Dock 101 – when Casey arrived forty five minutes later, duffel bag in hand – actually had two space ships stationed there. One was slightly larger than the Benevolence, shaped like a fat navy blue chevron. The other was more the size and shape of a lithe fighter ship made to operate both in and out of atmosphere, though it was still a bit larger than the ones she used to fix. It was painted in a forest green, with Helga’s Brockian heraldry emblazoned on the side. Wide, aerodynamic wings were underslung with what looked like multi-barrel rotary laser cannons.

Assuming they would need a bit more room than what the smaller fighter could afford, Casey moved towards the larger ship. As she approached, a platform lowered on pneumatic arms from the center of the ship, with Helga standing in the center. She looked up from a tablet she had been poking at, and gave Casey a smile.

“You’re early,” she said. Then her expression turned to one of confusion as her eyes focused on Casey’s empty left jumpsuit sleeve. “Where’s your arm?”

Casey lifted her duffel bag in answer, and lowered it again. “Am I too early?” she asked, providing no further explanation. “I can come back.”

“No, no, come on in,” Helga urged. She gestured to the platform. “You can get settled while I finish pre-flight. Got everything? Toothbrush, towels, et cetera?”

Casey grunted in affirmation, though now she was pretty certain she forgot her toothbrush. Once she was on, the two of them were raised back into the ship, and Helga showed her the lodgings. A simple crew cabin, with bunk beds for four, though the beds were larger than she was used to. 

“It’s an old Ursid military ship,” Helga said. “Fits me well, but if it’s too roomy for you, let me know.”

“Are you sleeping here, too?” Casey asked.

Helga shook her head. “You’ve got it all to yourself. Captain’s quarters are mine. If you need me, just shout, I’ll be all over the ship for the next half hour while I finish up. I’ll come get you when we’re about to take off.”

“Thanks,” Casey said.

Helga left her to unpack and pick a bed. They were comfortable enough while still being the utilitarian build of a cheaper spacefaring vessel. Casey unceremoniously dumped her duffel bag on the lower bunk furthest from the door and sat on the mattress, taking in the rest of the room. What she saw of the ship’s interior on the way here was certainly military. Everything looked very familiar, just twenty percent larger. Grey, unadorned walls, easily removable floor plating. Various blinking terminals placed along the corridors. The bathroom was filled with stainless steel fixtures for simple cleaning. For some reason, Casey expected Helga’s ship to be more like her office. Perhaps she didn’t have passengers often, and the Captain’s quarters were more elaborately decorated.

Her thoughts went from the ship to the journey ahead. This was her first intentional jaunt into the Frontier. The trip would take two days there, two back. It would also be a long time spent in close proximity with Helga. Casey prayed that she would just let her stay in the crew quarters outside of jumps and keep conversation to a minimum. If she knew she was going to be subjected to four days of awkward small talk, she’d rather just space herself now. She laid back on the bed, legs dangling off the side, and closed her eye to rest it a bit.

She awoke with a start to the sound of soft knocking. Lifting her head, she saw Helga standing in the doorway.

“Ready to fly?” she asked.

“Snfwbl… huh?” Casey asked, rubbing sleep from her eye.

Helga chuckled. “Pre flight is done. We can get going, if you’ll follow me to the bridge? I saved you a seat.”

Casey rolled her eye at the joke and struggled to her feet before following Helga to the bridge. There was more room inside than in the Benevolence, even space to walk around a little. A wide front window spanned the tip of the chevron shaped ship, with two chairs below it for the pilot and co-pilot. A couple terminals were lined along the back walls with chairs for their users, likely for navigators and communications specialists.

 Casey took the co-pilot’s seat and strapped in for takeoff while Helga radioed into space traffic control. “Eulalia to Brock Station. Ready to launch.”

“Copy Eulalia,” came the response. “You are go for launch. Space is clear, take a straight heading until safe for jump. Have a good trip, Sir.”

“Copy,” Helga said. “Straight heading until safe.”

The Eulalia was fired up, and Helga taxied out of the dock through the vacuum shield. Casey took a deep breath and let it out as she felt the acceleration take her out into the void. This was it. 

“It’ll be a few minutes until we’re clear. Feeling nervous?” Helga asked, eyes focused on the forward window.

“Um. Yeah,” Casey said, who felt it should be obvious.

“Well, don’t worry too much,” Helga said, once she realized no further words were coming. “Frances is an odd one, but trustworthy. I was a little surprised she agreed to this, actually.”

“Why?” Casey asked.

Helga scratched her cheek idly. “She’s a bit of a mover and shaker out here. Got her own business and everything. Tell you the truth, she was near last on my list for that reason, but she reached out to me once she found out what I was doing.”

