The air was slightly chilly in the interior of the ship. The guards, pilots, and maintenance worker were all wearing comfortable long-sleeve uniforms, but Rey was stuck with only the dress uniform she was required to wear. Even her two attendants had warmer looking uniforms. Her arms and legs had been chilly ever since they departed from the base orbiting her home pnet, Kaiavere, nine days ago.

  Calling it her home pnet was a little misleading though, because she’d only been to the surface twice. She’d spent the majority of her time in the massive satellite orbiting it, which was the Empire’s primary base in that sor system.

  Rey stared out a window into space as the ship passed through wormholes towards their destination. Even in the orbital base where she’d spent most of her life, she was rarely allowed to visit the outer sectors where it was possible to get a glimpse of space.

  “Vast isn’t it,” said a voice behind her. “We’ll have to temporarily stop using wormholes soon to navigate an asteroid field.”

  She was accompanied by at least one attendant and guard at all times, but the voice belonged to the maintenance worker traveling with them. He was an older man in his 70’s, with light gray hair and a bushy mustache. He was slightly stooped over and rather thin, but he had kind looking eyes on his wrinkled face.

  “Yes, I’ve never been this far out into space before.”

  She knew that everyone traveling with her had gone through extensive background checks, but she hadn’t been told anything about the other members of the crew.

  “I’m sorry, we’ve been traveling together for nine days and I still don’t know your name.”

  “That’s not your fault; we haven’t had many chances to interact,” he replied. “I’m Odo Stuther, and of course I know who you are, Princess Rey.”

  “Have you been on a lot of these trips?”

  “Yes, I’ve been doing this for the past ten years. Before that, I worked in the interior of Kaiavere base.”

  “I wonder what it’ll be like to be married to the head of a foreign country. I don’t even know what he looks like.”

  “You don’t sound scared.”

  “I am a little, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I don’t have a choice.”

  “What would you do if you had one? What do you want?”

  “Hey, watch what you’re saying,” said the guard, who had been standing at the end of the hall, watching the exchange.

  “Want?…It’s necessary,” Rey said to Odo.

  “Sorry, it’s just that my daughter was once your age. She always wanted to be a doctor, and even though things didn’t go according to pn, she kept trying, and eventually got what she wanted.”

  “Do I remind you of her?”

  “No, not really.”

  “Oh, I see,” Rey said, not really following.

  “Don’t worry about it. I got distracted. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

  Something about the way he said that seemed off to Rey, but she didn’t have time to ask him.

  “Ah, it’s almost time.” he said, looking at his watch. “I’ve got to go. Well, take care,” he said, turning and walking away. She looked back out the window into the starry void.

  “He asked if this is what I want, but that doesn’t matter, does it? Even if I was given a choice, I don’t know what I’d do. Maybe…”

  ***

  The cockpit was eerily quiet. Both pilots were sitting in shock, eying the gun Odo was holding to them.

  “What do you think you’re doing, threatening pilots of the Imperial army?” said the older pilot. He’d triggered the arm as soon as he’d seen the gun in Odo’s hands, but no guards had appeared. Odo had sealed off the entrance.

  “Break away from the fleet and follow the directions I’m about to give you or I’ll kill you and do it myself. I know how.”

  “Then why don’t you do that?”

  “It’d weigh on my conscience. But it wouldn’t be enough to stop me.”

  “Why are you doing this?” the younger pilot asked.

  “I’d like to say this is my way of fixing a past mistake, but I may just be doing this for my self-satisfaction. Ever since I got involved I had a feeling that there would be consequences, and now I’m finally prepared to face them. I’ll do what I can while I still have the chance.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the older pilot said.

  “It doesn’t matter, just do what I tell you.”

  Left with no other choice, the pilots broke off from the fleet of guard ships surrounding them and opened a wormhole to the location Odo specified.

  Waiting for them was a ship much smaller than their own. It immediately began to approach them, clearly preparing to board their ship.

  “Pirates?”

  “Disable the security and let them board,” Odo said.

  The pilots initiated the interspace boarding sequence, and after several moments, they all felt the small jolt as the two ships connected.

  “They’ve boarded us,” the first pilot said quietly. “Now what?”

  “Stay here, and keep your hands where I can see them.”

  “We’ll be held accountable for this won’t we? They might even kill us,” said the older pilot.

  The younger pilot looked terrified.

  “There’s no way they would, right? I mean, it’s not our fault! I mean I…I don’t wanna die.”

  ***

  Rey was ushered into a room near the center of the ship and locked inside with her attendants while a guard stayed outside the entrance.

  “I wonder what’s going on.”

  She waited, more curious than scared.

  Suddenly there was a jolt that ran through the entire ship, and a few minutes ter she heard a commotion outside. A sound like gunshots sporadically came closer to the room where they were taking shelter.

  She heard a thud outside the door, and then a few moments ter it opened. Framed by the light spilling in from the hallway was a young man holding a gun in his right hand. His hair was such a light shade of grey that it was almost white, and although he looked a few years younger than her, she could immediately tell that he was strong.

