“Meaning?”
“I watch you, Reese, and I see you, really see you. You walk around with your head hung low, you avoid eye contact, you don’t speak unless asked a direct question. And this isn’t the Reese I knew, however slightly, before you were tortured. And that’s okay. If that’s what you need, if you need to keep your distance right now, that’s fine. But you need to know no one blames you for what happened.”
Reese stared at her, unblinking. “You really think that?”
“I know that.”
Slowly, Reese nodded.
Chapter Eighteen
Like the rest of the crew, Bit sat in the mess hall. Her fingers fiddled with a tear in her crew jacket. The poor thing was nearly brand new to her, and yet it had already been doused in red paint, torn, and one sleeve drenched in her own blood. She frowned as she tried to remember what she had caught it on.
Reese took a seat next to her, holding out a tiny little pouch. Bit frowned as she took it and opened it. Inside she found a spindle of dark brown thread and a needle.
“You know how to sew?” asked Reese as he motioned toward her ripped sleeve.
“I didn’t know anyone still sewed by hand.”
Reese smiled, dragging her arm in front of him and taking the supplies back. He demonstrated how to thread the needle and the most basic stitch, sewing little x’s over the tear. It didn’t look good, but it would hold.
“Thanks,” Bit said just as Jack entered the mess hall and motioned for his crew to be silent.
A strange man stood beside him, dressed in a way that made Bit feel less self-conscious. His own clothing had stains on the knees and elbows, and a tear across his left leg.
“Ladies and gentleman,” began Jack, “this is Vidor Pandya, the leader of the resistance here on Nye. We are so grateful to you for coming.”
Everyone nodded to him as though he was thanking them personally.
“Resistance?” Bit whispered to Reese.
He motioned for her to be quiet.
“I’m not sure what Mr. Morgan explained of our situation, but I will be honest with you, the government of Nye does not want the reactor.”
Bit frowned. If the government is against it, how can we install it?
“That is why we will have to do this under the guise of repairs. A member of the resistance is in charge of maintenance, and already has you scheduled to do ‘repairs’ near the space station’s current power source. Your engineers will only be allowed to work in accordance with the space stations ‘fair employment rulings.’ Meaning you’ll only be allowed to work in six hour days.”
“Six hours?” scoffed Forrest. “This’ll take forever at that rate.”
Vidor nodded. “Yep, but trust me, it’s not worth revealing our hand over a petty law like ‘fair employment.’ Other than what you are actually doing, everything else has to be completely by the book.”
“I have security officers in my crew,” began Jack. “I want one of them with my engineers at all time.”
“Sir, with all due respect, I can pick your security team out of line up. Any local will wonder why repair engineers from Mars come with their own body guards.”
“You think you can pick out all of my security team from my crew?” Jack asked, a smirk on his lips.
Bit knew where this was going.
“Of course. Him, him, him, and him,” Vidor said, pointing to the four men on the team.
“You missed one,” Randal said, his humor lighting his eyes.
“Oh… uh…” Vidor looked around, finally pointing to Oden. “And him.”
“Wrong. Would the last member of our security team like to stand up?” Randal asked.
Bit rolled her eyes as she stood, adjusting her crew jacket.
“Her?” asked Vidor, his eyes growing wide.
“Will you allow her to join the engineers?”
The resistance leader shrugged. “If that makes you feel better.”
“Good,” replied Randal. “Bit, gear up. You’re working.”
“I’ll give you all a quick tour of the surrounding areas of the space station—not the whole thing of course—and then take your engineers to where they will be working. Just a reminder, Nye is home to over twenty-five thousand people. As you can imagine, the true nature of your visit must be kept between us. It is difficult to know if a person is genuinely in the resistance, or if they are trying to play you. Therefore, unless I, and I alone, have introduced you to them, then assume they are not actually part of the resistance. Understood?”
They all nodded.
“Let’s begin this tour,” Jack said as he motioned for Vidor to turn and exit the mess hall.
“Bit,” called Randal. “We need to stop by the armory for you.”
Bit followed Randal down the hall to the small, locked closets where they kept their gear. He handed her an under-arm holster and began selecting a weapon for her. Bit shrugged out of her jacket and slipped the holster on. Randal gave her a small pistol and two extra clips. She tucked them into the holster and slipped her jacket back on. Lastly, Randal handed her a switch blade and tucked a dagger into her boot.
“Think that’s enough?” she asked, her voice dripping in sarcasm.
Randal rolled his eyes and ushered her upstairs.
They reached the main level just as the last group began to enter the airlock. Bit and Randal slipped in after them. Bit felt uncomfortable entering the enormous space station with a holster under her arm hidden within her red crew jacket and a knife tucked into her boot, not to mention the extra switch blade weighing her pocket down. The other security officers entered the station unarmed, intending to make it look like the entire security team was taking a few days off.
Bit knew better. All four of the men on her team would be fully vigilant, always on the lookout for a threat. She just hoped she could be as focused. When Bit’s group exited the airlock, they found the first group still huddled within the corridor right outside the ship.
