The phones had been dead for about a week but any minute, something could come up. Nel made sure to not stray too far from any of the computers or phones just in case somebody called in. She tasked Arc with the same but he was confident he'd make it wherever he was, whatever he was doing.
When she came into the living space to occupy herself with whatever work that needed to be touched up on, Arc was busy at the table making an admittedly impressive house, or mansion, of cards.

"Hey, don't walk so quickly, you're gonna blow my house down." He chided as he carefully lowered a card into place.
Nel made a wide turn to make sure not to destroy his work with a draft and commented, "I didn't even know we had that many cards."
"Me neither, but every time I lost a couple or a whole deck, I got a new one. Well..found them all."
Nel shook her head as she proceeded towards the work station but familiar sound and sensation made them both stop what they were doing.
"Oh shit, it's really close." Nel exclaimed.

Arc stood up and looked through one of the windows into the empty space around their ship. "Are we gonna die?!"
"Arc, quick we need-" Before she could finish, the space around them lurched and buckled and for a moment time and space faltered and bent. When normalcy returned, they were thrown back as their ship jerked with the deafening sound of metal splitting and bending.
When things seems stable, Nel raised herself onto her hands and needs and looked over her shoulder. There, piercing the hull of their ship and by chance keeping them from being sucked into the freezing void was the shell of another ship.
"What the-"

Arc rushed to her side as quickly as his Betelgeusian legs could carry him and he pulled her to her feet. "We gotta get out of here! If that thing moves and inch, we're dead!"
Nel nodded to him and they scrambled through the air-tight door dividing that room from the hall where they stood. "That other ship is far into the living space which means the control deck is totaled. We should be fine in any of the untouched rooms but we can't be sure and we can't risk it. We need to get to a pod and get out of here, especially if they decide to hit and run."
"Right!"

The sound of metal straining echoed loudly through the small ship and it jerked again. Nel and Arc made a break for the pod grabbing helmets and suits just outside it's airlock.

When they got inside, Nel fired up the control panel. The other ship was still lodged in theirs and that was made obvious by the lack of destruction being unleashed on their ship by the suction of empty space and alarms.
"I'm going to try and hail them and see who these jokers are." Nel muttered. Arc stood behind her eager to see who had warped into them.
After a moment of agonizing silence, a face filled their screen. As the dapper Ape man opened his mouth, Nel sat forward.
"WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR PILOTING LICENSE? A BOX OF CEREAL?!"
"Whoa..Nel." Arc blinked as he tried to ease her back into her seat.
For a moment, the man appeared as though he too were going to shout but instead he said,
"Our sincerest apologies. We were in a bit of a hurry and our destination wasn't scoped out before we warped." He looked off to the side in annoyance then back to Nel. "We'll cover everything, don't worry, but for now we really must be going."

Arc leaned in and he whispered to Nel, "Do you know who that is? That's Dr. Gel of the Gogol Empire!"
Nel blinked then she turned her chair around so they could speak more privately. "What?! You're telling me a Gogol commander just warped his ship right into ours? I can't even wrap my head around this right now. I expect this of some idiot freight driver..not a military commander. What should we do?"
"Well, they'll definitely be able to cover the costs of repair..and then some. This would also be pretty bad publicity. Have them tow us to the nearest planet, fix our ship, and we don't say nothing to nobody."
Nel turned her chair and she crossed her arms. "Alright, fine, but before you go, we need a lift to a nearby planet so we can have our ship fixed."
Gel became visibly annoyed, "We don't have time for such foolishness. We're not a towing service."
"Yeah well you're not doing too good at your actual job. It's the least you can do..tow a little civilian ship to the nearest planet, pay for repairs and other damages..then maybe your boss won't have to know it even happened."
"What?! Blackmail! I should just destroy you and your ship now and just be done with this! The fact I didn't leave your wreck of a ship was me being generous!"
"The fact we haven't hailed your higher-ups is us being generous!"
"I could disintegrate your little tin can before you could hail your god." he rumbled.
"Yes, hello? Could you patch me through to the Gogol claims rep? Thanks."
Nel and Gel turned their attention to the side where Arc was leaned on the panel with a phone to his ear as he idly traced the panels buttons. When he noticed them looking, he put his paw over the receiver. "Rude."
"Aright, fine. I'll tow you to the nearest planet and cover the cost of the damage but that's it. If I hear a word of this escaping, I'll hunt you down and I'll tow you into a sun."
"Deal. Our ship is too unstable to stay in and there's no need to waste fuel using this pod so if you'd kindly beam us up?"
Gel grumbled loudly but said nothing. The screen went black and the two were quiet. Arc stood beside Nel, the phone having been hung up, and the two were unsure of what they were supposed to do then.
"I guess we could go to the warp pad and maybe..see if they'll beam us up?" Arc shrugged.
"Right. The pad in the control room is obviously out of the question so let's quickly get to the auxiliary pad in the back. Put your stuff on just in case the damage is worse than we'd thought."
The two donned their suits and helmets then marched swiftly to down the corridor to the back part of the ship. Arc stood on the pad while Nel opened the pad to incoming beam requests. For a minute it seemed they would just remain in their ship as they were pulled along but then a signal came in and Nel approved it. Quickly she joined Arc and quicker they were teleported out of their ship.