“Hm,” came Casey’s only response, half listening. She leaned on the armrest and stared at the twinkling stars. 

Helga side-eyed her for a moment, particularly her empty sleeve. “How are you doing? With everything, I mean. Holding up okay?”

Casey shut her eye tight and took a breath. Here it comes. She opened her eye again and fixed it on Helga as best she could without turning her head, though it was a struggle given that eye was on the opposite side to where Helga sat. “Feeling pretty easy to kill, lately.”

Helga winced. “Alright, I shouldn’t have said that when you woke up. I thought it’d be a compliment. Heard it after I said it.”

“It’s whatever,” Casey mumbled.

“Well, I’m sorry anyhow,” Helga said. She checked a couple of instruments before continuing. “Looks like we’re clear. Prepare for jump, this is one of seven. Ready?”

Casey nodded, and Helga punched a few buttons on the control panel. The ship AI spoke up for the first time. It had the same cadence as Benni, but the tone was much more feminine, softer.

“All Hands, Prepare For Jump. CDrive Firing In Five, Four, Three, Two, One.”

There was a feeling of sudden acceleration, and a sound like a large rock falling into a deep well, immediately followed by stillness. Casey realized she had shut her eye again, as if she feared some sort of disaster would occur. Upon opening it, she saw the view had changed, subtly. It would have been difficult to tell if she hadn’t been staring at star fields out of port holes for her entire life. 

“Wasn’t too bad, right?” Helga asked.

“I’ve traveled in space before,” Casey said, with a hint of annoyance.

Helga shrugged and nodded her head. “You have,” she admitted with a faint grin. “Did you always shut your eyes like you were going to die when you made jumps?”

Casey gritted her teeth. She was starting to feel hot under the collar. “No, did you always make fun of people going through hell? Or did I get lucky?”

“Just trying to make a little levity,” Helga said. “I–”

“Well I’m sick of it!” Casey interrupted. She started struggling with her harness, but how upset she was getting combined with the fact that she only had her non-dominant hand to undo the unfamiliar belts made it practically impossible to get free. “What do you want from me? First you’re kind and generous, then you’re making little jabs and jokes at my expense! I don’t even know anything about you, and you just think you know everything about me, like you’re Vulka or something, or– or– this… stupid thing… aargh!”

Finally the belt came undone, and Casey leaped from the co-pilot’s chair, breathing hard. She spun around to face Helga with the same expression she gave Vulka in the canteen, but this time she couldn’t stop herself. 

“You just have to be the hero, right?” Casey ranted. “You help the stray so you can feel good about yourself? Buy her an arm so you can hold it over her?”

“What are you talking about?” Helga asked, unlatching her own harness. She was starting to look frustrated. “I don’t do this for myself.”

“I don’t believe you!” Casey said, taking a step towards the door to the rest of the ship. “I see all your snide little half grins when you talk to me! It’s like I’m just your stupid little pet that doesn’t know anything!”

“You don’t get to talk to me like that,” Helga countered, pushing herself out of her chair. “I–”

“I don’t care,” Casey interrupted again. “Whatever gets you your little thrills is fine as long as it helps the stray, right? After I leave Brock Station, I’m done with you. Call me when it’s time to jump again.”

Before Helga could say another word, Casey stormed off of the bridge. She seethed all the way down the corridors, half furious at Helga, half at herself for losing control again. In the crew quarters, she headbutted the metal bunk bed frame a few times, trying to blow off steam. There weren’t any tears this time, just furious muttering and grunts of frustration as she took off her shoes and threw them at the wall as hard as she could. Some part of her knew none of this was helping, and was definitely misdirected, but the rest of her wasn’t listening. 

After a few minutes of pacing (including unintelligible muttering), she threw herself onto the bed, finally exhausted. She glared up at the underside of the top bunk, where she saw some previous Ursid soldier had written “Harraz was here”, and another soldier had crossed out “was here” and wrote “is a berry eating grinzt” underneath. Casey was put so off balance by this stark expression of normality that her anger fizzled out completely. She closed her eye, took a deep breath, and let it out. What was she doing?

She laid there for an indeterminate time, replaying her little speech to Helga in her head. What else should she have said? What should she have said differently? Should she have stuck around to hear what Helga was going to say? How much of it did she really mean? Eventually, a soft chime came from a speaker in the room, making her jolt as the ship’s AI spoke.

“Miss Black, Captain Urthstripe Would Like To Extend An Invitation To Eat Breakfast With Her In The Galley, Occuring In Nine Standard Hours. Your Presence Is Not Mandatory, But Would Be Appreciated. No Jumps Will Be Made During This Time To Allow For Sleep. That Is All.”

The chime sounded again, signalling the end of the announcement.

Oh, Casey thought. Great.