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Neel is at home, sitting on the couch with his datapad in front of him. He has homework to do, basic tables to memorize, matrices to multiply. He can hear his family laughing in the other room, and little baby Tuloo's gurgles make him smile.
There's the sound of footsteps, someone coming through from the kitchen. Neel looks up, ready to ask his mom for help with a problem and –
It's the skeleton from the ship, standing in the middle of the living room, still covered in dust and dirt. It moves, raising its arm, points a blaster at Neel, and he screams and rolls off the couch. There's the sound of blaster fire behind him, but when Neel tries to crawl away he realises that he's not at home any more. He's crawling on the dirty, wet ground of the pirate port, and there's feet everywhere and shouts in the air.
Neel pushes himself up off the ground and looks around for his friends, for SM-33, for anyone, but he's alone in the crowd. Worse, the pirates are all stopping and starting to turn towards him, pointing and leering. Neel doesn't know what to do, because he's not the brave one, that's Fern or Wim, and he never wanted to be here. Someone pushes their way out of the crowd, and to his horror Neel realises that it's the skeleton again, now dressed in full pirate garb, a blaster in each hand.
Desperate, Neel turns and runs, somehow managing to stumble through the crowd. He twists and turns through the confusing market, slipping on the wet ground and bumping into stalls. He hears blaster fire behind him, but he's too slow. His legs aren't meant for running and he can barely breathe.
Suddenly, just as he's losing hope, he finds himself at the edge of the port, not sure how he got here. Confused, he turns around, and sees the skeleton coming towards him, flanked by grinning pirates. Instinctively, Neel takes a step back, but instead of finding solid ground, his left foot finds only air, and he slips and falls backwards and into the dark void of space.
He falls, screaming, sees ships and droids and cables fly past him. He flails his arms and legs and trunk but nothing helps, and he continues falling, past the port and into the emptiness below.
There are stars everywhere around him, and it should be beautiful, but Neel doesn't know which one is home. They're all the same, all just dots of light. He's lost, and it's getting cold.
He freezes slowly, his breath coming out in puffs; watches frostbite building on his fingers and toes. What if he dies like this, alone in the vastness of space? What will happen to his parents, to Jorbo and Jobo and baby Tuloo? What will happen to Wim?
Out of nowhere, Neel lands on solid ground, his whole body shaken by the sudden impact. It's still cold, but he's not freezing anymore, and he's somehow escaped the endless darkness of open space. There's a weak orange light here, and when Neel pushes himself off the ground he realises that he's in the brig. He's alone, though – the other kids are nowhere in sight.
"Hello?”
His voice sounds strange in the silence of the brig. Why is it silent? Shouldn't there be noises from the other prisoners? As if in reaction to his thoughts there's a rattling sound from the back of the cell, and Neel breathes out in relief as a hooded figure emerges from the dark. It's just Jod.
"You have to help me, Jod," he pleads. "I don't know what's happening.”
But Jod doesn't answer, doesn't do any exciting Jedi tricks. Instead, he slowly takes off his hood, revealing a skeletal smile and empty eyes. Neel screams again, but this time there's nowhere to run, and the skeleton draws its blaster and shoots straight at Neel's chest –
Neel woke up in his hammock on the ship, covered in sweat and unable to breathe.
In Wim's opinion, everything was going great. So maybe he'd accidentally sent the four of them hurtling into space in a broken spaceship. What was the big deal? It was an adventure. Seriously, sometimes he felt like he was the only person on At Attin who remembered how to have fun.
And what an adventure it was! So far they had evaded pirates, had been defended by a faithful droid, and had helped a Jedi escape from the pirates' prison. The last part was the best, of course. Wim still couldn't believe they were travelling with an actual, real-life Jedi. So maybe Jod didn't have a lightsaber or proper Jedi robes, but he levitated things. With his mind. And Jod would definitely get them home, so Wim didn't need to feel guilty any more. Not even a little.