  His eyes nded on Rey, who was kneeling on the floor between her two attendants. The best way she could describe his gaze was “intense”. Her attendants scrambled back across the floor as he stepped forward, but Rey didn’t move.

  “What’s your name?” he asked, getting down on one knee in front of her.

  “Rey,” she answered simply, her mind bnking.

  “Please come with me.” he asked, extending his hand to her.

  “Huh?”

  “I’m looking for someone, but I haven’t been able to find them, so I’m going to take you hostage and use you to get her back. If you come with me willingly, everything will be fine.”

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “Zan,” he replied simply. “Just Zan.”

  “What do I want? I don’t know, but… if I take his hand I might get the chance to find out.”

  She tentatively reached out and took his hand. The moment they made contact she felt a massive emptiness within him, as if she were connected to a gaping void.

  He looked at her in shock.

  “Who are you?” he repeated in awe, for a reason she would only understand much ter.

  Rey didn’t know what to say.

  “I’ve never felt so much-” a voice in his earpiece cut him off, now more urgent than before.

  “I’ll find out ter, for now, come with me!”

  He brought her to her feet, then turned and pulled her along behind him as they left the dumbfounded attendants behind and ran into the corridors outside. They reached the inter-ship docking point and climbed through the tunnel into the other ship.

  Still feeling slightly like she was in a trance, Rey followed him into the belly of another ship.

  Waiting for them was a woman in her te twenties, a look of urgency on her face. Her wavy brown hair fell halfway down her back, and she wore a brown fur coat, boots, and a small, fur lined beanie.

  “Did you get her?” she asked as soon as Zan appeared.

  “Yeah,” he replied.

  “Zan, we need to get out of here. It’s a matter of minutes before we’re surrounded,” said a young woman on the other side of the room. She wore gsses and had a rather serious, inexpressive face.

  “I know,” Zan said. “Tell Andre to get us out of here as soon as we’re detached.”

  The woman nodded and left the room.

  “Aneeta, close the hatch, then take her to the spare room,” he said to the first woman as he followed the other woman out.

  “Got it.” The woman he’d called Aneeta watched him leave, then quickly turned and sealed off the entrance that Zan and Rey had come through moments prior.

  “We have a crew of five, so there’s only one avaible room, unless you wanna sleep with me. What’s your name?”

  “Rey Seyn.”

  “...Ha ha. No really, what’s your name?”

  “Rey Seyn.”

  “Wait, you’re not…but…” Aneeta looked like she couldn’t believe what Rey was saying.

  A small shudder from the ships detaching.

  “You’re ciming to be a member of the royal family…you’re lying. Wait, does Zan know?”

  Rey thought back to her meeting with him.

  “I might’ve only mentioned my given name…”

  Aneeta’s eyes went wide.

  “Crap,” she said, before running out of the room. She bolted down the halls and into the control room, catching everyone by surprise.

  “What happened?” Zan said, once he saw her panicked state.

  “She’s ciming to be part of the Seynian royal family! What the hell’s going on?!”

  “She’s what?” Zan said in shock. “That’s not what I was told! All I knew was that it was someone important!”

  Another man, leaning against the wall, looked up in interest. He had long, greasy brown hair that fell past his shoulders, and appeared to be in his te twenties.

  “We have to return her!” Aneeta said, immediately aware of the danger in their situation.

  “Return her? What is she, a package?” asked the man leaning against the wall.

  “Shut up, Marcus. If we put her back right away there’s a chance-”

  “It’s too te; the guard fleet’s already caught up. They’ll have us surrounded in less than a minute,” Andre said from the controls. “There’s no time to reattach if we want to escape. I barely have time to open a wormhole.”

  The man called Marcus smiled as Aneeta’s face fell.

  “Once we leave, there’s no going back. The Empire will do anything to catch us, and if they do, we’re dead.”

  “We don’t have a choice. This is my fault. I’ll make sure to get everyone to the Alliance safely,” Zan said. “Aneeta, go make sure she stays in the spare room while we sort things out.”

  Aneeta nodded once and hurried out of the room. Rey was still waiting back in the entry room.

  “Follow me,” Aneeta said, leading her to a hallway lined with three doors on either side. She opened the third one on the left into a small room with only a bed and a few pieces of furniture.

  “Stay here, and don’t come out until someone comes and gets you,” Aneeta said, leaving her alone.

  Rey sat on the bed and looked down.

  Why had she agreed to go with him? If she’d resisted she might’ve been able to buy time until reinforcements arrived. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed. Perhaps she’d made a bad decision on a whim.

  But she'd made a decision.

  For as long as she could remember, all decisions had been made for her. Everything she owned, everything she did, everything she learned. And now the person she would marry.

  Nothing in her life was hers. There was nothing she truly cared about, and this left her feeling empty.

  Perhaps this was why she’d gone so willingly.

  “Maybe I want to find something important to me.”