Starchildren Options

[Kane]

Two stories at once is a lot for me, so these updates may not be as frequent. I also did not plan on this but a certain young woman in my head refused to be quiet.

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Prologue (May 7th, 2330)
Ebbside, Neon City, Volii Alpha


Andromeda awoke with a start. Somebody was pounding frantically on the door to her sleep crate and had ruined a perfectly deep slumber after a long day of work and even longer night of partying to celebrate her birthday. There was no way in hell it was daylight already which meant she probably left her slate at Euphorika. Again.

The bleary-eyed young woman fumbled in the dark for her glasses while the pounding on her door continued. If whomever it was out there kept it up much longer, she felt like her head would start pounding, too. Having finally fished her glasses off of the cold floor Andromeda slid them on and then clicked her bedside lamp to life. Most of her clothes were strewn about the floor of her metal box, which also explained why she was now so cold.

Two minutes or so later, she was half-dressed, and her nearly decrepit Solstice was clutched tightly in her left hand. Please don’t fizzle out on me now old girl, she thought. Looking down at the worn laser pistol in her hand, she sighed and silently chided herself for never spending any credits on a decent gun. The little pistol had been thrown out for good reason, yet Andromeda had fished out of the garbage anyway and fixed it up in the most half-assed way possible. Each time she squeezed the trigger was just another gamble on whether or not the damned thing would even fire.

This time she prayed to gods she didn’t give a [censored] about that it wouldn’t let her down. And then she finally opened the door.

Andre burst into her sleep crate and slammed the door shut behind him.

“It’s about goddamn time you answered! What the hell took you so long, Dro?”

Andromeda blinked in surprise at the urgency in his voice. She’d known Andre for over six months now, and the man was usually as cool as a cucumber. Even when he drunkenly tried to flirt with her. Andre had taken a courier job for HopeTech on Valo and was reassigned here to Neon City, much to his initial dismay, but they had grown close in the time since. The man was of average height with dark skin and kind brown eyes that sometimes hid behind a mop of unkempt blue hair.

“Slow down, Andre,” she said. “What’s the big deal?”

“No time to slow down. The ‘big deal’ is that your [censored], Dro. Absolutely [censored].”

“Wha -”

“Gather up what you care about the most and stuff it in your bag. Security thugs are closing in already �" I set up a prox alert for when they get within twenty meters.” Andre saw her bag sitting on the floor near the door, grabbed it, and handed it to Andromeda. “Pack! Now!”

“Andre, I am not going to move another goddamn muscle until you tell me what the [censored] is going on!”

“[censored]. Fine. Start packing and I’ll explain while you go.” He waited until a few things had been shoved unceremoniously in her bag before continuing: “Those Ryujin files you hacked yesterday for your anonymous buyer? They were tagged for Bayu’s personal records. Dunno how he tracked you down so quick but if you wanna live to see your twenty-sixth birthday then we need to get you the hell out of this city.”

Her blood froze. Benjamin Bayu. The Administrator of Neon City and possibly the most corrupt man in the settled systems. His fingers crept into every business venture on the planet and the security force was at his beck and call. No one did business in Neon without giving him a cut, and his ruthlessness against would-be competitors was legendary. Everyone who lived in Neon lived comfortably by skirting his brutality.

If she was on his radar at long last, then she had definitely taken the wrong job, pile of credits notwithstanding. Being a Cyber Runner in Neon always ran the risk that Andromeda would one day cross paths with that monster, but she had always been careful about her choice of contracts in the hope of avoiding Bayu. Her luck had finally run out and yet she still was uncertain about leaving the only home she ever knew.

“I can’t just up and leave!” stammered Andromeda, freezing midway through emptying the contents of her wall safe. “My whole life is here! It’s all I’ve ever known!”

