Author’s Note: I’m back with a new chapter like I promised. Let me know what you think. And this one is dedicated to Mare, because in her world of dreams things are extremely funny :)
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“I can’t believe we are about to reach Trinsuet.” Nick and Stuart looked at me from their places at the other said of the table but didn’t say anything. For the last hour we had been cleaning and adjusting all the guns that we had on board while chatting about different topics. Earlier that day Kevin had announced that we would be arriving to Trinsuet in less than 20 human hours assigning last minutes jobs before landing. The three of us, in my opinion, had received the easiest one, while everybody else was going nuts coming in and out the main room putting things in order. The atmosphere had been extremely tense during the last days, not only because of that last conversation some days earlier but because we were already in the Valer System. Although the route to Trinsuet and the planet itself was far from the regular routes used by the Empire, the whole system was a commercial zone, which meant there was always the risk of crossing paths with an Empire ship, or even worse, a little deviation from our original route would mean ending up surrounded by Empire cruisers.

“You know what I can’t believe?” Nick's reply came more than 2 minutes later and in the form of a question.

“What?” I smiled sensing a possible answer.

“I can’t believe Stuart here thinks that the attack to Ilusiamans was the right thing to do.”

“Cut it out Kaos. We had talked about this too much already.” For the last couple of days the three of us had been discussing on and off the Ilusiamans battle. Nick and I both thought that it had been the biggest mistake of the Rebel Force but Stuart had a different opinion.

“But you still agree with me, right Jay?”

“Of course I do, but we are not changing his mind.” I used my head to point at Stuart who smiled without looking at us. “He thinks that Ilusiamans was a good decision.”

“It was, AJ,” Stuart said still working on a laser caliber.

“Tell me that The Empire didn’t come out with a victory Stuart.” I snorted.

“But we achieved something.”

“We achieved zero.” Nick insisted. “General Lucas was dumb.”

“Don’t say that about him. General Lucas is a hero.” Yeah right. Like you T?

“Kevin” Stuart called Train who was entering the room. “Would you please help me here. Your brothers don’t wanna listen to me.”

“What happens?” Kevin asked from the other side of the room where he was placing a box he had just brought in.

“We are talking about General Lucas. What do you think about him?”

“What do I think about General Lucas?” he said coming closer. “I admire that guy. He is a great leader, definitely one of the best soldiers we have out there.”

“Your brothers think he is a joke.”

Kevin laughed shaking his head.

“Well, Stuart, I can’t tell them what to think.”

“But they are wrong.”

“Let them.” He smiled giving Stuart a pat on the back and walking to the door.

“He he.” Nick mockingly laughed at Stuart who was watching the door get closed behind Kevin.

“You are so wrong guys”, he continued paying attention to us again. “General Lucas is the best soldier the human forces have.”

“He is not a soldier. He is an officer who wants to have all the glory for himself. He doesn’t even want to receive help from other officers.”

“Yes” Nick chimed in. “He wants to be the hero. He likes to act like some kind of cowboy coming to save the day riding his chicken.”

I almost chocked on the water I was drinking and burst out laughing.

“His chicken?” I managed to say in between coughs and attempts to control my laughter.

“What?” He really had no idea why we were laughing.

“Man, even I know what chickens are and I wasn’t born in Earth.” Stuart replied before exploding with laughter again.

“What?”

“Horses, Nick.” I tried to stop laughing. “The cowboys rode horses.” Poor kid, he had never seen a chicken nor a horse in his entire life; but then horses had already became extinct by the time we left Earth and Nicky was practically a baby then.

“They did? And which ones are the chickens again?”

“Dude, what has Brian been teaching you?”

To leave Philippians all those years ago meant leaving school too. At first Kevin and Howie had been the ones tutoring us but soon enough they both got tired and the teacher job went to Brian. Poor Rok, they didn’t leave him another option, he got stuck with my lack of interest and Nick’s short attentions spans and innumerable questions.

