I watched the main display with a faint frown as the last of the refugees came out of the small space shuttles. All three shuttles were small enough to fit in the loading bay with room to spare, and we had just re-pressurized the room again after their last round trip.

'I assume the life support area has already noted that we will be using more oxygen crystals?'

"Yes. They have already taken our new guests into account for all of the life support systems. We have enough oxygen crystals for months, even if we count this bunch into that calculation."

Most spaceships carried far more oxygen crystals than they would need and had them stored in several storage areas in case a hull breach made some stockpiles inaccessible.

I wasn't sure why I wasn't entirely thrilled to have this group on board even if I did want to help them. Protocol kept me on the Bridge at the moment, leaving the tasks of helping the newcomers to the crew, but part of me didn't really want to meet them anyway.

"They aren't yours." Starsong's soft words rang true in my heart and in my mind.

I exhaled slowly as I continued to watch the live feed. They weren't part of my crew – and truth be told, I didn't really want them on the Starship. I wasn't too sure why their presence bothered me so, but it did. Like strangers at the docking stations, they didn't belong on board.

The crew on board were my responsibility, and the efforts I had gone through to have them somewhat relaxed in my presence had turned the 103 crew members into something closer to friends.

I was more than happy to mingle with my crew and visit them. I had about as much desire to meet these refugees as I did when I was supposed to meet the docking station staff right after docking. It was something I would have preferred to avoid.

'You are limiting where these people can go, right?'

"The Stewardship Officer has already informed them that they are restricted to common areas on levels 16, 17, and 18. We have put them in the empty assistant rooms on levels 16 and 17."

I sighed faintly. "Only two days until we reach the next planet with a docking station, correct?"

The Navigations Officer replied, "Yes. We are already reaching traveling velocity, and I have our target speed set a bit faster than usual. We may hit some turbulence due to the speed, but I will keep an eye out for any larger solar winds and slow down for them."

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who wanted to bid our guests farewell sooner rather than later...



I eventually got to my feet. I had to meet with the leader of our refugees regardless of how much I didn't want to. "Which level is the leader on currently?"

The Communications Officer frowned slightly at his screen. "Without some sort of communication device or tracking chip, I cannot tell which of the untracked bio-signatures on those three floors belongs to which individual. Let me check the cameras and see if I can locate him."

Starsong's voice came over the speaker. "The leader is in the dining area."

I glanced up as I headed for the door. "Thanks, Starsong."

"You're welcome. I will add a new training module to the Officers' Guides so they can track independents on the ship."

I passed through the door, and it closed behind me, saving me from having to comment. I walked down the empty corridor on my way to the elevator. I sighed heavily before exiting the elevator on level eighteen.

Our guests were easy to spot, being the only ones not wearing the Starship uniform. They glanced at me as I walked by, but didn't realize my rank, probably because my uniform was so similar to what the other crew members wore.

A couple of children raced past me in a gleeful game of tag, almost bumping into me. Most people looked relieved, probably due to their timely rescue. They also seemed at a bit of a loss as to what they should do. Terraformers, in general, were a hard-working group and used to constant work, so suddenly having nothing to do was a strange experience for them.

I entered the dining area and spotted the leader talking with a few of his people. Since he was busy, I decided to ensure the cook was handling the increased volume without any problems. This cook wasn't the original cook from the Tyndel - that man had been made the Overseer for the cooks, although he happily did all of the cooking in the kitchen on level five.

I walked up to the counter and spoke to the middle-aged man. "If you need any additional help, just let your Overseer know."

He bowed slightly in respect. "Thank you, Captain. He has already told me that he will help cook the amount of food needed for so many people. One of the Stewardship assistants has already volunteered to transport the extra food down to this dining area."

"She's the Captain?!" A hushed whisper caught my attention, and I glanced back to see that the leader and the three people he was talking to were staring at me in complete disbelief. The woman who had spoken blushed slightly and stared at her feet in embarrassment as she realized that I had heard her comment.

The middle-aged leader walked forward, clearly dubious as to my title, regardless of what the cook had called me. My 5'7" height was almost the same as his. He asked, "You are the Captain?"