“Doesn’t matter. Bayu will have you killed just to make an example - “ Andre ceased talking abruptly at the sound of rapid beeping emanating from his slate. His face took on an unhealthy pallor and he nervously ran his hand through his hair. “Time to go. They got there sooner than I expected.” Andre pulled another slate out of his jacket pocket and gave it to Andromeda. “Here, take this and give it to Doc Manning at the clinic. He’ll give you a short makeover to fool security at the spaceport.”

“Andre, I...” Andromeda was at a loss for words. The sudden shock of what was happening and the thought of fleeing her life �" Neon, Andre, the friends and people she’d grown up around �" was too much. Hot tears fell down her pale cheeks and splashed on the floor of her crate. She raised a hand to brush them away, and then shoulder her bag. “This isn’t over,” she finally said with a firmer resolve than what she felt inside. “Bayu isn’t chasing me out of my [censored] home forever. I’ll come back for all of you, I promise.” Andromeda stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on Andre’s cheek. “I promise.”

“We’ll do what we can to clear your name. You need to go. Now. They’ll be here any second. I can keep them occupied for a few minutes but they’ll tell me to get lost before long. Go!”

Andromeda pulled her hood up to hide her vibrant fuchsia hair and fled into the night without another word. The garbled chatter of Neon Security radios echoed up from the alleyway to her right, so she moved silently away from them and ducked into a dark alcove that was still within view of her crate. It was hard to much of anything, but she recognized the dim form of Andre now standing back outside of her door and soon heard him pounding on it once again.

“Yo! Open up, Jen!” Andre’s voice rang out. “Open up!”

Flashlights illuminated and three security goons stood at the ready, their guns trained on her friend. Andre’s hands flew skyward while the nearest guard began to pat him down.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” demanded another guard.

“Damn, take it easy, bud,” said Andre. “My friend lives here and she’s gonna be late for her shift at Generdyne again. Just trying to get her ass on the move!”

“Jen, huh? Yeah, sure pal.” The guard shoved him aside and addressed one of his partners. “What do you got, Reg?”

“Andre Mitarn, known associate of one Andromeda Renault. Courier for HopeTech.”

“Did ya hear that you lying piece of [censored]?” laughed the first guard. “Jen my ass. Where’s the girl?”

“If I knew where Jen was I wouldn’t be here, officer.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever, punk. Reg, you know the drill �" get him out of here.”

Andre lowered his hands to leave while Andromeda released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. Her friend turned to walk away but Andre only made it a few paces before two sharp cracks rang out through Ebbside. He fell to the ground in a pool of blood while Andromeda watched in silent horror. She shoved her hand in her mouth in a desperate bid to stop herself from crying out.

“Dump that sack of [censored] over the side. The chasmbass will get rid of the evidence for us.”

Two of the security goons forced open the door to her sleep crate and disappeared inside while the third dragged off Andre’s lifeless body and heaved it over the railing and into the churning waters far below. Andromeda slipped away unseen and headed silently for the Neon Core, wiping away the tears as she went. The nearest door to Bayu Plaza wasn’t far, and within five minutes she had stepped through it and darkened her glasses against the garish light that gave Neon City its name.

Every type of store and service imaginable spanned the length of the Core, brilliant neon signs and lights shining down upon everyone who walked the expansive length from Ryujin Tower to the Trade Tower. Even late at night (or early in the morning, as it was now), the walkways were teeming with citizens, tourists, guards, scumbags, and dregs.

Andromeda’s destination was Reliant Medical and thankfully it was only a short distance away. Doc Manning seemed to never sleep and with her life crumbling around her, Andromeda was grateful to see him sitting at his counter.

“Ah, there you are, Dro! Andre warned me you were coming �" c’mon around back and we’ll get you fixed up.” He paused at the signs of grief that had stricken her normally carefree face. “What’s happened? Wait… where is Andre?”

It took everything Andromeda had to not scream in frustration and anger. She settled for kicking helplessly at the front of his counter which only resulted in a stab of pan shooting through her foot. “They [censored] killed him, Joe! Bayu’s security goons iced him without a second thought and threw him over the rails of Ebbside!”

