"Isn''t that a bit excessive?" he said, as Kate came through the central area of their new ship, overladen with grocery bags.


    "If we end up on a long chase. Plus I''ve never had a kitchen I could even sorta call my own," she said. This girl. She looked more like a human with the armor off. He was apt to forget what he was doing.


    With Kate''s help, they had wired in a battery charging port inside the ship, in the central hallway between the pilot area in front, and the multi-purpose rooms in the back. It was the smallest ship he had been on, by two orders of magnitude.


    Focussing on the battery charging port, he drew in the radiant arcana surrounding Station Maxine, and focused a steady stream of lightning to gradually charge the ship''s batteries.


    The director had given them a wide ranging assignment with a ship only half charged. Two days of eight hours each charging, and then taking a long night''s sleep, would replace the 20,000 credits the station wanted to charge the batteries out of their reserves.


    Kate''s charge meter was helpful as he gradually ramped up the amount of current provided by his lightning. He was used to using magic quickly and in intense situations. Using magic at a slow rate for eight hours was very exhausting. Now on day two, he was just waiting for when he could go to bed.


    After learning that Arcana was the true element behind his spells, and reading the Arcana textbooks, he was much more capable of fine control. The books also say there''s so much Arcana on those pure elemental worlds that everything is amplified and extreme. He had a better mindset now too, without the mensogenic effects of extreme Arcana radiation.


    Keith came through an hour later with a few odds and ends and repair equipment they might need.


    "I''ve got a good test joke," he said.


    Lowell shook his head. "I don''t want to lose control of this if I start laughing."


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Keith left him alone again.


    The corvette didn''t even have any emergency hydrocarbon fuel, if the electric motors stopped working. Keith explained that the fuel-based motor didn''t have much power. So they decided not to pay the cost to have the station resupply them.


    *


    After a second long night''s sleep, they were ready to leave and requested undocking approval. Even though it was their own ship, Station Security boarded and went through everything onboard.


    Kate had stocked them up well for a three day trip. Snacks, meals, even a bit of liquor for the only drinker onboard. There was a crystalline gateway connection that could take them pretty close to Logos Muse in the Virgo sector. Two days of travel to get to the gateway origin point, and then a half day on the other side to get to the station. After that, they could be in for weeks of travel to chase this down, but hopefully it was just a stupid rumor someone made up.


    After Kate re-organized everything that security had rifled through, they left the station.


    Other than security and military vessels, there was a recommended top speed. He and Kate strapped into chairs behind Keith''s pilot chair, while they spent the next eight hours getting up to this standard cruise speed.


    Converting from electricity to Arcana was inefficient, but by relying on advanced arcana motors, they could violate the notional speed of light. Lowell had, in affect, drawn in a large amount of Arcana from the station''s surrounds to charge the electric batteries, and then converted it all back to arcana to power the motors, at an efficiency loss each way. There had to be a better way, and maybe a better ship than this little corvette did operate at greater efficiencies.


    "I''ve looked up the Stellar weather report. There''s a musea front on the way to the relay, and then heavy arcana storms once we get to the Virgo sector," Kate said, looking at the holographic display her processor was projecting in front of them."


    Keith piped up, "I''ve heard there''s a new Exile Comedy Tour episode."


    "No!" he and Kate both shouted.


    "We haven''t tried that elemental board game yet," he offered.


    "Too complicated if Keith''s watching the nav-net. Have you heard the recent Ecumenical Exile Choir?"


    "Ok," Lowell interrupted. "We''ve all got our own interests, but if we want to keep Keith entertained, and not be bored ourselfs, we should find something we can all listen to."


    Sirius XGM: Traveler''s News and Speculation, Chanell 21-18.


    "At the top of the hour, for you spaceheads out there. We''ve been hearing..."


    "Well, it is job related," Keith said.


    Laughing did occur.