-KAJA-

  The StarHawk flew behind the First Light Flagship, dutifully following as the Flagship led the way across plains, and forests, then a large stretch of water.

  The sun was beginning to rise. Ramis sat next to Kaja in the cockpit, passing commentary on the landscape as they flew.

  According to him, Chin was now in his top 10 most beautiful planets list. The planet had lovely natural scenery, but there were also some artificial structures that caught their eye. More than once, Kaja and Ramis glimpsed pyramid-like structures in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

  Sometimes these structures were close to villages, which they saw as tiny structures among trees. They saw a few modern cities too. These were close to the coast, but there was something strange about them. They all seemed abandoned and destroyed. Whatever battles had driven the people out had occurred not long ago. There was still smoke rising from burning buildings in some places.

  Ramis' colleagues, Artos and Portos, joined them in the cockpit at some point during the flight. They told Kaja that they believed Agent Blaze was in a stable condition, and Kaja thanked them.

  There was something she had been thinking about for some time. She glanced at Artos. He seemed to be the leader of the three.

  "So...err," she started.

  Artos didn't let her finish.

  "You're wondering why we joined you without hesitation," he said.

  "I was going to word it a little differently," Kaja replied.

  "And how would you have worded it?"

  Kaja laughed nervously, "I was going to ask why you betray your crew mates."

  Kaja expected some pushback on her wording. Instead, Artos chuckled softly. Ramis and Portos, however, didn't look so enthused.

  Artos answered. "The Freighter's Captain was a bit of a...What's the word?"

  "Bastard," Ramis chimed in.

  "Tyrant," Portos offered.

  Artos nodded and waved his hand in the air. "All that and more," he said. "We worked there because it was the easiest way to get good money quickly. But I wouldn't say we ever felt some affection for the Captain and the rest of the crew."

  Kaja nodded slowly. She asked another question. "And what did you need the money for?"

  Artos' face darkened. He wasn't the only one. Kaja glanced at Ramis and noted that his mouth was set in a hard line. Portos looked just as tense. Finally, Artos replied. "It would be best if we didn't explain," he said.

  "Okay," Kaja replied. She understood what it was like to have stories that were deeply personal. So she didn’t press on. She tried a different angle.

  "Does that mean you guys have been together even before you joined the crew?" she asked.

  "Unfortunately," Ramis said, making a face. He ducked, avoiding a playful blow from Portos. Portos tried to hit him again, before looking at Kaja and replying.

  "Artos and I are the unfortunate ones, to be stuck with this buffoon as a brother."

  That made Kaja perk up. She was surprised she hadn't asked the question earlier.

  "Oh. You're brothers?"

  Artos laughed.

  "Not by blood. But yes, we are brothers." The three of them shared a knowing glance. Artos continued.

  "I don't believe I finished answering your question though. Yes, we didn't like the Freighter's Captain and crew, but it was when we saw Agent Blaze in action that our mind was made up."

  Portos and Ramis nodded furiously.

  "He was so cool," Ramis said.

  "Super cool," Portos added.

  "And brave," Artos finished. "Bravery is a trait we value very highly. We believe in bravery and kindness."

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Kaja noticed Ramis smiling at her.

  Ramis spoke. "Kaja's pretty brave too. And kind."

  His words caught Kaja off guard. Her heart began to flutter, and her cheeks burned.

  "Indeed," she heard Artos say. "We are all alive right now because of your heroics Kaja Khan. We are deeply in your debt."

  They all bowed their heads at her.

  "Err..right. That's okay," Kaja said, flustered. After a short pause, she added. "Hanzo was the real hero."

  A sullen silence fell on the cockpit. They had tactfully avoided talking about Hanzo. No one wanted to admit what they were all thinking. There was no way he could have survived the Freighter explosion.

  "Sorry for bringing it up," Kaja said softly.

  "Don't be," Artos said. "And you are right. Hanzo was a hero. But so are you."

  Kaja didn't respond. She decided to distract herself and turned her attention to the Master Cube, which she had placed on the StarHawk's dashboard.

  Ever since she had downloaded the Freighter's consciousness to it, the Master Cube had seemed more... alive.

  It no longer stayed in one shape. Sure, before the plates on its surface had always moved around continuously, but the Cube had always maintained its cuboid shape. That was what made it a Master Cube.

  Now however, one minute it was a cube, then it morphed into a pyramid, then somehow a sphere and so on.

  Ramis had been transfixed for a few minutes. He bombarded Kaja with questions as to how it was doing what it was, but Kaja had no response.

  She was just as baffled. Her ability to 'speak' to and control machines was generally limited to getting the machines to do things they were already capable of.