“Bastards,” sighed the Doc. “I keep hoping this city will change some day but I don’t think I’ll ever live to see it. Despite younguns like you fighting back, Bayu’s grip never seems to relent. All the more reason to get you out of here, I guess.” Doc Manning waved her towards the back again and dismounted from his stool. “Go on, I just have to lock up real quick.”

The back room had a small biological modification chair that the doc had somehow procured from one of the Enhance! stores that were peppered throughout the local galaxy. It must have cost a small fortune, but she once again found herself thanking gods she didn’t care about for its existence in the back of the clinic. Doc Manning followed her in a few seconds later and instructed her to take a seat in the chair.

“Okay, so Andre...” Joe trailed off and made a gesture that Andromeda had never seen before. His hand moved across his face in the shape of a ‘T’.

“What was that for?” she asked him.

“The cross? It’s from an old-Earth religion that most have forgotten about. I’ll explain some other time. Anyway… so Andre most have been tipped off pretty early and with a good bit of info. Bayu has your name, financial history, work records, and physiological profile; but not your DNA records. We lucked out there. A few cosmetic changes will get you past the spaceport sniffers.”

“Joe, I can’t pay for any of this,” said Andromeda. “All my accounts are probably seized and I have less than two-hundred credits in my bag.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Dro. You’ve already done so much for the hard working people of this city that your friends are lining up behind me to get you safely out of this place.”

Andromeda sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue from the box Doc Manning held up to her. She knew it would be a long time until she saw those friends again, and the thought of that hurt more than anything else. Then she laid back in the chair and closed her eyes while the doctor powered up the alteration arms. She knew it would take thirty seconds to a minute for the machine to fully boot, so Andromeda pressed her friend on what would happen next.

“I have another slate from Andre,” he said. “It will transfer enough credits to get you on an outbound freighter, and provide a new identity. But the tricky part will be getting you to the port with perfect timing. We need to have you at the gates just as the ship’s thrusters begin to burn, so that the guards will hopefully rush you through without looking to closely at your records.”

There was lot that could go wrong with that. However, she trusted her friends implicitly and so she closed her eyes again and let the doctor go to work. The procedure was relatively painless, but she did flinch from the occasional needle or sharp prod. Some calibrations to the machine were in order when she returned. If I can return, she thought. Benjamin Bayu had a long memory, and she doubted he would forget about her anytime soon.

Ten minutes elapsed before Doc Manning leaned back on his stool and powered down the alteration arms. He grabbed a mirror from a side table and handed it to Andromeda. The same brown eyes stared back at her, but Joe had completely changed her hairstyle and its color: the long ponytail she had entered the clinic with was gone, and only a small knot was tied up in the back. Instead of fuchsia, her locks were now dyed an incredible opalescent prism of stunning colors, and the strands on the right side of her face fell down past her cheeks while being tucked back tightly on the left side.

She noticed the bare skin of her neck and left cheek and inhaled sharply. “Did you get rid of my tattoos?! Those were really personal to me, Doc!”
“Relax, I just covered them up with some foundation. Keep your hood up a the spaceport or the rain will wash it away and give up the goose. They’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Oh, and leave your piercings here. Those are easily replaceable.”

Andromeda frowned but did as advised. She popped the studs out of her ears and nose, removed the loop from her septum, and slid the barbell out from her nose bridge. Doc Manning collected them all in a small steel pan and then dropped them into a medical waste bin. Andromeda slid out of the modification chair and gave him a hug.

“Thanks for everything, Doc. I’ll be back to repay you some day.”

“I already told you your credit is good, Dro. Just promise me you’ll be careful out there.”

“I’ll try. But you should know better than most that the trouble usually finds me first.”

“That I do!” laughed Doc Manning. “Damn, almost forgot �" lose the glasses, too. I have some lenses for you instead.”

