The vastness of space. The silence of it. The stillness...
Nick stared out of the window. The quiet buzz of the electric lighting and the slow hum of the ship's engine as they cruised through space were the only sounds. His eyes were transfixed on the thousands of unfamiliar constellations. The way they just drifted through this infinite void was almost hypnotic. He took a deep breath.
I don't have time for this.
He got up and slowly walked to the door. His fingers slid around the knob. He bit his lip.
To put it one way, this unnamed assaulter had kidnapped him, his sister and his mother, in the hope of chasing after a power that had eluded capture for years. On the other hand, he could be right. This lone wolf had shown Nick the armour. It was almost liquid in form. It melted at his command, and reformed. It was as if it was linked to his consciousness.
He had offered Nick a home, a family.
A reason for being...
He pushed these thoughts to the back of his head and concentrated on figuring out what happened to Sarah's car.
He walked out into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind him. The ship was massive. It would take hours just to walk from one end to the other. It took him even longer to find the rest of the group. They were in the circular living room, just off the command deck. The long, curved sofa was crowded. They were all watching the holo-transmitter intently.
All they saw was fuzz.
"What are we doing?" He asked, taking up a seat between Sarah and a stranger, whose blue feathers caught the light in a spectacular array of colours.
The lone wolf's voice snapped him back to reality.
"We got a distress signal from Aquas. The communication got all screwed up. It's now nothing but a bunch of scrambled code."
"And there's only one person we know who can translate it." Nick's mother continued.
The bird glared across at them. "I wish you two would stop doing that."
The wolf returned her glare "Complain while you can, we're going back to Sauria, and you're going to stay there."
"Why?"
She got no answer.
Sarah got up and left the room. Nick shortly followed.
"Is anything wrong?"
She sighed. "It's just the thought that..." She started to sob. Very gently, but still recognisable. "We may never see home again."
He put an arm round her and patted her on the back. "I thought of that too. But I know that we will. We'll help this maniac-"
"I resent that!" came a call from the room.
"We'll help this maniac get what he wants, and then we'll go back to Corneria. And Dad will be there, and..." He paused. "Screw this... I was never very good at giving advice, but I'll tell you one thing: It is not a good idea to gnaw your own arm off." He grinned.
Sarah started to laugh. "Thanks, Nick."
"Don't worry about it. You're my sister, I don't want anything to happen to you." He paused. "Which reminds me... I've been looking over and over the tapes of the explosion. To be fair, it's unlike anything I've ever seen. It wasn't an incendiary explosive, or a frag. It's as if something just... entered the engine and left a... residue."
"Do you think it has any relation to the maniac showing up."
He thought about that for a moment. "Probably. I don't believe in coincidence." Nick shrugged "Then again, I don't believe in destiny either."
"Just forget about it. You've got more important things to worry about." And she stepped back into the room.
