With Nula and her crew leaving Rengues, Dr. Crux decided that Lunai’s team would be stationed in a moving space craft. It was smaller and less personal than the warehouse. To make matters worse, Kelang was allowed to stay on the ship as an informant. If Bliss couldn’t deal with the man, Entropi would possibly end up killing him.

  Her temporary mentor slept in the captain’s quarters at the back of the ship, leaving Lunai alone with Kelang and a pilot that barely acknowledged her. She didn’t even have Cromble to keep her company, having left her at Bliss’s apartment in anticipation of his return.

  “Hey Lunai, do you think Entropi would like this?”

  Kelang held a nice-looking gem in her face. It was a light blue shade with circles of green glowing within. Most likely the remnant of an asteroid or random space-rock that broke apart.

  “Maybe, but I’m sure she’s seen plenty of nice space rocks.” She settled back in her seat with a sigh. “Besides, I wouldn’t recommend giving an attending a gift when you barely know her.”

  Lunai opened her CellPulse in a desperate attempt to escape the conversation. She hadn’t seen Ashetana since she left for Rengues, but they had exchanged many messages since Lunai woke up in the hospital.

  [Lunai]: Ashy, please save me! Kelang is trying to think of ways to impress Entropi.

  Lunai titled her wrist away from her blue friend, hiding the conversation from his prying eyes. She received a message back within a minute.

  [Ashy]: Wish I could be there, but I’d just let him do it. It may be your only chance to see Entropi chew out an intern.

  [Lunai]: Haha, you’re so cruel. I don’t think I want to see a bright-eyed intern’s dreams dashed by the number one hero.”

  She heard the sliding sound of a ship door opening behind them. Kelang whipped around as fast he could. Lunai noticed his expression turn to a big, dumb grin. Entropi was walking into the cockpit, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. She was wearing the same hood and face covering she had back at the hospital.

  Entropi put both hands on the pilot’s shoulders. “How’s the search going, Pammy?”

  The woman under her grip silently grabbed her palms and moved them away.

  “I found a gathering of void sirens closest to an inhabited solar system. Poachers are bound to show up at some point.”

  Entropi groaned as she continued hovering over the woman. “That’s gonna take so long. You didn’t find any of Nula’s marked ships?”

  The woman scoffed. “She’s not gonna make it that easy.”

  Entropi turned away from her pilot and saw Lunai sitting with Kelang. She looked the zimyefan man up and down. He boarded just after Lunai, but Entropi already locked herself in the captain’s room at that point.

  She glanced towards Lunai. “Who’s this guy?”

  “I’m Kelang, intern hero! Your official zimyefa consultant.” He saluted her.

  She furrowed her eyebrows and frowned. “I don’t need a consultant. Especially not another intern.”

  “Well, zimyefa are rare, right?” Lunai intervened. “I’m sure he has some valuable insight for us.”

  “I trained a void siren and human hybrid. ‘Rare’ species aren’t a concern for me.”

  Entropi turned around and started typing on her CellPulse. Someone picked up her call on the other end, and she wasted no time expressing her annoyance.

  “You think I need a consultant?”

  Dr. Crux’s voice came through. “Good morning, Entropi.”

  “I don’t need another intern. I only took Lunai because she was already involved.”

  “Of course you don’t need a consultant,” Crux said with tension burning through the CellPulse. “You could use another perspective, intern or not.”

  Kelang piped up. “Lunai had trouble with Nula’s water powers, right? She could practice with me to fix that.”

  He was clearly trying to hold on to his position on the ship, but Lunai thought it was genuinely a good idea. She never expected water to be a weakness, and she had to act accordingly.

  “Kelang is right. Lunai could certainly use targeted training. He could learn a thing or two as well.”

  Entropi didn’t bother arguing further. She simply turned off the CellPulse and addressed the interns.

  “Fine, I’ll allow it.” She glared at Kelang. “Slow me down and you’re out. I don’t care if that means throwing you out of the air lock.”

  Lunai laughed nervously. “She’s kidding. I think.”

  Entropi walked over to the captain’s chair and laid back with her arms being her head. She kicked her feet up on what looked like a makeshift footrest attached to the seat. They weren’t supposed to recline, but Entropi clearly personalized this ship to support her laziness.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Kelang twiddled his thumbs in his seat. Lunai noticed him glancing towards his pocket with the space rock. She scowled and shook her head at him once again, trying to send a message into his head.

  Don’t do it, dude. She already doesn’t like you.

  “When she wakes up again,” he whispered to himself.

  The ship hummed quietly as they made their way through the stars. Heading to a void siren cluster came with many risks. If their ship got too close, they would be drawn in by the siren song and subsequently devoured. Even flying in their direction created an exciting sting of unease among the crew.

  Lunai could feel her skin crawling as their course continued. Kelang also looked uncomfortable, though he kept the smile plastered on his face. Lunai almost laughed as she thought about her mentor doing just the same.

  Hey, there’s something you have in common with Bliss!

  The thought was kept to herself. Kelang would have far too many questions if she told him Bliss’s normal smile was fake. Entropi and her pilot didn’t look bothered at all. Entropi was still lounging comfortably and the pilot was locked on her navigation screen. The creeping dread only got worse for Lunai as they got closer.

  “Have you ever seen a void siren? Like a full one, not Bliss,” Kelang whispered.

