ThatDeercat

Home Is Where The Starship Is

Kir could feel the mistrust rolling off the scrapper in waves. In her effort to protect Harrison and ease him into the wider universe, she'd been too bold and too forward to come off as slave. Fifty years had made her rusty, and the excitement of freedom had made her reckless. She could have perhaps reached into his mind and soothed over the doubts if she wasn't so out of practice. She'd rarely been given a chance to flex the full breadth of her mental abilities since being shuttled to the underground prison Earth called a lab, and she knew he didn't have the element of surprise to give her an advantage. Brute force would have been easy, but the effect would have either been permanent - and outcome she found wholly undesirable in most cases - or it would have exposed them such that the scrapper would surely report them when he came to. Kir couldn't come up with a scenario where she intervened and they made it off the station without the empire aware of their existence.

As she continued to turn over the options, Harrison stepped in. He didn't give her much of a warning, though as it played out she was glad he hadn't so her reaction would be genuine. He gripped her arm hard enough to halt her, causing her to jerk with the force of her own momentum, but not enough to actually hurt. She yelped purely out of surprise, though to a bystander it would have been indistinguishable from an indication of pain. Instinct kicked in, and for a moment it wasn't an act for her. She'd learned in her years of slavery never to cower - cowering was a sign of fear, and fear was an exploitable weakness - but a show of deference could go a long way to curtailing further brutality. She shrank quickly, bowing in apologetic silence and letting Harrison take the lead before she straightened again and trailed at his heels. He would have made a good enforcer if his bracelet wasn't broken, and the thought sent a shiver up her spine. As she rubbed at her elbow, acting as if he'd actually hurt her, Kir resolved herself not to ever let that happen. She'd made a promise to help him remove it, but now she made a promise to herself to ensure he also didn't lose himself to that bracelet if the empire ever got ahold of them. She'd worried if they did, repairing the defect would cut her mind off from him, but now she simply refused to allow such defeatism. Harrison was too good to allow the empire to have him.

His guilt was palpable, and Kir hated that he'd had to act so uncharacteristically beastly, but it had the desired effect. She didn't need to did deep to feel the shift in the scrapper's mind. Doubt was suddenly replaced by shock and a deeply unsettled sense of unease around Harrison. Not quite fear, but he seemed more eager to send them on their way and be rid of the supposed enforcer.

"You were right, good thinking. I should've trusted you more to handle yourself. Your little show of force seemed to work. He seems less doubtful now and far more wary of you."

As they went through the motions of the transaction, Kir kept quiet, lingering decorously at Harrison's elbow. At some point they would need to nail down their dynamic if they ever had to play these roles again - and Kir felt certain they would at some point - otherwise they would both fail to play their parts believably. Harrison, brilliant Harrison, had thought to make it seem like they were new to each other and still finding their footing, and it had played very well in their favour this time. That probably wouldn't work again because they wouldn't have the benefit of the reality it was based on. They were still incredibly new to each other, and they were still learning to work together.

Slaves - X'hondrian or otherwise - had to bow to the whims of whoever owned them, and each dynamic was slightly different. X'hondrians had a strikingly unique appearance, and they were just as often prized for their beauty as they were for the wisdom gained over their long lives or the danger their abilities could pose. Each time they were bought and sold and passed around, they had to adapt to new expectations. Sometimes they were graciously laid out plainly, and sometimes it was trial-and-error to figure them out. At least this time she'd have a choice in the matter with Harrison to build the most believable cover story together.

"This feels like more your area of expertise than mine, but we need a recommendation for someone who deals in rare artefacts. Do you think we should ask him, or...?" Kir let the thought trail off, not feeling the need to finish it. Having learned her lesson trying to pose as a slave while also leading him, she'd trust him to take the lead on this.

Home Is Where The Starship Is

Sharing their minds at such a deep level the way they had, had marked Harrison with a permanent bond that allowed Kir to feel him approach even before he cleared his throat. She pushed herself around to peer over the back of the pilot's chair as he entered and settled himself into the cockpit with her. She'd been careful to retreat from his mind to avoid invading his thoughts any more than she already had; it felt like a breach of privacy at best and a breach of trust at worst if she were to listen to the innermost workings of his mind. Now, as he posed his suggestion, she almost wished she hadn't so she might have been prepared for what he said.

