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Closing her eyes, Jayna kept rocking, speculating about what Angelee had been like. Probably cute as a button, precocious and engaging. Blond hair maybe? Like Jayna’s own when she was little? “I hope nothing bad happened to you, sweetheart,” she said out loud.
Sitting bolt upright, she half drew her blaster as a kinetic sculpture fell from a shelf opposite where she sat. Then a ball rolled out from behind a toy chest and slowly proceeded across the deck to bump her foot as if inviting her to play.
Heart pounding, she rose to her feet. “Fuck me.”
There were no other toys or objects on the move and Jayna decided with a certain amount of embarrassment the ship must have bobbled a bit in hyperspace. She holstered her blaster and left the room, heading for her own cabin. It wasn’t until she stepped inside she realized she was still clutching the pink-yellow-and purple stuffed animal. Relieved no one had seen her, reluctant to part from it, Jayna placed it on the bunk and went to use the refresher.
When she laid down to sleep, she drew the toy close to her and drifted off to dream of a child running through the halls of the deserted spaceship calling for help which never came.
Theo awoke convinced all was right with the world and he was a lucky guy. Not only had he been handed the captaincy of a substantial salvage prize, but Jayna had also been assigned to the team. Maybe here, in the quiet of the derelict ship he could get to know her better. She held herself apart on the Nebula Zephyr, firmly fending off any attempts to get even superficially personal. He’d been instantly attracted to her and hoped their shared military background might serve as an icebreaker, but no such luck. There was no question of impropriety – he wasn’t in her direct chain of command although of course he was sixth in the entire ship’s officer hierarchy but he’d spoken with Captain Fleming about whether he was allowed to date other crew members and been informed he was.
“This isn’t the military when it comes to issues of rank,” Fleming had said. “We’re all adults on this ship, capable of making our own decisions. Of course if the individual in question turns you down or is uncomfortable, I expect you to respect the rebuff.”
Theo had planned to try again to move their relationship out of the bedroom and into a more central place in their everyday lives by inviting Jayna to go on an outing with him to the next planet the ship stopped at. If she said no again, he’d have to move on, no matter how much she intrigued him, no matter how compatible they were in the bedroom. He wanted more.
But we’re both here now so maybe working closely together for a week or so will help.
Once he was dressed, he headed into the corridor and made his way to the airlock, where he found a large container on an antigrav pallet. There was a holo label which he activated at the same time he flicked on the antigrav. To his surprise, Chef Stephanie’s image appeared.
“Maeve wanted me to send a week’s worth of meals over for you,” the chef said with a barely concealed yawn. The AI must have awakened the chef fairly soon after the derelict was sighted. “I added a few extras. She didn’t want you relying on whatever old supplies might be aboard. Safe travels.”
Maeve, the AI which ran the large cruise liner, was devoted to taking care of her crew and he appreciated the consideration. He had no desire to break into the Mebsuta C’s stasis lockers and dine on whatever was there. His stomach rumbled and he hoped the chef had packed hearty breakfasts. Taking the pallet’s tether he began guiding the precious supplies to the communal wardroom on this level. He’d let his crew members know the food was available once he’d arrived.
Flicking the com switch, he attempted to broadcast a message throughout the vessel, announcing breakfast, but the connection crackled with static. Frustrated, Theo used the subaural commlink all Nebula Zephyr crew had instead. “Captain Fleming’s compliments and there’s food in the wardroom. It has to last us through this trip so while I’m not rationing, I will request each crew member only eat at the assigned mealtimes.”
He waited to receive the acknowledgements and then left the chamber. He wanted to check up on his crew before he took a break to eat. First stop was the bridge. Entering, he was surprised to find Paxter kicked back in the pilot’s chair, feet up on the console, humming a tune and eyes closed. Sure this wasn’t the Nebula Zephyr or a military vessel but he expected a certain level of decorum. Theo cleared his throat. “Status, Mr. Paxter?”
Rather than being startled or acting the least bit abashed by his casual attitude, Paxter lowered his feet leisurely and swiveled to smile at Theo. “Ever wish you could pick your own destination, captain? Maybe go off to Tahumaroa Two in this beauty instead of boring Najie Three? We could live the high life in this little ship.” He stretched lazily and studied the controls.
“Our orders are to meet the Nebula Zephyr at Najie Three,” Theo said, refusing to indulge the man in his odd fantasy. “What’s our scheduled arrival time there?”
“Oh we’ll be there in a week, no problem.” Paxter gave his instrument panel a cursory once over. “All systems nominal, sir, no issues.”
“I’m going to check in with Abrall in the engine room,” Theo said, not much reassured by the report. Maybe Paxter was tired. If so a few hours in his bunk would take care of this odd attitude. “Then I’ll come and relieve you. There’s breakfast in the wardroom.”
Waving one hand, Paxter didn’t even make eye contact. “I’ll be here.”
Unsatisfied but not sure he wanted to make a bigger issue yet of the lapse in what he regarded as necessary discipline, Theo left the bridge and made his way to his next stop.
When the door slid open, Abrall was in a much different state than the pilot had been. He was hunched in his chair, hands over his ears and a woeful expression on his face. When he saw Theo, the tech shot to his feet and saluted. "Permission to be relieved, sir?”
Wow, from one extreme to the other. “At ease, Abrall. Give me the status and then yes, you’re off duty, barring an engine emergency. Are the automatic alerts and alarms set to go to the bridge?”
The tech edged toward the door. “I can’t take this screeching much longer, sir. It’s getting to sound like voices. I—I think I can make out words here and there.” He blinked and slowly turned his head toward the engine compartment. “She shouldn’t be doing that.”
Seriously concerned, Theo put one hand on Abrall’s shoulder. “I don’t hear anything out of the ordinary. I know you mentioned the anomaly last night too—did you troubleshoot the system?”
Focusing on Theo’s face, his eyes red and bleary, Abrall nodded. “I tried but the engine has been enhanced with too many custom fittings and strange pieces of machinery. It doesn’t resemble anything like any engine I’m used to seeing, although the core is clearly the basic King & Royp technology, like I said before. But the damn noise—you really don’t hear it, sir?”
“I’m not an engineer,” Theo said with a grin, hoping to defuse the tension. “I lack your specialized skills.”
“Yeah, right, maybe that’s it. I know what to listen for.” Straightening his shoulders and drawing a deep if shaky breath, Abrall added, “Whatever she’s got going on, the engine is delivering the necessary thrust, sir, no problem. The core is good and stable, no red indicators. Did you say there was breakfast?”
“In the wardroom. You go ahead. I want to check the readouts, familiarize myself with the basics a bit. After you eat, hit the rack, captain’s orders. You look like you need a solid eight of sleep.” Theo stood aside as Abrall left the chamber in haste. Not happy about the situation, he stepped to the engineering command console and glanced over the data presented there but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The engine itself was in a separate compartment and Theo activated the vids so he could see the coruscating threads of energy for himself, but again he found nothing unsettling. He held his breath for a minute, listening hard, but didn’t hear anything beyond the reassuring hum of an engine doing its job. If Abrall keeps mentioning this sound he thinks he’s hearing, we may have to check him over in the medbay.
After satisfying himself the alerts and alarms were set up for immediate transmission to the bridge, Theo left the chamber and headed to the flight deck again, ready to relieve Paxter of duty and take his place at the helm.
Jayna was there when he arrived, chatting with the helmsman and he detected no tension in the air. Paxter was unusually relaxed but at least he wasn’t talking about taking the ship on any unauthorized side trips.