When they arrived in the other ship, the room they were in was quiet and empty. They stood on the pad for moment then they stepped down. It wasn't immediately obvious what was expected of them so they remained side by side and took in their surroundings with an air of unease. When an airlock swooshed open, Nel and Arc both instinctively, but covertly, reached for their concealed guns.
They looked on as a man slightly taller than Nel approached. "Good, you made it one piece." He began making more of an observation than a greeting. "We were starting to think you got sucked out into space. Follow me, please."
Nel and Arc looked to each other and exchanged queer expressions. "Hey Nel, is he-" Arc began but Nel started forward after their escort and cut him off. "Let's go. The sooner this is done, the better."

Arc hurried after her and gave her a knowing smirk. "You were thinking it too." He murmured to her as they kept several feet behind their escort.
"Right now, I'm thinking I'm gonna pluck out your whiskers in your sleep if you don't be quiet. We don't know anything about these guys so keep your guard up, will ya?"
Suddenly their escort peered over his shoulder at them. "You needn't worry. We've got bigger fish to fry. If he wanted you dead, you would be already." he stated matter-of-factly. "So you can let go of your guns now."
Again the two exchanged looks, this time they appeared more like children who had been caught doing something they shouldn't have been and they tried their best to maintain a calm facade.
They walked down a long corridor for a few minutes in silence then he stopped in front of a wide door gesturing to it. "Please remain in here for the duration of the trip. I'll come get you when it's time to go."
Arc was the first to enter the room but he kept his eyes on their escort as he passed by. Nel followed suit as she rose a brow at the annoyingly calm man. Once inside, they paused to get a look at their surroundings and it didn't seem to be much more than a simple break-room type area.
"Before I go-"He began. Nel and Arc faced him and he rose his hand, palm up. "Your weapons?"
Arc crossed his arms and rose a brow. "As if. We'd be totally defenseless if you guys decide to pull something funny."
"If we intended on it, wouldn't that be the point?"
"Well I'm sure you guys could handle us if you have something up your sleeve. Just let us have this small piece of security, won't ya?" Arc continued.
Their escorts expression became more serious and he withdrew a gun of his own. "I can pull this trigger faster than either of you can withdraw your guns. I can promise that. I'm also a pretty good shot. Now I won't ask again, hand over your weapons."
Arc looked over at Nel who looked from him to their escort. "Fine. Do as he says Arc. It's not worth complications."
Begrudgingly, Arc grunted and withdrew his gun. Nel did the same and both kept their eyes on him.
"Kick them over."

Arc sighed loudly but he did as he was told. The man bent and grabbed it, gun still poised on Nel. "You too. I don't have all day." After a moment, glaring, Nel slowly approached him. "I said kick it over." He repeated, his gun clicking.
Nel continued to slowly walk over then she lifted her gun but the barrel remained pointed to the ground. He hesitated but grabbed it though Nel didn't immediately relent.
"We'd better get these back." She growled followed by something Arc couldn't quiet understand. The man jerked the gun out of her hand and watched her retreat beside Arc before lowering his gun. For a moment he leered at them then he turned and silently left.
"Holy shit Nel." Arc exhaled then he faced her. "Are you NUTS?!"
She shook her head and smirked. "No. He wouldn't shoot his own kind. We're too rare. Besides, a dead body is a lot worse than a totaled ship."
She turned away from Arc and took a seat on a lone couch with her arms crossed. Arc was dumbfounded for a moment but then he smirked lopsided and flopped down beside her. "I knew it."

