Acquaintance

Atlas stared at her. He looked aggravated.

"I would have expected gratitude in the least from you," he stated icily. "How ignorant are you? You have no idea the size of trouble you could have been in and now you are unwilling to make a new meaning out of your life."

"I never asked you to tell me what to do with my life," Elara said. "Who needs meaning? My life is what I make it. It must give you a lot of pleasure having someone eternally indebted to you. Doesn't it just feed your ego? Emperor, I never asked for your opinion. I never asked you to tell me what to do with my life. How dare you assume you know what is best for me? You stare down from your high horse and condemn my actions without caring about my background.  What gives you the right? Do you think that if I were the emperor or some administrator or governor, I would resort to theft? This empire never gave me an opportunity and the figurehead of authority of this empire comfortably points a finger at me?"

"But did you ask me to save you?" Atlas asked, letting a sigh of frustration out. "When you met my eyes on Satyx, did you plead with me when they were about to take you away; did you beg me  to save you?"

"Yes," Elara said. "Yes. Because I was scared. But life has no meaning. It is all a struggle each day. Meaningless."

Atlas stood up abruptly. He pulled Elara's hand and dragged her away. They made their way from the starship's bridge.

"Where are you taking me to?" Elara said, trying to pull free. "Let me go. Where are you taking me?"

"Airlock shaft," Atlas said. "Since life has no meaning for you. I would like to take my gift back. It has always been a space voyager's honor to die in space. You are no space voyager, but a spacecraft thief, but dying in space should be honorable for you too, huh?"

Elara looked at him like he was a madman. Her blue eyes widened and she struggled even more to free her arm from his grasp, to no avail. 

"Let me go!" Elara said. "I'm not going with you." She broke into an alien tongue as she struggled against Atlas. She pulled away but Atlas pulled her back and she hit against his chest. Her nostrils took in the scent of his soft leather coat and his perfume. He held her to him, his grip on her hand strong, stifling struggle.

She raised her eyes up to him and saw that his eyes were on her.

"People tend to not appreciate what they have until they lose it, huh?" Atlas said quietly. "Or when they are near losing it."

He let her go then. " There are millions like you on each planet," he said. "They are born common and normal. You are not special. If you die, no one will weep. You have no friends or family, so no one will even know or care. If you think that your 'unique' circumstances are any justification to do the stupidity you do; to think like you do, then think again."

Elara stared at him as he spoke.

"I have not seen a single person as immature and senseless as you," Atlas continued. "How did you survive as a criminal this long? It must be luck. With the decisions you take, your body should have been floating in the never-ending void of space by now. Your stupidity irks me. I can easily let you go but I won't. You won't leave until you have decided to take responsibility for your life. "

Elara's gaze turned to the ground. She did not look up for a while. She stood there, her short body refusing to move. She did not say anything. 

Atlas sighed. "What, are you going to cry?" He taunted.

Elara turned away from him defiantly and in those few seconds, her brilliant blue eyes seemed shinier, like she was indeed going to cry. From some remote part of Atlas's consciousness, he began to feel bad, but he suppressed the feeling. 

He had to teach this deluded child to take responsibility.

Elara went back inside the inner chambers of the ship that held the cabins. She didn't reappear until they reached Boo-10. And when she did come out, she avoided Atlas as much as possible, ignoring his presence. He had made it clear that she would stay with him until she could promise she wouldn't go back to her previous life. So she was stuck with him for a while. As soon as they reached Boo-10's space station, Atlas had someone take her to an apartment. Two bots were stationed at the entrance to ensure she did not try to escape.  

Thyron met with Atlas when he arrived at his apartment chambers in the imperial quarters. 

"I have had Elara taken to the suite you asked, Primera," Thyron said.

Atlas nodded as he swiped his hand over a hologram screen in front of him. The electrical and engineering drawing of a ship came into view.  He studied the blueprints. Thyron knew about the plans to expand the space station, as huge as it was already- the plan was to make it a small metropolis; a space habitat. Atlas was reviewing the drawings toward that purpose. 

"Find her something to do," Atlas said. "I genuinely want to help her but I cannot play babysitter with her. Every moment I spend with her aggravates me."

"Where do you suggest?" Thyron asked. "If you would like to keep her close, I could assign her a job on the station. She can work at cargo controls."

"Yes, please," Atlas said.

"People are quite curious about her though," Thyron said. "They want to know what she is to you."

Atlas raised his head. "This is no one's business," he said. "There is no need for a tag."

When Thyron did not say anything else, Atlas said: "If you need a tag, create one around my rescuing a homeless alien from Satyx with suicidal tendencies."

"A friend of the emperor," Thyron said.

"Acquaintance," Atlas said. "I'd rather not know her, but here we are. So, acquaintance."