Ms. Sleepy’s face seemed even more worried after seeing the state of Luna than she had been while they were escaping from the space station.

Ryan didn’t blame her, “Ms. Sleepy looks about as impressed as Luke seeing the Millenium Falcon for the first time.”

Mayu jogged ahead a few paces and peered at Ms. Sleepy’s face, wincing at the movement thanks to her injuries, “Luna is not being so pretty right now.”

Becky chuckled, “Yeah… We still have a lot to repair before she will look decent.”

Chie took off her helmet once the hallway finished repressurizing and the blast door to the living area opened, “Indeed.”

Mayu took her helmet off too, although her injury slowed her down. She then waved at Ms. Sleepy, “Hi, my name is Mayu.”

Ms. Sleepy looked at Mayu, then Chie. Until now, Ms. Sleepy hadn’t been able to see either of their faces because of the protective layer on their visors so she must have wondered who had rescued her.

Chie nodded her head at Ms. Sleepy, “I am Chie.”

Ms. Sleepy cocked her head to the side and said something in a language Ryan didn’t recognize.

Ryan had worried about this, “Of course she doesn’t speak English.”

Mayu spoke in Japanese, “My name is Mayu, what is yours?”

Ms. Sleepy cocked her head to the other side.

Becky joined them in the hallway, “What’s up?”

Chie turned to Becky, “We are attempting to exchange names. It appears she doesn’t know English or Japanese.”

Becky chuckled, “What, did you expect this would be like one of those sci-fi shows where every alien speaks English?”

Chie cracked a smile, “Well, of course not.”

Mayu pointed to herself, “Mayu. Iwata Mayu.”

Becky immediately caught on and pointed to herself, “Becky. Becky Lindhurst.”

Chie did the same, “Chie. Chie Quinn.”

Ms. Sleepy pointed to herself, “Sashae. Eop Sashae.”

Ryan didn’t want to miss out, so made a hologram of himself, “Ryan. Ryan Campbell.”

Ms. Sleepy’s face now looked more relaxed and didn’t seem at all surprised at Ryan’s hologram.

Becky held out her hand, “Sashae?”

Sashae studied Becky’s hand, then opened a pouch on one of the bags she held, and pulled out what looked like a nutrition bar in a clear wrapper.

The three crewmates’ attention all went to the bar.

Becky shook her head to regain her senses and turned to Chie and held out her hand, “Hi, I’m Becky. A pleasure to meet you.”

It only took Chie a moment to realize Becky’s plan and shook her hand, “Hello, Becky. The pleasure is mine.”

They both turned back to Sashae and Becky held out her hand again, “Hello Sashae, I’m Becky.”

Sashae considered Becky’s hand, then shook it, “H… hello… Hello, Becky.”

Chie held out her hand, “Hello Sashae, I’m Chie. A pleasure.”

Sashae took Chie’s hand, “He… hello, Chie.”

Mayu bowed, albeit painfully thanks to her injury, “Hello, I am Mayu.”

Sashae repeated the greeting.

Ryan wanted to join in but his hologram couldn’t touch anything, “So… what now?”

Chie tapped her chin, “Perhaps we should take her to her room and give her time to settle.”

Becky’s eyes wandered to the probable food Sashae held in her left hand, “Perhaps some food too, just in case.”

Ryan turned his attention to Mayu’s injury, “Mayu, shouldn’t you get your injury looked at.”

Becky’s face flushed in shame, “Mayu! How could I forget about your injury!”

Mayu winced as if she’d forgotten about her injury and the pain but it came back upon remembering, “Yes.”

Sashae held her hand up to her chest and looked back the way they’d come, then back to Mayu and lowered her head.

Chie gestured for Sashae to follow her, “This way.”

Mayu took the lead.

They were already next to med bay, so Ryan opened the door and Mayu went inside.

Becky followed Mayu inside.

Sashae peered into the room, then nodded to herself.

