"The stars up there at night are closer than you think."
~Doug Dillon

Vivienne

Voices were the first thing I heard. Unfamiliar, male voices. I dared not open my eyes because the topic of the men's conversation wasn't on me or Lilly, and I didn't want it to be.

At the thought of Lilly, I began to panic. Where was she? Was she okay? Was she alive?

Unable to stop myself, I opened my eyes to slits, scanning my surroundings. To my relief, Lilly sat in front of me. To my horror, she was strapped to a chair, her head lolling forward.

"You guys almost ready?" A guy said.

"Hold your horses, Caleb, we just got on the ship," another one responded. The voice sounded strangely familiar.

"We're on a tight time schedule. Besides, we can't have another incident like last time," Caleb remarked. "Or need I remind you of that?"

"We didn't know we were going to get stuck in a hurricane. The wind kept blowing out my fire. I couldn't intimidate the person like I usually could, and it's not my fault that our ship was seen by people who are way too eager to believe in aliens. Hey, Chad, would you stop watching over our two sleeping beauties and help me out here?"

"Don't order me around, Dylan," a third male voice said, presumably Chad. Despite his snappy retort, I heard his footsteps recede, and I opened my eyes fully. I could see into the cockpit and the back of two heads. I'd heard three guys, but I only saw two. Where was the third guy?

"My ship. My rules. I'm Han Solo. You're a shorter, slightly less hairy Chewbacca. Now hit that switch, and let's get out of here."

"I'm pretty sure Chad is more than 'slightly less hairy' than Chewbacca," Caleb remarked.

"Would significantly work better?" Dylan asked as something beneath my feet shuddered to life. I gripped the armrests. What on earth was I on?

"I'd say Chad's completely hairless compared to Chewbacca."

"He's not completely hairless. I mean he has hair on his head, you've seen his legs when we go to the beach, not to mention down-"

"Focus, Dylan," Chad growled.

"Aye, aye, Mr. Sunshine." Dylan saluted his friend and pushed down on something. I could see the mountains through the windshield of... whatever I was on, but they were rapidly disappearing. Somehow, we were rising straight up from the ground. I tried to reign in my panic, but nothing could stop the rapid beating of my heart and the shaking of my limbs. Who were these people? And where were they taking us?

"Vivienne?" Lilly's groggy voice broke my concentration on the changing scenery of outside, which had suspiciously changed to a starry night sky "Vivienne?!"

"I'm here," I said, turning my attention to her.

"Looks like they're awake," Caleb said.

"Really? I didn't hear anything," Dylan responded sarcastically. "Chad, go see if they're okay. Most people don't handle this part of the trip well. Not initially, at least."

Lilly struggled against the straps binding her to the chair as Chad rounded the corner. He stared expressionlessly at her.

"Stop struggling, it's not going to do anything," he said, leaning against the wall.

"Let. Me. Go," Lilly snarled, glaring venomously at Chad. He continued staring at her.

"Feisty one, isn't she?" Dylan observed.

"I can hear that, unlike some people," Caleb said.

"You're the one that gets to deal with her once we get her to you, sass ass."

"I'm not the one actually kidnapping them."

"No, you're just the one who runs tests on them."

"Tests to make sure they're okay and healthy and to see if I can discover their powers early. I don't knock them out by injecting a syringe into their necks."

"God, you're lunatics," Lilly said. "Viv, you okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

"I'll be fine once I'm out of these things!" Lilly huffed, causing a piece of her dark blonde hair to move out of her face. "Where are we now and where are we going?"

"You're on my spaceship, darling. We're in space right now, but we're heading to Vasileia. That's our home planet. Soon to be yours," Dylan shouted from the cockpit.

"We're what?!" Lilly started struggling again, but it was different this time. Her breathing turned into hyperventilating.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down!" Dylan said, turning around in his seat to gauge the situation. I heard Caleb ask what was going on, but my focus remained on my friend. She needed my help, and I couldn't do anything being bound to a chair.

"Let me go! I can help her! Please!" I begged, staring pleadingly at Chad. "I'm a nurse! I can calm her down!"

"Chad, let her go. And by her, I mean Vivienne, not Lilly. I don't trust her not to kick me again," Dylan said. Chad hesitated before pushing himself off the wall and unlocking the straps on my wrists and ankles. I dashed over to my friend, who was now having a full-blown panic attack. I couldn't blame her. Here we were with two strangers in space on a spaceship. I was silently freaking out as well, but I also knew there was nothing I could do about my predicament. I could help Lilly, though.

