In Between Our Stars

A slow burn Sci-fi romance that follows our couples on their journey across the galaxy searching for love, redemption, and acceptance.

Sneak Peek

CHAPTER ONE

“So, you’re the new captain of Team Celestia. You’ll like flying the S.S. Nimbus. It may be a little temperamental, but she’s the fastest ship in our fleet.” Sergeant Mu beamed as he escorted Priah Delta around the air hangar.

‘This is your last chance, Pri, you can’t fuck this up…’ Priah thought while she half listened to this man who only came up to her shoulder. Nodding along to his prattling as she tried to calm her racing heart. She thought about all she had to lose, and all she had to gain if she was successful here.

Team Celestia. She only knew the name from the letter the Council sent her about this opportunity. A chance to redeem herself to the Deltas, to the Founding Four, to the Council, to her… and to all of Atherialus.

Atherialus is the floating colony home of the last of the humans. The colony has been created with repurposed pieces from the space debris they have scavenged as they flew across the deep void of space. The colony had become quite big over the last 1,000 years, one large domed space with simulated Earth soil, plants, and even weather, had turned into four domed villages. The population had tripled over this time and they were able to introduce crops and even some small animals, like chickens, cats, and dogs. They had just introduced cows and horses, finally able to support them with space and resources.

The Earth ending event happened in 2020, humans were only given a few minutes to try and escape before the entire planet imploded, turning into the black hole that ate up more than half of the whole milky way within the next decade. For the three space cruises that were already boarding when the announcement was made, they were the only humans that survived.

When they formed their new colony, everyone took a new last name to show their place in the hierarchy. Based on the Greek alphabet, the leader took the last name Alpha. The Founding Four families led the humans from survival to a thriving ecosystem with lush plant life, animals, and continued to explore the galaxies.

In the year 3020, the Cosmix Federation, an intergalactic alliance that focused on data collection and record keeping of everything in the Universe, invited the humans to join. They were interested in the fact that the humans were able to travel far and would be able to help their cause.

That was when the Council, still being run by the Founding Families with the addition of the Commander in Chief of their small military, started to put together their surveying team. Priah was a controversial choice, secretly pushed by her distant great uncle Titus Delta who sat on the council. This had nothing to do with Priah, Titus just wanted his family's name to be highlighted in this revolutionary achievement for their colony’s history books.

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“Here she is, she’s a beaut huh?” The sergeant gave a huge smile like he was showing off his pride and joy.

Priah had to admit the ship was beautiful. It had an elegant shape based on the ancient angelfish with a large dome on top, exposing the main deck and cockpit filled to the brim with their latest technology. There were two large cylinder engines on the back of the ship on either side of the large colorful fin, colored in a vibrant rainbow that caught the simulated sunlight reflecting glorious rainbows across the whole room. The body of the ship shimmered in pinks, yellows, and oranges in a pearlescent sheen.

“Come, it’s time to meet your team.” He said turning and walking towards the large gray building that was next to the hangar. The building had a large dome top, circle windows in grey trim, and it looked like it was made from cement with a rough texture on all the walls. The sign hanging over the doors had large black letters that read “Air Base”.

The front doors, large glass double doors with small black handles, led to a large lobby that had floor to ceiling swirled black and gray tiles. A secretary sat behind a large black desk and gave the sergeant a quick salute from her seat. They both saluted back, but when the woman saw Priah, her face soured and she quickly went back to her work, never losing the sour face.

Priah tried not to let that bruise her ego. She thought back to her military times, before things went so bad. She remembered when people would stand and salute her instead of avoiding eye contact, or the glares. She deserved it though… nothing she can do will ever make up for what she did.

They entered a briefing room, it was a little too small for the crowd of people and bots that filled it. The large circular table with chairs in the middle of things didn’t help the situation.

Priah scanned the crowd as the sergeant clapped twice to get the attention of everyone. Her eyes fell on a small frame with a short curly bob and large silver circle glasses and her heart skipped a beat.

“Georgette…” She said under her breath.

How long has it been since she saw that beautiful genius? Five, six years? Priah remembered the day like it was yesterday, even if thinking of that moment rips her heart into shreds.

“Georgette Osis! Stop fucking ignoring me!” Priah yelled as she chased after the tiny woman who had been stomping away from her for five minutes now. “AH! At least tell me why you suddenly hate my guts!” She yelled at her, catching up in a few steps since Georgette was barely 5’1.

“You really wanna know why?” Georgette spun around so fast it made Priah jump back.

“Of course! Please, you haven’t spoken to me in months, ever since… I just, everyone else hates me and I thought you, ya know, you might not…” Priah stammered out, her face becoming the same red as her wild curly hair. Her heart was racing, her hands were tingling and her ears started to ring. She felt like she would pass out at any moment.

Georgette glared at her even harder and scoffed, “That’s just it you moron, I do hate you. I hate what you did, I hate who you’ve become, I CAN’T STAND TO EVEN LOOK AT YOU.” she screamed in Priah’s face.

Priah’s heart fell into her feet as all of the blood rushed from her face. No. No, this couldn’t be happening. Not her, not her sweet Georgie, not the woman that she has loved since high school. Damn it, no, she couldn’t lose her too!

“But Georgie, you know I would never do that on purpose! Please, you have to believe-” She begged.

“No! That was my home, my people… You think you can get away with anything because you are a damned Delta. How could I ever forgive you?” Georgette had tears in her eyes but before they could fall she ran away from Priah before she could say anything else.

Priah thought about running after her, but what was the point? She had made up her mind about Priah, about the incident, and had decided that she was at fault. She was, wasn’t she? Her thoughts spiraled as all of her hope drained away from her with Georgette’s footsteps. In that moment, she fell into a deep pit of depression and self loathing.

That was five, long, torturous years ago. First there was the trail that dragged on for two years. Two years of accusations, allegations, and ripping apart every piece of her life. Character witnesses, more like character assassins, were a mixed bag of people who loathed her very core, and people who just disliked her. They slandered her as a womanizer, a captain that was too focused on chasing skirt to do her job properly. They claimed that she was trying to show off for a woman and that led to the tragedy. They shouted from the rooftops how she was just a brash, foolish woman who would kill them all in the name of lust.

Priah tried to tell them that they were wrong. She yelled and begged for them to just listen to her, but no one cared. And after a while, she didn’t care.

