Upon Vestia: Chapter Three

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"I can only begin to imagine how difficult that must be for you," the android sympathized. He wondered if petting the disconsolate cat would be comforting, or a major overstep of personal boundaries.

~~
Ellie raised her hand. "My com says 5:42pm."

Shane nodded and sighed "Did they say where they were going?" He asked then shook his head "Do we have any idea where the eggs came from?"

"No, and no. One of the girls was given the eggs by a friend, supposedly, but we don't know any more than that. We'll try to find out more, of course, but for now we know very little."

"Yeah, we need to find out, what if they have a location of some free star dragons that no one else knows about?" Shane said then shook his head "Or they could simply be running"

"Well Sonata, the girl who knows the most about the situation, is saying nothing," Asher said with a sigh. He looked at Shane thoughtfully, "This all must be very interesting for you. Suddenly your life is all about Star Dragons."

"Interesting doesn't begin to cover it. I have to learn all I can about a species I know nothing about as well as learning to master magic when I thought I was a magic-less human' Shane said and shook his head "It is a lot to take in"

"That would be quite a challenge. Honestly, you're handling it much better than I expected." The android smiled, "It seems we're both having to cope with bizarre turns of events. You with being an unexpected species, and me with being alive."

Shane smiled and nodded "Well, I am glad you are alive and still with us. I like having you around"

"Thank you. I'm glad to be here too," Asher said. He paused, "Shane, what did you do before you joined us? If I'm allowed to ask."

"I was a bodyguard for the family that found me as a little kid. They were the leaders of a black market ring on Earth and were trying to expand to other colonies" Shane answered, looking down in shame

"It wasn't your fault they weren't good people," Asher said gently, noticing Shane's obvious regret, "You were young, you didn't know better. And once you were older, you didn't know any other way to be."

"I have learned a lot since I met the people on this ship. If I hadn't of come here I don't know if I would have ever left him," Shane said then sighed again "Not alive anyway"

"There's no shame in that. It's very difficult to change, if you don't even know that change is an option," said the android. "Did you learn any useful skills, while you were a bodyguard? Skills that might help us to protect the eggs?"

"I learned how to fight and win" Shane said then shrugged "Though this would be more magic fighting than hand to hand or weapons"

"Oh well, I suppose that's why the magic users are here," Asher said lightly. He looked down the hallway to sickbay, "Heny and Kay don't seem to be getting along too well. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but it's too bad."

Shane nodded then shrugged "I guess so" He said then looked to Asher again. "Heny doesn't like the medical bay, I don't think she cares one way or the other about Kay himself."

"I couldn't hear what they said, but it looked quite hostile," he said. "Could you? I always wonder who hears those telepathic conversations."

Shane shrugged "I think that was just between the two of them, though I did tell Kay he could talk to me whenever"

"It's all so mysterious," Asher said with a laugh.
Ellie hurried down the hall, looking as if she had been crying. "That was the worst book ever!"

Shane nodded then looked to Ellie and moved to her. "Hey, why are you crying?"

Ellie waved her book vaguely. "The love interest died! It was a romance, and the love interest ended up dead! Who even does that in a book?" She looked at Shane, "It's like that movie where the lion's dad dies. Like, what the heck?"

"Wait who died?" Matt came around the corner to find some sort of gathering going on.

"The main character's perfect boyfriend," she said tragically, "They were so beautiful together, too."
Asher looked away hastily to hide his amused grin.

Shane nodded and came over to hug her "Well, it happens sometimes, is that the end of the sttory?" He asked curiously

Recovering somewhat, Ellie sighed and wiped her eyes. "I'm okay. Yeah, the guy got infected by mushroom spores and died, and then the poor ship was all alone, and she went flying away thinking hopeful thoughts. Hopeful thoughts? What sort of an ending is that?"

"Mushroom spores? what a silly way to go. At the very least he should die defending the girl or something heroic!" Matt grinned and patted Ellie on the shoulder. "You know what'll make you feel better?" He reached into his jacket and pulled out a bottle of beer.

"It was a terrible book." Ellie snorted, "The spaceship descriptions were so ridiculous, I'm not sure the author ever left his planet. Gasoline and nuclear energy? We're not in the 21st century any more!"
She looked at the beer, interested, "Do you always carry one of those, or did you get that for a specific purpose?"

Matt's grin broadened. "I have deep pockets." He fished out a bottle opener too. "always worth being prepared for anything." He handed her the bottle, fished a second one out of.. somewhere and offered it to Shane. "Can you even drink?" He looked at Asher.