1:3:10 Blue (Part 6)

“Sir we’ve got company. Protectorate ships on sensors leaving Rexel’s One, Three, Four and Six.” Jo’Tastia’T split her main screen to show the scanner image and a zoomed in feed of each planet. Five ships broke through the atmospheres of their relative planets then darted straight for Simplicity. There was something not too far behind them.
“Char, we’ve got a problem.” Sky’s face was added to the viewscreen.
“I can see that.” Char gestured at the ships.
“You remember that faction war I mentioned? Those ships behind The Protectorate, they’re Ministry.” Blue pushed their way in.
“Ah.” Char moved toward the centre console. “Tastia, analyse our assets and prepare an attack strategy.”
“Beginning analysis.” With that, she was off; the registry of every ship in the fleet flashed across the screen followed by a three dimensional attack plan. The plan updated in real time as The Protectorate ships drew closer and closer. “Shall I bring the other ships under my control?”
“Belay that.” Syd’s voice pierced the tension. “We’ll handle this.”
Syd broke away from the rest of her ships and headed off towards the bulk of the newcomers. The Protectorate vessels came to a stop mere kilometres away. Simplicity, a ship the size of a space station lurked behind her, crumbling and hole ridden. Blue paint streaks ran like veins across the hull, all linked to one point, a stamp. Branded on the ship’s side, the insignia of The Syndicate. Upon seeing it, and the leviathan it sat on being nibbled at like an aged cheese, the remaining  Protectorate followed their contemporaries flight path and exited the system as fast as their drive cores would take them. The Ministry vessels used the newfound space to move in closer. Like nosey magpies, they surrounded Simplicity; they scanned from every angle, watching and inventorying everything The Syndicate ships took.
“Under the agreed upon codes of salvage, this ship and all items removed from it are now property of The Syndicate and its beneficiaries. Any attempt to disrupt or otherwise cease these salvage operations will put you in violation of the previously mentioned laws. I needn’t remind you that violating those laws will be met with swift, and legal, retaliation.” Syd sat back in her chair. The Three Armed Rexian patted her shoulder.
“What happened here?” The voice on the comm was barely there, timid and confused.
“After this vessel attacked us, we exercised our right to defend our interests. As a result, we have legally laid claim to this salvage.” Syd omitted a few details for the sake of brevity. There was more than a moment of silence. During this, The Ministry ships reoriented themselves to take an almost defensive stance against The Syndicate.
“At this time, The Ministry would like to open negotiations with The Syndicate and asks for peace during these times. You may continue your salvage operation but we ask your leader join The Ministry board on Rexel Seven at their earliest convenience.” There was a lot of hope in their voice as they ended their transmission.
“I would be honoured.” Syd had been expecting that response. Her tone was professionally smug. She closed the line to The Ministry then reopened communications with Char and the fleet. “I must commend you. When you came to me offering mining equipment in exchange for slaves and fuel, I thought I would barely break even but now, now I am glad to report the scale is tipped much in my favour. You have my thanks.”
“What’s next for you then Syd?” Char focussed the viewscreen.
“I talk with The Ministry and we go from there.” Syd smiled. A handful of files flashed across Char’s screen. “Those are the contracts to the pilots I leant you and the deeds to their ships.”
Char looked at the documents. There were nearly forty files transferred. “Sorry?”
“All unpaid labourers are hereby your problem.” Syd chuckled. “Good luck.” The line went dead and Syd began her journey to Rexel Seven.
“Thank you…” Char said to herself, realising Syd wasn’t there to hear her.
Lore turned to face Char and rested their hand on her back, drawing her closer. “Now what?”
“I suppose we check the tablet.” Char patted herself down. “I think I left it with Sky.”
“Should we…um… Something?” Lore knew what they wanted to say and knew what they meant but couldn’t properly articulate it.
“Let’s give them some space.” Char started tapping at the console. “Hmm. They’re so young.” Char enlarged their files. She lingered on Sky’s before moving on to Blue’s. She let out an audible gasp but nothing else. Blue’s face filled the left half of the screen with their information taking the other half.
Lore turned their head to properly focus on it and began reading. They too gasped but then their shock was replaced with a gnawing feeling of guilt. They knew that Mauve had children young and his children had Sky young but they didn’t realise that Blue was that young. “What have we done?”
“In retrospect… I think we should probably find them.” Char paused again. “I’ll do the talking.”
That was much easier said than done. With The Vengeance’s winding corridors and smattering of rooms, the siblings could be anywhere but more than that was the fact that she had no idea what to say to them. Char took Lore’s left hand before re-thinking and moving over to their right; it felt strange giving up her dominant hand but she could feel Lore relax. As they looked for Sky and Blue, they started mulling over what to say. She thought about her memories of the war, of her planet’s destruction but they felt so detached and impersonal, as if they had happened to someone else and she had watched them on film.
“You alright?” Char forced a smile.
“I suppose.” They shrugged. “I just wish time would stop.”
“I think I can arrange that… But we should do this first.” Char paused. “Perhaps we should take them with us?”
“Where?”
“I was thinking of somewhere on Earth, simpler times perhaps.” Char poked her head into the canteen. “We should check the barracks next.”
“No need.” Lore tapped their glasses. “They’re by the core.”

