Futuristic Somewhere In The Stars Dwells A Lost Soldier...

[PopcornPie]

"Hello?"

Surely she hadn't drifted out that far...she just had to keep trying. It was all she could do. "Hello" was all she could say, for the sake of her already depleted oxygen supply. She'd lost all but an eighth of her fuel. She couldn't afford to lose all but an eighth of her air, too. She had to survive. For her friends. For her family. For her squadron. Wait, maybe it was because of the shortness of her messages that her squadron couldn't find her. Before pressing down on her communicator again, she stared at the cracked oxygen gauge on her ruined dashboard. Maybe if she stared at it long enough, the needle would decide to stop playing tricks and move back into the green. After all, it had been well into the green right before she was blown to pieces. Then again, she had no idea how long she'd actually been drifting out here. Her clock had been reduced to a shattered, burned piece of metal and plexiglass. Not to mention how many deep breaths she'd taken to calm herself once her ship stopped spinning and crashing into everything around it. Her misty, cowardly blue eyes shifted from her oxygen meter back to her communicator. The last thing she'd heard from it was the fast, warped cry of "O-7, LOOK OUT!" which was quickly drowned out by the wild screaming of the enemy's fire. She didn't listen to them...but surely they forgave her mistake and were still listening for her, right? Swallowing back terror, she finally found it in her to push the button.

"H-hello? Mayday! This is Nanome of Fighter O-7! I've been immobilized!" Her eyes strayed to the punctured, burnt piece of metal bent every which way that was once a wing, which was miraculously still attached to her thoroughly gutted ship. "Immobilized" was an understatement. "I barely have enough fuel to get my engines running." The one engine that hadn't blown out while trying to evade the enemy, anyway. "I really can't tell where I am, but I'm hoping that you guys are still around and can come pick me up. A-and maybe let my family know that I'm okay? Mostly?" Burns chewed away at her all over, and shrapnel went clear through her suit, not at all helping her anxiety about her oxygen supply, especially if she ended up having to rely on whatever was left in her suit. What if she was using more than she thought while sending this message? She whined a little, not caring if it ended up in the message. Her own voice, the fact that her communicator still worked, at least the thought that her message would reach her squadron, it was all so comforting, but she had to finish up. "I-I don't care who this message reaches." Nanome confessed, shuddering. "Just...someone, anyone, hear me and come get me. It's so quiet out here and I don't have much oxygen left, I'm scared!” Finally, just in case the rest of the message came out unintelligible, she leaned in to the microphone, half-whispering desperately, "dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot..." That was all there was to say. Nanome lifted her finger from the communicator.

It really was quiet out there, save for the crackling and groaning from Figher O-7's corpse as its pieces peeled off. All Nanome could do was crumple up in her seat, trying not to cry. When she was forced into this intergalactic war, they promised her over and over that there'd be very few casualties. What a fool she was, thinking that ahe wouldn't be one of those very few. Yet she was still thinking it now. Surely her squadron would intercept it, or one of their allies, or maybe just an unaffiliated planet. She even welcomed the idea of the enemy planets finding it, because even then her chances of rescue would be much higher, and a dungeon cell much more roomy. She just wanted to wake up from this nightmare, discover that this cramped scrap heap was just her bed wrapping her a bit too tightly with its blankets, and go stretch her legs outside, with her friends, back on Earth. Oh, Lord, her friends...they loved having her around as the energetic, adventurous little sister of the group, and made sure to say their best goodbyes as Nanome blasted off. And now, because of her carelessness, they might never get to say their best hellos. Needless to say, she wasn't at all feeling like an energetic, adventurous little sister, but a terrified, lonely little speck in a floating metal tomb. She just wanted this to be over. She just wanted to feel energetic and adventurous again. She just wanted to be home.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Donovan swept through the wreckage of yet another spaceship graveyard, picking through pieces of military space tech as he always did. It wasn't the most honest living, but it kept him off the streets back at home. Everything was as it always was, quiet; not a single noise came from the tight space that the vessels created in the cluster of mangled, smoldering metal and melted cockpits. Donovan tried his best to ignore the bodies that floated passed his ship as he sifted through the wrecks and pulled out what he could using his ships' tractor beam. Suddenly, a message came through on an open channel, choppy and broken up. The message was clear on one thing, someone needed help.

Donovan latched on to the continuing message and zoned in on the coordinates before replying back to the message. "O-7, I read you; hang in there, help is on the way." Donovan said in a clear, confident voice. He had a feeling saving a random person from a shipwreck would either end in him being put in prison for scavenging or him killed for helping the wrong people; either way, he couldn't have killing someone out of ignorance on himself.

