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“Happy for you, friend,” Sentorr says in a low voice, and he sounds pleased.
I’m happy for me, too.76SOPHIEThis isn't the ship I remember.
As Jerrok sets up the navigation of the Little Sister to align with the Jabberwock, I wander up and down the halls of the abandoned ship. Sleipnir follows nearby, but when he heads into the kitchen and starts sniffing around, I don't follow him. I head toward crew quarters, feeling melancholy.
It's like a ghost town in here. It doesn't feel like a home, and it certainly doesn't feel like the place I lived in before I came to live with Jerrok. Not that it ever truly felt like home but…it didn't feel like this. It didn't feel abandoned. Deserted. A shell of what it once was. The funny thing is, I keep expecting to turn a corner and see broken things in the ship, to see light panels that have gone out or a screen that isn't working, but everything's just fine. There's a layer of dust on all the surfaces and the floors are dirty as if booted feet walked over them dozens of times, but other than that…it's just as it ever was.
I pause in front of Adiron's room, running a finger over the dust that's accumulated in the carved lettering on his door. I want to peek inside, but it doesn't feel right to snoop, even if they're not around.
Footsteps. I recognize the heavy steps and turn to look over at Jerrok with a weary smile. "We good to go?"
"The Sister is set to ride behind the Jabberwock at a safe distance. We're pretty much on auto-pilot for the next while." He comes to my side and slips his arms around my waist, resting his chin atop my head. "You all right?"
"Yeah," I say softly. "I just…don't understand it. Where do three men like that go? What made them leave their ship behind?"
"And their weapons, and their credits," Jerrok adds. "I installed a secret panel for them in the engine room a few years back, and I checked it earlier. It's full. Wherever they went, they intended to come back."
That makes me feel worse. "Do you think they're dead?"
"I don't know what to keffing think, to be honest." He presses a kiss to the top of my head. "But I want you to know you belong with me, no matter what. Even if we find them tomorrow and they desperately need a navigator." His hands slide up to my breasts, cupping them. "You belong with me."
I chuckle. "They must be super desperate if they want me as a navigator."
"No. They know what a smart, wonderful female you are." He nuzzles at my hair, brushing his mouth against it. "I should return to the engine room. I need to watch over the diagnostic checks to make sure nothing's been tampered with. I just wanted to check on you. Sure you're all right?"
"I'm sure." I hug his arms against me, feeling very loved and protected, tucked against his chest and enveloped in his arms. "If it's all right with you, I think I'll clean up. It doesn't look like anyone's done it in forever." Absently, I rub the toe of my shoe against a scuff on the floor.
"That might not all be recent. They are three adult males in a ship, after all. I doubt a va Sithai has ever cleaned up after themselves."
I laugh, because he's not altogether wrong. The brothers don't need a navigator as much as they need a maid.* * *Because cleaning's a distraction as well as a pleasure for me, I do it by hand instead of starting up the cleaning bots. I pull out all of the cleaning equipment from the closet in the hangar, and it's all just as I left it. Yeah, the brothers aren't big on cleaning up after themselves, but I knew that. I head into the kitchen and pick through a sea of wrappers and empty noodle cartons, wrinkling my nose and fishing a door handle out of Sleipnir's mouth. "Unless whoever took them decided to eat all their noodles and toss down the wrappers, something tells me that this is more Kaspar and Adiron's doing than anything else," I tell the big carinoux. "They're pigs. Mathiras is a little better, but not by much."
After I clean up the sea of wrappers, I scrub the countertops and the floors. I turn the food dispensers to cleaning mode and the machines whirr and steam, making a ton of noise as I move to the next room, and the next, and down the hall. By the time I'm satisfied that the areas Jerrok and I will be using are as clean as they can possibly be, I wipe my sweaty brow and move to one of the wall panels, checking in on Jerrok. He's still in the engine room, glancing between his data pad and the screen of scrolling information in front of him. Still running diagnostics, it seems. I want to go and kiss him all over, because I'm filled with such love for him. Even through all that's been going on, his first concern is how I feel. No one's ever put me first before him, and it's the most incredible feeling. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it. It makes me want to shower his face with kisses…and shower places below his belt with kisses, too.
