Suddenly, the orbs started firing diagonal from how they did originally. Time was of the essence and the captain only had enough to sidestep the shot, but astigmatism made him see double. He took a chance, he took a side… and took a shock, too.
“Captain, are you alright?” Summers lay hopelessly divorced from the ground.
“I’m fine.” Honestly, the shame of getting hit was more painful than the shock itself. Captain Galhardo adjusted his hat and lent his cape to his subordinate.
The bucktoothed ranger latched on while his captain led them to safety. “Thanks! Wait… Did you also take that hit just to save me?”
“Huh?” From the others’ perspective, it must’ve looked like he walked into it. How embarrassing. “It’s… nothing.”
“Wow, Captain. Thank you so much! I really owe you one!”
He more than repaid the favor just by being there. It gave the captain an excuse to screw up so blatantly, one that he couldn’t afford not to have. His weakness had been so nearly exposed! Would Summers or any of the others still respect him if they knew he was afflicted with his mother’s eyes? Would they look down on him with their clear vision? He didn’t want to find out.
The rest of the pattern was easy enough to dodge. He found a space where he and Summers only had to lean back and forth to avoid the shots. Finally, it stopped.
“Annnd--Ooh~ A stun. Lucky!” The lieutenant celebrated. “Anyway, that concludes your punishment, Rookie.” He swiveled over to the others, but the lack of gravity made it so that he kept turning. Not that he cared. “We’re supposed to test out these glasses for a while, make patterns, dodge ‘em, and report any issues. That’s about it. Any questions?”
Ranger Kim raised a hand.
“Yeah, Jun?”
“Are they, like, for anything in particular, or…?”
“Oops! Good question. These are supposed to help us test our reflexes in zero-gravity, or something like that, right, L--right, Captain?”
“Correct.” Captain Galhardo pushed himself toward the rest of the group. “The Interstellar Forces Coordination Simulator was also invented to help gauge coordination when navigating in microgravity. Our jumpsuits are mostly impenetrable, but space debris can still be a problem.”
“It’s like when you drop a sleeve of cookies on the floor. The sleeve won’t break but the cookies might. Except we’re the cookies.”
“Good analogy.” He felt a tug on his cape. Behind him, Ranger Summers still clung to him like toilet paper on a shoe.
“Uhhh, excuse me sir, but is there a way I could get down?”
Summers’ words made him remember something that could help with his situation. “Lieutenant, did you bring the other prototype?”
“Yeah, it’s--” Lieutenant Galhardo searched around the room as he continued spinning. “It’s not here.”
“I see that.”
“I think I forgot to take it outta the stairway.” He admitted sheepishly. “I’ll go get it real qui-”
“I’ll get it.” Waiting in a room of strangers with nothing to do sounded miserable. Sure, running away like this wouldn’t help him get more comfortable around his crew, but was it really necessary? All his job required was piloting the ship, doing research, giving orders, and maybe some maintenance. Making friends wasn’t part of the equation.
Besides, keeping people at an arm’s length was the Galhardo way of life, and unlike his brother, few people were truly interested in getting to know him beyond that. The feeling was mutual.
Lieutenant Galhardo would make friends. His brother couldn’t stop him; he could only hope he didn’t get hurt. The captain, however, would tend to his responsibilities and little else. He knew the lieutenant would keep hounding him, but there was one last place where he could retreat. A place only he knew of:
His final sanctuary.
He opened the door to leave the observation deck, but one thing held him back. Behind him, Ranger Summers lowered himself using the doorway.
“Oh, sorry!” He let go of the captain’s cape. “There you go.”
“Thank you.” Captain Galhardo lifted his cape, closed the door, and disappeared.
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