  At this point, she welcomed pointless small-talk from the man. She looked down and found that her roots were digging into the armrests of her chair. Kelang noticed as well, but continued smiling at her. It was oddly comforting.

  “No way. I never left Ya’ar before joining the GSA. School was my first experience with a lot of alien species.”

  “Um…can I ask why you decided to join?”

  Lunai focused her gaze on Kelang and gave him a calm smile, letting him know the question did not offend her. “Ya’ar is private, so we don’t exactly broadcast it, but the planet isn’t doing well.”

  “Oh! Is that why you asked about the savior plans on our first day?”

  “Wow, I’m surprised you remember that.” She took a deep breath in. “I was too embarrassed at the time to press further, but there’s essentially a giant weed that started burrowing itself into the planet’s core. The ground is breaking apart. Jungles are dying from the weed stealing their resources. Ya’ar is rotting from the inside out.”

  Kelang gasped. “That’s awful. The weed is destroying your sacred jungles.”

  “What’s worse is that we just let it grow for years. The weed itself was considered sacred; no one was willing to try uprooting it.” She looked to floor, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “By the time we decided that killing the weed was worth it, it had already gone too far down. Now it can’t be removed without destabilizing the entire planet.”

  “So, you joined to make sure Dr. Crux helps Ya’ar?”

  “Oh no, Dr. Crux has been on Ya’ar for years now. I met him when I was a teenager.”

  His face brightened immediately. “Ah! Figures he’d know where trouble is, even if no one’s broadcasting it.” Kelang moved his hands in a chopping motion. “What’s his plan to gut the weed?”

  “I don’t know why I expected any different. It’s the same as always. Replacing the ground with reinforced steel. Something the root can’t feast from. It’d slowly die once the changes were made, fading into a harmless dust.”

  Kelang didn’t reply. He turned away and started scratching his arm with a frown on his face. Lunai knew what he thinking.

  “I know. That solution would destroy my people’s way of life. I really thought the GSA would have a miracle planned, but even Dr. Crux has his limits.” She twirled one root on the tip of her finger in the air. “I’ve always had a deep connection with my plant matter. I figured if I went further, I could help the GSA make that miracle. I’m just waiting for my chance now. One day I’ll be on the apocalypse service.”

  “You already worked one miracle with that weird plant as far as I’m concerned. What’s one more?”

  Lunai chuckled as she realized that she was actually enjoying Kelang’s presence. Maybe the journey wouldn’t be too bad. She just had to make it through the existential horror coursing through her veins. She felt an especially heinous drop in her stomach as the ship jumped forward without warning. The pilot pulled a lever down and two safety belts emerged from their chairs to secure the interns.

  “Trajectory point is 100,000 astronomical units from the siren cluster. Setting autopilot to correct for any drifts to or away from them.”

  Kelang and Lunai barely registered anything as the ship moved. They didn’t even realize when they started screaming. Entropi laughed and lazily pointed at them from her chair.

  “Hold onto your asses, little fledglings! It’s only going to get worse.”

  Horrified screaming met the amused cackling of their supposed mentor. The pilot sighed as the cockpit filled with noise. Lunai’s guts continued to churn within. She wanted to jab her arm into her torso just to make it stop.

  Finally, the ship slowed to a merciful halt. The spinning stopped, but the pit remained. Lunai managed to take a few breaths as she looked around the room to steady herself. Kelang’s gills were moving rapidly as a look of terror stayed frozen on his face.

  Entropi stood up from her chair and approached the front window. She looked off into the distance, Lunai’s eyes trying to keep up. A faint glow was accompanied by the very soft hum of music. Lunai heard a similar sound when Bliss sang to Armageddon at the gala.

  “Don’t listen too closely.” Entropi winked at her. “They’ll eat your curiosity alive.”

  Lunai could barely choke out a proper sentence. “S-so what a-are we doing now?”

  Entropi rolled her eyes. “You two will be useless like this.”

  She leaned over and opened a storage rack hidden in the ship’s control. Several vials emerged with a puff of cold air. She grabbed two vials along with a small kit containing a syringe and a pair of gloves. She filled one syringe with the glowing purple liquid and injected it into Lunai’s arm. There was a surge of pain and a horrible feeling of emptiness for a second. Then it was quiet. The pit in her stomach faded away.

  “If Dr. Crux wants to stick me with another intern, he can’t complain about using twice the reality glue,” she said as she injected Kelang with the same liquid. “And now we wait until the poachers arrive.”

  Lunai and Kelang slouched back in their chairs, now covered in a cool layer of sweat. The adrenaline from the initial jump was still wearing off. Entropi walked around for a bit with her arms crossed before giving up and going back to her room.

  Neither intern felt like talking anymore. They both closed their eyes and let time drift by passively. Lunai heard Kelang start to snore, and soon found herself drifting away.

  “ENTROPI, GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP!”

  The pilot’s demand rang through the cockpit and brought the interns back to life. The ship’s navigation screen lit up with a red target marking another space craft in the distance. Lunai sat up just in time as something collided with the front of the ship. She gripped her chair as the vessel started to shake.

  “I got it, I got it!”

  Entropi ran out from her room and sat up front with the pilot. She stuck her arms into two inverted gloves sticking out of the control panel.

  “You two ready to go?” She smiled.

  Lunai steadied herself. An attending was watching her this time. She needed to make it count.

  “Just say the word.” She sucked in a huge breath, existential dread now faded. “I’m ready for whatever you need!”