Starborne

Chapter 5

"You saw the blaster and the knives. She's clearly a fighter."

"She was only preparing herself for setting out on a strange planet. She's a pilot, Koryn, look at the Terran ship. I don't understand why you agreed to come if you're just going to expect the worst."

"You're too trusting Akara. I agree with Stefin, she might be dangerous. He mentioned the helpless act was probably just a ruse."

I heard voices coming from the corridor outside my room, and noted with satisfaction and a bit of trepidation that I could understand what they were saying about me. Akara and one of the males, Koryn, were engaged in a deep discussion. I rolled off of my bed and pressed my ear to the door, hoping to find out what they decided.

"Stefin is too wary of outsiders, you know that. We all talked to the Terran base, the ship checks out. No mercenary would have a cover this good." I recognized Akara's voice, and was pleased to hear that she was defending me.

"You're right about that, I guess. His Highness, wrong for once," the man scoffed, "although she has to be stupid then, to get caught in the pikadillo trap."

I heard enough, and purposefully made some rustling noises so they could hear I was awake. Their steps retreated down the hall, leaving me to reflect on the conversation. I was not surprised that they had been wary of me, it was smart of them not to trust my story at face value. Although rare, there were human mercenaries, and my heart burned a bit remembering one in particular.

"Ha. Definitely not where you need to go right now, Holly." I admonished myself for dredging up events that were better left in the past.

I absently mused at one of Koryn's comments. His Highness. It sounded in reference to someone important politically or a member of the Royal family. Maybe they had been in contact with the Capital about me, and had spoken to someone in the King's court. I rolled my eyes, noting that Stefin was apparently not too pleased with my arrival. He didn't trust me at all, which at least explained some of his behavior.

I got myself ready and headed to make us some breakfast. Akara smiled brightly at me as I walked into the room, and I saw the gruffer of the two men shoot me a suspicious glance before turning away. That had to be Koryn then. The friendlier man was amusing himself asking ALYX questions about the ship, and the dry boredom in her voice made me chuckle.

"Good morning all. Thank you for taking this journey with me, I very much appreciate the assistance." Despite my warning about the cerebral transfer, they looked a bit surprised to hear Cynabarrian coming out of my mouth.

"Finally we can have a proper introduction. My name is Pilot Holly Reed of the Terran Flyers, and I see you've met ALYX, my autopilot." I breathed a sigh of relief to finally be able to express myself, and hoped I would be able to finally make a decent impression.

"I am Akara, this is Koryn, and that goon over there is Groff." Akara responded warmly. "We are happy to help you. The Terrans are good allies of ours, and we aspire to help their mission by any means possible."

We chatted amicably over breakfast, and I felt Koryn begin to warm up to me. It was nice to be able to interact with people in this way, it had been a long time since I was able to consider myself amongst friends. Groff was the playful Cynabarrian who had smiled at me earlier. He was shorter than Koryn or Stefin, but had dark hair and light brown eyes like the rest of the villagers I had seen.

"You are young for a human Pilot, no?" Groff questioned, and from the glint in his eye I could see he was sizing me up.

"I started early. I may be young, but that doesn't mean I lack experience. Although avoiding hunting traps is clearly not my expertise." I poked fun at my mishap, earning a grunt of laughter from Koryn and making Akara chuckle.