 

[PopcornPie]

Nanome was fighting to keep her eyes open. She was so tired, she'd just been staring into space for so long, and the lack of food or water didn't help, either. But she couldn't afford to fall asleep, she was too paranoid that her heart would stop. To keep her worry at bay, she tried to focus on the beating of her heart, which was the only sound for a while until some kind of soft, echoing blast sounded, prompting Nanome to get her hopes up and look out her canopy. There was nothing but stars outside, and maybe tiny little planets. They started making more noises to taunt her, whooping and saying her name in an assortment of ghostly voices. They had their prisoner hypnotized, and she continued to stare back at them until they started to blur and lose color. The sounds only got louder, making Nanome wince, but she still couldn't look away. "P-please, who are you?" She called desperately, pressing up against the cracked glass. "I can hear you! S-stop taunting me! Get me out of here!" She screeched, pounding the windshield, as tears oozed from her eyes. "Why can't I see you? Please, don't leave me! You're my only hope!" Now there was a hodepodge of glittering colors and shapes in front of her eyes, as if she was witnessing a light show used to announce an arrival. Something was coming. Something was calling her name, and she couldn't see it.

Then something called her name for real.

Nanome fell back in her chair, frightened by the sudden, crackling voice behind her. It was like they had come to snap her out of her hallucinations. And, at first, she thought the caller was just another figment of her starving, tired imagination, until she realized that the "receiving" light on her communicator was blinking. Whoever was on the other side didn't sound like they were part of her squadron. But what did she care, they'd found her! Laughing both triumphantly and nervously, she slammed the button down. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! Please hurry!" With a renewed fire in her eyes, she glared back at the void. "You hear that? I'm being rescued! I won't be a casualty! You're gonna have to take someone else!" She howled with laughter, rolling on her back.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

After getting a little less than half the way there, a barrage of 'thank you's" blasted through the open com. "Jeez, sounds like I made it at just the right time..." Donovan said to himself, now picking up speed towards the origins of the distress call. Donovan flew passed the debris of lost ships with relative, now only a few moments away from his to-be new passenger; that is, until he took a look at his cargo capacity and finally got a look at what he'd be pulling in. Most of the damaged ship that floated just ahead of him was still together, making it a relatively large object to pull into his cargo hold, which was already at 75% capacity. Donovan weighed his options, but finally decided on the difficult choice.

"I don't really need dinner every night anyway..." He mumbled before ejecting the cargo back into the graveyard of ships. It wasn't long before he was finally close enough to the ship to bring it in, which he wasted no time to do. In a few minutes, the ship was safely in the cargo bay, barely leaving any room for anything else, and the bay was soon decompressed and filled back with fresh, recycled air. Donovan put the ship at a halt and made his way down to meet his new crew mate, careful to be sure he had his pistol on hand, should he need it. The door opened and the wrecked ship laid in front of him now.

 

[PopcornPie]

Nanome pressed against the canopy, waving in the approaching ship. She was still giggling, mocking the stars and praising her communicator. After surviving so long in her situation, her head felt light, and she could still see colored haze, but there was no doubt now that everything was going to be all right. Being dragged back to her rescuer's base relaxed her, and she gripped her controls and leaned back in her seat, as if she was still flying her ship on her own. But a question still tickled the back of her mind: where were they going? Even if she had no idea where she was, this didn't at all feel like the way back to her base. Considering that the voice wasn't one she recognized, maybe he belonged to a different sector?

Once the fighter was pulled inside, she took a moment to breathe in the fresh air, and her whole body felt reborn. Her vision cleared up, her head didn't hurt as much, and her arms and legs started to feel stronger. The walls around her were a welcome sight for her sore eyes, although she needed to keep blinking and rubbing them to adjust to the light. Someone, presumably her hero, was just outside, ready to see what he'd dragged in. She needed to jiggle the lever a bit, but the canopy popped open easily, and she climbed out carefully. "Thank you so much!" Nanome beamed, tempted to hug the man. "I must've been drifting out there for hours! My name's Nanome, I'm fighter O-7 for the Interstellar Defense Squad on Earth." With that in mind, she looked past the man, trying to find the IDS logo anywhere.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Donovan watched the canopy of the broken fighter open up, allowing his new guest to exit the ship and set foot on the metal floor of the cargo bay. She spoke, obviously quite glad to be inside a ship not dying in the vacuum of space. "Welcome aboard, Ms. Nanome. I'm Donovan, or just Don for short." Donovan started. He paused for a short while, thinking about how he should word his next sentence; he knew scavenging for military grade ship parts would get him in prison for a long time, but looking like a kidnapper of an IDS soldier would look much worse.

