The Interstellar Traveller neared to a distant solar system. One with small rocky planets with multiple moons. A proto star could be made out, obscured by the massive cloud of gas and dust around it.

"Anything important catches your eyes here?" Jayden asked, supporting himself with his hands on the top of Zestor's chair. He looked around. No one was there in the control room except Zestor and the B.O. brothers. Their springy hands extended upwards and pressed multiple buttons, causing the ship to slow down.

"Well, that's Zen-star," Zestor pointed towards the proto star. A sarcastic name for sure. "This baby solar system has got many minerals in these rocks. Probably the best mining spot one could find around."

"Now I see it." Jayden smiled as a massive ship came into view which was clunky and looked like a pile of junk floating around. "That's the fuel station, am I right?"

"Yes, sir!"

Whoa, we found it so quickly. I thought it would take a week at the least. Good for us. The payment's gonna come fast then. Jayden smiled at the thought. Getting paid for his first mission was like a dream-come-true for him. He thought of Sierra. She must be equally excited.

"Lily, have the reports come back from the admiral yet?" Sanduo asked her, glancing at her momentarily and then returning to his screen.

"They came in not too long ago." She instructed S.O.H to connect to the system and retrieved the files. She then sent a copy of it to Sanduo. "That's it."

He read for a few moments and then nodded appreciably. "It seems the planet has been successfully evacuated, though the number of dead humans is quite large. The news stations are at repeat on our encounter and how the Galactic Patrol dealt with it. It's good for both of us. Both of us get the cash and the fame."

Lily smiled at his words. This mission was going smoothly so far. She hoped that the upcoming ones would go like so too. She tore open her second bag of snacks and munched in delight. They are really good. "So what is the admiral at now?" she asked, swallowing.

"Mostly interviews. They just won't stop; the journalists. I hope some approached us too."

"Nah, we are quite busy anyways. The admiral just gives orders and manages stuff, he can handle them." Making a sweeping gesture with her fingers, she grinned at Sanduo.

Sierra looked out through the window in her room. Not a pretty sight at all. The dust and debris were dangerously close to their ship. I hope they put on the shields in time.

And they did.

She saw the numerous fragments of rocks stumbling away from her window. She yawned. It was getting boring. She just couldn't wait to meet the Gods. She was just so excited to see what they looked like and how they controlled everything. It was like meeting your creators, though they were more like the managers. Or maybe the judges?

Judgement Day. She grinned. The day was coming soon.

She called her parents on Holo-Talk. The device spurted a light ray out of its centre, slowly broadening into the immediate surroundings of her home. Her mother came into view. Her father was right behind her. They smiled at her as two glistening eyes looked at her from their lap in bemusement.

She smiled. It was her baby brother, Jamie. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad! And hello Jamie! Wow, he looks so big." She brought her face up close to the hologram.

"He is now a year and a half old. You just watch! He'll grow in no time and learn to talk, isn't it my boy?" She waved her hand in front of the baby as he tried to grasp her finger. "Then he'd be arguing with you like any brother."

"Oh no, Mom. Don't worry. I would not do anything to offend him. I would be good to him, then he'd be good to me!"

"When are you coming back?" her father asked, a hopeful smile on his face which Sierra understood. He wanted her to be with them and watch his brother grow.

"I hope soon enough, and if not, I'm gonna escape any wall that wants to hold me in." She smiled too.

"Come home soon my baby," her mother said affectionately.

"I promise I will, Mom."

The call ended.

She decided, once this mission was over, she would demand a vacation from Sir Sanduo. After all, she hadn't been with her family for more than a year now; and counting. Not spoken to them face to face since her training began.

She got up and went outside to check on the others.

The automatic doors slid open as she approached them. The flower vase by the doors still radiated bright colours. The plant was alive and fed upon gallium. Weird enough. It had a bright purple tone to it and the tips of the flowers were fluorescent yellow. The stalks were blue and gallium rested at the bottom of the vase. It was about half full.

She passed by the halls and met Markus running on a treadmill, his body glistening with sweat and his face lightened up by the blue screen infront of him.

"Hey there Marky boy!" She jumped and waved.

"Oh, hey, Sierra," he said within multiple breaths. Then it hit him. "Shit!" He missed a step and fell on his face. He lay on the floor, groaning.

"Bahahaha!" Sierra laughed aloud at the sight.

"Damn! Come on it's not funny!" he looked at her face stretched to the sides, "Or maybe it is."

