Just what the hell am I supposed to say to these people?

Twenty to thirty expectant eyes stared at him. He swallowed and took a step back. The focus was intense.

Red froze. Panic started to build up inside of him. He clenched his hands together in tight fists, his heart was racing.

"You're a murderer." He didn't know who said it. It didn't make it any less true as far as he was concerned. But it broke the tension in the room. Something relaxed in him, they'd made the first move. He could respond.

"Yeah I killed someone. A few someone's..." He amended. Red sighed, lifting his hands. "I did what I had to do to protect my... my crew." He paused. They were escapees, not a crew, at least not until recently. Not to mention there was still some discussion as to who their vessel belonged to. He and Ember would have to duke it out later. "I didn't want to kill anyone--"

"What good does that do us now?" Again, he couldn't identify the speaker. He glanced over at Andrea, she gave him an encouraging nod. Both painfully aware that the crowd was on the brink. Some of them had family left behind at New Caledonia.

Red put his hands up, attempting to placate a growing anger. He decided to be firm. "This is my ship. Nothing is going to change that." He paused. "We're going to New Elysium and we're going to get there. All of us. In one piece." He stared at each person in the front row. Making eye contact. Most dropped their gaze to the floor. "If anything happens to me, or Dag, Ember will vent this ship faster than you can break into her chambers to get to her. You'll all be sucked out into space. Is that understood?"

A few eyes widened at that. Red waited for someone to call him out on it. It was a bluff. He had no idea if she could even pull that off, opening a hole was easy enough. Again, he was met with silence. Maybe that was too harsh. But at this point he didn't care if they liked him.

"Did you help me escape?"

A few shook their heads. He tried again. "Did you assist us in escaping out of Helion 7?"

A few mumbled no's, and Red knew he had them. "So, you just know that I'm a cold-blooded killer out for the payout, even though I just escaped myself?"

He turned and walked out, theatre was not his thing. Public speaking, also was not his thing. He paused in the hallway and leaned back against the wall, running a hand through his hair. Had they really just escaped prison? He glanced down at his clothes again. The same drab brown, he had nothing else. They were a ship full of people in rags, the supposed crew in prison garb.

"That was some speech." Ember's voice floated to him from above his head. He almost looked up but stared down the hallway instead.

Dag came out of the door. "Andrea is calming them down. Can Ember actually vent the ship?"

"I don't know." He admitted.

"Certainly." Ember's voice popped into the conversation, she sounded amused. "There's more than one way to pull it off."

"We're not venting the ship." Red sighed. "How did we get into this mess?"

Dag laughed. "We escaped." He put his back against the wall next to Red, his metal arm clanking with the contact. "Honestly, I can't wait to see my wife and kid again."

"You think they are there?" Red faced him. He had no one out there waiting for him like that, but at least some good would come of their escape.

"My kid loved building satellites." Dag's grin grew even wider. "He was a genius from a young age. My wife would have moved him there to protect him. We had plans to go there...before things really went to hell."

Red nodded. Everyone he cared about was on this ship. Most of them he'd met in prison.

"I really don't know what I'm doing." Red sighed.

"Yeah none of us does." Dag laughed.

"At least they don't hate you now." Ember's voice floated down to him. She still wasn't coming out of her room.

Red sank to the floor and put his head in his hands. He could feel a headache coming on. It wouldn't last as his augs would take care of it. "How are T and his friend holding up?"

"Vitals are good." Dag sat down next to him, his metal arm clanking against the wall. "Ember?"

"I'm bored." Ember's voice came over them. "I'm hiding."

"You could probably come out now." Red smiled lifting his head. "They'd probably give you a wide berth."

She laughed and it was the best sound Red could remember hearing in ages. His headache started to ease. His sensors picked up movement and the New Caledonians came filing out of the common. He didn't move and they had to step over him and Dag in the hall. He got a few nods, most averted their eyes.

It was going to be a long trip.

"Red, there's a ship tailing us." Ember's voice came over the speaker. "Get up here."

"What now?" Red snapped as he pushed himself up.

"'Scuse us!" Dag moved in front of them gently pushing people out of the way. Yeah, they were definitely in charge here.

"Who is it?"

"I don't know." Ember responded. "They aren't answering my calls. No weapons lock."

"It's not your father then."

"No."

"New Elysium?" Dag asked. Red shot a look at him. Would New Elysium send a ship back to find them? They'd sent a satellite to Helion 7.

"Possible...how close are we?"

"Days out..." Ember responded, if the coordinates were to be believed.

Red stepped up the screen and stared at it. The ship was long and sleek, reminding him of his military days. It bore no markings though. That bothered him, but in the early days of the idea of New Elysium none of their ships did. What did he expect now?

New Elysium had started as an idea long before it became a place. A safe zone for others like them. Where they could flee. But he'd been taken before he could help it become a reality. Stupid scandroids.

"They waiting for a password or something?" Dag wondered out loud.

Inside her chamber Ember monitored both the people on the ship and the other vessel tailing them. It did nothing threatening. As far as she could tell it was observing them. She quietly wondered to herself what Dag had spoken out loud.

Am I going to still leave? The thought surprised her. The reality was that she'd known Red and Dag for a mere few weeks. But the idea of parting with them was not something she was looking forward to. Initially she had the same idea that Red had now. Take them, Red and Dag included, drop them at New Elysium and leave. She did not know anyone there. Why stay? The ship was hers, contrary to what Red thought. They'd argue about that some more given the chance. But was that what she still wanted? When they got there what place would be there for her? The Ember was her home. It was her.

And yet, she knew that if Dag and Red left it would feel empty. She already missed T. The kid had grown on her, but he'd spent most of the trip in stasis.

Now that Red had taken to referring to them as his crew that had set a whole new light on things. It placed a sense of belonging on her that she hadn't felt since the purge and her father had hidden her away. But once they arrived on New Elysium. Wouldn't that just go away?

"Earth to Ember." Red's voice intruded on her thought, a tinge of worry in it. She refocused on him.

"Sorry Red, what is it?"

You ok in there? He switched to their private frequency.

Just lost in thought for a minute.

About?

Nothing...

Can't be about nothing, you've got a strange ship out there and you just start day dreaming?

I've got it.

You can talk to me you know.

I know.

So, start talking, that's an order.

Red the day you can think you can order me to talk about my feelings is the day I vent you out the air lock.

So, there is something.

She didn't reply. But she smiled. It was bittersweet. New Elysium was going to be both good and bad, she supposed. She focused on getting them there.

"Buckle up." She spoke over the ship's loudspeakers. "We need some kind of response from these guys...and I know how we're going to get it."

"Ember wait!" Red simultaneously leaped into his seat as Dag shot him a surprised look and dashed from the room. There was no other chair for Dag to strap into. He fumbled with the buckles knowing Ember wouldn't do anything before every last passenger was strapped in. At least, he hoped she wouldn't.

"What did you have in mind?" He said into the console.

"A flyover of course. This thing is maneuverable, let's maneuver."

"You are bored. Don't forget we're kind of fucking defenseless." Red's fists clenched. On the one hand, he agreed with her. On the other there was no malevolent action of any kind from the other vessel.

"You've got me." Ember responded with a laugh. "You've never been defenseless."