Page 9 of Mutiny

"We will be landing on an M-class planet shortly," I said, sending the planet details over to my brothers. The women didn't have the implants necessary to receive files into their minds directly, so information would have to be disseminated to them verbally or via screens. "I have received details. The crew will need to scan and gather materials the ship can process and use, including necessary nutritional components. It is likely that the proteins will not be immediately digestible and will need onboard processing before being used."

"I want to go on an away mission," Mei said, her voice firm, and several other women added their agreement to her statement. "Is the atmosphere breathable, or will I need a suit?"

"You are a guest in the system, not crew," I said. "You do not need to expose yourself to such a hazard."

Mei's eyes narrowed.

"I was classified as inventory just a short while ago, right?" she demanded. "I don't care how I'm labeled in your system; I'm the only one who decides what I'm going to do with my time. You have the choice of helping me get outfitted, or standing by while I build a suit on my own, but either way, I'm going to go outside when we land."

That was that then. I needed to make an environmental suit. The issue was, nothing like that was stored in the databanks. My kind didn’t need environmental suits for a planet like that. I didn’t know how to design or create something like that from scratch. The way Mei had put together her tools was a unique skill, something that wouldn’t have occurred to me that someone would do until I observed her creative process.

"What if the planet is a good one to live on?" one of the women said. "We could just get off this ship and live there."

"The planet we will be harvesting materials from is tidally locked with a red dwarf, meaning its rotation is frozen in place. Both sides are incompatible with your form of life, the only survivable area being the terminator zone, the twilight strip between the two sides," I said, deciding it was better to offer more information that would tell any of these women what they could or couldn't do after Mei’s last reaction. "Because of the temperature differential between the two sides, there are strong, continuous global winds that would make long-term habitation unfavorable, even if the flora and fauna in the strip were digestible by your species without additional processing. In addition, the only ships that can move freely in this area of space are Calicium vessels, which means that if you were detected on the planet, you would be picked up and processed."

"Never mind then," said the same woman. "We should stay on the ship."

"I bet you we can make a suit to help us survive those conditions," Mei said. She looked up at me, and a thrill rushed through my body as our eyes met. "Bulwark, will you help me do that?"

"Yes," I said.

I didn’t know how I could help her, other than pointing out flaws as they arose, but the idea of spending that time with her as she worked through what it was she wanted to make and made something completely new without a blueprint to follow filled me with an eager anticipation. Perhaps I could learn how to do that, to create something just from an idea in my head.

Mei clapped her hands together, a smile spreading across her face as that crease in her forehead smoothed away.

"Excellent," she said, rubbing the palms of her hands together.

"After you get the prototype built, we will need more," Adesewa added. "Sigidi can help you mass-produce them for everyone else who wants to go on the expedition."

I felt dismay at the idea of him being there, and the emotion was strange to me. Why would I feel so bothered by the idea of my brother joining in on the time I spent teaching Mei? I had watched him walk her through several of the machines in the manufacturing bay already.

I didn't know how to say that I didn't want him there, because that declaration didn't make any sense at all. I should want him there. It would be more efficient.

"I'll let him know when we get to that step," Mei said, effectively shutting him out of the initial stage of the developmental process. Then she added another sentence that firmly shut another door of opportunity. "I'll work with Bulwark on my own. My work process doesn’t do well with too many people around asking questions and interrupting my focus. After we've made the prototype, I'll be happy to go over the steps and get feedback on it, but until then I'd appreciate it if everyone respects my work focus needs unless they have a specific skill to contribute."

My delight grew, and with it, my confusion.

Worse, her words had sparked a new urge I didn't understand at all.

I swallowed the strange-tasting saliva in my mouth, noting its texture.

It was a biological response, one I could suppress if I so chose, but I didn't want to. I wanted to experience it, even if it was uncomfortable, even if it was confusing.

Mei made me want to feel everything.

FIVE

MEI

Bulwark's swallowing was annoying me.

He never made that noise when he lurked against the wall.

We had been working on the prototype for two weeks now, and having him next to me, supporting my ideas with knowledge I could practically apply immediately, was far better than having him lurk in the corner of the room and not saying anything when I built a weapon that would fry me alive when I used it. I appreciated that he came after me and stopped me from hurting myself. Still, now that I had him next to me, helping me with his knowledge, his physical form close enough to make the small hairs on my arm react when his fingers brushed mine, I was annoyed he hadn't stepped in sooner. Except, now that I thought about it, he had stepped in sooner. When I had told everyone I was building cooking equipment, he had told me it would produce too much heat.

I shouldn't be annoyed with him, but everything about him was irritating me now.

I constantly had this tight, needy itch deep inside me, and it was pissing me off.