The Celestial Edicts:

Never traverse the Celestial Gates,

Never travel faster than light using a Celestial Engine,

The Pure must cleanse those seen doing so...

***

The brilliant hues of interstellar gas curled in the backdrop of the galaxy like wisps of smoke. In the foreground, the arched back of Tatyana, with her voluptuous physique in her sleek chrome and black spacesuit, painted a picture of beauty and serenity.

“Uh, Tatyana, are you going to release that container coupling soon?” Lucas, a young Xoloitzcuintli with bright orange eyes, asked. His voice carried a steady tone as he fidgeted away at the control panel of the Titan’s Pillar’s Tug-No.1.

Tatyana lifted her legs with some exertion. She then turned her attention to the oblivious pilot. “Hey Chair-Jockey, I’m... WORKING ON IT!” Her long, slender feet slammed against a massive wrench on the lug of an even more impressive coupling mechanism.

Bella, the newly appointed first mate, wore a sly smile. With a raised eyebrow, she peered at Tatyana from the display on her own workstation. “I believe there’s a more elegant solution to that, Bosun Carter,” her voice flowed as smooth as the rich velvet fabric enveloping her. Bella required no spacesuit. Her authority and presence freed her from extravehicular activity duty.

“You’re free to join me out here, rookie. I mean, ma’am.” Tatyana said, then backtracked.

The coupling remained unmoved as she looked on at the massive cargo container still attached to the towing arm of the tug. “I mean, seriously. This thing is on tighter than my... Anyway, it’s on tight.” Tatyana’s gloved fingers curled around the wrench as she strained again. “I just need another minute here.”

Lucas shook his head, unable to resist a small grin at Tatyana’s choice of words. Though he had only been with the crew for one full cruise, he quickly bonded with both Tatyana and Bella. Excitement and danger followed those two.

“What’s faulty—the coupling or the container? Are they too old?” Lucas asked, concern for the ship and its valuable cargo clear in his voice. For a moment, Tatyana paused in her efforts, considering the question. She was always vigilant about maintaining the large starship, but lately, the Titan’s Pillar had acted more temperamental.

“It’s a mystery why it seems so stubborn today,” Tatyana grumbled as she twisted the wrench with renewed fervor. “Something keeps welding the gears into place. It has to be energy coming from within the Celestial Gates.”

“Um, no, that’s impossible. The interior of Celestial Gates does not emit energy. Their gravitational forces would pose no threat to this ship.” Lucas countered, scratching his head. “In the time I’ve been here, I’ve only seen them release energy when entering or exiting them.”

“Well then, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, Chair-Jockey,” Tatyana smirked, finally getting the coupling to budge an inch. “But I bet I’m right.”

Bella rose from her seat, the metal beneath her groaning in protest. “Leave her be for the moment, Pilot Grayson. She’ll get it loose in time. We need to continue with the checklist as if everything’s normal. I doubt this will slow us down—there’s an imposing hostility emanating from that station we’re heading toward, and I bet they will be more interested in our arrival than a minor equipment malfunction.”

“Yes ma’am. We’re close enough to pick up the network. Let’s grab ourselves a little local news.” Lucas manipulated the control console. The video hologram flickered to life.

The distorted image of a grim-faced Yue, the planet’s news anchor, filled the cabin. Her dark red fur shone briefly in the flashes from combat. “This is Yue, reporting from the war-torn streets of Lóng. Our forces attempted an offensive yet again yesterday. The enemy explosives engulfed many of our soldiers, and we suffered heavy losses as soldiers fell everywhere. The battleground remains an unforgiving reminder of the cost of our freedom...”

“And so on. The Imperial Navy seems pretty active around here. Does that pose us a problem?” Lucas asked, eyeing the image of the planet in turmoil. He tried to hide the concern in his voice but couldn’t. Bella glanced back at him. A faint hint of sadness flashed in her eyes before she hid it.

“Only where they would rather not see us survive, let alone prosper,” she said, turning her attention from the blinking hologram to Lucas. “But they won’t interfere with us directly—not now, at least. But aren’t you more concerned about your family, Grayson? Aren’t you a native of this system?”