“Are you sure they weren’t chickens?” Nick was so confused that the look on his face was hilarious.

“Nick chickens were little animals. Birds…”

Nothing. He was still looking at me like I was speaking Sargon.

“The ones with feathers and wings”, I said moving my arms like a bird. “We used to eat chicken on Earth.”

“Man, I give up. I’m so mixed up.” He laughed heartily and Stuart and I burst out laughing again.

“What’s going on?” Brian entered the room probably attracted by our laughs.

“You are the worst teacher Brian.”

“Shut up AJ!” Nick was trying to sound serious but he was still laughing.

“Why? What happened?”

“Kaos here just said that the cowboys used to ride chickens.”

Brian’s reaction was exactly what I was expecting. He fell to the floor laughing and hooting and for minute I thought that he was about to roll around. You could hear him saying ‘oh my God’ and his laugh was so contagious that it ended up being impossible for me to stop mine. I was laughing so hard that my stomach was aching and tears were running down my face. Stuart and Nick were all in stitches at my side.

The next thing I knew, Kevin and Howie were in the room too.

“What’s happening?” Kevin asked already laughing at the sight of Brian.

“He…he said that cowboys…” Brian was pointing at Nick but couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Nick thinks that people on Earth used to ride chickens.” I replied.

“What?” Howie let out a guffaw. Kevin roared with laughter too but after a couple of minutes he tried to regain composure and looked at Brian.

“Brian?” It guessed I wasn’t the only one who had thought it was Brian’s fault.

“I didn’t do it. I haven’t even taught him about cowboys. It was probably Jay”

What? “I didn’t do it” I defended myself.

“Are you sure guys, because I can so see the two of you teaching Nick something like that just to make fun of him.”

“Okay I know it was funny but would you please stop talking about me like I wasn’t in the room.” I didn’t notice it before but Nick wasn’t laughing anymore, and by the serious look on his face and the tone of his voice he probably had stopped laughing long time ago.

“You are so going back to classes when we get to Trinsuet.”

“Back to classes? No way, Kevin!” Nick protested.

“There isn’t a school there Kev," Stuart pointed out.

“I know. What I meant is that we will have to arrange a timetable to give him some lessons. Nick sucks at Geography and Astronomy.”

By the way Nick was looking at Kevin I thought he was going to yell at him ‘and you suck at everything else’. He was giving him a ‘you are an idiot’ look and definitely trying too hard not to say anything since he was literally biting his bottom lip. He probably felt that I was looking at him since he turned around.

“Hey. What about AJ?” he asked.

“What about me?”

“Why nobody is talking about giving you classes?”

“Because I already graduated” I gave him the most sarcastic grin. Yes, I can be annoying too.

“Yeah right.” He rolled his eyes.

“I did.” He finally realized I was being serious and jumped on me.

“What? When?”

“The last time Brian gave us classes before landing. He even gave me a diploma.” There’s my annoying grin again. I can’t avoid it. I love to bug him.

“A diploma?”

I nodded.

“Idiots,” he murmured.

“Nick” Kevin sighed but Nick didn’t pay attention and keep talking to me.

“You suck at math.”

“There are a lot of people who suck at it. Math is a tough subject,” Stuart said out of nowhere.

“Shut up and stay out of this” Nick fumed.

“Nick.” Kevin called him. You could tell by the smile on his face that Kev wasn’t mad. He was just trying to calm the kid but after Nick spat a ‘WHAT?’ his approach changed.

“What? First if I were you, little brother, I’d muzzle that temper of mine, real quick,” Kevin warned him. “And second.” His voice became softer. “It isn’t such a big deal, so calm down okay.” He gave him a smile but Nick looked down.

Kevin shook his head before continuing, choosing to ignore Nick’s mood. “Okay everyone back to work. We will be landing really soon.” Kevin ordered and everyone except Nick, Stuart and I left. Of course the minute the door got closed I heard Brian saying ‘cowboys riding chickens’ and laughing again.

