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He saluted with a smile. "I'll be right on time." He turned smartly on a heel and winced as his bare foot squeaked on the floor. "That would have worked much better with boots on," he said over his shoulder.
I chuckled and started toward my room. Before I took a handful of steps, I spotted Jones, hands holding something to his chest. His eyes shifted this way and that, as though he was searching for someone, or hoping not to be seen. A Centaurian passed him and he looked down at the floor until he was past.
He drew himself up and strode down the corridor, but my suspicion was already piqued. He was up to something and I wanted to know what. I should probably call security and let them deal with it, but they might only scare him away. For whatever reason, he seemed to think he could talk to me. He might do that now, but I didn't want to confront him directly.
I changed direction and followed him at a distance
Jones ducked around a corner and into another section of the corridor. I stopped at a discreet distance and waited, but he didn't come back out. A sign on the wall next to the corridor was in English and a few other alien languages. It read, 'Communications and navigation.'
Nothing suspicious about him going in there. Maybe.
I hurried across and peered down into the corridor. A woman from Agus stepped out of a doorway and gave me a funny look.
Nowwho seemed suspicious?
I flashed her a smile. "I think this is the right place. This ship is a maze, don't you think?"
"Uh, indeed." She hurried away without a backwards glance.
I made a face to myself and moved carefully in the direction Jones had gone.
The room the woman had stepped out of was wall to wall vidscreens and about half a dozen occupants from different planets. All calling home, I presumed. I would have to do the same at some point, but until now I'd been too busy to give it much thought. My mother would be wondering how I was doing. My siblings too, if they took a moment from their busy lives to think about me.
Yeah, none of us would win the prize for keeping in touch.
I straightened my back and marched past the doorway as though I belonged in that part of the ship, and kept walking. If that was communications, then navigation must be—
"Why are you following me?" Jones hissed.
He appeared in front of me so suddenly it took a moment to register.
"Where did you come from?" I asked. "What makes you think I'm following you?" I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to stare him down. He was only the same age as me, maybe even a little younger, but his eyes were blue chips of bitterness and ice.
"Navigation," he said icily. "I wanted to see how long until we reach Agus."
I narrowed my eyes. "You know as well as I do how long the journey is." I noticed then that whatever he'd held to his chest, he no longer had it. His arms hung by his sides, hands curled half into fists. "What are you really doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," he said, "if you weren't following me."
I exhaled in frustration. "Fine, I was following you, but only because you looked suspicious."
He frowned, then shrugged. "If I did, it's because I don't trust anyone on board."
I didn't miss the emphasis. "I thought humans were okay, as far as you were concerned?"
"Until they start following me," he retorted.
"Touché. You still haven't said why you're really here."
"Like I said, I wanted to know—"
I interrupted. "I don't buy it."
He growled in the back of his throat. "I get caught up in studying. I lose track of time. I thought it was the third day of the week, but it's the fourth. I assumed my watch was faulty." He held up his wrist. Around it, he wore a watch the same as mine.
"That's what you were holding?" I asked.
He looked confused for a moment, then nodded. "I was ready to throw it at a wall if it was that off. Turns out, it was me who was off." He gave an awkward laugh, but there was something in his eyes that suggested he wasn't telling the whole story, and that he wouldn't, even if I pushed.
