She buckled in for the transit and took a deep breath. This was the final step. If she could get away from Burbidge, the rest would be easy. GRCA could surely do the math; they wouldn’t waste the money to track her down outside the local system.
He tucked C on the cushion next to him as the first inkling of pressure started to push them into the back of the couch. It might feel like being trapped under a heavy weight, but in that moment Meja finally felt free.
Layth dragged himself down the ladder to the engine room in the Sentinel’s core. The accessway was narrow, but fortunately the lack of gravity meant it was easy enough to drag his portable kit behind him on a short line. It was harder to wrap his brain around the idea of climbing headfirst in a direction he considered “down” while the kit trailed behind him. He knew in his heart it was all a matter of perception and that directions in space were entirely relative—especially in microgravity.
His head and his eyes just couldn’t process the belief into reality.
Layth rapped twice on the iris that connected the arm to the core. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb April while they were sleeping, but without Baker on board to swap shifts with them, Layth had little idea of what April’s schedule might be. Fortunately, the door spiraled open in segments, April’s narrow face on the other side.
The engineer smiled broadly. “I wondered if you’d be joining me once we were underway.”
He thought back to the newcomer, currently sleeping on her acceleration couch while the three kittens were swaddled in next to her. It had been difficult to leave, and he’d half-convinced himself he should stay and make sure the cats weren’t any trouble.
“Of course I’d come,” he replied. “I said I would. I don’t go back on my word.” He didn’t have to add with people who matter—nearly everyone he’d met since he’d left Burbidge had the same code. More surprising was the realization that even if it was the assumption, he still couldn’t have gone back on his word to April. The engineer was important to him. Whether through their declaration of friendship or some other channel, he’d begun to care what the spacer thought about him.
Gods, he was starting to sound like Barr and his crap about family.
The engineer pulled themselves through the ship’s core, their elongated body summoning an arachnid-like image as they caught one of the patches of netting scattered throughout the space. “Make yourself as comfortable as you are able. I understand that not everyone handles weightlessness equally well. I’d recommend that you find a space you like and hook in.”
It wasn’t his first time in zero gravity, or even his first time to visit the Sentinel’s core, though that last trip had been for Baker, and he’d dragged her up the arm as soon as he was certain the junior engineer could be moved. A baggy net hung from one of the bulkheads reinforcing the core, and Layth pushed off toward it. He grabbed the webbing straps with less grace than April, but still managed to thread an arm and a leg through the net so he wouldn’t float away. “How about you let me look at those stitches?”
“I’m putting on tea. Would you care to join me?” The engineer was inverted compared to Layth, standing with their feet on what he perceived as the ceiling. He had to look away to dampen the sense of vertigo.
“Thank you, yes. Now about that injury…”
“It was silly of me to bother you.” They floated back up the corridor. “Milk? Sweet?” At his nod, April snapped the two capsules sealed just inside the bag of tea and handed it to him before doing the same to their own.
Despite April’s graceful floating, he’d almost forgotten they were in microgravity until they handed him the tea. For whatever reason, his mind had been expecting an actual cup, but of course that would be madness among the delicate instruments of the core. Foods and especially liquids needed to be packaged for microgravity consumption. The bag was hot in his hand, and he shook it a few times to distribute the milk and sugar through the whole bag.
“We’ve been over this. It wasn’t silly. It was the right thing to do. The only silly part was not having me come to you. Now lean forward.”
The engineer responded, but not before rolling their eyes in a decidedly dramatic way. The cut still looked nasty, but it had started to heal, and there weren’t any signs of infection. To be certain, he lightly pressed his fingers along the edge of the wound, feeling for inflammation or pain.
When he’d finished, April pushed back into the open air to float. “See, told you I was fine.” They nipped the corner off their bag and took a long drink as punctuation.
“Then consider this my making an excuse to visit. As friends.” Saying the word still felt alien, but he found that he liked the idea of being friends with the quiet engineer. After a moment he bit down into the corner of his tea and swallowed a mouthful. For prepackaged black tea, it was excellent. Far better than some of the bagged beverages he’d had in the past. Clearly it was something April took pride in. He’d make sure to search for something on Heph Prime, as a gift.
“Friends then.” They smiled, easing back to rest their shoulders against the opposite bulkhead. After staring into the swirling colors of their tea, they looked up. “How is the new person settling in?”
“Meja? She’s…” Complicated. He didn’t know what else to say. He could still feel the lingering ghost of her hand squeezing his during acceleration, almost twenty hours later. He wasn’t used to being a source of comfort for anything beyond a medical procedure, and the way that she trusted him through what was, for her, a new and unusual experience gave him pause. He tucked a free hand in his pocket and ran his thumb along the embroidered fabric while he tried to find words. “I don’t know what she is, honestly. It’s annoying.”
Their eyes gleamed. “I heard there were cats. Are they as adorable as they sound? Hicks kept cooing during the transit prep.”
Warmth bloomed in his chest. They were cute. Even with his allergies he could see the appeal. “I’m apparently allergic.”
“That’s unfortunate. Do you have medication?” They took another long drink. “Or are you just avoiding them?”
“That’s not an option, I’m afraid. I’m taking antihistamines for now, and supposedly there’s an additive to their food that can make them more hypoallergenic. Something for Baker to work on.”
“Ah, so they’re staying past Heph Prime.” Another sly smile and a quiet chuckle before their drink.
He hadn’t thought about that. Baker was taking care of some personal business on Heph Prime, so if Meja made a deal for her cats, then she had no cause to book passage to go farther. The transaction would be done. Guilt hooked in his chest at the sense of welcome for his world returning to normal. The scientist upset his balance, for reasons he couldn’t put his finger on.
“Possibly. She says she has a buyer though, so maybe not.”
April finished their tea and tucked the crumpled bag into the recycler chute. “The way Hicks was carrying on, it might be good to have Baker work on that back-up plan. The captain might buy one for her as a gift.”
Not that they were well off as a crew, but the captain had said she’d announce the price later. It would be within her rights to ask for one of the cats as a quasi-gift for the pilot. Mira Barnes loved status symbols, and there were few things as prestigious as owning a cat.