For hours the two sat in the empty room left to entertain themselves and left with no idea of what was going on.
Arc helped himself to the snack and drink machines and they chattered boredly. As Arc downed another nutty bar, Nel was stretched out on the couch against the arm rest with her cell phone in hand. The airlock swooshed open and the man stood before them again.
"This is going to take longer than expected." he stated simply. Nel sat up and Arc choked down his mouthful.
"What? Why?" He asked visibly agitated.
The man looked at him for a moment, not amused by the Betelgeusian with chocolate around his mouth. "Don't worry about that. I've set up accommodations for the two of you. We should be at the nearest planet in a few days. In the mean time, you are not to leave your rooms."
Nel swung her legs to the floor and she stood. "What happened? Where's our ship? We have things to do too you know."
"Your ship is fine. Well..as fine as it was when this all began anyway. We would have simply warped to the nearest planet but..for reasons that aren't any of your business, we can't do that right now so you'll have to just chill out for a little while."
"Where are our guns?" Nel demanded.
"Oh, those. You won't be getting them back until we've dropped you off. Sorry." He said rather unconvincingly.
"Let's just go. I'm tired." Nel sighed. The man gestured for them to follow then he began down the hall.

After a few moments of silent walking, Nel quickened her pace to walk side by side with their escort, "What's your name anyway. Might as well known in case we need to summon you or something."
He gave her a somewhat annoyed look, "I'm not a butler. You'll have what you need in the rooms." He looked over his shoulder back at Arc, "Including bathrooms." he said as he made a circular motion around his mouth. Arc blinked then he rubbed furiously at the chocolate that marked his fur. "It's Bea by the way. I don't imagine we'll be seeing a lot of each other though so it doesn't really matter."
Nel was quiet for a moment but as they neared a corner she spoke up, "Well, I'm Nel and that's Arc. We were just a couple of Pest Control workers until you guys parked your ship in ours."
"I'm sure your parents are proud." he responded fairly blase.
"Pft. More than yours I'm sure. Working for the Gogol Empire, they must have been excited to hear about that. Though kids who grow up to work for the Gogol Empire don't usually have such great parents."
He stopped suddenly and for a moment she thought he was going to rip her one but he just gestured to the door beside him. "This is it. Stay in here unless otherwise instructed." He said curtly then began to turn as Arc caught up. Mid-turn he added,"My parents are dead." then he looked as though were were going to add something else but he just turned away and silently left them again.
"Whoa, what did I miss?"
Nel couldn't force herself to open her mouth and speak until Bea had turned the corner and was out of sight. "Oh..just me cramming my foot into my stomach." She said quietly. "Er, let's get inside. Maybe we can catch some Z's and get to the planet sooner than planned."

A few hours after they arrived and after Arc had crashed, Nel sat at the table below the window and stared into the cosmos. A small lamp above the kitchenette sink was the only thing that illuminated the main room and the only sound to be heard was Arc's snoring from the bedroom. In the distance, a flicker of light streaked then vanished. Nel sighed and looked into the bare room. It was then she realized that she was hungry but the room obviously wouldn't be stocked.

"Shit..guess I gotta run to that room we were in earlier. I remember where it is; could probably get in and out without being detected." She thought to herself.
She stood and before leaving, she cracked the door open to Arc's room to find him in a deep asleep in a ball on his own bed. He stirred only to nestle his face into his beanie which had fallen off in his sleep. Once his snoring resumed, she pulled the door against the frame but she didn't shut it.
Nel stood at the door separating her from the corridor for a moment and she considered whether or not she was really hungry enough to sneak around a Gogol commander's ship, especially with the shifty little nerd running around. The gurgle in her gut assured her that she was. It was just a harmless snack run after all.

