Chapter 2- introduced 

It was just over twelve hours since Adam’s ship had crashed and I’d nearly lost my life, I was relieved that I wasn’t dead but things weren’t okay at the same time. I’d gone perpetually mute after my little freak out the previous night. I refused to talk with my new soft and musically feminine voice. 

After several days of laying sullenly in bed, my brother finally showed me to my own sleeping quarters,

apparently I’d been staying in his which explains why the bed was so luxurious and the cabin was more spacious. 

The room that had been arranged for me was tiny, according to Adam this was common for all but the captain’s living quarters. My room had a small single bed, a tiny nightstand with a few drawers for clothes and a little desk with a tablet display in the corner. 

I looked up at Adam and gave him a look of disappointment at the bitter, claustrophobic sight of the tiny room in front of me.

“This is smaller than a jail cell..” I said quietly.

Adam smiled at me.

“She finally speaks!” He laughed as he sat at the desk in the small room.

 I glared at him.

“Sorry sis.. Er bro...” Adam looked away awkwardly. 

“And you really shouldn’t glare at people.. those eyes are nightmarish!” He nervously laughed. 

“Do I actually look scary?” I asked in a small voice as I sat down at the edge of the little bed, I felt my ears flatten against my head. 

My brother rubbed the back of his neck and looked away for a moment before he continued speaking.

“Not scary honestly.. just different.” He said in a gentle tone.

I nodded and looked up at him as he stood up to check the time on the tablet.

“Looks like it’s dinner time, I’m going to eat with the crew, you can join me if you want.” Adam said.

I shrugged and got up to follow him. 

We walked through the grey and off-white halls of the shuttle, taking turns down different corridors here and there. 

It was almost ridiculous how many rooms and corridors they had jam packed into the ship when building it. seriously the shuttle was like a mini labyrinth if you didn’t know the outlay by heart.

To save energy most of the lights were a dimmed, fluorescent blue, casting eerie looking shadows onto the walls. 

After five minutes of walking, my brother and I finally reached the dining hall. Yes the shuttle had a literal Hall for all the crew to eat together in. 

Adam scanned a QR code from his tablet display onto the mounted reader that automatically locked all the doors except the entrance inside the shuttle. 

It made a small ping noise as it finished reading the code then the lock clicked open and the door slid ajar. Adam walked inside and I followed him.

The inside of the dining hall mostly resembled a facility cafeteria, although a few strange oddities were scattered around the room. 

The weirdest was a circular table with what looked like hookah parts connected to it. 

It had several large canisters that held colorful liquids. A few of the crew members were puffing on the device blowing large clouds of vapor into the air. 

I sniffed at the vapor with my sensitive nose and almost puked at the scent of nicotine and artificial flavors.

“Ack..” I sputtered as I coughed. Adam looked over at his coworkers and rolled his eyes.

“Alright you three.” He said as he looked at the two men and woman using the device.

“You know that’s only allowed when people aren’t eating.” Adam said, a few of the other crew members who weren’t too fond of the device mumbled in agreement.

“Sorry captain, we’ll turn it off till everyone is done.” One of the guys vaping on the device said with a wave of his hand. 

Adam nodded and walked over to sit at one of the many small circular tables. 

I shyly followed him and much to my discomfort I realized everyone was staring at me.

As Adam got seated next to Doctor Jenna, a little droid detached from a charging station on the wall and wheeled its way over to where Adam was sitting.

‘Please input meal of choice’ it said in an apathetic, emotionless voice.

Adam dialed in something then the little droid wheeled over to me. 

It had thousands of choices, from simple meals to complex cuisines. 

I chose grilled salmon with a nutrient paste. It didn’t sound too appetizing but I wasn’t all that hungry anyways. 

The droid wheeled across the floor back into it’s station. 

