Chapter 1 - The Triumph

Four months. Four damn months of waiting, planning, and scraping together credits like a broke college kid saving for spring break. And now, here we were, standing by the port window like kids on Christmas morning. The Triumph of Darron, our ship, was finally ready. Well, technically, it was docked nearby, still under the watchful eye of one of Dad’s pilots. But seeing it released from the shipyard clamps was something else.

I leaned forward, my hands pressed against the cool glass, trying to soak it all in. “Look at her,” I said, barely able to keep the grin off my face. “Is it just me, or does she look even better than the schematics?”

“She’s gorgeous,” Zoe chimed in from beside me, her voice low and a little too smooth. I caught her reflection in the glass, her deep brown eyes shining with intelligence as she tilted her head, her long, dark locks swaying gently. She was always thinking, always calculating. It was one of the things I admired most about her. I knew that look. Zoe didn’t just admire things; she studied them, like she was already figuring out how to make the Triumph her playground. Typical Zoe.

Ryan, standing on my other side, gave a low whistle. “Looks fast. Reckon we could race her?” He elbowed me, grinning like an idiot.

“Yeah, until we leave your sorry ass in the dust,” I shot back. But my chest tightened a little at the thought. This wasn’t just a ship, it was ours. It was the culmination of every stupidly ambitious, half-baked dream I’d had since we hit level 32 and focused our paths. And now? Now it was real.

Emily brushed past me, her ponytail swishing as she stepped closer to the window. She had that look, all cute and focused, a little too serious for the moment. “You sure it’s ready for us, Luca?” she asked, her tone soft but edged with that undercurrent of doubt that always made me second-guess myself.

“Hell yes, it’s ready,” I said, more for me than her. “We’ve got everything: Dad’s cutting-edge designs and the Vanguard Hyper-Displacement Drive we pulled from Venus. You were there. You saw what we went through to get it.”

And I wasn’t lying. That level 60 portal on Venus had been no joke, an absolute cluster meat grinder of traps, mobs, and some bastard of a boss who nearly took Ryan’s arm off. But we did it. We made it out, drive in hand, just before the whole portal collapsed behind us. Single-use bullshit. Still, that drive? Worth every scraped knuckle and close call.

I looked over at Danny, who had been quiet this whole time, his eyes fixed on the Triumph. Typical Danny, always thinking ten steps ahead. “What do you think, science boy? Ready to leave the textbooks behind and play mad scientist in zero-G?”

“Only if you promise not to break my labs on day one,” he said.

“No promises,” I said with a shrug, and Zoe snickered beside me.

The ship was everything I’d hoped for: a Galactic Surveyor Type MK I, sleek and modular, built for exploration but with enough creature comforts to make long missions bearable. It wasn’t just Dad’s first large ship, it was our masterpiece. And that Vanguard drive? It could push us to .5 AU per second. Half a fucking astronomical unit. It was still hard to wrap my head around speeds like that.

“Once we’re past the Oort cloud, we’ll be golden,” Ryan said, his voice cutting through my thoughts. “You sure about that corridor to Alpha Centauri? No ice dust, no debris? Sounds too good to be true.”

“It’s legit,” I said, clapping him on the back. “Gravitational pull or system mechanics or some other science shit, whatever it is, it’s clear. Three weeks, give or take, and we’ll be touching down on alien soil.”

Emily crossed her arms, her expression softening just enough to let me know she wasn’t completely sold but wouldn’t argue. Yet. “Alright, Captain,” she said with a small smile. “You’ve got us this far. Let’s see if you can keep us alive for the next leg.”

“Challenge accepted,” I said, turning back to the window. My reflection grinned back at me, cocky as hell. Inside, though, I was buzzing with nerves, excitement, and something I couldn’t quite name. This was it, the start of something big, something crazy.

And, yeah, maybe I was imagining Zoe lounging in one of the ship’s plush chairs, or Emily leaning over the bridge console. Sue me. I was twenty, I was human, and I was about to dive headfirst into the unknown with my best friends and the two biggest distractions in my life.

What could possibly go wrong?

With the ship now completed, all we had to do was board and take control. Simple, right? Except stepping into the Triumph of Darron for the first time wasn’t just simple, it was fucking magical.

The airlock hissed open, and we drifted inside, floating like kids on a zero-g field trip. The ship was pristine, gleaming metal, faint hum of machinery, and the sharp tang of disinfectant in the air. My boots gave a little kick, and I sailed forward, my crew trailing behind. Our breathing echoed in the empty corridors, the sound weirdly satisfying in the silence.

“Someone forgot to turn on the gravity generator,” I said, grinning like an idiot.

