Naomi decided to remain in the Graveyard and continue searching. The top priority was parts for the oxygen generator or oxygen tanks attachable to her suit. With those, her odds of reaching the colony would improve. Of course, it was a gamble. If she found nothing, she would have wasted time and sealed her own doom.
It was a gamble with her life—yet Naomi won.
"Alright! I managed to gather a fair number of oxygen tanks. Sure, I didn't find the generator components, but I did dig up equipment and weapons worth selling. That's not bad at all," she said, adjusting the comms on her suit.
"That's right," replied Osaka, the ship's AI housed in the computer core. "With this many tanks, we've made up for the time lost. What was razor-thin before now has a little slack. But beyond this, it ain't happenin'. We should head out soon."
Following Osaka's advice, Naomi triggered the small propulsion pack on her back—the Sephar Unit. A puff of thrust pushed her toward the Grim Reaper, her tether pulling gently as she reeled herself in.
"Hey, Osaka. I get that we're broke and need to haul junk to sell, but do we really need to take weapons too? It's not like I'm looking for a fight..." she asked, working the control stick near her hip to steady her nozzle burn.
"Girl, ya kiddin'? Only lunatics drift around unarmed," Osaka said. "If you wanna die, just strip off your suit and float into the void. You'll be gone in seconds."
"What? Come on. Isn't carrying weapons exactly what drags you into fights?"
"What're ya talkin' 'bout? No weapons means you don't get a say in what happens. If you're lucky, they'll use you as a slave first. More likely, they'll carve you up and sell your organs."
Naomi grimaced. "That bad? What about the police?"
"Police? Ain't happenin'. Closest thing would be colony security, but out here? Forget it. If a patrol happens to stumble across pirates, maybe they fight. But if civilians are already on board, they'll just blow the whole ship—hostages included. So watch yourself. A spacey girl like you? You'll get snatched in no time if you're not careful."
At last, Naomi began to grasp the rules of this world. Unlike peaceful Japan, here survival meant arming yourself. On the way back to the Grim Reaper, Osaka lectured her: firearms were standard, even for children; every ship, even freighters, was armed, often with escorts; never trust unknown vessels in space, and never trust people—or shops—in the colonies without keeping a weapon close.
She passed through the outer hatch and finally returned inside. Naomi pulled off her helmet, worn since midday, and exhaled in relief.
"Phew. Tiring, but at least I found something. Osaka, should I bring the weapons to the repair bay too?" she asked. Her earlier unease had grown into a gnawing fear of being unarmed.
"Howdy! Finally, you're worrying about safety," Osaka said with a chuckle.
"Well, yeah. I'd rather not end up a slave—or worse, butchered for parts."
Grimacing, Naomi hauled a slim laser handgun, chunks of ore, scrap metals, and salvaged circuitry down to the repair bay. Most of it she didn't understand, but Osaka had insisted.
As she stepped back out, heading for the bridge, a shrill alarm blared through the ship.
"Osaka, again? Did something break this time? Can we fix it with today's haul?" she asked, half exasperated.
"Nope, that won't fly. This ain't a breakdown. This here's a distress signal," Osaka said.
"A distress signal? Pirates maybe?" Naomi pressed quickly.
"Hmm, no way. Doesn't look like it. Not from a ship. A life pod's beacon is auto-broadcasting. Fifteen minutes away. But if we don't retrieve it, orbit calculations show it'll fall into the white dwarf's gravity well in forty minutes."
Naomi frowned. "Could it be a trap?"
"Ya kiddin'? Now that's the spirit! Always assume the worst. That's how you survive. Still, this time, odds of a trap are low."
"Oh. Right... If we ignore it, it gets swallowed by the star anyway. But what if it's rigged to self-destruct when we approach?"
"Exactly. Keep thinking through every angle. In fact, ignoring it altogether wouldn't be the worst move."
Back on the bridge, Naomi slid into the radar station. "Osaka, show me how to run scans. I want to check for ships nearby."
"Ah, what're ya talkin' 'bout? You're checking for ambush, huh. Good. Current scan shows nothing alive. Some wrecks still leak reactor energy, but none could maneuver. Now, expand the range on that panel there... yep. Accuracy drops, but the wider scan shows nothing. Just the dead, like the Graveyard should be."
"Can we monitor for movement? Anything automated or remotely controlled?" she asked.
Osaka's hologram arched an eyebrow. "You got this, sis! Let's fire up the object sensors. If anything shifts from here on, you'll get an alert. Done. Alarm's primed."
Satisfied, Naomi returned to the captain's chair. She gripped the control stick firmly.
"Then... let's move to recover the capsule," she said.
With Osaka guiding her, Naomi eased the ship into a rendezvous course with the drifting pod.
"Alright, just like that. Now, let's work the manipulator and bring it in," Osaka said.
The mechanical arm clamped onto the lifeboat capsule and hauled it onto the recovery deck. A tether line snapped into place quickly, locking it down. Once secured, the ship's course shifted toward the nearest colony.
"Osaka, what about that laser rifle we recovered earlier? How's the repair?" Naomi asked.
"Oh, nothin' serious was wrong with it," he said. "Just a quick tune-up, and it's good as new. But you ain't ever even held one before, right? That ain't happenin'—too risky."
"Yeah. I doubt I can fire it properly... but maybe it's enough to scare someone off if it comes to that," she replied.
"Ya kiddin'? Maybe. Still, you got this, sis! Just don't get reckless," Osaka said.
The worry pressed on Naomi's chest, but she resolved to stay alert. She stopped by the workshop, collected the small laser gun, and made her way back to the recovery deck.
When she arrived, the air had already been cycled. The deck was ready to receive them. Among the scattered salvage sat a large, oval-shaped capsule—the lifeboat.
"So this is the rescue pod... Hey, do you think anyone's inside? Alive?" she whispered.
"Seriously? Yeah. I just linked to its data," Osaka said. "Thing's ancient—been driftin' near ten years out in space. But the readings say the occupant's alive. Hmmm. This... might be trouble. Turns out this pod's carryin' the princess of the Valdis Galaxy Empire."
"No way!! A princess—as in, the Emperor's daughter? Why would someone like that be drifting around in a lifeboat?"
"What're ya talkin' 'bout? Beats me. But clearly there's a story. Too late to toss her back, so... we face it head-on," he said.
Naomi's fingers brushed the outline of the laser gun through her suit pocket. Osaka activated the release sequence. With a sharp hiss, icy vapor spilled out as the pod lid creaked open.
"...She's beautiful," Naomi breathed.
Inside lay a girl who looked no older than fifteen. Frost clung to her long lashes, catching the light like tiny jewels. She wore an elegant white dress, hands folded at her chest in a silent prayer.
Naomi stared, unmoving, as the girl's fingers twitched.
"Ah..."
Her eyelids fluttered. Slowly, painfully, the sleeper began to wake from the long freeze.