For the upteenth time, I wish I was home. Back on Danoria nobody acted the way this guy does. Normal people do NOT paint their faces, do NOT dance around when there�s no music, do NOT wear buttons that say �The penguins stole my sanity�, and do NOT do that with their tongues while they�re concentrating.
I suppose mabye people on Vandersham DO do all these things, but I don�t care. It�s just not normal.
I snort, hoping he�ll take the hint, and continue polishing my shoulder plates. Not that there�s any need for them out here. We don�t even know where here is.
When the Warp Gate imploded, or whatever it was it did, I was pretty sure I was going to die. I mean, how can you outrun a wave of burning oil travelling at the speed of sound? You can�t. When I saw that thing coming at me, I started saying my death chant.
Charon Vashito, who was with me at the time, might have looked at me oddly, but I didn�t notice. I was kind of busy at the moment. I figured I only had a minute or so to live, so I needed to get myself in the right mindset to die. Had to keep the Shield-stone honor intact.
But before I could focus myself completely on my impending doom, we warped. And after that unpleasent experience I wanted to be dead, but noooo�
I know now that little Lukas ran straight for the Warp Drive when he saw what was happening. Smart fellow, that one. So now I�m not dead, and neither are any of the others.
Instead, we�re lost.
Thinking I could figure out where we are by what distant stars and galaxies we could see, I checked the charts in the library. We�re not on them. That was some hell of a warp. Explains why it hurt so much.
We can�t even locate any recognizable galaxies.
So we�re travelling around at normal ship speed, and have declared ourselves the crew of the S.A.N. Phoenix. I volunteered myself as captain, but they voted for Daina. Just because she was majoring in Leadership. Big deal. That doesn�t make her captain material.
I�m interrupted from my musings when Makros� pencil smacks me in the head. Rubbing my forehead, I snatch the offending piece of wood. �Dangit, Dimbledell, if you didn�t keep tapping the darn thing, it wouldn�t decide to try its hand at flying.�
He has the sense to look sheepish. �Sorry Arlan, I do it cause it helps me think.�
Think. Yeah right. He�s just drawing doodles. The things we do to pass the endless time. Sighing, I return to polishing my shoulder plates. When you�ve finished with you daily chores, there�s not much else to do.
I bet we all go crazy before we ever reach civilization.
End of the Beginning
** Author�s Note: If you don�t understand something in the story, such as a word like �starport� or a suffix like �Bes-ki�, just ignore it. It�s mainly there to add depth to the story, and it would take too long to explain it. **