She removed her glasses and chucked them in the bin with her piercings. The good doctor handed her a set of icy blue colored contact lenses and after a couple minutes of struggling, she managed to pop them in to obscure her natural eye color. Another hug for the Doc Manning. Then he tapped a slate to hers and ushered Andromeda out the back door of Reliant Medical. Syndal, her best friend from university and one-time lover waited somberly in the trash ridden alley running behind the shops.

“Time to go, doll,” said her diminutive cohort. “Ship leaves in six minutes.” Syndal was tiny even compared to the slight 1.6 meters Andromeda rose to. The top of her head just barely made it to Andromeda’s nose. She put a hand on the back of Andromeda’s head and pulled her down to a reasonable level, kissing her very briefly on the lips. “For luck,” she explained to Andromeda’s quizzical stare. “Don’t think we’re ever getting back together or anything.”

“Fair enough,” said Andromeda. “Are we taking the main elevator down?”

“Have to. It’s all you have time for. “Let’s go, and try to keep up. Security is swarming the Core for you.”

Andromeda nodded and followed along in Syndal’s speedy wake. It was easy to unobtrusively hang a few steps back and still keep tabs on the impressive length of platinum hair falling past her friend’s hips. It swayed to and fro in the constant gentle breeze flowing through Neon City. The draft was one of many effects of living on massive platform built high above the roiling seas of a water world. A world that Andromeda had never left. Or had ever planned to leave. Those idle thoughts helped keep her features neutral when they stepped back onto the main thoroughfare and snaked their way towards the spaceport elevator.

Neon Security had fallen for the gambit. None of them paid her any mind, despite having her former appearance projected on the inside of their helmet visors. Syndal led her right past squad after squad of the corrupt officers until they reached their destination.

“You’re on your own from here,” said Syndal. “Take the lift down to the port and make a show of rushing, but don’t outright sprint. Play the part of the late departee who is trying to make their flight. The guards down there are a different detachment than the Core goons and generally skew towards being less of an asshole than the ones chasing you up here.”

“Okay, I’ll try. Never was much of an actor but I can do this. I have to do this.”

Syndal slapped her on the ass. “Quit stalling. You’ve got less than two minutes.”

“Right. Bye, Syn. And thank you.”

The elevator doors opened and Andromeda rode the lift down to the docking port. Two guards flanked the it at the bottom but the alterations Doc Manning made to her appearance seemed to have fooled their scanners. She showed them her slate and they told her to get moving else she miss the freighter. Settling for a speedy trot, Andromeda sighed gratefully and flitted down the long catwalk spanning over the ocean below, squeezing her hood tightly to her face. The warm, wind-driven rain splattered against her while she half ran to the ship waiting for its final passenger.

It was an ancient Deimos model that took up most of the landing pad. Bright lights illuminated faded letters above the ramp: The Gryphon. A crew member ushered Andromeda inside with little patience and directed her to a jump seat in the main cabin. Unsure of how the seat worked, her fingers trembled while she tried to strap herself in.

“First time in space, dearie?” A middle-aged woman next to her smiled gently at Andromeda.

“Yeah. I’m scared shitless if I’m being honest.”

“There’s nothing to it.” The kind woman reached over and showed her which buckles went where, and pointed out the safety pouch under the cushion. “Mouth guards in there if you’re worried about biting your tongue off. Once we take off, just keep your mouth closed and you won’t need them.”

Andromeda thanked her, and the woman went back to humming an off-tune key. Voices rang out over the loudspeaker and warning signs began to light up all around them. The entire ship rattled and shook, and the message on the flight console on the wall across from her changed from ‘docked’ to ‘achieving thrust’. Seconds later the engines roared into life and the sudden g’s from massive acceleration pressed Andromeda back into her seat. Unable to move so much as a finger, she closed her eyes and whimpered slightly as the ship gained altitude.

And then the pressure was gone. She opened her eyes and the porthole in the ceiling above revealed the deep black of space, dotted with innumerable points of light blinking back at her from incomprehensible distances. For the second time in as many minutes, her breath had been taken away for very different reasons.

She had done it. She had escaped Neon City and the closing grasp of Benjaim Bayu.