She fell into a deep depression. She spent her days drinking at the one bar in the Atherialus, wasting away all the credits she had saved up from her years of work. She was on the edge of destitute when she got that letter. That letter that gave her a little bit of hope, gave her a reason to look forward to waking up in the morning. A way to redeem herself.

Now here she was sweating in her slightly too tight uniform as she stood in front of her team. Standing in front of the woman that she loved with all of her heart, who still hadn’t looked at her. Was it on purpose? Did she still feel the same way?

Priah squirmed, suddenly feeling everyone’s eyes on her. She was suddenly desperate for a drink. Her throat was suddenly dry and itchy as she stood there in the spotlight of her own making. Was she ready to lead again?

“Everyone, welcome your captain, Priah Delta. I expect you all received your mission files, and welcome to Team Celestia.” Sergeant Mu said to the crowd then turned to Priah. “I’ll let you get to it, here’s your mission packet.” He handed her a thick white binder that was bursting with papers.

“Thank you sir,” Priah said as she eyeballed the heavy binder. She gave the sergeant a quick salute and watched as he left as the anxiety crept up her throat.

“It’s just like playing darts, once you know how, you can hit that bullseye again.” Priah gave herself a quick pep talk before clearing her throat and turning towards the team. “Good morning team, you can call me Captain Delta, Captain Priah, Cap Pri, or Cap. I don’t care too much,” She rambled as she desperately flipped through the binder.

Why did she only receive this now? Priah felt like they were setting her up to fail, but she would not let them. She scanned as quickly as she could for information on what the hell they were supposed to be doing.

She found a few documents that filled her in about surveying and data collection in the form of illustration, scanning, and taking samples of every celestial body in a far off galaxy. It highlighted the different celestial bodies they needed data from, the dangers that would be on the way there and back, the side mission of setting up the base for a gate point, and that they were not to damage anything on any of the planets, asteroids, or any other celestial body within the target area.

“We are on a surveying mission, folks.” Priah said, shutting the binder and smiling up at the team. She felt a surge of confidence and adrenaline. That same feeling she used to get right before take off.

“We will be heading out to a newly found galaxy, passed anywhere we’ve traveled before. We will take notes, drawings, and collect data samples from everything we can on everything we can. Oh, and set up the base for a new gate point.” She added in at the end. That part didn’t interest her very much.

The group let out some gasps and whispers of awe and excitement. It was quite the opportunity, colony and intergalactic recognition if they were successful. Priah felt the pressure, but the excitement of a new adventure far out weighed those thoughts.

Once they were successful, it would cement the colony's place in the intergalactic alliance, Cosmix Federation. The Council had been pushing for this for the last ten years, begging for their protection and assistance. Groups of creatures they had termed space pirates were constantly attacking their scouting ships, stealing everything from resources to people in their raids. This was their chance, her chance, and nothing was going to stand in her way.

“Now, we all know about those bastards that will probably attack us, but that’s why we have Major Gerald Thelta and his soldiers, Erica Mu and Hank Kappa for security. Would any of you like to introduce yourselves?”

A large man stood up with rippling muscles that made his uniform look like it was about to burst at the seams. He had a short blonde hightop hair cut and was completely clean shaven showing his round baby face. Priah questioned if he was old enough to even enroll, let alone become a Major.

“Um, Major Thelta reporting for duty, but please call me Joey. I look forward to working with you all.” He said in a quick and nervous voice. He quickly sat back down and his face turned a bright pink.

“Thank you, Major Joey,” Priah said with a smile, “I’d like for everyone else to say hi, give us a quick intro, your name and what you do, okay? Let’s start with you, Georgette.” Priah said with a smile towards her. She hoped it came across as extending an olive branch, but she couldn’t read Georgie’s blank face.

She spoke loudly, her voice still sounding like the sweetest melody Priah had ever heard and it still made her heart race. “I’m Georgette Osis, I’m the ship doctor. Find me when you get injured or sick.”

Next spoke a spunky girl, a little shorter than Georgette with short dark hair and a tan face full of freckles. “I’m your lead mechanic! Ari Rho, and these are my bots! Pip, Lip, and Skip! I also made the navigation bot, Nav, and I’m the one who built all of the guts of Nimbus.” the girl said with a giggle that sounded more mischievous than her appearance would suggest.

The guy next to her was tall and skinny with long black hair, tied up in a single ponytail. He wore small rectangle glasses and gently cradled a pile of notebooks in his arms. His outfit was a plain black romper that’s neck line hung low with large baggy pant legs that bunched at the ankle. He sighed a little and cocked his head to the side, “I’m Zahir Gamma, yes, those Gammas,” he said rolling his eyes, “Please call me Ziggy, I’m the one who will be drawing all the new space shit we see.” He said with a cheeky smile.

“I’m Misty, I’m your cook. I’ll be keeping y’all nice and fed, but I have one rule; no. messes.” A short woman with even shorter blonde hair said in a gruff intense voice.

Everyone took a moment to eye her before the introductions continued.

“I’m NAV, your navigation bot.” The robotic slightly female voice said from the humanoid smooth shaped figure that was in a pleasant purple color. The face plate showed three curved lines, two for eyes and one for a smile.

The rest of the team sounded off, introducing themselves one by one as everyone started to relax. Priah knew she should have been listening but her mind stopped working when she made eye contact with Georgette.

And Georgette was smiling at her.

Her smile caused the breath to hitch in Priah’s throat which made her swallow hard. “Come on, get it together!” She berated herself before flashing a smile back to Georgette. She forced herself to calm down and walk over to that little firecracker of a woman. The one that had been a phantom of her dreams, that figure in the mist that Priah was always trying to catch up to.

Here she was, right in front of her, smiling at her. Not running away, not fading into shadows just as Priah got close to her. And she was still smiling. Smiling at her.

“Priah Delta, oh I’m sorry, Captain.” Georgette gave her a half assed salute with her fist held across her chest, mocking the classic salute.

“Oh, please, you don’t have to call me that.” Priah felt her face flush and she fluffed her curls, trying to find a use for her anxious energy.

“I knew you would end up a doctor, you always used your studies as an excuse to turn down my dates.” Priah teased, making them both laugh. Priah felt her heart jump into her throat. If this was a dream, she hoped to sleep for eternity.

“Well, I had to make something of myself, it’s not like I had the Delta name to fall back on.” She teased back.

