Astrophysical (completed)

Chapter 5

Considering this was the second time the ship was set to dock; Cassie noticed the excitement levels weren't as high as their first landing. She wondered exactly what they were intending to do at this port. It had been two and a half weeks since they had been in space, and she was once again excited to get off the ship and explore. Ash had kept his promise to teach her about the universe every day and Dean was keeping his promise and then some in training her. Between the two of them, she was feeling more confident and fit to go off on her own and explore.

The crew was busy preparing for landing and she was watching Ash and Matt land the ship, Dean standing with her on the bridge above the two. They were flipping switches here and there and Cassie noticed that the two had a rhythm about them like this was a completely natural occurrence.

They set up to enter the planet with Matt at the steering device and both Dean and Cassie braced for the rush after they had given a warning to the crew. Again, the ship suddenly burst into this planet's atmosphere with what felt like a speed of ten times their previous cruise. The atmosphere of this planet was bright, and the sky shone a bright yellow all over making it hard to see. Dean handed her a pair of goggles and Cassie put them on, now seeing the planet in a brownish hue. She watched as they flew through clouds for the next fifteen minutes. Then giant towers that emitted black smoke came into view in the distance.

"Is that where we are headed?" she asked, turning to Dean.

He also had on goggles and Cassie bit her lip trying not to laugh. "Not quite, we'll be heading to the outskirts of town instead of that part. This is a mining planet and it's best we stay away from those facilities while we are here. What's so funny?" he asked as she let out a giggle.

"I'm sure I look the same, but you look like a bug with those goggles," she said still laughing.

He frowned at her, but then Matt chuckled as well from his seat. He too had these ugly goggles on him and with his black hair, he looked like a furry rodent.

"You find this suddenly amusing too?" Dean called down.

Matt looked up at him and smiled. "I'll admit I never thought of that before, but she is right. You look like a giant zenxi!"

"I am going to come down there and smash-"

"Knock it off, guys," Ash said loudly. "I just put down the landing gear and we'll dock in 200 feet on North End."

They went back to being focused on the task at hand though Dean had now crossed his arms tightly, a scowl still etched onto his face.

Cassie watched, not as the ship prepared to dock, but as Ash's hands moved over more of the controls. She was grateful that they were back on friendly terms now, but she couldn't get rid of her feelings for him, try as she might. The ship touched down and then they began powering down.

"Thank god we're finally here. We need to get back into some action," Matt said once his end of the final check was over. He pushed himself out of the chair and climbed the stairs. He met Dean who was still frowning and smirked. "Bzzzzz!"

"You are so dead!" Dean called trying to grab him but unfortunately missed. The two then went running full speed down the stairs and out the cabin door with impressive speed.

Cassie watched them giggling for a moment before she too began to head towards the door. But to her surprise, Ash caught her arm and stopped her. "Hey, what's up? I was just going to find Doctor Beckett to get a translation chip."

"Actually, I need to talk to you about this stay, Cassie," he said. He let go of her arm and crossed his arms. "We're only going to be here for hopefully one night. We're here to pick up a job and then get back into space."