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“I’ve got the helm,” Theo said, cutting across the conversation abruptly. He had a flash of annoyance the man could be on such good terms with the security officer when she was cold and correct with him in public. The thought surprised him. Where in the seven hells did that come from? “Go get your breakfast, Mr. Paxter.”
Giving him a sloppy salute, the pilot left the bridge.
Jayna watched him go and when she turned her attention to Theo, he thought he detected an instant of worry but it was gone in a flash. “Soames reported no incidents on his shift. He patrolled the corridors and checked on the hold a few times but didn’t go past the first few rows of cargo.”
Scanning the instruments, Theo was relieved to see the heading was correct and all readouts were in the green. “I’m going to leave her on autopilot and go grab my breakfast. Care to accompany me?”
“Sure, I can use a solid meal this morning.”
They left the bridge together and headed for the wardroom. “I want to get into the hold later today,” Theo said as they walked. “I need an inventory of what’s in there so we can claim the proper reward for ourselves and the company when we hit Najie Three. If the ship is loaded with magtenetrite and Zulairian mahogany, it’ll be one thing but if all she’s carrying are trinkets for trade, quite another. I think we should do it together. The work will go faster.” And I really want the time alone with you to see if I can get past your reserve and get to know you. This opportunity was too good to miss. Sure he understood Jayna had things in her past she didn’t want to discuss—what military person didn’t carry baggage from all they’d seen and done? He knew he did. But there ought to be a connection somewhere. He couldn’t forget the night of the volleyball game and its aftermath, which had been the start of their affair.
“All right, whatever you need. Patrolling empty corridors all day is a waste of energy.”
There was no sign of Abrall in the wardroom but Paxter was in the middle of a generous breakfast, reading something on his handheld. He waved one hand in greeting and concentrated on his meal.
Theo and Jayna helped themselves to the marked packages, triggered the reheating mechanisms and sat at the other table. If Theo had hoped for conversation, he was destined to be disappointed. Jayna ate her way through Chef Stephanie’s offering methodically, sipping a nutrition drink and paying no attention to him. With an inward sigh, he did the same. There’d be time to talk while they were inventorying the contents of the hold.
She rose before he was finished and efficiently tossed her trash into the recycler. “I’ll go to the bridge and check the status on the report the tech was trying to run for us before she left the ship, see if we got any more details on what the owners were hauling.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be there in a few.”
He ate a few more bites but with Jayna’s departure his appetite had fled as well so he disposed of his tray and stopped next to Paxter. “Did you see Abrall when you got down here?”
“No, sir, but there was a food pack missing so he must have decided to eat in his cabin.”
Theo wasn’t entirely satisfied but Abrall was off duty and if he wanted to eat by himself, it was no business of his. Paxter rose and did a few dance steps on his way to the recycler before fast stepping his way out of the room, listening to music on his handheld. Theo followed more slowly. Who knew the pilot was such a free spirit? Certainly the few times Theo had seen him on the bridge of the Nebula Zephyr the man had been as professional and collected as anyone could wish. Something about this assignment seemed to have affected him in an unusual way. Maybe he just needs shore leave, Theo guessed, remembering the way Paxter had spoken longingly about flying to the resort world of Tahumaroa Two.
Jayna was waiting on the bridge when he arrived and shook her head as soon as he stepped through the portal. “No joy on the cargo report. The ship’s computer doesn’t have any files below the header.”
“We’ll have to build an inventory the old-fashioned way then I guess, by hand. We’ve got a week after all.”
“We’d better go get started then. The master of this ship had an astonishing amount of cargo in his hold. Took us two hours to walk around it, remember?” Jayna gave him a smile.
He did and the memory made him uncomfortable because it had been so odd how they’d kept walking and walking, with no idea of the amount of time passing by, and how much was crammed into such a relatively small space. Well, he’d been tired, coming off the end of his shift on the Nebula Zephyr. Surely today the place would look different and they could make real progress.
He exchanged a few words with the tech on duty, Lydia Turner and then he and Jayna left the bridge, heading for the cargo hold. Although he wanted to talk to her, for some reason he felt tongue tied, afraid to hit the wrong note with whatever conversational topic he picked. Jayna for her part seemed content to proceed in silence, which was also daunting.
They arrived at the cargo hold and Theo punched in the code to open the door with unusual force because he was annoyed with himself. They walked into the space crammed with containers and he was amazed all over again how much the ship was carrying. “Might as well start right here with the first row,” he said, pulling out his handheld and scanning the ICC- required label.
“What’s in it?” Jayna asked.
“Motors for small robo drones,” he said, moving to the next one. “Not sure how much market there’ll be for motors hundreds of years old.”
“You might be surprised. Out in the colonies they don’t have all the most up to date equipment and are always scavenging for replacement parts.” She stepped to the third cargo bin.
“You sound as if you’ve been in the colonies,” he said, making note of the equally antiquated spare parts in the second container and shifting to crate four.
“Grew up on Bowden Five,” she said. “Way out on the edge of the Sectors. This box has, or had, fresh fruit in stasis. Might or might not be still good.”
“I’m glad Captain Fleming had the foresight not to leave us to our own devices over here for food,” Theo said with a laugh. “I’m not sure how effective the stasis keeper tech was centuries ago. Probably a good thing these containers are airtight.”
“This one might be more fun,” Jayna answered. “Luxury trade goods, only slightly past their original expiration date.”
“There’ll be a lot for the salvage auctioneer to work with, I guess. Good for the credits coming our way.”
The two of them worked for several hours, logging the inventory and making occasional casual conversation as they went. The ship carried an astonishing variety of cargo, including several bins with combined consignments from a number of small traders. He was sorry for the people who’d lost their investments and hoped they were insured. He wondered if there were any claims waiting to be paid off at this late date.
“Theo?” Jayna’s voice was quiet as if she didn’t want to be overheard. “Can you come doublecheck something for me?”