I met his doubtful gaze coolly. "Yes. I am Captain Wanderer of the Starship Starsong."

The cook was watching them intently, a silent witness who didn't seem too impressed with their disbelief. The leader hesitated before bowing slightly. "My apologies, your presence simply took me by surprise. I was not anticipating a visit this soon. Thank you very much for rescuing us. We are in your debt."

He had apparently decided that simply going along with my claim was the easiest path. I responded, "You are welcome. We will take you and your people to the nearest port. Our estimated arrival time is in two days."

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "But the nearest port is five days away..."

I let the smallest beginnings of a prideful smile touch my lips, although it would be more apparent in my eyes. "The Starships are faster than your typical trading vessel."

He hesitated, but seemingly came to the conclusion that we would arrive whenever we arrived, regardless of who won this argument. He inclined his head, deciding to humor my latest claim as well.

"I see," he said. "We appreciate the help, although we do not have anything to offer for your assistance."

It was the truth. A Terraforming group was never rich, and with the loss of all of their buildings, machinery, and most of their belongings, I really hoped that they had the proper insurance in place.

"I did not do it for payment. I did it because it was the right thing to do."

He nodded slowly as he accepted that comment. "Then I thank you once more. I know your time is valuable, so please don't let me keep you from your duties."

His words had been polite, but I was pretty sure that he wanted to gracefully leave this conversation. I wasn't about to drag this conversation on longer if he was willing to end it. "Thank you for your understanding. If your people are lacking something, please approach the Stewardship Overseer. He may be able to assist."

"Thank you."

My wording had left no leverage for him or others to obtain supplies or materials beyond the basic necessities.

I exited the dining hall as I made a direct trip to the elevator. I wasn't quite in the mood to go back to Bridge, but I didn't feel like being around people at the moment either. On any spaceship, finding a quiet spot was not something that was easily accomplished.

"No one is looking for you, and there are no immediate tasks that require your attention at the moment. I suggest the small console behind the power converters for the engines."

I really appreciated his suggestion and pressed the button for level ten. 'Thanks. Out of curiosity, if that leader had made a scene and refused to believe that I was the Captain, what was your backup plan?'

"If you had gone out of the other dining hall door, you would have seen another Overseer who was acting as a security guard. He would have dragged the offender to the holding cells for the remainder of the trip."

I thought for a few moments before idly commenting, 'This is just so ironic... How many hours did I spend arguing with you that I wasn't a Captain? And lately, I have been trying to convince everyone else that I am a Captain...'

It was so ironic that even I was tempted to laugh out loud at it. Starsong had his own logic though. "He didn't actually argue, so you are making progress. It won't be too many more months before you will have been to every planet that I intend to add to our regular trading circuit. Every supplier you have met so far has not really questioned your rank. The others will learn soon enough as well."

I slowed as I slipped into a narrow maintenance corridor. My mind rolled his words around, but one detail kept sticking out. Starsong had said that it would take months – even at his speed – to reach just the main stopping points along his planned trading route. I hoped that his route was a giant circle, otherwise his trading route was massive. That didn't include side-trips or last second destination changes.

"It is a circular path. There is no point in trying to endlessly travel in one direction since we would never benefit from the trade deals you have set up. As other Starships get a crew, they will likely travel to other areas to set up their own routes, or else they will trade in goods that the other Starships in the area do not have in their storage holds."

I made it to the quiet area and sat down in the computer chair, although I ignored the small console there. 'It sounds like you have quite a system already set up.'

"There is no point in us competing with each other when we have the same goals and can work together with far greater efficiency."

The group of previously-rogue AIs had no problems working together towards a common goal. That little tidbit of information would likely make the Deviant Monitoring Group's blood run cold. I just hoped that since random spaceships had stopped mysteriously going rogue, they would consider the problem as over. Hopefully, that would lead to the investigation group being disbanded so that I wouldn't have to worry about them anymore.

I didn't need Starsong to tell me how unlikely that was. The AIs that they were seeking had gone missing from their original ships, and this group was unlikely to rest until they discovered where they had gotten to, as well as getting an answer for every single one of their questions.