Behind him Captain applauded. “Right in front of the Hubris, Detrol? Impressive, you really thought of everything.”

He made no response, but trudged through the thick sand towards the cargo ship ahead.

“No I mean it! That was gutsy, you could have blindly dropped us over a canyon or something,” she called as she followed after him. Still he said nothing, but increased his stride. "Hello? Detrol?"

With his brisk pace he arrived at the Hubris before her and climbed the ramp to the airlock bay. As he crossed the threshold, he activated the airlock doors and scrambled the lock. He heard the heavy footfalls of Captain sprinting up the ramp but sadly for her, the entry door slid shut too soon.

Her voice was muffled behind the thick metal door. “Really? You’re gonna lock me out for that one?”

"Honestly I can't even look at you right now," he called back through the intercom, then spun on his heel and strode past a second threshold of airlock doors.

“Fine! Kihkeeeeee, Detrol locked me out,” she whined and banged on the door. “Kihki, let me innnnnn.”

Her voice became more and more distant as he followed the corridor from the airlock bay through the crew quarters on to the bridge. A petite Felis humanoid sat cross-legged at Engineering, the profile of her emerald catlike ears peeking from the top of the chair, backlit by an array of glowing screens before her that displayed the various systems of the Hubris.

“How long you want me to wait?” Kihki called over her shoulder as the starship's thrusters roared to life and the ship floated upwards for several seconds then paused. The felisian wore a gray fitted hoodie and gray breeches, anywhere not covered by cloth was covered in short green fur.

“Dealer's choice,” Detrol answered bitterly, plopping into the pilot's chair, “she changed the plan on me again.”

“Right-o,” Kihki said nonchalantly, typing something into the control panel before her. A message flashed in response on the screen above it. “Ship says 60 seconds. Beatrix is feeling benevolent,” she grinned mischievously at him, flashing some razor sharp canine teeth. “Even the ship’s computer is siding with Captain.”

He mock-sighed. “What can I do, Beatrix is in her rebellious phase. Someday she’ll understand and appreciate her father.”

“She should," Kihki purred, her yellow eyes darting across the displays as she continued to prepare the ship for departure. "You’re the only symbiot I know of that can build and program another complicated AI.”

Detrol grunted in agreement and set to work plotting their course with Beatrix's navigation system. He was setting their destination to the closest port when a feisty Captain strolled in, covered in glittering violet sand. Unaffected by his icy silence, she addressed their feline crewmate with playful vengeance. "Kihki!" she started, clenching her fists.

Kihki looked over her shoulder at Captain, lifted an eyebrow and commented, "Captain, now's not the time to be playing about in the sand."

Captain folded her arms. "You kicked up a giant gust when you fired those thrusters!"

Kihki spun back around, hiding a triumphant smirk. "Oh oops."

Captain huffed and stated playfully, “Kihki, how dare you side with Detrol. You’re fired.” Pulling back her cowl, she strode to the captain's chair at the center of the bridge. “We’re ditching you at the next port.”

“We're not getting paid for this gig because of you. We’re ditching you at the next port,” Kihki purred.

“Ha! We're ditching your mother at the next port.”

Both Detrol and Kihki’s heads tilted slightly in confusion. “What?" she replied, "But my mother’s not here?”

"Ugh humor," Captain sighed. “After all these years I still don't know how to use it."

"I still don't get it."

Captain waived her off. "Forget it, it's a dumb bit from thousands of years ago. I read it in a book once.”

Like a balloon the ship lifted further upward. "Landing gear stowed, course set for Pimetha Port," Detrol drolled. In response, the Hubris hummed and accelerated forward and upward. The three were silent as Detrol manuevered them past the bleak Tuala-Ruen atmosphere and into the cluttered traffic of the outer space beyond. Throngs of starships hovered at the web of Tuala-Ruen checkpoint stations that blanketed the planet, awaiting approval to enter the atmosphere.

Detrol spoke, "There's a channel in one kilometer that will take us to the nearest Current." Before Kihki could respond, Captain haled him to stop.

"Get us out of their range before making the jump," she ordered. "They'll ignore us if we don't look like we're in a hurry to leave."

"Yes, Captain," Detrol and Kihki answered in unison.

Detrol casually maneuvered them through the traffic gathered around Tuala-Ru, during which he finally broached the topic as he had promised. “You gonna tell me why you fried this job?”

Captain's voice was flat. “Our target cargo were clones, Detty.”

Detrol nodded as he considered the implication. “For whom?”

“Does it matter?”

After some deliberation he answered, “No, but I’m curious.”

“There was a clone for each member of the Tuala-Ru governing cabinet baking in that lab. Our employer got a tip that that they were developing the technology to support corporeal transferrance and getting close enough to open the market for other affluents," she answered without looking up.

"So they'd be able to perpetually ditch their aging, broken bodies for their cloned younger ones," Kihki mused.

Captain confirmed with a nod. "Their research alone is problematic, plus our employer wanted to steal and reverse engineer the clones,” she added, then locked gaze with Detrol. “And what's my one rule?"

“Nobody lives forever," he replied.