Chie skipped the growth chamber and stopped in front of the mess hall and mimed eating, “Food.”

Sashae glanced curiously and the door they skipped but didn’t stop.

She looked over the room and nodded. She then looked at the food in her hand, back to the mess hall, then to Chie.

It looked like she had a question, but knew she had no way to ask.

Chie then took Sashae to the fabrication room, bathroom, and finally to the bedrooms.

The four closest rooms were already taken by the others so Sashae got the room farthest to port.

No one had cleaned the room, so it was still very dirty.

Chie crossed the hall and entered the laundry/storage room, “Cleaning.”

Repairy McRepair Face had followed behind them and entered Sashae’s room. There he used the drone’s manipulator arms to deposit Sashae’s luggage on the cleanest patch of floor he could find.

Chie grabbed some cleaning towels from a cupboard, soap from another, and filled a bucket with water.

Sashae grabbed a cleaning towel too, but Chie lifted her arm to stop her and shook her head, “No.”

Sashae put the towel down and followed Chie back to her room, where Chie and Repairy McRepair Face started cleaning.

Ryan made a hologram of himself and waved to Sashae to follow him, “Come on.”

Sashae nodded.

As soon as Sashae turned the corner, Chie grabbed the food bar Sashae had set down on her luggage and headed for the science lab.

Ryan took Sashae to the fabrication room and showed her the bedding he was making for her.

Sashae studied the material, before turning to the shelves covered in tools and parts.

Ryan had a hard time telling what kind of mood she was in. She always seemed so bored.

Sashae left the fabrication room and entered med bay.

Mayu lay on the bed closest to the door. Her scan had finished quickly since they’d only scanned her upper body, but it looked like she was content laying there. She had a splint on.

Becky looked up and smiled, “Hi, Sashae.”

Sashae nodded, “Becky?”

Becky smiled and nodded, “Mmhmm.”

Sashae went to the hologram showing Mayu’s scan.

Becky pointed to Mayu’s broken arm bone, “Bone.” She pointed to the break, “Broken.”

Sashae turned to Mayu then back to the hologram.

Ryan was happy it wasn’t as bad as he thought it could have been, “Mayu, you’re lucky these breaks aren’t very bad. Those bruises look pretty nasty, though.”

Mayu opened her eyes, “Yes, but it is hurting to breathe.”

Becky looked around at the medical tools, “Is there something here that can heal broken bones?”

Mayu shook her head.

It then looked like she got an idea and sat up with a groan, “There is maybe being something.”

Mayu slid her legs off the bed.

Becky rushed over to Mayu, “You should keep resting.”

Mayu shook her head and slipped off the bed, then approached the door that led from med bay to the growth chamber.

Ryan wasn’t sure what Mayu would need in there, “You got an idea?”

Mayu nodded, “Small machines in Ryan’s water.”

Small machines? My water?

Ah! Ryan recalled the tests Mayu had done on the fluid in the tank his brain floated in. It was filled with nanites.

Becky caught on too, “Ah! Yeah, the nanites. If the growth pods can grow a body in two weeks, it should be simple for them to fix a broken bone.”

Ryan tried opening Mayu’s pod, but it didn’t respond, “Still can’t get the pods to open.”

Mayu headed to Ryan’s pod.

Sashae entered the growth chamber and looked around.

Chie started scanning the food bar, which only took a moment.

Ryan wondered if she had seen something like this before, because she didn’t give the pods anything more than a cursory glance.

This reminded Ryan of something. Where had the people on the space station come from? They had checked the rooms before, but hadn’t seen a single person.

Ryan tried to recall what the rooms looked like after the people had exited. He had been more worried about keeping everyone from getting killed at the time, so hadn’t thought much about the rooms.

Was there anything he could remember out of place when Chie had gone into one?

Yes. He recalled a raised platform with bedding on it that hadn’t been there before.

Had the people been sleeping under the floor?

