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The physical ache of knowing that as much as Watson was obviously trying to play them against each other, the A.I. had a point. He was supposed to fix things, invent solutions to problems, and the issue he faced now was that he couldn’t... fix himself. He couldn’t make himself be the person Kira deserved, and that made his resolve to give her up stronger.
Until a message came on his communicator. The only one with access to the line, Kira. Checking it, she’d dropped an audio instead of a line of text. It came across as if she were lying down, speaking to him as softly as she did when they were in the astronomy room. “I am sorry that I left without making sure you were alright.”
‘It’s okay. I understand. I am sorry. Watson is right. I will leave you alone.’ His reply in text.
A sharp knock, and the door shot open. An automation he’d set up a while ago allowed her entry when he was present. The biometrics on the door registered and opened automatically. Kira burst through in a blaze of speed, and she spoke just as fast. “I am damn tired of everyone believing they get to make my decisions for me! I choose who I spend my time with. If you don’t want to see me anymore, that’s fine, but I will not be told that I may not do what I please.”
“I, okay?” He didn’t remember telling her that she couldn’t see him anymore. He had assumed that she wouldn’t want to and thought he had been doing her a kindness by telling her she didn’t have to try anymore. “You... don’t think I’m...” He wasn’t even sure what he thought she might have thought about him. No, that was a lie. Watson had said it, after all. He was a socially maladjusted kid. “That I’m not fixable.”
That was a more accurate worry. He knew that she would see the sense in what Watson had said, that she was wasting her time with him. He was just broken and leaving anyway.
“Oh brax, Quinn. You’re not a machine. You’re not something that is broken and needs to be fixed. You’re human. You’re hurt. You need to heal, but that’s up to whether or not you want to be.” She’d gone from angry to almost motherly.
Kira came over to sit beside him, joking lightly, “Everyone has problems, Quinn.”
“I just.” He had nothing, nothing more than a need he’d never truly felt before. Without thinking, without assessing, he leaned over into a quite awkward hug, which she returned. Quiet beset them for a time before it ended, but not before another interruption faced them.
“Captain?” Ann posited. “The bridge is waiting for you to commence the first jump sequence.”
“I have to go.”
“Okay.”
He knew the smile she gave him, knew what it meant from his earlier calculations. Warm and caring, a friendly one that reached her eyes. Something he noticed even without the aid of his neural net.
Chapter Eighteen
QUINN
Morning came and with it came a fresh perspective. Heading to engineering, Quinn rechecked his work. They’d be jumping again that morning and even if his feedback loops were positive, he felt a connection to the ship.
He found Alec, busy doing the same thing, assessing, and reassessing, and who smoothly greeted him with his own profound and true accent. “Ach, the architect graces me with his presence.”
Based on Quinn’s prior evaluations, he still hesitated on whether it was an insult, a tease, or some strange way of calling him the shipwright. “I just wanted to check on things. The new reactor is more powerful than the old one. Everything is graded for it, but cracks can happen.”
“Graded for it.” Alec turned about. “It’s bloody advanced is what it is. Toke said you were doing upgrades, but I didn’t imagine to this extent.”
“The superstructure was in good shape, but everything else was out of date. Cutting corners for the retrofit would have just meant problems down the line. Fixing things means fixing them to the best of your abilities.”
“Yeah, well, we do the best we can with what we get.” Alec hardly seemed offended, his jovial mood easy to read.
“Most people do. New ships and parts are expensive if you can’t manufacture them yourself.” He addressed Alec, but he looked anywhere but at him. “Still, she was in excellent shape for her age.”
“Aye, I did pride myself on cobbling a few things together.”
“Was that you who ran the coolant lines through the power sinks for the burn drive, then?” He remembered seeing it, and wondering who’d done the modification. “That wasn’t factory standard, but it was an excellent idea for a reroute to let the engines burn hotter longer.”
Alec combed his beard. “Young Jaden helped me with that one. It took a few weeks to do it properly, or rather improperly considering it’s nae standard.”
“It was a good move, probably extended the burn drive’s life by about five years, while increasing its efficiency by around twenty percent. The old power sinks were only graded for standard usage to save on cost. It also would have helped you guys do emergency burns. Your mod may not have been standard, but it was better.”
Alec seemed to know how far to push and how to keep a conversation going. He thanked him before asking about the regulator. Eventually, they were off the manual. Moving onto other superficial questions about the structure, the underlying things that just made life easier, and the way he’d muffled most of the automated systems noises.
“Downright impressive.” Alec declared.
Quinn fidgeted uncomfortably, but nodded still. Alec wasn’t angry at him this time, but neither was he pretending to be something he wasn’t.
“Have ya gotten lunch yet? Hela sets out a tray for us who pass through.”
