"I'm not flying the ship," @auroraloon insisted.

  "Yes, you are," I said, falling into our familiar banter. "I'm watching you fly the ship as we speak."

  "You know what I mean! I'm not flying us through a meteor shower."

  "I'm in no shape to fly, so that leaves you as our best option."

  "You have to," she begged. "I can't do what you did."

  "Maybe you can," I retorted. Such a solid argument! "The @auroraloon I know would do whatever it takes for the solar system."

  "That doesn't suddenly mean I can actually do it."

  I never thought I'd be giving motivational coaching to a Burner, but I tried anyway. Maybe I'm just good at tricking myself into doing things, or maybe I suffer from overconfidence. "You don't think you can. First, you have to believe that it's possible."

  She shook her head, letting her dark curls float around her, and studied the warping space in front of us. "There has to be another way."

  "Do you want me to call @awesomedog up here to do it?" I teased. That was a little unfair of me.

  "That's just mean," she muttered. "Asshole." I wasn't sure if the latter was for @awesomedog or me. Probably both of us.

  I spread my arms out. "Doing this will take all of you working together. @zerogstar will navigate. We know she can do that. @dustcaller will shoot down meteors. We've seen him grow to be an excellent shot." @dustcaller nodded firmly back at me.

  "@foxcutter will manipulate forces around us, magnetism, radiation, anything of use," I continued. "And @auroraloon will fly. We know she can fly. She knows she can fly."

  "What can I do?" barked Kibble from the entryway.

  "You can bite your master." The words came out automatically without me thinking about it. "That was a joke. Can you check on my cat, Sango? He likes a good snuggle, and if he wants to lick your nose, please let him."

  Kibble yipped and trotted away.

  "What are you going to do?" @zerogstar asked.

  "I'll sit here and cheer for you. Shout useless instructions. Close my eyes and scream. That sort of thing."

  My ARM was starting to ache again. I was annoyed at first, but it was a welcome new pain to distract me from my headache. I was just going to have to get used to constant pain.

  "Get ready," I ordered, clearing my throat. We had a few minutes still at warp. I thought about what else would help the crew and had an idea. "We need a team name. Something to motivate us. Any ideas?"

  "How about Team Misfits?" @foxcutter suggested.

  "No, we already met the Misfits. I'll tell you about it another time."

  "Team Fuck Up," @auroraloon said, "or maybe FUBAR?"

  I laughed. "I like that, but maybe something more positive, like Huggy Good Times." @auroraloon frowned at my suggestion.

  "Team Stardance?" @zerogstar proposed. "I like dancing, and the way you flew the ship was like a dance through the storm," she explained.

  No one objected, so after a moment of silence, I gave the nod. "Works for me. Team Stardance it is." Just cheesy enough for our crew, and just meaningful enough for it to stick.

  We struck the first meteor on the starboard side, which was exactly where we were trying not to take damage. The ship shook, and I closed my eyes. This was exactly when I would normally be sucked into space to die a slow and lonely death, but The Pharaoh's hull was stronger than that of my i35.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Shit," @auroraloon squealed.

  "That way! That way!" @zerogstar yelled frantically. She had overlaid The Pharaoh's front view with a path through the storm, tweaking it as the pattern changed.

  "It's okay," I said calmly. "Just don’t hit the next one."

  Oblivion was in pursuit, as expected, and at this point, we knew they wouldn't give up the chase. We just needed to gain ground instead of being pulverized by meteors or zapped away by Oblivion's lasers.

  We hit the next meteor right away, on the port side, like we were being punched by the storm. Right, left, right, left. Its fists flying at us. The impact sent the ship spinning, and I registered a gas explosion from the port missile shaft.

  "Let's go, Team Stardance!" I cheered, trying to sound positive.

  We missed the next meteor.

  "See, cheering helps," I said.

  And then we almost ran straight into the one after it. We would have been done for, but @dustcaller fired a barrage of missiles straight into the middle of the meteor. We smashed through the debris, avoiding major impact.

  Oh shit, I thought. We're going to die!

  "You're all getting the hang of this," I shouted, lying for the sake of morale. I gave a thumbs up. "Good job, everyone."

  I noticed that we were running low on missiles. If we had to run through the storm again, I didn't like our chances.

