Fiction:Anduar's Voyages

Resupply
The Anduar was docked next to one of the upper pylons of Ericus III. The freighter was ready to depart, having refuelled, cleared its cargo with the port authorities, and refurbished a decaying servo in the starboard inner engine. The only thing holding them back was a missing crew member. Lucia P'trell, captain of the vessel, paced back and forth in the main offloading area which doubled as the ventricular centre of the ship. The primary engineer of the ship, as well as Lucia P'trell's longtime friend, the Klingon Vorokh, was sitting on one of the loaded crates. In his hand a bottle of strong drink he had bought while on shore leave. He sat near to Lucia, taking swigs while waiting alongside her.

An Andorian in heart and blood, she was evidently angry, her antennae rising on end, as tense as her contracted facial muscles. Finally, she wheeled on Vorokh, unable to contain herself. Her eyes pierced though the air with a stern glare. at the Klingon as he sat half-aware.

Lucia - ''You say you let her go. Why? Why did you let her go into the heart of Ericus III? At night! What were you thinking?!''

After taking another swig, Vorokh let out a sharp exhalation before he turned his head to Lucia.

Vorokh - ''She wanted to see the colony. I felt after spending a long time aboard ship she could do with some exploring. In my defence, this isn't the largest colony around here.''

Lucia slowly, menacingly strode towards Vorokh, her fists clenched. His response had only caused her anger to flare even more. RIsing to her aggressive tone, he stood up and held the neck of the bottle firmly in his hand, glaring defensively at her.

Lucia - Drunk baktag''. Do you have any idea what is out there? Do you have even the slightest clue how dangerous a city, no matter its size, is for a girl at night? Sure, you're a big, fat Klingon, with nothing to worry about. People are afraid of Klingons, but this is MY SISTER we're talking about!'' Vorokh - ''If she's anything like you, lass, she should be fine. Just wait.''

Lucia threw up her hands in exasperation.

Lucia - ''That's just it, Vorokh. She isn't me! She has no idea how to defend herself!''

Just then, the door opened, and the very subject of their conversation strode into the room. An Andorian woman with fairer skin than Lucia's, with hair combed and cut at the jawline. Unlike Lucia, her eyes were large and expressive, showing an indication that she was nervous walking into her sister yelling at a Klingon she knew. Vorokh - who had been sitting in such a way to be looking toward the open door - threw his hand out towards Vera, cracking a smile.

Vera - Am I interrupting something? Lucia - See, I told you not to worry.

Lucia whirled on her sister and stared, her antennae curling and uncurling as she attempted to process this new development. She then turned back to Vorokh.

Lucia - ''Next time, you might not be so lucky, and I will hold you personally responsible. Do I make myself clear?##

Vorokh made a mock salute with a smug, half-sober grin on his face.

Vorokh - Yes ma'am. Lucia - ''Give me that!##

Lucia made a swipe at the bottle in his hand, tugging itfrom his grasp as he had less of a grip than any normal Klingon would in a drunken stupor. As Lucia and Vorokh talked, another figure leaned against the threshold of the offloading area. A young man dressed in attire of a more rugged Imperial citizen, slicked brown hair with a face bearing anglo-american features. After Lucia grabbed the bottle, Vorokh slowly turned his head to notice the other figure with Vera. Lucia hadn't noticed the man and began to storm off towards the bridge with the bottle, only to be stopped by her sister's attention-grabbing cough.

Vera - Sister, we have a guest.

The man lifted one of his folded arms up to casually wave at Lucia. She paused, stiff, her back to the rest of her crew. It was clear by her body language that she had had more than enough, but she slowly turned around to glare at her sister.

Vorokh - ''Well... where'd you find him?'' Vera - He wants to book passage to Ildiar VIII, which is near where we're going anyway, I thought... Lucia - Is he willing to pay the usual fare? Vera - Yes, and... Lucia - Then put him in the usual guest quarters and be done with it.

As Lucia stormed off, Vera looked back to the new arrival with a triumphant smile. He smiled back, showing his gratitude.

Tristan - I hope I didn't leave a bad impression.

Vera sighed.

Vera - ''You'll get to know my sister. She might be difficult at first, but she'll warm up to you. Tristan - Right. Say...how far from you will my quarters be?''

Vera gave a slight, knowing smile, though she was conscious that Vorokh was watching. She began to walk in the same direction, towards the crew quarters. She replied to him in a trailing voice.

