The diagram of the ship showed where the team would be meeting, a small cargo room with its own entrance. Sir Jelly indicated that the security cameras in this room would be blocked by his own goop. He could manipulate the gooey film to show the camera any scene he wanted, allowing them to avoid raising suspicion. The advanced techniques the attending heroes used never ceased to amaze Lunai. Her mastery of her own biology is what got her accepted to the Galactic Security Agency’s training program, but there was always more to learn.

  The ships Lunai and Argalax infiltrated in the simulations were much smaller than the real one. Bliss set the machine on easy, giving them simple ships with very few rooms. She stared at the layout and her thoughts started to blur. Anxiety was taking over, and she was losing focus. Her eyes shifted to Bliss, whose calm demeanor was contagious.

  It’s going to be fine. Bliss and Sir Jelly will be helping this time. They won’t let us mess up here, as long as we can follow their guidance, the mission will be fine.

  Dr. Crux marked pathways on the diagram for each team member to follow. Bliss was expected to be the first one in the control room, as taking it would be the most important part of the mission. Sir Jelly would be disguised the whole time, but he would stay with the captives during rescue missions. Lunai and Argalax were left with crowd control in the halls, the only part of the many simulations they did well in. This came as a relief, as neither of them wanted the responsibility of controlling the ship until they could successfully simulate it. When Crux finished marking the map, he signed it and marked it with an official stamp. He then started scanning the document with his CellPulse to upload into Legend.

  “I can tell that you two are nervous; that is completely normal for new interns. I assure you that this is a very routine mission. The stakes are high, but we do this all time.” He neatly folded the diagram and brought it to a filing system in the back of the room. “I don’t have any doubt that you will succeed.”

  “Even if the mission fails, which it won’t, the blame is on me and Sir Jelly,” Bliss blurted out.

  Lunai looked baffled. “Why would you think that’s what I’m worried about? If we fail, the humans on the ship will continue to suffer!”

  “Aw, look at you, such a good fledgling hero.” He patted her on the back.

  Dr Crux ignored him. “I know there’s nothing that will fully ease your minds, but you are both welcome to return to my office tomorrow for more guidance, assuming you aren’t on a mission. I couldn’t possibly keep you any later tonight, however.” He handed both of them a keycard. “Scan these at the transportation ring and it will bring you back to the elevator. I’ll give you both temporary access to the scanner.”

  “Thank you, sir. I will absolutely accept this generous offer,” Argalax said.

  Lunai nodded. “I will as well! Your lecture today was very helpful, I feel so much better already.”

  The three heroes were dismissed and took the elevator back to the planet’s surface. Bliss did not speak to them for the entire ride. He stared down at his wrist, looking away from them. Lunai was starting to have her doubts about him; he didn’t seem like the benevolent hero he was portrayed as by the media.

  I could tell he had a wall up since I met him, but now he just seems uninterested in us and his work. I hope there’s more to it, I know there’s something there I can connect to.

  Her CellPulse flashed with a new message for her, a short jingle played to alert her. As she looked down, Bliss’s eyes also glanced over. The message was a notification about a slight error in one of her notes, so she projected the screen in front of her. She opened Legend to make the correction when Bliss finally broke his silence.

  “Is that your cat?”

  She looked around at her screen for a second, unsure what he was reacting to. There were no pictures of Cromble on the projected screen.

  He pointed down towards her CellPulse. “The picture on your lock-screen.”

  “Oh yeah!” She closed the screen projection and returned to the lock screen. “This is my cat, Cromble.”

  Bliss’s face lit up. “She’s beautiful!”

  His smile looked different to her. She never thought he was faking it before, but seeing him now made her question that. Pure love was in his eyes, something he so freely and quickly gave for her cat, whom he had never even met.

  If I took a picture of his face right now, it would sell for thousands of dollars. His fan base would have a riot if they could see how easily my cat won his heart. Instant love is the proper response to seeing Cromble, so I can’t say I blame him.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Argalax peered over at the picture as well. “I’m surprised you have a cat, Lunai. Is your family wealthy?”

  “My father is the leader of our planet, but we don’t participate in the galactic oracle economy, so we’re not wealthy or anything.”

  “Oh…” He looked at Bliss for a second. “Did you have to take out a loan? I don’t think our intern salaries would be enough for one, but I know plenty of people will put money aside to feel closer to Earthlings.”

  “No! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people who are so obsessed with Earth they’d do anything for a cat! It’s not about Earth at all; I like cats themselves. It was just luck. I found her lost on a planet I visited during school.”

  Bliss held out his wrist. “This is my cat, his name is Sorebel. He is fat and stupid.”