"If you'd like, I can get you back down to Earth and with your COs or whatever; that is, if you can do me one favor here..." Donovan finally said. "My... Line of work isn't exactly the most respected, so it'd mean a lot to me if you just forgot the whole scavenging thing when you get back home." Donovan looked over Nanome, anxiously waiting for a response from her. He wasn't sure what he'd do if she said no, all he knew was 'yes' was the much preferred answer.

 

[PopcornPie]

Nanome studied her surroundings carefully, feeling a little awkward. Her fighter fit in with the collection, all right-the ships surrounding them were all reduced to battered, broken piles of metal. She could recognize the spacecrafts of allies and enemies alike, all lumped together. The implications had her worried, and even a bit sick, as she pictured their pilots struggling to keep them flyIng even as they went down in smoke. What's more, one of the first things the IDS had taught her was that if she found a destroyed ship, she was to have it picked up, taken apart for scrap, and recycled, so being surrounded by hoarded ships was a little disturbing, especially since her own fighter was probably going to be put in this collection.

Now for the hard question. As to be expected with any military, any rulebreakers were to be reported. Nanome could already see herself going to her commander to tell him about the man hoarding scrap. If he was a regular hoarder she'd happened to meet, she probably would. But...Donovan saved her life! If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be seeing herself going to her commander at all! Really, keeping Donovan's occupation a secret was the least she could do. "We're supposed to take scrap to the IDS's recycling plants." She explained, running a finger down the dents on her ship's wing. "Seeing as you're not affiliated, I wouldn't know what you want with these...but I have a monumental debt to pay you. I won't tell. Scout's honor." She held up two fingers .

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Donovan let out a sigh of relief, glad to hear she wouldn't be taking him in for scavenging. "Thanks, Nanome." Donovan replied, adding. "Anyway, you look like you could use some rest. It'll take some time before we touch down on Earth, so you can sleep in my room for the trip. I've got some food supplies in the supply room, so help yourself to that as well, apologies in advance for the quality of the food, by the way..."

Donovan stepped to the side, as though to motion Nanome to walk through the open doorway. "So yeah, I can take you to the sleeping quarters if you'd like and point out the other rooms of interest for you." Donovan added, patiently waiting for Nanome's response.

 

[PopcornPie]

Donovan inadvertently reminded Nanome's body of all the sleep it missed out on. As if the rope holding it up had finally snapped, her spine slumped, her arms dangling down. "I did nearly fall asleep out there." She explained with a yawn. "But I was afraid to, because I was afraid that I'd die in my sleep, or that someone would contact me while I was asleep. I didn't exactly get a full night's sleep last night...not a very big lunch, either. I guess I was just too excited to get out here and fight." She admitted, still smiling weakly. She was still able to lift her feet, too tired and hungry to care about the shrapnel puncturing her skin. "I bet they're all having a big dinner without me..." She murmured somberly, rubbing her stomach. "...Who knows if they've given up on me, since I wouldn't have even gotten into this mess if I listened to them..." She sighed, turning back to Donovan. Thanks to him, she was going to go home and enjoy whatever was left of that dinner, and give herself a second chance. But she couldn't begin to think of an apology on a tired mind and empty stomach. "Where did you say the beds were?"

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Donovan hadn't noticed the wounds Nanome had endured until she started speaking again; he could tell she would need some time to recuperate. "I'm sure you'll be given a warm welcome back when you get home." Donovan said, speaking in a soft tone. "But until then, you should get some rest, I'll get you some food and first aid for your wounds; sleeping cabin is the first door to your right, make yourself at home." Donovan added. He waited patiently for her to make her way to the sleeping quarters, just to make sure she wasn't in need of any assistance.

 

[PopcornPie]

Nanome bowed her head dramatically. "I couldn't ever thank you enough for all of this, Donovan. Even if I can't tell my teammates about you, I'll find a way to remember you forever." She began down the hallway, listening for anything else Donovan had to say, with her tongue pressed up against her bottom teeth, ready to fire off a reply. Despite the anticipation, she was happy to have a break from talking, to have some silence to get her thoughts together. "It's not exactly the IDS's welcome I'm looking forward to." She squinted, trying to create an image of her friends and family standing there, ready to rush in and hug her. "I'll see you soon, guys."

