third-person references?” Liliana quipped.
“What can I say? Helping out buddies always hits my happy button.”
“But what if my space sickness comes back?” Liliana’s shoulders slumped miserably. The whole ‘small tube flying at stupefying speeds’ dread started to worm back into her thoughts. “I mean, that could have just been a fluke that I didn’t feel like yakking all over this—”
“Hey, we’re not done yet. My helping hands have only begun to work.” Khrome now produced a helmet and manila spacesuit far too slender-fitting for his burly self. This was obviously why he handed them both to Liliana. “Here.”
Liliana stared blankly at both objects in his mitt-like hands.
“This is the point where you take both items and put them on.” Khrome thrust said items in her face again.
The doctor continued to stare with a puzzled frown. “Why would I do that?” Her brain, for all its xenobiology smarts, seemed incapable of grasping any reason for donning such garb— ever .
Khrome shrugged. “Since we’re going sub-orbital diving on Terra Sollus, ya might need some protection.”
Liliana’s small brown eyes slowly drifted up to Khrome. Then she broke into a nervous titter. “Good one, Khrome. Almost had me there!”
“Actually, that slingshot jump took us about three and a half orvs in realtime away from Zeid,” Khrome said, completely serious. “And we still got another orv to go. You still haven’t taken your spacesuit and helmet.”
Liliana opened her mouth to retort, a whole new wave of fear ramming her in the gut. Khrome beat her to the punch. “I’ll be with you the whole time. It’s quite safe!”
Liliana folded her arms and struck an obstinate pose. “This isn’t funny anymore, Khrome. Take me back to Hollus now .”
“Can’t do that.”
Liliana’s annoyance spiked. “You absconded with me under false pretenses.”
“Because you’d have freaked if I told you what we were doing. And because you aren’t ready to be a Star Brigadier yet.”
“You don’t know that,” Liliana snapped back. “And you have no right to hold me on this…shuttle prison.”
“Well then,” Khrome withdrew the helmet and spacesuit from her reach. “What I do know is that you came to me for help.” The Thulican’s voice took a serious tone. “How can I count on you on a field mission if you haven’t dealt with this problem?”
Liliana tore her gaze away. They both already knew that answer. The only sound in this shuttlecraft was the steadfast hum of stellar drives propelling them toward Terra Sollus.
“Give me those.” She snatched away the articles in Khrome’s hands. Liliana stepped into the shuttlecraft’s lavatory and came out ten macroms later in the manila spacesuit, with the helmet held under her arm. It fit her svelte body perfectly. But she walked forward with stiff and utterly graceless steps, clearly not used to wearing a spacesuit.
“Shut up,” she growled at Khrome as he stood shaking with barely suppressed laughter. Liliana plopped herself down miserably in a passenger seat. The journey didn’t disquiet her nerves anymore, probably because she was so mad at Khrome.
“We’re here,” Khrome announced. Another bout of turbulence shook the Unionjack back and forth for a few macroms, merely the shuttle breaking through Terra Sollus’s atmosphere. This made Liliana shoot straight up to her feet with helmet in hand. But the spacesuit was a bit stiff and the ship still shuddered from the outer turbulence, so she had to stutter step so she wouldn’t fall forward. The rattling subsided, and Liliana’s gaze caught something beyond Khrome.
Terra Sollus’s endless blue flooded the entirety of the front viewport. The shuttle now soared just underneath Terra Sollus’s atmosphere. White, cloudy billows had a dreamlike fuzziness as they floated past the viewport, revealing the green and brown chunks of landmass several thousand miles below. That was enough for
“What can I say? Helping out buddies always hits my happy button.”
“But what if my space sickness comes back?” Liliana’s shoulders slumped miserably. The whole ‘small tube flying at stupefying speeds’ dread started to worm back into her thoughts. “I mean, that could have just been a fluke that I didn’t feel like yakking all over this—”
“Hey, we’re not done yet. My helping hands have only begun to work.” Khrome now produced a helmet and manila spacesuit far too slender-fitting for his burly self. This was obviously why he handed them both to Liliana. “Here.”
Liliana stared blankly at both objects in his mitt-like hands.
“This is the point where you take both items and put them on.” Khrome thrust said items in her face again.
The doctor continued to stare with a puzzled frown. “Why would I do that?” Her brain, for all its xenobiology smarts, seemed incapable of grasping any reason for donning such garb— ever .
Khrome shrugged. “Since we’re going sub-orbital diving on Terra Sollus, ya might need some protection.”
Liliana’s small brown eyes slowly drifted up to Khrome. Then she broke into a nervous titter. “Good one, Khrome. Almost had me there!”
“Actually, that slingshot jump took us about three and a half orvs in realtime away from Zeid,” Khrome said, completely serious. “And we still got another orv to go. You still haven’t taken your spacesuit and helmet.”
Liliana opened her mouth to retort, a whole new wave of fear ramming her in the gut. Khrome beat her to the punch. “I’ll be with you the whole time. It’s quite safe!”
Liliana folded her arms and struck an obstinate pose. “This isn’t funny anymore, Khrome. Take me back to Hollus now .”
“Can’t do that.”
Liliana’s annoyance spiked. “You absconded with me under false pretenses.”
“Because you’d have freaked if I told you what we were doing. And because you aren’t ready to be a Star Brigadier yet.”
“You don’t know that,” Liliana snapped back. “And you have no right to hold me on this…shuttle prison.”
“Well then,” Khrome withdrew the helmet and spacesuit from her reach. “What I do know is that you came to me for help.” The Thulican’s voice took a serious tone. “How can I count on you on a field mission if you haven’t dealt with this problem?”
Liliana tore her gaze away. They both already knew that answer. The only sound in this shuttlecraft was the steadfast hum of stellar drives propelling them toward Terra Sollus.
“Give me those.” She snatched away the articles in Khrome’s hands. Liliana stepped into the shuttlecraft’s lavatory and came out ten macroms later in the manila spacesuit, with the helmet held under her arm. It fit her svelte body perfectly. But she walked forward with stiff and utterly graceless steps, clearly not used to wearing a spacesuit.
“Shut up,” she growled at Khrome as he stood shaking with barely suppressed laughter. Liliana plopped herself down miserably in a passenger seat. The journey didn’t disquiet her nerves anymore, probably because she was so mad at Khrome.
“We’re here,” Khrome announced. Another bout of turbulence shook the Unionjack back and forth for a few macroms, merely the shuttle breaking through Terra Sollus’s atmosphere. This made Liliana shoot straight up to her feet with helmet in hand. But the spacesuit was a bit stiff and the ship still shuddered from the outer turbulence, so she had to stutter step so she wouldn’t fall forward. The rattling subsided, and Liliana’s gaze caught something beyond Khrome.
Terra Sollus’s endless blue flooded the entirety of the front viewport. The shuttle now soared just underneath Terra Sollus’s atmosphere. White, cloudy billows had a dreamlike fuzziness as they floated past the viewport, revealing the green and brown chunks of landmass several thousand miles below. That was enough for
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