Blue and Sky had been sat in silence since Lore and Char first appeared on the ship. Their first instinct was to hide away somewhere private but they both found themselves drawn to the same room. They both looked into the Quasar Core, watching as light folded into nothing for eternity. Char and Lore waited by the door, listening, but heard nothing. They entered apprehensively and took a seat opposite to the siblings. Neither knew exactly how to start the conversation so they joined them in silence.
Lore looked over at them. “Sorry.” They could think of nothing else but as soon as it left their mouth, they felt it was the exact wrong thing to say.
“Thanks.” Sky replied not even half-heartedly. They too felt their response was wrong.
“We were going to go out for a bit. You could come with us.” Char shrugged.
“Going out? Where? The only place is Rexel.” Sky’s tone was coming back to her voice.
Char waved her wrist. “Portable time and space travel. Lore and I were thinking of taking a moment on Earth.” Both Blue and Sky’s ears pricked up at the sentiment.
“Earth?” Their spirits seemed somewhat raised. “You can go to Earth?”
“Want to join us?” Char gave a slight smile. “Hold on a moment.” Char left the room. She reappeared with a bag over her shoulder. “We can take as long as we need.”
“Sounds nice.” Sky sighed. “But what about everyone else?”
“Time travel. We can take as long as we want and still be back before sunrise on Rexel Seven.” Lore went to look at their Breacher but found it missing. “Oh.”
Char patted their shoulder. “We’ll go pick it up. I need to set the fleet going anyway.” Char stood up.
“We’ll get everything ready then we’ll pick you up if you’re interested.” Lore joined Char, gripping her hand tightly. As quietly as they could, they left the Core room.

They vanished. Together, they reappeared on the bridge of The Destiny. It was mostly empty save for Destiny and Curve who were sat in complete silence, staring into the vacuum; they didn’t even register Lore and Char’s sudden appearance. Gently, Char rested a hand on Destiny’s shoulder.
“Sorry, but I think I should address the fleet again.” She spoke in a voice softer than any Lore had heard before.
“Channel open.” Destiny whispered back.
“As of right now, you are all free. I don’t care what Mauve may have said the tablet told him but your mission is over. From this point onwards, you are under no obligation to continue.” She paused, waiting for anyone to wanted to, to disconnect and disappear. No one did. “We will now be setting off for the Johned Nebula. We estimate that it will take a while but it won’t be an impossible journey. From there, we don’t know what we’ll be asked to do. We leave in five minutes. Again, you are all free, your debts, whatever they were, paid. You can leave at any time but we will be heading that way. Thank you for everything each and every one of you has done and may the gods watch over your journeys.” Char stepped back from the console indicating to Destiny to close the channel. “Lay in a course of the Johned Nebula. In five minutes, start. Travel at the fastest speed of the slowest ship.”
“Of course.” Destiny gave a half smile.
“I’d like my Breacher back.” Lore held out their hand to Destiny. She unclipped the catch and slid it off.
“The updated core runs nice and smooth.” Again, Destiny couldn’t manage a full smile. It seemed to confuse her.
“We’re going to take Sky and Blue to get some fresh air. Send Lore your co-ordinates in two hours time or so. We’ll be back before you know it. If you need us earlier, send them earlier.” Char nodded as if to ask if Destiny understood.
“Yes sir.” She paused. “Take care of them. They’ll be fragile.” Destiny’s empathy caught them all off guard.
Char wasn’t sure how to respond so gave a polite nod before she and Lore returned to the corridor outside of The Quasar Core room. Char led them into the room. They retook their places opposite Sky and Blue.
“Earth?” Char tried a smile.
The siblings both nodded.
“We’ll have to get you two changed then first. In fact, we’ll all have to change. Can’t walk around where we’re going dressed like this.” Lore gestured to their armour. “We’ll get cleaned up then we’ll go.”
The siblings both nodded.
“Where and when did you have in mind?” Lore whispered to Char.
“Two thousand and nine.” Char drew in closer. “Cambridge.”