“If you’ll follow me,” said Vidor as the last group emerged from the airlock.
The resistance leader led them down the narrow corridor for a couple hundred feet where it formed a T. Their guide stopped at the T-junction.
“You’re docked at M1977. Each arm is designated with one to four letters, depending on which loop you’re on. Top loop—single letters. Second loop—two letters. And so on. Remember that, otherwise you’ll spend hours trying to find your way back to your ship. There is over two hundred and fifty miles of corridor in this space station, so if you get lost, you get really lost.
“After the letter is a four digit number. They loop numerically so as long as you’re on the right level, you should be able to find your way back to the proper docking arm.”
With that, Vidor turned down the new hallway and the crew followed. As Bit finally reached the turn she eyed the large M1977 painted on the bulkhead above the turn. She chanted the number in her head over and over until she caught sight of the vast corridor ahead of her. The left wall was made up of enormous windows. A dim light poured in, reminding Bit of a sunset on Earth. It was a beautiful sight after eight weeks trapped on the Lenore.
Subtly, the crew sidled up to the windows as they continued to follow Vidor, each one sneaking glances at the space beyond. From their vantage point, they could see numerous small vessels flying from one dock to another, transporting who-knows-what from one end of the space station to the other.
“Within the four loops is, essentially, the engine of the space station. All essential systems are quartered in that central core, along with governmental offices. Off of each loop there are four corridors leading to the center of the space station, but you will need clearance to enter those corridors. Your engineers… and the girl… will be the only ones granted access.
“Next to each of the four corridors is a Medic’s clinic, should you need it. Let’s keep going.”
Vidor led them through a labyrinth of corridors until Bit was completely confused. F
inally, he came to a stop outside a clearance station. Bit recognized the guard from their first pass and wondered how they had made the complete circle. She could have sworn they had travelled away from their ship, never turning back toward it.
“This is where we split up,” Vidor said as a woman emerged from the locked door, nodding to the security guard. “May I introduce Zagiri to you? She is an engineer on the Nye. Officer, I have three engineers needing clearance to the Center.”
Forrest smiled at the new woman and held out his hand. “Forrest Eleni, pleasure to meet you. These are my assistants, Jeremiah and Bit.”
“Pleasure,” Zagiri said before turning to look at Vidor, who was speaking quietly with the security guard.
Vidor handed Forrest, Jeremiah, and Bit a badge attached to a cord. Bit followed the others’ example and draped it over her neck.
“They’re all yours, Zagiri,” Vidor said
The guard pressed his thumb into a little pad on his console. Finally, the door slid open. Bit followed the others through the door, doing her best not to flinch as it hissed shut behind her. Unlike the last corridor, this one was all business. Stark white walls, dotted with cracks designating access panels, lined the hallway. Bulkheads marked the walls every few hundred feet.
They walked in silence down the long corridor devoid of doors until they reached the far end. At the end, stood two more guards. Once again, Zagiri presented her I.D. and repeated the same check as before, only this time the guard positioned his eye in front of a scanner. Beyond the door they entered yet another corridor. Again, this hallway was all business. Bit wasn’t surprised no one but engineers and government officials came this far into the station.
After a great many turns, they reached an airtight door, yet again guarded by two men. This time, each of them had to present their I.D.s to the guards. After a long wait, one of the guards pressed his thumb to his pad, scanned his retina, and the door slid open.
A blast of hot air hit them in the face before dissipating into the cooler corridor. Bit crinkled her nose at the smell of oil, fuel, and something she couldn’t name.
“You’ll get used to it,” Jeremiah whispered in a scheming tone.
Bit smiled at the young lad.
The hot room before them was enormous. Bit look up, searching for the ceiling, but all she saw was more piping, electrical conduit, and catwalks. She saw the beginning of what she imagined to be the maze to end all mazes—a path running between the pipes and conduit, with the occasionally ladder leading up to the catwalks.
Zagiri turned back to look at their small group, her eyes resting on Forrest. She gave him a seductive little smirk. Bit tried not to grin at the woman. She enjoyed seeing the reclusive engineer within the traps of a flirtation.
Bit blinked rapidly. For the first time since she could remember, she had thought about a man in relation to sex, or sexual energy, without it being devastatingly negative. While she still held to her firm rule of no men—at least not until she found her sister’s lost child—she enjoyed the great sensation of not being filled with malice toward the male sex.
“I built this little closet in between tasks,” she said as she hit the release button for a door, “according to the specs I was given.”
Forrest poked his head in and glanced around. As far as Bit could tell, there wasn’t anything little about it.
“Perfect. We’ll need to unload the Lenore and shift all the pieces here before I begin assembling.”
“Then let’s get to it,” replied Zagiri.
Jack stared at the sweeping room before him. He knew Nye was the newest space station in the galaxy, named after some man from the twenty-first century. He couldn’t remember what the man had done to warrant getting a space station named after him, but he remembered feeling underwhelmed by the achievement. Unlike Olivia Widdly, the namesake of the space station orbiting Jupiter.
