Chapter Three: Stir Crazy
Two weeks into their journey, Jyn still felt like the Princess had exiled her and Cassian. They seemed to be no closer to their destination, even though the map claimed that they would reach their planet in three weeks. The planet's name still hadn't appeared on the map, and Jyn had a sinking feeling that it never would. The Princess had sent them on a wild goose chase, expect it wasn't a chase it was an expedition. She was sure that they would die on this ship.
The ship, however, was very well stocked. It had years' worth of food, drink and medical supplies. It even had a store of basic supplies to build a large shelter once they reached their destination. Cassian had taken it upon himself to design a house as they traveled, leaving Hi-Five to navigate the ship most of the time. Jyn spent most of her time on the ship trying to figure out how she was going to spend the rest of her life. What if they were sent to a desert planet? She hated sand. Or a frozen world? She wasn't happy about the mystery of their expedition.
"It's important to keep a schedule when you're traveling through space like we are." Cassian warned her one day when he found her awake at five in the morning, standard time, sitting in the galley alone. "If you lose track of time, it can make you go completely mad." He added with a hint of a smile in his voice. He joined her at the table.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked when he didn't get an initial response.
"Everything," Jyn said. "I hate that we're still on this ship, traveling to only god knows where. It's so frustrating." She admitted. He sighed. Cassian understood her frustration, but he was having a hard time not enjoying the traveling. He had always wanted to just get in a ship and go somewhere, and Princess Leia had given him that opportunity. He reached out and touched Jyn's arm. She didn't flinch away from him like she usually did. He let her run his hand up her forearm, trying to comfort her.
"When we get to wherever it is that we're going, I'm going to build us the best house. It's going to have a huge living room, where we can hang out and read our books. Princess Leia gave us an immaculate library. I'll build us an amazing kitchen. I figured I can just scrap the kitchen appliances from here, since the ship will be mostly unusable after we land." Cassian babbled excitedly about his plans.
"I can't believe you're excited about being exiled." Jyn shook her head, incredulously. She was more worried about how they were going to survive on a world uninhabited by no one. What would they do when their food supplies ran low? Starve? Was that the Princess's plan all along? They had become an inconvenience, so now the Princess sent them away.
"You have to see the bright side of things." Cassian said. "When you're mad at the Princess for exiling you, just remember, you escaped near impossible circumstances. You survived, where hundreds died." Cassian tried to brighten the situation. "And now you get to spend eternity with me." He tried to laugh.
"Well I guess there's that." Jyn laughed too.
"We could make the best of the fact that our only other companion is a protocol droid, who is programmed for etiquette." Cassian raised his eyebrows, in an attempt to flirt. "It's just me and you. The last two humans in the world." Cassian added.
"Don't start that." Jyn said. She was blushing. Her face felt like it was on fire.
"I didn't say that being the last two humans in the world was a bad thing." Cassian laughed. He was blushing too. Jyn caught herself, briefly staring at the collar of his white, cotton undershirt, wondering how quickly she could remove it. "Our kids would be adorable." Cassian laughed, still a deep shade of red. Jyn unwillingly grimaced. She hadn't said it aloud, but she never liked the idea of having kids. In her experience, kids were a dangerous attachment. They usually got left behind when the adult decided that they were no longer able to keep up.
"You think that's why the Princess is sending us to a deserted planet? To populate it?" Jyn joked. Cassian thought about it for a brief second.
"It could be fun trying." He laughed. His laughter was cut off by a rattle that went through the entire ship. "Let me just go check on Hi-Five." He said. He stood up and then immediately lost his balance as the ship shook again.
Jyn watched as he walked away from her. Conversations with Cassian always left her yearning for more. She loved listening to his accent, and carefully placed words. He had a way of speaking that could infuriate her, and ignite a fire in her. She would probably never admit it, but she was beginning to love him.
Cassian walked through the corridor of the small ship to find Hi-Five in the cockpit. The droid was sitting in the pilot's chair, like he belonged there. He was a protocol droid, programmed for etiquette and service, not flying a ship, but had warmed up to the idea rather quickly, which Cassian appreciated.
"Hi-Five, is everything ok?" Cassian asked.
"Quite fine, sir."
"Did you hit some turbulence?"
"Turbulence, yes, and a small meteoroid." The droid said. Cassian couldn't tell if his robotic voice was laden with sarcasm or if he was being serious.
"Well is the ship okay?" Cassian asked, slightly panicked.
"Yes, sir." The droid said. Cassian took a seat next to the droid and began checking gauges and systems. Everything looked fine. Hi-Five had handled the situation perfectly. Damage was minimal, but Cassian wondered if they should land on a nearby planet and refuel. Perhaps it would do Jyn some good to get off the ship for a little while, while he looked it over.
"How would you feel about landing the ship for a while, Hi-Five?" Cassian asked.
"That is against orders, sir."
"Against orders? Hi-Five, you're here to serve me and Jyn." Cassian said. He was confused. The protocol droid was a gift to make their travels easier, but it appeared that the droid still thought that it was under Princess Leia's command.
"I was given orders before joining you on board sir, no landing, for any reason." The protocol droid explained. Cassian's brow furrowed. He liked having a protocol droid on board, but sometimes it was irritating.
"Fair enough." Cassian said, defeated, and dropping the subject. He made a mental note to check Hi-Five's wiring later. He wondered if he could rewire him to only follow the commands of himself and Jyn, completely deleting Princess Leia from the droid's data bank.
Cassian stayed in the co-pilots seat for a few hours, navigating the ship through a small asteroid field and reallocating the travel time. He had uploaded the map that Princess Leia had given him to the navigation system a while ago, so he checked it now, seeing if the name of the planet had been revealed to him. Where the name of the planet would have bee n, there was a string of letters. Ahchto. Cassian had never seen that combination of letters before. He narrowed his eyes at the star field that was being displayed on the map. It was thousands of light years away, weeks of travel away, according to the map. The five or six-week journey would likely be a ten, or even twelve-week trip, from their current position. Right then, Cassian made the decision to not tell Jyn about the distance they had left to travel. It would drive her mad.
For lunch, Cassian returned to the galley, to find Jyn sitting where he had left her that morning. She had changed into some new clothes though, and her hair had been combed into a style that Cassian thought suited her very well.
"I made Correlian soup for lunch." Jyn said. She pointed to a pot sitting on the stove. "I thought you might like a hot meal, instead of the dehydrated stuff." She added. Cassian fixed himself a bowl of the soup and sat down, next to Jyn, rather than across from her.
"You can cook." Cassian spoke between mouthfuls of the soup. "I didn't expect that."
"Actually, I just thought I would try it, because I have to have something to do. I'm going crazy just wandering the ship day in and day out, and I found the cook book in the library." Jyn explained.
"It's good." Cassian complimented her. "I'm glad you found something to do. It will help you keep yourself balanced." He said, speaking as an experienced traveler.