She poked her head out as if afraid somebody would be standing watch, but there was no one. She stepped into the corridor and listened for a moment hearing nothing but the buzzing of lights and distant roar of machinery. Deeming it safe, she quietly trecked back the way they came to the room they were originally kept. Nel kept her ears peeled for the slightest sound of footsteps or speech but it was completely silent. When she reached the right hall, the correct door eluded her. Which one had it been? She stood before the first door she thought to be correct but it didn't open. She repeated this with the next and again, nothing happened. She was beginning to think maybe they automatically locked and could be opened with a proximity device their escort had but the third door swooshed right open.
Nel jumped in her skin and her breath caught when she saw who was sitting at the table. He looked up at her and furrowed his brow. "I thought I told you to stay in the room."
Nel fumbled with her words for a moment then she managed to respond, "Well there was nothing to eat and watching Arc stuff his face earlier killed my appetite while I was in here."
He just looked to her for a moment then turned his attention back to where it was which was through the window. She realized that they had the same view and that they were possibly looking at the same thing minutes ago. Had he seen the shooting star too?
Taking his silence as permission to proceed, she stepped into the room and approached the machine. A curt chuckle escaped her and she could hear Bea shift behind her. She could almost see his inquisitive brow raise.
"Arc ate so much earlier, I'm surprised there's anything left in here." She explained without turning. He was silent and it made her wonder if he'd even cared or heard her chuckle to begin with. She inserted the coins, made her selection and grabbed the trail mix then turned. The only place to sit was at the table. The couch would have been awkward, too obvious that she was keeping her distance.
She sat across from him as he continued to gaze out the window with his hand around his mug of partially drunken coffee. As quietly as she could, she opened the package but the crinkling plastic was embarrassingly loud in the silence. She popped a couple of peanuts into her mouth and chewed. The silence between then was becoming enormous and unbearable.
Her mouth uttered the first thing her mind came up with without first consulting her. "I'm sorry about earlier. What I said." She looked at him expectantly but he only waved it off. She couldn't tell if he was dismissing her apology or if he was telling her to just forget it. Blushing, she began to sort her trail mix to try and take her mind off of it.
Suddenly she heard a soft sound like a scoff. She looked up and found him looking to her, amused. "What?" she asked a bit more curtly than she meant.
"Nothing, it's just, you're sorting out your trail mix."
She slipped a colored candy into her mouth, "Yeah so?"
"Thought I was the only one who did that." He said then he sipped from his mug as he peered at her from over the rim.
Nel snickered, "Yeah, you're the only person in the whole universe who sorts out their trail mix."
"You know what I mean."
The two shared wry smirks and became quiet again. She picked at her piles, the silence making her uncomfortable which made her consume the trail mix quicker than she'd planned. It dawned on her that she could have just went back to the room and things became more awkward for her. She wondered what he thought of her electing to stay there instead of go back.
"So, what brings you down here." She asked before she realized it.
Bea shrugged a shoulder. "Just this. The coffee I mean. Things are slow right now so-"
She nodded. "Let me tell you about slow. We haven't had a call in about a week."
"Oh right, you guys are pest control."
She nodded again and drove a little colored candy around on the table with the tip of her finger while she rested her cheek in the other hand. "Ye-up. Exciting stuff." She sighed.
"I would think so. Chasing and trapping dangerous vermin or whatever."
Nel looked up, brows raised. "Well, yeah I guess so. It's mostly little stuff but every now and then we get to wrassle something exciting. So, what exactly do you do? I mean..if it's 'not any of my business'"
He smirked lopsidedly, "Nothing terribly exciting. Build machines of varying sorts, help my boss with some things. Kind of his right-hand-man I suppose."
"Ah, right hand man of a Gogol Commander. That sounds pretty exciting if you ask me."
"It has it's days."
The two were quiet again as Nel idly tapped a raisin from the pile. Suddenly Bea picked up a couple and popped them into his mouth. She snirked, "Ew."
"What? They're basically concentrated raisins."
"Hn, well help yourself. I can't stand them unless they're covered in chocolate."
He chewed for a moment then asked, "Why not eat them with the chocolate candies then?"
Nel blinked. "Oh, I..I don't know. That never actually occurred to me."
He shifted in his seat facing her more. "Guess that's why I'm an engineer and you're in Pest control."
She flicked a raisin at him and it plopped into his coffee. "Oh! My bad. I wasn't aiming for your coffee-"
"I don't like raisins that much. Hn..sank like a rock. I should be getting back anyway."
Nel bit her bottom lip blushing from guilt and embarrassment but as he stood, he offered a slight grin as if to assure her that it really wasn't a big deal.
She stood too. "Same. If Arc wakes up and I'm not there, who knows what he'll do."
She walked to the bin to toss out the wrapper and followed behind Bea as he vacated the room. The two went opposite ways but he suddenly called down the hall to her. "Sorry."
Nel stopped then turned "Huh?"
"I wasn't exactly hospital when you guys showed up."
"O-oh." She shrugged a shoulder. "It's whatever. I yelled at your boss so I guess we're even."
They laughed stiffly then they parted ways in awkward silence.
When Nel returned, Arc was still sound asleep. She crawled into her bed and pulled the blanket over herself instead of crawling beneath them. The events of the last hour replayed in her head over and over and she was sure she wouldn't be able to fall asleep. She couldn't stop thinking about him.