"You know how to fly this thing?" asked his mom, as they reached the ship.
Dustin checked it out, and was pretty disappointed with what he found. It had three private cabins, with two beds in each, a table with two chairs for work or eating, and a couch to lounge on while watching tv, or browsing the limited entertainment that was available. There was a small kitchen to prepare snacks and small meals during the flight, and a small resting area for the staff. There was also a seating area for those who couldn't afford a private cabin, much like a commercial flight in an airplane. The cargo space was small, and the bridge was overly complicated.
"I can fly this, but I'm designing and building my next ship," he grumbled, slipping into his seat.
"By all means, just don't forget a doggy door for Fido," laughed Olivia, sliding into the second seat, to watch him.
Dustin turned to her with a surprised look on his face, "I never knew you wanted pets."
"It was a joke," she said dryly, giving him a look.
He turned back to the controls and shook his head. This thing was set up like a plane, nothing like the ships he remembered. Sending a tendril into a jack, he hacked into the system.
The control tower was trying to get ahold of him, because they were trying to reset the system, where he had programed it to not let anyone else on the ship. Seeing that they were sending another ship over to forcefully take it back, he quickly disconnected, making sure that the system looked like he was doing everything right, and warped a short distance away. Enough space separated them, they would never be able to find them, and yet next to no fuel had been used.
Now he could focus on trying to figure out how to find his dad. He knew where the asteroid belt he had found him was, but this ship couldn't get that far on the fuel it had. And without his nanobots reconfiguring things, he couldn't use the alternate fuel he had learned about from the AI. There was nothing else to do, but hit up a refueling station.
"Where are we going first?" asked his mother, sitting down on a stool she must have found somewhere.
"To the 245-SEDG hyper gate. It will get us halfway, and then we can hit up a refueling station and warp the rest," he said, pulling out of the system and turning the ship towards the gate.
"The authorities won't stop us?" asked Olivia, worry evident in her voice.
"I just changed its owner registry and gave it a new id number. They'll never be able to trace it," said Dustin as they entered warp. While it was smoother than some of the ships he had been in, he was really starting to miss the ship he had designed and built in the virtual world.
As they approached the gate, he was hailed.
"Please transfer the amount of 250 credits for use of the hyper gate, and you will be entered into que."
"How are we going to do that?" asked Olivia with a frown.
"250 credits? That's robbery!" exclaimed his mother with a shake of her head.
"No problems," Dustin said, diving into the system. It only took a moment to convince the system he had plenty of money, and then transferred the required amount.
"That's a handy skill," said his mother, astonished.
"Can we go shopping?" asked Olivia.
"Later," said Dustin, moving the ship forward to jump. He also told the system that he was a wonderful person that needed to be first in que. While this may have ticked off those who were already in line, he didn't care.
Traveling through the gate was vastly uneventful. Checking the surrounding fuel stations, he found on just inside their current range, and set the ship to head there. They should be able to get fuel and be at the asteroid belt within the next six hours.
Despite the PED's reducing their need for sleep, both the women went off to find beds, because there wasn't really anything else to do. When they arrived at the fueling station, he used the same hacking trick to pay for a full tank, and headed off for the asteroid belt. He couldn't wait to meet up with his dad again.
Stopping the ship just outside of the asteroid belt, he searched for the asteroid he had followed his dad to. Just as he spied it, he noticed his dad in his space creature form, flying towards them. Fearing his dad would attack them, he quickly ran to the airlock, and started the timer to open the door. This ship had an automatic door, that would open as soon as the air was fully out of the air lock chamber, so he began changing his form to the same as his dad. It was more difficult than he thought it would be, because this body didn't remember doing it, like his mind thought it should.
When the door popped open, Dustin flew out, and looked around. Turning, he went flying towards the ship, as his dad barreled into him. Seeing the long stinger whip out, Dustin suddenly realized this wasn't his dad, it was an actual space creature, and it thought he was invading its space.
Dodging the stinger, as it glanced off the ships shielding, Dustin changed to have claws all over his body, tipped with his own mix of toxins. The next time the creature bashed into him, in preparation of stinging him, he sliced it open with his claws and watched it seem to wither and flutter in death throes.
Flying towards the asteroid that had his dad's ship, he soon realized it was actually a nest, full of eggs from that creature he just killed. His dad must not have come here yet, and Dustin didn't have a clue where to find him.