Another question came to his mind. Why were they all human? He had expected all sorts of fantastical looking aliens when he thought about who made the alien drones. What were humans doing all the way out here? Had someone brought them here like they had been?

He’d definitely talk to the others about this at their next meeting.

Mayu approached Ryan’s pod and pushed a button.

A panel opened on the side, revealing his brain.

Mayu turned to Becky, “Can you be getting me a syringe?”

Becky nodded and jogged into med bay.

Sashae moved behind Mayu and looked into the tube.

Ryan felt he finally had his chance and made a hologram then gestured to the brain with it, “Hi, Sashae. I’m Ryan.”

Sashae turned from the hologram to the brain several times then nodded, “Ryan.”

Ryan turned off the hologram, “Sashae.”

Sashae looked towards the speaker, “Ryan.”

She nodded to herself and looked around in every direction, “Ryan.”

Ryan brought up a hologram of Luna, “Luna.” He zoomed to his pod, “Ryan.”

Sashae nodded in understanding.

Repairy McRepair Face had cleaned a fair amount of Sashae’s room and her bedding was done printing now, so Ryan opened the door to the growth chamber and the fabrication room, “Sashae.”

Sashae turned towards the doors as they opened and nodded in understanding.

A few minutes later, and after some stalling by Ryan, Sashae was in her room unpacking her belongings.

Chie had barely returned in time for Sashae to not notice she had even been gone and put the food bar back where she had taken it from.

With a now clean bed, Sashae put the new bedding on it and patted it.

For the first time since she’d first seen Luna she looked pleased.

She immediately went to the bag he’d seen her packing full of clothes over the video the space station showed him and started digging through it.

Chie’s attention turned to a pair of fluffy slippers Sashae placed to the side, “Hmm, perhaps we can scan those and use the stuffing to make proper pillows.”

Ryan thought it was a great idea, “Why don’t you show her the science lab while I finish cleaning? Don’t have to keep sneaking her things off.”

Chie tapped on her chin, then nodded, “I agree. If we are going to make her a crewmate, there is no point keeping things hidden from her.”

Chie got Sashae’s attention, pointed to her helmet laying on her luggage, then put on her own helmet.

Sashae understood and put her helmet on.

Chie left the room and motioned for Sashae to follow.

Chie stopped at the Usual Breach and sighed, “It appears our… benefactor has left us another message.”

Chie picked up the box. Ryan hadn’t even noticed a glowing orb approach Luna and it had deposited the box in one of his blind spots.

Ryan chuckled, “And we get another free box.”

Chie turned and headed back towards the living area.

Sashae seemed slightly puzzled but followed Chie.

Ryan opened a comm to the med bay where Mayu inspected some fluid filled with nanites she’d taken from his pod, “Chie found another one of those boxes with the messages inside. She’s bringing it to you.”

Becky groaned, “I hope it’s not another mission.”

Mayu shook her head, “I am thinking it is about our gift.”

Becky smiled, “Oh, right! Our reward for rescuing Sashae.”

Chie and Sashae entered med bay.

Chie sat the box and her helmet on Mayu’s work desk, “I expect Ryan informed you already?”

Sashae took her helmet off and set it on a hook next to the door.

Becky nodded, “Yep. It might be about our gift for the mission.”

Chie opened the lid, revealing another message.

Chie picked up the message and began reading it:

Congratulations on rescuing the “princess!” I have full confidence you will take good care of her.

As for your reward, once your incapacitated crewmember awakens, I will send a guide to bring you to my abode.

Until then, stay safe.

Chie put the note back in the box and closed the lid.

Ryan was a little worried, “How much does this person know about us? They know Anton, uh… died.”

Chie tapped her chin, “If what they were saying was correct in a previous message, they are the one responsible for our presence here. It would not be surprising if they had also left a way to monitor us.”

Becky’s lip curled in disgust and she turned to Ryan’s camera, “You mean we’re being watched?”