Priah cringed, she had to admit the jab had some sting to it.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean-” Georgette tried to smooth over.

“No, no, it’s fine, I deserve that.” Priah said with a laugh, trying to brush off the ache in her heart.

“Are you worried about the mission?” Georgette asked, seeming to try to change the subject.

“This mission…”

What could Priah even truly say about it? It’s her chance to redeem herself? It was her chance to do some good? To try and make up for all of the things she had done. It all sounded like desperate, empty words.

“This mission is a chance for us to help Atherialus, it’s a lot of pressure.” Priah confessed.

“Aren’t you concerned about the,” Georgette paused like the word itself would hurt her “the pirates?” She looked up at Priah, her face washed in fear.

“Of course I’m concerned about them.” Priah admitted.

She would be a fool if she wasn’t. The attacks have risen so much over the last ten years. Never mind the path that was drafted for them led them right through a known ambushing zone. What was up with that? There had to be a better way for them to get over to this location…

Priah froze as memories flooded her mind. Explosions. Glass flying. People screaming and running. Priah was hanging upside down, her X-styled seatbeat keeping her trapped in her captain’s seat. The whole front half of her ship was ripped off and she was hanging over flames that rose with every second. The smell of fire, of burning hair and flesh, of death…

“Priah?”

Georgette’s soft hand grabbing onto her own jolted Priah from this living nightmare. She jumped and grabbed Georgette’s hand, realizing that she was breathing harder than she remembered.

“Are you okay?”

Georgette’s look of concern soothed Priah. Priah resisted the urge to cup her cheek, that cute, round little cheek that Priah knew was as soft as rose petals.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Priah patted her hand, she didn’t want to let go of her hand. But her touch felt like fire. She felt guilty, undeserving, and she had to run from it.

“I’m fine, really, uh, I think I have to go play captain now.” Priah felt her cheeks get hot. She felt like a teenager with their high school crush. She laughed and walked back up to her place at the entrance to the room and let out a whistle that got everyone’s attention.

“Alright, Team Celestia” Priah said in a loud voice, “Let’s fly!”

The room cheered and everyone followed their leader towards the S.S. Nimbus. With each step they all walked closer to their destiny, intertwining pathways spanning out in front of them like roots.

~Georgette~

“Priah?” Georgette knocked on the Captain’s door. She hadn’t seen or heard from Priah in two days and she was starting to worry. She knocked one more time but when there was no answer, she relented and walked away.

Her mind raced with all of the possibilities of what could have happened. She knew that the Council would be gunning for Priah, almost wanting her to fail so everyone could say that they knew she was a fuck up the whole time.

Georgette couldn’t just stand around and watch them rip her to shreds, not again. Not now that she knew the truth, she would never forgive herself for being such a fool back then. Was she so blinded by her own jealousy that she couldn’t see the truth? Too upset over thinking that Priah could have cheated on her… well, how could she cheat when she never let them date… It’s not that she didn’t want to date Priah…

Georgette bit the inside of her cheek as she walked back to her clinic. She didn’t like thinking about her feelings, or what she might want to do with a certain tall, red headed Captain who has only gotten hotter over the years…

Her cheeks flushed and her heart raced as she remembered how gorgeous Priah looked as she walked into the meeting room a few weeks ago. They hadn’t seen each other in years, at first it was because Georgette couldn’t face the pain, the betrayal, and the anger that she felt, then it was from the shame. How could she go back and tell Priah how wrong she was, especially after that performance… She was so dramatic back then, not that she was much better now.

“Geoooooorgieeeee~” Ziggy’s song brought her out of thoughts of past shame. “What are yooooooou~ thinkin’ about?” He teased her as they entered her clinic.

“Oh nothing,” Georgette trailed off, chewing her inner cheek again as her mind raced about Priah. Was she okay? Could she help? How tight that uniform stretched across her body as she confidently walked into the meeting. Walked in like she owned the place, like everyone should be watching her. She was so commanding and charming… and her eyes sparkled like the Darlach nebula on a clear night.

“That is not nothing, girl, spill~” Ziggy teased and prodded.

Georgette laughed, it was times like this that she remembered how much younger he was. “Ziggy, don’t you have work to do?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did we land on one of the celestial bodies for me to draw? Or are we still stuck floating in the middle of space? Right, now, I’m bored and need some gossip. You’re the closest I have to that, so spill!” He let himself fall back into one of her comfy office chairs and smirked at her.

She rolled her eyes, but relented, what was the harm in ranting a little?

“I was thinking about someone, but I won’t tell you who,” She shot him a look and he held his hands up in defense. “She’s beautiful,” Georgette let herself melt a little thinking about her brave, loud, heroic Priah.

“She?” Ziggy looked at her confused for a moment, “we’re not going to gush over a guy?” Ziggy asked her disappointedly.

“No, no men,” Georgette said with a laugh “Is that a problem?”

“No, no, girl, I’m just dying for a little male attention.” Ziggy complained “A flower like myself needs to be pampered and attended to and this trip has really gotten in the way of that.” he sighed “But we are here to hear your love squabbles, go on, go on.” He urged.

“Where do I begin? Well, we’ve known each other forever but I never gave her a chance. Honestly, I thought she was a little too…” She hesitated, searching for the right word “Well, I was worried about her wandering eyes.”

Ziggy nodded, hanging on every word like he was going to be tested afterwards.

“Well… lately, I’ve been thinking… I mean, I’ve been hoping that maybe I could be more with her, if she still wanted anything to do with me. I mean who knows, I was so mean to her before… I wouldn’t blame her for not wanting anything to do with me.”

“Oh Georgie, who wouldn’t want to be with a banger like you? You’re gorgeous, girl!” Ziggy said with a smile. “Now who is it?”

“No.”

“Oh come on! You have to tell me!!! I promise I won’t say a word.” He pretended to zip his lips.

“Won’t say a word about what?” A small voice came from the doorway making the pair jump.

“Ari! What are you doing here?” Georgette asked once she caught her breath.

Ari held up her hand, a large gash from her wrist to her midarm was bleeding heavily.

“I slipped, can you stitch me up? I gotta get back to work.” Ari spoke like an injury like this was a normal occurrence.

“Oh my goodness! Yes! Get on the table, Ziggy, help or fuck off. Okay love?” Georgette moved quickly, grabbing medical equipment from around the room as Ziggy helped Ari over to the table.

