2. Sylas

TWO

"Captain's Log. Star Date 05033051."I settled into my chair, adjusting the insignia on my new uniform. "The rest of the crew arrives today. I've spent the last few days inspecting the ship, getting acclimated to our new surroundings."

I'd never had so much time to thoroughly explore a vessel I'd been stationed on before, and I had to admit, I liked it. It had been informative, but what I enjoyed the most was the calm. The skeleton crew currently on the ship hadn't bothered me, and I'd found it relaxing. Though all of that peace would disappear as soon as my officers and the rest of the crew arrived. But a captain needed to know his ship, and finally, this one was all mine. Who could blame me for wanting to take the time to learn it alone?

"Tomorrow, we'll set out on our five-year mission to explore past the reaches of the known galaxy," I narrated, wondering if one day these logs would be in the historical records, like so many I'd studied in the past. "To search for planets lush with resources, rich with minerals—to find life. The Starship Paradise was designed for this, to travel beyond the stars. Taking us to places we could only dream about fifty years ago."

Paradise, also known as an ideal or idyllic place or state. That was the textbook definition, but somehow it was fitting for this ship, the culmination of over a thousand years of space travel development.

I paused my narration to look out at the space station the ship was docked at. Transports would arrive from the Earth's surface soon, carrying our passengers.

Including officers, crew, and families, we'd begin our maiden voyage with just over five hundred people on board. It was anyone's guess what we'd find out there, though I knew what the UGSF wanted. We faced land shortages, green spaces having to be protected as we humans continued to expand. Even after colonizing Mars, the world leaders were desperate. That pressure rested on my shoulders now.

I continued to narrate to my log, detailing the aims and some of my own personal goals.

"Sylas!" My silence ended, and I ended the recording with a wave as my first officer—and my younger sister—arrived on the bridge.

She'd joined me on the transport a few days ago, her new badge just as shiny as mine.

Kayle crossed her arms as she screeched to a halt in front of my chair. "Admiring your throne again, dear brother?"

I rolled my eyes. "Just breaking it in, Ky."

The white leather was soft under my fingertips, my chair still brand new. If I inhaled, I could still smell the new leather scent that reminded me of a new vehicle on Earth.

"Sure. That's what they all say. But I've caught you ogling it a few times…" Kayle didn't hide her smirk.

But she could make fun of me all she wanted—it was a nicechair.

"How long till everyone else comes on board?" I asked, glancing down at the communication device in her hands.

She was my executive officer, which made her first in line to take over command if anything should happen to me. Kayle would also be in charge of landing parties, overseeing all personnel on board the ship, and managing the ship's resources, in addition to assisting me in my personal duties.

"Just a few hours. Are you ready?"

"I was born ready," I said, not even a glimmer of a joke in my words.

Kayle gave me a serious look. "I know you were."

She turned, facing the large viewport as she leaned on the railing. Standing, I joined her.

"Think you'll have a problem treating me as your captain, not your brother?" I raised an eyebrow, looking over at her.

We shared the same face—the same dark brown hair, deep blue eyes, and the same slope of our nose, courtesy of our parents. The main difference besides our height, since I was a good four inches taller than her, was the small dusting of freckles along the bridge of her nose.

"Just because we haven't worked together before doesn't mean I can't treat you as my superior." My sister brushed her ponytail off her shoulder, adjusting the collar of her jumpsuit.

"Sure, sure. I'll believe it when I see it," I joked with her, nudging her with my elbow.

She raised her hand to her brow, mock saluting me. "Aye aye, Captain Kellar."

"Remind me why I chose you as my First Officer again?" I grumbled, rolling my eyes.

"Because I'm the best at my job. Plus, you love me."

I couldn't exactly argue with that. Because I did. She was the most important person in my life, and always had been.

"It's a good thing you're my sister, because I'm basically required to love you."

"You're insufferable."

A chuckle slipped from my lips. "Says the girl who bullied me into letting her come on a five-year journey."

"Bullied is a strong word, you know."

"Oh? What do you call it then?"

She punched me in the shoulder. "Hey. Not fair."

My lips twitched up, though I didn't quite smile. "Wouldn't have made you my first officer if I thought you couldn't do this."

Kayle was two years younger than me, though we'd grown up doing everything together, so people often mistook us for twins. We'd played sports together, argued over who got the newest copy of our favorite book series when it came out, and cleared hours and hours of video game levels together. At least, when we'd been able to afford all of those things.

When she'd graduated college two years behind me, she'd followed in my footsteps and joined the United Galactic Space Federation. Though I'd questioned what she was going to do with a communications degree, she'd more than proved herself, rising through the ranks to a Commander position faster than even I had.

I'd grumbled about it, but I was damn proud of her. And the decision on who would be my executive officer had come easy to me. I hadn't even considered anyone else.

"Didn't dream of doing it without you."

She was all I had left. I'd never leave her behind like our parents left us.

"What do you think we'll find out there?" Kayle asked, staring out the glass windows that ran along the front of the bridge.

"That's part of the excitement, isn't it? The adventure? The not knowing?"