The tears came again anyway. Her life as she knew it was over and she had no idea where things went from here. She didn’t even know where this ship was bound. She was alone among the stars. And then the engines powered down while the grav drive engaged, folded space around the ship, and leapt from the Volii System in a blazing show of cosmic light and energy, carrying Andromeda far way from danger with a dumbfounded expression on her face..

This post has been edited by Kane: Jun 20 2025, 12:59 PM

[Acadian]

Lounging by the pool at her new home. Only to be interrupted by a visiting fellow Constellationer. And one who is bearing double drinks and latkes – the way into Andromeda’s heart.

Once again, being an empath is both helpful and confusing for Dro. Andreja was conflicted by the kiss but not actually pissed. She tries to appear all business but did travel some distance to visit and took the trouble to divine what Dro likes to eat. . . . Dro, on the other hand is clearly smitten (again).

Well, 1.5m does sort of put Dro into the realm of dwarves and wood elves. If it’s any consolation, she’s still 3 inches taller than Buffy. Andreja’s closer to Altmeresque though!

Another adventure brewing it seems.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Sep 13 2025, 10:14 PM

[Kane]

Lounging by the pool at her new home. Only to be interrupted by a visiting fellow Constellationer. And one who is bearing double drinks and latkes - the way into Andromeda’s heart.

Once again, being an empath is both helpful and confusing for Dro. Andreja was conflicted by the kiss but not actually pissed. She tries to appear all business but did travel some distance to visit and took the trouble to divine what Dro likes to eat. . . . Dro, on the other hand is clearly smitten (again).

Well, 1.5m does sort of put Dro into the realm of dwarves and wood elves. If it’s any consolation, she’s still 3 inches taller than Buffy. Andreja’s closer to Altmeresque though!

Another adventure brewing it seems.

While the mutual attraction is definitely there, Andromeda is a bit more hesitant following her previous failures in that regard. Andreja, on the other hand, is experiencing some very strong emotions for the first time and needs to sort that out.

* * * * * * * *

Thirteen – Insects, Spaceships, and the Unknown

Secret Outpost, Denebola I-b, Denebola System

“Hold still while I bandage it!”

“I’M TRYING BUT IT REALLY [censored] HURTS!”

Needless to say, they’re adventure on the trail of a spacer treasure hunt was off to a tremendously poor start. Andromeda sat slumped against a wall just inside the airlock door of an empty base hidden in the woods of an uninhabitable moon. A sickeningly deep gash on her right arm bled profusely from where a bastard with a sword had gotten the jump on her, but things could have been much worse if she hadn’t turned away at the last second – the blade would have buried itself in Andromeda’s head, rather than her arm.

Luckily for the not-so-intrepid Ms. Renault, Andreja happened to be a deft field medic, and after cleaning out any foreign particulates with copious amounts of peroxide spray, she stapled the wound shut and bound it with regrowth gel laced bandages. But her patient’s breathing still sounded labored and shallow, so she jammed a trauma pack booster in her leg to numb the pain and boost her o2 levels.

“Better?”

“Yeah. Sure.” Andromeda shrugged lazily. She probed gingerly at the wrapping on her upper arm and sighed at the lack of pain. “No, seriously, you did great. Do you have any water?”

“I do. Drink up.” Andreja handed her a package of ration water and then headed down the hall to make sure no one had heard Andromeda’s cries of pain. “I believe we are alone for the time being,” she reassured her. “Rest for a few moments and then we will get underway again.”

“Think that’s the best idea?”

“We can handle these fools. The problem is that you lack focus, Annie. You are easily distracted at poor times and it is usually to your detriment. You must always be aware of your surroundings in a hostile place or this type of thing will continue to happen. We were doing well up to this point, yes? Evaluate what changed and make adjustments as needed and this will happen less frequently.”

