“Hey.” He grabbed her helmet and tipped it up until he stared straight through her visor. “We still need to check the captain’s cabin.”
She pulled herself together. “Right.” She pulled up the schematics on her Sync. “It was right behind the bridge. At least we know the forward part of the ship is still intact.”
“Lead the way, Captain Sander.”
Their journey through the dead ship was eerie. A prickling feeling crept along the back of Justyn’s neck. He was a man always in motion, chasing what life had to give. This wreckage was nothing more than a tomb for the long-dead who’d lost their lives here. It gave him the creeps.
He pulled himself up a set of stairs behind Nissa, and let his attention focus on admiring her shapely ass highlighted by the tight spacesuit. It wouldn’t be long before they’d have to head back to theNomad. He smiled to himself. When they were back up there, safe and sound, he’d sweet-talk the lovely captain into his bunk to do something life-affirming.
“Just down this corridor,” she said quietly, interrupting his little fantasy.
“Got it.”
The door to the captain’s cabin was closed. She tried the door but it didn’t move. Then she frowned, studying her Sync. “This can’t be right.”
“What?”
“My scans say that the cabin is still pressurizedandhas artificial gravity.”
His mouth dropped open. “No way. It can’t be.”
“Guess we’ll find out. Unbelievably, the door lock is still operational.” She pressed the Sync to the old-fashioned door lock. A second later, the Sync broke the code and the doors opened.
Air whooshed out in a blast. Gripping the door frame, they shoved themselves inside, and Nissa got the door closed again.
They dropped to the floor with a thud.
Justyn angled his head so his light illuminated the dark room. Everything in the cabin was in place. A double bunk against the back wall was neatly made, and a large, polished-wood desk sat in front of a large round window, giving a view of Sargasso.
“Unbelievable.” Nissa walked over to the desk. On the surface, books were stacked in neat piles. There was also a pile of dust that may have once been paper. A small glass container held old-fashioned pens, and a precursor to the modern-day Sync lay in the center of the space.
Justyn turned around slowly, noting the doorway to the small bathroom, and a lovely framed painting hanging on the far wall. It showed an ancient Terran ocean-going vessel battling a rough sea, its white sails unfurled. “It’s like Griffin just walked out.”
“Why is this room pressurized? The scans aren’t showing any pressure anywhere else on the ship.”
“The ship ran on nuclear power, right? Some small sliver of that power was obviously rerouted to keep this room in perfect condition.” He smiled. “Makes me wonder what they wanted to protect in here.”
Her smile matched his. “Let’s find out.”
Nissa swungher Sync around the room as it scanned the entire space. Beside her, Justyn was searching behind the painting for a safe.
“Damn, nothing,” he said.
“Too obvious.”
He moved onto the tiny closet, searching through the debris left inside. Probably the rotted remains of Captain Griffin’s clothes. After a cursory look, Justyn backed out quickly. “Man, something smells bad in there.”
A noise made her look up. She frowned, glancing over her shoulder. It sounded like…skittering.
She shook her head. Now she was hearing things. There was no way anything else could be here with them. She focused impatiently on the Sync. “Come on, come on.”
“The Constitution’s waited a thousand years, Nissa. I think it can wait another minute.”
“Maybe it can, but I can’t.” Again, a faint skittering noise. “Justyn, did you hear that?”
“What?”
“A noise. It sounded like…I’m not sure what.”
