"You know just what to say," Neil said, hitting the thrusters and sending the Highlander on B-line for Delta Cephei, the closest star system with any civilization of note. Neil had heard there were some work opportunities there a few galactic years back. He simply hoped they weren't 9-5 jobs. 

Taya nearly draped herself across one of the chairs, so worn out. "I'm just glad that's over wiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIII-" She screamed as Neil sent the ship to a frightening speed, the young woman clinging to the top of her chair. 
[hr]
[i]17 days later, within R.I.P. space...[/i] 

"I'll need to change the fuel soon." Neil reported over the comms as they traversed through the FTL dimension known as the R.I.P. He had no idea where Junebug was at the moment, but Taya was in the cargo bay making sure their cargo was still upright and tied down. The pilot, a felon in three systems, wasn't entirely expecting them to be transporting two tons of Raccarian Cola boxes. It was boring and it didn't pay for much more than their food and fuel. 

"But like my dad always said," he breathed aloud, switching the auxiliary power to the strafe thrusters to help them lose the R.I.P. "It's a job." You had to take what you could get, and honestly, despite the fact Neil was a pyromaniac adrenaline junkie, it was kind of relaxing that they hadn't had any real problems the past few weeks since they left Beckett's Node. He'd gone on the Void Web and perused to see if there was a fourth warrant on his arrest, but it looked like Nia held her end of the bargain. 

The ship's normally smooth gliding was interrupted by some turbulence as they began to exit the R.I.P., and on the display monitor, one would see the narrow-tunnel of grey space turning utterly dark in an instant, and as one's eyes adjusted, they would begin to see the vast array of stars in the distance. 

"Lonney, location." Neil said in a yawn, stretching and feeling the strain of sitting oozing out of his body as he gave a groan. 

"Looks loik we're in th' Mu Cephei system, sir!" The AI replied enthusiastically, as if he was an up and coming young soldier looking for advancement in his career. 

"So about halfway there." With a shift in his body weight, Neil hopped out of the chair and headed out of the cockpit to the access corridor, past the lines of wiring and into the fueling station below decks, the engine's hum growing louder as he climbed down the ladder. The fuel gauge showed they had a quarter tank left, and Neil removed and rerouted the fuel rods to get refilled, humming a Chevelle rock song under his breath as he saw the meter begin to move, indicating the refilling was nearing completion. 

Meanwhile in the cockpit, the indicator beacon began to flash a diminutive red light. Once Neil made it back in the cockpit, he cursed. "Lonney why didn't you tell me we were getting a transmission?" 

"Captain told me to shut up more." 

"Goddammit." 
[@Penny]