“You are lucky I have my laser stitch pen all charged up or we’d have to do this old school. With thread and needle.” Georgette said to Ari with a grimace, getting her to laugh.

“It wouldn’t be my first old school stitch, one time I had to stitch myself up! But hey, I still have both my feet!” Ari laughed much to the horror of Georgette.

She couldn’t fathom getting injured and not going to her doctor for it. Or at least taking care of it herself… oh, wait, she laughed at herself realizing that that was the way Ari felt too.

Georgette decided not to ask anymore about Ari’s past for now, she needed all of her faculties for stitching back up their mechanics arm. It took twenty minutes to carefully laser stitch her arm up. Then she needed to take four blood pills to renew her blood levels. Ari was lucky she didn’t pass out on the way to the clinic.

“Ziggy, will you please escort Ari back to her room? Ari, you are on bed rest for the rest of the day. No buts.” She held up a finger of silence when she saw the fight in her eyes.

“Fine.” Ari pouted and pushed off the bed, seeming to be steady on her feet. “Let’s go Zig.”

The two of them wandered off down the hall, and she was pretty sure they were going away from Ari’s room but she didn’t fight them. It’s not like she was their mother or something. She just rolled her eyes and went back to thinking of Priah and what she could do to help her.

~Ziggy~

“You’re not really gonna make me do bed rest, are you?” Ari asked Ziggy with a face that said ‘I dare you to try’ and he was in no mood for a fight.

“Nah, you’re a big girl, you got it, right?” He ruffled her hair which he knew always pissed her off.

“I’m older than you, asshole, you should remember that.” Ari threatened but her voice and stature made that not very intimidating.

“Yeah, yeah, by like three days. So, why are you working so sloppily anyways? Not like you to get hurt.” he teased as they walked down the hall towards the engine room.

“Priah’s in deep shit, if I had just made the ship stronger.” Ari looked upset

“Girl, stop, no one could predict what weapons they’d have or how they would attack. The ship held up better than most would.” He reassured her.

“I just can’t let her down.” Ari trailed off, and that’s when he noticed that goofy smile, the flushed cheeks, the look of adoration written all over her face.

“No, Ari, girl, you are CRAZY if you think you can date the captain!”

“WH-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” Ari screamed in a high pitched voice like she had just seen a ghost.

“Girl it’s written all over your face!” Ziggy said with a point “Get it together!”

“AH~!” She covered her face in embarrassment “Promise you won’t tell?” She looked up at him with this adorable puppy dog look that he couldn’t resist.

“Oh, of course I won’t tell anyone. Geez~ you’re hopeless.” Ziggy shook his head with a laugh. “Why can’t you like someone normal? Your age? Not your superior officer?” He teased.

Ari swooned with a sigh “But she is just so perfect, she’s beautiful, tall, brave, she’s like a folk hero!”

Ziggy shook his head laughing at his friend, “You are truly hopeless, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see. I bet I'll get a girlfriend before you get a boyfriend!” Ari said with dumb confidence.

“Sure, you will.” Ziggy said as they walked past the cafeteria.

He looked inside and locked eyes with the tall, blonde muscle man, Joey, the head of security. Joey jumped as they made eye contact and looked back down at his food, his face was bright red.

“Hmmmmm, how interesting.” Ziggy said to himself. Intrigued by the thought of Joey being flustered by him. Maybe there was hope for him after all. “What do you know about Major Gerald?” He asked Ari with a grin.

“Joey? Not much, he’s really shy. Why?”

“Oh no reason, love.” Ziggy looked over his shoulder and caught the eyes of that giant hunk again. Ziggy threw him a smile and wink but Joey practically shoved his face into his sandwich to not seem like he was looking at Ziggy.

Ziggy laughed and thought about how fun this was going to be for him, and maybe he’d find a new toy to play with too.

~Priah~

“Hic! Ugh! Oh, ow, ow, ow, my head!” Priah whined as she sat up from her sleeping spot on the floor amongst a nest of different alcohol bottles. They were all empty.

She didn’t know how long she had been laying there, she didn’t know how long she had been in her room. All she knew was that she was surrounded by liquor bottles, she was out of alcohol, and she was in a lot of pain.

“May-HIC-be I should have Georgie look at my head.” Priah thought as the room spun around her. Her stomach flip-flopped and she ran to the bathroom and emptied her stomach of all its contents.

“Okay, I’ll brush my teeth, then I’ll go to Georgie…” Priah struggled to accomplish the first without gagging and vomiting more.

She looked in the mirror and grimaced at how rough she looked. But she didn’t have the energy to fix any of that now.

“Georgette? Are you here?” Priah called out as she entered the clinic.

“Priah? Priah, is that you? How are you- oh sweet Solarice, you look like absolute shit.” Georgette said as she quickly walked over to her.

“Why thank you Georgie,” Priah sarcastically said as she held the back of her head, “My head is killing me doc, can you help?”

“Are you drunk?”

“Not anymore, maybe a little tipsy.” Priah lied, she felt very drunk still.

Georgette leaned closer to her face, Priah thought she was leaning in for a kiss and excitedly tried to lean in.

“Ugh you reek of alcohol! Priah!” Georgette pulled back and pinched her nose in disgust. “You can’t do this, I won’t let you throw this all away. Don’t be stupid!”

“Why do you care? I don’t deserve this position anyways.” Priah slurred slightly and walked past Georgette, laying down on the clinic stretcher. “Can’t you just check my head and let me go back to wallowing?”

“Stop being so dramatic.” Georgette said as she picked up her scanner and waved it over Priah’s head and neck. “Lucky for you, your injuries are healing fine, I would give you something for the pain but…”

“I can’t be drunk for them?” Priah already knew the answer. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard that. Not her first injury while drunk.

“Let me help you, please.” Georgette leaned closer to her and took hold of her hand. “Please.”

“You can’t help me, just keep keeping everyone healthy, okay?” Priah couldn’t be helped by her, or by anyone, she was beyond help and she knew it. She didn’t deserve help, and she knew that too.

No, this pirate blast proved it, she wasn’t fit for this but she couldn’t walk away either. She would drink while they were floating aimlessly in the void of space. And damn anyone who tells her not to.

Chapter Two

***

Three days intoTeam Celestia’s voyage to the newly discovered deep space galaxy, XT-899.