Our mission would take us a few million light years away, utilizing brand new technology to travel through space faster than ever. They'd been developing it over the last fifteen years, using specific areas in space to warp through to other ends of the galaxy.

We were the first ship to test it out on a full-length mission.

No one had ever been that far into space, and it had only been loosely charted via high-powered telescopes. We would be the first humans to chart the space, to set foot on new planets. To journey to a new world, beyond the stars.

"Look at you, Captain Kellar. Sounding especially chipper today. That's so unlike you."

Resisting the urge to punch my sister, I grunted, staring out the window.

She was right, though—everything was about to change. At thirty-five years old, I'd finally gotten everything I'd been working towards all my life.My dream job. I was content with the life I had. There was no room for love or anyone else in it. I had my sister, and she was enough.

We stood in silence, watching the activity around the station. The stars flickered faintly in the background. Soon enough, we'd be in distant skies, and all of these would be a faint memory.

"I think I'm going to go run another lap around the rec floor," Kayle finally said. "Get rid of some of this jittery energy."

"Good idea." My fingers itched to pull back open my log. Maybe it was strange, but I liked the idea of having all of my thoughts collected somewhere. My legacy that would live on, even long after I was gone.

"You're going to stay here, aren't you?" She asked me, looking back from the door frame with her hands on her hips.

"Yes," I muttered under my breath. "Now, go."

She left me to the silence of the bridge, enjoying my last bit of quiet before the rest of the crew arrived.

"Here goes nothing," I said to myself, before hitting resume on my recording.

"Everyone's ready, Sy,"Kayle said later, knocking on the door to my office. I'd retreated there when everyone else started boarding, finishing up some necessary paperwork before we'd set out in the morning.

After the crew got adjusted to being on the ship, our mission would officially begin.

I looked up, finding my sister in her dress uniform. It was strange to see her in the cobalt blue hue the command officers wore, but damn. "I'm proud of you. You know that, right?"

Our parents might not be around to tell her what a damn good person she'd become, but that was okay. I'd make up for it by making sure she knew every single day.

"Thanks, bro." She gave me a little wink, doing a twirl for me. "Looks good, doesn't it?"

We had a few different uniforms issued to us by the UGSF for daily wear, including a basic dark gray zippered jumpsuit, a flight suit for missions, and our dress uniforms, which consisted of a fitted top and black dress pants. All of them featured the color that denoted our department, and we wore our rank badge on top.

Standing up from my chair, I clasped a hand on her shoulder. "It looks great, sis." I added the last word on the end to tease her, because I knew she only called me bro because she thought it annoyed me. In some ways, it did.

In other ways, she was my only family, and my best friend. I'd pretty much let her call me whatever she wanted, as long as it wasn't within the earshot of anyone else. I didn't need to be teased mercilessly for her childhood nickname for me, or the way she called me Sy. The kids in middle school had a field day with that one, and I'd been known as Sy-Fi for months. Little pricks.

But while they got to go home to their parents every night, it had just been Kayle and I, barely scraping by. Trying to make ends meet however we could.

So, yeah. I'd always let her get away with more than I should.

My sister cleared her throat. "Time to meet the crew."

I nodded, knowing I couldn't delay the inevitable. Soon, I'd be face to face with my officers.

Luckily, I'd hand picked most of them myself. My buddies from college might have been good friends, but they were also damn good at what they did. And I'd had my selection of some of the finest researchers, medical officers, and bridge teams that the UGSF employed. Most of them had served with me during previous missions, which should have been reassuring, except…

"Is it bad that I'm nervous?" I asked, rubbing at my forehead. I'd never had to address my officers as the captain before.

She laughed. "You're gonna do fine."

"Well, obviously. This isn't my first day out of the academy. I know what I'm doing."

"I know you do."

No matter how confident I was, though, there was a hint of worry I was doing my best to keep locked down. Not that I would do a bad job, but that my crew wouldn't like me. Or some shit like that. My chest felt tight, and I took a deep breath. "How frowned upon would it be if I took a shot first?"

"Very." She handed me a bottle from the alcohol cart. "But I won't tell." My sister winked.

"Great," I said, taking a swig and grimacing at the taste as it went down. "What the hell did you give me?" Spinning the bottle around, I raised an eyebrow at the label on the bottle. "Blue absinthe, really?"

Kayle did her best to look innocent. "What, you don't like it? I thought it was your favorite."

She knew that I'd puked my guts out after drinking an entire bottle of it in college, and the smell still made me a little nauseous to this day. Plus, the color coming back up had been… awful.

"Thanks for that," I muttered, wiping my mouth off. "Gross." I needed to scrape my tongue now.

She patted me on the back as we walked towards the door. "Anything for you."

"Time to go," I said, running my hands through my hair to smooth it back. "Got everything?"

She grabbed the large tablet from where she'd dropped it on the tabletop. "Yup. You?"

I flashed her a rare grin. "Absolutely. Let's go meet our crew, Commander Kellar."

"Aye, aye, Captain Kellar."

I rolled my eyes playfully, hiding the small smile by turning away from her and pressing the button to open the door.

Today, greeting my officers in person.

Tomorrow? Journeying beyond the stars.