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“Is she still on board?” Simone asks, startled.
“Oh, wait, you know Rhonda?” I’m equally startled.
Simone nods. “She was the other human slave owned by Lord Nerit il’Aiven.”
Aaaah. There’s a wealth of meaning in Simone’s careful words. Rhonda’s jealous actions are starting to make more sense. “Yeah, she kinda sucks. She’ll be really nice to you and then stab you in the back, so we locked her up for everyone’s peace of mind. I didn’t realize we were keeping her longer, but I’m sure there’s a plan.”
I hope there’s a plan.
Bethiah returns and lingers in the hall, a pale cast to her vibrant blue skin. She presses the back of her hand to her mouth. “Well, that was unpleasant.”
“You okay?” I ask. “Can I get you anything?”
She shakes her head. “Happens every time I slingshot. Not a fan.” Pushing herself off the wall, Bethiah straightens. “And speaking of unpleasant things. I suppose I should check on Rhonda and make sure she’s alive.”
“She might not be alive?” Simone gasps.
“I’m sure she’s just joking,” I reassure Simone. “We wouldn’t have launched like that if we knew it’d hurt someone.”
“Even if that someone is Rhonda?” Bethiah teases, and then grimaces, scrubbing at her teeth with her finger. “I’m kidding. The holding cell is padded internally so she won’t break more than a limb or two if she lands badly. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.”
“So she’s staying for a while longer?” I ask, even though I know it makes me a terrible person to be annoyed by that.
Bethiah nods. “We’re taking Simone to Risda so she can have her freedom. We’re also going to dump Rhonda there. Lord Nerit doesn’t want her, and I figure the worst thing we can do for her is to make her farm for the rest of her life.”
The mention of Risda makes me tense. “And then what?”
She shrugs. “Then you and I and Jamef hang out somewhere quiet for a while until the bounties disappear. We could always visit our buddy Kaatir again. Or maybe Jamef has a suggestion of where he’d like to go.”
I relax at her words. Risda isn’t for me. We’re heading there for Simone and Rhonda, and no other reason. “I’d love to see Hazza and the others again, but I’m happy to go anywhere.”
“I know, fluffit.” She rotates her shoulders. “Why don’t you go see if Jamef needs anything and me and Simone will say hello to our buddy Rhonda.”
Nodding, I pause to hug her and then slip past towards the bridge. I’m looking forward to tonight, when I can curl up between my mates and hear the real story of what happened today and how it went. They’ll probably argue a little, but I don’t mind it. They’re just passionate about their jobs and how they want things to go. And I want to hear about everything, especially what’s going on with Jamef’s leg. I didn’t notice a problem when he came on the ship, but I also didn’t get very long to look at him. Too much was happening.
The door to the bridge is shut, and a little vase I set on a nook in the wall has fallen to the floor in front of the double doors. I pick it up and set it in its place, wondering if I need to move it back to my tiny garden nook that was added to the ship. I haven’t even had time to plant seeds yet. I tap my hand on the door unlock even as I study the vase a bit longer and pick it up again. Maybe at the next station I can ask for them to look for Earth seeds—
A scream builds in my throat as the doors to the bridge open and I see Jamef’s big body slumped over his console.
One Hundred Nineteen
DORA
I press my face to the glass pod, watching Jamef’s chest slowly rise and fall underneath it. He’s been in the med-bay for hours now, lying as still as a dead man, stretched out on the diagnostic slab with the glass shield protecting him…and keeping me from holding his hand. Test after test is run over every inch of him. My eyes are swollen from crying, and I can’t seem to pull myself away from his side, not even for a moment. I want to be there when he wakes up.
I want him to know we’re here for him.
At his other side, Bethiah has her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She glares at the screens, displeased with the results. “His leg is completely fried,” she tells me. “Several of the circuits have melted down and they’re causing a feedback loop with his other systems. It’s overriding everything else, and even if we shut off his leg, the bad feedback won’t stop. It’s like a corrupt file has wormed its way into his system and affected everything.”
