[Perhaps I should evaluate pilots based on competency, not presence.]
[Especially since we hadn’t moved.]
“Are you planning to fly the ship, or should I enter a dormancy state until something interesting happens?” I asked. I didn’t have a dormancy state, but she didn’t have to know that.
Torian’s expression registered asoffended. “Hey, you asked.”
“Correct. I just asked whether you plan to fly the ship.” Humans had such short lifespans—if we didn’t leave soon, she might actually die here. I activated a light over the control panel, highlighting the yoke. “You steer with this.”
“I—argh,” Torian said. “You’re impossible.”
That was another accurate assessment. “I am the only organic computer in existence, which does align with a human’s limited grasp of possibility.”
“Never mind.” Torian said something else, quietly enough that my microphones couldn’t decipher it, and took hold of the yoke. For all that the starship’s start-up was complex, humans piloted their starships in a similar fashion now that everything was running. This was unsurprising:Hisspecies, the nylarians, set the standard for most things in this galaxy. Human ships probably utilized similar piloting panels without knowing their origin.
“Brace yourself,” she said.
“My central system is anchored in the engine room, and my rhizoids secure me everywhere else.”
Torian snorted and pushed forward on the yoke.
For the first time in over a hundred years, theDestitutemoved of its own accord.
It was a smooth transition, since Auto-Nav compensated for minor pilot error. Torian lifted the ship off the platform, easing us around to face the airlock. Traffic was light in this hangar at this time of day, but Torian still connected the ship’s radio to whatever human navigator controlled egress.
“This is the starshipDest—ah, theTraitor. Requesting departure.”
“Departure acknowledged. Proceed into the airlock. Thank you for visiting Colony 13.”
My sensors indicated that Torian’s heartbeat increased. She turned off the radio. “No going back now.”
I remained silent, because it was unknown how much focus she needed to fly. Human brains weren’t good at multitasking.
She eased us into the airlock, and several minutes went by as they closed the airlock door and vented the atmosphere. As the air was forcibly vacated, the resulting wind tickled the leaves of my exterior moss. [I didn’t grow much on the outside of the ship, since only a few types of moss could withstand the vacuum of space and its extreme temperatures, but it was helpful for sensory data such as this.]
Then, the opposite airlock opened, and Torian eased us into space. The vacuum pressed all around us, but theDestitutewas a solid ship. It cruised, Auto-Nav syncing with human traffic control to offer a safe path from the space station. After three minutes of flying, we exited Colony 13’s space.
I expected some form of excitement here, but there was nothing. No glee, no spite. I had wanted to leave—and then, suddenly, we did.
And then, equally sudden, Torian stopped. She eased the thrusters and turned the ship around. I used the camera over her head to trace her eyesight. She was looking at the space station.
This, finally, flared in my central system.Unbelievable. She was regretting her decision. I’d observed that from many humans—oneswho toured the ship and contemplated purchasing it, only to hesitate when the maintenance human would hand them a datapad to sign.
She had the same expression. I ran it through sixteen facial assessment programs to confirm.
“If you take me back there, this ship will always smell vaguely of mildew.” Wait. That didn’t sound like enough of a threat. I added, “I’ll also expel the oxygen, and it will take fifty years to produce more. You will be dead before this ship is habitable again.”
There. A fair warning.
“I can’t go back. Not yet,” Torian said.
In retrospect, my warningmayhave been a bit extreme. With my enhanced colony, it would only take twelve days to refill the ship with oxygen… and I did have emergency stores just in case.
[I didn’t regret saying it, though.]
“Good. That space station is where we go to die.”
She chuckled, but the sound was watery. Liquid was leaking from her eyes. My databanks suppliedcrying, which was somethinghenever did, but was common with other species. “That is… very, very accurate. At least for my sister.”