Andromeda closed her eyes and tried not to blush shamefully. She knew exactly what happened, though she would never share it with Andreja, or this entire endeavor would end prematurely. A flickering light catching her eye would be understandable; just as an odd noise from the shadows might garner one’s attention at an ill-advised moment. But having a razor-sharp naval cutlass pierce her arm down to the bone because she was staring at Andreja’s ass is not something she wanted to come clean about. Her friend had the right of it – Andromeda needed to focus. Especially when maniacs like these were trying to kill them.

“I’m sorry, Andreja. I’ll do better.”

“I am glad to hear that. I would prefer that we both return to The Lodge alive when this is all over.”

They rested for a few more minutes until Andromeda felt ready to get back on her feet and continue on into the outpost. She gave her arm a few cursory flexes, picked up her rifle, and winked at Andreja indicating she was ready to move out again.

It only took a few turns downs long refuse filled hallways and through an occasional door until the noisy clamor of additional spacers reached their ears. They crouched low and crept forward slowly, Andromeda at the rear with her newly suppressed Beowulf at the ready, while Andreja’s finger rested aside the trigger of her oddly-shaped rifle. According to Andreja it was just a variation of the standard particle beam weapons manufactured by Arboron or Combatech, but she would not discuss the details any further, leaving her rookie companion to further wonder about the mysterious woman and her unspoken past.

Those thoughts, however, soon flew out of her head when the enemies that could be dispatched silently were done so, and the remnants opened fire on the Constellation duo. All hell seemed to have finally broken loose and they wound up blasting the rest of the way through with a tactically slow but steady success against the unorganized rabble facing them down through twisting corridors and rundown control rooms.

Eventually, they came to a wide open room with only a single remaining man cowering by an electromagnetically sealed door. A man who offered his services in further penetrating the booby-trapped Lair of the Mantis, which is what Andromeda and Andreja had come to learn they were now in. Who – or what – the Mantis was continued to be somewhat of a mystery, as they had thus far only found scraps of information on the odd slate or two while exploring the eponymous outpost.

“Wait wait wait!” pleaded the man. “Don’t kill me, I can help you like I helped those idiots! I got them this far already!”

“And why should we trust you?” asked Andreja, coldly. “If you were helping these spacer scumbags then you are no better than they were.”

“I’m not one of them, they were just paying me to help unseal this place! The entire outpost was filled with traps that kept killing them, but I figured most of them out already!”

Andromeda had been content up until this point to let Andreja handle the impromptu interrogation, but now she stepped out from behind the tall woman and focused on the man’s intention. His emotions were running cool for someone who by all appearances seemed to be panicking under pressure, and she felt that he only played for time.

“He’s full of [censored],” Andromeda whispered to Andreja. “Probably got a pistol tucked away behind his back. He’s not scared, he’s stalling.”

“Understood.” And, without further hesitation, she fired a particle beam directly into his chest.

The point-blank fury of the energetic discharge launched him backwards into the wall and when the lifeless man fell to the ground a short-barreled Rattler shook free from his belt and hit the floor next to him with a metallic clank.

Andreja kicked it away and then looked back at Andromeda. “How did you know?”

“Being an empath has its uses, even if it’s less than desirable.”

“Ah, I should have guessed.” Andreja knelt beside the man and checked his pockets but only turned up another slate about what yet laid ahead of them. She read through it quickly and then handed it off. “There is some sort of puzzle through this door. The spacers must have sealed it when we brought the fight upon them.”

“The security is a joke,” said Andromeda as the door unlocked and slid open. “If this guy had the brains its no wonder half of these idiots were already dead when we got here.” Her index fingered scrolled through the information on the slate looking for anything new. “Oh yeah, these guys were absolute morons. Everything they needed is on the slates we already found, but apparently none of them have ever read a book. Or maybe even learned to read.”

“So, we can move further in?”

“Yep. Just let me hack that terminal up there and I’ll shut down the turrets and alarms.”

The security on said terminal ended up being a fair bit more complex that it had been on the previous door, yet still not enough to keep Andromeda out. Then she used it to bypass even deeper firewalls until reaching the core operating system for the outposts defenses, at which point she also shuttered a dozen combat robots and at least six more automated ceiling lasers.