Wim had spent his whole life making up grand stories in his head, and even being on a real-life adventure couldn’t stop him wanting more. Maybe it would turn out that Wim was force-sensitive, and Jod would have to train him – to help him control his immense power, of course. And then when something bad happened, maybe pirates, or a monster attack – well, then Wim would have to save everyone. And they would all be so grateful! And when they finally went back home, everyone there would be impressed, too, and they would decide that At Attin needed its own Jedi and that Wim could be one. And his dad would be proud, and would hug him and kiss him goodnight…
Wim forced his thoughts back to the present. There was no point thinking of his dad now. He was lying in a hammock on a spaceship, with the bright lights of hyperspace travel throwing patterns on the ceiling above him. What more could he want?
Well, a bit more quiet would be nice.
The problem was that Wim had grown up in the suburbs, in a well-insulated house. He wasn't used to noises at night, especially not now that it was just him and his dad. And the ship was loud, creaking and groaning as it travelled through hyperspace. The other kids were even louder – KB shuffled from side to side, Fern was snoring, and Neel kept muttering to himself. Wim had been tired enough to fall asleep at the start of the night, but he'd woken up only a few hours later. And now he was stuck, staring at the ceiling and trying to calm the whirlwind of thoughts swirling in his head. If only he had his datapad with him... He considered getting up and exploring the ship, but somehow the prospect seemed less exciting now than it had earlier in the day. He would much rather rest tonight and be fully prepared for whatever adventure the next day would hold.
Wim was just starting to count down from 100 when he heard Neel whimper. Their hammocks hung only inches apart, so Wim turned onto his stomach and squinted to try and see in the dark. His friend's face was pinched in a worried frown, head twisting from side to side. Neel whimpered again, and then drew in a sudden breath, short arms flailing.
Worried, Wim tried to reach Neel through the hammock's net, but the holes were too small for his hand. "Neel!" he whispered, hoping to wake his friend up without bothering the girls. It didn't help, though – Neel was obviously in the middle of a nightmare, gasping and muttering about "blasters" and "help". Wim watched Neel's large eyes move frantically under his eyelids, and felt an ache in his chest. He needed to do something.
Wim started climbing out of his hammock, but before he could get out Neel gave a loud shout and opened his eyes. Wim quickly slid down to the ground and knelt by Neel's bed, his urgency driven by the fear on Neel's face.
"Neel!" he whispered, reaching out to touch Neel's arm. "Are you okay?”
Neel turned to look at Wim, eyes wide and face beaded with sweat. "I..." he croaked, and then coughed into his trunk. "Jod, he was a skeleton, he shot me!”
Wim felt something twist in his gut. Neel was having nightmares about their adventure.
"It was just a nightmare," he reassured his friend, trying to keep his voice gentle. "We're on the ship, and Jod is a Jedi and he's helping us get back home.”
Neel blinked at him. "On the ship? The skeletons are here?” His eyes widened. "There was a skeleton in our living room, Wim! What if it shoots my parents, or baby Tuloo!“
Neel tried to scramble out of the hammock, but Wim held him back. "Neel!" he whispered, clamping his hands onto Neel's shoulders and pushing him down. "It was just a nightmare! The skeletons can't move, and your family is fine!" Neel started to say something, but Wim put a hand on his mouth. "And be quiet, because the girls are sleeping.”
That seemed to finally bring Neel back to reality, because he stopped squirming and lay back down, eyes wide. When Wim slowly removed his hand, Neel took a deep breath, shoulders relaxing down under his ears.
"Just a nightmare?" he asked quietly.
"Just a nightmare.”
They stayed like that for a moment, Neel lying in the hammock with Wim's hands on his arms. Wim tried to slow his own breaths – Neel's panic had gotten to him.
"Wim?”
"Yeah?”
To his horror, Wim saw that there were tears shining in Neel's huge eyes. "I'm scared.”
