She dozed off about half an hour ago. I don’t need much sleep, just an hour or two here or there every few days. Benefits of not being a real human, I guess.

The blackness of space stretches out before me, and I just watch it. The memories haven’t been coming at all, and I don’t know why. But I do know that, disturbing as they are, I miss them.

Gradually, we approach the asteroid belt, and I watch the huge spinning rocks move through space, spiraling like they’re completely out of control. No ship has ever passed successfully through it. Except for me. I did it on the way here, to avoid detection upon approaching Earth.

I turn to look at her.

She’s completely beautiful. She has long dark hair and skin that’s completely smooth. Her shirt is torn a little from the events of today. Her breasts rise and fall as she sleeps, the sound of her breathing soft and comforting.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a human female that wasn’t a cyborg. Years ago, one of the human cargo pilots was a woman, but she wasn’t anything like the senator’s daughter. I suddenly realize I don’t know her name.

My cock is rock hard in my pants, just from looking at her.

The ship shakes. My cockpit chair rattles violently.

“What’s going on?” she cries out, waking up.

I don’t answer.

The ship shakes again.

I kick the controls out of auto-pilot, my eyes scanning the holo display.

“There’s a ship behind us,” I say. “And they’re firing at us.”

Actually, make that twelve ships. A quarter of the entire fleet. They must have divided up the fleet and sent ships to different areas that I might be headed to, all the possible routes leading to Mina Dos.

“They wouldn’t dare destroy us.”

I divert some power to the shields.

We’re only about a minute from entering the asteroid belt.

Another blast hits us.

The holo deck flashes a warning.

Fuck.

One of the thrusters is severely damaged. This limits my ability to steer effectively. Just one thruster left.

The radio crackles.

“Didn’t think we could trace you, 98XF5?” comes the general’s voice.

“You’ve got ten seconds before I disappear into the asteroid belt,” I say. “And somehow I don’t think you’re going to follow me.”

The general cackles. “You’ll never make it with just one thruster.”

“General,” cries the senator’s daughter. “Help me! He’s got me kidnapped! Do something.”

“He doesn’t give a shit,” I say.

The general ignores her cries for help. “98XF5, if you enter that asteroid field, we will destroy your ship completely. We have superior fire power. Power down your engines, or prepare to be destroyed.”

Yanking the yoke, I pull the ship into a defensive maneuver, trying to get the main part out of the way of the blast. It’s difficult with only one thruster.

The ship moves wildly.

“Watch out! We’re headed right for that asteroid.”

That is what it looks like. The asteroid is zooming right towards us.

The general’s ships all open fire at once. He doesn’t even give us a final warning. He’s terrified we’re going to disappear into the asteroid belt and they won’t be able to follow us.

The ship shakes with the impact, but at the last moment, I divert some power to the deflectors.

Something’s on fire in the back. Smoke fills the cabin.

“He shot us!” she cries out. “I can’t believe he shot us! And he knows I’m on board.”

“Grab the yoke,” I say roughly. “Steer us away from that asteroid if you want us to live.”

“I can’t pilot this! Where are you going?” She’s completely frantic, her voice turning into a shriek.

“I have to put out these fires if we want to live.”

I rush into the back, grabbing the fire extinguisher.

The flames are consuming the mid section of the ship. There’s a wall of flame blocking my path to the engines. If the engines catch on fire, we’re done for. It’ll cause an explosion that will destroy us.

Closing my mouth, I rush headfirst into the flames. They hurt, singeing my skin, making my armor ragingly hot.

But I make it. I can withstand more pain than an un-augmented human after all.

The ship swerves wildly and I hear a cry from the cockpit. But by the sound of it, we don’t hit the asteroid. Looks like the senator’s daughter can fly a ship after all. At least for a little while.

It doesn’t take me long to put out the flames. I check the engine gauges, hoping for better news than what I get.

The engines are on the fritz. The flames got too close. Everything got overheated. It won’t last much longer now. And the energy shock from the general’s blasts fried the engine’s circuitry, destroying its auto repair mechanisms.

Back in the cockpit, she’s holding onto the yoke as if her life depends on it. And, frankly, it does.

“I did it!” she says, joy overtaking her face. But she’s still terrified. Her body is hunched over the yoke and she’s shaking in fear. Somehow, she still manages to look gorgeous. Her long hair is hanging wildly around her face. Her beautiful eyes simply shine.

“I’m glad,” I say. “But we’re not going to last long in the air. The engines are dying.”

“They’re what?”

“You heard me. Your favorite general didn’t pulverize us, but he might as well have. We’re going to have to make an emergency landing. Watch out!”

She’s not paying attention to what she’s doing. I grab the yoke from her, my body pushing against hers, as I maneuver us skillfully around the asteroid that zooms towards us.

The next ten minutes are tense. I’m back at the yoke, steering us through the asteroid belt with just one thruster and an engine that’s about to overheat. There are more than a few close calls, the ship coming within inches of huge spinning rocks that could blast us to pieces.

“How much longer can we fly?” she says.

“About ten minutes,” I say, checking the holo screen for reference. “If we’re caught in space without a functioning engine, we’ll just continue to move on our initial trajectory, traveling deep into space until we hit something or until we run out of life support, which won’t be long without an engine.”

“I know that,” she says. “Everyone knows that.”

I shrug.

I yank the yoke, pulling us through yet another narrow miss with a smaller asteroid.

“See that planet there? Right past the asteroid belt? We’re going to crash land on it.”

“What? Crash land? Are you crazy? We’ll die!”

“It’s our only option. We’re not going to make it to Mina Dos.”

“But we’ll die on impact!”

“Not if I can help it.”

“But we don’t even know what’s on the planet!”

“Nope,” I say. The planet has been registered on the star maps as Delta Opi, but it’s never been officially explored. There aren’t any readings on what life could be on the planet. But, judging from the read outs, the atmosphere will at least tolerate human life.

“What if there’s nothing but desert, or a jungle of vicious beasts, or… aliens?” She says the last word in a way that implies she’s as scared of alien life as the rest of the humans.

I shrug. “It’s the best we can do.”

“We’re going to die!”

“I don’t want to have to restrain you,” I say. “So shut up while I pilot us through this very difficult situation.”