Vera - ''Not too far... Across the hall.''

Tristan followed Vera while Vorokh remained to close up the offloading bay. Lucia was gone from the hold

Disembarking
After some time, the Anduar's beamdrill managed to cut through the rock and soil around the ruins of an old vineyard on the surface of Alvadia IV. After hitting something other than soil and bedrock, the ship's systems sounded a beeping signal. In manning the beamdrill, Vorokh jolted in response, having staving off sleep due to the lack of anything going on. He leaned forward in his chair and checked the sensor readings. He grinned as he looked, as the beam had broken though into an underground chamber. Vorokh scrambled to the ship's intercom and mashed the button, clearing his throat.

Vorokh - ''Good news girls! The beamdrill's hit a basement.

Lucia was the first to respond over the intercom.

Lucia - ''Alright, turn the thing off and I'll set us down. We'll have to be careful, I've picked up a ship on long-range sensors.'' Vorokh - ''This planet's been getting a lot of new colonists lately. Any useful information?'' Lucia - We're not close enough to get an accurate reading, though it seems to be approaching the planet. Vorokh - Ahh should be fine.

Vorokh swayed in his chair and pressed the panels to deactivate the beamdrill. The Anduar gracefully descended towards the surface and landed within what may have once been vine groves that made up the working area of this once-glorious estate, not far from the drill site. It made Lucia nervous to alight in such an open area, though there was really no other choice unless she wanted them to walk for several hours. After landing she shouted out to everyone on board.

Lucia -''Terminus! Everybody get out!''

Vera's voice came over the comm, seeming slightly startled.

Vera - ''O-okay! Be right there.''

Vorokh had gone into his quarters during the landing sequence and was securing his utility harness as he entered the offloading bay. Strapped to his back was a pulse rifle that looked like it had seen better days were one to study the casing, visible were the odd chip and mark as well as signs of modification. Lucia paid little attention to what Vorokh had adorned as she had seen him wear it many times before and grabbed her belt as she passed the minuscule mess hall. From it dangled a heavy blaster pistol, a weapon which she learned never to leave behind in her career as a smuggler. She would feel naked without it even in the safest of places. She then joined Vorokh in the offloading bay and they stood there, waiting for Vera, who had yet to show herself. --- Vorokh tapped his foot and let out a frustrated sigh. He looked a little impatient, looking between the door to the rest of the ship and the offloading ramp. Finally, she appeared, her attire somewhat dishevelled and her hair in a bit of a frenzy, though not noticeably so. She was followed by Tristan, who was in a similar state. What their appearance might imply was completely lost on Lucia, though it might be perfectly plain to Vorokh. Seeing them in the state they were, he suddenly had an immature smile on his face. He stood behind Lucia as he looked at the two of them, hiding his immature grin from Lucia. Lucia - Took you long enough!

Tristan had his own survival gear on, including what appeared to be a ballistic jacket adorned underneath the silver-detailed leather jacket he was wearing. Strapped to his thigh was a more industrial-looking gauss pistol. Vera spotted Vorokh's buffoonish grin and shot him an embarrassed grimace before looking away. Lucia's eyes landed on Tristan, and she turned to Lucia with a sigh of exasperation.

Lucia - You're not going to tell me he's coming with us? Vera - I thought... Lucia - ''No. He isn't one of us, and he'll never be one of us, you hear? We're giving him a lift, that's all.'' Tristan - ''I'm on your ship so I feel obliged to help. Besides, Vera asked me first.''

Vera seemed noticeably hurt by her sister's words, though Lucia seemed not to notice as she turned away and moved towards a wall panel next to the enormous hatch that gave access to the offloading bay. Tristan inched closer as to offer comfort to her. With noticeable strain, she pulled down a massive rusted lever and then proceeded to unlock the armoured hatch.

Lucia - ''You're on my ship, that's true. So you follow my rules. Go back to your quarters and stay there. Besides, if the authorities catch up to us, you don't want to know about any of this.'' Tristan - ''Right, you want to hide an Imperial on your ship just in case Domestic Security catches you. Fine.''

Tristan held up his hands to feign surrender. Lucia scowled and her antennae curled forward and she turned back to Tristan after opening the hatch, employing an authoritative tone which most would find difficult to argue with.

