Chapter 223: Developing A Case of Nyctophobia
"I am trying not to take that statement as an insult," complained Jun Li, and I could only roll my eyes as I waited for an answer. I thought it was a very fair question, seeing as I didn’t know if he could fly the ship or if the ship was even capable of it right now.
"Please don’t. I just wanted to know if it was possible to fly it right now," I said, trying to put the AI in a good mood. It was like dealing with a toddler sometimes. But then again, he had only been awake for just over a year.
"I can fly the ship," answered Jun Li, and I let out a small sigh of relief.
"And there are windows in here?" I continued to press.
"Ships don’t have windows," shot back Jun Li. "But it does have screens that can reflect the outside in."
"Okay," I said with a sigh. Where was a Snickers chocolate bar when you needed one? I was starting to get hangry, and dealing with my loving ship was not helping things. "Is it possible to find a sun and then use the screens to reflect that light into the ship?"
There was a pause as everyone turned their undivided attention to me. I raised an eyebrow, not at all sure what was going on in their heads.
"We need light, and a sun is the biggest and best light source we have right now," I said, rubbing my forehead. Did I want food first or sleep? The two needs were battling it out inside of me, and I needed something.
My stomach chose that moment to let everyone know just how empty it was.
Da’kea looked down at it and stepped back, followed quickly by Au’dtair. "Ha ha, guys," I grumbled. "I don’t have an alien in my stomach. I just haven’t eaten in a while, and what I did eat was thrown up while I was hung upside down.
Midnight simply wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me in closer. "It’s fine. Mine sounds a lot worse," he chuckled as he nuzzled the crook of my neck. "Shall we go find some food? There should be something in this ship."
"It has a replicator a few rooms down," said Da’kea helpfully, "That should be able to produce something that you can eat."
Yay me. I got to go back to experimenting with more alien food. I was never leaving my ship again; I can tell you that much.
"Fine," I grumbled as my stomach rumbled again. "Jun Li, can you fly us as close to a sun as we can get without us being pulled into its gravitational pull?"
"Of course," answered Jun Li. "We should be able to get to the closest one in about one catawr. However, there will be some sections in the ship where the sunlight doesn’t reach."
"That’s fine," I responded with a shrug of my shoulders as I tapped Midnight’s arm to let me go. Heading to the hatch, I waited for it to open. "At least we know that any bright section of the ship would be safe for us to be in."
"It gives new meaning to your enemies hiding in the darkness while you are in the light," chuckled Au’dtair as he came to stand beside me. Bending down, he gently bumped my forehead with the top of his helmet. "Now, let’s get you fed, little pet, before you waste away to nothing."
"We’ll have to remember to bring her food next time we go out," added Midnight as the four of us left Pahn’thill’s quarters and walked down the dark hallway.
I narrowed my eyes in the direction of Au’dtair and Midnight, the darkness of the hallway preventing me from actually being able to see them properly. "I am no one’s little pet," I snarled, my stomach once again growling.
"Ah, but if you were, you would be the cutest one ever," said Midnight, booping me on the nose like they had seen me do to Night.
Speaking of Night, he would have been handy to have around right about now. But we had left him on Jun Li, thinking that it would be safer for him. I kept forgetting that the fluffy not-spider the size of a medium dog was the most dangerous thing in this universe. I would have to keep him with me from now on.
Clearly, we couldn’t be trusted out on our own.
We entered a darkened room, and I let out a sigh. "Jun Li," I called out again. I would have to add bringing flashlights everywhere with me to my list. I had developed a reliance on my armor, and now, without it, I was as helpless as a newborn.
"Yes?" asked Jun Li, and I could tell that he was not happy.
"Is everything okay?" I responded concerned.
"Just fine," answered the AI, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. "What do you want."
"Is it possible to turn on the screens in this room so I can at least get the light from the stars to be able to see?" I asked hesitantly. I didn’t want to start a fight, but I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, and that was making me feel more than a little vulnerable.
With all my luck, I would suddenly develop nyctophobia as a result of this ’hunt’. Although who was hunting who right now was anyone’s guess.
I swayed a bit on my feet, and Midnight gripped my left arm tightly in his hand. Someone wrapped a hand around my waist, and the two of them led me to a chair, or couch, or something to sit on.
"I can," said Jun Li, responding to something that I had probably said but now had no idea. "And you should just be able to make out the sun from here, although it will probably look like a star to you right now."
"At this point in time, anything would be helpful," I replied with a sigh. A body sat down beside me, and I curled into Midnight’s embrace.
"Of course," grunted Jun Li as an entire wall of screens reflected the space outside. There was still a lot of darkness, but the stars at least let in a light glow, allowing me to see the outlines of the men around me.
And the Istar creature hanging from the corner of the ceiling.