"You can't be serious," Kir breathed out, blinking at him in stunned disbelief. His expression never wavered with the flicker of doubt humans weren't quite able to hide, though. Eyes widening, she cursed in her own tongue before a laugh took her, adding, "You are serious."

She could think of a million and one reasons why that was a terrible idea. What if they were caught? What if someone saw them and reported them? They would become fugitives before they even had a chance to do something of any merit. Then again, she was a fugitive already - first from the empire and now from Earth - and Harrison was already a fugitive in his own right after the way he left Earth with her and was about to go stirring the pot wearing the armour of an enforcer. The the benefit of his armour was that it practically served as a get-out-of-jail-free card as long as they were within the borders of the empire, and frankly if things had stayed relatively unchanged, even outside the borders because no one was keen to tangle with the enforcers whether they were in imperial territory or not. If someone were to catch them, all he would have to do was claim imperial business and that would be that...as long as it wasn't another enforcer. If his armour was malfunctioning, another enforcer would easily pick up on it and haul them both in for a very unpleasant imprisonment. As long as his mind remained his own, their bond would hold and no amount of distance would be able to truly separate them or prevent their reunification. But if they were able to recalibrate his armour and bring him under imperial control? Kir didn't know if that would put up a barrier that even she could not break down...

She weight the options for far too long before rubbing her hands roughly over her face and groaning, "There are so many ways that idea could get us in trouble. But..." Kir hesitated as she furrowed her brow and pursed her lips thoughtfully, "Maybe you're on to something. The station was beyond imperial control half a century ago when I passed through, and I assume it still is. After all, if the empire had expanded this far, there would be no reason for them not to take Earth, right? No offence, but Earth doesn't exactly seem equipped to resist imperial incursion at the moment. Finding a scrapper to take the ship off our hands won't be hard - they're always desperate for parts and materials this far out - and once we've sold my...jewellery to a dealer on the station, we get everything on our shopping list and then we steal a ship and skip town. We just need to find a mark who would rather stay off the empire's radar than report a theft, which should be easy considering we're out in the middle of nowhere - again, no offence to Earth."

"I don't love the idea of starting our whole righteous crusade off on a crime, but I'm an imperial fugitive already and you might as well be one running around with faulty enforcer armour, so, really, what's the worst that could happen?" She mused with a shrug.

---

The rest of the short time that remained was quiet. Kir turned over and over in her head everything that could go wrong, trying to form a contingency plan for each, as she navigated the asteroid field during their approach. Luckily their plan to scrap the small ship worked out in their favour because it meant they didn't need to record the landing with the station, and she was able to bring the ship down directly in the scrap yard. Scrappers weren't exactly the tidiest record keepers, but most of the time no one much cared since whatever ended up in their possession was disassembled and sold for parts anyway.

Kir made a last pass of the ship, committing the ruined shell of it to memory and picking through whatever remained for anything of use. She'd ripped out the chip that stored the ship's data banks on it, deciding it was best not to leave that for someone to snoop through the navigational logs and it would allow her to compare what she knew to be true fifty years ago with whatever information was logged on the ship they managed to steal. She'd also managed to scrounge up a sack for them to stuff her old slave bands into so they weren't carrying them around loose in a blanket. It was already going to raise suspicions when they sold them, so best not to turn any more heads than they already would.

As they prepared to disembark, Kir stopped and turned back to Harrison, "Armour up, Harrison. You remember what I showed you through my memories about enforcers? We need to project a certain image this time so people avoid us out there, and unfortunately that means you're not my friend, you're my handler. I can do most of the talking this time, and your armour should translate whatever is said for you, but it's old and it's probably out of date, so if it fails I can take over. We'll be in and out as fast as we can, okay?"

Once they stepped off the ship, Kir became a different person. She'd been a lab specimen for fifty years, but she still remembered slavery. Whatever air of confidence she had melted away as she made herself seem small next to Harrison. She wasn't a fugitive who had escaped captivity twice anymore, she was the expensive pet of a respected enforcer in the imperial ranks. To have an X'hondrian slave was a symbol of status and rank, and whatever attention that drew would quickly be averted for fear of incurring the wrath of an enforcer. That's what Kir was betting on. They would be noticed and then quickly forgotten, and if anyone came asking questions, no one would be able to answer them because no one would have taken the time to get a good look at them let alone speak to them outside of whatever business transactions were conducted during their visit.

