Peris couldn’t remember feeling more relieved than she did when Nor disengaged from the rusty hatch and they put the whole dirty-minded, overheated space station behind them. Let’s get away from here! She transmitted, but she barely bothered to stay engaged after they cleared the arms of the flimsy metal snowflake.  

Nor glided blithely through the first half of the solar system, and it wasn’t until the asteroid belt between the fifth and sixth planets that Alfie realized how withdrawn their pilot had been. Normally, everyone sensed the tension as her mind focused to guide the astropod, but this time, Nor wove around the obstacles on her own. 

“Should I take over, Peris? It seems like you need a break,” she offered.  

Peris accepted, shaking her head. “Thanks. Give me a few minutes. That whole place makes my skin crawl.” 

Nor cleared the asteroid belt unscathed before Alfie got into position. She added her heightened awareness and investigated their intended routes, but Nor seemed to have things under control, so she didn’t assume a tight rein.  

“That guy was a jerk. Don’t let him upset you.” Breton offered.  

“Thanks for sticking up for Nor. I wasn’t sure how you were feeling about her these days.”

Her words stung. Breton’s lavender eyes fell. “Peris, I’m sorry for what I said about Nor back on Kentar. She just navigated an asteroid belt with no help! She’s stubborn sometimes, but she gets us everywhere we need to go.” 

Peris drew a deep breath and spat it out between pursed lips. She could feel the compassion radiating from him and settled into its comfort. “Being surrounded by all that metal and their backward attitude puts me on edge, that’s all.”  

“No one’s sorry to get out of that place,” he nodded in agreement.  

A change in inertia told them they were speeding up. Peris glanced down the corridor out of habit to see Nor’s bare propulsion section pulsate with new life. “I’m feeling better. I guess I should go up there,” she said. 

She got into position and the familiar blurred star scape settled over her mind. The streaks flowing past phased her momentarily as she slid into the deeper information offered by the extrasensory nodes. With everything they could detect and the power of all three minds, the fabric of the cosmos lay bare to their gaze. The trajectory glowed with its increased definition in Nor’s thoughts.  

Alfie was already hard at work on the mental map. Peris felt her teasing out the details along the periphery of their route and left her to the task. She added her own awareness to the spatial gestalt, better defining the galaxy around them and allowing Nor to increase her speed.  

They stopped after a mere three hours and circled a white dwarf for the night. Although the star burned at a low energy, it was enough for Nor to recharge. It wasn’t an epic start to their voyage, but at least they had gotten away from Vega. 

Peris and Alfie disengaged. The Kentarans shared a sullen meal in the central chamber, no one having the inclination for conversation. The night passed quietly, with everyone still recovering from the experience.

They took off the next day feeling refreshed. Busying themselves with their typical work, they transversed the light years toward home. 

As they coursed through space, Ventas, a red giant a parsec away from their path, sent off a solar flare. The burst drew Peris’ attention. Nor could handle one solar flare, but she noticed the corona surging. All signs indicated the star was entering a period of instability, heading for a nova. They needed to give that system a wide berth and to get out of the area fast before it exploded. This way, Nor, she urged, calculating a safe skirting distance in light years. 

Nor ignored the command and stuck to her plotted course. Peris tried harder to veer away from the coming storm, but Nor was impervious to her piloting.  

Alfie realized the problem and when the struggle for dominance began, she lent Peris her support, reining hard in the attempt to turn. Nor put her head down and fought against their influence. The closer they got to the system, the more she leaned toward it instead of away. Nor, no! What are you doing? Peris pleaded.  

“What’s going on out there?” Breton demanded, able to feel the tension.  

“She’s heading right for a decaying star that’s ready to blow!” Alfie told him.  

The red giant’s surface boiled over and a series of coronal mass ejections flew out into space. They were getting closer, but instead of increasing her speed, Nor slowed. Once Alfie realized she wasn’t maneuvering to evade the star’s fragments, she urged her forward. Nor swerved into the system, dodging the objects in the Oort cloud and the incoming energy burst.  

Peris heard a slight hiccup in the magnetic field produced by the stellar pieces. She peered harder with the extrasensory nodes, looking for signs of metal. Now that they were close enough, she picked up readings along the planetary disk. It could only mean one thing. “Guys, I see a ship. Inhabitants of Ventas must be trying to escape this calamity. Breton, get out the transmitter!”  

Alfie spent her energy helping Nor evade danger while Peris focused on the ship. Nor sought it out. Peris knew the vessel was large because she could sense the vast number of minds it contained heightened to a state of panic before she could see it. When it came into view, it was the largest she’d encountered, three times the size of the ships that had docked alongside them at Vega station. Caught up in the magnetic resonance, the coronal mass ejections must have affected some of their systems. 

“This is Breton of the Astropod Nor calling the Ventasian ship,” He paged over the transmitter. “What’s your status?” 