The bed was surprisingly soft, considering the junkyard she'd just traveled through. It relaxed Nanome to not be surrounded by discarded IDS ships anymore, and being alone somewhat helped. Sure, she was alone again, but she was safe. Donovan was going to feed her and bandage her, making sure that she would come home good as new. Only one thing would make this experience as good as it could be. She reached into her suit pocket, producing a tiny, folded piece of paper that unfolded to reveal the last photo Nanome had taken with her friends before she was carted off to wear her spacesuit for the first time. Seeing herself in that typical school uniform, which fluttered with the slightest breeze, reminded her of how heavy and constricting the suit was in comparison. But that wasn't what she was focused on; it was her friends gathered around the soon-to-be soldier, smiling through their tears. The echoes of their goodbyes and encouraging words had never faded, even slightly. The feeling of their arms around her was one she could never forget. Nanome reeled back on the mattress, still staring at the dirty, slightly burnt photograph, sighing contentedly. They were still on Earth, waiting for her return. Well, to be more specific, she'd have to be returned to the IDS, then they'd video call her family to let them know that she'd come back okay. But that didn't matter. What was important was that she was gonna live to see their faces again, one way or another.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Within a few minutes, Donovan entered the bedroom, holding relatively large medical kit, which seamed more closely related to a suitcase in size, and a handful of beef-flavored protein sticks alongside with, in the same hand as the food, a black T-shirt and a pair of dark green cargo pants. "I brought you some clean clothes, in case you wanted to get out of your suit." Donovan said as he set the first aid case down and laid the clothes and protein sticks on a nearby desk. "You're gonna have to lose the gear so we can apply the first aid anyway; if you need any help with that, I'll be outside while you get settled." With that, Donovan made his way towards the door slowly, silently waiting for an answer. He wasn't really sure what else to say or do for Nanome; this was his first time saving someone from the remains of a war zone after all.

 

[PopcornPie]

"Oh, wow, thanks. I'll only take a minute." Nanome responded a little awkwardly, looking at the clothes, then her suit. She'd been wearing the suit since she was drafted, only changing into a different one when it needed washing. She probably wasn't supposed to change...but then again, her suit was damaged, and she couldn't sport a damaged suit, could she? So, after Donovan exited, while racking her brain for instructions on how to do it, she peeled it off, folded it into a little green square, and set it down beside her bed. It felt like she was a snake shedding two years' worth of dead skin, all weight sliding off her body. It felt like she had died and slipped out of her heavy mortal body to become a weightless ghost. With her skin exposed, she could run her finger down the thick brown stripes of dried blood all over her, with fresh blood oozing over them. She tried to wriggle out a piece of her windshield out of her thigh, only for it to fight back with a sharp pain reminiscent of a paper wasp's sting, making her yelp. Well, she'd just have to suck it up. This time she stuck a protein stick in her mouth before trying to pull it out, hoping that the delicious flavor would take her starving mind off the pain. It...didn't exactly work, and the protein stick didn't even try to muffle her pained grunting.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Donovan waited outside the door, just like he said he would. It wasn’t very long before a sudden yelp sounded from the room. Donovan knocked on the door softly before speaking. “Everything alright in there?” Donovan stood against the door, waiting for an answer.

 

[PopcornPie]

Nanome's forehead became speckled with sweat. "Evereehing's fahn." Frustrated, she spat out the protein. "Everything's fine, I'm just...getting myself ready." Once more she began to pull on the glass shard, once more she started whimpering, biting her lip.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Donovan sighed, realizing after the second cry that he had no other choice but help her, whether she liked it or not. "Alright, I'm coming in." Donovan said, allowing the door to slide open before entering the room.

 

[PopcornPie]

Nanome wasn't sure what to say after Donovan walked in on her attempts at self-care. She blushed, biting her lip. She was still an intergalactic soldier, she couldn't appear this helpless! "No, no, it's okay." She grinned sheepishly, waving. "This is nothing, really." The fresh blood sliding down her leg said otherwise. "We're supposed to take care of these kinds of wounds ourselves. And, besides, you've already done so much for me." Then she started again, this time making more of an effort to twist it out.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Donovan scanned over Nanome's body, trying to ignore the fact she was half naked on his bed while he figured out what to do about her wounds. "Y-yeah" Donovan started, realizing he was just standing there like an idiot. "Yeah, I get it, you are fully capable on your own..." He finally said, snapping out of his short-lived daze. "But, this is my ship and my bed, and it'd be nice if you didn't bleed to death on either one trying to pull that shard of glass out of your leg." Donovan continued. "So, let me help you; funny enough, I know a thing or two about emergency aid." Donovan moved to the side of the bed and leaned down slightly to inspect the wound. "Yikes, that's pretty deep, huh?" He mumbled aloud. "Alright, so first, we should probably cut off blood circulation and prop you leg up." Donovan looked around the room as he spoke, quick to pull out a long, elastic rope from the first aid kit. "I'll get you a box or something to prop up on in just a second; tie this a few inches above the wound, kay?"