I watched from across the room as arms came down from the ceiling, the small kitchen area barely separated from the dining hall practically came to life as burners where turned on by the mechanical arms while it prepared the requested meals. 

~~~~~~~~~~

For the majority of dinner most everyone left me alone although I could tell they kept staring at me every now and then. I cringed as I felt all eyes on me. 

By the time everyone had finished eating is when the questions started.

“So this is your sibling, Adam?” A female scientist named Crystal asked as she stared at my ears and tails.

“Yes.” Adam simply stated while looking at me.

I squirmed in my seat. I really didn’t like the attention I was getting.

“What made you think it was a good idea to sneak on the shuttle,  look what’s happened because of your stupid stunt.” 

A male officer said as he glared at me.

“He’s right, we could very well be stuck here permanently because of your stupidity.” Jenna spoke up.

“You shouldn’t be so lenient on her, Adam. I mean our ship is fucked and it’ll be a miracle if we fix it, it’s only a matter of time before the generators run out of power, thankfully this planet has oxygen to breathe but what happens when we run out of food and supplies? If the officials on earth knew about this she’d be in jail, not to mention she’s a major freak now! Look at her, I’m certainly not comfortable sharing board and room with some freaky alien girl!” Jenna finished nearly screaming by the end of her rant as she glared at me.

I felt tears prick the edge of my eyes but I shook my head, pushing my emotions deep down where they belonged. 

I wasn’t going to allow myself to be upset from the doctors harsh words.

I stood up and awkwardly looked around the room. Most of the crew looked angry. 

I felt my lip tremble as I struggled to contain my emotions.

“I’m.. I’m sorry everyone. I didn’t mean to cause so much harm..” I said , backing away towards the door.

“Adam maybe it’d be best if I just stayed in the room until we get back to earth..?” I said as I looked at my brother with a pleading expression. 

He shook his head and gave Jenna a stern expression that had her practically shrinking in her seat.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Selina. You’re welcome wherever I go and no one is going to hurt you. Is that understood?” He said as he glared around the room. 

No one seemed to want to meet his eyes but they all mumbled a Quiet, insincere ‘yes captain’ 

“Furthermore, I don’t want to hear anymore negativity about the ship being out of order. We WILL fix this ship and we WILL get back home.” Adam definitely declared even though the odds were stacked against his demand. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Selina?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as Adam and I walked back to the living quarters.

“I thought it was appropriate. It’s what mom would’ve named you had you been born a girl. And seeing as I can’t really call you Luke anymore, it fits.”

“I guess.. that makes sense.” I grumbled not too happy about my new given name.

Adam simply nodded in response as we continued walking. 

He was about to drop me off at the room he’d assigned me when Jenna swiftly walked up to him. She glared at me then turned to Adam.

“It’s been awhile since we had any private time together.. when you’re done here why don’t we meet in the lounge?” She half whispered, staring up at my brother with a longing look on her face. 

I rolled my eyes and looked away. I really didn’t like Jenna and she was starting to get irritating.

“Honestly Jenna I don’t like the way you’ve been treating my sister. I don’t think I want to spend anymore ‘private’ time with you.” Adam said harshly. 

I felt happy that my brother was being so protective of me, especially when I felt so vulnerable at the moment. Still it was strange, he’d never acted this way before. 

Jenna looked like she’d been slapped in the face as she stared at my brother. 

Her lip trembled and she let out a small sob as she spun on her heels, she gave me one last hateful glare before running off with tears streaming down her face.

“Don’t worry about her, she’ll get over it.” Adam said with a glare in her direction.

I nodded and looked up at him awkwardly.

“Goodnight little sis.” He said as he gave me a tight hug. He left and as soon as I was in my room, I laid down on the small bed and started sobbing. 

Everything was just so stressful and now the entire crew I was stuck sharing the ship with hated me. 

I cried for hours until I finally fell asleep, exhaustion winning the war with my unstable emotions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I awoke with a startle as several mumbled voices whispered around me. I realized I was laying on my stomach, I begin to panic as I tried to move and found my legs and wrists were bound by tight rope.

“Hurry! Gag her! she’s waking up!” I heard Jenna’s cruel voice whisper.

I let out a sob as someone stuffed a rag in my mouth. 

I tried screaming but it came out distorted and muffled.

I was flipped over on my back. I stared up at Jenna and her company, the officer who’d yelled at me during dinner and the scientist, Crystal.

I looked up at them in horror as Jenna brought out a syringe.

“That’s right little bitch, this will make you sleep and by the time you wake up you’ll be someone else’s problem.” She said with a cruel smile.

I tried screaming again to no avail, tears streamed down my eyes as I squirmed against the ropes keeping me bound in place.

I thrashed against the bed as Jenna stuck the syringe in my arm and pressed down on the plunger. 

Almost immediately I felt the heavy sedative enter my bloodstream and I quickly grew extremely drowsy.

I felt several rough hands grab me and someone tossed my limp body over their shoulder.

The next thing I knew I was being carried out of the ship, loaded into a little electric dune buggy and driven off to a remote part of the planet where I was carelessly dumped onto the rough patchy ground.