“Is it true? Is she alive?”

The crew waited, barely able to contain their hope, for Andy to answer.

“She is. One of the fighters saw her personally yesterday,” Andy smiled gently.

I forced myself to take a deep breath and ignore the tears prickling my eyes as I watched my crew grapple with this knowledge.

“Is she okay? Are they treating her okay?” Cas asked, stepping forwards without realising.

I’m not sure if they noticed Andy hesitate but I did.

“She’s alright.”

I watched him carefully. It was a different answer than he told me. It made sense. He always said that Captains should get all of the information and they can decide how much they tell their crew. Even if he didn’t tell me everything, I knew more. She wasn’t okay. They weren’t treating her okay.

Gem let out a whoop and sunk into the chair beside me, taking my hand and squeezing it happily. I forced myself to return her smile before meeting Cas’ eyes. He hadn’t celebrated like Gem. I think he knew his dad too well be fooled.

“Please be seated. We were just discussing your training,” Andy gestured to the table.

Cas and Cory dropped into them before looking at Andy attentively. He flicked his fingers and a large screen rose from the table in front of me and my crew.

“As you can see from your schedule, it’s close to your timetable on Nova however you won’t be teaching here. Your days will be slightly shorter to give you more time to get accustom to the ships and the way Freo operates. Recreational flying is more encouraged here because of the claustrophobic nature of life on a ship so once you’re comfortable with the Rec ships and Fornax signs you off, you’ll be able to travel again.”

“However,” Aquila cut in, “you’ll need to wear disrupters to hide your faces and voices. You may be followed back to Freo otherwise.”

The crew nodded but I just stared at the schedule in front of us distracted. I wanted to ask about what we would be learning. About the curriculum or the syllabus.But I froze.

Peggy’s absence felt like a physical wound. If she were here, she would have asked all of the questions I wanted the answer to but didn’t know how to ask. Hells, she would have asked even more questions and I would have been left with my head spinning. But that would have been better. Now, I just felt hollow and dumb. I wanted to know more but I didn’t have the energy to care.

“Unless you have any more questions, you’re free to give Aries a tour of the ship. Your lessons won’t start until tomorrow.”

I blinked and tried to focus on Andy just as he finished speaking. I didn’t have anything more to say. My brain felt like a useless blob in my head. I glanced back at my crew to see them waiting for me to answer Andy.

“No. No questions,” I said finally.

A smile crossed Andy’s face.

“Alright, you’re free to explore the ship. If we need you, I’ll send a ping to your screen.”

“Thanks.” I stood and looked back at my crew who were standing as well.

So, where are we going first? I asked.

Canteen. Cas and Gem replied at the same time.

The grin that spread across my face was unconscious as I followed them out of the war rooms and back down the corridor.

“Shall I be the tour guide seeing as I’ve basically been here the longest?” Gem asked.

I glanced at Cory in confusion.

“Cory was taken before you though?”

Gem rolled her eyes dramatically and laced her fingers through his.

“Yeah but he spends all his time in the medBay. He’s barely explored the ship!”

“Be my guest,” he said with a loving smile.

Gem returned his grin before standing up straight and clearing her throat.

“Do you want to start on the medBay floor or shall we go from the top down? Or just straight to the canteen?” she asked in a snooty imitation of the guide we’d had on a pleasure ship a couple of years back.

I considered it for a second before deciding.

“MedBay floor first, I guess? The garage is on that floor too, isn’t it? I want to see their ships.”

“Wonderful decision, madam,” Gem bowed before hitting the lift button and giggling.

It felt so wonderful to be joking around with the crew again. Gem kept up the charade all the way to the thick doors of the garage. My mouth fell open as the doors opened and I stared around the expansive, silver walled space. The familiar, soothing smell of fuel and burnt metal permeated the air. I wanted to weep for how familiar yet foreign it was. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed the garage and the ships but being here brought it all back. I barely even noticed the silver reinforced walls with tools secured to them with thick neon bands. Instead, I found my gaze roaming the rows of ships, seeking out Frida. But I knew she wasn’t there. She was lost to us.

