The transport gave a shutter and the human shook slightly as they reached out a hand to steady themselves. They glanced up at the ceiling of the spacecraft and shielded their eyes against the dull artificial light. The transport steadied itself and the human gave a sigh. They returned their gaze to the tablet clutched in their hand and the collage of photos spread across the screen. Their eyes drifted to a particular photo and they tapped it, the photo expanding and taking up the entirety of the screen. It showed three individuals, two humans and an alien adorned with white gowns and golden circlets, holding what seemed to be sheets of white metal. Klal smiled sadly. They sighed and tried to stretch out their arms. Their tunic and trousers stuck to them uncomfortably. Shifting into a slightly more comfortable position, they looked out to the window they sat next to. Their tired reflection stared back at them as they looked out to the starry void of space. A thin, dark face framed by straight, long white locks of hair that fell like blades of grass down the side of their face. The blue-gray eyes that looked back at them were half closed with dark patches around them. They shook their head slightly and ignored their tired reflections's gaze. The ship hadn't moved. As they looked past their reflection, the same moons and stars they'd seen when they'd last glanced out the window still winked back at them. "Klal?" From behind their back, a pale pink hand reached out and clasped their shoulder. "Are you alright?" They turned to their other side, where in the seat next to them, a woman sat. Almost human. At a glance, one might assume she was indeed a human, an assumption that she seemed to encourage. The visor she wore over her eyes just barely managed to cover the fuchsia and orange triangle shaped compound eyes. Her light pink skin might have been mistaken for a bad sunburn. Her eyebrows would be recognized as simply convenient pigmentations on her brow and the hair that fell in two neat locks would reveal themselves as horns upon closer inspection. She sported an identical tunic and slack, the only thing breaking up the gray palette being a necklace she sported. It was aged and worn down, made of a deep violet wood. Diamond shaped, it bore the symbol of a winding curved stem that seemed encompassed by the diamond. "Are you alright Klal? You haven't said anything since we arrived in this system." Klal bowed their head and blushed slightly. "I'm sorry, I just, I don't know-" They shook their head. "I guess I just zoned out. Sorry, I should have-" She clasped their hand in her and smiled. "You don't have to apologize, Klal. Besides, I'm glad at least you were able to rest for a bit." E'le said as she looked around at the transport's interior. "I wouldn't mind doing that now." The passengers of the vessel were all seated in rows of two, a silver aisle separating them into two sides. The seats were high, obscuring the passengers from each other's view but while they couldn't see them, the constant murmurs around them reminded them of the others' presence.
"-been waiting for hours, he's going to throw a fit-"
"Now now, no sense in worrying about a gamma burst."
"-telling you chief, it's just stalled-"
"-a captain from the New Worlds, probably never even seen a starship-"
E'le grimaced and shook her head, "I'll be glad just to get off." Before Klal could say anything, they noticed the tablet in their hand. "What's that you've got there?" "Oh, this?" Klal held up the tablet and showed her the image. She grinned. "Our graduation." She pointed to the alien in the photo. "I can't believe I was even conscious of the ceremony. I'd spent the entire week before staying up all rotation studying for the exams." She glanced at the human closest to her in the photo and chuckled. "I still remember giving you that haircut the night before graduation." Klal smiled as they ran a hand through their hair. "Yeah, although I don't know if we can still do that today. I don't think we can get any light razors that thin anywhere here." Both Klal and E'le's eyes drifted to the third figure, the human with raven hair. SIlence hung between the two as they both glanced away from the tablet. A deep and gravelly voice sounded over the intercom, "Atenshion, Atenshion. This is Cap'n Terpot speking." The Captain growled, stumbling over his words in heavily accented Standard. The voice faltered as the sound rummaging could be faintly heard over the intercom. After a moment, the Captain's voice returned. " 've regret the delay in ar scheduling an' thank ar pa- pass- passengers fur remaining patient dur'ng the unfareseen an' unplanned shtop." The captain droned in a monotone voice as if he was reading off a prepared statement. "Unfortunately, Customs Enfarcement has infarmed us this is due to a cell of Magians attempting to shmuggle themselbes across the star system." Klal gasped along with many other passengers. The current of whispers and hisses around them grew stronger as the Captain's words sunk into the passengers.
