Page 14 of Life-Debt

“That’s one of the better theories I’ve heard,” he admitted. “Thank you for letting me hold it.”

Once he opened his fingers, I reclaimed the gem. Then, as he wanted to learn and I doubted he could do much damage to anything in his current condition, I had him replace the stone in its mount, secure the brackets, and test that the device worked. “There you go. You’ve now done your first shiftgem installation.”

“It was so easy,” he murmured.

I expected that reality would hurt him for a long time—assuming, of course, he had any sense of morality. “It took me a lot of work to repair the engine and life support system. It wasn’t just a matter of popping in new stones. I had to get replacement parts out of your cargo bay, install and test them, and then install the gems and bring the systems back online. If no one on board knew how to do a proper bracket replacement, you never would have been able to get those systems operational.”

“Nobody knew.”

“It wasn’t your fault. But while I can’t erase your guilt, I can teach you how to do the repairs once we’re in quarantine at the spaceport. We’ll have around eight days and a whole lot of nothing to do, so there’s no reason I shouldn’t dismantle my auxiliary systems and do a very thorough parts check. I just did some work on the engine in a moment of paranoia after returning from your ship and replaced some worn parts. I bet I can find others that could use repair. You can earn your keep while learning how to make certain there isn’t a next time.”

“I appreciate that. I truly do.”

“You might not when I’m finished with you,” I warned.

* * *

Two hours into torturing Delta with a tour of the ship and showing him the various systems, Pandora bounded over with her favorite ball in her mouth. Her tail whipped side to side, and she writhed in her general excitement.

I hadn’t even agreed to play with her, but the amount of energy she expended on the hope I would throw the ball secured her place as the ruler of my life. As usual. Laughing, I crouched and held out my hand. She gave me the ball and bolted for the hallway.

I flung it down and against the wall so it would bounce every which way, providing her with maximum entertainment.

“She has trained you well, I see.”

“She’s earned it. She did a great job on your ship, and while I already paid her in treats, she knows she gets the ball afterwards as well. I also trained her to be careful during revivals, so she won’t ask for her ball until I am no longer heading into the revival room often.”

“Quite intelligent, too.”

Pandora bounced back, but rather than carry the ball in her mouth, she batted it along the floor, much like an excitable cat. I intercepted her toy and flung it down the hallway again.

“She’s very smart. That can be a double-edged sword, but given twenty minutes with the ball, she’ll be tired out and be ready for her grooming, her dinner, and some sleep. You can play with her if you’d like. It’s good exercise for you.”

Delta grinned. “You don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind at all. Pandora, bring your ball.”

The command got her to carry it in her mouth and sit in front of me as I’d taught her. “Delta, hold your hand out for the ball and ask her to give it to you, please.”

He obeyed, moving better than most did at his stage of revival. Still grinning, he said, “Please give me the ball, Pandora.”

While not the way I phrased it, the fox obeyed, and her bushy tail swished in her general eagerness to resume playing. Rising to his feet, Delta bounced the ball against the floor, resulting in chaos and a happy fox. “Oh, that bounced more than I expected.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just about everything is secured for when I shut down gravity, and she won’t chase balls into the engine room or other delicate system rooms. Play with her however much you like. In the meantime, I’ll start preparing the ships for transit. You’re out of the danger zone, although I won’t depart until I feed you and you’re lying flat in your cabin. After playing with Pandora, I expect you’ll be exhausted.”

“I already am.”

I waited for Pandora to bring Delta her ball and him launching it as far as he could to say, “You’ll be all right, but if you have any problems, I’ll turn off gravity to make traveling to your bunk easier.”

“I appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome.”

With fox and man occupied, I began with a system check of my engine before heading into my control room to interface with the other ship. Remote controlling a freighter took work, but I’d done it enough times the process bored me, requiring several checks before I was willing to engage the system and test the engine I’d repaired.

I brought up the video surveillance of the ship on the screen, and almost an hour after leaving Delta with Pandora, I checked on the pair to discover them sitting on the hallway floor engaging in a game of catch the hands and paws.

Typical Pandora, charming every sentient foolish enough to fall into her clutches.