With all remaining resistance eliminated, she strolled into the heart of the Lair with Andreja at her side. It opened up into a massive underground hanger that made Andromeda question what the hell this Mantis did for a living to afford such an impressive operation. They found vacant living quarters in a small wing off to the side complete with a uniquely ugly customized spacesuit that neither Andromeda nor Andreja deigned to be wearable without enduring snickers from the rest of their friends back at The Lodge.

But the real prize lowered itself into the hangar after Andromeda pressed a big, enticing red button mounted on a pedestal near the pit. With a roar of machinery and a blast of freezing air from the surface above, they were presented only seconds later with a ship that far outpaced the Frontier in every possible aspect. They climbed through the landing bay and cycled through the airlock into the first hab where a dedication plaque adorned the wall.

“The Razorback,” read Andromeda. “This has to be what they were after.”

“Understandably so,” replied Andreja. “It is an impressive ship. Fast engines, a variety of weapons – I also believe that the shield generator is one of the newest models. This is an excellent find, Annie. Congratulations on acquiring a ship of your own!”

Andromeda rolled her eyes and shook her head while trying unsuccessfully to hide a beaming smile. “Andreja, this is our ship. I would have been killed if I tried to come here on my own. We found this together, and it’s as much yours as it is mine.” She hugged her for a brief second. “Thank you for entertaining this at all. You could’ve just as easily said it was a waste of our time.”

“I am glad it turned out this way,” said Andreja. “But I am not sold on the name. Perhaps we should register it under a different name when we return to New Atlantis.”

“Done. And you get to choose it.”

“Are you sure?” frowned Andreja. “That is a big honor, Andromeda. I am not sure I deserve it.”

“Of course you do. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to find the bathroom before my eyes turn yellow.”

She climbed a ladder to the main hab and left Andreja shaking her head in bemusement. After securing the bay door, Andreja followed her up the ladder to see what else the ship had to offer. It was far bigger than the Frontier in all respects, and included a much more spacious living area complete with a second bed. Atop another ladder, she found a small armory with plenty of storage options for spacesuits, boost packs, weapons, and ammunition.

A rattling sound on the deck below caught Andreja’s attention, and she descended the ladder to find Andromeda already bustling about the galley.

“Hungry?”

“A little peckish, yes,” admitted Andreja. “Though I had hoped we could get underway first.”

Andromeda waved her off. “The Lodge can wait. I’m starving.”

“Yes, but we have another stop first.” She stepped over to the navigation table and linked her slate to the computer core. The galactic map zoomed in to a rocky planet it in the Tau Ceti system. “Vladimir’s scans picked up a strong signal on this world. We need to investigate it.”

“Ugh, not more [censored] Artifacts.”

“Andromeda…”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I know. It’s what we do and I’ve already put it off for over a week. We’ll head there after we eat, yeah?” She plopped two formed beef patties into a frying pan, and then she started slicing up a yellow onion. “Do you like patty melts?”

“I am not familiar with them,” said Andreja.

“You’re gonna love it.”

* * *

Frozen Plains, Tau Ceti III, Tau Ceti System

The Razorback handled like a dream compared to the clunky old Discovery class ship that Andromeda had grown used to flying. Powerful port and aft thrusters offered a dexterous maneuverability that she put through the paces by weaving in and out of a small field of asteroids in orbit around Tau Ceti III until her co-pilot began to complain of nauseous feelings. Then she lit up the weapon systems and used the particle cannons and missile launchers to vaporize a few of the rocks before finally touching down on the surface

“Are you finished fooling around?” asked Andreja. “Can we please find what we came here to find?”

“I guess so.” Andromeda fired up the scanning array to have a look around while Andreja started prepping their suits. Once the scan completed, she whistled at the readout. “Goddamn. Are you sure you want to go out there? I’m reading temperatures of minus thirty-seven degrees celsius. You’re liable to see my nipples poking right through my suit.”

