Chapter Text
“Wait...how do I know you’re not dangerous?”
The other woman scoffed. Her hands were raised by her head in a show of defenselessness. “First of all, you’re the one with the gun. Second, do I look dangerous? Honestly?”
Judy huffed, a streak of annoyance passing through her. She looked the unknown person up and down. British, by her accent. She couldn’t possibly be older than 23. She had tanned skin and a tall body. She wouldn’t say that she was lanky, but Judy noticed how her bare arms were far from pudgy. She had short but unruly jet-black hair, the edges just barely brushing her shoulders. Her eyes were a light hazel color, covered by long eyelashes. Her lips were a light pink and her nose was slim but buttoned at the bottom.
“Are you human? What’s your name?”
Again the stranger looked at Judy like she was crazy. “Am I hum-no I’m a damn ostrich. Of course I’m human, what kind of question is that?!”
“And your name?”
“Raja Kapoor” she replied monotonously.
Judy lowered the flare gun and stuck out her free hand. “Judy Robinson.”
“Yeah we’ve established that already” Raja deadpanned, although she still accepted her outstretched hand. Judy notes her calloused palms before they broke their handshake. “How..how did you get here?”
“I was kind of hoping you could explain that to us” Judy replied.
Raja’s eyebrows knit together. “Wait, us?”
Judy kissed her teeth and hit the side of the bay doors three times. She turned and watched as the members of her crew, led by Will and Penny, streamed out of the entrance.
“No, no, no. No! What...” Raja breathed out, eyes wide as she pushed her hair back with one hand. “Kids? Us...is you and a bunch of children? No you can’t bring them aboard?”
Judy cocked her head. “And why not?”
“B-because! Kids destroy stuff, and they’re rowdy, and I don’t need that on my vessel” Raja exclaimed, looking frustrated.
Samantha stepped out and ran to grab Judy’s hand. She tugged on it, making the older girl look down. “Judy, can I have a snack? Please, I’m hungry.”
Sam pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and doing those puppy-dog eyes. Judy looked up at Raja, giving her an expression that said ‘would you really turn down a starving child?’ and she broke.
“Fine. Fine, good Christ. Let me just...” she gestured to the doors with one hand, the other on her hip. “Open it up for you. Captain.”
Judy couldn’t help her snarky smile, and she followed behind the taller girl. She turned to the rest of the kids who were gathered behind a large metal door. “We’ll be safe here for now. We’re heading for the dining hall, so you guys can get something to eat. There’s no reason to worry.”
Raja punched a few things into the nearby keypad and all of the metal doors quickly rescinded, clearing a path for everyone. Raja glanced back to the hoard behind her and groaned internally. “Follow me, Les Miserable.”
•••
“So, Captain huh?”
Judy looked up from her seat at the cafeteria table. Penny and Will, who were sitting next to her, did too. Raja climbed into the seat on the bench opposite of her with a granola bar in hand. She looked to Judy expectantly.
“Yeah” she responded curtly.
“New, I’m guessing. And you’re entire crew is under 16? Sounds like Lord of the Flies just waiting to happen. Yikes” Raja said, raising her eyebrows briefly.
Judy clenched her jaw. It was still a touchy subject. She noticed how Penny looked away and Will frowned. “I am new. I never wanted this but...” she trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought. “The adults, they couldn’t come with us, it’s complicated.”
Raja looked confused, then a look of realization dawned on her features and she nodded silently. “Sorry. I...didn’t mean to make anyone uncomfortable.”
“It’s fine” Judy said quickly, wanting to change the subject. She’d been aching to question the mystery in front of her. Mainly about one thing. She leaned forward, shifting in her seat. “Do you...do you know who Grant Kelly is?”
Raja nodded, her eyes turning a darker shade of brown. “I knew him. He was my captain.”
Judy’s heart dropped. “Was?”
“Yeah” Raja responded like it was obvious. She looked away and then looked back, clearing her throat. “Everyone...everyone aboard the Fortuna died. Seven years ago.”
Judy sat back, deflated. A small gasp left her open mouth. Will and Penny exchanged looks of surprise. Raja observes their reactions and sat up. “Wait, you didn’t know that?”
