"It's okay," said the captain. "Level three, huh? It's better than level one." Then, his gaze turned to Fraya and Thunder. "Could you two check the condition of the main engines again? Check more carefully, who knows there is something that could endanger our flight."
Fraya and Guntur both nodded, then removed the seat belts from each other. The two of them hurried out of the main cabin with some other technicians to check the main engine at the top, and the main engine in the hull where the warp engine was.
Captain Dharma's worries are well-founded. Previously, they installed the warp machine quickly and in a hurry. He was afraid that if one connection was not perfect, it would affect their next flight. Or maybe a piece of equipment that is not stored properly, can also interfere with their journey.
As before, Fraya brought her teammates with her to the main engine which was located in the lower hull, while Guntur and his teammates examined the main engine at the top.
Captain Dharma's gaze fell on Aldi, then on Ely, and then turned back to Aldi.
"So," said Captain Dharma with both hands on his waist. "You and that little girl are the extra passengers?"
"It seems so," Aldi chuckled while nodding.
Meanwhile, Ely looks a bit uncomfortable and awkward. However, the captain's stern gaze caused Ely a bit of fear.
"I'm Aldi," Aldi tilted his head, pointing at the little girl hanging on his shoulder. "She is Ely."
"What about the other two?" asked the captain, looking around for a moment. Didn't Ryan previously say that there were four additional passengers? he thought.
"Maybe you mean the two snow leopard cubs," replied Aldi. "Your crew has taken the cubs."
"Ah, is that so, huh?" the captain nodded.
Previously, Captain Dharma thought that the two snow leopard cubs that Indra had mentioned in the food storage room earlier, were just one of the hobbies of the fat ruler who deliberately put these rare animals into this spacecraft.
"We secured the two cubs, Cap." Someone in the middle row of benches on the right—behind Yuma and Boris—spoke, while a colleague on his left nodded in approval of the man's words.
"A coincidence, huh?" said Captain Dharma while glancing at Aldi. "Or did you already plan this? Well, it's possible that you deliberately stalked this plane earlier, am I wrong?"
Aldi laughed softly while shaking his head. He was not offended at all by the captain's words. However, the captain needed to be careful of all the things that could harm their trip, for sure.
It could be that the captain thought that I was part of the Pangandaran government, Aldi thought.
"I've planned this from the start," Aldi replied without trying to argue or anything. "I hate it when I have to lie to people. At first, that was what I planned. You see, I stole the chameleon belonging to the son of the ruler of the Musi River in Palembang, then fled to mainland Asia. That is my plan back there."
"Ah, I see, huh?" Captain Dharma folded his arms across his chest, slightly tilting his gaze to Aldi. "Don't tell me that you are one of the targets of the Andalas Government and the Federation?"
Adi laughed softly hearing that. Well, that's what happened. The captain's guess was not wrong at all.
'What can I say," Aldi smiled in response, "Captain?"
"And, your skill?" one of the captain's eyebrows rose higher.
"Making a riot," said Aldi without hesitation.
Captain Dharma even laughed hearing that. Also, several people were listening to the captain's conversation with the man.
"Let me guess," said Captain Dharma, pointing at Ely's figure. "This little girl is not your family. Am I wrong?"
"Bingo!" Aldi chuckled and nodded slightly.
"Can you explain!" the captain asked.
"Gladly," Aldi didn't mind at all explaining everything about the little girl beside him.
"Not you," Captain Dharma smirked. "But, from her mouth," he continued, pointing at Ely.
"Oh," Aldi sneered while shrugging his shoulders. "Go ahead!"
"How is it, little girl?" asked Captain Dharma.
The captain deliberately took such an attitude, it could be that the little girl was a hostage who would be used by Aldi for certain purposes. A hostage that was made a slave to his lust, perhaps. And Captain Dharma hates pedophilia. He really, really hate it.
"You want to tell me?"
In fact, Captain Dharma even squatted in front of Ely, wearing a friendly face, and a smile that promised to be happy within.
Ely looked at Aldi. The man smiled and nodded.
"Just tell him!" Aldi said to Ely.
"A day ago," Ely began to tell the captain. "I met him," Ely's face turned back to Aldi.
"Almost got hit," said Aldi.
Ely nodded confirming the words of the man who had helped her.
"How come?" asked the captain again, still with a wide smile like that of a father to his daughter.
"Erm…"
Ely hesitated a little, whether she should tell the bad incident that she had experienced earlier, about two men taking her food, and one of them raped her, or not at all.
But Ely didn't want the people in the room to know about this bad thing, let Aldi be the only one to know—although Ely doubted that Aldi knew about it, Ely had never told him before.
So, Ely changed the story about it and said something different to Captain Dharma.
"I ran down from Bukit Barisan—"
"One of the hillsides adjacent to Mount Kerinci," said Aldi as well, again Captain Dharma nodding.
"Then?" asked the captain, using one hand, stroking the little girl's head with a fatherly aura. "What happened?"
"The hills are breaking," said Ely, "cracking."
And a shadow of fear appeared on Ely's face. The little girl recalled the terrible incident that ultimately took the lives of the two savage men who had been very, very rude to her.
"Earth…" Ely continued after struggling to swallow the saliva stuck in her throat. "There was a fire. I—I ran away scared, and," Ely looked back at Aldi. "I met him. He took me across to the Land of Java."
"So on," continued Aldi as well. "When we reached the Sidamulih area, I saw this ship flying low…" Aldi chuckled again, shaking his head again. "Who would have thought? My hunch is telling me the right thing. In fact, you are picking up very important passengers."
TO BE CONTINUED ...