I couldn’t stop looking at the ships though. There were more than I’d ever seen before. Some were small, strangely sleek one person fighters. They were little more than a long dark capsule with wings, barely able to even fit one person inside, but others were huge. Their wings protruded outwards, sheltering the smaller ships below.

And they were all tied down. Thick orange straps were tied around their wheels or, in the case of the smaller ships, they snaked over the top of the ship. I walked closer to the closest single person fighter without even noticing. It was so small. There was no better description for it. The top was entirely poly-glass, clear so that the fighter had an unobstructed vision but hardened so that it could withstand weapons without endangering the fighter. The console inside was turned off, obviously, but it seemed simple. It didn’t look too different from Frida’s. I circled the ship. The wingspan was small, but not surprisingly so for a ship of this size, with integrated engines. That would be better than the ships with the engines sitting out there on the wings. Less of a target.

The ship was a strange dark silvery black, like a lot of the ships in the garage. It would be almost impossible to see without a scanner. Especially with the advanced reflector panels covering it.

I reached out and tapped on the glass twice, not expecting it to open but it lifted with a quiet hiss.

“Are you trying to steal my ship?” Fornax called as she ducked under the wing of another ship.

I jolted out of the trance I had been in and realised how bad this looked. I’d unlocked the ship and had been debating climbing inside despite not knowing how to fly it.

“No, no! I was just having a look!” I insisted.

Fornax’s face lit up as she smirked.

“Ah, I probably wouldn’t have stopped you but there’s a procedure in place so that you don’t suck everything and everyone else out with you. You’d need to take the ship to one of the locks over there or hit the button and get everyone secured first.”

My gaze followed her gesture to the large, well signposted airlocks that I hadn’t even noticed before and I glanced around, noting four others across the large garage.

“Good to know. This ship is incredible. I’ve never seen anything so small,” I raved.

“Ah, you’re too kind. I’m pretty proud of this little baby. Menzel and I designed them a good few years ago but we’ve been making tweaks ever since. It’s fast as a bullet, undetectable on all scanners and fully equipped with weapons. Check this out.”

She leant inside, scanning her hand and pulling a lever in one smooth movement. The console flared to life.

“Get in. Have a play around. But don’t shoot anyone!”

I stared at her blankly for a second.

“Me?”

“Or any of your crew. I’ll power up a few different ones so you can all have a play. Don’t take them out of the garage, just have a look through the weapons and systems,”

She strode away without another word and I was left gaping after her.

“This is so cool! I want to have a play!” Gem squealed before rushing after Fornax and climbing into the other ship she had unlocked.

I shrugged at Cas who was watching me before carefully climbing into the ship.

“These suckers are revolutionary. Much more advanced than any of the doddering old ships the Council provides. They’re faster, more agile, better in a fight. Hells, they’re better in every way.” Fornax said, returning to the front of my ship.

My crew were in the ships behind me in a diamond formation similar to the one we used when we were messing on the simulator. But this was different. We didn’t have Peggy, our lead Strategist, shouting orders or positions at us. It felt wrong.

I forced myself out of my daze and forced myself to focus on the ship rather than how much I missed Peggy and how much she would have loved it.

“Can you go through gates in these? They seem too small to withstand it,” I made myself ask.

Fornax’s eyes took on a wild glint.

“It’s a whole new experience. The speed hits you differently in these babies. Everything feels a bit faster, a little closer. You’ll love it.”

Behind me, I heard Cory let out a shaky breath.

Maybe I’ll stay on Freo, he thought queasily.

“What are you waiting for? Activate the console!” she demanded, bouncing impatiently.

I looked down at the console and controls in front of me. Just like with Frida, I had a scanner to left, the route on the right and the main screen in front.

How do you activate this thing? Gem asked.

With Frida, we just tapped the console or activated her with our voice but this new system didn’t know us.

I wrapped my hand around the W shaped joystick but nothing happened. I reached out and tapped the scanner lightly.

“Welcome. What is your name?” It asked, the voice much more human than Frida’s pleasant tone.

Tap the scanner on the left. I thought quickly before answering.

“Aries. Captain Aries.” I corrected myself quickly.

“Welcome, Captain Aries. Would you like a tour of the system?”

A grin spread across my face as I stroked the controls gently, having missed the feeling of being totally in control.

“Yes, I would.”