As soon as their ramp descended, the scrapper scuttled out to introduce himself. He had far too many legs and not enough eyes, and he made a chittering sound as he moved that grated on the ears. He was clearly flustered by the realisation he was welcoming such a high-ranking imperial enforcer, Kir cut him off before he could speak.

"Spare us," she raised a hand to silence him. "We're only here to sell."

"Of course, of course," the scrapper nodded quickly. "I can have it appraised immediately."

"I suppose you think he has all the time in the world? We'll sell it by weight," Kir scoffed.

"Of course. You're very busy with...enforcer business...I'm sure," the scrapper hesitated, wringing his appendages nervously. If his species could sweat, Kir suspected he would be dripping. "Right this way, please. Transfers are much slower; I can pay out cash immediately."

Once his back was turned, scuttling off on his too many legs toward a door at the far end of the scrap yard, Kir spared a glance back at Harrison to beckon him on as she followed the insectoid scrapper. She didn't like the way he hesitated when he spoke. Something about him put her on edge, and she had a feeling something about this deal would come back to haunt them at some point, but the only way out was through so they had no choice but to keep going.

'You okay so far?' She pressed the thought into his mind gently. As they walked, she opened the connection between them to give them a means of communication where they could speak freely, unrestricted by the parts they were forced to play.

Home Is Where The Starship Is

||Location: Sol System
||Time: Unknown

The cockpit was quiet and familiar. Kir settled comfortably into the pilot's chair and surveyed the control panel in front of her. It was a relief they hadn't really touched this part of the ship, or at least not the pilot's controls. She assumed they left them in tact for reference considering the secondary command station next to hers for a co-pilot was a complete mess. She clicked her tongue, displeased but unsurprised. At this point, she wondered if it was even worth repairing the ship? Ships were expensive - or at least they were before - so repairing would be their only option for the time being until they could scrape together enough money to replace it with something at least comparable in size. Scrapping the ship itself would bring in some, but certainly not enough to replace it, not with how outdated the hardware probably was or the current overall condition.

Sighing, she refocused her attention on the present. A new ship was a problem for the future; they had enough problems to deal with at present already. Kir tapped away at the touch panel of the control panel, bringing up star maps and real-time systems diagnostics so she could keep an eye on the status of the ship as she redirected power from non-essential systems to the propulsion and life support systems. Normally the ships computer would have managed that without any additional input, but she didn't trust the AI to still be full in-tact.

Once Kir was satisfied with the adjustments, she sat back and watched the small dot on the star map that indicated their position slowly move along the flight path the navigation system had automatically charted. All seemed well, and it was provided a brief moment of peace as she simply observed. Kir let out a relieved hum and stretched. They had maybe another hour at most before she had to start the process to make contact and get permission to dock with the station, so she decided to enjoy the respite.

Home Is Where The Starship Is

||Location: Sol System
||Time: Unknown

Poetic. That was one way of putting it. Kir felt like there was some justice to be found in the symbols of slavery paving the way of their ambitious path to bring down the empire and free her people. There was still a flicker of doubt that she was trying to ignore. They were two people, and they needed to inspire an entire galaxy to fight back. Maybe more than that considering the rate at which the empire had expanded its reach before. By now, it could be two galaxies. A lot could happen in half a century… She badly needed to reorient herself and catch up as soon as they hit Kuiper Station. Harrison was relying on her out here; he didn’t know the first thing about navigating the diverse social and cultural norms in the larger galaxy.

Kir finally cleared her throat and said with a renewed smile, “Considering the shape the ship is in, I think I should probably keep an eye on things up front. I don’t think I trust the computer to navigate entirely on autopilot right now, and it won’t be much longer before we hit the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt. There’s not a lot of ship to explore, but I certainly won’t discourage you from letting your curiosity get the better of you. I know how exciting this is for you. Just be gentle with her - she’s falling apart.”

Of course she knew. They’d shared everything, and his child-like wonder was truly uplifting to see and feel. She wasn’t going to squash that.

“You can come join me in the cockpit when you’ve exhausted every corner, if you want,” she added an invitation offhandedly. Kir didn’t feel like it was necessary - he was always welcome in her space considering she’d broken down the most intimate walls of privacy between them now - but she offered the invitation anyway just so he truly understood that.

