Now that all my systems were working, it was easy to rendezvous with The Pharaoh and my crew. I knew they'd be excited to meet Sango, and I knew they'd be curious about my new scars and gear.

  I decided I didn't need to tell them about the Puppy Eyes ocular setting. After leaving Love Hurts, I told myself not to use it, as tempting as it might be. I felt like using that setting to view someone would cheapen the relationship, make it less authentic.

  I was beaming when I spotted my black and red Pharaoh, looking intimidating in the landing zone. I could surmise a little of what had happened because there were visible blast marks along the right side. The blemishes made it look even more fierce. Escaping Itokawa must have resulted in at least a little damage, but a quick visual scan showed that it was in good shape other than cosmetic damage. I wondered if they had to stop for repairs.

  Since I didn't want to use Puppy Eyes on people, I tried it out on the ship, only to learn that The Pharaoh didn't love me. Boo hoo.

  But that didn't detract from my overjoyful attitude. I was home. When the crew saw me walking up the dock to the ship, I was delighted by the cheers and hugs.

  "You made it!"

  "What happened?"

  "Your face!"

  "Oh my god, you got a kitty!"

  I passed Sango to @astrowave first, and Sango proceeded to give everyone nose kisses as he was passed from person to person.

  "Nice tech," @foxcutter said, pointing at my ARM. "What is it?"

  "I'll fill everyone in later," I said, between hugs and comments, the chaos of a warm welcome.

  "Captain Henry!"

  I wasn't expecting that last one. It was @zerogstar who called it out, perhaps because of her time on Itokawa with all the human names. I didn't know @zerogstar that well yet, but she was clearly excited to be off of Itokawa, and I suspected she'd fit right in if she decided to stick around with us. She waited back until the others had given me proper hugs, except for @astrowave who gave me an improper hug and nearly broke my back.

  "Lyra," I said to @zerogstar, returning the origin name. I gave her a clasp on the arm, kind of an almost hug and a warm handshake. "I hope the others have already welcomed you aboard, but to make it official, welcome aboard. You can stay with us as long as you'd like."

  She nodded, took her turn petting Sango, and then she headed off with @astrowave to talk about ... plants it would seem, which they must have been in the middle of discussing when I arrived.

  The feeling of warmth, of companionship, struck me in a way I hadn't anticipated. All those lonely years on the i35. Here I thought I had a simple and easy life, peaceful, content. I didn't know how much I missed being around other people. Oh, I like my quiet time too. I knew once I was done with hugs and updates that I would need to retreat to my captain's quarters for time to think and be by myself, but the welcoming reception was special. I was starting to see the crew like a family of sorts, and I decided that was the kind of captain I wanted to be.

  Now that I was back, I asked everyone to take thirty minutes to center themselves. We would debrief in the commons area to plan out next steps.

  "Get yourselves in a good spot," I ordered. "Then we have work to do."

  I settled Sango onto the couch in my personal quarters, discarding my leather jacket so that he could use it as a little bed on one of the seat cushions. It didn't really seem like my coat anymore.

  I thought I had time to take a quick shower before we planned our next steps, but a knock on my door revealed an apprehensive @bitchfrog.

  "Do you have a second?" she asked. She was wearing a green t-shirt with the words Life's a B*tch written backwards on the front in thick white letters.

  "Sure," I said, trying to convince myself, and her, that this wasn't a disruption of my thoughts. "Nice shirt."

  She looked down at the words and then back at me. "This is how I feel," she said bluntly, pointing at her shirt.

  "I don't blame you." I motioned for her to sit on the couch, next to Sango, but she shook her head.

  "Medical room please," she said. "I want to talk with you, but I also need to examine you."

  "I'm fine, really."

  "I know you say that, but I'm your medical officer. I need to know what they've done to you and your overall physical and mental condition."

  She had a point, and I couldn't argue with it, especially if we were about to head out again into danger. We walked by @zerogstar and @astrowave on our way, and now @zerogstar was showing him a plant. It looked like a bulbous plumeria plant. So, she had managed to sneak one off the asteroid. We could use some plants on board.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  I waved in passing, but they didn't notice us.

  "That plant could be useful for medicines," @bitchfrog commented. "@zerogstar is going to start propagating a few more from that one. @astrowave was eager to help. He seems fascinated by them."

  I nodded. That would be handy, although I didn't know much about the medical applications beyond its ability to help one adjust to life in space. I figured maybe @zerogstar herself might benefit from that as she adjusted to The Pharaoh.

  @bitchfrog motioned for me to hop up on our examination table, bringing back memories of my visit to Love Hurts, only this time I was fully clothed and in the comfort of my ship. I didn't need to think about Erosions doing Erosion things, and I still didn't remember everything.

  "Lay back please, while I scan you."

  I did. The robotics in the room took over, dropping down from the ceiling and running a full scan over me in rotating colors of bright light: green, yellow, blue, red, purple, as it scanned for organic, electrical, chemical, thermal, radiation, and so forth. I was pretty used to this from the reanimation chambers, although the ship unit wasn't as thorough.

  "Tell me what happened to you," @bitchfrog instructed, as she looked at the scan readouts.

  "I don't want to talk about it."

  "I don't want to talk about being sold to human traffickers either," she said, eying me between scans. "But I need to, and so do you."

