“Captain, do you have a moment?”

“Not really, but I’ll make an exception if it’s good news.”

“Optimism shan’t get us far out here, I’m afraid.”

“Especially since we got’d hit by that space rock!”

“Zyxxyk please, the adults are talking.”

“Hey, I’m an adult too!”

“Captain; permission to destroy our intern’s fantasies?”

“Permission denied. Give me the brief, Zylogorg.”

“That upper lip of yours is looking quite metallic, sir.”

“Please, just get on with it.”

“Verily. With rear engineering damaged from asteroids, our thrusters have been hampered by the reduced-“

“All I do is fly the ship and order your green butts around. Give me the simplified version.”

“As you say… fuel is running dry, faster than anticipated. Our original path to the repair base is compromised. I believe an alternate strategy must be devised.”

“Ooh! Head cyclone time!”

“I believe the term is brainstorm, but a gold star for trying.”

“Right… And you’re sure you can’t patch any of this up with the tools and materials you have here?”

“Safety equipment required to operate around our cruiser’s inner engine is both costly and deeply entrenched in paperwork. A repair base was the ideal option, but there are none within our current fuel range.”

“What slingshot options do we have? Save fuel and let the environment and gravity do it for us?”

“Few. Our last opportunity was late yesterday. Next is likely too far from any other planets to allow us an effective gravity assisted flight manoeuvre. Or slingshot, if we must colloquialise it.”

“Can I say something?”

“None of us could hope to stop you.”

“Fire away, Zyxxyk.”

“Well… I was looking at this… sparkle… board…”

“The star chart, yes?”

“Uh, yeah! It says there’s a little blip near that next planet, the one we could shotsling off.”

“As I explained, the gravitational magnitude required-“

“Hold on, Zylogorg. There is a blip, and it’s registering as friendly. We might be able to get close enough to transmit a distress signal.”

“Hmm, our path would be longer, but fuel usage would be down.

“See! I make a good mind tornado.”

“Begrudgingly so.”

“Holdup, I’m gonna focus our scanner so we can get more info on this blip.”

“Go cap’, go!”

“Please, let the man work.”

“S-sorry…”

“Alright, we’ve got a visual. Oh…”

“Oh? What revelations have-“

“It’s the mommy ship!”

“The mother ship? In this sector? On this day? Why…”

“Don’t question good fortune, Zylogorg. They’ll have what we need.”

“I suppose you are right. Let us set a course.”

“Zyxxyk, go grab the lunch rations. And you get to have the last apple.”

“Yay! I got to be useful.”

“I find myself sitting on the fence about that one.”

“We’re finally back on track, folks! Things are looking up!”

“I shall remain perched on this fence for that too.”