“How charming.”

“Admit it; I’m much more fun to pal around with than Vasco or Sarah.”

“I certainly never know what you will say next. Come get suited up.”

Icy snow crunched underfoot after stepping out of the landing bay and onto the lifeless planet. Only the occasional craggy outcrop interrupted their sight-lines as far as the eye could see. Andromeda was pleasantly surprised by how warm she remained in her spacesuit, and even allowed herself a few cursory leaps in the 0.61gs of the small world to enjoy the feeling of near weightlessness.

“What are we looking for this time?”

“I do not know, but Vladimir said the signal from here is much stronger than what he has seen before. He told us to use our handscanners to look for distortions in the display.”

“Scanners it is, then,” said Andromeda. She unhooked from her belt the custom model given to her by Noel and powered it on. It chirruped to life and she held it up, rotating on her feet about two-hundred degrees until an odd static cropped up, warping the user interface. “That way, I think. Something to the southwest is interfering with the readings.”

“I cannot see much over that rise.”

A small hill rose up about two kilometers away, preventing them from see what might lie beyond. It was their only lead, so Andreja took point and headed that direction while Andromeda kept an eye on the scanner readouts. Despite only walking a short way, the interference already began to intensify. When they crested the rise, she put it away entirely after seeing the what waited for them.

Something highly improbable, border lining on impossible.

Standing tall above the freezing rocky plains of Tau Ceti III was the oddest structure either of them had ever seen. Numerous spires soared skywards in a varying array of dizzying heights. There appeared to be a flat shelf of some sort at what Andromeda guessed to be half way up, and freestanding walls encircled the entire thing in a general sort of mishmash. But the strangest part of it all was the familiarity she sensed - and the gravity-defying anomalies floating in the air around it.

“I would say we found our destination,” observed Andreja.

“Yeah, no [censored]. Sorry, didn’t mean that to sound so rude.”

“It is fine. Shall we?”

Andromeda stared at her. “Just like that? We find the weirdest [censored] thing in the Settled Systems and you want to stroll right on up to it?”

“We can stand here and scan it for a few hours if you would like. That is assuredly what Noel or Sarah would do first. But I do not see any signs of danger, and whatever it is bares a resemblance to the Artifacts, which have not proved to be dangerous in any way.”

“That’s because you haven’t picked one up yet,” grumbled Andromeda. “But I get your point. Might as well check it out up close.”

It took longer than they expected to reach due to the treacherous patches of ice exposed by the occasional gust of wind, and once they did neither of them understood what to do next. With nothing else for it, they began walking around the outer edges while Andromeda scanned the metallic walls with little result. The same alloys were indeed present in the Artifacts back at The Lodge, but nothing else about the structure made any sense.

About two-thirds of the way around the perimeter, everything changed. Two walls formed a sort of passageway towards the very center, rising steadily until they met the flat roof-like part far above their heads.

“I guess we go down there?” said Andromeda.

“It would seem so.”

They moved at a deliberate pace should something unexpected happen. Which something did, although it was not what they actually expected. As they neared the center wall, it began to silently shift. Large slabs of the unknown metal retracted up and down to reveal an odd sort of door adorned with flickering lights that resembled the stars in the night sky.

“Uh, soooo that’s weird. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure if we should open the freaky door.”

“Are you not intrigued? I have never seen anything remotely like this in my entire life, Annie. Have you?”

“Hell no.”

“Then we must indeed discover what secrets are held within.”

Andromeda looked at her. And then she looked back at the starry door. To say she felt a measure of trepidation would be a gross understatement, but she also knew that Andreja was right. Like it or not, they were explorers now, and she knew that Sarah would have already barged through this door in wide-eyed wonder.

Funnily enough; that notion gave Andromeda the boost of confidence she needed.

I hope I don’t regret this.

And then she opened the door and stepped inside with Andreja following close behind.

This post has been edited by Kane: Sep 20 2025, 02:43 PM