Tales of the Stars

Chapter 4 - Liftoff

Dorian, Marisa and Sarah, all wearing their space suits, stood outside Airlock 28, waiting for Travis. They had hitched a ride into the city with the men they had sold their cargo to while Travis took the rover on his personal errand. Dorian had contacted him, and he said that he could give them a ride back to the ship but was taking longer than expected.

"What do you think is taking him so long?" Marisa asked, sounding concerned.

"Honestly," said Sarah, simultaneously amused and annoyed by Travis' tardiness, "it could be anything."

Behind their visors, Dorian and Marisa nodded in agreement before Marisa spoke up again. "I can't believe Gira left."

"He always seemed distant from the rest of us. I think he was just waiting for a valid excuse to leave," replied Sarah.

Dorian was about to say something on the matter but was interrupted by Travis on the radio.

"Hello, everyone!" he said like he was the host of a theater production. "If you would look to the right, your ride has arrived!"

Everyone turned and saw the Hopeful Stargazer's rover silently approaching them, towing two cargo platforms behind it. The contents of the platforms were covered in white tarps tied down with short cables. Travis was in the front of the rover, opening the door to greet the rest of the crew. Unlike the others, whose suits were coloured completely white, Travis had a red helmet and his suit had two red lightning bolt patterns down the sides of his chest.

"What've you got under the tarps?" Dorian asked inquisitively.

"That," Travis said, making a gun-hand gesture towards Dorian, "is a surprise for later, preferably after we've left the city limits." Before Dorian could ask why, Travis had jumped back into the driver's seat. "Are you coming aboard, or are you walking?"

Sighing and shaking his head, Dorian climbed into the seat next to Travis, with Sarah and Marisa sitting in the back. The rover's doors closed, and the crew waited for a few seconds while the interior filled with oxygen, then removed their helmets.

"So, I see Gira isn't here," Travis said as he began driving the rover towards the landing zones.

"He wanted to join the Luna military," replied Dorian, still affected by Gira's departure. "So, he left for Atlas."

"I figured he was going to leave after he learned about the aliens. I could see it in his eyes."

"You could see it in his eyes?" asked Dorian. "What does that even mean?"

Travis turned towards him and made a two-fingers-towards-the-eyes gesture. "You can always tell what someone is thinking if you just look closely at their eyes."

"You were both wearing helmets," said Sarah from the back.

"I have excellent eyesight and insight."

"You've been in this crew for 5 years," said Dorian. "This has never come up before."

"There's a lot about me that hasn't come up."

"Like what?"

"Well that would spoil the surprise!"

Travis always had a way of lightening the mood. Everyone was in good spirits by the time they reached their ship at the landing pads. Dorian activated the rover's radio to contact the ship.

"SAM, open up the doors, we're here."

A synthetic, monotone voice replied. "Of course, Captain Axis, welcome back."