***

Alarms were blaring, lights flashing as Priah ran down the hallway, a laser pistol in one hand and her favorite cutlass in the other.

An explosion off the front of the ship jolted her to the side, causing her to crash against the wall.

She growled in frustration before pushing herself forwards. She had to get to the back of the ship before something worse happened.

“Captain!” Priah’s wrist intercom screamed. It was Ari

“Talk to me, how badly was she damaged?” Priah asked.

“Bad! Our shields have been disabled, our weapons are offline, and the left engine is hanging on by a prayer Captain! If Heliotos blesses us and we can get away from the ship, maybe I can patch it up. But she can’t handle any more direct hits, Captain.”

Priah heard the waver in her voice. She knew that Ari was scared. She wondered if this was the first time the young woman had ever been in real danger. The thought filled her with rage.

“Leave it to me.” Priah said back to her as she ran faster than she knew her feet could carry her.

She needed a plan, and she needed one fast. As her feet pounded against the floor she thought hard. What could she do? How can she get them out of here? How could she get rid of those shits?

She would NOT lose anyone else, she would never lose anyone ever again to these pirate bastards.

A star flashed above her head. An idea. She made a hard left running towards the airlock, she had to make sure that it was still functional or her plan would never work.

“Ari?” Priah yelled in her wrist, “Please tell me the airlock wasn’t damaged?”

“No, ma’am, fully functional, why? You planning on throwing yourself at them?” Ari asked with heavy sarcasm in her tone.

“Not me, but I am planning on giving them a little going away present.” Priah said with a smile. Proud of both her idea, and her pun.

She ran to the engine room and loaded what she needed onto a trolley, a few oxygen tanks and a box of nitroglycerin containers. She ran pushing her trolley full of supplies towards the airlock.

The ship took a deep dive to the right, an escape maneuver that NAV had probably run through every scenario simulator it could before making a choice. She braced against the pull of the turn, doing her best to keep her materials stable. Didn’t want her plan to blow up in her face, literally. She kept her balance and managed to push against the pulling and soon she was running again.

She opened the airlock, pushing the whole trolley into the room. She wasted no time using a nylon rope to tie the tanks to the box. She was going to let the box out of the airlock, the pirate ship would hit it while chasing them and BOOM! No more pirate ship.

“It’s the perfect plan!” Priah told herself as she ran out of the room, closing the hatch behind her and prepping the room to let out its load.

“NAV, line up the airlock with the pirate ship. I have something I want to send to them.” Priah said into her wrist communicator. “Then make sure we are as far away as possible.”

“Aye Captain” The robotic voice came through the speaker and she felt the ship start to gently turn and weave, getting it just into place. “Ready when you are, Captain.”

“Aye! Ready…” Priah took a deep breath and looked out the small hub window, next to the airlock door. She saw the bright orange ship that was chasing them, she could see all sorts of different aliens on the main deck. They were waving guns, swinging from ropes, getting weapons ready to blast.

For a moment, Priah froze. Was she making the right choice? Would she fuck it all up again?

“Captain! They are charging their cannons! It’s now or never!” Ari’s terrified voice snapped her back to reality. She had people to protect, no matter what the cost.

“Fire!” Priah yelled as she hit the large red button that caused the airlock to shoot out whatever was inside that closet sized room.

Priah watched as it slowly floated from behind them. She watched it get closer and closer to the front of their ship. The rope came loose and the oxygen tanks started to float around the box as they all headed towards the enemy's ship.

Then she watched in horror as it started to float up, it missed the front of the orange ship and if it kept going up, it would miss the ship entirely. Oh no, her heart started to sink as she watched the box float up more. The ship flew right underneath her present, the dome of their ship just barely missing the bottom of it. She knew she had to act fast, or she might not get another chance.

She grabbed an oxygen mask and tank from the wall and put it on. She tied a rope around her waist. She entered the airlock and tied the rope to the most secure thing she could think of, the large circular wheel knob.

“Captain? Captain!? What are you doing?” Georgette’s voice came through her intercom. She must have been in the security lounge with Joey.

“I’m going to make sure that the bomb explodes.” Priah answered back in an even tone. She already knew she was going to get her ass chewed out for this but she didn’t care. She had to keep her people safe.

“By going out there?! You are going to get yourself killed!” Georgette scolded her but Priah was too focused on getting those pirates gone to worry about being yelled at.

“I’ll see you soon.” Priah said to Georgette before turning off her com. She took a deep breath into her mask, the oxygen tasted stale but that was better than no oxygen at all. She reached behind her and hit the button to open the airlock. She grabbed her gun and made sure it was ready to shoot.

Her feet slid down the smooth floor of the room, pushing her towards the amazing nothingness of space.

“Bless my actions dear Mother Velora, and may my shooting be as powerful as your asteroids Lord Pallas.” Priah wasn’t much of the religious type, at times she mocked the Astrax, followers of the religion of the stars called Astraxis. But right now she was desperate for any luck, even if it was from the goddess of the void and the god of asteroids.

She ran towards the edge of the airlock, she jumped, pushing herself into the cold airless air of space. She clicked her heels together activating the feature that turns them into flippers. She used a quick kicking method to swim through the air. Currently, she could only see the corner of the box, she needed to get a better view quickly.

She was running out of time. The dog fight between their ships was faster than she was and suddenly her rope was pulled taut. She was being pulled backwards, unable to control her angle anymore, she cocked the gun and held it out, pointing it towards the box.

“Come on, come on,” Priah complained as the ship's movement brought the box out of her view. “Come on!”

The ship took a right and there it was, the perfect angle to hit that box even if it had floated a little too high, but still hovering over the end of the ship.

She took the shot and held her breath. A green laser beam flew through the air, it became almost invisible to her eye as it traveled through the void. She had to admit she wasn’t the best shot in Atherialus but she wasn’t the worst either.

The beam missed the box, clipping one of the oxygen tanks. The oxygen tank hissed as the box quickly started to descend towards the boat. Priah was worried until she watched the tail fin of the pirate ship hit the box dead on. She was surprised when it didn’t immediately explode as the box started to break apart.

“What the fuck, do I need to shoot agai-” She was cut off by the giant explosion that sent her flying.

The shock wave was so strong she was blasted back into the airlock. Her body hit the back wall of the room making her lose consciousness almost immediately. The last thing she saw was the pirate ship’s dome bursting, fire erupting from the ship as the airlock closed around her and her eyes went black.