Donovan looked around his room for a moment, looking for a good item to prop Nanome's leg with; it wasn't long before he spotted a suitcase full of, more than likely, dirty clothes he had left under his bed. Donovan pulled the relatively light suitcase up onto the bed and gently pulled up Nanome's leg, setting the suitcase under it and adding a pillow on top for cushioning; he carefully set her leg down onto the cushioned suitcase and looked over at Nanome. "There you go, ready to actually get the little guy out now?"

 

[PopcornPie]

Nanome nodded, a bit guilty, but also a little hesitant. It really was against IDS policy to let someone other than a fellow soldier tend to her wounds, lest she run the risk of getting a disease from unkempt fingers. The blood continued to cascade down her thigh, ticking her on its way down. She stared at it, a little nauseous. Obviously, there were no IDS soldiers to help her dress the wounds, but wasn't she instructed to let the wounds go, or try to patch them herself, until she found an ally? With her eyes focused on her now upset leg, she noticed it begin to shiver, and feel weak. Brushing her filthy silver hair out of her eyes, she flashed Donovan an understanding, trusting expression. This was no time to be going over IDS protocol. She couldn't afford to lose any more blood.

It felt strange to go against what she was taught, to let Donovan do what was needed to her, but her protein stick kept her from complaining even if she wanted to. Even as her leg was being starved of her remaining blood, she managed to stay quiet, even smiling a little, letting the protein stick drop onto her belly. Somehow, this reminded her of one of her first field missions, when one of the other girls twisted her ankle in a hole. The entire group dropped everything to make sure it wasn't too serious, and she had a rope wrapped around her leg just like this. Everyone stayed by her, lightly teasing and joking about the rough training, their home lives, and all that good stuff, until they were sure that their teammate could move again. They didn't make it back before dark, and they had to clean the mess hall as punishment, but nobody saw it as anything more than a celebration of a job well done. Her smile dissipated. Her team stopped for their injured member because they were all rookies; they hadn't learned to take the war seriously yet. Was that why only a scrap hoarder from who-knows-where answered her distress signal? Because they were taught that liberating a planet was more important than making sure all the pilots returned safely? Nanome closed her eyes and huffed loudly. No, no, that wasn't her squadron. She was going to out those fears to rest very soon.

Nanome returned to reality in time to see Donovan lift a suitcase onto the bed, then her leg onto the suitcase. "You're prepared for everything, aren't you?" She took a little time to admire the bandages. "You did a really good job..." Her voice turned to an appreciative, almost wistful tone. But now it was time for the moment of truth. It still stung to pull on the shard, but with less blood to worry about, she wasn't as worried. Finally, the piece of glass wiggled free, and the girl held it up proudly. "We did it!"

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Donovan was happy to hear his work was not in vain and even more glad to see the shard removed from Nanome's leg. "Awesome! now let's just make sure you don't bleed everywhere..." Donovan said before grabbing a roll of gauze. He pulled a good length of the gauze out and carefully began wrapping it around Nanome's leg, keeping it tight, but not too tight. "How's this? Feel alright around your leg?" Donovan asked after rolling the gauze around her leg three times and tearing the rest of the roll loose. Although he was happy to help, Donovan felt as though he may have been helping a bit too much. "S-Sorry... Kinda made you hold my hand through most of this, huh?" Donovan said apologetically.

 

[PopcornPie]

"Alright?" Nanome sighed, admiring the fresh gauze. "It feels wonderful..." She glanced at the glass shard, then back to the gauze, then to the other, much smaller wounds all over her. This was a lot to patch up, but that wasn't what Nanome was worried about. She was worried about how she was going to cover up the fact that she let a stranger bandage her wounds-a scrap hoarder, no less. The knowledge that neither of them had thought things through had finally caught up with her, and was now looming over the bed, smirking. Sure, there were small first aid kits in their fighters, but nobody was going to believe that she'd managed to treat such a serious leg wound while drifting out in space! "Oh, but what do I say when we get back? What if they don't believe me when I say I did this myself? C-come to think of it, how am I supposed to say that I got home?" She tapped her chin, whimpering. "I could just say that a rescue team found me, but Commander would probably want to meet them, and, assuming that you managed to fly off without anyone seeing you, he'd find you, and find out that you hoard scrap...Donovan, you could get into so much trouble if we don't think of something!" Her eyes trembled with fear for her rescuer, never mind the trouble she'd get into for being helped by an unaffiliated pilot.

