Lightship Chronicles Chapter 6 : The Junker

no, no not yet. It takes a while. They said it could take months, and there's no guarantees." Gono quickly glances to Nayaa after responding. She is once again looking at Mykee's white panel. They are watching the pre-race show.

  "Really?"

  "Hey man, I know what you're thinking. But... I'm sure there is good reason why. I will get that job. They're not just stringing me along."

  "I'm not judging. I don't know how they do things up there. You're probably right. You really want that job so I hope it comes through for you."

  "Yeah me too man. Hey, what's that your brother got there? Is it some kind of vidrom?"

  "Yup."

  "I built it!" Mykee looks up off his display to Gono beaming with pride.

  "What? How?" Gono asks surprised.

  "We found it, and he turned it on, he didn't build it." Andee counters dismissively.

  "I fixed it. I figured it out." Mykee snaps at his brother frowning with agitation.

  "Aren't you going up to your lounge to watch the race?"

  "You guys don't want to watch it with me and hear the announcers?"

  "I want to talk to you for a second. Come on." Andee changes subject and nudges to Mykee to follow. Nayaa frowns a bit at Andee confused by his request, but then shrugs her shoulders as they walk away. She turns to Gono.

  "What up G?"

  "Ahh, not much you know. Just..." Finding himself face to face with Nayaa, alone, turns poor Gono into a mess. He is struggling with his words.

  "Are you really getting a job in the city?" Nayaa ignores his nervousness and asks him with a suspicious glare. Gono is fidgeting, and timidly starts giving her mater of fact, and extremely boring details of his interviews while Andee turns to Mykee like he is about to scold him for something, now that they are aside.

  "Listen man, I know you're proud of making this thing work, and so am I, but remember what we told you last night. Somebody is watching us because they think I'm some guy named Starfighter. If you brag about figuring out Bitani tech, they'll think you're one of them too. I'm sorry man, but we have to keep this to ourselves. We have no idea who's on this outcrop. Any one of these people could be spies, and if they hear you talk like that, we're all screwed."

  "Sorry." Mykee responds looking down with a sad pout.

  "Even having this is a risk, but since other people have vidroms, I figured we could get away with it. But it does look different so lets not draw more attention to it."

  "Ok."

  "And keep an eye out. If you see any insect flying above, point it to me. There shouldn't be any now that we've just passed first horizon."

  "Got it."

  They walk back up to Gono and Nayaa. Gono is standing frozen stiff, while Nayaa is looking at him out of the corner of her eyes through a squint. She looks relieved to see Andee and Mykee approach.

  "Have you two resolved your brotherly issues?" She inquires.

  "Yes we have."

  "Hey guys! Look!" Mykee shouts pointing at the screen in his arms. "They're talking about ship1. It looks like it's back, and racing in the prelims again."

  "What? Are you serious?" Andee responds snapping the display out of Mykee's hands. He stares at it dumbfounded. "They actually fixed the ship?" The announcers go over the new ship. They describe it as an identical replacement of the crashed one.

  "No, its a new ship but looks just like the old one." Mykee repeats the info to his brother amazed, his eyes glued to the screen. Gono and Nayaa huddle around them to get a closer look. On screen, they are showing segments from the previous race of ship1 taking the lead and than the crash.

  "Wow!" Gono shouts. "Look at that. We saw that!" The footage than shows Andee carrying Ricio to the Rescue Corps and gently dropping him on a gurney.

  "Dude! Dude! That's you man!" Gono elbows Andee hard in his excitement.

  "Wow." Nayaa muses.

  "Oh, they didn't show how you carried him all the way down." Gono sounds off disappointed. The announcers declare that Ricio is now back to health, and ready to race again.

  The video than switches to Ricio. They show him training again, inspecting the ship, looking like a man who means business. Then it goes to a quick interview.

  "That was a terrible crash you endured last time. All the race veterans were shocked when you didn't slow down into tombstone turn. Why did you think you could take it at full speed?"

  Squeezing his lips, looking a tad embarrassed, Ricio responds. "To be perfectly honest, it was a rookie mistake. This ship's got the best lateral stabilizers out there, and... I over estimated my skill, and their limitations. As great as this ship is, I pushed it beyond what it was designed to do. It was my mistake."

  "And you almost paid the ultimate price for that mistake, your life."

  "I did. In fact, if it wasn't for that brave Carpati who rescued me, I would not have survived."