“What is Solarice’s name were you thinking?!” Georgette yelled at Priah from the clinic bed where she lay.

“It worked didn’t it?” Priah answered, grunting as she attempted to push herself to sit up but failing as dizziness overwhelmed her.

“You could have died!” Georgette gently pushed her back down on the bed, “You need to lay down. You definitely have a concussion and I don’t know how much damage you did to your neck yet, so stop moving.” She said with a tone and face that was a mixture of concern and anger.

“I’m fine, Georgie.” Priah said as she sighed. She couldn’t stand being on bed rest. She’d rather be tortured.

Georgette’s face flushed and her brows furrowed, Priah couldn’t help but smirk at how cute she looked.

“Fine! Have it your way, but when you collapse from your injuries, I’ll be the first one to say I told you so.” She said as she scrunched her nose at her in a glare that Praih had a hard time taking seriously.

“I look forward to your chastising, my dear, but now I have to go report the attack to the Council and get my chastising from them.” Priah hissed in pain as she sat up, she felt like she had been put through the tumble mode of their industrial dryer.

“I can help!” Ari’s over eager voice echoed through the room as she entered. She bounced over to Priah before she had a chance to turn her down.

“Please, I’ve had way worse injuries than this.” Priah tried to protest but Ari looked so dejected that she finally gave in. “Um, how are you supposed to help me walk? You barely come up to my stomach.” Priah asked.

Ari pouted “Hey I may be short but my friend isn’t! Skip~!” she yelled out in a sing-song voice.

The giant humanoid bot stomped into the room in its attempt at running. It came up beside Priah and waited for Ari to tell it what to do. It seemed like a simple robot but what did Priah know about those things.

“Skip can help you.” Ari said with a smug little smile on her face.

Priah couldn’t look anyone in the eyes as Skip carried her princess style towards her Captain’s quarters. She knew she would never hear the end of this nonsense but she was also far too dizzy to actually walk to her room.

“Th-thank you Ari, Skip.” Priah said once they reached her door, “I can take it from here.”

“Akay! Let me know if you need anything else!” Ari said in her overly bubbly voice that made her seem more like a cartoon character than a mechanical genius.

“Just give me an ETA on the ship repairs when you have a chance.” Priah said as she carefully stood leaning against her door.

“Oh,” Ari’s face fell, “that’s gonna take two weeks, and that would be if I didn’t sleep or eat.” She said, acting like she was about to get berated for saying such things.

“That’s understandable, I’ll take whatever shit comes from our postponed trip. You get to work, and make sure you sleep and eat, okay?” Priah patted the top of her head and Ari’s face beamed into a smile again.

“You got it Cap!” Ari skipped down the hall, her giant robot doing its best to keep up with her.

Priah entered her room and let out a sigh. She was NOT looking forward to this call.

“Let’s get this over with.” She mumbled to herself as she sat in front of the large window that currently looked out on to the velvet blackness of space.

“Captain Priah Delta, please connect me to the Council for a mission update.” She said in a loud clear voice.

The window lit up, revealing a large screen now filled with a gentle lavender color as three white dots took turns blinking as a gentle ringing noise played.

A woman came on the screen in military uniform, her black hair slicked back into a tight bun. “You’ve been connected to the Council, how may I direct your call?” the woman said in a bored voice.

“Captain Priah Delta of Team Celestia, reporting an attack on our ship.” Priah tried to remember all of the ways they were expecting her to behave. All of those little words and phrases that would make her fit in better.

The woman looked at her through the screen with a face that screamed how incompetent she thought Priah was, but all she said was “Please hold.”

Then the screen went back to that lovely lavender until suddenly she was looking at the Council table, with all five of the members sitting there. And they looked pissed.

Priah was hoping more than anything that Uncle Titus wouldn’t be there but of course there he was, that mean, old bastard sitting there, judging her. He always judged her, always hated her, but the incident just gave him something to hang on to. Something to wave around as proof that he was right all along and that Priah really was just a piece of shit.

“What do you have to report?” Tarrin Alpha demanded. Priah wasn’t sure how he was a descendant of the great and kind Clara Alpha. He was cruel, a man that never missed a chance to say something mean to anyone in his sights. She knew to tread carefully.

Uncle Titus was already glaring at her, his large bushy salt and pepper eyebrows almost completely covered his eyes. His matching mustache turned down in a grimace.

“We were attacked, an orange ship, they damaged the Nimbus, but they didn’t take anything. We also damaged their ship, they retreated but we are dead in the air. Our mechanical team said it will take two weeks to fix.” Priah tried to sound calm, professional, and like she had it all under control but she was shaking inside.

Their faces turned from anger to fury as she spoke, she had to do everything in her power to not stutter over her words as they glared at her.

“THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!” Uncle Titus yelled as he slammed his fist down on the table. The slam was so loud it made Priah jump.

“Now, now, we knew this was a high possibility.” Kennedy Beta, the resident peace loving Astraxis follower said in her soothing voice. She tended to be a voice of reason and kindness more often than not. Priah remembered how kind she was to her as a little girl when Priah used to attend the meetings with her family.

“Shut it, Kenny,” Tarrin hissed at her “There is no room here for your bleeding heart bullshit.”

“Don’t speak to her like that.” Andalusia Gamma spoke in succinct words. She swished her long silky black hair over her shoulder. “The attacks have gotten progressively worse over the years, it is no surprise that they attacked the S.S. Nimbus. We can afford two weeks for them to fix the ship. Don’t let your ego blur your foresight.” Andalusia spoke her diatribe like it was the most beautiful melody that had ever been written. But what do you expect from the musical genius of Atherialus?

Priah sat there and waited for them to finish arguing. She knew if she did speak up, all of that anger and frustration would just be directed at her.

“Commander in Chief, do you have anything you want to add to this shit show?” Tirran was red in the face as he looked down the table at Sigman Xu, waiting for him to answer.

“You said an orange ship, Captain?” He was talking to Priah!

“Oh, yes! It reminded me of the old models we used to fly about five years ago.” Priah racked her brain to see if there were any other little details that she could tell them. The more help she was, the less mad they would be, right?

“They must be the same group who stole a whole fleet of ships two years ago. They may have been retired but those ships are still dangerous if put in the wrong hands. Keep you and your crew safe and work fast to get out of the area. Right now, you’re like sitting ducks waiting for the hunter to return.” He looked concerned, and Priah appreciated his kindness.