  On his lock-screen was a picture of the rotund creature. He was sitting on a pillow with his legs facing forward as if he were bipedal.

  Lunai squealed with excitement. “Oh my Old God he’s so cute and stupid looking! I’ve never met another cat owner before.”

  “Now I’m not surprised that you have a cat, Bliss. I bet he helps you feel closer to home.”

  Bliss lifted one of his eyebrows. “Home? Earth isn’t my home. I’ve never been to Earth. You know half-sirens are formed in the vacuum of space, right? There aren’t void sirens anywhere near Earth.”

  “Oh, of course! I didn’t mean it in that way. Your family is from there is what I meant.”

  Lunai grimaced from secondhand embarrassment. She looked over at Bliss, expecting a similar reaction to previous questioning from Kelang.

  Not you too, Argalax! I expect this from Kelang, but I thought you would know better than that.

  Bliss looked at him with a blank expression. “My dad hates cats. He found a cat on his ship once and ejected it into the cold void of space to die. Earth’s his home, not mine.”

  That explains a lot! No asking Bliss about his family, I guess. I’ll give Kelang another punch in the arm later to remind him.

  Yet another moment of awkward silence passed between the three of them. Lunai and Argalax stared wordlessly in horror as Bliss held eye contact with them. Thirty painfully long seconds passed before he broke his glare and looked back at his wrist.

  “Lunai, take a look at this video. Sorebel does this thing where he runs around in a circle if I’ve been away for a while. I also want to see more pictures of Cromble. I’ve also never met another cat owner, at least ones that weren’t weird about humans.”

  She tried to ignore the brief trauma dump, continuing to watch cute videos of Sorebel. She showed him more pictures and videos of her own, happy it could keep his mood up. They finally reached the end of the elevator ride and the doors opened to the artificial wilderness.

  Bliss took the first steps out. “Alright, since this is your first time here, I’ll show you the way back. Activate your suits and follow me.”

  He started hovering above them, waiting for them to start following. They both activated flight mode and reached him in the air. He flew north towards the main office building, making sure to slow his speed so the interns could follow. Lunai had already proven her mastery of personal flight technology after following him into space, but he was testing Argalax’s limits. Lunai could see that he was nervous to be going so fast. She grabbed his hand to help steady him, making sure they both got there in one piece. Bliss stopped when the main building was visible.

  “This is your stop. You should be able to make it home yourselves. Lunai, don’t let Cromble be a stranger! We can exchange photos in CheetahChat, but I want to meet her in person one day.” He disappeared in a flash of light.

  Argalax slowly returned to the ground. “I feel so mortified. I can’t believe I made so many assumptions about his history.”

  “It’ll be ok, at least I think it will be. He’s definitely the type to compartmentalize negative experiences. If you don’t bring anything like that up again, I think he’ll just forget about it.”

  “I hope so. Thank you, Lunai.”

  They went their separate ways and returned to their dorms. Lunai picked up Cromble and crashed onto her couch. It was time to return to her nightly study routine. The board exams for heroes were every three months. She remembered how confused her father was when she said heroes had to take written exams. They had practical exams as well as simulation technology, but knowing the information on paper was the first step. After an extensive MyUniverse study session, she took a break to message Bliss. She had finally made a connection with him and was hopeful that she could bring out his softer side.

  The way he talks about his own cat, I’d love to see them interact. The media would be clamoring to see it.

  She sent a few photos and videos of Cromble CheetahChat. Within a minute, Bliss reacted to the message with a heart emoji. She knew that she now had a foolproof way of getting him to respond in an instant. He sent back a video of Sorebel rubbing his paw on the floor while drinking water. She giggled at the video, but she still worried about Bliss’s general behavior earlier in the day.

  Why are you so paranoid about Dr. Crux? It’s clear you’re dealing with some stuff from your past, so I guess it’s understandable, but why him? I really hope you see a therapist.

  They continued texting until Lunai went to bed. She agreed that they should meet each other’s cats, given how rare the animal was in space. They decided they’d bring both cats out to a bowling alley the weekend after their big mission. Going to each other’s houses would be too awkward this early in their work friendship.

  “Sorebel is actually an athlete. I trained him in cat bowling, and we compete in tournaments occasionally. He’s pretty good!”

  “OMOG! I’ve always wanted to try cat bowling! There were never any bowling alleys close enough for me to go to.”

  The plans were set, and she could rest easy. Things were going smoothly and she wouldn’t have to reconsider keeping Bliss as a mentor. The more he knew her, the more inclined he would be to teach her during the day. She would have a bright and hopeful career by his side. She was ready to face the universe, and the universe was ready to have her.