Home Is Where The Starship Is

|| Location: Sol System
|| Time: Unknown

The clang of metal hitting the floor was jarring enough to shock Kir’ion back to reality just in time to hear Harrison. Her eyes snapped up, finding and holding him in her gaze. She took a deep, shaking breath as she tried to digest the gentle way he reminded her that he was there, that she wasn’t alone, a captive…that she didn’t even have to touch the bands.

“Thank you,” she whispered, scrubbing her hands over her face and trying to shake the anxious feeling of pins and needles across her skin.

“I didn’t think…” Kir’s voice trailed off, and she wrapped her arms around herself in a comfort-seeking gesture.

What didn’t she think? That seeing them would send her reeling back? That she would freeze up over something so simple? They were pieces of metal, jewelry really. And yet they weighed more than anything in the universe simply because of their symbolism. She was wringing her hands looking for something more substantial to add.

“Thank you, Harrison,” she repeated, unable to come up with anything else.

Kir sat there feeling utterly stupid and frankly a bit embarrassed for a long moment before slipping off the edge of the bed and floating slowly back down to the ground. She glanced at the glimmer of metal just peeking out from where they’d landed under the blanket when Harrison tossed them to the ground.

Swallowing hard, she managed to find her words and courage again, “I don’t think I can handle those again. It might be better if you did it.”

Home Is Where The Starship Is

||Location: Sol System
||Time: Unknown

“Okay, Han Solo,” Kir teased with a smile. “I’m starting to wonder if I’m just dreaming up a bad Star Wars knock-off, and I’ll wake up buried under that mountain like every other day for the last half-century.”

She pushed herself up from the sofa and stretched toward the ceiling with a wide yawn to break the tension she’d been carrying in her body.

“About another hour, give or take,” she responded to his query about how much longer it would take them to reach their destination. “This old rust bucket may only be a planet hopper, but she’s still got what I think you call FTL capabilities. At least it gives us plenty of time to come up with a shopping list. Fuel cells are at the top of that. And an update chip for the ship’s computer - no doubt everything is completely out of date, including the star maps.”

Kir’ion paused looking down at herself with a frown, picking at the thin scrubs she was wearing, “And I need a change of clothes. So do you or we’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”

She made a look of realization, groaned, and rubbed her face with her hands, “And a lot of food. You eat…what? Three times a day? Four? This shopping list is getting more expensive by the second… We’re going to have to scrap every unnecessary system for parts to resell. I wonder if my old-“

Kir’s voice cut off before she could finish, lifting her face out of her hands and without another word, starting off on a beeline straight for the bunks. Her old slave bands would fetch a pretty penny if they were still safely tucked away. The upside to her last owner being a noble was their inclination toward the expensive. Climbing up the ladder to the top bunk, she felt around for the loose panel above the top bunk, pushing in until it gave way. She had to reach almost her whole arm in, feeling around in the dark until she found the blanket she’d bundled them up in.

Pulling them out, Kir unwrapped them and time felt like it stopped around her. Glittering in platinum silver tones, dappled with intricate engravings and jewels were the symbols of her captivity. The weight of them in her lap made her blood run cold in her veins and she swallowed hard, struggling to tear her eyes away from them. They were of no use to her now; she was free. And yet she couldn’t shake the heaviness that she wasn’t really, not as long as the empire existed. Not as long as Harrison lived under threat of being made a slave to his armor, and her along with him. What was she doing sharing her mind with someone bearing the crest of the very system that had brought her entire people to their knees and scattered them across the stars to serve at the pleasure of masters who barely saw them as more than tools? How could she possibly think the two of them were remotely equipped to stand against the empire? Her hands shook with the weight of memory, her breaths fast and shallow with panic as her mind reeled.

What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?

Put them away. Stop looking at them, she tried to will herself.

Home Is Where The Starship Is

||Location: Sol System
||Time: Unknown

His idealism was exciting, refreshing even. Kir’ion couldn’t help smiling because she believed him. How could she not? They knew everything about each other; there were no secrets left. She could feel the determination rolling off of him in waves. If he could stir her to action when all she really wanted to do was run to the farthest corner of the galaxy and hide, then there was indeed hope.

And Harrison was right, too. If anyone could stoke the flames of rebellion, it would be a free enforcer and a X’hondrian. Who could deny the optics of a would-be oppressor and an escaped slave standing together against the empire that would see them both stripped of identity and agency, saying, ‘No more’?