Lucia - ''I don't think I appreciate your tone, pretty boy. Now either you go back to your quarters and shut yourself in, or I'll have Vorokh knock you senseless and throw you into the lower cargo bay.'' Vera - Sister!

Lucia's steely gaze was enough to keep her from saying any more.

Tristan - Alright, alright I'll go back to my quarters...what's your exonet bandwidth like?

Lucia nodded, satisfied, and proceeded to walk out of the hatch and into the open air.

Lucia - Watch as much porn as you like.

Tristan backed away, acting as if he'd just been shot in the heart and feeling shocked at the sudden attack. As he took a step back he cracked a smile.

Tristan - Oh, I'm hurt.

Vera shot an apologetic glance at Tristan before following her sister. She seemed close to tears, and her gaze when she passed Vorokh implored, "Help me." He looked at Vera with a gaze of concern, but followed behind her as she left the ship. As they stepped out he rested one hand on Vera's shoulder. Tristan meanwhile let out sigh and turned around, heading back inside the ship.

Salvage Operation
Lucia had travelled quite a bit of distance ahead of them when they emerged and was stooped over the hole in the ground Vorokh had created. The hole itself was clean-cut. In order to get down, Vorokh had brought a few portable translocation beacons and a rope with him. She turned back to them as they walked up, the aggravation completely gone from her features. It seemed as if, to her, what had just occurred never happened. In fact, she seemed rather amused at the sight of the rope coiled around Vorokh's shoulder.

Lucia - ''Nicely done. And always the old fashioned one, I see?''

Vorokh - We don't want to attract to much noise or attention. I have some translocation beacons but I can't say how many we can use them before the authorities notice the energy spikes.

Lucia - ''We'll use them to transport the merchandise into the hold in one go and haul ass. Until then, pass me the rope.''

Vorokh nodded and relinquished the rope from his shoulder, tossing the bundle to Lucia. Within fifteen minutes, Lucia had secured the rope on the edge of the ravine they had created and, the beacons slung over her shoulder, she began the careful descent with the rope curled around her waist. She roped herself down progressively into the darkness below, her feet groping out uncertainly for a hard surface to land on. Twice, she thought she could see the ground, and twice the bottom of her boot fell on nothing but empty space. The impact would come unexpectedly. Her landing was so poorly planned that the shock traveled up her legs and sent her sprawling on the floor.

Vorokh heard the noise she made from the bottom and peered over the edge of the hole, shouting down and she responded. She had landed flat on her behind, her outstretched palms breaking her fall. Her wrists, knees, and calves burned, but she had suffered worse.

Lucia - I'm okay! Vorokh - ''Good to hear. We don't want you loading those wine crates with a limp now do we lass?'' Lucia - Fuck you, Vorokh.

Her tone indicated a jest, and she bared two full rows of white teeth up at him, but her fall had still hurt. Vorokh turned to Vira with a smirk underneath that beard of his.

Vorokh - She's fine.

Lucia took her time getting up and took a few steps forward into the cave. Her eyes still needed to adjust to the darkness, but she could see dark, round shapes stacked around her. Her mood changed as she realised what these shapes were. The light was very poor but she had landed on a hard stone floor, The round shapes upon initial examination were indeed wine bottles, large enough to be considered "normal sized" by the standards of the standards she had grown up around but each one could easily have held two litres of drink. Even after all this time there were dozens of bottles around her still intact, kept in pods that were verycool to the touch with the glass of the bottles being encrusted in a thin layer of frost. That is when her work began. Setting up a suspended light source and establishing spatial coordinates that coinided with the ship, the transportation pads beamed the bottles to the ship in stacks of four. Lucia repeatedly wondered if they had enough room in the hold for this much cargo, but she repeatedly pushed the thought out of her mind. "It'll fit," she told herself, "Even if I have to use Vorokh's quarters as overflow storage space. Fuck, that's a bad idea." Finally, after an hour or two of loading up, the last of the bottles were aboard.

What's up with the ship?
Not long after the last of the bottles were transported aboard however, the rear loading bay of the ship closed as it ascended into the air. Vorokh heard the thrum of engines and turned around wide-eyed to see the ship ascending. He fuddled to activate his comm device and shouted to Lucia over the roar of the engines.

Vorokh - ''We have a problem up here! The ship's taking off on its own!''