“What happened to you?” Uncle Titus asked. “You look like you just rolled out of the infirmary.”

“I was minorly injured during the fight, sir. I am fine.” Priah didn’t want to talk to him. She didn’t even want to look at his face but there it was, blown up way too big on her window screen.

“Let’s just make sure there are no more incidents, Priah.” He spat the words at her like they tasted sour in his mouth.

Priah bit the inside of her cheek, doing whatever she could to not have the reaction that she wished she could give. She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but all that came out was “Yes, sir”.

“We expect better from you, Captain, do NOT disappoint us again.” Tarrin added before hanging up the call. Not even giving her a chance to answer.

Priah’s heart fell into her stomach and tears burned the back of her eyes. Her ears were ringing and she couldn’t swallow the lump that choked her. She thought maybe, just maybe, things could be different. If she tried hard enough, proved herself, then she could finally be enough.

In that moment she knew they would never let it go. That’s what she deserved, really. She deserved to be tormented for the rest of her day, a pariah everywhere she went. Maybe that is what people should call her instead, it was close enough to her name.

She screamed and threw her chair across the room. Her shoulder and neck screamed in pain but she didn’t care. She punched the wall as hard as she could, the wall barely giving away showing a small crunch of the metal leaving her knuckles bleeding.

“FUCK!” She yelled as she kicked over another chair. “FUUUUUCK!”

She let herself fall to the floor, not even caring to catch herself as her knees and then hip hit the floor in a painful thud.

Why did she ever think this would fix things? She could never fix things. She didn’t deserve for things to be fixed. She deserved their hate, she hated herself. How could she have been so fucking stupid?

She laid down, wrapping her arms around her legs and letting herself sob. She couldn’t stop, she couldn’t stop the tears, couldn’t stop the pain emotionally, mentally, physically, and she couldn’t stop the thoughts that were screaming at her that she will always be a horrible piece of shit and that everyone hates her.

She just let herself rot in that spot. That’s what she deserved.

~Georgette~

She was crushed as she watched Priah stumble out of her clinic, reeking of booze and looking like death warmed over. She bit her inner cheek as she worried. She blamed herself for pushing Priah too hard, that’s why she pushed her away. She just had to give Priah some space and then she would come back, right? Right?

She winced as she bit her inner cheek too hard, tasting the iron of blood. Georgette had to do something to get her mind off of her or she would chew a hole through her cheek.

“Maybe I can grab a cuppa tea from the cafeteria…” She said to herself as she stared longingly at the clinic door. “Oh Priah…” she sighed as she resigned herself to the idea that her captain wasn’t coming back.

She sulked down the hallway towards the food hall, glancing out the windows as she went. She stared out into the emptiness of space around them. So much in the universe, yet so empty. The light of millions of far off stars dotted the inky blackness and she was thankful that at least there was their glittering to keep her company.

She remembered her nights of studying at the Academy of Medicine, the all-nighters that she would pull multiple times a week with only the stars there to watch her. With their sparkle, with their glow, she felt a little less lonely.

But standing in the cold, metal hallway of this military spaceship, she never felt so alone.

~Ziggy~

Ziggy hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that tall drink of man since they caught eyes. He couldn’t deny the butterflies that flittered around his stomach when he made Joey blush. That cute little face he made when Ziggy caught him staring was just adorable! He loved the shy ones. The ones that get all flustered from just the littlest wink or temptation, like the lick of your lip or the brush of your hand against theirs. They were always the most fun to play with.

Ziggy couldn’t help but smirk as he thought about Joey, his short blonde hair in a typical military styled haircut that fit perfectly on top of his square head with that chiseled jaw that led to his cute chin with a dimple in it. His eyes were so innocent looking, they sparkled in the light surrounded by thick eyelashes and he had the cutest button nose. Ziggy could tell that Joey worked out a lot.

He had to find out more about this man.

Ziggy walked towards the last place he saw that handsome dish, the cafeteria. He tried to look casual, just walking by, he wasn’t even looking at the large glass that separated the rooms. He was so casual he almost ran smack into his ship mom, Georgette.

“Oh Gods! You scared the shit out of me!” She berated him.

“I’m sorry, I was trying to-” He stopped and thought for a moment “Do you know anything about Major Gerald?” He smiled at her, trying to look as sweet as possible to get all she knows.

“Joey? He’s a good kid, barely looks me in the eye when he talks but I would probably do that too if I had his father.” Georgette said, taking his bait.

“His father?” Ziggy prodded, hoping that she would just keep that blabbermouth going.

“Ugh, General Thelta.” Georgette grimaced at his name.

That sounded familiar, where did he hear that name before?

“Waaaaait, wait, wait, the general who was court marshalled for ordering the brutal beating of that gay soldier?!” Ziggy felt sick to his stomach.

He knew that soldier, he was a funny guy who would give the shirt off of his back for his comrade. That kind of hatred was rare on Atherialus so it shook the community to its core. “Didn’t they accuse that guy of sexually harassing another soldier?” He asked.

Georgette nodded, “Yeeeaah that soldier was Joey.”

Ziggy was aghast. Poor Joey…

“Thank you, Georgie.” Ziggy walked away from her, lost in thoughts again. This time his mind racing about what Joey must have gone through, if he should even pursue him anymore. He didn’t want to hurt him, or make him uncomfortable.

Even if he wanted to climb Joey like a tree, he cared more about how the man would feel. No wonder he barely made eye contact… Ziggy would back off for Joey’s sake. Even if he hated it.

~Priah~

Priah stumbled to the supply closet, the one she knew had a stash of alcohol hidden in a box in the back. Hidden by her. It was easy to find, after she moved two boxes and took the barrel off of the top of it.

She threw the box of assorted alcohol up on her shoulder and stumbled back to her quarters.

Priah barred the door with the potted plant that usually sat beside it. She was done with visitors.

She wasn’t good to be around right now, all she was doing was hurting people and she knew couldn’t keep being like this. She knew she was being self destructive, she knew she was subconsciously being a dick and pushing Georgette away because she is ashamed of herself. She was a pathetic drunk. She was an idiot who couldn’t keep her crew safe, she didn’t deserve to be captain, she didn’t deserve redemption or forgiveness. She deserved shame and she deserved to be alone for the rest of her miserable days.