Emily giggled behind me, her ponytail floating in a golden halo. She looked at ease, the low lights catching the curve of her neck and the shape of her hips. I had to look away before my thoughts ran off the rails, again.

We moved deeper into the ship, lights flickering on as we passed, painting our path in warm yellows and cool silvers. It felt surreal, like we’d stumbled into a dream. Zoe caught up to me, twisting effortlessly in midair. Her long legs kicked lazily as she floated upside down, her dreadlocks spreading like ink in water. “You’re gonna have to teach me how to drive this thing,” she said, smirking.

“Drive? Pretty sure this thing flies itself,” I shot back.

Emily shoved a datapad into my hand, snapping me out of it. “We finally got it!” she said, her grin lighting up her whole face. I took the pad, the edges of pride and excitement bleeding into my chest. This was our ship now, the transfer had been complete. Not Dad’s, not some pipe dream, it was ours.

We rounded a corner into engineering, where Ryan floated surrounded by a halo of tools. His cap was barely holding on, his sandy blonde hair sticking out like he’d just rolled out of bed, which, let’s be honest, he probably had.

“Already losing tools?” I teased, pushing off the wall to get closer.

Ryan looked up, a ratchet floating by his shoulder. “Hey, this is new territory, Luca. Tools weren’t meant to fly.”

He grinned at me, that easy, cocky smile that always felt like a challenge. We left him to his floating mess and drifted further into the ship, finding Danny in the science lab. His curly red hair floated like a puff of fire, and he was squinting at a big-ass microscope balanced precariously on a crate. Danny always had this boy-next-door vibe, freckles and dimples making him look like he belonged in a vintage ad for milk or something.

Emily kicked off toward him, her voice light. “Think you’ll have everything you need?”

Danny grinned back at her. “Almost. But we might want to move this microscope before Ryan decides to turn on gravity and it crushes something. Like my foot.”

“Relax, you’d only have yourself to blame,” Ryan called out from the corridor, already halfway to help. He planted himself next to Danny, working together as they adjusted the microscope.

Shaking my head, I pushed myself toward the bridge, leaving them to their balancing act. This ship wasn’t going to captain itself.

We floated into the bridge, and Zoe was already in her element, gliding from console to console like she’d been born in zero-g. Her dreadlocks stuck out in every direction, and I swear, she looked like some kind of space goddess, intense, focused, and way too attractive for my own good. She adjusted screens, configured the AI, and didn’t so much as glance back at us, her whole vibe screaming, I’ve got this.

Meanwhile, Emily floated beside me, her hand brushing against mine every now and then, sending little sparks up my arm. Her green eyes sparkled like emeralds in the dim bridge light, and her grin could’ve powered the whole damn ship.

We drifted out of the bridge and down the corridors, every new turn revealing another part of the ship that was ours. Ours. It was surreal, exhilarating, and just a little overwhelming. My brain couldn’t stop buzzing with all the possibilities. The bridge console, for one, flat, smooth, and just the right height.

The tour took us everywhere: the observation lounge, the gym, the engine room, and even the storage areas. Each space was shiny and pristine, full of promise. But it was the cabins that really did it for me. Eight of them, lined up on the top deck, each a little oasis of privacy. My cabin was small but cozy, with a tiny bathroom, a space for a desk, and a bed that would eventually hold a mattress.

And the lounge? Don’t get me started. All those couches, the low lighting, the view of the stars stretching out forever, imagine setting up a pool table in here, or movie nights on that wall. This is going to be our entertainment central.

Emily’s voice pulled me back to reality. “Okay, Captain,” she said, her grin widening as she pulled a device from her pocket. “We have shopping to do!” The word hit me like a low-voltage shock, spreading warmth through my chest. Her eyes sparkled as she floated out of the cabin, Zoe close behind, both of them laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world.

Captain.

It wasn’t even supposed to be me. Nobody else wanted the gig, so I’d fallen into it like someone tripping over their own feet at a graduation ceremony. At first, I’d been hesitant, hell, terrified, really. But now? Every time someone said it, especially Emily, it was like a little ego boost I didn’t know I needed. “Captain” had a ring to it, a weight that felt... good.

As their laughter echoed down the corridor, I floated there in the cabin, staring at the space like I’d just stepped into the bridge of the Enterprise. My cabin. My ship. My future. The thought made my pulse quicken, and not just because of the ship. The way Emily had grinned at me, the way she said Captain, damn, she could weaponize that word if she wanted to.

I took another look around, imagining how it would feel when the place was fully set up. The bed, the desk, maybe a little frame with a picture of my fam.

“Hold on,” I said, raising a hand to slow her roll. “Let me talk to my dad about food supplies first. He’s got experience with this, helping new captains stock up. You guys handle the furniture. Just make sure everything can be bolted down in case we lose gravity again.”