Knowing that we had both time and a series of tentative plans took a lot of the stress out of sailing the deep black, though not all of it. If people were rational, we’d probably always feel the stress since space was dangerous and there was always a chance that you wouldn’t make it home, but we weren’t rational, so situations like this brought that reality to the forefront.

  As we rode the first current into the unknown, the incident at Midding Station was the prime topic for conversation. I lost track of how many times I told the story, and I knew the others were just as busy.

  “You’d think they’d get bored of hearing about it,” I grumbled to the other three one night at dinner.

  Jara gave me a look that implied I was being silly. “Of course they’re obsessed. We’re on a ship—it’s rare that anything interesting happens, especially something interesting that only a few of us were a part of. Don’t worry, it’ll blow over in another day or two. Mostly.”

  Ani nodded. “She’s right. Even without something else to occupy their minds, they’ll get bored of it soon enough.”

  “You’re probably right,” I admitted with a sigh. “I guess I can see how it was an interesting story.”

  “Yeah!” replied Ani. “We were pretty badass, after all—you and Jara most of all.”

  “Well, we both have a lot of hand-to-hand training.”

  “True. What do you think, Isa? You’ve been fairly quiet tonight.”

  “Huh? Oh, sorry, I was thinking about this new invention idea. What was the question?”

  The three of us laughed.

  “Never change, Isa,” I said.

  She just shrugged and returned to her meal, prompting the rest of us to copy her.

  So it went until we reached the first system on our journey. We left the major current and entered the system before running a series of scans. Because we had a goal, time, and backing, we scanned the system a touch more thoroughly to make sure we had all the data we needed.

  We were all excited to learn that the data matched up with some of the predictions central command had made, so the captain ordered us down the route judged most likely to succeed.

  Once that happened, most of the talk of our adventure at the station dropped off in favor of speculation about what we would end up finding. There was even some betting about various things like how many systems before we reached our previously-mapped route and which system we’d end up in. I abstained from the betting as usual, not wanting to get in that habit, though some of my friends put down some bets.

  Over the next few days as we traveled toward the second system, things settled into some semblance of normalcy. Thanks to the seeming success of the beginning of the mission, the mood stayed relatively high, with a general belief that the mission overall would succeed.

  “You sure you don’t want to place a bet, Doctor Juniper?” Jara asked at one point during the trip.

  I laughed. “You see, it wouldn’t be fair, me and my fancy degree? After all, I literally did my thesis on aether currents.” My tone was joking but there was a thread of seriousness to it. I was kind of an expert.

  She tapped her chin. “Good point. Nevermind, you definitely should not bet, unless it’s against the new folks. Then go ahead.”

  I shook my head in faux exasperation. “How could you wish such malice on the newest members of our motley troupe? Shame on you!”

  “I would never! Why, I merely wished to welcome them in the grand traditions of the navy!”

  “…The traditions where we trick them into a bad bet and take their money?”

  “Exactly! Nah, but for real—got any insider information?”

  I shook my head. “Not really—if I thought I could have done anything better than the experts at central command, I would have already given them the information.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense.” She sighed. “Guess I’ll have to be like everyone else then.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  When we arrived in the second system, there was some mild disappointment. The most optimistic predictions from central command proved inaccurate, but others were still viable. Of course, the most disappointed crew members were those who had bet on the routes that had already proven false, but I knew they would get over it, likely by making further bets.

  Isa had been awfully quiet over the past week or so, spending a lot of time in the workshop. One night on the way to the third system, Ani brought it up.

  “What do you think she’s working on?”

  “Probably another calculator or something,” Jara replied.

  “Hmm, want to bet on it?”

  “Sure, what are the terms?”

  “Closest guess has to serve meals and shit to the other for a week.”

  “How are we gonna determine who was closest?”

  Ani looked over at me. “Dax can be the judge.”

  I nodded slowly. “I can do that.”

  “Perfect! So, Jara, you’re guessing a calculator, right?”

  “Yeah, sure, I’ll stick with that.”

  “Okay, then my guess is another alarm clock of some sort.”

  “It’s a bet, then.”

  “A bet.”

  “Witnessed.”

  The three of us paused for a moment before something occurred to me.

  “Uh, are we just going to go ask her or wait for her to finish and excitedly show us her newest incomprehensible creation?”

