“I’m only a month younger than you.”
“Half my size.” He lets me go and gently taps the bottom of my chin with a finger. “Be proud and confident like you are here. You have a lot to offer. Be kind but demand respect. Promise?”
I inhale deeply and nod. “Okay.”
He tilts his head and inspects me. “Maybe I should send aRAMwith you.”
The thick band of a Robotic Animal Module around his neck uncurls and rebuilds itself on his shoulder in the shape of a parrot. It caws. “You summoned?”
“Another one? What number is he?” I ask.
Talros shrugs. “Seventeen.”
“I wish I could, but there are no weapons or pets allowed. No offense, RAM Seventeen.” I open my datapad and send ABR my request with a picture of Talros.
“None taken,” the cybernetic parrot remarks. After a quiet command from Talros, the bird folds itself back into a collar around his neck.
Talros and I set up a test run for the ship’s hoverpad while we await confirmation from ABR.
“Got the ticket,” he says with joy, reading his datapad. “Catalyst Five in a hotel room for a whole week? I’ve never had a vacation that long unless I was sick.”
“I hope you enjoy it.” I’m secretly worried about the backlash he might get when he returns to Earth and has to deal with Elwin and Verity because she didn’t get to go. But I can’t help everyone, especially not those who don’t want to help themselves to anything but the successes of others, even if they’re pathetic successes like mine.
After clipping the test sensors into the circuitry and supply lines of the engine, we signal the port. Our gauntlets feed us data as the engine cycles through its warm-up phase, burns off the manufacturing oils and dust, and heats up red with warping pulses that drone even through our earplugs and earmuffs.
Talros gives me a high five and shouts over the engine’s roar, “Ocassa can suck it!”
Once we’ve shut down the thruster, filed our reports, and cleaned up our tools, we head out of the shipyard with the other crews.
Talros suddenly looks bummed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just wondering who they’re going to stick me with after you. Won’t be the same. I’m used to having an engineer who knows how to troubleshoot. I might get a noob or a total cocky jerk and anyone in between. The managers, specifically Payton, have mentioned he’s not looking forward to replacing you.”
All this time, I was just focused on getting out of my situation, and I didn’t even consider how it would affect those who relied on me.
“I’ll miss working with you, too, but not scrubbing toilets,” I admit. “Speaking of, I’ve got to head inside.”
“Right.” Talros sees my hovercar and leans around me. “Stars.”
“That was Elwin. He wanted my datapad for Verity. She lost hers again.”
“Here.” He hands me a set of keys. “I can walk home. Sleep in my truck tonight. I’d invite you to stay on my sofa, but I’m afraid that might break some ABR policy, I don’t know.”
“I can’t take that and make you walk all that way.”
“Please. That door doesn’t even look like it’s latching.”
“It’s not.”
“Jovie,” Talros whines.
“No.”
He slumps. “You’re so hardheaded sometimes.”
“Independent.”