__________

"Sir, a rather large mothership is coming towards Zen-star. Should I send the message?" The worker called on his handheld flex-tech.

"Yeah, go right ahead. It's been some time since we got customers." The voice carried a bit of interest mixed with a careless vibe.

"Okay!" he put down his flex-tech and connected it to the main monitor. It synced with the system and the message was sent out.

_________

Behind the fuel station, now came into view a mechanised planet. Probably the workers lived there with their families.

"New message," S.O.H alarmed them as he came to Lily, hovering.

"Okay, it's probably a confirmation application. Fill in everything automatically," she said, patting him on the head.

"Alright." His display showed a progress bar with a text written below it, saying "Filling automatically". It completed an instant later. Lily sunk back in her seat and sipped her cold drink.

The ship slowly approached the mechanised planet and stopped near the gas station. The inhabitants had put on massive shields to avoid getting hit by any asteroids. The planet was white with building-like projections coming out if it occasionally. Solar Cells covered the surface of the planet and the fuel station.

As they neared to it even more, an asteroid about the size of a kilometre came into view behind the fuel station. A restaurant. Markus couldn't help but think of the unknown delicacies that were waiting for him there! He would require a heavy meal for sure as much work was to be done for the installation of the fuel pipe.

Droop, the biggest robot they had, was booted again to help them in the installation. His massive hands and tough legs shadowed the other robots. His eyes glowed and he said light-heartedly, "Good morning guys!" He paused, and pondered a little stroking his chin. "Or is it a night?"

"Never mind Droop." Jayden sighed, rolling his eyes and pointed in the direction of the airlock. "Meet me over there."

"Oh we are still in space I see."

"Yeah, we need a little help fixing that to our ship." Jayden pointed at the big spare hoses that were winded on the side of the fuel station.

"I see."

They all suited up and exited through the airlock. The inbuilt thrusters propelled them to the station and they landed with a soft thud. The station's blinked green and opened soundlessly. They all entered, the door closed, and air flooded into the small space. Upon reaching normal atmospheric pressure, the IMG removed their helmets. The door to the other side now opened and they entered the station.

"Man! It's smoky in here." Jayden snickered. He looked around to see that the interior of the station was in a similar fit as the exterior. The smell inside was foul too.

They met the manager of the station and ordered six thousand hexa-transfuel. Costly enough, but it would last a year at least. Probably enough to explore another 'verse; but that was against the law. So much for that. They finished the payment and prepared for the installation.

One of the hoses set free from the side of the fuel station. They exited out of the airlock. Adjusting their thrusters they carefully plugged the hose to their ship with Droop giving the greater push. The ship locked it into place as the B.O brothers showed a thumbs up from the front of the ship.

Great. They all sighed in relief. Right then, an enormous asteroid rushed towards them. "Oh shit. EVERYBODY BACK OUT!" Jayden shouted as he thrust at full speed and got the others away. He saw the asteroid getting smashed into pieces after coming into contact with the shield around the station. That's a hell of a shield they've got there! His quick action was an act in fright. He didn't expect they would remain intact upon collision with that massive a body.

__________

They went to the restaurant and sat down, letting out a deeper sigh this time.

"Jayden's action really frightened me," Lily said. Her face had lost colour.

"My heart had stopped at the sight!" Sierra gasped. Then a few moments later when her breathing finally equalised, she frowned and said, "Okay, okay leave it, order something. I'm tired from all this."

Droop was sent to their ship as there was little room for his massive body inside the restaurant.

"Do they have Martip fry here?" Markus asked, his eyes shining wildly at the name. It was a creature quite like the ancient bird turkey from Earth, only more massive.

"Yes sir, we do have that. What else?" The robotic voice echoed through the glass walls.

"Let me get the menu first." Sanduo extended his hand and the menu came hovering down. "Now it's all to you, Markus. Enjoy." He made a smiley face, to which the IMG laughed at.

"Come on sir, don't embarrass me before them. I just wanted to taste some foreign delicacies. After all, we don't get to have them on our ship..." he trailed off, his face shy like a child.

"Nah, I was just joking. It's a celebration for getting our first mission! I won't restrict you all anyhow. You can have whatever you wish."

And following that, they all ate heartily and sipped the crystal clear water that had been prepared from mixing the minerals in the asteroids.

Sharlotte was so glad she was with the IMG and not alone in this godforsaken situation. But for how long? They were going to reach at the coordinates that the Gods had given to her soon. Their judgement awaited them. May the Gods have mercy, she internally wished.