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“Fell out of one of the old shafts. Well, fell trying to grab the ladder that retracted but.” She shrugged.
Alec sighed heavily. “You need to be more careful, Captain.”
“A few days in a cast never hurt anyone.”
“Oh aye, a few days in a cast actually resting to recover never hurt anyone, but yer not gonna do that are ya?”
“I might.”
Kira slipped around him to pluck a strawberry out of a bowl he’d set aside for part of their dessert. Alec smacked her hand. She shrieked a sharp ‘ow’ and he let out a peal of laughter at her shock.
“You’re not funny.” Rubbing her hand, she side eyed him, but didn’t attempt it again.
“And you’re not thieving before supper is done.”
“Spoilsport,” Kira grumbled.
Alec pointed a spoon at her as if it were a sword. “Child.”
“Old man.”
Alec plucked a strawberry out of the bowl and tossed it in his mouth. Kira gasped dramatically before a fake sword fight ensued with long, metal serving spoons. They fought to keep each other from the bowl.
It ended with a fake death on Kira’s part, her pretending to be mortally wounded. “Grant, a dying woman, one last wish?”
Alec eyed her suspiciously. "Aye.”
“I just want,” dramatically clinging to the cabinet, she clutched her shirt wrinkling the fabric, “One… last… strawberry.”
Alec guffawed before they both dissolved into fits of laughter, and he granted her request.
Kira and Alec crossed over to the Eikos station. A large bridge connected the station to the Callistar, remaining in place to allow supplies to be shuttled back and forth. The bridge provided a regulated and pressurized atmosphere for the safety of all passing through.
Alec and Kira met at the gate in the morning. Alec’s old leather bag hung loosely over his left shoulder, the thick strap digging down. He would take the shuttle Kira ordered to Maudlin. Kira waited impatiently, tapping her good foot. She’d skipped the transport table and had gone for a stiff boot instead. If their chief medical officer, Bre, had been aboard, she would have torn her a new one about keeping off her leg. However, she had matters to attend to.
Kira started on the first. “This is the tablet with the new specs on it. You’ll have everything you need to look over the new systems before you return. I’ve sent everyone else’s homework on an encrypted line.”
“Oh aye, shore leave isn’t really shore leave without an assignment, is it?”
Kira smiled. “It’s not.”
Alec tucked it into this bag, swinging it back into place. “Are you walking with me, Captain?”
“To the shuttle. Then I have a meeting with Commander West.”
Alec smacked the button on the lift a little too hard as she said the name. Both were silent on the matter as they waited for his floor. He hit the next door with the same pent up anger, and it swished open to the Eikos’ outer ring.
The Eikos served as a shipyard repair station. Staring inwardly there was a tube-like center, then a large lower ring and a smaller upper ring. The lower ring was where the larger galaxy class and mining ships docked. The inner part of the large ring was for smaller ships, cruisers and the like. They could fit in the space before one reached the towering center. The center being the primary hub of activity. The upper ring was where shuttles and transports docked, dropping off supplies. Everything had to be cleared through customs in the center before being transferred to the lower ring for customizations and repairs.
The pair made their way across one of the permanent passages on the outer ring to the main column. Passing security, they scanned access badges coded for their ranks before they could grab a tube heading for the upper ring.
“You’re sure you’ll be alright by yerself, Captain?” Alec was keeping the shuttle from leaving by lingering, rechecking his belongings as if he had forgotten to pack something.
“Right as rain Alec, don’t worry.” Kira waited until he stood up all the way. She leaned in and embraced him.
He returned it after a second, wrapping one arm stiffly around her back.
“Take care of yourself, old man.”