Wim's throat felt thick with emotion. He'd always known that Neel wasn't like him. Neel liked his life on At Attin. He liked school, he liked his family, he liked the idea of being an analyst. He went along with Wim's plans not because he had the same desperate need for adventure, but because Wim was his friend. And how had Wim repaid Neel's friendship? He'd basically forced him to come along on a dangerous adventure, catapulting them both into space.
Wim didn't want to think about his guilt. If he did, he would have to also think about how suddenly they’d left. Wim's father probably didn't care, but Neel's family would miss him. And worried thoughts of home inevitably led to worried thoughts about this journey.
Wim didn't want to be scared, but the sight of Neel’s misty eyes made something ache in his chest.
One of his favourite holodramas had a Jedi character who was wise and powerful, and he always said that to be a good hero you needed to acknowledge your mistakes. Wim usually wasn't very good at that, but it felt easier here, alone in the emptiness of space without any parents or school droids to tell him off
"I'm sorry.”
"Sorry?" Neel looked confused. "For what?”
Wim really didn't want to explain. "For pressing that button. And for making you come look at the ship in the first place.” He looked up at the ceiling, hoping to avoid the sight of anger and disappointment on his best friend’s face.
"Oh! That's okay,” NeeI whispered. His trunk coiled around one of Wim's hands. "You didn't know it was a ship.”
Wim's gaze snapped back to Neel. "But," he spluttered. "It's my fault! Why aren't you angry?”
Neel shrugged. "You didn't do it on purpose. And a button like that is tempting – I think I would have pressed it as well.”
That made Wim smile. "You would not! You're too worried about everything.”
"Hey! I tried that food with you at the pirate port, and I tried to send the rat to get the key. “
"Yeah, but you just admitted that you're scared.”
Wim regretted those words the moment they left his mouth. Neel looked away, his whole face drooping. "Yeah," he mumbled sadly.
Desperate, Wim clambered into the hammock, pushing Neel around so that they were both lying on their sides and facing each other. Neel gazed at him sadly, trunk curled around his own chin.
"Neel..." Wim breathed in. "I'm also scared.“
Neel's eyes widened. "But you like adventures!”
"I'm more excited than I'm scared!" Wim protested. "But I mean... those pirates were so mean, and they were trying to kill us. Anyone would be scared.”
"Yeah." Neel's face was still pinched with worry, but at least he wasn't crying any more. Wim decided it was time to lighten the mood.
"And who would have guessed space would be so smelly?" he pinched his nose. "Do pirates not have freshers? And Jod was the worst, he smelled like something from the bottom of the garbage chute!”
Neel giggled, punching Wim gently on his arm. "Don't make fun of him! He was locked in a cell!”
"We were locked in a cell as well, and we don't smell. Actually..." Wim pretended to sniff Neel and made a disgusted face.
Neel giggled again, and Wim started laughing too, surprised by how ridiculous everything was. They were talking about a smelly Jedi they’d met in a pirate brig.
They both tried to suppress their laughter, putting their hands over each other's mouth. But they didn't do a very good job of it, and there was a groan and a rustle from the other side of the room.
"Be quiet!" Fern sounded tired, and angry.
"Just go back to sleep." Wim thought he heard a smile in KB's voice, but it was hard to tell in the dark.
"Okay, sorry!" he whispered back at them. He started to climb out of the hammock, but Neel grabbed his arm.
"Stay?”
Wim felt something uncoil in his chest. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept in the same bed with someone else. Maybe when his mom was still around? She'd always let him crawl in with her after a nightmare. His dad said he was too old for that.
"Of course," he whispered back to Neel.
They arranged themselves as quietly as they could, shifting around in the small hammock. Wim ended up slightly underneath Neel, with the blanket covering them both. Neel's head was tucked into Wim's neck, his trunk winding into Wim's hair, and Wim tightened his arm around Neel's warm back.
He could hear Neel's even breaths and the slow pumping of his heart – slower than any human heartbeat. The weight of Neel's body on his felt strange, and Wim was sure that it would take him a long time to fall asleep. But somehow the combination of warmth and closeness made him feel safe, and Wim soon drifted off into a calm, dreamless sleep.