Praih slipped on one of the many empty bottles strewn across her floor. The box went flying and crashed open, bottles going everywhere, some smashing open and others spiraling away in the chaos. She fell hard on her shoulder and the side of her face. Her legs went over her head which made her almost kick herself and then she flopped hard against the ground.

“Fuck!” She yelled into the floor.

She forced herself up, wiping off her body, pissed off that some of her alcohol was ruined.

“Fuck!!” She yelled again as she kicked at the bottles that were within reach, sending a few scattering away.

She felt like giving up, all she could think about was throwing herself out the airlock and into the void. To be swallowed up by Velora would be too good for her…

As her mood soured and her face started to throb, she didn’t feel like drinking anymore. She trudged over to her messy bed and flopped down on top. She didn’t care that she was covered in spilt liquor and shards of broken glass. All she wanted to do was sleep and pretend that she didn’t exist for a little while. The world would be better off that way.

~Ari~

“Yes! Yes, YES!” Ari cheered as the machines started to whir to life around her.

Lights blinked before staying steady. The electricity bounced from machine to machine powering up blinking buttons, cooling fans whirred, and the main panels lit up. The panels told how the shields, defenses, and artillery were all powering up.

“YES! We did it!” Ari screamed as she jumped up and high-fived Skip. “I have to tell Priah!” Ari ran off but yelled back to the group of bots sitting in a circle “Run diagnoses for me while I’m gone!”

Then she was off, down the corridor, up the ladder, down the hallway, left, left, right, left, aaaaaaaaaand she was standing in front of the Captain’s door.

She knocked enthusiastically on the iron door. “Captain? Cap, I have good-”

“Go away!” was yelled through the door, her voice muffled by the thick iron.

Ari was hurt for a moment, but was convinced that she didn’t know it was her. She tapped her wrist intercom and scrolled through until she found Priah and tapped her name.

“Captain, it’s Ari, I have good news about the ship. Can I come in?”

It took a few moments but the intercom crackled and Priah’s voice came through “Ari… do we have to do this now?”

Ari noticed her voice was slurred and heavy.

“Yes, it is important.” Ari really wanted to make Priah happy, if she could just make her smile that would make Ari’s week.

Priah didn’t answer her but Ari could hear scraping and banging from inside her room. The door opened and even though Priah’s hair and face was a mess and she was pretty sure there was a bruise forming under her left eye, Ari swooned at her beauty. She wondered if Priah would let her wash and brush her hair.

“Yes?” Priah leaned against the frame of the door. Ari blushed a little thinking how hot she looked. How could someone be so attractive just leaning their head against a doorframe?

“Um, I fixed the main problem in the engine room! All of the ships defences and artillery are up and running. The bots are running diagnostics now! The engine needs fixing but I can get that done in like a couple hours, so yeah, that’s what I wanted to tell you.”

Ari felt like a school girl with a crush on their teacher as she stood there, swaying back and forth as she played with the bandana that was tied to her belt loop.

Priah smiled at her, her eyes were half open, she looked tired. But Ari made her smile and that made her heart sing.

“Good job, kid. Proud of you. Now, I have a splitting headache so I need to lie down. But seriously, good job.” Priah reached out and patted her head.

Ari pouted “I’m not a kid.”

Priah laughed, “From my perspective, you’re a kid. Practically a fetus.”

Ari was hurt, but she was stubborn, she tried to subtly push her non-existent chest together and look at Priah lustfully, “I can show you how grown up I am.”

Priah’s eyes grew big and she stood up very straight. She placed her hands firmly on Ari’s shoulders, gripping them tightly.

“Ari, don’t even joke like that. Do you understand? That is highly inappropriate and you are better than throwing your body at someone. Besides, you deserve better than me.” Priah smiled a sad smile at the end.

Ari didn’t care how “nicely” she tried to say it, she was just telling her to fuck off. She pushed Priah’s hand off her and ran before the tears started to fall.

“Ari!” Priah yelled after her but there was no way in hell that she was going to stop or turn around.

She was humiliated. Her heart had been ripped out of her chest and shredded into a million pieces of confetti that fell around her as she ran.

She felt like such a fool. How could she ever think that Priah would feel that way about her?

“Diagnoses complete; operations at 100% capacity.” Skip’s robotic voice sounded cold and empty as Ari burst through the engine room doors.

“I don’t care!” Ari yelled as she continued to run. She felt a pang of guilt at yelling at her bot, but she was too upset to care.

She slid down the ladder to her little hidden room. Her nest, filled with pillows and stuffed animals, little trinkets and robots that she tinkers with, lit by many strings of lights. She grabbed her favorite stuffed toy, a purple space ship that her father gave her when she was little. She brought it to remind herself of where she came from, but most of the time she seemed to be feeding it her tears. She hugged it close to herself as she sank into the understuffed bean bag chair. It cocooned around her like a warm hug and that was all she wanted in that moment in dark, cold space. She missed her father, she missed all of her siblings, hell she even missed her cold mother, but that would have to settle.

~Georgette~

She knew she should give Priah her space, and she knew that she shouldn’t go to Priah’s quarters to check on her, and yet here she was walking ever closer to Priah’s room. Her head was screaming at her to turn back. Telling her every little thing that was wrong with what she was doing right now. ‘You’re practically a stalker’ she told herself as she started chewing her inner cheek again. A pang of pain reminding her that she really needed to find a new coping mechanism.

“Ari!” She heard Priah’s voice call for her, then a blur ran past her.

She glanced around the corner and saw Priah sigh and hold her head in her hand. She took a breath and gathered her courage to go around that corner. She was about to when she heard a slam. She looked again and Priah’s door was shut.

“Shit.” Georgette leaned against the wall. Should she go knock on that door? Should she just go back to her own quarters?

Before she could talk herself out of it, there she was knocking on that iron door that stood between her and Priah.

Knock, knock.

Silence.

Knock, knock, knock.

Silence.

Georgette waited, her heart pounding in her ears as she waited.

She waited, but after a few minutes, she gave up and walked away. She wasn’t going to stand there and make a fool of herself.

Maybe she would try again tomorrow…

In Between Our Stars

A slow burn Sci-fi romance that follows our couples on their journey across the galaxy searching for love, redemption, and acceptance.

Sneak Peek

CHAPTER ONE

Chapter One

Chapter Three

Chapter Two

Chapter Four