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Donovan thought on the issue for a moment, realizing how serious it actually was. "Yeah... We'll figure it out as we go along with it; until then, rest easy and let your leg heal." Donovan finally said. It wasn't really a good plan, but it was the best he had. He was never the type to make long term plans, especially plans involved with duping the global military of Earth. He waited to see what Nanome had to say about his 'plan', hoping she'd might have a better idea. He had a feeling that their choices, other than turning himself in as a kidnapper and scavenger, were slim to none. The choice wasn't very appealing at all, but he had a feeling that a few years in prison and probably forced service in the armed forces couldn't be too terrible; unless he ended up like his father and died in a burning space cruiser.

 

[PopcornPie]

"Yeah, maybe it won't be so bad..." Nanome pointed out, laying back into her pillow. "I mean, I do know the IDS base like the back of my hand, we could probably figure something out..." Her voice trailed off into a yawn. Donovan was right once again. To help her leg, she needed all the rest she could get. Her eyes began to jitter closed, and she was somewhat losing the feeling in her arms. "It sure is soft..." She murmured. "I haven't slept on a bed this cozy in a long time. Usually at the IDS, our beds are very firm."

 

[Irish_Dragon_76]

Seeing that Nanome was quickly beginning to fall asleep, Donovan decided it would be best to let her sleep now. There was a lot to say and plan, but for now, Nanome, and Donovan himself for the matter, needed some rest. "Sleep well, Nanome, I'll be in the cockpit if you need me." Donovan said before leaving the room.

Donovan set himself in the pilot seat of his relatively large ship and sat there for a moment, taking in a deep breath. "Shit..." He mumbled to himself as he realized how far in he had himself. The government back on Earth was strict and their military was even worse; there was no telling what they'd put Donovan in for after what he did, and that was just for saving Nanome; the scrapping of military crafts was barely at the top of the list from what he got from Nanome. Donovan thought for a while and let his mind wonder, slowly gathering everything that had happened and figuring out what to do with the information. An idea finally former, but he didn't like it; he knew Nanome wouldn't like it either. Donovan leaned into the controls and laid on them, groaning at the very idea that he was slowly beginning to accept as the only way out. Donovan sat up straight suddenly and looked straight ahead into the vast emptiness of space. The ship had drifted out of the graveyard of the long finished battle and left the plain, starry infinity of space for Donovan to gaze into. The open, vast space to travel through and explore; a space to be free in... "Sorry, Nanome, but I'm not going to prison for doing the right thing..." Donovan mumbled to himself before starting up the ship; he flipped a few switches, pressed some buttons, and prepared the ship to jump through space in any direction he found the most desirable. He quickly crunched the numbers, set the ship in place, and sent the ship out into the void of space. They were on their way in the exact opposite direction of Earth. Donovan didn't know what this meant for him or his friend; he just knew that the line between him and prison was becoming further and further apart from one another, and that's all that mattered at the moment. It would be another three hours before any sustainable planets would be within casual distance of the ship, but that didn't bother Donovan, he needed time to rest anyway and think about his next move; and what to say to Nanome when she found out what he had done... Donovan leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes, slowly, but steadily, falling asleep.

 

[PopcornPie]

As she stirred, Nanome could feel the ship somewhat pushing her around. Donovan must've been traveling fast, wanting to get this over with, and she didn't blame him. He was probably just trying to do his own thing when she got stranded, and she was just trying to fight while he was collecting scrap. Nothing had put them together but blind luck, and it was bad blind luck on his end. In the eyes of the IDS, she was just a naive young soldier who just happened to come home after being lost in the battle, with a stranger in tow. Honestly, how many words could she say on his behalf before they seized him? They'd definitely assume that he was holding her for ransom or something. If she tried to say anything resembling the truth, she'd probably get passed off as a hysterical, emotional dolt, or brainwashed. But maybe there was something she could say to stop any confusion? She didn't know now, but she could just sleep on it, couldn't she? Maybe it would come to her in a dream? Too tired to trust anything else, Nanome let her consciousness slip away.