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"Oh, what happened to Snow White, then?"
"The stepmother, also referred to as the Evil Queen."
"Would that be you in this analogy?"
I grinned evilly at him as we stepped into the hangar.
Technicians were scurrying about, although why so many of them were scurrying about when we only had two Orions for this side of RATS' business was beyond me. But they all looked purposeful in their scurrying and all seemed to be very busy. I smiled to myself, thinking Dean must have really lit a fire under their butts. As far as I could tell, none of the overseers and guards present suspected a thing.
Idiots.
We walked across to Orion 2b, the only Orion with its door open, waiting. Liquid oxygen gas emitted from wherever it emitted from, clouding the charging plinth and obscuring even more Techies. I couldn't spot Dean, but then Dean was part of the Orion rebuilding project, so maybe they were housed elsewhere. It was Simon Cathcart, the Head Flight Engineer, who held the door open for us.
Beside him, fully kitted out in SWAT-type gear, and armed to the teeth, was a Grumpy. Grumpy 1.0 if I wasn't mistaken. The Head Grumpy. Anderson had brought out the big guns for this flight. I wondered if that was because it was our first flight back after being grounded. Or simply because he inherently didn't trust one or both of us. Wehadbeen a pain in his butt, but still, I was sure he didn't suspect a thing.
About me, that is. He had to know about Bryan. The man couldn't possibly be shoving his head in the sand that deeply. So, this was all Bryan's fault.
I glared at my Surgeon who, of course, had no idea why I was glaring at him.
"What?" he said in a drawl.
"Nothing," I muttered and pushed past Grumpy and into the module.
An Overseer was already on board. Why was he already on board? What had he done before we'd got here? I turned and looked back out the Vehicle doorway, but Bryan was coming in and blocking my view, so I couldn't make eye contact with Cathcart.
"You're late," the overseer said. It was Mr Black again. Oh, goodie. This was just getting better and better.
"You're sitting in my seat," I replied.
"I thought perhaps today I would observe from here."
"No," Bryan said from behind me. "I need my Intern at the controls in case something goes wrong."
"What could possibly go wrong, Dr Fawkes?" Black asked.
"You're kidding, right?" I said, stunned. "Have you guys not been paying attention?"
"Oh, we've been paying attention, Dr Wylde," he said, sinisterly.
"That doesn't sound creepy at all," Bryan muttered. He stared down at Black. "Move. The Intern sits here."
"Not today. You'll just have to ensure nothing goes wrong, Dr Fawkes, thereby negating the need for her assistance."
"There's no way to ensure that," Bryan told him.
"I can move if need be."
"Sometimes there ain't the time to spare to play musical chairs, buddy," Bryan snapped.
"It's no use," Black said in his infuriatingly calm voice. "I am staying right here." He studied Bryan for a moment. "Are you refusing to fly?" he finally asked.
There was something in the way he said that that had Bryan slowly shaking his head.
"Then let's fly, shall we?" Black offered, turning to face the console.
I took the Novitiate's seat, which was familiar to me by now and had its own console. I could do here exactly what I could do in the Intern's seat. I thought perhaps Bryan had been trying to set some ground rules with their argument.
Unfortunately, he'd failed. Black had won that round. But I wasn't sure it really mattered. Aside from a dent to my ego, I could manage my role as Flight Intern just as easily from this seat. Grumpy took the fourth chair, the one out in no-man's-land, but afforded him clear lines of sight to each occupant of the room, plus blocked access to the door in case we wanted to get out.
