Chapter Text
The space force was nothing like Avery thought it would be.
When she was a kid she dreamed of being an astronaut and traveling the stars to explore alien planets. Back then people only just started to settle on the moon and mars but as she was working to join them humanity’s space endeavors grew exponentially.
She was 15, with stars in her honey-brown eyes and on the fast track to college when they got hold of faster than light travel (FTL) and they just kept going. They explored every planet in our solar system and had started colonizing a few by the time she was in her sixth year of college. The promise of more was so close- going further out than ever before, sending people to habitable zones to search for alien life- everything she’s ever dreamed of was at humanity’s fingertips. she’s spent her whole life reaching for the stars and now she could actually make it there!
But humans are a fickle thing.
Wars raged that needed more attention. Military’s took hold of the race to the stars. What was once exploration and adventure turned into just another source of materials. Settlements became mining operations and the men in power made space pilots into boomers and drop shippers.
And there was Avery. 25 and finally off world, a mechanic and cargo pilot. At a titanium mining operation. With no mention of change. She won’t get to explore anything. Just move cargo and fix shit when it breaks.
Not exactly what she had in mind.
At least she had Jay, Jaiden Hope, her best friend, dark skinned with long box braids that she kept out of her face with a purple bandanna. She was so pretty, with her soft jaw and sleepy down turned eyes, she was a whole head shorter than Avery (not to hard to accomplish, Avery was pretty tall) and damn fierce in her work.
Jay works in communications & management, knows like nine languages fluently and bits and pieces of more than that! Jays so cool, their conversations are the only thing keeping Avery sane on this stupid rock. Jay knows so much about people and culture it’s kind of amazing, while Avery was buried in studying most of her life, Jay was out making connections, climbing social ladders, and being the translator and organizer for really important people.
Which is why they’re here today. This morning the station received a request from a damaged star hopper to make an emergency landing. Now they were meeting to discuss payment for repairs and a timeframe for completion. Jay, being in charge of translation and negotiations, and Avery- head mechanic, to assess the situation and make a timeline for action.
After a thorough inspection Avery finds the ship had a suspension slip, not to bad in zero-gravity but could total a base engine with a few landings. The fix should take a day tops, Jay relays the info to the ship’s pilot.
As they haggle, Avery admires the Ship as a whole, it was beautiful- three jump capacity ftl drive, a kitchen, six bedrooms, a den outside the control room, and her favorite part, the green house. A large open room full of plants, it looked like a bit of a forest was scooped up and taken onboard, the ground was green and soft with moss and the air was fresher than anything she’s had in the two years on this cold rock.
A deep longing stirs in her gut, this ship could be a home. this is what she wanted, she could reach the stars with this…. And maybe she will
————
Jay had just finished up payment negotiations when Avery yanked her behind the ship’s bulky landing gear, grabs her by the shoulders and looks her dead in the eye.
“I’m stealing this ship.”
….what?
“What??”
Her face is dead serious, sharp features set in grim determination, orange goggles holding warm brown hair away from her slanted eyes, streaks of engine grease on her temples and hands where they squeeze Jays shoulders.
“I can’t keep living like this. Not when this ship is the key to everything I worked so hard to get- I can't-“
She takes a deep breath, eyes softening before she looks at the floor between them
“I also can’t… do it alone.”
Jay feels Averys hands slip down her arms, stopping to lightly circle her wrists making her heart stutter in her chest
“We could get out of here. Away from the wars and the rules and the work. We could see the stars… I know you never wanted to get stuck here”
And it’s true isn’t it? Jay never wanted to end up playing translator for some corporate boot lickers who couldn’t be bothered to learn anything apart from ‘hello’ in any given language. She had wanted to meet aliens, as silly as that sounds- it had been her dream and for a while it really looked like she might live it. But she’d ended up on some asteroid working three positions with the pay of one.
But maybe…. She looked at the girl in front of her, the most driven person she’s ever met clearly braced for rejection, like Jay could crush that spark of passion she’s been missing since the end of month six on this ‘mission’
Fuck
She took Avery’s hands
“We need a plan. And time to pack”
To hell with crushed dreams! So what if they spend the rest of their lives on the run from human forces- if Avery finally gets to fly? She’ll be perfectly happy getting dragged along for the ride.
For a moment Avery just stared at her in shock, before her face lit up with the most beautiful and giddy smile she’s ever had the pleasure of seeing. there might’ve been some tears as she giggled .
“Ok- here’s the plan….”
——————
It took 2 hours to get their essentials to fit into one of Avery’s tool bags- the biggest duffel bag she could explain needing for repairs- one very tense encounter with the owner of the ship they were about to steal, and four hours of actual repairs and maintenance with the two of them on board before they reached the hard part of the plan-
Take off.
They got halfway down the runway before alarms started blaring, security personnel racing to their stations as Jay clutched the straps of her chair and Avery pulls them up into the air way faster than is probably safe.
“Are you sure we can make it?!” Jay yells over the turbulence as Avery dodges company ships and their blasts as she tries to get them out of orbit.
“You doubting me already honey?” Avery’s smile is feral when she finds the ship’s defenses and starts downing their pursuers left and right.
“WHO YA CALLIN HONEY ‘CAPTIN?’“ Jay shouts at her, but she’s blushing when Avery manages a glances at her “just keep your eyes on the SKY AVERY”
“Yes ma’am!”
They veir upwards and spin away from the asteroid security’s shots and break through the thin atmosphere of their previous work place. Avery smirks at that thought, no way they’re going back now! The stolen cruiser is built for deep space and their tail is evidently not.
Jays gaze flits over all the displays on the main screen as the distance between them and their tail grows larger and larger, till she couldn’t even see them anymore, probably gone back to base empty handed.
In front of them is empty space, and whatever hides beyond it.
this was really it. She felt almost dizzy with relief.
They fucking made it