  She paused, using the trick of silence to get me to open up. I didn't cave in to the trick. I told her because she had a right to know.

  "I'll give you the short version," I started out, blinking as the yellow light flashed in my face. "I started a pillow fight as a distraction on Itokawa, kind of accidentally, but it worked. That was so we could get @foxcutter and @zerogstar off the asteroid."

  "Why did you bring @zerogstar?" she interrupted.

  "You don't like her?" I asked.

  "No, that's not it at all. I'm glad she's here. I just want to know why." She hesitated. "I want to know that you are focused. I'm being sold off, remember? If she helps get me back, then I'm all for it. If she's a distraction, then ..."

  I laughed, trying to put @bitchfrog at ease. "She isn't a distraction. She had information that an Itokawan gang, the Thrusters, wanted retrieved. She's skilled, kind of a complement to @foxcutter. I had a passive interest in the intel, but honestly haven't bothered to look at it. Getting the intel was necessary for our primary objective. The side benefit is we get another crew member to help us."

  That seemed to set her mind at ease. "What happened after that?"

  "I fought my way to safety, only to be caught by another gang, the Hollow Kings, who really are the true power on Itokawa. They'll be good allies for us. They gave me this ARM, an Antebrachium Robotic Module. It has a grappling hook, which has come in handy."

  "Did you check it for viruses, transmissions, information leaks, monitoring?" she asked.

  "You're a good doctor," I replied. "I did not check it thoroughly, so please do. It had a tracker, but I turned it off. It wasn't a secret or anything. It could come in handy if I need to be found."

  She scowled but didn't say anything, so I continued. "They hooked me up with a freighter, the cargo ship Flipper, to take me here to Eros. We were attacked by pirates, but the ship made it to a disasterpad."

  "You were lucky," she said. "And the ARM looks fine. I don't see anything odd about it."

  I nodded. That was good.

  "I rode into Las Vegastroid with a team of mechanical flamingos, found the nearest clinic to get fixed up from all the wounds I suffered fighting my way off of Itokawa, and came here."

  @bitchfrog raised an eyebrow and made a face at me.

  "Yes," I said. "You heard me correctly. Flamingos. Robotic flamingos. I'll export a summary of all this for my official report."

  By all of this, I really meant some of this. I was hesitant to talk about @auroraloon. I intentionally left that part out. And since I only partially remembered my visit to Love Hurts, and the details of that were largely irrelevant, I skipped over that part as well.

  "So you told the Hollow Kings about our mission?"

  @bitchfrog was smart. I knew there was a reason I liked her, aside from having an animal in her name.

  "I did. It was a calculated risk, but it proved a good one."

  She started to say something but stopped.

  "Go ahead. I'm the captain and a Vanquisher, but I can't be good at it unless everyone is willing to speak their minds."

  She put her tablet down, content now apparently with the results of my scans. She didn't ask about the Puppy Eyes setting, but I'm sure she saw it in the diagnostic, and I'm sure she mentally rolled her eyes or shook her head at me in disappointment, curiosity, or both.

  "You should be more careful who you talk to and what you share," she said. "That's it. I need to know I'm safe."

  I looked at her sincerely, sitting up, wanting to reach for her hand but letting her have her space.

  "I know. Trust me, there is nothing that weighs more heavily on me than your safety. I get more tries at this if it goes wrong. You die ... well, I understand the repercussions." I shifted in my seat on the exam table. "Having you here, honestly, has given me more focus. You should know that."

  She stared absently at a random spot across the room, lost in her thoughts.

  "Hey," I said. "Look at me."

  Eventually she did.

  "I haven't died yet," I said. "That's got to be some kind of record for me. And I've been in all sorts of dangerous situations already where the easy way out would have been to blow myself up. Those days are over. We get to live."

  I had a point, and she could see that too.

  "You don't need to do this, remember?" I added. "If you don't want to, we'll find another way."

  I desperately wanted her to step away, to say no, to demand that she stay on the ship.

  "This is what I signed up for," she said, leaning back against a countertop. "I just think I underestimated how nervous I would be."

  I acknowledged her with a simple bow of the head. "Have all the feelings. Feel scared, nervous, excited, terrified, hopeful. Just know that we'll be tracking you, and we'll be coming for you."

  She nodded back, clenching her lips tightly.

  I was tempted to ask her if she had considered becoming an aiways, porting over to no longer be human. But that would be rude and disrespectful. @bitchfrog was who she was. She had made her choices. I respected that, and I admired that.

  "The courage you show," I added, "is an inspiration for all of us. You are the bravest among us, even if you feel like the scaredest."

  I meant it. The rest of us were playing a game compared to what was at stake for her.

  "Thank you," she whispered at last. "Thank you. I'll be ready."

  I stood up. She looked like she could use a hug, but instead I gave her a gentle push to the shoulder.

  "We'll be ready," I said.

  I made my way to the door. I needed a few moments to myself before we gathered in the commons to plan our next steps.

  But there was something still lingering in the room, something I needed to say. My words had been full of hope and encouragement, but we needed to feel all the feelings. The feeling we had not expressed was anger and revenge.

  "@bitchfrog," I declared confidently. "If we die, I'll come back and burn the world down."

  She gave me an odd and curious look, studying me with her green froggy eyes.

  "They will suffer," I said firmly.

  She smiled, and I stormed off thinking about death and destruction.