We went back to our work but this time an uncomfortable silence surrounded us. I looked at Nick who was sulking and realized we shouldn’t have laughed at him the way we did. I was sure that things wouldn’t have ended up with him that furious if it wasn’t for Stuart. He was especially mad at the fact that Stuart had laughed at him and that would definitely had consequences.

“I still think that Lucas is a jerk,” Nick said breaking the silence and confirming my suspicions.

“Drop it Nick.” I fixed my eyes on his.

“Why?”

“I already told you why. We are not changing his mind.”

“And who wants that?” Man, the kid is so stubborn.

“Do you have a problem with me Nick?” Stuart’s question took me by surprise. His voice was monotone and once again he wasn’t looking at us.

“Yes.”

“Nick!” I practically yelled.

“What? I’m being honest.” He faced him with a mocking smile. “I don’t like you.”

“Nick come on.”

“Let him AJ. If that’s the way he feels.” Stuart shrugged and stood up ready to leave the room.

“You are defending that idiot of Lucas because he is just like you.” Nick sat back on his chair and folded his arms in front of him. I felt like smacking him. He was just looking for a fight.

Stuart turned back and came directly to him. I tensed myself and almost stood up ready to defend my little brother.

“What’s that supposed to mean Nick?” He was right in front of him, teeth gritted and his hands gripping the table.

“I’m just telling that it’s easy to be brave when you are not the one risking your life.”

“Come on. You are kidding me, right?” Stuart threw his arms up and then run his fingers through his hair in exasperation. “That man risks his life every day.”

“He is never in the battle field. He sends others to do the hard work, he sends others to their death.”

“That’s what officers do, Nick. It’s not easy to be one, ask your brother. Of course your life is not the only one you risk. Yes, you have to risk other’s lives too, it comes with the territory.”

“Yeah, and you know about that, right?”

“What the heck. What are you talking about?”

“Nothing” Nick said flatly.

“Are you talking about Kaydee?” He had been almost yelling but his voice suddenly dropped to a quiet tone and he looked at me. He looked into my eyes and I felt uneasy, it was like he was asking for my help. “I wasn’t even an officer then, guys. I can’t believe that you…” He looked at Nick again. “I can’t believe that you are even considering… God, she was my friend too.”

Nick rolled his eyes and Stuart shook his head in disbelief.

“Do you think I’m okay knowing that she died because of me? Damn kid, that’s mean.” His voice broke and he practically ran out of the room leaving us with our mouths open in astonishment.

“Was he crying Jay?”

“It looked that way.”

“I don’t buy it.” Nick stood up but I took him by the arm.

“Let it go Nick, you are not solving things this way.”

He released himself from my grip without saying anything and walked fast to the door bumping into Kevin.

“Get out of my way.” Nick tried to push Kev but Kevin’s reaction was to take Nick by the elbow.

“Let go of me,” Nick protested but Kevin narrowed his eyes as his voice dropped to a tone we all knew better than to ignore. “I understand that you are going through a lot lately Nick but be careful to the way you talk to me because I’m not in a good mood either.”

The only replied Kevin got this time was a pair of eyes narrowing at him too. And there they were, a too familiar picture, green eyes meeting blue eyes and both could glare daggers.

“Kevin” I intervened. Kevin looked at me and releasing his grip dropped his hand to his side as he calmly stared at the kid. Nick didn’t look back but left the room muttering something under his breath.

“I swear I'll never understand the two of you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you and Nick, one minute you are happy and the next one…”

“You are the same way Kevin.”

“I am not.”

“Yes you are, and like you said the kid is going through a lot.”

“What about you? Are you okay?” Which in Kevin’s language is ‘you are going through a lot too, Alex’.

“I’m okay.” I tried to smile.

He bit his lips, I was sure he wanted to say something else but just stood there for a while before looking at the lasers.

“Put everything on its place, okay?”

I nodded and he left the room.

Damn! I wonder if it´s too late to turn the ship back.



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