  The other two looked at each other for a few seconds, then nodded simultaneously and responded in unison, ““Wait.””

  I shrugged and dealt the cards.

  We only ended up having to wait two days before Isa burst into the lounge, her usual bouncy demeanor on overdrive.

  “It works! It works!” she exclaimed.

  “Uh, what works, Isa?” I asked.

  “My newest invention!”

  “Let’s go see, then. Come on, you two, let’s go!”

  The three of us followed Isa to the workshop where, sitting on a bench, was what could only be called a “contraption.”

  “Uh, what does it do?” I asked cautiously.

  “It juggles!”

  The three of us stared at her, uncomprehendingly.

  “It… juggles?”

  “Yeah! You know, tossing balls in the air in a cycle?”

  “Yeah, I know what juggling is. I think we need to see this in action.”

  “Definitely,” agreed Jara.

  “Okay! So I place these balls in the slots here, then push this button to start it.”

  Sure enough, the balls started shooting into the air, falling into these sorts of funnels where they were redirected to be shot out again. It made it about four loops before one of the balls overshot and bounced away.

  “Dang it, I really thought I had it.”

  “Honestly, Isa, I have no clue what I would use that for, but it’s pretty cool already. I’m sure you’ll get it working.”

  She gave me a half-hearted nod, already lost in her own world tinkering.

  The three of us ended up saying goodbye and leaving with only a brief wave of acknowledgement.

  “So…” Ani started. “Who won?”

  “Uh, well, frankly, neither of you was even close.”

  “Well, yeah, but one of has to win.”

  “If anyone won, it was Isa,” I mumbled.

  “Hey! Not allowed!” cried Ani.

  “Fine,” I replied. “Ani wins because a ball bouncing away and hitting you in the face would wake you up.”

  “Ha!” exclaimed Ani as Jara groaned.

  “Fine, you win, even if Dax is a terrible judge.”

  “Hey! Neither of you were remotely close! If she would even notice, I’d say you both had to serve her food for a week.”

  Jara grumbled a bit more but accepted my judgment.

  A couple days later, we reached the third system. After we scanned everything, there was a lot of excitement because it appeared likely that we would reach our previously-traveled route after the next current. It wasn’t certain, as currents behaved strangely sometimes, but it was likely.

  Some of the crew members tried to claim gambling winnings early, but the others shot that down quickly. They insisted, rightfully so in my opinion, that until we had confirmation that we were actually in one of the system on our previous route, the bet wouldn’t be complete.

  The next few days were filled with eager anticipation as we sailed through the current. Sure enough, when we arrived in the system and scanned, we were able to verify that we had been there before.

  “Crew, I am very pleased to announce that our mission was a success! We have successfully demonstrated a route from Midding to Abos, a huge win for the navy and the empire. We have already communicated these results with central command and received new orders to perform more detailed scans in this system and the two subsequent systems on the route to Abos. Thank you to all of you for stepping up and performing this important duty with me.”

  The revelation that we had succeeded produced an air of jubilation in the crew only slightly tempered by those who had lost money gambling on the results.

  We spent the next few days scanning the system before moving on. As we traveled the current to our next destination, the mood on the ship was relaxed. We were doing our typical duty, and that was both comforting and boring. I did notice that gambling on cards and other games had picked up a bit after the completion of our previous mission, but I still refused to participate.

  I was sleeping when we crossed into the next system, only to be awakened by the general quarters alarm going off. I quickly shifted back to elf form and scrambled out of bed, rushing to the bridge to observe.

  When I arrived, the captain was visibly upset, and the others looked nervous. I took a position against a wall to watch and wait.

  “All right, Delvaston, send our refusal. Droth, plot a course that might let us escape. We should be faster than the pirates, though with their numbers, it’s risky.”

  ““Aye, ma’am,”” the two bridge officers responded.

  All I could think after hearing that little bit was Pirates? What were pirates doing in this system—this route hasn’t been made public yet!

  I looked over at the data on the viewscreen and realized that this would not be simple—there were at least four ships out there, and I didn’t know what they wanted.

  “Ma’am,” Ensign Delvaston said after a couple minutes. “They’re insisting we send her over, otherwise they will be forced to attack and board us.”

  As he said that, he looked directly at me, and worry filled my mind.

  “Ma’am,” I interrupted. “Who is her?”

  The look the captain gave me told me everything I needed to know.