  As far as Kaja knew, no Master Cube was capable of doing what this one was.

  And then there was the voice.

  Kaja had always said she could speak to machines but she had never heard a clear voice speaking human language before.

  The Master Cube could speak.

  It was talking now.

  [Well,] It said. [I think Hanzo is still alive.] It spoke with a strange child-like voice that had robotic undertones.

  It prattled on about the theories it had on how Hamza survived the explosion. This had been going on the entire flight. The Master Cube passed remarks about the StarHawk, the planet and even Ramis.

  It had taken a minute for Kaja to realize that she was the only one who heard the voice. It was all in her head. If the Master Cube hadn’t been transforming strangely, Kaja would have worried she was going crazy.

  She chose not to respond to the Master Cube, but it didn't matter. The Master Cube seemed to have the ability to read her mind. It responded to her thoughts and her feelings.

  [Cheer up Kaja] It said. [You'll see Hanzo soon. I'm sure of it. On another note, the temperature outside is 25 degrees Celsius. We are about 3000 feet in the air. There is a school of rather interesting looking fish, if I can call them fish, in the sea below us.]

  That was the other thing about the Master Cube that alarmed Kaja. It had developed a personality; a rather annoying one.

  It scanned the planet using the StarHawk's sensors and continuously spat out irrelevant information at Kaja. It seemed to be genuinely enjoying the activity.

  [Oh!] The Master Cube exclaimed. [That's interesting. There's a dragon flying towards us.]

  Wait, what?

  Kaja bolted upright and looked out the windshield. She couldn't see anything strange.

  [Behind us.]

  Kaja checked the ship's sensors. Sure enough, there was a single biologic signal several hundred feet behind them.

  The ship likely hadn't sent a proximity alert because it perceived the signals as none threatening.

  There was an oddity though. The dot was moving way too fast for a living creature.

  [What a strange creature] The Master Cube said. [It seems to have propulsive rockets strapped to its back, but I sense no machinery.]

  The other people in the cockpit could now sense that something was off.

  "What is it?" Artos asked Kaja.

  "I don't know," Kaja replied. "There's something coming towards us."

  "What?" Ramis asked.

  The dot was quite close now.

  [I can show it to you.] The Master Cube said. [This ship has great 360 camera viewing.]

  "Do it," Kaja said.

  She noticed the confused looks the others gave her. She would have to explain later. The Master Cube beeped and projected a small holographic window showing the sky behind them.

  "What is that?!" Portos yelled.

  "Dragon," Kaja whispered.

  The holographic image revealed a winged, reptilian creature flying behind them. The creature looked to be about half the length of the StarHawk.

  It had red eyes, sharp teeth and dark scales. Three horns projected out from its head like a crown, and there was something mean about its expression. The beast looked like it was looking forwards to pulling them out of the sky.

  The dragon had a rider.

  When Kaja saw the rider, a chill ran down her spine. He was clad head to toe in white armour that had a strange texture to it. It didn’t look metal.

  ‘Bone.’ Kaja thought. ‘That's bone.’

  The rider wore a fierce helm that seemed to be made from the skull of some beast.

  He resembled the villain who attacked them on the Freighter, and if he had the same strength, then they were doomed.

  Was that what was waiting for them on this planet? Just guys in strange bone armour trying to kill them. Kaja wondered if she should have just taken the prison time.

  "Guns!" Kaja heard Ramis shout. "We need to activate the guns now!" He reached for the StarHawk’s weapon controls.

  “Wait,” Artos said, in a voice that was admirably calm. “We don’t know if he is a friend or foe.”

  ‘That was technically true,’ Kaja thought. But she wasn’t sure if she wanted the way she found to be the dragon blowing them out of the sky.

  “Well how do we find out that?” Ramis asked.

  “We wait,” Artos replied. “Or we try to establish communication with him.” Artos looked at Kaja. “Is there any way we can do that?”

  Kaja instantly looked at the Master Cube.

  [The rider has a communication device on him.] The Cube said.

  Okay then, Kaja thought. Let’s try that.

  [Calling.] The Master Cube said. An icon popped up on the StarHawk’s dashboard, indicating that it was trying to make communication with the rider.

  Everyone in the cockpit stared at it. The air was tense. The icon on the dashboard changed to spell out a word: FAILED.

  [He didn’t answer.] The Master Cube said.

  ‘I got that,’ Kaja replied mentally.

  She turned her attention back to the holographic image. The dragon rider raised his hand in the air. In it he clutched a long white blade.

  He pointed the blade at them, and the dragon roared.