Victory of the Stars

Chapter 7: Karani Noe

Vi was feeling much better.
Kara (Karani had insisted that Vi call her that) had insisted on talking about normal things until she decided that the time was right for Vi to tell her about her ordeal.
Kara had helped her clean up and bathe, and then made enough food for four people claiming that she knew how hungry teenagers got. 8-6 got a tune-up and some fresh oil, too.
Vi'd been quite shy at the beginning, but Kara's quick banter and witty jokes got Vi laughing and soon they were talking like old friends.
Kara told Vi all about her little brother (He's twenty-seven, two years younger than me, yet he still acts like a three-year-old. I swear, he wouldn't grow up if I put him in a flower pot!) to the weather on Salilorian (Ugh, I miss snow. It's so hot here!)
In return, Vi talked about her old life on Demetrix and at the Galactic Council.
"Yeah, Laira and Dane were my best friends. Laira's got long caramel hair and Dane's is short and dark. They're both kind of short, and Dane likes to tease Laira and I about our crushes. We got into so much trouble together! We were suuuuuch dorks. I remember one time the Admiral left his jacket unattended and we threw it into an air vent - it was there for weeks!"
The memories came easily, and for the first time in what felt like weeks Vi laughed.
Sitting on Kara's couch which was cluttered with pillows and fleecy blankets, in fresh clothes, Vi felt almost happy, like the events of the last few days had just been a bad dream.
She breathed deeply, the scents of ocean spray and orange blossoms and rosemary filling her with courage.
They were so incongruously different from the dusty air outside.
I wonder how she gets her house so strangely scented?
It smells like the coastal town I visited once.
Hm.
It's very fitting for what I know of Kara, though. She's cheerful, but calming. Then Kara spoke.
"Would you like to tell me what happened?"

...

Somehow Vi had managed to hold the tears at bay while she told Kara all about her ordeal. It was like something out of the plots of the adventure novels she'd read so many of on Demetrix.
It didn't quite feel real, like she was reciting a line in a badly acted play.
Now, with Kara watching her with her sparkling green-gray eyes, the hot marble came back. Vi shifted uncomfortably.
"We need to do something," Kara said quietly. Vi watched in amazement as she grabbed a few of her fiery orange curls and began to twist them into a dutch braid, her hands flying. Kara never seemed to run out of energy. Since Vi had met her, she was always doing something.
How in the galaxy does she have all that energy?!
"If... if I could get back to the Galactic Council... I-I-I'm sure that I would have enough evidence to finally declare war against the Dartranian Empire," Vi hiccupped.
Then she sighed and tucked her long, damp hair behind her ears.
And then tucked it again.
"But I can-can-can-can-can't fly very well." Her face heated up and she knew she was going red. "I mean, I-I can, I've b'n taught, but I'm na' very good."
Vi closed her eyes and tried to swallow the marble back down, curling her knees into her chest. Kara's citrus-and-seawater scent enveloped her as Kara pulled her into a hug.
They sat there for a minute in contemplative silence.
Kara broke the silence."Oh! Ah-ha! I do!"
Vi tilted her head. "Do what?"
"Lucky for you, Vi-child, I know where we can find a pilot!"
Vi blinked. "Wait, you do? You do! Thank all the stars. I thought that that would be a much bigger problem."
Kara flipped her braids over her shoulder and laughed.
"You haven't met Ragliam yet."