Captive (Among Us Logic)

Learning to Fly

Once the excitement from the escape died down, Captain remembered just how boring space travel could get at times. Aurelia piloted the tiny escort shuttle, complaining about how cramped it was, while the Beans chilled out in the back. Captain taught a bit of Standard Galactic to Gnome, and he developed a sort of sign language with the mute Crewmate. He decided to call them Cub, as they reminded him of another mute crewmate of indeterminate gender from a long time ago.

"We need to find the rest of our friends," Captain told the Ald, attempting to perch on her shoulder. "I had a crew of eleven besides me, now nine of them are unaccounted for."

Aurelia did some quick math. "You said there were originally twelve of you -- minus you and Gnome, that makes ten crewmates. Shouldn't you be looking for ten Beans, not nine?"

"One of them is dead," Captain said a bit quietly. "The raiders killed him before taking the rest of us captive."

"Oh." An awkward silence fell over the Ald. "I'm sorry."

"He, uh, outed himself as an impostor and not a crewmate. Um, don't feel bad, I guess. He was kind of a jerk."

"What's an impostor?"

Captain was a pilot, not a Bean biologist, but he tried his best to explain. "They're a Bean, but more dangerous. They sneak into groups of crewmates to kill us. Nobody knows why."

The Ald glanced over her shoulder at him quizzically. "And they look like you? A cute little fluff ball like you, but it's a crazed murderer. Is that what I'm getting here?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"That's messed up." Aurelia flicked some switches on the navigator. "We're getting close to a safe planet. You want to stop here? We can pick up food and fuel."

Captain passed along the idea to the others.

"Sounds good to me," Gnome said. Cub nodded.

Eventually the ship pulled up to a small purple planet blinking with city lights. Cub pressed their face to the viewport and stared in wonder as their craft lowered itself into the planet's atmosphere, slowly falling through the clouds. It came to a soft landing at a star port, near a large and strangely-shaped building. It looked like a wheel, or maybe a planet with rings -- a giant outer circle surrounding a main building, connected with walkways.

"All right, everyone out," Aurelia said, picking up Cub and placing them with the others. "Captain, tell the others to stick with me. We don't want anyone getting lost out here."

"Will do." He did so, warning his friends that straying from the group could mean getting abducted all over again.

The group of three little Beans standing around a tall and scary Ald didn't turn any heads as they entered the star port. To the others, it was just business as usual. Everywhere Captain looked, a new and unusual alien species stared back at him. He saw avian species stretching their wings after long voyages, primates bouncing about on their nimble legs, reptiles loitering near heat registers, and more. He didn't see any other Beans, though.

"Wow, look at all that!" Gnome exclaimed, gesturing widely with her paws. She couldn't read Standard Galactic, but she could recognize food vendors and spacecraft garages when she saw them. And they were there by the dozens. She smiled, remembering why she'd joined MIRA in the first place -- to see all the vibrance space had to offer. The Skeld's crew should get out more, she thought to herself.

"Is anyone hungry?" Aurelia asked them.

None of the Beans had eaten since they were captured. "I thought you'd never ask!"