Astrophysical (completed)

Chapter 5

"Okay, so I will be back tomorrow then. Is that it?"

He shook his head. "You can't leave the ship."

Her eyes widened, though he probably couldn't tell under the goggles. "Wait, what?"

"This is a mining colony. It's still run by Sovereigns which means the place will be crawling with them."

"So, I'll be careful. I'll stay away from them."

"It's not that easy."

"Ash this isn't fair!" Cassie could feel the heat rising behind her ears and she could feel her frustration getting stronger.

He didn't say anything at first, but his lips drew together in a narrow line. "Listen, the biggest problem is that only men in these colonies do outside trading. The women don't leave their work ever and your presence, whether being good or getting yourself into trouble is just going to tip them off and make them suspicious. So, I'm sorry, but I need you to stay here."

She frowned and then clenched her fists beside her. "Wish I could say the same." She turned on her heel and left the control room, taking the goggles off her head once she got outside.

"Cassie, I'm sorry," Ash began, following behind her.

She turned to face him, though it was hard to do since he still had his goggles on, he stopped inches away from her seeming surprised by her sudden stop.

"You know, I would accept your apology if it was more reasonable," Cassie said. "Like I get it! I won't leave, I will continue to stay on board, bored as ever while the rest of you get to stretch your legs and find a job. But the least you could have done was tell me I couldn't go get off like yesterday or maybe when you knew this is where we were headed. Do you realize I got my hopes up to finally go explore again? Guess that was a waste!"

She stared at him for a moment, his mouth gaped open slightly before she turned on her heels and walked away towards her room.

"Cassie!" Ash called again, though this time she could hear his voice waver slightly.

She just shook her head, holding her arms tightly as she headed back. Once she reached her room, she quickly closed the door behind her and then pushed up against it and sat down her muscles clenched and tightened across her body.

Cassie did her best, though she had to bite her tongue to do so, to not let any tears slip over this. After all, she was in fact angry about this more than anything else. After a bit, she began taking long deep breaths. Once she had finished this calming technique, she leaned her head against the wall listening. The ship was still, and she realized they had left rather quickly. "Lucky them," she whispered.

She pulled herself back up to standing, kicked the wall just let out more pent-up anger before she opened her door again and left the room. She walked back to the atrium and saw that indeed the door was now closed again, but it was so seemingly lifeless now, which made for the perfect chance to try and break some doors open.

On her explorations of the ship, she had come across many locked doors that she couldn't get to. She wanted to ask Ash about them, but every time they got too into talking about various planets and aliens that they she never got around to asking him. Not like how she was hiding her training from him still. That point was beginning to irk her, but she still had Dean's warning in her head that Ash wouldn't approve of it so she was making sure he wouldn't find out about it just yet.

Well now that she was good and mad at him, she wasn't feeling as guilty as she ransacked the control room. It took a bit of looking through various back compartments, but finally, she came across a small rod that read skeleton key on its long side. She pocketed it and made her way back towards the bottom of the atrium and into the outer hallways.