Electrik hardly batted an eye as Firefox returned to the cockpit; his attention, limited as though it was at the moment, was focused on the ebonite rod he was toying with between his fingers. The blue rabbit had been alone in the cockpit prior to the Captain’s entrance; Jazz and Lori had disappeared to some corner of the ship to get some rest, while Spaz had taken off in the direction of the infirmary to check on Headcheese and whoever it was she was watching over, and Wizard and Phish were working in tandem elsewhere in the ship to keep it generally intact after the violent beating it had taken up to that point. Foo, the only one of the group left unaccounted for, had presumably become entranced by one of the many blinking lights about the ship, as there had been neither sign nor sight of him for a long while.
As he proceeded to one of the many seats about the large flight deck, Firefox glanced out the viewport to look upon his beautiful homeworld; the sweet, verdant continents, surrounded by the cool, peaceful azure of the oceans, belied the ceaseless activity of the planet. The inhabitants of Carrotus were probably going about their daily business, blissfully unaware of the apocalypse they had narrowly avoided.
The Captain collapsed into his chosen seat, his emerald eyes staring exhaustedly out through the viewport as he let out a long sigh. “What do you think they’re doing down there?”
“Probably the same sort of stuff they do every day,” Electrik replied. “They don’t even know we’re up here, risking life and limb saving the world; they’re too busy with their laundry, and their piano lessons, and their… f… cheffery.”
He paused. “What day is it?”
“What, on Carrotus? …the sixth or something, isn’t it?”
“No, the day of the week. The sixth would be a… uh… a what?”
“Thursday? No.” Another pause, as the crimson-furred Captain leaned forward in his chair, resting his chin in his hands and thinking out loud. “How many days are in Ferris?”
“Eighteen. Nineteen? Nineteen.” Here, Electrik stopped, and gave Firefox a puzzled look. “Nineteen?”
Firefox returned Electrik’s confused glance with a “you-should-know-this” expression. “Twenty-three. Elris has nineteen. Which would make today, if it is the sixth of Styris, a… Tuesday.”
Electrik raised an eyebrow. “But the first was a Monday, wasn’t—”
“Sixth. Styris. Tuesday. Drop it.” The Captain’s sharp words were like orders as he slumped back into his chair, and almost without thinking Electrik lapsed into silence. The lull lasted only for a moment, though, before the blue rabbit delivered a small, but certainly indignant, zap of electricity to the Captain’s left arm. The crimson fur on Firefox’s arm stood up for a moment, and he shot an irritated glare at Electrik as he brushed the fur flat again, before staring out the viewport once more.
A few minutes passed before the cockpit door opened again, and Lori quietly slipped through, greeted only by a wordless glance on the part of the other two occupants. Her long, golden hair, lacking the purple hair elastic that traditionally held it in her trademark ponytail, trailed down along her back, hanging and drifting back and forth languidly as she moved; the aforementioned elastic was wound about her fingers, and she toyed with it idly, wrapping and unwrapping it around her digits. Her overall appearance betrayed that she had just roused herself from an apparently none-too-restful nap, and, despite her efforts, a small yawn escaped her as she waved to Firefox and Electrik.
“Hey, Lori,” Electrik greeted her, with a wave in response. “I thought you were off visiting the astral plane?”
“Pfuh,” Lori grunted tersely, making her way to a seat a short distance away from her blue-furred comrade and running one hand through her long hair. She dropped into the chair heavily, and glanced down at it as it squeaked in apparent surprise. “I challenge you to catch anything even remotely close to forty winks when Jazz is snoring like a freaking wildebeest eight feet away. I’m surprised I can’t hear him from here.” She yawned again, and leaned back, fidgeting with the hair elastic. “Did I miss much?”
Electrik snickered. “Nah, not outstandingly much. We’ve still got quite a while before we’re anywhere near Carrotan ground, so sit back and relax.”
“Mm. Could use that right now.”
A short time later, Electrik cast a glance at the Jackrabbit sister, and couldn’t help a quiet smile as he saw her dozing, her head rolled back over the top of the chair and her hands folded neatly, almost demurely, in her lap. With a grin and a bemused shake of his head, he kicked his feet up onto the control panel lazily, leaning back in his own chair and laying his head back on his arms.
A few more hours, he thought to himself, and then…
Home.