Hello and welcome to the first chapter of this AU! I'll really appreciate suggestions and things as such! So enjoyyy! 33


Chapter 1

Pony Express long-haul space freighter "Tulpar"

Crew: Eight

Planned Shipment Duration: 382 Days

Elapsed Transit Time: 147 Days.

A Week Before The Crash.

'Painkillers…Disinfectants..Medicines…All check.' I thought to myself, organizing the medicine that was sprawled out in the MedBay's table. My sister, Anya, was organizing the other medical supplies we had. While going through some drawers, the time we spent was fairly quiet, we were just exchanging words as we passed different medical equipment to each other.

"Maki, pass me the painkillers please?" Anya spoke to me, her voice was lively and alive as I nodded at her and handed her the painkillers I arranged according to their expiry dates. My att seeitude being more laid back and quiet, the complete opposite of my sister.

"Make sure you don't put them randomly sis, I arranged them by expiration already." I spoke, my voice reaching her ears as she nodded at me with a cheery hum before turning to arrange the painkillers on the shelves.

After I finished organizing the medicines, I unzipped the company uniform I was wearing, revealing the brown vest and white shirt I had underneath, I was a graduate at a medical school that me and Anya went to, although she failed, I went on and became a doctor, and got hired by Pony Express with my sister to serve as medical staff on the Tulpar.

I fixed my vest before I heard the MedBay door open, revealing none other than Captain Grant Curly, the head of the Tulpar. I looked at him as he nodded at me, giving me a small smile before looking at Anya, his eyes scanning the MedBay before speaking.

"Anya, Maki, how's the MedBay doing?" His voice echoed through the room as I felt my sister's eyes turn to me before I spoke, my answer clear and straightforward as I let out a little sigh.

"So far so good Cap, we just finished arranging the different medicines we had, plus cleaning up the MedBay a little bit, gotta have the room clean while you get your psych test with Anya right?" I smiled at him, my reply having a lighter and lively tone as he nodded at me with a hum.

"You two did a good job at that, Anya, if you're ready then I'll take my psych test now, I have to talk to you about some other things too…" He spoke, before turning to me and nodding a little. "Privately that is, if it's alright with you." I nodded at him as I gave him a short reply.

"I'm alright with that, I'll go ahead and grab a drink at the lounge I guess, don't wanna bore the cook now don't we?" He replied by giving me a small laugh and a nod, as I grabbed my company coat and wore it, leaving it open and unzipped as I walked out of the MedBay, the door closing behind me.

I walked to the lounge, passing by a happy Daisuke carrying a bunch of tools towards the Utility room, probably to help Swansea with the things that needed maintenance, the guy was just around my age, a little older, he's an intern of Swansea in maintaining the ship's integrity.

I walked a bit more in silence before being greeted by the bright colors of the lounge, the TV was set to the day theme as I looked around, looking for a particular person that was always in the lounge, either relaxing or drawing in her sketchpad. My eyes landed on the person I was looking for, Fuyu Suzuki, the Tulpar's head cook.

"Fuyu, what's up?" I approached her, as her head turned to me, her hand relaxed on top of a sketchpad as she sighed at the sight of me. "I'm okay Doc, is there anything you need?" her voice reached my ears, it was straightforward and quiet, as if she knew what I was there for already.

"Nothing really, I'm just going to be here for a while, Anya and Cap are having an appointment, it's her first time handling stuff like these, I bet it'll be an experience for her." I spoke, sitting down to the chair next to her as we both faced each other, the huge screen beside us as it played a cheerful image of a sunny sky.

"I guess It would be, after all she isn't a registered nurse right? I'm pretty sure she's getting the hang of things already, especially with you helping her out and all that." I nodded at her reply, letting out a little hum as I adjusted my company coat. "Right, I wanted to ask you about something, Fuyu."

"What is it?" She replied to me as I looked around, trying to check if someone was approaching the lounge or not, before I leaned closer to her and spoke in a whisper, my voice becoming really quiet. I knew that you had good hearing and you were one of the people I trusted besides Anya.

"I know that this may seem off, or wrong but…do you think that something's up with the Captain and Jimmy? They seem…a bit distant." I was always observing the actions of everyone in the Tulpar, the minor or major changes on their attitudes and actions were always monitored by me as instructed by the higher ups before the transport started.

Fuyu looked at me with a weird look, before thinking to herself for a bit as she looked at her sketchbook and continued drawing as she processed the question I gave her, it took her a while before she looked at me again and leaned closer, her voice turning into a whisper as she spoke quietly.

"Yeah I…noticed that too, they were a little distant during the meeting we had a few days ago, plus whenever I saw them, they don't even talk or anything, there was a time that I brought the Captain some food at the Cockpit once, and they were just sitting there and not talking, they didn't even look at each other or me when I gave them the food" Concern was evident on her face as I felt the same, something was wrong, we didn't know, if they had some misunderstanding or something but this wasn't usually how they acted. Jimmy was a serious person and so was the Captain, but even though they were like that, they're always lively when together and talked a lot.

"Right…let's just, let them be for now. Maybe they had a misunderstanding or something but for now let's just mind our own business, besides, we have our own jobs and they have too, don't worry about it too much. I'm sure they'll both…

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

…take responsibility for whatever happens." I replied to her, as I leaned back on the chair, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes as I sighed.

Fuyu did the same, leaning back in her chair and continuing her drawing, although her face had concern and nervousness in it, I knew that she at least felt a little reassured that things will be fine and alright. Like it always had been. We sat together in silence, taking the remaining time of our solitude as a chance to relax and de-stress. I looked behind me, noticing Kashka, the Pony Express executive that boarded with us, I made eye contact with her as she gave me a small smile, which I returned with a nod.

I just...hope things go well, with the Captain and Jimmy.

6 DAYS BEFORE THE CRASH.