Lucia grabbed the comm on her wrist and lifted it to her face. She could hear the roar of the engines, even from inside the cave.

Lucia - ''What?! What's going on?!'' Vorokh - ''The ship's lifting off with Vera and I stil on the surface! Its on its way into orbit by the look of it.'' Lucia - ''Then who is... FUCK. The human! Vera, I'll kill you for this!''

Vera stood beside Vorokh, twice as bewildered as he was. She knew better than to comment as she heard Lucia's angry voice shouting though the comm device. Back in the abandoned cellar, Lucia had to think fast. Her ship was moving into orbit, leaving them stranded on a glassed planet. That was her livelihood escaping. Close to panic, she looked down at the equipment left to her. She could contact the ship, talk to the man, but that would accomplish nothing beyond wearing out her throat. She grit her teeth, quickly looking for other options when her eyes fell on the last transmat beacon, one she had not needed to use to transport the wine. Relief flooded over her as she grabbed at it like the essence of life itself. She activated it without hesitation, and instantly found herself in her ship's hold.

Aboard the ship, Tristan was indulging himself in the cokpit. He had poured a small glass for himself and was blasting orchestral music though the cockpit's broadcast systems while he sat comfortably in the pilot's chair, engrossing himself in the music. He was humming to himself alongside the music in the cockpit, drunk from the potent wine in his hand. The cockpit's sensors indicated an energy signature in the hold, which temporarily jolted him from his drunken indulgence. Realising the only person it could have been, he jumped out of his seat and placed the glass on the console, staggering slightly as he ran over to the cockpit doors to seal them

Meanwhile, Lucia immediately unholstered her pistol and held it in front of her, one hand on the grip, another supporting that hand, arms bent. She held her weapon with the professionalism of a soldier and broke into a seamless run towards the front of the ship, her body angled slightly to the side. The music blared in her ears. "Cultured bastard..." she muttered. She then caught sight of the man further down the corridor, trying incompetently to close the portal that led to the cockpit.

Lucia - ''Stop! Or I'll shoot!''

Tristan spotted her and more hastily worked to seal the doors, with his free hand he unholstered a coil pistol from inside his waistcoat and pointed it at Lucia. He fired a warning shot as she approached, the bolt passing several inches from her shoulder. Upon seeing the pistol, Lucia's fingers had curled around the trigger of her weapon, sending a discharge barreling towards Tristan. Howver, she had only just then began to slow down, which meant that her shot was likely to be a wild one. She was lucky however, as The shot impacted Tristan's forearm, sending it back but revealing that he was wearing a personal shield generator. Staggering from the recoil of the impact he broke out into a slightly-drunken laughter.

Tristan - ''Almost got me there bitcsh. Ah didn't get thish far in life by being a drop-dead shtunner!''

Lucia cursed and slowed to a stop, her gun raised, she unleashed one shot, then another, then another, a flurry of plasma hurling towards Tristan's chest, the first of which boucned off his shield leaving a ripple behind. Lucia hoped that she could overwhelm his shield, but was ready to dive into cover if he chose to retaliate. Both of them had a similar idea however and after the last shots missed, Tristan was in cover behind a wall, the integrity of his protective field was almost depleted, which left him panting and cursing under his breath. He moved his hand to point roughly on the other side of the door and fired his own shots in retaliation. Favouring survivability over killing his target quickly and accurately, the shots were inaccurate, with several missing completely.

Lucia started after him, but placated herself against the side of the corridor once he began firing, trying to make herself as small as possible as shots rang around her. It was suppression fire, she knew, and Tristan couldn't see her, but she was still in a dangerous position. The corridor left her very little in terms of cover. Her heart was racing, adrenaline pumped through her veins, making it hard to see clearly, hard to breathe, hard to hold her pistol properly. They had made her undergo battle drills under stress while she was in the military to suppress her body's natural flight or fight response, but she had since then fallen out of practice. "Fuck, I'm going to kill that man..." she thought. She didn't move, didn't fire back, didn't make a sound, barely even breathing in the hopes that Tristan might think her gone and show himself to investigate where she went.

Tristan however kept firing bursts down the hall, although once it was clear he wasn't hitting anything he slowed down his rate of fire. Recalling her attitude, he realised she would not have simply left. He began to smile as an idea came to him.

Tristan - ''I never really mentioned how great a woman your sister is have I? That night I met her in that bar. Sweet girl, very eager to try new experiences.''