Ryan sympathized with Becky, “You know I’m pretty much watching you all the time, right?”

Becky shrugged, “Yeah, but at least I know you are and can go to my room for privacy if I want.”

Chie nodded, “Perhaps they have a connection to the cameras like Ryan does. If we disable it, then we should have no need to worry.”

“It would make me blind too, but if that’s what you guys want…”

Becky sighed, and shrugged while shaking her head, “I don’t see the point now and we have more important things to spend our time on.”

Chie nodded, “Yes, if they were belligerent I would be more concerned, but they appear of the more curious type. Almost as if we are their test subjects or a piece of entertainment.”

Mayu looked lost. She’d always had some difficulty understanding Chie so she turned back to inspecting her sample.

Sashae started looking around med bay.

Ryan felt he should at least look at his systems just in case, “I’m going to check the camera system. If there’s a transmitter connected to it, I might be able to find it.”

Becky relaxed a little, “Okay.”

Ryan started inspecting the comms and cameras. He had a hunch thanks to his previous poking around.

There was nothing abnormal about the comms in the areas the crew most commonly used. Next he checked the less common areas. He was going to move on and check the connections to the damaged or destroyed cameras when he noticed an odd connection.

“Hey guys, I think I found it.” It was in the one spot he felt most uncomfortable with so rarely interacted with, “There’s a connection to something in the base of my pod.”

Chie nodded and headed to the door to the hallway, “I will inspect it.”

Becky followed Chie, “I’ll help.”

After a quick trip for some tools, Chie found a panel at the base of the brain pod and opened it.

Inside was mostly wiring, but there were a few boxes attached to the sides and floor.

Ryan saw it, “It’s the one attached to the floor.”

It was a transmitter device just like the ones Anton installed on the drones.

Chie reached for it, “ It does look like a transmitter, but are you certain this is the correct one?”

Ryan was certain enough, “Sure, I can’t tell what it's transmitting to. Oh, just put the wires back in,” Chie pulled a wire out, “if something happens…”

Chie nodded and pulled out the remaining wire, “How are you feeling?”

Ryan noticed the connection to the device cut off, “Fine. Looks like you got it.”

Becky breathed a sigh of relief, “I hope so.”

Ryan couldn’t see anything else it could be, “Pretty sure.”

Chie stood up, “Perhaps now is an excellent time to plan for the next two weeks while we wait for Anton.”

Becky smiled, “Good idea.”

Everyone moved to the mess hall.

Ryan commanded the food processor to make one of the food bars Chie had scanned sans wrapper, “Hey guys, guess what Chie scanned.”

Becky’s eyes went wide and jogged over to the food processor, “When did you have time to do this?”

Sashae looked at the food bar curiously.

Chie walked over to the food processor, “I got a little greedy and scanned it while our guest was preoccupied.”

Becky laughed, “So even you couldn’t wait to get your hands on some decent food.”

Chie cracked a smile, “One can only eat the same thing repeatedly without developing cravings for…”

Mayu slipped past Becky and grabbed the bar and stuffed it in her mouth.

Becky nearly slapped Mayu, “Hey!”

Ryan commanded the food processor to make another, “Relax! I can make as many as you want.”

Becky turned to Sashae, a little bit of drool escaping from her mouth, “Do you think she has anything else we can scan.”

Sashae became nervous at the stares from the others and backed up a little.

The food processor deposited the second bar and Chie snatched it up before Becky could even turn to look.

Becky growled, then crossed her arms as she waited for Ryan to make another.

Mayu looked extremely satisfied as she ate the food bar, “Umai!”

Chie looked like she thoroughly enjoyed it too.

Ryan couldn’t believe what he was seeing, “I never thought I’d see people enjoying what looks like a budget protein bar so much.”

Becky laughed, “Chie’s right. When you’ve been eating the same thing for so long, everything else looks delicious.”

Mayu finished her bar and rejoined Becky at the food processor.

