Chapter 41

Derk's POV

The low rumbling sound came to a stop, as the drying machine finished its job. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally!" I said, yanking the door open. "This takes forever. Seriously."

I pulled out my shirts and headed back up to my room. Opening the door, I walked over to my receptacle and scanned my shirts inside. I looked over to see Shira, still sound asleep on the bed. I rolled my eyes.

"Shira!" I yelled, watching her almost launch herself out of the bed, terror written across her face. "I told you to get up ten minutes ago."

"Oh, uh… sorry," she hesitated, rolling her hand threw her hair.

"Well come on, we gotta get movin'; let's go!" I said, slapping my hands together. She jumped at the sudden noise and then quickly scrambled out of the bed.

"Alright, bathroom's there." I pointed behind me. "You have five minutes, so hurry up and do whatever you girls do."

Shira hurriedly grabbed her receptacle and ran over to the bathroom.

"I'm going to get the ship ready and if I have to come back to get you—"

"Okay okay, I'll be down in just a minute," Shira replied. I sighed, walking out of the room. Once I had reached the aircraft, my transmitter beeped, letting me know there was an incoming transmission. Seeing that it was Plank, I opened it.

"Mr. Plank," I acknowledged, nodding to him.

"Derk," Mr. Plank said, dipping his head. "I assume everything is moving smoothly."

"Affirmative," I replied, opening the hatch.

"What's your position?" Plank raised a coffee glass to his lips.

"We will be leaving Mercenary Territory today. If all goes according to plan we will arrive at your wife's home tomorrow night," I said, leaning on the vessel.

"Good, good," he responded, setting the glass down. "Um, how is… Shira doing?"

"Eh, for a girl who has only seen the sun once or twice in her life, she's doing quite well," I said, in a joking manor. Mr. Plank smiled, attempting to cover up the guilt splayed across his face. We sat in silence for a moment longer, until he finally spoke up.

"You know I never wanted that kind of life for her."

I nodded, refraining from saying anything. I didn't want to cross the line, especially with my boss.

"I wanted her to be like me. Work on the inside. Where she can be safe, but still have an impact." Plank shook his head.

"Then why didn't you?" I asked, unable to keep myself from speaking any longer.

"Oh please Derk, you know very well why I couldn't," Plank said, taking another sip of coffee. I nodded. "I trust you Derk. Don't fail me."

"Pff, please sir, if you can count on anyone it's me," I said, smiling.

"Well that's why I sent you then, isn't it?"

"Of course," I said, glancing back at the building. Shira was just now exiting the doors and was heading my way. "Sir would you like to speak with—"

"I'd better not. It would make the rest of the journey harder for her," Plank said. "Good luck operative. I look forward to your arrival back at base."

"I do as well," I said, ending the transmission. "Shira."

"Yes, yes I know. I was more than five minutes," she said, getting into the vehicle. I smiled, jumping into the cockpit.

"Alright, so hopefully we'll be getting you home by the end of tomorrow," I said, lifting the ship off the ground and sending us into the atmosphere. She rested her head on her knees and remained silent. "Okay what's wrong?"

She glanced at me for a second and then looked away. "Nothing."

"Oh come on, spit it out," I said, accelerating the vessel. "Better to say it now that I'm in a good mood rather than later."

Shira sighed, and dropped her shoulders. "I don't want to go live with my mom."

"Why? There you will actually be able to do things," I said, looking over at her.

"She was the one who wouldn't let me do anything. My dad actually wanted me to be part of the Orange Terran. You really think switching planets is going to change my mom's mind." Shira said, staring out the window. "She's still gonna be the exact same person and will do the exact same things. At least on Rasurzen there were actually cool things to do inside. Sneaking around the main building; trying to get passed the guards; painting the Marauders' armor pink, with my friends; putting smoke bombs in all the marines' helmets."

Shira looked at me. "You know…"

I laughed. "I thought you weren't supposed to even be around the soldiers?"

She shrugged. "Dad didn't agree with Mom, so he was really lenient. Huh, he even thought some of the stuff was funny."

"Look, I'm sure it's not going to be that bad," I said. "Give it a week and you'll never wanna go back."

Shira huffed. "Yeah I don't think so."

I sighed, typing into my transmitter. Oh man I'm going to regret this.

"Give me your receptacle," I said, reaching toward her.

"Why?" Shira said, putting her hand over her pocket.

"Shira," I looked over her and gave her a hard stare.

"What?" she replied, halfheartedly. I leaned forward and sunk my eyebrows down, casting a shadow over my eyes.

"Give it to me."

Shira sighed, reaching into her pocket. Taking the device from her hand I connected it to my transmitter.

"These may or may not be the coordinates to my favorite Tavern. It's where Vanessa and I used to meet," I said, finishing the transfer. I handed her the receptacle. "I did not give this to you."

Shira's look brightened as she clenched the receptacle close to her chest.

"And no I am not providing the means to get there," I replied, steering the ship around a meteor.

After a minute of silence, Shira turned to me. "Thanks Derk."

"For what?" I asked, starring forward. She opened her mouth about to say something but stopped. After thinking for a second she finally responded.

"Nothing," she said, grinning to herself.

"Exactly," I replied, smiling. "See, you're learning. Keep it up and we'll make a ghost out of you yet."

"Heh heh, yeah I wish," Shira said, but with less disappointment. She seems back to her normal self. That's good. Especially for what's coming up. I looked ahead at the oncoming danger.

"Hey Shira," I said, nudging her out of thoughts.
"Yeah?" she replied.

