The next day slipped by without much happening.
Zion kept to himself, leaving his room only when absolutely necessary. A quick meal, a quiet walk back, nothing more. He avoided conversations, avoided attention, and made sure not to run into Ravel at all.
Even if the chances were low that something would happen, he didn't want to corner himself into giving an answer while they were still this far from Daresk.
"Ugh…" he muttered, leaning back against the wall as the blueprint hovered in his vision. "This boredom is killing me."
With training off-limits and nowhere to go, he was forced to spend his time either looking at ancient blueprints or just plainly staring in front of him.
'I wonder if Ravel has picked up on my decision already,' he thought, glancing at the ceiling. 'Actually, there's no way he hasn't.'
He closed the blueprints with a flick of his eyes and let out a soft sigh.
"There's a day and a few hours left before we reach Daresk," he said, sitting up straighter. "From there on, I can truly start growing stronger."
He clenched his fist. "It won't be long before I can start taking my revenge on the Sovereignty."
At the same time, Ravel walked through the empty corridors of his ship, heading for his command center.
"Nearly a full day has passed," he muttered silently. "And I still haven't gotten a response from him."
After turning a corner, he stood in front of a set of large metal doors, with a small device hung on the wall beside it.
"Did he not understand the benefits of joining a crew?" he mumbled as he scanned his eye in the small device. "Or does he already have people waiting for him at Daresk?"
The scan finished within two seconds, confirming his identity. The large set of doors immediately shifted open, revealing the inside of the large control room.
'Whatever,' Ravel thought, shaking his head as he stepped through the doors. 'If he doesn't want to join, that's his loss.'
"Captain," Jace greeted while four of his insect-legs moved rapidly through separate holograms.
"Jace," Ravel gave a short nod. "Have you finished the negotiations yet?"
"Yes, captain," Jace replied. "The buyer will collect the ancient ship upon arrival, with the price depending on whether there's a schematic or not."
Ravel remained silent, though a small smile grew on his face. He sat down in his own chair, his eyes darting to the navigation module beside him.
'No sightings of space storms, debris or enemy ships,' he thought, nodding slowly. 'Good, seems like we'll have a smooth trip for the remainder of time.'
Minimizing the navigation module, his gaze drifted to the polished surface of the hologram projector.
His expression darkened as his reflection appeared there, the ugly scar standing out just beneath his head.
'What does this make it now?' he thought, staring out in front of him. 'It should be the fifth or even sixth year since my escape.'
His jaw tightened as many old memories flickered through his mind, accompanied by vivid sounds he'd never be able to forget.
Ravel rubbed over the scar on his neck as it started to ache again.
'At least I'm free now,' he thought, though the tension in his face betrayed the supposed calm.
'One day… I'll settle the score.'
"Captain!" Jace's voice echoed through the command room.
Ravel snapped out of his thoughts immediately and turned towards Jace.
"What happened?"
"It's the Balerts Scavenger crew from Planet Vera!" Jace said urgently while all eight of his insect feet raced over a hologram each. "They've sent out a Gold Alert!"
Ravel frowned, immediately raising several holograms around him.
"Got it," he said, his attention still on the holograms. "Alert the rest of the crew in case something happens."
Jace nodded hastily while switching through tabs on his holograms.
The Gold Alert was a universal signal among scavengers. When it appeared, it meant only one thing.
Echelon Sovereignty ships were hunting. And anyone without a military transponder was kill-on-sight.
'Planet Vera… huh,' Ravel thought, reading through several messages. 'That's 12 days away from Daresk at our speed.'
His grip tightened on the armrest as he stared at the data coming through. 'But for the Sovereignty ships? Could be anywhere from 7 to 11 days.'
Other crew members started arriving one after another, each immediately starting to manage the large amount of data flowing in.
"You know the routine," Ravel directed. "Dot every single coordinate you receive. If they're heading somewhere, we have to be the first ones to know."
As the hours passed, many more alerts came through from the areas surrounding the neutral planets. Each alert was entered into a hologram near Ravel, showing a dot on a large map.
'They're heading this direction,' he noted. 'And it seems like they are sweeping quite the large arc.'
"Should we turn around now?" Jace, who stood beside Ravel, asked.
Ravel shook his head slowly. "No, there should be plenty of time to reach Daresk."
"Isn't that risky though?" Jace asked, his mandibles shaking slightly.
Ravel locked eyes with Jace, his expression cold. "Do you wish to get stuck in the middle of space with no fuel?"
Jace froze, lowering his gaze. "N-No, captain. My apologies."
Ravel exhaled slowly and shifted his attention back to the map. Less and less golden dots blinked in and out, as many other scavengers had already turned around.
"Make sure you update our buyer," he said, voice firm. "We'll only be on Daresk for a few hours. If he isn't there, we'll take the ship elsewhere."
Jace gave a slight nod before quickly hurrying off to his own workstation.
'Everything was going too smoothly,' Ravel thought to himself. 'At their current speed, they'll probably reach Daresk in eight days.'
A faint phantom sting crawled along his neck, reminding him that getting caught was not an option.