In the Middle of the Universe - The Neutral Zone"

"

"The Roglenaks... I should have expected this," Celrus began slowly. "But why did they break the law and kidnap the princess in the demilitarized zone...

" "No, old man, think about it," Marvin shouted, uninvited. "You're just talking nonsense. They wouldn't have stood a chance in a guarded zone." At that moment, the Great One and Celrus looked at him with slight surprise and indignation. "Why are you staring at me like that???? Oops... Right... I sincerely apologize, Mr. Admiral and Great Lord. I think I'll go now, because I'm not sure if I turned off the heating, and I don't like it when the house is hot.

" "Then go, or the high temperature will kill you, although I don't know if it could get any worse," Celrus said ironically

. "Give it a rest. Open doesn't mean crazy!!!!"

If idiotic remarks are called openness, I must be out of step with modern trends.

"Enough, gentlemen!!!!" the Emperor finally shouted. "If I remember correctly, you are here to save my daughter."

"I am so sorry, Great Lord," Celrus humbled.

"Me too," Marvin echoed.

"Celrus, tell us everything you know about the Roglenaks," the Ruler asked

. "Today an independent race, once they were slaves exploited by the Galactic High Government. They call themselves 'space pirates' because they respect no laws except those created by their own government and attack any spaceship they encounter that doesn't belong to their race and...

" "That's enough," the Supreme One interrupted Celrus. "Surely I don't need to convince anyone that our situation is hopeless????

"No, Great One!!!!" Celrus and Marvin shouted together.

"That's good. Celrus, you will have my best mechanics, engineers, doctors, and as a last resort, I will give you my court chef. May I?"

"With all due respect, but you forgot one person."

"Namely?"

"About my best cartographer and navigator, Marvin." "

I was sure you'd take him on your crew, so I thought it unnecessary to mention him," the Ruler apologized. "Oh... I almost forgot... you're being given command of my best 'Daedalus'."

"I don't know how to thank you..."

"You don't have to. Just bring my daughter here—safe and sound.

" "

You have to admit, man, the guy has a knack," Marvin said, breathing heavily, running after Celrus.

"Who are you talking about?" his equally out-of-breath friend asked him

. "About the Great One. The best men, the best ship—he must have a lot of trust in you

." "And what would you do if someone kidnapped your daughter? Besides, I'm his best man." "

You're as modest as I know what

." "You see, I was born that way."

With these words, they stood before the door to the "round hall," where the rest of the crew that would be taking part in the rescue mission was waiting for them...

***

"Hello everyone," Celrus began. "As you probably know, I am the admiral of the Earth fleet and will be commanding the mission during which we will rescue the princess from the enemy. I don't know most of you, or I only know you by sight, so I would ask everyone to introduce themselves and tell me what they do."

After these words, the room fell silent, as no one wanted to introduce themselves first. "

I see you're a bit shy. Very well... I'll choose the person who introduces themselves first." "How about you?" Celrus pointed to a short blonde sitting on the farthest edge of the table. "Introduce yourself.

" Hevra Mc'Lean, the doctor

. "See, it's not that difficult. Now, everyone, introduce yourselves and we'll be done," Celrus encouraged everyone. "

Vincent Al Sam, the flight engineer.

" Heili Hans, the copilot .

Elen Donald, the weapons operator

. Frans de Cruise, the cook

. "Well, everyone. And this is our navigator and cartographer, Marvin." Celrus pointed to his friend. "Now I'll hand out the charts with the mission description and area of ​​operation. We're leaving tomorrow at eight-seventy, and you can go now."

After a few minutes, Celrus looked up from the charts in front of him and saw that Hevra was still sitting at the table.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked . "

I wanted to explain to the Admiral why we were so shy." We're not cybermechs...

" "I hope so," Celrus interrupted.

"It's just that our crew has never met an admiral of the Earth fleet before, and we simply didn't know how to behave."

"Thank you for the explanation, but could you leave me alone now?

" "Yes, Admiral." And with that, Hevra left the circular room.

Then Celrus pulled a photo of his fiancée, who had mysteriously disappeared five years ago, from his pocket. He wondered when he would see her again, unaware that he had seen her so often all this time...