"Brace yourself. We're entering Blue Zerg Territory." I flew us passed another asteroid, checking the weapons systems. Good to go.

"So… what's the plan?" Shira asked, sitting up. "Like if we get caught."

"No idea," I responded, thinking. "Probably just wing it."

"Wing it?!" Shira replied, shocked. "I thought you said the Blue Zerg were a group not to me messed with!"

"Yeah… so let's not get caught," I said, looking over at Shira's distraught face.

"So exactly how long are we going to be flying through here?"

"If all goes smoothly, we should arrive at your home tomorrow night," I said. "About halfway through tomorrow we'll be out of harm's way. So long as we're not followed."

"Uck… I'm going to die on this trip aren't I?" Shira slouched in her seat and looked over at me.

"Oh stop being a pussy about it," I said, accelerating the ship. "Man you're beginning to sound like Rod."

"S-sorry…. It's just that I'm… scared." Shira said, rubbing her shoulders.

"We'll be fine," I responded, confidently. "I've gone on a lot of harder missions than this."

Shira let out a long breath. "Alright, whatever you say."

"Huh, we'll be there before you know it." I nudged her on the shoulder, making her rock back and forth. She shoved my arm, in retaliation. I laughed, moving the ship out of the way as a large asteroid rolled over our heads.

"Now look at that you almost got us killed already," I said, in a joking matter.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not the one driving," she said, folding her arms. I laughed and shook my head.

After another moment of silence Shira spoke up. "So… this may be kinda far out there, but I was just wondering... do you have a girlfriend?"

I turned and gave her an odd look. If Shira didn't have my attention before, she had it now.

"Whyyyy?" I asked, weird thoughts rolling threw my head.

"Wha— no, no, not like that!" she said, flustered. "I'm just curious to hear about your more personal life." Shira turned back to face forward. "Sense you know so much about mine."

I chuckled, letting my shoulders rest. After thinking for a moment, on what I should tell her, I finally spoke up. "I used to… when I was stupid."

"Stupid? How's having a girlfriend stupid?" Shira asked, distraught.

"Look, I'm not going explain it to you right now, it's just… confusing alright," I said, now feeling slightly uncomfortable. Oh great, now I probably look like an idiot.

"Sooo, what was she like?" Shira asked, very interested.

"Was? She still exists you know."

Shira rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, whatever. You still haven't answered the question."

I smiled, and continued. "Well… Vanessa was beautiful. She was funny, attractive, a good friend…. She was always there for me… and it pulled me down."

"What!" Shira yelled, surprised. "Pulled you down? How in the world—"

"Shira look… if I was a normal person, with a normal life, and a normal mind, our lives would've been perfect, but guess what, I'm not normal. I am a Ghost. When you go down a path like that there are consequences. You gain and lose and that's how it is," I said, irritated. She wanted to know.

"I've never heard of a rule like that," Shira said, folding her arms. She isn't going to give up is she?

"Well that's, because there isn't," I said. "Some things are just common sense."

Shira let out a long sigh. "I just don't understand. You were happy with her… why would you give that up?"

"Shira my life isn't a fantasy. Some things are more important than others."

"Like whaat?" Shira responded.

"The Orange Terran," I replied.

"Ugh." Shira slumped into her chair, giving up. "What's more important than love?"

I closed my eyes, and let out a groan. It was very difficult to stop myself from rubbing my temples. "Shira I think you've been reading too many fairy tales. Love is a personal preference, not a universal necessity."

Shira sat for a moment not saying anything. In a lower voice she replied, "If you lost your job would you go back to her?"

"Don't even think about it!" I said, glaring at her. She avoided eye contact.

BreakBreakBreakBreakBreak

We rode on for another couple hours. It was just passed midday and we had not encountered any hostiles. If we had been in Mercenary Territory I would've been disappointed, but we were trespassing through Blue Zerg territory. It was much more dangerous. If we were to encounter any Zerg we would have to run. The last thing I needed was them finding out our true identity. The Orange Terran would be in a lot of trouble.

Shira sat off to the side, resting her head on her hands. She would occasionally glance over at me and then back out the window. In a way I felt bad for her. Her parents were separated and thought completely differently. On one side she got a lenient father and a castle, but can hardly go outside. While on the other side she got freedom, but was stuck with the one who was isolating her.

"Derk?" Shira's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah what is it?" I asked.

"What is that beeping sound?"

My eyebrows shot up as I realized how close hostiles were. The red dots on my scanner were narrowing in on us. "Oh that's not good."

I launched the ship forward at full acceleration.

"What are those!?" Shira asked, looking out the window.

"Mutalisks!" I responded, dodging a glaive wurm. "Seriously don't you know anything about the Zerg?"

"They're firing things at us!" Shira shouted, squealing as one flew by the window from behind.

"Yeah I got that!" I yelled back, maneuvering the vessel downward. "These things are going to rip us to pieces unless we lose them!"

But before I could do anything else, several large monsters with tentacles extruding out there back flew around an asteroid, surrounding us. I halted the ship and looked around desperately for an escape. They weren't attacking. But suddenly a loud beeping noise went off, alerting me of the incoming transmission. We were being hailed. Having no other choice I opened it.

"Why look at what we have here," a low growl sounded. "And who might you be?"

Hello everyone. I have just now realized that Fanfiction does not accept the smiley face break... or any other breaks... so yeah. I suppose you guys have already figured it out, but if there are any weird scene switches, that's why. I'm, going to have to go fix that aren't I... dang it.