“I’m not sure about your colloquialism, but my system lies in the deep of this sector. I was a simple faster than light runner. Every authority looked the other way, especially after you bribed them.” Lucas turned with a smile to meet Bella’s gaze. “No one cared where I came from, only that I could haul their goods while they laid low. I can prevent my past from haunting my present by keeping it mysterious.” His hands danced across the console. Fingers plucked coordinates from the air as he spoke of an eventful past. Tatyana, still suspended in mid-piloting maneuvers, ceased her efforts to listen as Lucas continued.

“It’s odd,” Bella said, mulling over his words before responding. “Space travelers raised on planets usually want truth, not secrets. I sense a mystery with you, Grayson. Most pilots have a story. Why embark on such a dangerous journey otherwise?”

Lucas chuckled, focusing back on piloting. “I do, but I never thought it very intriguing. Our system didn’t even have its own gate, or at least we didn’t, until I fell into it. I ended up exiled. Propelled in a whole different direction, one that landed me here.”

Bella looked contemplative as she ran a search for news involving freighters and their tugs. “Still, I’d grab any mail from home that you can get, Grayson.” She advised. “I would, but I was born on a ship. No home to get mail from.”

“Noted, ma’am.” Lucas confirmed as he finished his mail retrieval, something he had been working on in the corner of his vision while navigating their path towards the hostile station.

“Uh oh,” Bella gasped, as she noted a search result for a freighter’s tug in the news. “A tug made the news, not 48 standard hours ago. Freighter Tug Therio... missing.”

There was a tense silence in the Tug-No.1, the three of them exchanging worried glances. “Looks like it ran into some trouble with the station,” Bella said. “There’s audio from the incident.”

She clicked the play button, and amidst the crackling distortion of space-encoded radio waves, a terrified voice penetrated the silence.

“Mayday! Mayday! Freighter Tug Therio, inbound to Quadrant 4, Station 7. We came out of the Celestial Gate too close. We request that you not fire. Let us cloak.”

Tatyana turned pale. Her grip tightened on the wrench as she tried to shake it off. “Did that fool confess to emerging from a Celestial Gate on an open channel?” Tatyana asked with frustrated seriousness.

Lucas looked over with confusion clear on his features. “Madness. They just confessed that to whoever’s in charge of Station 7. They won’t show, can’t show any leniency.” The tremble in the pilot’s voice made Tatyana’s concern deepen.

A distorted voice in the background screamed that the station was firing torpedoes. The pilot of Tug Therio raised his voice in panic. “Please abort your torpedoes, abort...”

Bella, despite her eyes remaining glued to the holographic display, reached up to pat the hand of Lucas. Her voice rang out soothingly. “Don’t worry about that so much. If they announced themselves, that’s their problem. There’s no reason we shouldn’t cloak as soon as we’re close enough.”

“Um, hey, what station are we headed to again?” Tatyana, visibly rattled by the news about Tug Therio, turned to Lucas.

Lucas furrowed his brow, trying to process the news about Tug Therio while keeping his focus on piloting. “We’re en route to Quadrant 4, Station 7. So was Tug Therio, not too long ago.”

“And, uh, can we cloak with this massive cargo container attached?” Tatyana asked. A touch of hesitation filled her voice.

Her concerns barely registered as Lucas’ heart raced, considering the dangers his new home was about to face. The threat of the hostile base was one reason he’d been so eager to hide his origins. Perhaps this would only hasten that necessity.

“I’ll take your silence as a no.” Tatyana sighed, looking down at the sturdy coupling that still held their container hostage. “Time to put the girls behind it.” She said as she wedged the wrench between her four breasts and began to twist and tug. Her muscles strained and rippled beneath her metal-plated spacesuit as she put every ounce of her strength into it. Sweat trickled down her temples, and she closed her eyes, focusing every ounce of her willpower on this obstinate coupling.

“Please don’t crack a rib.”