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“Well, yeah. Neither one of you would compromise.”
I look from Cinq to S’Tou and back again. “What the hell, guys?”
Cinq gives me a half smile. “The empire’s cut me off from the rest of the galaxy. I’m unable to access anything or download anything.”
Oh hell, he’s lost his internal cell phone, his entire ability to download anything. I go to him as he comes up to us. “How are you understanding English, then?”
He smiles, caressing my face. “I reprogrammed some basic nanos to translate.”
“They weren’t cut?” S’Tou asks, approaching us.
“Not yet and what the empire doesn’t know won’t hurt me.” Cinq nods at the various treasures we’ve found. “So, anything worth taking?”
S’Tou shrugs. “Some replicator parts, clothes, not much more so far.”
“We’ll need to check the living quarters.” Cinq leaves the room and we follow him back into the hall.
Our footsteps echo off the smooth walls until we stop at a threshold. I’m not entirely thrilled to go in there, since S’Tou’s and Quin’s flashlights don’t seem like enough to pierce the dusty darkness. “Is there anything in particular we’re looking for?”
“Anything loose that we can’t manufacture ourselves,” Cinq answers.
“Everything, then?” I tease.
S’Tou laughs. “Yep.” He pries open a door before going to another. “Let’s team up and search together, two to a light.”
“You two go ahead. I want to catch up with Quin and go over some things,” Cinq says, then pauses enough to give me a kiss on my forehead. He’s a lot calmer than I’d be if I’d lost access to everything like he has. But then, he’s had time to prepare for the loss. Something to think about while I help ransack the place.
Opening a drawer, S’Tou grins. “Happily, Kostan underwear is basic and similar to ours.” He grabs a handful and stuffs them into a bag he’s found.
“We’ll need to make sure we can carry the replicator parts back, too,” I offer, trying to push, then pull on something looking like a handle. Those Gharian men made prying open doors seem a lot easier. “This is a door handle, right?” I ask with a grunt.
S’Tou flashes the light over. “Yeah, but with no power, it’s useless. It’s also to a toilet, so I’d pass.”
“Good idea.” I kneel to look under the bed but it’s like a hotel’s bed on Earth and on a platform. I feel but there’s no drawers there, either. “I’ll bet they took their luggage and personal items when they left.”
“Probably. Still, we have pillows, blankets, and some clothes so it’s not a complete loss.” He stops sweeping the room with the light, frozen.
His stillness is more than a little scary on the derelict vessel. I wave a hand in front of his eyes. “S’Tou? Is everything all right?”
He shakes his head. “No. We need to leave now.”
Cinq bursts into the room, grabbing my arm. “Come on. Quin says they’re close. Nilt can see them from the cave.”
I’m dragged out of the room with S’Tou behind us. “What’s going on?” I try to veer off to retrieve the clothes I’d found but Cinq doesn’t let go. “Cinq? What’s going on?”
“The Kostans are back and hovering above us.”
“Holy shit,” I breathe, letting him take me wherever we need to be.
“Exactly.” He pauses at the cargo bay door. Turning to S’Tou, he says, “They’ll expect us to flee via the front door.”
“Quin’s in the bay’s breech waiting for us,” S’Tou replies, his eyes growing hazy before he curses. “Bikking tunsa. I keep forgetting you’re offline.” He pushes us forward. “Go. Have Quin take her back while we distract them.”
“What then?” I ask, reluctant since I don’t want to leave either man behind.
Cinq’s pulling me like I’m a little red wagon. “Just go so we’re not distracted.”
The man has a point so I pick up the pace, glad to see daylight streaming into the cargo bay. Like S’Tou had said, Quin’s there. He steps up. “I’m not full Quzi, you know.”
