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“We’ve done a little bit of both,” I admit, hunting for a sock close to matching the one in my hand.
“Um hm,” he says, bent over and searching for what I presume is another boot to match the one standing next to his feet. “Quin’s on his way here. He’d sent a message so neither one of us would be startled.”
“Good idea. If he startled us, we’d probably throw a shoe at him.”
Chuckling, S’Tou sweeps the room with the light. “Neither of us has heard from Cinq in a while. Has he said anything to you about being offline?”
I try to remember but come up with nothing. “No, and he’s been worried about losing access to the empire.”
S’Tou groans. “Bik, I hope that hasn’t happened already. I’ll have to go find him.” He goes to a flat wall, searches for and presses something just higher than he is tall. An opening shimmers and appears for him as he continues, “Quin’s found a replicator and is stripping it for parts. We’ll need to help him carry things back to the habitat.”
“Okay,” I say, still marveling over how he made a door appear in a wall. “I wish we’d known how to open this room up. We’d have taken over and crashed this ship ourselves.”
He laughs. “It’s standard on this model and the extent of my knowledge for this vessel. I’m not sure I could pilot it without a download or two.”
I follow him into a hallway. He’s moving the light around enough for me to get a good look at the place. There are no frills that I can see. “Somewhat plain, isn’t it?”
“Needs power. Then, you’d see the lights and various communications on the walls.”
“Like videos and things,” I say, thinking of how an airport’s causeway would have ads and the news plastered all over.”
“Somewhat. Current ship’s status and destination, crew information, those sorts of things. Basic and not as much entertainment or non-essential events as a passenger ship would have.” He puts a hand on my arm. “Quin is on the other side of the door.”
Sure enough, Quin struggles with a sliding door, grunting as he opens it. He gives a grin to S’Tou. “Fine time for you to show up. I’ve done the hard part.”
“I have a talent,” S’Tou says and steps in with me trailing behind. “How much is left to do?”
“Just picking up everything to take back to the cave,” Quin replies, dusting off his hands.
S’Tou lets out a low whistle. “Excellent and you’re getting faster at stripping parts.”
We continue on. A little underwhelmed by the rest of the cargo ship, I expected more large monitors and eerie hallways, not smooth metal and soft floors. “You all do this often?” I ask, a little underwhelmed by the rest of the cargo ship.
“No. Just when Aard brings us something to repair or dismantle when we can’t fix it,” S’Tou replies.
“This guy has been training me,” Quin says, putting components into a metal box. “He’s the expert around here.”
“I’m good at downloading from the datalinks. So is Cinq,” the Gharian says, shrugging off the praise. “Did they leave any food in here?”
“Nothing edible,” Quin replies, putting in the final piece. “I checked the cooler but the drinks were gone.”
S’Tou opens a small door and peers inside. “Pless. I’ve been craving some arnsa for a while now.”
“Have Aard bring you some,” Quin mutters, bending over to pick up a fallen part.
“I need to.” He closes the door.
“Hello,” echoes from outside.
It’s Cinq and I holler back, “In here.”
“I’ll get him,” Quin volunteers and exits, going back where S’Tou and I came from.
S’Tou watches as he leaves, then shakes his head. “What?” I ask. “Is something wrong?”
“I hope not.”
Now he’s scaring me. Cinq’s at the doorway, his body taking up the frame as much as S’Tou’s did earlier. His face is grim as he asks S’Tou, “You guessed, didn’t you?”
