Vishlog frowned. “I am not man, I am Dreth,” he replied as though that fact and the apparent quality difference should have been obvious.
Stephanie looked at Elizabeth. “Do you see what I have to put up with?” She glanced at Amy. “Are you sure…” she asked and jerked a thumb at the Dreth.
The bodyguard raised both hands. “No, I’m good.” She indicated Marcus and Johnny. “This much trouble is more than enough for me. Something that big…” She shook her head.
Her smile faded. “Seriously, though. I really appreciate you lending us these guys.” Her gaze strayed to Ms E. “She’s a handful when you’re on your own.”
“Hey!” Elizabeth protested, and the other woman smirked.
Stephanie smiled, too. “I’m only glad to know she’s being looked after. I’d have had trouble keeping my mind on what I was doing if I’d had to leave her alone. I’m really glad the guys agreed to stay.”
“It’s no problem,” Johnny told her and joined them from where he’d studied his tablet. “We’ll make sure she’s still around when you get back.”
She noticed he was still limping and that his eyes were shadowed with pain. Obviously, Burt hadn’t been joking when he’d said the man wasn’t fully healed. Her employer had backed his decision with the files he’d taken from the rehab therapist’s tablet.
“Well, damn,” she had responded, and Lars had agreed with her.
“I should wring his neck for not saying anything,” he muttered.
“I’ll help,” she offered and had gone with him when he’d delivered the news of who would stay behind.
When Elizabeth had heard the news, she’d breathed a mock sigh of relief. “For a minute there, I thought you planned to leave me with Frog.”
Stephanie grinned and slid the small guard a sidelong glance. “Nah. He bitches constantly about being left to ‘mind the car.’ We thought we’d take him with us this time.”
“Besides, I want him where I can see him,” the team leader added. The subject of their conversation opened his mouth to protest, but Elizabeth spoke first.
“Why? It’s not like you’ll ever be able to catch him in time.”
Frog gaped.
“No, but I can shoot him,” Lars quipped quickly.
“Hey!”
Ignoring his protest, Elizabeth turned to Stephanie. “Keep a good handle on the Morgana when you get out there. We don’t want to lose you in the first battle—or any of the others, for that matter.”
She rolled her eyes. “She kinda has a mind of her own.”
The woman sighed and looked worried. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Don’t let her get you killed, okay.”
“Fine. Yes, Mom.”
Ms E frowned at her. “I’m sure your mom would say the same thing. She wouldn’t want you to get your ass—or your hand—blown off, either.”
Marcus snorted. “See? This is what I’m supposed to keep you safe from.”
Vishlog nudged him and he grunted.
Stephanie raised her eyebrow. “See? Seriously, you’re better off here.”
“I was fine,” he muttered and she smirked.
“Don’t feel too bad.” She jerked a thumb at the other woman. “Instead of me, I give you the problem child—”
“Hey!” Elizabeth was not impressed.
Stephanie ignored her “Who keeps getting into gunfights—”
“Not fair!”
“…car chases, attacks…”
“Well sure, but that wasn’t really my fault either—”
“…trouble with the traffic authority…”
“Well, that’s true, but it’s a low blow—”
The team started laughing and even the nurse cracked a smile. “It looks like someone knows you well,” she commented.
Elizabeth glared at her. “Too well,” she grumbled.
Marcus regarded Stephanie with a mock-solemn gaze and a smile played over his lips. “So, what you’re saying is that there is a good chance I’ll die here?”
She tried to look contrite. “Well…basically, yeah,” she told him. “I’m sorry.”
The guard shrugged. “Well, if that’s all, it should be a normal week. I suspect we’ll come out of it with only a scratch…maybe two.”
“Great!” Amy sighed. “You gave me the one who likes to tempt fate.”
The Witch opened her mouth to reply, but he was quicker. “All we need are a few red shirts.”
“What?” the other guard asked, her bewilderment genuine.
“What’s a red shirt?” Stephanie wanted to know.
“Oh, c’mon. You seriously don’t know?”
Stephanie shook her head, and Marcus draped an arm around her shoulders. “Let me show you this old tv show the Toddster taught us and how everyone who went down to a planet who wore a red shirt died.”
The guys groaned and Elizabeth shook her head. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” he told her. “You could come watch it.”
She was about to refuse emphatically when her tablet chimed and she pulled it out and looked at it.
“We have no time for movies,” she told him when she’d read the message. “The ship will be here in an hour.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Brenden and Avery set the team’s new dropship down in the Ebon Knight’s hold. They eased in as light as a feather and settled with only the slightest of vibrations. A semi-familiar voice came over the comms.
“Not bad. You guys have learned new tricks since I saw you last.”
For a moment, they sat in stunned silence while they tried to recall where they’d heard the voice before. Finally, Lars spoke. “Wattlebird?”
“In the flesh. Who did you think they’d get?”
“Someone who could fly,” Frog snarked before anyone could stop him.
The response was swift—but not from the pilot.
“You will treat my pilot with respect,” a female voice snapped. “He is more than competent.”
“Uh…no offense…ma’am?”