Grasping my friend's hands, I said, "Lilly, look at me. Take deep breaths. Deep breaths."

She looked at me, but that was the only advice of mine she followed. She continued hyperventilating. Gently but firmly, I said, "Okay, when I start counting, breathe in. On two, breathe out. On four, breathe in, and so on. Got it? Okay. One, two..."

I began counting. I could see Lilly desperately trying to follow my advice. I could see it in her eyes that she knew what was happening to her, but her fear of being in space was too overwhelming. By the time we got to ten, Lilly had lost focus on the counting. I tried to get her attention again, but she was inconsolable.

"Lilly, it's going to be okay. I promise." Turning to Chad, I said, "Could you please unlock her out of these? I don't think they're helping."

"No."

"Why not? You let me out."

"Because you're in a right state of mind. Your friend here isn't, and who knows what fight she'd put up if we let her loose."

"Then can you leave me alone with her? I don't think seeing her kidnapper is helping."

"Listen to the nurse," Dylan shouted. "Vivienne, just don't open any doors and try to escape if you don't want to die. We're actually in space now, and I'd really like to avoid getting sucked out by a vortex."

"Not helping!" I replied shortly when Lilly snapped her head up at Dylan's response. Chad joined his friend in the cockpit while I figured out how to get Lilly free from the straps. These things were one of the reasons she was panicking, and I'd be damned if I didn't help her find a way out of them.

"Lilly, please, I'm trying," I promised when she let out a strangled cry. There was some muffled conversation in the cockpit before Chad appeared again, key in hand. He unlocked Lilly's straps. She collapsed to the ground, attempting to stand but failing each time. I grasped her shoulders to steady her. As I was about to try the breathing technique again, Lilly slumped forward into my arms. At first, I thought she'd passed out from her panic attack.

Then I saw the syringe in Chad's hand.

"You injected her with that drug again?" I asked angrily.

It was Dylan who answered. "We were, or at least I was, worried she was going to hurt herself. We're going to be in space for four hours. She could barely handle four minutes. It was for her safety. She's going to be out for a while, long after we land too. We should make her comfy. Let me take her to one of the rooms on the ship. They have beds and everything."

"She would've been fine if you'd given me a couple more minutes," I said.

"Dylan," Chad began. "Who's driving the ship?"

"Caleb is. Listen, we should-"

Chad pinched the bridge of his nose. "Caleb is back on Vasileia. How is he driving?"

Dylan swore before rushing back to the cockpit. His friend rolled his eyes. A few seconds later, Dylan reappeared, announcing, "It's on autopilot now. We can go into hyperspace in a few. As I was saying earlier, we should put Lilly in one of the rooms where she'll be comfier, and in case anything happens, she won't get hurt."

"What do you mean 'in case anything happens'?" I asked warily.

"Oh, you know, if we come across enemy fighters or an asteroid field or something." Dylan said it so nonchalantly despite the fact his reply did not have nonchalant topics in it. I watched in awe as he gently scooped Lilly into his arms, carrying her to the back of the ship with me on his heels.

"Explain to me why you kidnapped us but are acting like you care about well-being," I said.

Dylan pushed a door open with his butt as he replied, "Because we do care about you. Kidnapping was honestly the only way to get the two of you to come with us. I mean, if Chad and I told you we were from another planet and needed you two to help us save it, would you have believed us?" He didn't give me a chance to respond because he already knew my answer. "No, you wouldn't. I am sorry we had to knock you out, but you, and especially Lilly here, wouldn't go without a fight. Most people don't, actually. We have a few people who believe us, but I think that happens every five hundred years or so."

He placed Lilly down on a bed before facing me. I stared at him. "Okay, assuming this is all real and not some bizarre, really terrifying dream, what are we going to do about our pets? We can't just leave them by themselves in our apartments? What are we going to do about clothes? Money? Makeup? Our jobs? Not necessarily in that order except for our pets, which are my primary concern."

"We have people- liaisons if you will- scattered around your planet. We can have them take care of everything while you're gone until we can get it to you. We'll just need your address." I hesitated before giving it to him. "Awesome, I'll get this sorted now. Stay in here for a bit if you want, or come hang out with me and Chad in the cockpit. We're going into hyperspace soon, which is really cool to see. See you later, Vivienne. And remember, don't open any exterior doors. Not only is that a lot of paperwork, but I also don't want to die today."

Giving me a wink, Dylan disappeared. I finally collapsed onto the bed, trying to wrap my head around everything going on.