster was put in her face. “Is this really how you want things to go, Veron?”

The man shook slightly, his confidence cracking just enough to make him susceptible to subtle suggestions. “H-How do you know my name?”

“I know all. Your name, your family, and your actual station in life. I know you’re fears, your dreams, your desires. I know that your brother got something you desperately wanted before you chose to become a bounty hunter. He became Governor. Such a sad life.” She sighed, her smile never wavering.

The blaster shook, his strength waning a little more. “What are you? Who are you? This… this is some kind of test, isn’t it? Did the Coalition put you up to this?”

Adopting an innocent look, Azrael frowned in faux concern. “The Coalition?”

Veron’s eyes snapped to hers, terror gripping him as the indigo glow surrounded her entire body. “By the stars. You… you’re some kind of spirit!”

Silently making her way over to them, Novidia fought to keep a straight face. As soon as the bounty hunter turned to search the rest of the room, the Katzenfurg grabbed Azrael’s wrist.

There was a pop of displaced air, and Veron turned to see that the girl was gone. Nothing was moved, and there was no sign that anyone had actually been in the room. Hitting the com for the bridge, he tried to steady himself before telling his pilot to change course back to Dune.

“Is there a reason, sir?”

“There’s something wrong with this place. Whatever happened here left something behind.”

“You’re not making sense, sir.”

“Just change the damn heading and get us out of here!”

Reappearing on the frigate, both Novidia and Azrael started laughing until one was red in the face and the other had tears streaking her fur.

“Okay, what the heck did you guys do out there?” Misha asked, folding his arms.

Still laughing, Novidia staggered to one of the two open seats. “She… oh my stars. That was epic. I swear to every deity in the universe that was the most fun I’ve had in a while.”

Finally catching her breath enough to speak, Azrael sat down and closed her eyes. “They’re gone.”

“That’s what happens when you convince a freaking bounty hunter that the Artemis Belt is haunted.” Another round of laughter burst from the Katzenfurg. “Veron was holding a blaster to your head, and you just… wow… Just, wow.”

“Not my fault he was insecure enough to give me verbal ammo,” Azrael laughed. “Psychological warfare was something else the researchers taught me, so now I’m going to use that to help destroy the corrupted ones.”

Trykerius gawked at them, his face a mask of shock and humour. “I’m sorry, did you say Veron?”

Azrael nodded, “Yeah, Veron Xen.”

“That’s one of my older brothers, and you just… terrorized him?”

Grinning, the young woman gave the blond a sly look. “Problem?”

“No, I just wish I could have watched,” Trykerius said. Snickering, he turned and watched the shimmer as the Bloodhound’s bearing changed. Their hyperdrive activated, followed by a streak of silvery light.

Axel’s voice chirped over the coms. “Well then, maybe a good nickname for Azrael is Angel. They already think she’s a ghost.”

“Say what?” Misha asked, snickering.

“I’m getting feed from the ship,” the Avian said. “Veron actually thinks he encountered a ghost. They’re gone back to Dune right now.”

“Sweet gods,” Trykerius laughed harder. “I think we’re going to make a great crew with what we got now.”

As Misha keyed in the launch sequence again, he glanced over at Azrael. A shiver stole through him as he recalled the night before. Watching a movie with her while they shared stories about their pasts, he wasn’t expecting her to fall asleep on him.

He’d carried her back to her room, laying her on the bed before she jolted awake. Once he’d soothed her, she fell back to sleep for the rest of the night.

Softly smiling at her, he looked over at Trykerius. “All set.”

“Green across the board.” The Terran answered as he hit the primary thrusters.