“I am the Ebon Knight,” the voice informed them. “You may call me Knight.”
“Or Ebony,” Wattlebird cut in. “She doesn’t mind that.”
Something suspiciously close to a sigh rumbled through their earpieces. “Or Ebony. You are fortunate my pilot seems to like you.”
Stephanie cleared her throat and pushed from her seat. “I’m pleased to meet you, Ebony. I am Stephanie Morgana. May we come aboard?”
“You are already aboard…but you may debark, yes. I have looked forward to meeting you.”
Once the hangar bay had pressurized, they stepped out onto the ship to find the captain waiting for them. “Emil Pederson at your service,” he said and extended his hand.
“Stephanie Morgana,” she replied and gestured to the team. “Lars, my team leader, Vishlog, personal protection, Brenden and Avery, my pilots, and Frog, my technical specialist.”
“And these?” the captain asked as he turned toward the cats.
Both returned his gaze, their eyes curious while their tails twitched.
“Bumblebee and Zeekat. They wanted to accompany me from Meligorn.”
“And the elves let you take them?”
“The Meligornians had no choice. The cats had decided”—she smirked—“and Vishlog was attached.”
The Dreth’s jaw dropped open. “I was not with you then,” he protested, although his hand strayed to Bee’s head.
Watching them, the captain smiled. “The crew would like to meet you. Do you have a moment?”
She smiled, glad Burt had warned her. “Sure. Lead the way.”
They went to engineering first and Emil took them through the battery room before they entered through the rear of the engine room. Stephanie managed two steps into the massive compartment before she stopped abruptly.
The energy surged around her, and her skin tingled with the power.
“Whoa…” She breathed deeply and the captain didn’t bother to hide his smile.
“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?”
“Spectacular,” she managed, and he gestured for her to follow him.
“Come and meet Chief Engineer Cameron Hargreaves. He’s one of the top in his field and we’re lucky to have him.”
As he spoke, the door at the other side of the engine room opened and an older man stepped through. He looked tense and didn’t appear to notice them. The door shut behind him and he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and the tension melted away. He raised a hand and he rested it on its housing.
“Well, Knight, let’s hope your new mistress sees you for the magnificent beast you are.” He opened his eyes and patted the housing as he took another deep breath. “She should be here soon.”
The captain cleared his throat and Hargreaves startled and pivoted to face them. His face reddened and he crossed to the group. “Captain, I didn’t expect you so soon—”
“I thought I’d bring them this way first,” he explained. “I’m sorry. I should have called ahead.”
Stephanie stepped forward and extended her hand. “I am very pleased to meet you.” She looked around. “This is…” She waved at the massive engines around her. “It’s nothing short of spectacular.”
He smiled. “Thank you, ma’am.”
She shook her head. “Call me Stephanie. Would you care to walk me through?”
His gaze darted uncertainly to the captain, but Emil shrugged. “It is your domain, Cameron. Why don’t you show her around it?”
“Very well, if you’d come this way. These are experimental drives—or they were, at least. We’ve essentially shaken out every bug in them we could find.” He took her on a winding path between the great engines while he answered her questions about how they operated, what it took to fuel them, and what she could expect from them.
When she asked about how they responded to Nihilistic energy, he frowned. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that before. Do you have time to fill me in?”
She did and passed on what she’d learned from The King’s Warrior’s engineer. He simply stared at her when she’d finished. After a moment, he said, “I think I’d like to meet this K’Vila. Do you think it’s possible?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Cameron guided her through to the engineering operations center and introduced her to the team on duty. The off-duty team had also come down to meet her and, while several of them stifled yawns, they all looked genuinely pleased to be serving on her ship.
She was smiling when she stepped into the corridor. “Where to next?” she asked, and the captain led the way.
“You’ll have to excuse the mess,” he said as they headed away from engineering. “We had some last-minute supplies delivered from Earth and the Navy sent extras. We’re still trying to fit them all in.”
As he spoke, they rounded a corner and waited while a low-loader floated through a door marked Life Support. The captain sighed. “We can come back later if you like.”
Stephanie shook her head. “No, I’d like to see how they handle things.”
Emil shrugged. “Well, okay, then.”
“I’ll be onboard a lot,” she told him and smiled. “It’s not like it’ll be perfect all the time.”
“I know, but—”
“Yeah, on my first day? It’s a working ship, Captain. You know how it goes.”
He managed a wry smile at that. “This way, then…and it’s Emil.”
She nodded, and they followed the low-loader into the life support section in time to hear the section chief notice the goods. “What have you brought me this time?”
One of the crewmen swept a hand toward the boxes. “Well, sir, I’m not rightly sure, but it’s all earmarked Life Support so I assumed you’d be glad to see it.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Also, some of that shit’s heavy, sir. We’ll need help.”
“Gotcha.” The lieutenant looked around and caught sight of the captain standing at the door. “Sir!”
His gaze shifted to Stephanie and her team and his face colored. Emil stepped in before he could say anything.
“This is Stephanie Morgana.”
The man glanced from the captain to her and then to the supplies. He forced a smile. “Welcome, ma’am.”