A low-pitched, warbling voice came over the radio. “This is the freighter Quintas. We’re the last group evacuating Ventas-nine. That wave of electromagnetic interference took out our propulsions. Our ship is adrift out here, waiting for the sun to explode. There are over a thousand people on board!” 

“We’re making our way over to you,” Breton assured them.  

“I’m not sure what assistance you’ll be able to give in an astropod,” the pilot said. “Unless you have a spare engine lying around or someone who can fix this one before these solar flares get worse, you’ll end up dying with us.” 

“I don’t know either, but our ship has a mind of her own,” Breton replied. “And a plan, I hope,” he added when the transmission cut off.    

What are we doing? Peris pleaded, trying to figure out what Nor was thinking. She was within ten kilometers of the vessel and drawing closer, coming up parallel to its midsection. What happened next nearly broke the equilibrium of their mental contact: Nor touched the ship. 

From all around, a cozy, warm feeling of calm swept over them. Then their sense of urgency flooded back, heightened to a wave of disembodied anxiety. Peris focused on the mass of the craft, Nor stretched along. Alfie monitored their surroundings, scouting a path ahead and observing the star that waited to belch more dangerous matter at them with every rotation. Only Breton could see down the corridor to witness the lights of Nor’s propulsion drive flicker in a pattern they’d never seen before.   

Another flare burst from the star, the display indicative of more pressure building below the surface. Nor sped off, and somehow the massive ship moved through space along with them. Peris and Alfie stared at each other with open mouths; it shouldn’t be possible for Nor to move huge objects at those speeds.  

The tension grew around them. An overwhelming sensation of swimming with heavy clothing made it obvious Nor was struggling. Alfie was the first to notice and renew her mental focus, directing herself wherever Nor seemed to need her. Peris soon caught on, but they weren’t practiced with this kind of effort and towing was laborious. They fought their way beyond the dust cloud and into interstellar space. For the moment, they were safe from the star’s fury.   

“We’re out of the system. Ask the ship where they’re going. I hope it’s close,” Peris told Breton, out of breath though she never left her rib. 

“Freighter Quintas, this is Astropod Nor. We’ve hit open space. What was your destination?” 

The pilot’s voice quivered with excitement. “Our readings show that as well. What just happened? We’re headed to a planet a light year from here, where other refugees from Ventas-nine have founded a colony.” 

“I think I see it,” Alfie focused on a habitable world ahead of them with signs of recent development.  

They felt a hesitation. Peris noticed how far away they were from the closest stars. She suspected Nor needed solar energy. The planet in question orbited one of the nearest on the main sequence.  

Nor set off at a steady pace. Peris and Alfie lent her their concentration so the task would be less taxing, and still the effort felt like mentally walking through wet sand.  

The rear wall of Nor’s cargo hold strobed with new patterns of bioluminescence. “You guys should see this,” Breton remarked.  

“No one will believe any of it,” Alfie countered. “I’ve never heard of an astropod moving a mechanical ship at all, let alone at light speeds.”

Breton withdrew to the propulsion chamber to make notes of the lights while the pilots focused on helping Nor trudge along with the other ship, still fighting their shock that she could pull off such a feat. Alfie scanned the surrounding space, but it was empty of impediments. Peris sensed Nor’s weak spots and bolstered her where she needed it while she concentrated on supporting the heavy load. The trek was long and arduous, but it was free from further mishaps.  

They arrived at the new system. The yellow sun burned like an invitation to a delicious buffet in the center and Peris felt Nor’s powerful pull toward it. She suspected the colonists were lucky their destination was on the near side of the planetary disk, so she could drop them off on her way.  

Nor coasted to a stop and hovered above the fourth planet from the star. “We’re here,” Peris said. Nor broke contact and eased away from the other ship.  

The transmitter chirped with an incoming message. Their pilot’s voice rippled with curiosity. “Astropod Nor, we’ve arrived! How did you do that?” 

Breton picked up his end of the communication device, unsure of what to say. “We don’t know. But we’re glad you’re safe,” he eked out. 

“Thank you. We’re lucky you showed up before something worse happened!” the speaker rang out again before they exceeded the radio’s range.

They limped to the center of the system and spent the night orbiting the yellow sun. Nor seemed completely drained and needed to recharge. Exhaustion crept over all of them. 

Breton broke the silence. “What the hell was that?” 

“Yeah, Peris.” Alfie’s hands darted through her aquamarine curls. “I love Nor, but how did she do that?” 

Peris put her fingers to her temple. “I know as much as you do. Young astropods can’t get to space without our help. I found Nor not long after she was abandoned near the edge of the Rift. Their mothers bring them to us when they can’t feed them anymore.” 

“They seem to need us telling them what to do. It’s so rare to see one unpiloted in space.” Regret laced Alfie’s words.   

“And most people use them for fifteen years or so and abandon them again as soon as they stop taking orders,” Breton continued. “We’ve always assumed they wander off and die.” 

Peris’ head shot up. “Who knows what they really do?” 

Editor: Michelle Naragon