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“I did,” Ria replied, suppressed annoyance clear in her tone. “I even tried putting it on the intraship com here but there’s a lot of static and interference. It’s an old ship, ma’am.”
Fleming stared at them from the big vidscreen. “Well, Knox, what’s the sitrep?”
“I’ve made a complete circuit of the ship and found nothing but cargo in the hold. No people, nothing concerning at all.” Theo hoped his voice sounded confident but not eager. No matter how badly he wanted this assignment, he didn’t want to come across to his superior officer as desperate. “The engine tech gave me a thumbs up less than five minutes ago—we can use the hyperdrive.”
“All right then, I’m officially assigning you to take command of the salvage prize and navigate her to Najie Three, making your best speed. We have a two-week layover there so you should be able to rendezvous with us no problem. I’ll have the authorities ready to take delivery on the Mebsuta C when you arrive and then I’d expect the transfer of credits from the sale in a month or so.” He smiled briefly. “Red tape, you know how it is. Send the flyer back to us with the second security officer and the senior comtech and we’ll leave you to it. Lords of Space grant you a good flight.”
Theo saluted. “Aye aye, sir.
The tech rose from her chair and the second tech, who’d been lingering at another console, slid into the space. “I’ve got the duty, sir,” she said eagerly. “I’m appreciative of this opportunity. And I’m checked out as a pilot for this size ship by the way.”
“Do you have enough support?” Ria asked, lingering beside Theo’s chair. “I don’t want to leave you without enough help.”
“I can even fly the damn thing if necessary. So can Soames,” Jayna said. “We’ll be fine.”
Theo had the sense there was something else going on between the two women. Ria had certainly let him know in the past few weeks she’d be amenable to going out with him but he was preoccupied with Jayna by then. And the latter had never shown any sign of caring what he did outside their secret liaisons so could she be jealous now? It was probably a good thing Ria was returning to their home ship. “Thanks for the offer and the concern but I think we’ll be fine and I’m not going to second guess Captain Fleming,” Theo added. “I’m checked out on the com and tech boards as well and I bet Paxter is too.”
The pilot gave a thumbs up.
“I’m not sorry to be going back,” the tech said, although her gaze lingered on Theo for a moment too long. “There’s something spooky about this ship if you ask me. Good luck to you.”
Jayna conferred with her team and sent Bellizer to the docking bay with the comtech. Theo raised an eyebrow at her choice and thought she wasn’t going to satisfy his curiosity but she came to where he sat, leaned over and said, “He seemed shook by the nonsense scribbled on the child’s wall. I decided it was better to let him leave. Soames is solid as a rock and fine with remaining on board.”
“Sounds good. You know your people best.”
The ship shuddered a little as the Nebula Zephyr’s flyer connected to pick up those who were leaving and a few minutes later there was another small shake as she detached and left.
“Left you a present in the airlock,” the flyer pilot said as he navigated away from the hull. “Compliments of Captain Fleming, food to eat. He didn’t want you relying on whatever is aboard the prize. Might have gone bad by now.”
Theo watched the flyer return to the huge cruise liner and then a few minutes later the titanic ship moved away at sublight speed, until she’d put enough distance between herself and the Mebsuta C to safely jump into hyperspace again and winked out.
Chapter Two
“We’re on our own now,” Theo said, rising. “Paxter, take the rest of the shift here and I’ll relieve you in four hours. I was about at the end of my shift on the big ship and I’m bushed.”
“No problem, sir. I was asleep in my bunk when I got summoned to join your boarding party here.” Paxter sounded cheerful and wide awake.
Theo called the engine room and told Abrall to set his own hours as long as he worked a full eight. “I’m going to go claim one of the empty cabins and hit the rack,” Theo said, heading for the door.
Jayna walked with him. “Not the captain’s suite? You’re entitled to it.”
Taking over those rooms hadn’t even crossed his mind.
“We’re not standing on much ceremony here,” he said. “With such a small crew, we’ll have to be more informal than we would on the Zephyr. And I frankly don’t want to tackle inventorying and clearing out the captain’s suite. Nor do I want to bed down in the middle of their things. It doesn’t feel…right, somehow.”
“I hear you and I tend to agree. I’ll walk with you and take the cabin next to whichever one you choose.”
Thinking this was a promising development, he strolled to the cabin area with Jayna and picked adjoining rooms. Theo gave her a wave as he stepped into his new quarters and allowed the portal to close behind him. The space was laid out efficiently although the décor was antiquated. He tested the bunk and was satisfied. First he stripped the mattress and then found clean bedding stored in a small stasis closet. Theo wasn’t going to be picky right now, not while he was in command of his own ship again, no matter how small.
He made quick use of the refresher, happy to find it in good working order and went to bed in the nude. Time enough to put his uniform back on when he awoke.
Jayna stood with her hand on the interior portal controls of her cabin for five long minutes before keying the door to reopen. By now the captain was surely well on his way to bed. She slipped into the corridor and headed toward the original captain’s suite, drawn to the area by intense curiosity. She wanted another look at the word Bellizer had sworn was scrawled on the bulkhead. There’s no way I’d have missed a thing like that. Just no way. Passing the blank vidscreens, Jayna found herself resting her hand on the butt of her blaster as if she was walking into an ambush of some kind. The perception of being watched was overwhelming.
Disgusted, she paused in midstep and relaxed and re-centered her focus. Sure this ship was odd, maybe even a little uncanny but bottom line it was a deserted derelict and whatever had happened to the crew was a long time in the past. No need to go weapons hot like a damn rookie. She’d be getting a generous bonus for being part of this prize crew which was an easy assignment. All she had to do was maintain. Drawing a deep breath, Jayna continued on her way. This assignment was a nice break from routine and she appreciated Captain Fleming having assigned her to the team. Being third in command of the Nebula Zephyr’s security office was satisfying and kept her busy but life on a cruise liner, even one like the CLC’s premier ship got a bit repetitious. Always new passengers arriving and others leaving, but the same basic problems to be solved. The last truly exciting incident had been a while ago and she hadn’t had too much of the action when the rock star and his girlfriend had to be extricated from the interstellar mob chief’s house on the destination planet.
Shoulda stayed in the military if you were craving nonstop action. The mere thought gave her a wave of anxiety and she firmly pushed it away. The other source of her anxiety, one Theo Knox and her conflicting feelings about him were more challenging to rise above. She hoped this close quarters assignment wasn’t going to create a problem for her in maintaining her emotional distance. Sure he was great in bed, affectionate and caring, and the handsomest officer on the Nebula Zephyr but he’d been showing unmistakable signs of wanting more from her and she honestly didn’t know whether she could risk her heart again. After all, her last entanglement with romance had been disastrous.
At the entrance to the captain’s quarters she didn’t allow herself to pause but confidently opened the door and stepped inside. Everything was the way it had been left when the crew abandoned the ship and she went straight to the child’s room. Moving to the center of the cabin, she did a complete 360 circle and saw nothing, no mysterious words scrawled, nothing out of the ordinary. Which left her questioning what the seven hells Bellizer had seen but the question was a problem for another time, maybe after she rejoined the Nebula Zephyr. Jayna moved around the cabin restlessly, touching the pillow, adjusting a stack of old-fashioned books, picking up the brightly colored stuffed animal and then sinking into the rocking chair across from the bed. As she rocked, she stroked the soft synthfur and a peaceful sensation crept over her. The cabin certainly didn’t appear as if it had been deserted for hundreds of years. The effect was as if the child had stepped out and would be back at any time.