Becky pushed Mayu away, “No way. Next one is mine!”

Mayu winced as Becky’s hand brushed her wounds.

Becky immediately looked ashamed, “I’m so sorry Mayu.”

The food processor deposited the third bar and Chie snatched it up before Becky even noticed.

Becky started chasing Chie, “Hey! That one was mine!”

Sashae watched the others and finally cracked a smile.

Ryan laughed, “I’m so glad I don’t need to eat.” He focused on Sashae, “If Sashae isn’t hungry too, I’m going to get her settled in and maybe try to learn to talk to her.”

Becky stopped chasing Chie and turned to Sashae, “I’ll join later.”

Mayu picked up the fourth bar and shoved it in her mouth.

Becky turned to Mayu, “Hey!” She walked back to the food processor and blocked it with her body.

***

Twenty-one days later, Anton woke up, “Ugh… Am I still dead?”

The others had gathered around Anton’s pod.

Becky draped a blanket over Anton’s naked body as soon as she could, “Nope. You’re alive and even got that weird Klingon body you wanted.”

Sashae leaned to the side to get a peek at Anton’s body before the blanket covered him and started snickering when she saw his crotch.

Anton turned to Sashae, “Who’s that?”

Mayu started inspecting Anton’s new body.

Five golden orbs appeared in front of Luna’s sensor, “Hey guys! Five orbs just appeared!”

Anton sat up, “What’s going on?”

Chie turned to the hologram Ryan made for the video feed of the orbs, “We have been invited to someone’s abode and our escorts have arrived to take us there.”

The five orbs split up and formed a circle, before emitting a bright flash.

There was now a wormhole.

Four orbs entered the wormhole, while the fifth danced just inside the opening.

Ryan turned on Luna’s thrusters, “No point in waiting.”

Becky nodded, “Might as well.”

Chie seemed to be taking in the scene and tapped her chin.

Mayu studied the wormhole too.

Sashae seemed amazed at the sight.

Anton looked even more confused, “Come on! What’d I miss?”

Luna passed through the opening of the wormhole and Ryan gasped at the site beyond, “What are those?”

The scene around them was nothing but marbles full of what looked like galaxies.

Becky’s eyes went wide with excitement, “It couldn’t be. Are those… Are those different universes?”

Mayu seemed confused, “Yuu ni bases?”

Chie stopped tapping her chin, “It’s possible with wormholes?”

Becky nodded, “Yes, wormholes punch holes in the fabric of space/time. I guess it’s possible one could be used to break through to… this space between universes.”

The golden orbs stopped near a marble with a single galaxy inside, “I think we’re here.”

The golden orbs formed a circle again and flashed, opening a hole in the marble.

No one spoke as they took in their destination.

In the blackness of space visible though the hole was a large sphere. Half of it looked like a normal moon, but the other half looked like someone had chopped the moon in half and placed a map a Flat Earther would drool over on the flat side.

This half had a dome with spider thread-like supports covering it. Inside was a large landmass complete with rivers, lakes, mountains, forests, and a desert. A large ocean surrounded the continent on all sides and stretched until it met the base of the dome. Several islands of various sizes dotted the ocean.

One item caught Ryan’s attention as he studied the half world. A floating island, “Cool!”

Anton jumped from his pod, “Whoa! I don’t know what you guys did, but this is awesome!”

Anton’s towel fell to the floor, putting his glory in full view.

Becky broke from her stupor and seemed flustered as she tried to keep her gaze away from Anton, “Y-yeah, it is awesome! ...I can’t wait to get a closer look!”

Chie seemed a little excited, “Indeed!”

Mayu grabbed Becky’s shoulder and hopped from foot to foot, “This is so exciting!”

Sashae looked over Chie’s shoulder, “Fun?”

Ryan hoped this was a place the crew could finally relax and enjoy themselves and, as the wormhole closed behind Luna, they were going to find out one way or the other.