Lucia didn't answer, but she grit her teeth. "Don't bring my sister into this, you sunavabitch," she thought vehemently.

Tristan - ''Oh how I blew her mind that night! And last night.''

Lucia's nostrils flared with anger and her antennae curled like fists along the top of her head. "You did what, now?" she thought, the rage rising in her. Tristan poked his head from the doorway and looked down the corridor with a sinister grin plastered across his face while he kept his pistol behind the wall.

Tristan - Shame you blew it, she could have come with me, cashed in the cargo on board this rustbox and retired to some sunny beach in the core worlds.

The moment he saw the blur of movement rise beside the portal, she raised her pistol and fired at it, channelling her rage into pulling that small switch which just might signal the death of that impudent motherfucker. The blur was his signal however, as quickly as she moved, so did he, firing a burst from his pistol. Within the first few shots he was hit in the torso with a bolt that buckled his shield. it wasn't enough to kill him, but he did fall over backwards. screaming out as the impact seared his jacket. Tristan's shot impacted on the wall to her left, close to her waist. Too close. The impact seared her vestments and the exposed skin of her forearm, and violently sent her clashing into the opposite wall with a cry of agony. She broke her fall with her head, and she fell right on the floor as her legs buckled from under her.

Cut-throat Business
There was a clatter form his location as he dropped his pistol, still feeling some effect from the alcohol in his bloodstream but it did not look like he was about to immediately get up. Encroaching quickly from outside, was a vessel of Imperial design, evidently Tristan had set an approach vector for this ship, which was closer to a kilometre in length.

Lucia's vision was blurry. She couldn't see her weapon, and she couldn't see him, leading her to the brink of panic. Her arms flailed out uselessly as she desperately looked for her weapon, but had not the sense of direction to locate it. While she fumbled, Tristan did his best to stumble up from where he had fallen over, rolling about like an infant and gasping as if he had difficulty performing one of the most mundane of actions for a biped. Once he did manage to stand up he stumbled towards Lucia and drew a knife from a concealed holster in his though, grinning wickedly. When Lucia's vision suddenly cleared, the first thing Lucia saw was that grin... The man stood over her with a knife, and suddenly she was no longer Lucia the smuggler, Lucia the pilot, but a scared little girl from a backwater French Andromedan planet, whose name would be lost to history come the next century. She scampered backwards, her eyes wide, her shaking hands holding her up. As she scrabbled away, Tristan caught up grabbed her shirt. He held up the knife, with the blade pointing behind him as he lowered himself and stared into her face.

A swift kick from him caught her in the shin. It hurt, but she barely felt it. Her consciousness was entirely consumed by that knife, that grin... Then her fingers touched something metallic, the shape of it that she discerned with her fingers was something her mind instantly recognised without even needing to look. When Tristan lifted her from the ground, she shoved the barrel of her pistol against his chest and pulled the trigger. He barely let out a whimper as his smile turned into shock, eyes wide in horror and mouth wide open. he stood for a moment before he swayed backwards, swiftly collapsing onto his back. With Tristan no longer there to hold her up, Lucia collapsed on her behind and sat there in shock, staring at the dying Tristan with wide eyes. It was likely that the shock of the shot had severely impaired his composure to speak, he lay on his back shaking and gasping ever-so-desperately as life passed away from him before his body eventually grew still. There was little time for contemplation as soon after the cockpit's comms console began signalling a hailing frequency form the ship that was by now only a kilometre or so away.

Lucia had thought her ordeal over with, but as she lifted her eyes to the cockpit window, she beheld the enormous ship with a gasp of terror. She scrambled to her feet, as difficult as that was, and was immediately met with lashes of blinding pain at her waist and forearm. She forged onward, features contorted and teeth gritted, to the pilot's console at the front of the ship. She half sat, half collapsed in the pilot's chair and laboriously entered the commands to steer her freighter away from the Draconis battleship as quickly as she could manage.

The ship did not react through the use of its engines or guns as she attempted to steer her small freighter from its presence. But there were signals it tried to contact her as she altered course away from it. She had a feeling it was a bad idea, but she reached over and activated the comm system anyway in order to receive their message, only it would show no reply. She raced towards the planet to pick up the rest of her party, praying that the ship wouldn't shoot her out of the sky before she could make her escape.