Judy was silent. She had so much hope, so much. Maybe it was the fact that she just lost her other father, maybe forever. She was desperate, and seeing the Fortuna there, her mind started to make fantasies about having some semblance of a proper family again. She was crushed then.
Penny was the one to speak up. “We were told that the Fortuna’s signal was lost 20 years ago. Everyone just assumed that the crew died then.”
Raja clicked her tongue. “Nope” she replied, popping the p. “Well, that might explain why no one came looking...”
Will placed his forearms on the table. “Wait, so...what really happened then?”
Judy looked up, and Raja caught her eye, holding her gaze. “The planet nearby, CS-237, was hit by some object, we never figured out what. The debris crashed into our ship, we lost a lot of functionality. But, life support and the basic necessities were there so we just...lived off of what we had” Raja said, shrugging.
“We followed a signal that led us here. We all thought that this was Alpha Centauri” Penny interjected.
“A signal was sent out right after we lost functionality, since comms were the only things working. Problem was that our identification code wasn’t working, so no one would know that it was us calling.” Raja shook her head. “After the second...incident, I decided to keep the signal going. Don’t know why.”
Judy looked at Raja, really looked at her. “Wait...the Fortuna’s signal was lost 20 years ago. And it left Earth months before that. But you don’t look that old?”
“I’m 20 years old. I was born a couple months after we were stranded” Raja explained.
“And everyone died?”
Raja’s jaw visibly clenched. The granola bar wrapped crinkled in her tightened fist. She bit her bottom lip and turned her face away. Judy’s throat went dry and pressure built in her head. Not only had her father died, but he died a horrible death but the looks of it. The only consolation her mother and she had about his death was that maybe it was peaceful. Now she’s finding out that that wasn’t the case.
Raja turned back. “There was a....malfunction. A virus spread on the ship. It’s died out by now, I’ve purged all of the decks but...it killed everyone.”
“But you” Judy staged, her voice low and hoarse. Raja glanced at her, but Judy’s eyes were focused on the table.
“But me” Raja repeated, looking guilty.
“So all of the Ambassadors...” Judy continued, her question apparent to the other girl.
Raja just shook her head, and Judy took in a sharp breath. Penny looked between them two and tilted her head. “The Ambassadors?”
“The Ambassadors of Knowledge, is the long version” Raja said. “They were supposed to establish the first colony on Alpha Centauri. They carried the entirety of the knowledge of the human race, the smartest that there was to offer. Each Ambassador has a designated subject that he or she studied as an expert.”
“Were you an Ambassador?”
The black-haired girl turned to Will. “Yeah. Officially, I studied political theory and government. The guy who specialized in it died in the first accident, so I was raised to take his place.” Raja paused and let out a deep breath, clasping her hands together. “Unofficially, I kind of...took everyone’s place.”
Penny’s confusion seemed to deepen. “So what are you saying, that what, you’ve become a specialist in everything?”
“Not everything” Raja replied. “I’ve studied many subjects, though. Still have a lot more.”
“How?”
“Well when you’re alone in space, you need something to keep you busy. Or else you go cuckoo, so...” Raja raised her eyebrows briefly.
A rumbling came from out in the hallway, and the dining room grew silent. Raja and Judy exchanges glances, both of them slowly and quietly getting out of their seats and creeping towards the entrance. Heavy thuds, like metal footsteps, echoed into Raja’s ears. She reached the door with Judy right behind her.
“Will Robinson.”
“What in the mother of God is that?!”
Judy visibly relaxed, staring up at the tall, dangerous-looking alien creature. “It’s just Robot.”
“You have a robot?! And you couldn’t have mentioned that sooner?!”
Judy made a face like it was obvious that it wasn’t a big deal. Raja threw her hands in the air, landing them back on her hips. “Just when I thought nothing could happen, the lost boys and their ugly Iron Giant shows up, godammit” she muttered under her breath.
Robot looked around using what Raja assumed was his face, though she really didn’t know. Then it looked back at the new edition and started slowly walking towards her. Raja scrambles back. “Not one step closer, R2-D2.”
“Danger, Raja Kapoor.”