Page 22 of Stowaway to the Stars: A Duet
II
Voyage Within the Stars
Darcy’s Story
Chapter 1
Darcy Sinclairhad had enough of the gray alien stalking her every move. Sure, A-rec kept his distance…but he was still there, always watching from afar. The one time she didn’t see him standing behind her while she waited in line in the cafeteria area of the ship, she was sure he had darted behind a wall to avoid being caught.
She frowned down at her tray. What these aliens considered “food” was little more than some foreign fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
“You know,” she said to her best friend, Stephenie Robinson. “You’d think with how big these guys are, there would be some type of meat on the menu.”
Stephenie was sitting across from Darcy at their chosen dining table. The cafeteria was buzzing with chatter. Not that either of the girls could understand them; they were all speaking in their alien language.
“I like what we eat here,” Stephenie replied defensively. “It’s all so sweet. It tastes like dessert. And the nut things taste like the brown sugar crumble my grandma puts on her sweet potato pie.” She popped one of the said nuts into her mouth. “Mmm. It reminds me of home. Besides,” Stephenie continued as if she hadn’t explained a dozen times already. “They don’t bring meat on their trade expeditions, so they don’t put any stress on the Tribe back home.”
“Home. Wow. You haven’t even been there yet, and already you’re calling it ‘home.’” Darcy muttered to herself. To Stephenie, she rolled her eyes. “I didn’t say it didn’t taste good. I just would like something savory, is all. I love desserts- but not for every meal.” She picked up a piece of fruit that resembled a blue grape and took a bite. It was filled with some type of purple, gooey jam. She had to force herself to swallow. “What must all this sweet stuff be doing to our insulin levels?” She had a grandma who was diabetic. God, that was the last thing she needed to deal with right now.
Stephenie frowned at her and pushed her tray aside. “Okay, what’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?” Darcy replied innocently, also pushing her tray aside.
“Don’t play dumb with me. You only bitch about the food when A-rec has done something especially annoying.”
Darcy wanted to deny it…but there was no point. Her best friend knew her too well. “He won’t stop following me. I can’t even go to the bathroom without opening the door and finding him standing there, waiting for me.”
“He’s not here now.” Stephenie pointed out.
“Guess again,” Darcy grumbled, gesturing off to the side where she could see A-rec pretending to join a table of his comrades. The girls watched as he took the seat at the table that allowed him to stare directly in their direction.
Darcy sighed. “I didn’t sign up for some over obsessed creep.”
Stephenie laughed. “Actually, you kind of did. I mean, he agreed to pretend to be your Mate. That’s how it goes.”
“Ee-rec doesn’t follow you around everywhere,” Darcy said begrudgingly.
“He doesn’t have to,” Stephenie replied. “We’re always together anyway, and when we’re not… Well, we find our way back to one another eventually.” Her cheeks reddened.
“Speaking of your little alien buddy… Where is he?” Darcy looked around. “I don’t see him anywhere?”
Stephenie sighed. “He’s taking charge of the ship while I-ya is being held in his cell. It’s a busy job. I was actually just going to head to the bridge after lunch.”
“So… Do you have any more information on what’s going on with the closet full of women?” Only a few days ago, one of their new alien buddies stumbled upon a butt load of transportation pods, hidden within a usually forgotten luggage closet. The area had since been closed off while the new captain, Ee-rah, and the others in charge decided on what to do with them.
They could turn the ship around and take them back to Earth, which would cost a fortune in credits for fuel and other supplies that they simply did not have and also risk them being trapped in space while running extremely low on food and water, or they could simply return to their home planet with more illegal cargo than anticipated… The second option didn’t sit right with Darcy. While she had chosen to stay here with her bestie, the other girls did not have the ability to make such a choice. It wasn’t right to take that away from them. And, okay, YES! It was pretty fucked up of Darcy to expect these guys (and her and Stephenie) to be stranded for a bit until someone could send for them…but is that not exactly what’s happening to the other human women right now?
She had suggested on more than one occasion that they simply wake the girls up and have them decide. This, however, was almost immediately shut down by everyone- including Stephenie. No one wanted to deal with the major freak out that was bound to happen if they chose that route. Plus, their supplies were quickly dwindling with just two more mouths tofeed. How much longer could they last in deep space if six more women needed to be fed and watered?
I-ya, the previous caption that had since been taken into custody because of all this, really created a shit show.
“No progress has really been made,” Stephenie replied. “I feel awful for Ee-rah. He’s been put in an impossible position. It’s not a decision he takes lightly. Right now, we’re kind of just chilling in deep space until we decide where to go…which is draining the fuel and food. They only had enough to stay a few weeks, finish their trade, and head home. We’re starting to dip into the emergency supply already.” She sighed and buried her face in her hands. “I just don’t know.”
“All of this would be a lot easier if the women could…you know… TALK to us and tell us what THEY want.” Darcy grumbled. She knew she was pushing buttons, but she was so grumpy this morning, she didn’t care. If she was miserable, well then Stephenie could be miserable too.
“We get it, Darcy,” Stephenie replied haughtily. “It should be their choice, but that’s not really an option right now.”
And with that, Darcy stood up. She was tired of having this conversation. It was like talking to a bunch of brick walls, and she was sick of repeating herself over and over again, hoping someone would actually listen to her. “I’m tired,” she said. “I think I’m going to go take a nap. It’s not like there’s anything to do on this God forsaken ship anyway.”
