STEALTH and TRACK: BOOK ONE

C H A P T E R T E N

HUNTER'S POV

"Well, that doesn't look very comfortable." I chuckled as I approached the two female clones lounging in the main cabin. "For any of you." Omega was leaning her back against Gonky (Wrecker and her nicknamed our defective power droid), occasionally adjusting herself by shimmying in her spot. She gazed up at me with a smile as she played with one of Tech's electronic tablets. "We're fine." she insisted in a soft voice.

"Speak for yourself." Fern scoffed before grumbling. She, on the other hand, was lying on her back with her legs propped up on Gonky and her hands resting under her head. One of her feet was tapping the air out of boredom. Then she flung her arms up with a huff and dropped them flat on the floor with a huff. "Ugh! How long are we just going to continue to aimlessly travel through hyperspace?"

Unsure how to respond to her restlessness, I patted the tin box in the crook of my arm. "Come on, chow time." Omega reached out her hand and I handed her a fiber roll. Fern also stretched out her arm, but with a more mindless attitude. I gave her one as well.

Wrecker then popped up, eager as ever for his portion, and scarfed it down the moment it hit his palm. "Hit me again!"

"Well, that's all for now." I said, closing the box. "Rations are low."

"You can have mine." Omega offered, and I watched Wrecker actually reach out to take it. I pushed him back. "Hey, Omega doesn't even have a place to sleep. You want to take her food, too?"

"Wrecker, shame on you." Fern smirked behind me, taking a chomp out of her roll. "You know, Wrecker," she continued as she chewed. "you would be deriving a child of her nutrients."

"Okay, Fern, he gets it." I eyed her down below, and then back at Wrecker. "Well?"

"Um," Wrecker stammered, then waved his hand at the kid. "No, no. You keep it."

"Okay." Omega said, and began munching on the roll's end. I shook my head with a smile. Suddenly, the ship rumbled under my feet, and the lights flickered above my head for however many times after I stopped keeping tracked after five. My grin disappeared.

"Well, that didn't sound nor look promising." Fern frowned as well. She used her forearms to prop herself up, so her torso crunched like an inverted arch. I hummed in agreement and called out over my shoulder towards the cockpit, "Echo, lights cut out again. I thought you fixed it."

"Yeah, add it to the list." Echo retorted. He began bickering with Tech at the main controls.

"I detect no concern is necessary," I heard the latter chide. "the ship-wide diagnostic report indicated that no critical systems were compromised."

"Leave them be." Fern suddenly appeared next to me with a grin. "As long as the ship stays on course, these are just minor—" Abruptly, the ship jerked violently and Fern was hurled onto me; her face smashed into my chest plate. Not meaning to be forceful, I hoisted her off of me and marched myself into the cockpit and next to Tech, whose fingers danced across the console without the slightest slip in composure.

"Getting thrown out of hyperspace," I grunted. "I'd say that's pretty critical."

"We're fine." Tech said bluntly.

"We need to land the ship immediately." Echo informed.

"Oh, no, Echo." Fern again arose in my peripheral from nowhere, rubbing her nose with the inside of her hand with the biggest smirk on her face. "Let's just keep her in space. Like Tech said, we're fine." She was using her taunting voice. Was she actually amused right now?

"Fern, get Omega and yourself strapped in." I ordered, and she obliged with a sarcastic salute of her two fingers and dashed behind me. "Get ready for your first crash landing, Half-Pint!" I heard her shout and I didn't have the moment to correct her attitude. Before I tied myself down behind Echo, however, I did glance back and catch her securing Omega's guardrail while placing one hand on the young girl's head, as if for reassurance. She jokes, but she doesn't mess around... Thanks, Fern.