Felicia’s smile could light up an entire planet.
The first time she’d held the Cap’n close to her was during one of the radio-solar storms that haunted their younger years, spent on volatile, hostile planets near the sun.
“I’m scared,” said the fearless Cap’n.
“Don’t worry.” Felicia had embraced her. “I’ve got you.”
Cap’n had lost her old family to storms like those, but when Felicia was there, by her side, even the sun didn’t seem as hot.
Felicia was a mechanic who lost quite a lot of her sight during a space walk, before she met the Cap’n. Her suit’s UV filters had failed, and she was dosed with a direct glimpse at our friendliest star. But to her, that hostile light seemed dim next to the warm glimmer in Cap’n’s eyes.
In command of a Star Freighter, the Cap’n had slaved away for years to save enough for the two of them to have a happy retirement. Far from our closest star. Maybe Mars. Or perhaps one of Jupiter’s moons.
“It’s not much, but it’ll be our home for now,” the Cap’n had told Felicia.
“I quite like it!” Felicia had responded. She’d spun in place, for extra effect, causing the bigger woman to giggle like a child. “It’d be so, so, so home-ey, once we get settled in! Nothing to worry about for little old me!”
That always made the Cap’n blush.
“And besides, isn’t it quite romantic? You, me, our little crew… Carving out our place amongst the stars in the sky?” she’d said. “How ‘bout that?”
The Cap’n had to agree.
But at the time, she’d owed her soul to the company store.
Yet her heart belonged to Felicia.
Even in the vast reaches of space, her bosses were small minded. Disapproved.
They didn’t bat an eye when the Freighter was bombarded.
Some of their best employees were lost. Cap’n was stranded. Felicia was…
Well, at least they weren’t the faces of the company. Just good assets.
Deemed too expensive to repair, to recover, to save.
Replaceable parts.
A shame.
But fixable.
They’d move on, and another Star Freighter would be commissioned, a new Cap’n too. A Felicia-less captain was a welcome change in their eyes. Less red tape that way. The losses chalked up as just a minor dip in the profit graph, followed by better PR, and more capital gains.
All’s well that ends well.
All just meat for the god machine that is the company.
Business is booming, the show always goes on.
Four years later,
the company was annihilated.
Their entire base of operations, atomized by a terrifying ship, faster and deadlier than anything the company could buy.
The Cap’n’s face was plastered onto every newspaper that night.
But she hadn’t much cared. She’d taken her flashy new ship to visit a wrecked Star Freighter and scatter some ashes.
“It’s not much, but you’re home now.”
She’d never see that Star Freighter again.
It didn’t matter.
She still had Felicia by her side.
The vernier thrusters on the CHRS-005 Felicia were arranged in a wicked crescent moon pattern. There was a cruel irony in the way her contrails appeared in the skies she visited, when she rained hell onto her unsuspecting enemies. It was something that only Cap’n could truly appreciate.
“It is romantic. You, me, what’s left of the crew… Carving those bastards into a brand-new star in the sky,” Cap’n said. “How ‘bout that?”
The ship did not respond. But actions between lovers spoke louder than words.
Felicia’s smile could light up an entire planet.
Author’s Note: This is an updated version of a piece originally posted to the Classics & Coffee community during a contest that ended a bit after the collab. Yeah.