The messages were in relation as to why the ship was turning around, a gruff voice asking for Tristan and asking for an answer as to what he was doing. With her good hand, she wrote a cautious reply, indicating, "LEFT SOME GOODS ON PLNT, BRB" "You'd better not be running off with our goods Tristan, we both know how much that wine is worth in the core worlds!" was the response but the cruiser did not fire, although it did descend into a closer orbit around the planet. "DNT WRRY" was her reply. At full speed, she descended upon the planet, honing in on the hole they dug, she brought the ship to a screeching halt above it and set down with little grace to speak to her abilities as a pilot. Her forearm burned as she let go of the controls to flip the comm system between her and her crew.

Lucia - ''Come on, come on! Pile in, we don't have much time!

She flipped another switch, opening the hangar doors. As the Anduar descended, Vorokh nodded and clamoured inside, helping Vera in. Vorokh spoke with satisfaction into his communicator.

Vorokh - ''We're aboard, was that human any trouble?

Once she was sure the two were safely inside, another flip of the switch closed the hangar door. She spent no time on ceremony as she ship abruptly took off. It was dangerous, but Lucia was left with no choice but to activate the hyperdrive while still in the atmosphere of the planet. She could see the light blinking in the corner of her eye and guessed that she had very little time before they started taking action.

Lucia - ''Ready or not, Vorokh, I'm punching it! Vorokh - ''Wait what?

Alarmed, Vorokh ran though the corridors of the small freighter towards the cockpit. He stormed into the cockpit area looking shocked and seeing Lucia in her half-debilitated state as she struggled to retain control of the ship.

Vorokh - ''Why a rush woman?

Lucia ignored him and slammed her palm on the button that controlled the hyperdrive. It was a risky move, in her haze she remembered what her instructors told her about the effects warp bubbles had on celestial objects. But in this time and place, that didn't matter. Alvadia may be in the process of being restored but for the most part it was stil dead, a shattered ruin from a time best forgotten. Outside, the stars lengthened considerably, blurred through the atmosphere of the planet, and suddenly vanished in a flurry of fire and plasma. The ship would be scorched, but otherwise she would be fine.

Stay With Me
It was only after they had entered hyperspace that Vorokh looked behind him to see Tristan's corpse in the hallway. He looked back to Lucia and took a deep breath before he stood up and rested a coarse hand on her shoulder. He realised what had happened

Vorokh - Was he much trouble? Lucia - ''No trouble. No trouble at all.''

She forced a smile, but she was holding back tears. Her pride could not allow her to cry in front of the Klingon, no matter how close the two of them were to each other. Vorokh gave a couple of firm pats onto Lucia's shoulder and appeared to smile underneath that grubby beard of his.

Vorokh - ''Your sister might need comforting. I can take the helm.''

She closed her eyes. It was harder to cry when her eyes were closed, and all she wanted was to sleep, to drift... Vorokh further noticed something was up and leaned closer to her ear.

Vorokh - Lucia? Lucia - Hmm?

Lucia's eyes fluttered for an instant in panic, but they were so very heavy. She had trouble keeping them open

Lucia - ''Vorokh, keep me... awake... concussion...'' Vorokh - ''...Right. On one condition: I fly.'' Lucia - I...Can manage... Vorokh - ''Lass. At this stage you're more likely to pass out than me after three bottles of fire wine. Go and heave yourself into a passenger's seat. I'll be fine.''

Lucia frowned and her antennae curled pointed themselves towards Vorokh. He shrugged and flicked the switch to activate the autopilot. He reached his arms around to support her weight and moved her into a passenger's seat against the bulkhead wall. Her debilitated state left her unable to put up much struggle. As he set her in, he activated a console to deploy a seatbelt harness over Lucia's torso and he twisted the central clamp to secure it. He leaned in close to Lucia as her antennae drifted to point at him again while he rested his hand gently on his shoulder and gently pushed it forward and down her shoulder blade.

Vorokh - ''You saved the cargo, the crew and killed that posh bastard in one go. I owe you a drink lass. So don't pass out on me, alright?''

Lucia smiled and nodded slowly, although the movement could have mistaken from a swaying brought on by her disorientation. Vorokh looked out into the hyperspace field in front of the ship and gracelessly slumped in the chair and flicked the autopilot switch back to its "off" position as he took control of the helm's wheel. He took a quick look back at Lucia to check on her.