”I don’t think I’ve allowed myself to believe in anyone in a long time,” Kir admitted, “But I believe in you. You walked in that door this morning and you gave me hope I haven’t known in over a century. What was it your Star Wars said? ‘Rebellions are built on hope’, I think?”

Admittedly, Kir’ion didn’t know the first thing about sparking a rebellion or fighting back. X’hondrian’s hadn’t been to war in so many centuries that when the empire attacked that there wasn’t even anyone alive at the time who could remember war. It was akin to attacking a planet populated by Buddhist monks. X’hondrians honored the pursuits of knowledge and creation of art. They remained neutral in conflicts and the best minds were often called upon to journey off world to share their wisdom and knowledge with the likes of government officials, nobles, and military ethicists. To harm an X’hondrian was among the greatest social crimes one could commit, so to invade their planet and force them into servitude was obscene. Kir had only rarely allowed herself to consider the outrage that must have come from it. There must have been protests from all the major governing powers across the galaxy. To lose such a repository of knowledge and history as the one X’hondrian’s had accumulated, to remove the wealth of insight they would gladly provide to all who asked was an affront not just to the X’hondrians, but to the galaxy as a whole.

She shook the thoughts from her head, realizing she was about to sink too deep.

“Well, first things first we need fuel cells. We’re barely going to make it to the Kuiper Belt Outpost as it is,” Kir sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “If I’m lucky, there’s still some valuables stashed around the ship that I can sell to get us the money for replacements. After that, I don’t know. Maybe we can pick up some light cargo to drop off as we planet hop. Someone’s bound to have some short hauls they need done.”

Home Is Where The Starship Is

The tears weren’t an unexpected response; they were a common side-effect of the depth shared during a X’honnar. Nonetheless, they still startled Kir’ion. Harrison’s empathy and kindness were unmatched when compared to every other human she’d had the chance to meet during her captivity. Without thinking, she pulled her sleeve down over her hand and used it to wipe away at his cheek. Tenderness and compassion were two of the most valued traits among her people, and despite everything she’d been through she was determined to adhere to the tenets of X’hondrian culture before the empire conquered them.

Harrison was full of surprises. The sudden embrace was more surprising than his tears, but Kir relaxed into it all the same. She slowly wrapped her arms around him, considering her answer carefully.

“I will be,” she finally sighed. “In a way, we share more than I realized.”

Kir could already feel the effect of sharing all of herself. Whatever boundaries might have separated them due to the dictates of social norms were gone. In a way, they were now inseparably bound simply by knowing each other to such an extreme depth beyond what anyone else could ever possibly share without the benefit of such a ritual. She hadn’t fully considered the effects of sharing so much of herself with Harrison, but that didn’t mean she regretted it, either. If anything, it felt good to have that connection with another person.

Pulling back, Kir’ion dragged her eyes over Harrison, assessing him, “How do you feel? I’ve never done this with a human. I’ve never done it with anyone except another X’hondrian, honestly… I can’t imagine what it must be like to absorb all of that.”

Home Is Where The Starship Is

||Location: Sol System

||Time: Unknown



“Well, I guess it could be worse,” Kir sighed, pushing her fingers through her hair. “I didn’t exactly ‘land’ on Earth – it was more of a forced descent.” She chuckled to herself. “I can tell they put at least some of it back together while they were pulling her apart for research.”



She installed the broken canister and locked it into place for the time being. She didn’t know what else to do with it. Once they had replacements, the dead cells could be recycled at the outpost. When Harrison asked about the Kuiper Belt, it dawned on her he didn’t have any experience out here.



“Of course,” Kir’ion mumbled to herself, surprised by her own forgetfulness. “I owe you a lot of answers. For the sake of time, I only shared what was strictly necessary with you when our minds first touched. Come, let me share the rest with you.”



She led him back out to the lounge, finding a comfortable seat and patting a spot next to her. Kir turned to face him once he seemed settled, “I think the best way to do this is a X’honnar. It’s a ritual that’s like what the Vulcans can do in your Star Trek, but much deeper. I can share everything I’ve seen and experienced, quite literally I can share everything I know. It’s…intimate. It’s like reliving my life through my eyes within a matter of hours.” She crossed her legs and reached out both hands to take his before starting again, “Without your bracelet’s connection to the imperial center, you lack access to the network of information most enforcers would have. Even with our connection earlier, you’re missing about 100 years of my life. By now, most of my knowledge is outdated, but it’s certainly better than nothing. I have no idea what to expect when we get to Kuiper Outpost, but it was independent when I passed through before I hit Earth. At the very least, we can get what we need and move on.”



