Page 15 of There's an Elf in My Cockpit

It was the exhaustion in my body, the pain in all my fatigued muscles that finally decided me. If I stayed standing here much longer I’d end up collapsing into a puddle. I should let that thing fix me up so I could be ready again to face whatever was up next. I was no good to anyone in this state. If Elpherian came through the door right now, I’d just fumble and drop the pistol.

Shuffling toward the cot, the insisting blinking light slowed down to a slow blink. When I lay down, with my hand still on the pistol, my aching body felt like it was sinking into a soft yet firm cloud. I only panicked a tiny bit when a glass panel identical to the one over Oliver started sliding over me. Don’t think about coffins, don’t panic, it’s just the medical device.

From the outside looking in, I hadn’t seen any change, but beneath it, a million lights danced over the surface in a kaleidoscope of colors. My entire body started tingling, from my fingertips, down to my toes, it even felt like I could feel it in the tips of my hair. Warmth filled me, and that’s when I realized that I’d been slipping into dangerously cold territory before. I hadn’t even remembered what it felt like to be warm, not until this device brought me back to healthy temperatures. It was a good reminder of how dangerous these subzero temperatures were; that deadly hypothermia could sneak up on you so fast.

Growing drowsy from the warmth and the inactivity, it was just like I’d predicted, this was my hard limit, and getting up after this was impossible. I wanted to stay awake, to keep watch, but it was impossible to keep my eyes open now that I was resting and finally warm.

I sank into sleep despite my fight to stay alert and just as I started to drift off I saw a hulking shadow creep along one wall.

Chapter 10

Oliver

I was warm, a little too warm actually, when I woke up. That was a vast improvement over how I was feeling the last time I woke so I wasn’t complaining. My head felt normal, clear, and pain-free, and when I blinked open my eyes my vision was perfectly fine.

The ceiling above me was white with blue curls and swirls and I wasn’t sure if I was looking at ice or not. I was in some kind of bedroom, lying down inside a big comfy bed. The source of my warmth was quickly evident too. Vi was curled up against my side, her hands tucked beneath her chin on the pillow and her knees drawn up so they were pressed against my hip.

I drew out a relieved breath at the sight of her, unharmed and softly snoring. A rosy glow on her cheek beneath her Caratan chain with the handful of dangling sigils. She had more of them than Thorin, my Elrohirian friend on the Vagabond and I knew I needed to ask her about that, but not now. I needed to figure out where we were first.

The room was furnished with dark brown wooden furniture, the kind of antiques that didn’t look out of place in a fancy hotel back on Earth. Curtains hung along some of the walls giving the place a cozy vibe. It looked like a good place to be in and the fact that Vi and I weren’t separated was a good sign, but I didn’t relax fully until I spotted my laser pistol on the nightstand right next to me.

Okay, we hadn’t been disarmed, so our host meant us no harm. We could trust them. Then I scrunched up my forehead as I contemplated this thought. Did we even have a host? I hadn’t seen one. But I had passed out into that hover cart as soon as I’d laid down. It had been either that or puke all over myself.

I was dressed in my longsleeved undershirt and pants and all my scrapes and bruises had been healed. In fact, I felt extremely good. None of that pesky stiffness in my left knee either, which I’d been getting used to for the past couple of years. It felt like I’d been reset. All my scars were healed, and all the wear and tear on my body was gone that I'd accumulated during the active, athletic life I’d lived so far.

Sitting up I moved carefully, not because I was sore, but because I didn’t want to wake up Vi. With my head healed, not even a hint of a scar at my temple, I had remembered everything from before. The fight with the snow beast, our dangerous, desperate run across the ice, and the fall down the crevice. It was pure luck that we’d somehow survived that and then found this place.

Now I needed to find out if there were people living here and if we could use their help to get a call through to the Vagabond. First though, I headed for a door to my left which I was pretty sure led to the bathroom.

My bare feet on the floor didn’t feel any cold though I was really sure the floor was made of ice, how was that even possible? Everything in here looked like it was ice. We were inside an ice castle, but even the wall next to the door just felt room temperature when I touched it. What was this place?