From the look on his face, she was anything but, but she smiled in return. “Thank you.”
He swallowed nervously and gestured toward the low-loader. “I’m sorry about this, but I have to…”
“Don’t be,” she interrupted him calmly. “Lars and Brenden can help with that. They might not know life support, but they can put boxes where they’re told.”
He opened his mouth to protest but changed his mind and nodded. “Thank you. Kim will show you where it all goes.”
The two guards stepped forward and she turned to the chief technician. Before she could say anything, though, the door on the opposite side of the room burst open and a crewman hurried in.
“Sir, we have a problem with the fil—” He noticed Stephanie and the cats. “Uh…filtration…system. I’m sorry.”
The lieutenant rolled his eyes. “It never rains but it pours.” He turned to the man. “Who’s in there?”
The crewman reddened. “Felix, sir, but she says we need someone smaller.” His eyes flicked over Frog before they strayed to Stephanie while he spoke, but he didn’t say anything.
“And who do we have?” The Lieutenant asked.
“No one, sir. Fee’s the smallest we have.”
“I can do it.” The Witch spoke before the man had a chance to say anything and looked at the crewman. “I’m the right size, right?”
He blushed. “You are, ma’am, but you’re not rated on this equipment.”
“Felix can tell me what to do, can’t she?”
The crewman looked at his boss, and the lieutenant nodded. “She can.” He hesitated, “But, ma’am, you’ll get filthy.”
Stephanie shrugged. “We all have to breathe, right?”
He directed a pleading look at his superior, and Emil returned his gaze. “Do you have anyone else?” When he shook his head, the captain continued. “Then Felix can supervise. I want that filtration system fixed before we leave the system.”
He looked at her. “It’s a good thing the Navy sent us spares.”
It was. She didn’t bother to change and simply followed the crewman into the next room where Felix stood glumly in front of a maintenance hatch in the housing of one of the filtration systems.
“I still can’t reach it, Bridge—oh.”
“Hi, I’m Steph.” She moved to stand beside her. “I’ll be your small person for the day. Where do you want me to go?”
The woman’s first response was clearly not appropriate because she opened her mouth to speak and closed it abruptly. When she did reply, it was with a more considered, “You need to go through here and take an abrupt left. Here—if you wear the HUD, I’ll be able to guide you.”
She took an HUD from where a couple hung on the wall. As she passed it to her, she wrinkled her nose. “It’s filthy in there. Are you sure you don’t want to—”
Stephanie looked at the captain. “How much time do we have?”
“About four hours for the jump window, but we’re running tight.”
“I’d better get this done, then.”
Cautiously, she opened the hatch a little wider and stepped through the gap while she tried not to think what might happen to her brand-new uniform. The aperture was narrow enough that she had to squeeze through it, and the space beyond was a tight fit, even for her.
Note to self. Get this redesigned for easier access.
“And hold it right there,” Felix told her. “Go left until you reach the filter. You can’t miss it.”
Well, that’s an understatement. She saw the filter ahead of her.
“Holy crap,” Felix exclaimed, and Stephanie echoed her assessment. “Uh-huh.”
“I am gonna kick Logan’s ass.”
“Why?�
��
“Because it’s not the right filter.”
The captain groaned.
“How can you tell?” the Witch asked.
“Well, it’s not easy,” Felix admitted. “The whole thing’s like a cassette that you slide in through the port on the outside, and the one that should be here is very similar to this one, but it doesn’t do the same job.”
“Or fit as nicely?” she suggested and studied the way the filter was skewed inside the vent.
“No,” the woman agreed. “I thought I explained it better.”
“Well, at least you know why you couldn’t get it out easily.”
“I shouldn’t have tried at all,” the technician muttered and cleared her throat. “You’re gonna need tools. Come back to the hatch and I’ll pass ʼem through.”
It took some fiddling, a fair amount of muscle, and a great deal of swearing to extract the damaged incorrect filter and, by the end of it, she had acquired a layer of stickiness and dirt she hadn’t had on arrival. She took a breather as Felix removed the last of the filter and waited for her next set of instructions.
After a couple of moments, the sound of movement around the duct drew her attention. “Give it a sec,” the woman told her. “I’m inserting the new filter frame now.”
The process of replacing the frame and filter took less than two minutes, and she re-emerged from the duct, filthier than when she’d gone in. She looked at her soiled uniform and then at Felix.
“I don’t suppose there’s a spare pair of coveralls in my size, is there?”
The lieutenant came through the door as she asked it and passed her a pristine set. “I ran these up on the fabricator while you were in there. I hope they fit.” He blushed. “There’s no spare underwear, I’m afraid.”
“Thank you,” she told him and accepted the clothing. “I’ll be fine.”
The captain cleared his throat. “I could escort you to your quarters so you can change. We can always pick up the tour at another time.”
Stephanie shook her head. “Nah. These’ll be fine. I only need a change room.”
“But your uniform—”
“I’m very sure that if I walk around with a Dreth and two cats, people will know who I am no matter what I’m wearing.”
Witch Of The Federation III (Federal Histories Book 3) Page 50