Eva scowled at the hull camera display as they slowly docked. The Forge had not agreed to pay yet, which was understandable; they needed Josh for something specific, and even though Emle was theoretically an acceptable substitute, they’d refused to confirm that over comms because of secrecy concerns. So Eva and her crew still had to fly all the way to Casa Carajo and hope it wasn’t a waste of time.
Emle stood next to her, staring at the Gate with an expression somewhere between awe and horror. The woman was taller and heavier than Eva, her skin a shade darker than Pink’s and her black hair shaved close to her head, and it turned out she was also an engineer like Josh. She’d been nothing but nice—grateful, in fact, for the part Eva played in helping her back at the Fridge base, though Eva remembered it very differently. She’d also been eager to help anyone who was working against The Fridge.
Eva liked her immediately, though it was hard to see why Miles was so afraid of her.
Mari was waiting when Eva descended from the ship with Emle trailing after her. She looked surprisingly well rested, given her appearance the last time Eva had been there, like she’d just gotten back from a mandatory vacation involving mind-altering substances and sleeping meds. She wore the same red armor again, though, and was packing a pistol on each hip and a nasty little submachine gun nestled in the small of her back.
“I’ll take it from here,” Mari said, gesturing for Emle to follow. Emle hesitated, looking to Eva for confirmation.
Eva raised an eyebrow. “Am I being dismissed?”
“Yes,” Mari said flatly. “We have to get to work.” She started to walk away, as if expecting Emle would be right behind her.
“And what work is that, exactly?” Eva asked, crossing her arms.
Mari paused, looking back and forth between Eva and Emle. “I’m not authorized to discuss that with you,” she said, as if it were obvious. “Dr. Carter will be briefed privately.”
“Yeah, but I’m only getting paid if she can do whatever you wanted Josh for,” Eva said. “So I think I have a right to know a little more about that to be sure I’m not getting screwed.”
“You think we’d lie to you to avoid paying,” Mari said slowly.
Eva widened her eyes and nodded.
Mari sighed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous is me flying all the way out here twice without knowing why.” Eva tried not to glare at Mari, but it was hard.
“And you don’t trust me?” Mari asked.
“Do you seriously want me to answer that?” But they both knew she did, at least this much, because otherwise Eva never would have taken the job in the first place.
Mari sighed again, closing her eyes and no doubt counting in her head before opening them again. “I’ll ask my superiors if I can give you more information. Otherwise, all I can do is promise that we’ll be happy to pay you if you’ve earned it, despite the fact that you technically didn’t do as we asked.”
It was probably the best Eva could hope for at this point, all things considered. She nodded and patted Emle on the shoulder. “Good luck saving the universe,” Eva said.
“Is that really what they’re doing here?” Emle asked, her expression slightly bewildered. “I thought you were exaggerating.”
“Fuck if I know,” Eva said. “It would be nice if somebody was. But I’m not leaving until I get answers.” With a sarcastic salute at her sister, she marched back up the ramp to her ship, ignoring the irritated huff of breath behind her.
Before she’d made it through the cargo bay, a shout from the mess turned her leisurely stroll into a run. Eva skidded into the room to find Sue and Min, arm’s length apart and staring at each other. Min looked furious despite her eyes filling with tears, while Sue’s eyes were wide with shock.
“You’re impossible!” Min shrieked, stomping her foot.
“I don’t—” Sue began, but Min interrupted.
“You should have just gone with him at DS Nor,” Min said, stomping again and then leaving in a huff.
Eva raised her eyebrows at Sue, who was staring at the doorway with a mix of confusion and horror.
“Do I want to know what that was about?” Eva asked.
“I’m not sure,” Sue said. “I was getting food and she came in here and screamed at me. I think I made her mad.”
Eva snorted. “You think?”
Sue furrowed her brow. “DS Nor . . . does she mean Jei? Why would I go anywhere with him?”
“I don’t know,” Eva said slowly. A thought was coalescing in her head, and she started mentally replaying interactions between Min and Sue over the last six months, focusing on the last several weeks.
“Is it because I was asking about his cybernetics?” Sue mused. “But why would that make her mad at me?”
“Madre de dios,” Eva said, smacking herself in the forehead. How had she not noticed before?
“Maybe I should upgrade Goyangi to cheer her up,” Sue continued, starting to walk away. “Some kind of electricity sphere, or maybe miniature bots like mine that can fly and—”
“Sue,” Eva said. “Why did you make a fighting bot for Min?”
Sue paused, her cheeks rapidly turning pink. “Well, um,” she replied.
“Susan,” Eva said sternly.
Sue looked down at her feet, hands grabbing at the pants of her jumpsuit, and mumbled something under her breath.
“Sorry, what was that?” Eva asked.
“Because I like her,” Sue whispered.
“And you were planning to tell her that when, exactly?”
Sue squirmed. “I don’t know. Never? What if I tell her and she doesn’t like me back and then I have to leave because I made things weird?”
Eva understood that logic, certainly. She’d argued with herself over her feelings for Vakar until it was almost too late, and this ship was small enough that hookups were a less viable option. Hard to avoid someone afterward when there was only one head and almost nowhere to hide.
“Do you know what I think?” Eva asked.
“What?” Sue looked up at her now, eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
Eva looked up at the camera in the corner of the ceiling. “I think Min can hear you because she’s the damn ship, and she’s being super mean by not coming in here already to tell you she likes you, too.”
“Cap!” Min shrieked through the speakers. “I’m not being mean, I’m . . . I’m . . .”
Eva laughed, loud and long, then flipped off the camera and went to her bunk. A few moments later, the door to the bridge opened and closed, and Min giggled once through the speakers before Pink shouted at her to turn them off.
Eva had just flopped onto her bed sideways with her legs dangling over the edge when there was a polite knock.
“Come in, Vakar,” she said, and he did, smelling like acrid incense. Before he even opened his mouth, Eva sighed and asked, “Where do they want you to go?”
“The Apus Ignaea System, near Vuthiri,” he said, sitting next to her on the bed. “I’ve been told to leave immediately.”
Eva threw an arm over her face. “Any idea how long this mission will be? What are the parameters?”