It was the crack of dawn when the crew set out to the ship. They were all very anxious to get going and even though the trip would take at least three weeks, even if nothing bad happened, they already acted as if they were on the threshold of the temple. Aisha and Jim raced to the dock as soon as it was in sight.

"Were gonna have to leave some things behind to make room for you, ok Rotox?" Gene asked

"Sure no problem"

Gene was acting a little greedy when he started making room for the loot, and only kept the essential things. He was wise, though, to act as if there may be no second run for more treasure once they made their first haul. But then he got an idea.

"Hey Rotox?"

"Yeah?"

"You said that there were ships under the temple, right?"

"Of course", Rotox confirmed

"Do you think that they will still run?" He asked hopefully

"Well, from what I can tell, I've probably been in stasis for about a thousand years" He said rubbing his goatee, which had grown fuller in the last month

"A thousand years?" Gene exclaimed

"Yeah, but I was in stasis, so it makes little difference, as for the ships, they ought to be fine", he said with authority

"So maybe we can use them later"

"Maybe, but I think we should worry about that after we discover their condition", Suzuka said popping up from behind Gene

Soon the ship was fueled up and everyone was aboard. The Dock manager gave permission to launch and Gilliam activated the engines. For a few minutes everyone was pressed into their seats as they made their way out of the atmosphere, but gradually the G units lessened and finally gave out all together. Gilliam slowed the ship to nearly a stop.

"Gene", Gilliam's familiar voice chimed in, "please give me the coordinates of the destination of which you wish to go"

"One sec Gilliam", Gene said while taking the harnesses off. He went into the back rooms of the cockpit and found Rotox in his newly outfitted launch chair.

"Hey Rotox, you alright?" He asked

"Yeah, I just haven't gotten used to zero gravity"

"Don't worry about it. Let me do the flying. All I need are the coordinates"

Rotox listed them off as if he were reading them out of a book, "Tell the computer it's in the north quadrant of the searo-nebular plane at 45 x, 56.8 y and 30 degrees inward"

"I've never heard numbers like that", Gene said

"Cause' you never been there. Just repeat those to Gilliam. I'm sure he's compatible with them", Gene shrugged and went and did what he was told.

"Confirmed", Gilliam said, "Estimated travel time... 3 weeks"

"Yeah yeah, I know, let's just get going!" Gene said annoyed

Just before the rockets kicked in, Gene thought he heard, or rather felt a slight thud that came from the hull of the OS, but he disregarded it as common space junk harmlessly drifting around.

After a while Rotox came up front and looked around the massive cockpit. He saw Aisha in her seat and floated over to talk to her.

"Hey fuzz, what's up?" He said

"Apparently you are", she said pointing at him as he bumped the ceiling. She was glad that the memories hadn't changed him all that much.

Rotox looked out the window, "I think I like looking at the stars more when my feet are on the ground. You said that you wanted to do that again. Right?"

"Yeah" She said yawning

"Am I really THAT boring?"

"No", she laughed, "I was up all night again. I couldn't sleep with the thought of being rich running through my head"

Rotox frowned, "What's gonna happen when you're rich, will you even have time to look at the stars anymore? Will we have any more of those nights?"

"Of course! I think that once we cash in, we'll have MORE time to look at the stars."

Something inside Rotox told him otherwise, he knew what money and power did to people... He knew that even before the memories came back...

"Ok guys, I'm activating the stasis pods just climb in whenever yer ready," Jim called out

"I hate these things", Aisha grumbled

Rotox ruffled her hair, "You ain't got nuthin to complain about, try and go in for as long as I have! And at least you get "yer eight hours" your highness." And he got the warm feeling again as she smiled back. Suddenly he knew that this was one of the few people in his life that he really cared about, he would have died if only to make that smile last a little longer.

He backed away as the pod closed around her and she fell asleep. He stood there a moment longer looking through the pale glass. Somehow seeing her in there made him mad, not enough to make him change but it did none the less. Just seeing her wild and free spirit put dormant made him feel strange. He went to his own pod and closed it and succumbed to the tired feeling that crept into him.