I’ve got the stars for company.
Her little cabin lit up a little too bright for a moment, tearing her focus from her screen and to the window to the side of her head. A piece of space debris had flared up her shields for a second, and she sighed as she realised she had nothing to worry about. She slumped back down into her claustrophobic seat, her controller still in her hands, and dumped her feet onto her dashboard. The great beyond lay behind her holographic screen, but the virtual world she was interacting with held more intrigue and mystery than she saw out there.
Her shoe was pressed firmly on the dirty glass plane that protected her tiny body from the vicious sable skies. To her side another screen blinked every so often with messages from friends, or corporations letting her know about the latest fusion drives, her eyes never left the view in front of her.
She had been drifting for a few hours like this, somehow feeling more free, somehow feeling less caged than she did on Sigma Station, than she did with her family in her real room. This bucket of bolts that was barely managing to keep her anchored made her feel more at home than she ever was aboard that station.
“It’s dinner time honey.” Her mother’s voice came through the ships, comms. She paused her game and sat upright, trying to look like she was piloting the craft.
“Okay, be home in two.” She tucked the controller under her chair, swiped the holographic view of her virtual world aside with her finger and sighed as she watched the sun, two astronomical units away in the distance. Her dashboard folded down over her legs and relieved the controls to her as transparent colours presented the state of the ship. Shields were at 99%, thrusters on a dull 20% just to keep them anchored, and her weapons systems were at a wonderful 0%. Probably because she wasn’t allowed any, even just for shooting asteroids.
She dropped her shields down to 50% and engaged her thrusters, returning control back to her fingertips. She slid the icon for her engine up as the ship began to pickup speed, and set a course for Sigma station, the sable skies reached out for her as she looked back; she reluctantly landed in the hanger.
