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<u><b><span style="font-family:Throw My Hands Up in the Air"><span style="font-size: 26px">Stranded</span></span></b></u>​</div><br/>"It's a beautiful thing, ain't it?" the older man at the navigation console mused, angling his head to look out the cockpit window. His white mustache covered his lips almost entirely, his eyes shining from under the blue brim of his baseball cap. It was a running gag on the ship that Ol' Curtis didn't have a face.<br/><br/>No such jokes were flung across the cabin today. The route they'd picked up at the trade center a few systems back directed them through a few interstellar jumps, stopping off at a handful of outer-rim systems for a refuel, systems check, and attitude adjustments in preparation for their next leap. Some solar systems looked like a snot-nosed kid had spilled their cereal on a black marble floor. Some looked spartan and empty. Some were overcrowded to the point of being bottomless gravity-well death-traps. And some, as Ol' Curtis would say, were goddamn gorgeous.<br/><br/>All three of the crew marveled out the cockpit window. At the center of the system, a pair of binary stars danced a 5 billion year dance, almost seeming frozen in time despite their violent orbits. A large, cooler red dwarf illuminated the entire cabin red, while a dense white dwarf siphoned off its energy, a trailing stream of fire being pulled off the equator of its host star and spiraling gradually into its new home in the shining white orb. The escaped gases gradually grew white hot as they joined the accretion disk, an entire rainbow of colors playing out before plunging into the radiant pearl before them. A few gas giants hung in space between them and the It was the ultimate expression of the ballet of physics, a truly wonderous sight to behold.<br/><br/>"Beautiful thing," Curtis repeated, mumbled beneath the caterpillar-like hair on his upper lip.<br/><br/>About twelve hours had elapsed since their journey began. They were meant to arrive in ten, but had been held over two systems ago waiting for a fuel tanker to finish fueling. Andrijan, the ship's shrewd, wild-haired captain, cursed them fiercely at the delay, the dark skin of his face wrinkling with disgust as he counted the cost the delays were adding up. Medical supplies were not cheap, and they were hauling them in bulk! Every second they were delayed was a bargaining chip for the mining outpost they were traveling to, though fortunately, some non-expirable supplies like various mining tools for breaking apart asteroids for raw materials were not so fluid in price. Nonetheless, Andrijan's brows furrowed angrily every time as he would utter vulgarities in his native tongue -- "Bahen chod!" he'd spit at any perceived delay. No one paid any mind. He kept the good ship Asura -- a fairly simple but fast freighter vessel which towed its cargo behind it in a long chain-like architecture -- running on time, which kept the paychecks steady.<br/><br/>Even Andrijan took a few moments to marvel at the natural wonder before them, nodding mutely in agreement with Curtis' assertion.<br/><br/>The third crewmate, Moore, didn't speak much. He was younger than the other two, probably in his late twenties or early thirties -- young for a starship's mechanic, though he spent most of his time relegated to the Comms console. The Asura was well maintained, and took good care of her crew. On most flights, he seemed like a third wheel, an unnecessary formality. His medium length, whiskey-colored hair was unremarkable, and he had just enough scruff for a working man, though it was clear he'd clean up nicely with a shave. Stoic though he was, his piercing blue eyes were captivated by the same spectacle that had stolen the attention of his colleagues. This was a star system on the way to a little gas mining outpost in a nebula a two more jumps away, and it didn't lead to much else, they would not likely get to appreciate the sight again soon.<br/><br/>After a few moments more of stargazing, Moore looked down at the console. "We should be just over 3 A.U.'s from the refuel station," he shared to his team. His voice was soothing, a deep baritone, though he was still mystified by the binary pair ahead of them, giving his words an airy quality. He looked back down at the console again, brow furrowing slightly as he made some adjustments to the radar.<br/><br/>"What do you think, missy?" Curtis asked, turning around to the passenger, strapped into the fourth (and largely superfluous) chair in the cockpit. "You ever come out far enough to see stars like that?"<br/><br/><div class="bbCodeSpoiler">
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