In the bathroom, I did my business and washed up, happy to feel clean again after all that. Returning to the room I headed for some of the curtains to check a hunch and laughed when I revealed a big window behind them. This place was above ground and I was staring out over the icy plains far below, stretching out as far as the eye could see. In the distance I saw a deep slate gray band of clouds rapidly approaching, lightning flashing high above it. That storm would be upon us soon which meant we wouldn’t be leaving for a while yet.

Turning back to the bed, I looked at Vi, still sleeping peacefully beneath the blankets. Her long silvery white hair was spread out across the pillows, claiming the bed. A dainty pointed ear sticking up through the shiny tresses. So beautiful and so deceptively strong too. She had saved my life, twice over down there in those ice corridors. The maze of tunnels must run beneath the ice plains I could see out the window.

My stomach rumbled and I started to hunt for the rest of our things. Was our backpack here somewhere? Did we still have any rations left? I needed some fuel soon after all that healing and the long sleep. Opening the nearest closet I found our things, the bag neatly tucked inside it. I had just started to rummage around for the food when the double doors to our room slid open.

I turned, tensing just a little but not yet reaching for the pistol as that would be bad manners at this point. It wasn’t a person coming in, just a floating little bot with a tray balanced on top of it. The rich fragrance of some kind of meat stew wafted toward me. Oh yes, that was way better than some dry rations.

“Thank you!” I said quietly while I carefully took the tray from the little bot. I searched the long hallway beyond the open doors for any sign of a living being but didn’t see any. Was our host shy or did they not exist? Was this place fully automated? Maybe this place was abandoned after all…

Turning back to the bed when the bot zipped out the doors I noticed that Vi had woken up and was sitting upright. She looked warm and drowsy from sleep, her glowing green eyes soft and her hair a little wild. I loved the way she was looking at me; warm, with a hint of appreciation as they roved over my chest.

“Hi, how are you feeling?” I asked her, making my way to her side I sat down on the edge of the bed and placed the tray with food between us. There were two bowls, filled to the brim, and a single, oddly shaped utensil. Kind of like a spork but with a long, curved handle. Vi was eyeing the food as greedily as I had a moment ago, which made me smile.

She picked up her bowl, cradling it eagerly between both hands and just inhaling the fragrant scents wafting up. “Good, I feel reborn, like the past two days didn’t happen.” That was exactly how I felt too, but more, I felt better than I had in years, all kinds of little aches and pains removed that I’d long gotten used to so I didn’t even notice them until they were gone.

We ate in silence, inhaling the incredible food. I watched her every move while we did so, eager to soak up her presence in this relative slice of calm. After the food we had to figure out where to go next and find out if we were prisoners here or not.

Once I’d cleaned out my bowl I sat it down on the tray and touched my com device, it was still in one piece. Several lights were blinking, indicating I had messages but I didn’t check them and first hailed Darth. The male didn’t pick up and I turned to gaze out the window I’d revealed. Yeah, that storm was right over their position. It had to be interfering and I hoped they were safely sheltered in that crater as it passed over them.

“No luck?” Vi asked anxiously. She was done eating too and now fidgeted with the edge of the blanket while she watched what I was doing. I liked how she was as concerned as I was about checking in with the teens.

I nodded, “We’ll try as soon as the storm has passed us, I’m sure they are fine. They’re strong kids and Darth is calm and collected. He’s smart, he’ll keep them safe.” As I said it, a calmness settled over me, I knew what I said was true. I could trust them to do the right thing. They were impulsive, rowdy teens in a safe setting, but out here? They absolutely would do what they needed to survive; to stay safe. That storm was bad to be out in without shelter, but the shuttle was in one piece and it had power, they’d barely notice it at all.

Picking up the tray I put it on the nightstand and then I pulled the blanket from Vi’s hands and slipped in next to her. “Nothing to do but wait now,” I said with a grin, “I’m sure that if there’s a host, they’ll show themselves at some point.”

Vi’s cheeks turned pink but she didn’t scoot away when I pulled her into my arms. She wasn’t wearing anything but her shirt and I felt her long slender legs glide along mine. “Oh yeah, you think? Shouldn’t we check those messages first? What if it’s your ship?” She was right of course, but I hated to delay what I was planning on doing to pass the time. She just looked so adorable and scrumptious right now, I wanted to finally claim her. I wanted to take this strange relationship to the next level and make sure she understood that I wasn’t going to let her go now.

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