(Recommended listening: The Book of Peace by Harry Gregson Williams, from "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas")
In the hallway outside the bridge, Juno attempted to reconcile with his sister. Vela, still shaken up by the ridiculous stunt show he'd attempted, refused to face him and wouldn't be consoled.
"I'm sorry."
"We could have died," Vela stated, forcing herself to stay angry.
Juno felt the urge to say what he wanted rise, almost like there was another him, thinking his thoughts and whispering to him. He suppressed it and repeated himself. "I'm sorry."
"You should be!" Vela yelled as she turned to face him.
"I promised I wouldn't be that guy anymore!" he yelled back. "Remember? I chose you and Lupus over my ego, and my pride! I promised I would never put you two in a dangerous situation myself! But… I let it get the best of me, for a moment… and no amount of apologies can properly convey the guilt I feel right now. This is all I can do, okay? Vela… I'm sorry."
Vela could hear the sincerity in his apology, and could see the guilt in his eyes. She sighed and buried her head in his chest. "Okay… I forgive you." Juno relaxed, then stiffened as Vela wrapped her arms around him tight, compressing his ribcage. "But if you ever do it again…" she tightened her grip, cracking several of Juno's vertebrae.
"I got it! I got it!" Juno gasped for air.
"Good… and while we're on the subject, I think I have the perfect punishment for you," she sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Wait on the bridge, I'll be there in a minute." Vela collected herself and disappeared into their quarters.
"Great," Juno moaned.
Juno re-entered the bridge, wondering what Vela had in store for him. The clouds of Goldwood obscured any vision through the front window. Lupus, who'd noticed that the twins had disappeared, was up and moving around, monitoring the control consoles.
"Have we gotten any contact from Goldwood yet?" Juno asked.
Lupus turned and tilted his head.
"So, no then. We gave them technology to keep in contact with us, and detect any ship that got close… I wonder why they haven't hailed us yet."
A growl escaped Lupus' bared teeth.
"Now, now… let's not jump to conclusions," Juno warned as he sat in his chair. "You know as well as I do the Tribals aren't all that great with technology. It probably broke, and they don't know how to fix it… or forgot altogether."
Lupus sat down on his back legs, and resigned himself to watching what little view there was through the window. It was then that Vela returned to the bridge, holding Juno's coffee thermos and a cup of steaming coffee.
"Here you go," Vela announced, placing it in front of Juno.
"What is this?" Juno asked.
"Your punishment. Drink it."
"What did you do to it?"
"I may have accidentally take some… uh… liberties this morning when I made it. I wasn't going to give it to you, but… well, just have a sip."
Juno paused, his heart fluttering at the implications of Vela's general deflection about what she'd put in it. He picked up the cup and brought it up to his nose, breathing deeply…
Vela and Lupus watched as Juno swirled the coffee around in front of his nose, then take a sip. And then another. Then as he downed the entire cup in one gulp. Juno slowly put down the cup as his eyes furrowed.
"Was it bad?" Vela teased while Lupus sniffed the coffee thermos. The Starship had finally descended beneath the clouds, and the landing pad stretched out in front of them.
"No… it was good."
"Good? Then, why are you making that face?" The Starship came in for it's landing, slowing it's descent with it's thrusters. A small river and bridge appeared in the front view from the ship.
"Because I've only had one cup of coffee that's ever tasted this good. And that was right before we got attacked by…" a flutter of movement ahead caught Juno's eyes. No less than twenty insectoid figures, covered in and camouflaged by the mud of the river, were rising to their feet, wielding highly explosive rocket launchers.
"…drones!