I did not care about her younger years; only the recent events. As I parsed through, several moments stuck out:
Torian Razner was sitting in what appeared to be a hospital waiting room, tapping her foot incessantly. Her eyes were leaking, a human indicator of high emotion—typically sadness. She stared at the ceiling and said, “Mom, Dad. If you’re listening… Celise needs your help. Please.”
[Evaluation: Jak and Kally Razner were deceased, Jak when Torian was small, Kally when Torian was a teenager. Hospital records revealed that Dr. Celise Razner was checked in to the hospital for difficulty breathing. She was released two days later. Examination of the species as a whole proved that humans often prioritized relations with their family, same as nylarians.]
[Conclusion: Torian valued family.]
A dark hallway was still and quiet… until Torian sprinted past, towing another human who appeared injured. She pushed the human into a tight corner, then whispered, “Stay quiet.” The injured human was wearing a uniform similar to hers, and clutched a small disc. Said human appeared distressed. They replied, “Razner,don’tyou dare—”
Torian did not hear the end of that sentence. She ran down the hall, and another camera angle showed her pausing in a clearing, cocking a gun. “Hey,” she called. “You want the lists? I have them.” She pulled out a similar-looking disc, waving it.
Four other humans plowed after her, all dressed in black. Torian narrowly avoided getting shot as she ran into another hallway—opposite of the injured human.
[Evaluation: There are few records like that on Colony 13, but Torian Razner was registered as “security personnel” for the humanFleet, which was classified as a smuggling syndicate. (There were two other smuggling syndicates of note, but neither operated in any official capacity on Colony 13.) It is likely that most of Torian’s time in “security” work was spent on starships, not Colony 13. This is further proven by limited visual data over the last seven years. There are other, similar instances when Torian was younger of her protecting classmates from antagonistic teenagers, intervening in fights, and accumulating injuries as a result.]
[Conclusion: To her own detriment, Torian would fight to defend coworkers and friends, and finish assigned tasks.]
In a town square—which, for humans, was simply a metal box with a few pathetic plants—Torian sat at a table working on a small model. Closer inspection proved it was a model starship, assembled with a handheld welding apparatus and spare scraps of metal and screws. A child approached as she worked, and she offered it for the small human’s inspection.
“Pretty cool, huh?” she asked. “It’s a Class 23RT freighter. They use these to transport fresh supplies from Rhymarra.”
“We get stuff from Rhymarra?” The human child registered as awestruck. They examined the starship, which was roughly the size of both their hands.
“Well,wedon’t. But if you’re rich someday, you would. You ever imagine being rich? If I were rich, I’d buy a starship myself.”
The child glanced at her. “And then what?”
Torian laughed. “I’d fly anywhere I wanted.”
[Evaluation: The starship was a near-exact likeness of a Class 23RT freighter. Further inspection of other videos proved that Torian developed this… hobby… years earlier, with a 98 percent accuracy of origin in an engineering course in her college studies, where she was decidedlynotfollowing the lab assignment.]
[Conclusion: Torian was passionate about starships. Torian yearned to leave Colony 13.]
With this information, I withdrew. The maintenance human reappeared, accompanied by two other humans who began attaching a smaller towing ship to theDestitute. I watched absently, crunching this new data, running scenarios.
My path forward developed with a 93.4 percent success rate.
I would endear myself to Torian Razner, the solar-engineer security maybe-pilot human. And once she viewed me as an essential system in her life, I would never be alone again.
CHAPTER 3
The Fleet was a reputable employer—at least on its home base of Colony 13. Station officials tended to look the other way, mostly because everyone knewsomeoneemployed by the Fleet. An operation this size was less “illegal smuggling” and more “reliable transport with questionable morals.”
Torian hadn’twantedto join the Fleet, but it paid well and let her explore the solar system in the meantime. All she had to do was stare pointedly at a wall as they hauled cargo boxes she didn’t care to examine.
(At the very least, the Fleet had strict rules about what could be transported, and by whom. They didn’t move people. Ever. Animals were also off-limits, at least on the starships Torian had served with. She’d sneakily inspected every crate she stored in Amelia’s starship, and the worst thing she’d found were stacks of guns purchased by a very mean corporation owner. If those guns misfired on testing, Torian certainly wasn’t responsible.)
Overall, it wasn’t a bad place to make a few bars. There were certainly worse options.
Granted, Torian had never tried to leave the Fleet. When her contract was up, they automatically renewed it to a different starship. She’d served on ten or so before Amelia hired her. Now, she wasn’t entirely sure what the process was to quit.
After dinner with Celise, she decided the best option was to just… leave.