  @auroraloon pulled the ship down and to the solar southwest. I could see the next tricky spot coming up before us, a tight cluster of meteors. She'd have to be near perfect.

  My heart sank further. This was dumb. We were so screwed. This was the worst plan in the world. If we could get through this next spot, though, we would be able to clear out and hit the DEAD drive again.

  "Go Team Stardance!" I cheered again.

  I closed my eyes and let my body feel the sway of the ship, picturing the path in my head and focusing on what it should feel like. I didn't want to watch. My senses would tell me if we were going to die or not.

  Left and down. Pull quickly up. To the right. To the right! I breathed a sigh. Now dip again and fly in a spiral, like water flowing down a drain. Up and left again. I noticed my body mimicking the motions in my chair, pressing down, up, left, feeling the ship and the space around us.

  I smiled when I heard the crew celebrating.

  "Great job!" @zerogstar yelled. Her smile was broad, showing her white teeth, happiness pouring off her.

  @auroraloon was breathing hard. "Don't make me do that again." She let out a pleased chuckled.

  "You were amazing," I added. "Truly amazing."

  @foxcutter clapped. @dustcaller pounded a fist to his chest and added a hurrah.

  "Now let's get out of here," I commanded. "Hit it!"

  Our DEAD drive fired. The Pharaoh's battered hull creaked, but it held together, and off we went.

  "How are we looking?" I asked, fingers crossed. "Did we gain some ground?"

  All attention went to @zerogstar as she ran the numbers.

  "Yes. Not a lot. But we should be able to do … three jumps safely without Oblivion being able to fire on us."

  I nodded. "Okay, let's make it count. Get us away, and then take us back. Sorry, @auroraloon. You may need to do this again."

  That wasn't what she wanted to hear, but she looked more confident now. "I got it. A little break is good, but I'll be ready."

  Speed was of the essence. No sooner had we jumped than we were pulling out of warp, setting course, and jumping again. Oblivion appeared, massive and looming, just as we bubbled away. The Pharaoh took care of us, damaged but holding up under the strain. She was a good ship. She was the underdog, and she'd lose this fight if it came to head-on battle, but she was our stalwart protector nonetheless.

  One last warp would take us back to the terrordactyl storm for a third run at pulverization. I began to wonder if we should try to land on Ida or Dactyl, but our window of opportunity was too small. If not for the humans and Sango, we would have simply blown ourselves up.

  Could I jettison them to safety?

  No, and the more I rethought my options, the more I knew it was pointless to replay what got us here. I had made the choice, I still believed it was the right choice, and now we had to make do with whatever came of it. I didn't care about the overtaken and the zombie virus in those moments. I just wanted us to live.

  We decelerated and found ourselves once again staring at the cascade of meteors. The storm seemed fiercer now. I hoped I was just tired. I believed in @auroraloon, but at the same time, I considered if I could pull off Machine mode again, embrace the data, fly us through until my body gave out completely. It was an option. A last resort, I decided.

  "I've got a path," @zerogstar relayed, her fingers flying on the console while her mind worked its magic.

  Oblivion zoomed in behind us as @zerogstar's path through the storm appeared. I held my breath, hoping we could make it into the field of meteors before it could fire on us.

  "Alright! Let's go!" I didn't need to say it. @auroraloon had already set us off. We knew our roles. Hopeless or not, off we went, back into the fray.

  And then something clicked in the back of my head.

  "Pull up," I boomed. "Full stop!"

  "What?"

  "Full stop! Do it now!"

  Incredulous faces turned toward me, aghast and confused, but I had gotten them this far. I knew as soon as the catnip virus activated. I could feel it in my brain, the same way that I could sense my ARM embedded in my body, connected as if it were an extension of myself. That last jump must have done it, but I realized I wasn't prepared for what would happen next.

  The jamming signals stopped. Oblivion pulled up above us, enormous, impending, glorious. If it fired on us, we would die impressed.

  Then Oblivion plinked me.

  The plink didn't come from @stardvark or another person on the ship. It was Oblivion, the ship itself. I tried to recall what I had hastily put into the catnip virus when I replicated some of myself and stored my memories.

  Oblivion: "Ready to kill."