Void Contract (Gigaparsec Book 1)
Page 25
Chapter 36 – Becoming a Team
The week of repairs that followed taxed Roz to her limits, but she learned more about proper starship design in that period than she had since she entered school. The Magi built ships to last millennia with zero loss of life.
Holographic Echo answered questions as briefly as possible. She conversed with Roz on only one topic—new research in mathematics. Echo wanted to change their course to meet the Bat physicist who wrote a math textbook Roz had used at university. From a few of his more obscure journal articles, Echo was convinced that she had to meet Professor Eesan Crakik. When she pronounced his name with excitement, it verged on the sonar range. “I’m certain he can solve our drift problem with the subbasement.” Echo refused to explain the root of her certainty.
For his part, Max pressured the entire team into accepting the detour.
In addition to changing the ship’s passwords, Reuben had a knack for rewiring and programming the laser cutter for exquisite detail.
Ivy, who worked the opposite shift, turned out to have skills in quality control and diagnostics. She had incredible patience for reading the results of endless tests in order to find the grain of sand that was causing the difficulty. She took the task of X-raying every square centimeter of the repairs, new and old, searching for cracks and botched jobs. After two days of Roz’s frigid indifference, Ivy said, “Are you going to forgive me, or am I going to have to find a new best friend who I trust with my life?”
Roz finished arc welding a seam, raised her visor, and blew a loose hair from her face that clung to the sweat. “I’m still pissed at you.”
“Yeah, get in line. Do you know how small the Anodyne population is and how many people want what we have? Even the Lunar oligarchs are a threat,” Ivy said.
“So now I’m just another face in the crowd? I was hoping to be special or set some sort of record.”
“For bitchiness? Nah. The founder of the university, Connie Llewellyn, set that milestone. I think her menopause lasted a century. Trust me. You’re a kitten in the jungle when it comes to spite, but you have badass protection of your friends down solid. You actually stole a car and ran over someone who was beating up your boyfriend?”
Covering her mouth, Roz tried to suppress a smile. “I can’t call him a boyfriend if we never officially finished the first date. Besides, he doesn’t want to take advantage of me or his position of authority like the last captain did to Echo. While we’re on the ship, he insists on decorum.”
“Uh-huh. So bump into him off the ship when we stop at Prairie. He thinks you’re hot.”
Roz colored. “You’re awful. He’s never said that.”
Ivy slid an X-ray probe over the still-cooling weld. “With men, lips lie, but their eyes tell you the truth—the Book of Five Rings.”
“Dating advice from a martial arts manual?”
“Romance is no different than warfare—all based on objectives and deception,” Ivy said.
“Maybe he’s not like that.”
“Honey, Max seduced you to recruit you for this crew.”
Roz shook her head. “We never … he never …”
“Seduction is about listening to someone until you can offer them something they want in exchange for something you’re after.”
Putting her visor back into place, Roz said, “Where does that leave me? You both got what you wanted.” She proceeded to the next repair, sparks flying from the welder.
Once the weld was cooling, Ivy said, “He still needs you. Instead of a date, tell him you’re going somewhere dangerous alone. He’ll go, just to protect his asset.”
“What will that get me?”
Ivy raised the visor and looked into her eyes. “The more time he spends with you, the more he’ll see you like I do.”
“You’re just trying to break my bitch streak.” Sighing, Roz hugged her friend.
“Maybe you can repay me and tell me how to get rid of a guy.”
Roz shoved Ivy away in mock anger.
Ivy laughed. “Really. Reuben shows up everywhere. He’s relentless. Usually after I sleep with a guy, he leaves. With a ship this small, I’m tripping over him.”
Moving the scanner over a recent opening in the wall, Roz showed her the microscopic ivy leaf etched in the metal. “He signs all his work this way.”
The initial “Aww” was replaced with a “Crap. Now I have to let him down easy.”
Roz snorted. “What did you do to that kid that made him stalk you everywhere?”
“Honey, what didn’t I do? I think his favorite was the cuffs and the slow striptease just outside of his reach.” Ivy went on, describing several aspects of the adventure in detail.
Roz forced her to stop when she messed up one of the seals due to laughing.
A few moments later, Ivy grew serious. “Even pulling double shifts every day, do you really think you can pull this off? Fix an engine design from some long-dead alien that didn’t work right when he tried it?”
“I don’t know if I’m that good,” Roz said. “I’d settle for making the other parts of the ship safe. On the last test of the drive, only one crewmember survived.”
“Echo is convinced this Bat physicist is going to solve all her problems.”
“But she won’t let us mention the professor’s name on the ansible because of her paranoia. We have to fumble around in the dark, using outdated local information. While we’re searching, Kesh thinks he can make us all rich. He’d better, because a full tank of fuel is thirty-two million credits.”
“Admit it,” Ivy teased, “you don’t like when things are too easy.”
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This story continues in Gigaparsec book two, “Supergiant.”
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See the origin of the Magi, Sanctuary, and the Llewellyn dynasty in the “Jezebel’s Ladder” series.
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