Taking his hands, she rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath, “It’s okay if you feel strange after this. I’ve only done this twice, and never with another species.” Kir gave his hands a gentle squeeze and leaned her forehead against his.



She let their minds settle together first, quieting them both so that it would be easier to share her essence with him. It started with her childhood – a happy time for her on her homeworld surrounded by loved ones. Kir showed him the glittering white sands and deep blue oceans, the glass spires and vast libraries of an intellectual society. There was art, music, science, history, architecture, politics, language… They were a peaceful people content to exchange knowledge with the universe at large and stay out of conflicts entirely. She was only 10 years old by Earth’s standards when the Imperial warships came. It wasn’t even a fight – X’hondria didn’t have a military. The only weapons were long defunct and only existed as museum pieces. Her homeworld faded away as she was taken from it, instead forced into a life of servitude and passed between owners for nearly half a century before an attack on the vessel she was on presented an opportunity for escape. She stole the ship they were currently sailing the stars in and set off for an independent outpost in the Kuiper Belt. She’d thought to settle on the nearby planet of Earth. The long arm of the empire didn’t reach out that far and she looked human enough to pass as one. The promise of freedom was enough to cloud her judgement, and when she was shot down over the planet, she’d been dragged from the crash and kept buried under a mountain until she met Harrison. Kir let it stop there, knowing he didn’t need a replay of the events that had just transpired.



She pulled away, letting the connection end as she rubbed her temple gently. Her first concern was Harrison, watching him carefully to make sure he came out of it okay. She feared the effect reliving a longer-than-human life as tumultuous as hers might have.



“Are you okay?” Kir asked gently.

Home Is Where The Starship Is

||Location: Sol System
||Time: Unknown

Harrison’s joy and wonder were palpable. His enthusiasm about being in space sent her into a peal of laughter. If you’d asked her the last time she laughed like that, Kir’ion wouldn’t have known the answer. It reminded her of the first time she'd left the atmosphere of her homeworld - the excitement and possibilities far outweighed any thoughts of what might actually lie ahead.

“Well, you did just basically give your planet the finger,” she smiled, knowing the thrill would eventually wear off. “I owe you my thanks and most likely my life. I never could have made it out of there without you. I can’t imagine that was an easy choice to make. Thank you.”

As if to remind them it wasn’t over yet, a yellow warning popped up on her screen: unsustainable fuel source. She cursed under her breath and pulled up the warning. They probably had enough to get to the edge of the system, thankfully, but the ship was in pretty sorry shape. The fuel cells probably wouldn’t be the only malfunction.

“Something’s wrong with the engines,” she said as she pulled up a map, looking for the closest trade station. “I’m setting a course for an asteroid cluster in the Kuiper Belt. There should be a station there.” She patted the control panel encouragingly as she stood up, “I’m going to see what’s causing the problem. Do you want to come?”

The ship was small - more like a planet jumper than an interstellar long-hauler. Beyond the small cockpit was the main hold. To the left were the small crew quarters with two bunks, and the right had a galley kitchen and tiny lounge. At the far end were the cargo door and the engine room. The whole place was a mess of tools and half-disassembled pieces of the ship. Kir'ion hadn't really taken the time to assess the extent of the damage when they boarded; she didn't have time. A sinking feeling was settling in her stomach now as she saw what they had to work with.

The engine room was always the warmest spot on the ship and Kir instinctively rolled up her sleeves as soon as they entered. She paused a moment, one hand on her hip, and surveyed the room. They'd practically stripped it bare trying to reverse-engineer the engines. She dragged a hand down her face with an exasperated sigh, looking at the open panels and loose wires.

"No wonder it threw an alert. This thing is in shambles," she bent down and picked up a broken canister from the ground. "She's running on half the fuel cells she needs." She turned to the right where the other canisters were locked into place. Two glowed with a soft blue light, one was dark, and one was the missing piece she had in her hand. "That's not ideal... I can get us to the Kuiper Belt, but she's in worse shape than I thought. They really did a number on her."