  "Dude!" Gono nails Andee with his elbow in excitement again.

  "I really want to thank him for what he did. I owe him." Ricio states looking directly into the recorder.

  "Dude! Dude!" And Gono elbows Andee again.

  "Knock it off man. Just watch." Andee snaps at Gono.

  "My understanding is that the Carpati teen in question is Andee Starfighter." The announcer turns to look directly into the recorder. "We all want to thank you for what you did. I think I speak for all of us when I say that." The announcer finishes his statement with a humble nod than turns back to Ricio.

  Andee, with round eyes, turns to Nayaa. They stare at each other horrified. Gono clueless responds irate.

  "Dude, they got your name wrong again! But who cares man, you're a freaking hero."

  "And I'm sure no one is more pleased that you survived than your long time girlfriend..." The announcer continues as the image pulls back from its close up on Ricio, to reveal a girl standing next to him, "Silestra Orr." The announcer names her, while Ricio leans over and gives her a nice soft kiss. "Silestra, you almost lost the love of your life. How do you feel about him racing again after what happened?"

  Both Gono and Andee's eyes bulge out of their heads as they stare at the screen dumbfounded.

  "Holly mother of crap!" Gono blurts out loud. "That's your Silestra man!"

  Nayaa too recognizes her, but her face is a combination of shock, and a bit of mischievousness. She's not sure if she is displeased or happy by the turn of events.

  Andee on the other hand looks gutted. He looks devastated, as if his heart was ripped out of his chest. The announcer continues asking them questions about the upcoming race, but Andee looks away and hands off the display to his brother. Mykee grabs it staring at all of them, catching the tension, but not understanding the cause.

  "What's wrong? Why is everyone so weird all of a sudden?" Andee turns away ignoring him while Gono follows. Nayaa leans down to Mykee's ear and whispers.

  "That's Andee's Bitani girlfriend."

  "You mean that girl he talked to at the prave?" Mykee asks and Nayaa nods. "That's not his girlfriend. He just talked to her for a while, and she told him he would make a good pilot. That's not his girlfriend."

  Nayaa makes a questioning face and shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe you're right. But I think Andee liked her a bit more than he wants to admit."

  "Really?"

  "Don't worry. Pretty soon you'll have a crush on a girl too. Than you'll find out how much it sucks." Mykee just shrugs his shoulders and focuses back on his display.

  Gono gently pats Andee on the back who is still walking in a daze.

  "Dude, I don't know what to say man. I'm sure there's a good explanation." Andee stops and looks at him. His face suddenly looks strong and his sadness seems magically gone.

  "What are you talking about?" Andee asks with forced casualness, but Gono squints at him suspicious. "You mean that girl? She's just a girl who thanked me for rescuing her boyfriend. It's no big deal."

  "Dude, I saw how she talked to you. She was flirting hardcore. You can't deny that!"

  "She's Bi
tani, maybe that's how they are. Maybe she thought she was being nice to me, and I thought... It doesn't matter man. It is what it is."

  "Did she tell you the dude was her boyfriend?"

  "No. But she didn't suggest her and I should..." But Andee cuts himself off.

  "Should what?"

  "Be more than friends." He answers as Nayaa walks up to them.

  "Dude there's nothing wrong with admitting you like her. Maybe she was just being friendly, either way, its OK for you to like her and tell her that you do, even if she is that dude's girl."

  "Look who's talking." He responds to Gono while head nodding towards Nayaa who just joined them.

  "What?" Nayaa reacts surprised and looks at Gono for a clue. He instantly freezes up and looks down. Nayaa quickly looks from one guy to the other a couple of times. "What?"

  Andee just shrugs his shoulders and head nods towards Gono. Nayaa focuses her strong eyes on Gono.

  "What's up 'dude'?" She asks exaggerating the word dude. Gono is now beyond intimidated. He is literally trembling. Nayaa turns to Andee with a confused squint, like 'what's up with him?'. Andee shrugs his shoulders. Nayaa quickly flicks her eyes between the both of them, but without a hint of what's going on, she shrugs them both off and changes the subject.

  "Whatever. Listen dudes! Are you guys going to watch the race? It's about to begin." And as she speaks the distant horn goes off, followed by the kaleidoscope of lights on the floating pylons. The crowd roars with cheers. The three of them rush to Mykee who is now on the southern edge of the outcrop, just below their cove, looking down the old road.

  Andee stops next to him and looks up.

  "Lets get up to our spot. I think we can