Nights run long, and I run longer

[mitochondriaaya]

Aya kicked her feet up on the console and relaxed back into the seat, a cup of coffee cradled in her hands as she watched the space beyond the window. It had always been her dream, right, to be a pilot? Astrogator since she could say the word, but some nights she missed Tyaba. She probably could have been happy there forever, honestly, it was that kind of place. But as she'd grown, and as the boys had grown, so had the dread. The creeping, strangling dread. Not too long after her adulthood rite she'd started waking up screaming, knowing something was hunting her.

Yes, hunting. And it wasn't something as friendly as a katzu in her dreams.

She knew it made everyone worry, and moving around with the clans helped for a while, but the dread always came back. Something was going to get her.

Moving to Aarde to continue schooling with the boys had bought her several months of peaceful sleep; enough so that she could hammer out her own pilots license and pick up a few side courses while the boys became doctors, but a wave of 'medical emergencies' had brought several ships to port and one of them brought the fear with them. She could go to a window and point at the prow of the ship that leaked darkness toward her it was that strong a feeling. She couldn't 'hear' a threat approaching, no, just the usual babble of voices if she listened, but oh how she felt it.

It was enough to alarm Braig and Dilan, and she was pretty sure they left a few doctorates dangling in their haste to leave with her.

Since then they'd done a lot of 'consulting' work, skipping along the rim to let worlds call on the men's expertise while she kicked in any way she could until they got their own ship. Easier to keep running and moving with something of their own. Sure, the men brought in a great deal of their steady cash, but she'd been able to click in to a lot of cons and rewards out there for bandits. The deck below her chair was as much hers as it was theirs, and that was important to her for some reason.

Sure Dilan was a better hand with the engines than she would ever be, and Braig had the business sense and the planning, but she helped.

And tonight she'd...woken up in a sweat again, coming up to adjust their course slightly and...listen. They rarely carried passengers, but this was one of those times when the money seemed worth the risk, and some of them were awake even at this hour. She listened, and sipped her coffee, and tried to convince herself things were okay in the wider universe. Next planetfall they should be able to meet up with her father and uncle, they were moving around in this quadrant, and she could almost see the intersection point now. That'd be nice.

She had to remember to tell Braig and Dilan they'd be able to meet up.

Hmmm, and that the blue crate in shipping had drugs in it. That passenger had managed to be quite, mentally, when there were others to hide among but now that people were asleep he was worrying about his cargo. Feh, passengers. Too bad they'd wanted to skip the previous few worlds where the boys were...not welcome. They'd balanced a few ecosystems much to the annoyance of a government official or ten, so it was passengers or really hope to snag a pirating vessel and steal their fuel.

At least the dread was fading, slightly. There was that at least. "New heading, captain, we're going to swing wide of the moons. I don't like them." The speaker fed directly into their cabin, and hell she could repeat herself if Braig was still sleeping the sleep of the dead. Saying it out loud helped though.

It helped a lot.

Comments

[sliceitwithwind]

"Hnnnnk." came through the speaker, followed by a low and amused, "Want me to wake him up, or is it something he can sleep through?"

[mitochondriaaya]

"I'm surprised I got that much," she admitted with a chuckle. "New plan, want to come with me to cargo and poke a crate?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Sounds like a plan to me." Dilan said, "I'll meet you there." Even with the Katzu-sized ceiling he habitually moved with care.

[mitochondriaaya]

"Yay for plans," she slipped her feet off the console and stomped hem back into her boots. "Bring a crowbar? Dunno how well this thing is locked."

[sliceitwithwind]

"Will do!" Dilan made certain to grab the crowbar as he passed on of his caches of tools. Years of being on less than sturdy ships made him have duplicates everywhere.

[mitochondriaaya]

Yeah, those duplicates meant she could show up with one too! Granted, she showed up on the upper walkway and had to jump down toward cargo but, well, crowbar! "So one of our passengers is a drug runner!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"You opened it without me?" the deceptively mild voice was nevertheless annoyed. She really shouldn't have done that, if only for the sake of her lovers who worried about her.

[mitochondriaaya]

"You'd smack me if I had," she snorted, bumping his shoulder in reassurance. "I caught flashes of it, one of the passengers is awake and worrying about it. Weird that he's been closed up so far and now he's leaking..."

[sliceitwithwind]

"Ah." That got a nod, and Dilan set his crowbar against the lock and leaned on it carefully, "Well, lets see if we just dump the drugs into space, or if we dump the man and his drugs."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Ah?" she chuckled, setting her pry end at the far side of the crate. "Some day I'll say something that unsettles you I'm sure." Some day!

"I'm not sure what exactly it is, he wasn't picturing it, so....maybe I should have brought face masks."

[sliceitwithwind]

"I've known you since we were kits," the big man pointed out, "I am quite used to, and used to using, your more unique talents. You run and get masks, I'll stop where I am."

[mitochondriaaya]

"It just means I'll have to try harder,"she teased, leaving her crowbar exactly where it was to step off for masks. "You make such nice faces when you're surprised after all."

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yes, yes I'm sure 'bug eyed panic' is a truly magnificent face." his laugh followed her out.

[sliceitwithwind]

Later, once everyone had enough sleep and was sure that the ship was fine, Braig settled down in the galley while Dilan cooked. They'd informed the passengers that there had been a small problem and they'd appreciate people staying in their bunks as much as possible, so there was plenty of space.

[mitochondriaaya]

Aya leaned against the table, eyes on the hall that led to the passenger cabins as she combed her hair. "They didn't pick up before bed, any messages from them?" she asked easily.

[sliceitwithwind]

"Not yet." Braig responded, snagging the comb from her so that he could do her hair for her. "We've got a channel dedicated to listening for them, though."

[mitochondriaaya]

He totally needed her leaning back against him right? Right. Enjoying brushing was contagious! "Okay, still seeing it a few hours out from passenger drop." She could see family better than most things, or further out. It was weird!

"Any other options?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Sounds good." Braig said, shaking his head slowly. Dilan shrugged, "Not that I can think of, honestly. We'll just...manage. We always do."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Yeah," she agreed with a sigh. "Sorry." Some time they'd end up on a planet for a while to rest? Until then it was this skipping around business.

"I don't know what they are doing in this sector, I don't know much about this area."

[sliceitwithwind]

"Why are you apologising?" Dilan asked, with a sigh of his own, "Seriously."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Because it's been six months since my last apology?" she waved her hands noncommittally. "Seriously! And weird dreams. Feed me?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"What kind of weird dreams?" Braig came to point, and Dilan was obviously also listening hard, although he stayed quiet while dishing food and setting it on the table.

[mitochondriaaya]

"Disjointed and violent," she shrugged. "Not reavers, I know what they feel like even in dreams. This was just...tearing metal and fighting and then purple fish I don't even know."

[sliceitwithwind]

"Huh." Dilan nodded, a little, then said; "Sleep in shifts and then go spend some time at home?"

[mitochondriaaya]

"Home would be good," she admitted. She missed the caves and the sea lapping against stone, probably more than she liked to admit. Not worrying about oxygen seals was a nice bonus too. "Haven't seen anything about home so no idea if it's a good idea or a bad idea." At all.

Home, after all, was several quadrants away. On purpose. "Shared showers though. We need some together time." If they were sleeping in shifts!