As weak morning light hues outside window blinds, she wakes and slips the pillowy sheets off her skin. Satine is sound asleep as she does. She kneads the warm carpet with bare feet and steps to her discarded blue jumpsuit. It hugs her legs snugly as she pulls it up, arms and fingers wrapping in its gloves. Before she zips, she gathers her long, flawless hair into a cord and ties it with a small red band. Draping the ponytail across her shoulder, she pulls the zipper tight across her back to the nape of her neck.
She massages her forehead and squints with pain. If she could put on her armor it would pump the lingering alcohol out of her system. It's hard to do, though, when she's just woken up hungover. She leans over the alien's bedside table to get the pill bottle she bought. It rattles.
Satine grumbles and sits up in their bed. "Guh, are you leaving?"
"I've got places to be." Samus crawls over Satine to kiss them. "I'll text you, okay? Go back to bed."
"You don't have my number."
"I'll text you." She kisses them again and leaves.
The trip down from Satine's apartment does no wonders. Avo meets Samus as she climbs aboard her gunship, stumbling to its potty to vomit. NO RUSH, PARTNER, BUT WE'RE A TAD OFF SCHEDULE. YOU READY FOR TAKEOFF?
"Fucking dunce robot." She says in-between filling the toilet bowl.
HOW'S ABOUT I GO ON AHEAD AND PREPARE OUR ENGINES. BUCKLE UP!
"Would you—ug—" The ship's cabin fills with wet dripping and a vile odor. Then, its power ignites, a cool rush of conditioned air clearing away the smell as fast as Samus can make it. The metal floor lurches beneath her knees. It shakes her stomach, emptying what's left. She wipes her chin and gasps raggedly. "You have no respect for me."
AU CONTRAIRE, MON AMIE! I HOLD YOU IN NOTHING BUT THE FINEST REGARD. NEARLY AS MUCH AS BOSS ANGSETH. It puts its mechanical hand on the thruster, easing it forward. The ship rises. YOU SHOULD COME ON UP AND GET STRAPPED IN. WE GOT A PIRATE THREAT TO CLEAR UP!
Reluctantly, she gets to her feet and sinks into the captain's chair. It swings around to give her a view of the atmosphere. The sky is bright, then midnight dark, then starry black. The multicolors of satellites pass them by.
AND SLIPSPACE IN THREE… TWO…
"Hold it." She wrenches Avo's hand away from the controls. "I'm the captain. You go sit in back where you belong."
NOW, WE CAN'T EXCHANGE A DIALOGUE IF YOU CAN'T SEE MY TEXT.
"That's the point. Slipspace in one." With little warning the ship accelerates, its momentum throwing Avo against the back wall with a heavy clang. The stars stretch to wiry strings as space bends, breaks away, and becomes a long corridor of wormholed travel. The hull blinks in adjustment to faster-than-light speeds and settles.
"Next stop…" She sighs sadly, and says nothing more. The ship's coordinates speak for her. Creighton.