Upon Celestial Tiger: Chapter One

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A small, fast space yacht. The last owner named it Celestial Tiger.

Three small bedrooms (with bunks), one bathroom. Very small storage hold. combined dining/living area. Everyone's going to hate each other by the end of this road trip.

https://i.servimg.com/u/f11/19/46/08/46/small_10.jpg

Ethan smiled oddly at Shane. "I'm not talking about running off to beat them up right away, just if you ever wanted to do that, we could. It's cathartic, or something."
He looked grossed out Helen's story, pirate guys picking up newly freed slaves was just creepy, okay?

"Oh" Shane said then dipped his head and shrugged a little "I try not to think about them too much really, right now we have so many other things to focus on that I can stay distracted from those kinds of thoughts."

Helen saw his expression and nodded. It was creepy, but it kept her hidden, it freed the others to leave and she got to learn the ins and outs of that particular station and more tech then anyone outside knew of, so she was happy enough with the final outcome.

"I guess that's sensible," Ethan told Shane. "There's a lot of other stuff to keep you from thinking about those jerks out here." He looked at Helen again, "So there are other freed star dragons out there somewhere, because of your... thing... with the pirate?"

"Where would they be? where did they go?" Swarm asked excitedly.

Helen shrugged a little "I was the only star dragon with my master, though others have been through that station. I'm not sure where they went. Off finding places to hide away at more than likely."

Ethan looked a bit disappointed. Maybe he'd been reading too many adventure stories, or maybe he was becoming a raging social justice warrior like James, but the idea of free star dragons, and maybe helping them out, kind of appealed to him. "We'll use Starr to track the star dragons once we find her, I guess," he said. "Are you in any contact with the other slaves your master owned?"

"Not officially, I had to hide contacts from the pirates, so it was very spotty being able to talk to anyone." Helen said then shrugged "We will get the star dragons free eventually."

Ethan nodded. "Kind of hard to keep in touch with people on the run, if they'd even want to associate with anyone from their old life anyway. Is your master dead?"

Helen nodded then smiled a little "Yeah, she couldn't stand the thought of pirates even setting foot on her ship. She resisted and ended up getting killed. That's how we were freed."

"Good," Ethan said. His expression faltered a bit, as he remembered when the slavers's attack and how his then-master had ended his own life, but after a moment he looked properly pleased again.

"Yes, they will. We will help free the star dragons." Swarm declared. "First we rescue the queen."

Helen, Shane and Sawna nodded at that statement. They were all ready to fight

Ethan sighed, leaning back. "If only the Family would let us catch them, we could get right on this."

"We could go faster" Shane said, looking down at his tablet again then turning it to show what he had been working on. It showed both the projected path of the ship they were chasing and the Tiger. "If we cut across here, we might get to them before they reach the hold."

Ethan looked at the map. Uhhh. Star maps, he didn't really understand all the crazy 3-D space stuff. Maybe because his darned owner hadn't ever let him do anything except program the autopilot. "Maybe we should tell Tala."

Tala was taking her turn to sleep at the moment.

Shane thought about that then nodded "Timing is important" He said before taking a breath and going to knock.

Tala made a loud and incoherent noise, snorted loudly, got to her hooves, and answered the door. She asked Shane a question in some language that was definitely not Common.

Ethan watched warily.

Shane blinked and tilted his head "May have to teach me that language someday, but anyway, I was doing some checking and may have found a path to get us ahead of or to the other ship quicker." He said, showing her the tablet.

Tala blinked a few times, before apparently remembering how to speak Common. "I am most curious to see this way." She looked at the tablet curiously. "This may be a much better option, if they do not change course unexpectedly!" she proclaimed.

Shane nodded and looked at the map "The only problem with this course is the reason they avoided it, asteroids." There was a loose belt that swung an arm out this way that the other ship avoided by swinging around it.

Tala nodded. "Luka!" She called, "How fare you in flight with inconveniences such as asteroids? Would this ship be maneuverable enough for you?"

Ethan winced. That minotaur was way too loud for him.

Luka considered that. "What sort of asteroids? how close and how numerous?" She asked. She laughed. "If the ship can fit, i can fly her through the gap." She sounded a little too excited about this prospect.

"loose grouping as it's the outer arm of a band. This ship should have plenty of room to maneuver through." Shane said, glancing to Tala again then going to show Luka the projected path on the tablet.

Tala looked pleased. "Excellent. We shall adjust our course to this new trajectory, and proceed ahead of the Family of scum! You are a most excellent crew, and we shall celebrate with many fine victuals when this mission ends!"

Luka had no idea what Tala was talking about but hey, a chance to really show off her piloting skills? YES!
"I can do it. " She plotted the course.

Shane smiled and went back to take his seat once Luka had the path set.

Tala didn't slap Luka's shoulder, because you shouldn't do that to the pilot. She slapped a wall instead. "Onward!" she proclaimed. "I must conclude my rest while we travel!"