“Oh my,” sighed someone with a ridiculously masculine Japanese voice. That must be Toshio. He wasn’t wrong—the view looked like something out of a movie—but still, that voice was ridiculous.

  “Bro,” said Katy, “that can’t be your real voice.”

  “Don’t get him started,” said a Japanese woman. That must be Mariko.

  Toshio started hamming it up with an exaggerated accent, “We must focus on our most holy and critical of missions, Yankee barbarians!” He pushed off from the station and began slowly jetting toward a light cruiser in the distance. He cleared his throat over the open comms, and then somehow made his voice even deeper. “This is very cereal you guys!” That started a lot of overlapping laughter.

  I pushed off myself and started slowly moving toward the battlecruiser. McKenna and Angela quietly followed. They seemed content to just listen to the banter.

  “Noble samurai,” Kaylee choked out, “please tell us your best pickup line.”

  “Mmm,” grunted Toshio. He started to say something, and then broke into snorts and giggling. “Mmm,” he began again, “Hello, pretty lady. Do you like…” He was snorting and giggling again.

  Mariko sighed heavily. “If this loser can manage to get it out, it’s actually a pretty good line when he uses the accent.”

  Toshio began again, in his most exaggerated Japanese accent yet. “Mmm,” he rumbled. “Hello, pretty lady. Do you like pie?”

  Oh no… I knew where this was going.

  Evidently, so did James, and he began shouting a long series of “No,” into his microphone. Toshio had resumed his snorting and giggling. I’d muted my microphone. I was laughing too, but nobody needed to know that. Katy and Kaylee wanted to know the punchline, but everyone refused to spill the beans.

  We traveled for another twenty minutes mostly silently, but with the occasional burst of small talk. The view out here was gorgeous, and I think everyone was just enjoying it.

  Our suits vectors had spread us apart as we slowly jetted several kilometers toward our designated ships. Ships that were soon to be our commands.

  Toshio and Mariko reached theirs nearly simultaneously, with James just seconds behind. All three had landed on a light cruiser and were pondering how to get the hatch open. There was a large button on a panel, but pressing it didn’t provoke a response.

  “Maybe mine’s broken,” suggested James.

  “All three of them?” asked Mariko. “We just need to figure it out.” She grunted into the microphone, then reported that, “this hatch didn’t move at all when I tried to force it.”

  “Are you sure the buttons don’t work?” asked McKenna.

  “I pressed, pushed, and even punched my button,” James replied.

  “Ah,” said a mischievous sounding Queen Angela, “but have you asked it whether or not it likes pie?”

  “That might work,” I offered. “Try to open a direct channel to it.”

  There were a few seconds of expectant silence, and then three excited people were shouting over each other that they’d been cycled into an airlock.

  “This thing seems to be waking up,” James said. “The airlock let me pass right through, and my suit estimates that I’ll have breathable air in less than a minute.”

  Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

  “Ceiling lights are coming on,” Mariko added, “and my suit is guiding me towards the bridge.”

  Katy and Kaylee were cycling their own airlocks as three of us coasted on by. I was going to be the last one on my ship. That sucked, but then again, I’d be hosting not just nobility, but my queen. You’re not late if the party doesn’t start without you. I was two-hundred meters away when I started trying to contact the ship with my nanite implants. The ship immediately answered.

  “Hello,” it said.

  “Oh! Hello. I was not expecting to hear a voice.”

  “I am the ship’s AI. Please state your business.”

  I took a moment to pass along to everyone that they should use their implants instead of suit comms. A few moments later everyone already on a ship was expressing various amounts of joy and wonder.

  “My name is Conor. I’m accompanied by Lady McKenna Findlay and Her Majesty The Queen Angela Alvarez. It is my intent to take command of your ship.”

  “This ship is currently unclaimed. The ship is now yours.”

  The moment the AI made that declaration, my visual overlay alerted me to a new status.

  MASTER AND COMMANDER TITLE EARNED.

  FLEET ACTUAL TITLE EARNED.

  Who’s out here granting titles?

  “Thank you,” I said, as led the way through the airlock. “Please designate this ship The Eternal Light.”

  “Done, Captain.”

  “Thank you,” I replied. “Bring The Eternal Light to full readiness.”

  “Of course, Captain.” A blue line then appeared on the deck. “Please follow the path to the bridge.”

  I turned to McKenna and Angela, who had their environmental suits off and were looking at me expectantly. Oh, right. I began taking my own suit off and the girls moved closer to assist. “I have command of this ship, and it appears that the others are taking command of their own ships.” I pointed my chin toward the blue line while tugging off my boots. “If we follow that line we’ll end up on the bridge.”

  Angela and McKenna looked thankful that I’d filled them in. I’d need to do better. I thought for a moment as we got my suit off. When I could stand up again, I looked up toward the ceiling and addressed the ship. “AI, please resume the conversation via external speakers so that Angela and McKenna can hear us.”

  We waited a few seconds for an answer, and I was starting to wonder if I was about to look very silly. Then a royal blue hologram of a woman appeared in front of us. “Is this acceptable, Captain?” The voice was crisp, clear, and seemed to originate from the hologram itself.

  My mind was whirring with possibilities. “Walk with us while I think about this.” We continued toward the bridge as I thought about how my ship’s AI avatar needed to look. “AI, please add a steel breastplate and pauldrons.” A moment later and the changes ware made. Oh hell, yes. This was going to be perfect. “That’s perfect. Now you need leather bracers and boots, and a thick leather pteruges over a cloth skirt.” Moments later and the changes were made. McKenna drew in a shocked breath, and I knew she’d caught on. “We’re almost finished, AI,” I began as I turned to look at McKenna. “Lady McKenna has just one more addition.”

  The joy in McKenna’s expression was radiant. Her voice rang out sure and true. “You need a pair of great feathered wings attached behind your shoulders!” And with that, she just needed a name.

  We’d arrived at the bridge hatch and moved to stand in a cluster, the three of us humans excitedly staring at the hologram. I locked eyes with the glowing armored woman made of pure light and told her, “AI, your name is now Valkyrie.”

  The hologram looked herself over for a moment before she suddenly snapped her fingers. In a blink, her rather basic armor was now adorned with functional and even decorative detail. She looked herself over again and then nodded in satisfaction. Meeting my eyes once again, she swept one hand toward the bridge hatch. As the hatch bolts cycled she addressed me in a voice that now sounded like a proud warrior woman’s. “The bridge, Sir.”

  I led the way onto the bridge. There were several consoles and displays, a giant view screen, and a small number of windows showing the stars. The floor was covered in a powder blue carpet. But most importantly, there was one very obvious Captain’s Chair.

  I was moving toward the captain’s chair almost before I’d recognized it. It was sleek and molded from some kind of material. The cushion was a rich royal blue. My hands shook as I lowered myself into the chair. I hadn’t expected these feelings of purpose and exultation, as if I’d just received my call to adventure. I looked at McKenna with what was hopefully not a manic expression on my face and excitedly yelled, “I’m a starship captain!”

  She looked at me, this woman who was more family than any blood relation I’d ever known, and she smiled at me. “My champion.”