Not being a science-oriented man, Jack couldn’t remember exactly what Widdly had done to deserve the honor, but he knew it had something to do with the lasers used in the weaponry that now worked despite the vacuum of space. It was a rather macabre discovery to be remembered for, the space station acting as a constant reminder of weapons that could and would take many lives. Had it not been for Widdly, numerous space battles that cost countless lives might never have been fought. Even the outdated Lenore had one laser cannon to defend itself from pirates and the like, and it was all thanks to Olivia Widdly.
He had never visited Nye Space Station itself, being located at the far reaches of the habited galaxy. He’d made a few stops at the various mining facilities, but had never had a reason to dock at the space station, until now. It was an astounding sight, both from outside and from within the space station.
The lounge spread out across more square footage than the entirety of his ship. Like the corridor, enormous windows on one wall allowed the dim light of the sun to filter in, making the room seem even larger. Built in couches were splattered throughout the room, dotted with tables of varying sizes. Built into the interior wall was a drink dispenser, along with a machine for pre-packaged snacks. Mixed in with the tables and couches were modern versions of antique gaming tables such as billiards—or something resembling the old game. Katrina and Calen were already happily facing off over the green table, Vance standing on the sidelines to watch and presumably to take on the winner.
“You find this as unnerving as I do?” Randal asked, coming up from behind him.
Jack flinched in surprise. “Which part?”
“Being in the lap of luxury while knowing you’re floating through space.”
“You’ve never been to a space station?” Jack asked with a chuckle.
“No. When I was with the military we seldom ever docked. And when we did, low-levels like me didn’t get to go aboard.”
“Well, they’re not all like this. Nye is the newest space station, barely twenty-five years old—practically an infant.”
Randal nodded. “I read up on the Nye before we arrived.”
“How does that not surprise me,” Jack said as he scanned the enormous room.
At least a hundred people enjoyed the lounge with his crew. He spotted Blaine, Reese, and Nathyn speaking with a pretty little blonde woman. He rolled his eyes. Blaine’s preferences never changed. Shifting his eyes off of the flirtation, he continued to eye the crowd. Finally, his gaze rested on a man dressed in civvies and watching Jack’s crew at the billiards table.
“See something. Man at our three o’clock, red shirt. He seems very interested in their game.”
“Could be just interested in the newcomers.”
“There’s twenty-five thousand bodies aboard the Nye. He can’t know for sure we’re newcomers,” scoffed Jack.
“Having a little trouble trusting?”
“After the last couple months, I don’t trust anyone.”
“You’re a good man, Jack,” Randal said, patting the younger man on the back. “Don’t let these circumstances harden you too much.”
“You noticed it all fell apart when Bit joined the crew.”
Randal turned to look at Jack. “You know perfectly well none of this is her fault. Don’t start down that path, Jack.”
The captain pursed his lips, but nodded. “You’re right. Just tired, and frustrated. This contract with Mor… umm… that we signed, sounds good on paper, but so did our last contract. I’m tired of always looking over my shoulder.”
“You’re the one picking the cargo. Next time, let’s transport something low risk… like fruit. What harm can fruit cause?”
“Last I check, there’s not a lot of money to be had in transporting produce.”
Randal laughed again, and this time Jack joined in.
Before either of them could say anything, the engineers, along with Bit and the attractive local, entered the lounge. They stopped for a second just within the doorway and scanned the crowd, Forrest’s eyes finally resting on Jack. Jack waved them over.
“Every
thing looks good, Cap,” Forrest said as they reached him and Randal. “We’re ready to unload the goods.”
Jack nodded. “I’ve already contacted Port Authority. They are prepping for the off load. Let’s get back to the ship. Randal will you get the others?”
The security officer nodded and headed towards the billiards table, while Jack and the others turned towards the door. It was a long trek back to the ship, especially considering they had just done it less than an hour ago. All the same, Jack enjoyed stretching his legs—something he didn’t get to do often.
While he could, he would enjoy the space.
Chapter Nineteen
Bit chewed on the last bite of her waffle as she dumped her tray by the galley and headed up toward the bridge. Some of the crew opted to eat aboard the space station, but that cost money, and while her crewmates often offered to pay for her, she continually refused. Vance made three perfectly delicious meals each day. There was no reason that she could see to waste money on what was already provided.
She wiped her mouth of any stray crumbs as she walked up the last flight of stairs. Jack’s voice trailed out of the bridge.
“Yes, we’re on schedule here at Nye. No, it will take at least another week and half. You knew this when I worked out the schedule with Mr. Morgan.”
Bit reached the top of the stairs as Jack listened to the response.
“No, it can’t be…” began Jack, turning as Bit entered the bridge. “Just a second.”
“Just letting you know I’m heading in.”
Jack cleared his throat, squirming in his seat as his eyes flicked to the comm. console. “Umm… thank you.”
“Need anything from me before I go?” she asked, trying to appear relaxed. What is up with the captain?
“No, no, thank you.”
Bit nodded and left the bridge, still unsure what had Jack so twitchy.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” she heard Jack say as she reached the living level. “No, she doesn’t…” Jack continued, his voice trailing off.
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