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“I’m fine.”
His breathing had an alarming hitch.
“You don’t sound fine at all,” she said. “Oh, here, I’m sending over a med-scanner.”
As the little inter-ship delivery system worked its magic, she checked the outer damage that Wingless had taken. “Oh no, your poor fin.”
“Right? I know. My deck is gone…”
Lucca smiled, watching the on-screen tracking system show the progress of her shipment. “Only you would call it a deck,” she said, but her tone was affectionate.
A mechanical chute opened into the back of his cruiser, sucking the delivery in. Lucca listened to him noisily fishing through the box for a minute, numb with shock over the dangerous reality of that fight. The tool hummed noisily as Caligher scanned himself.
Scan-data returned to her computer—topical chemical burns on his shell. Nothing serious, according to the machine. She followed the picture-coded instructions and retrieved the recommended medicine, then shot that over next.
She felt useful, a nice counter-active measure against all the guilt. If she could keep him alive, maybe she wouldn’t hate herself as much at the end of the day.
“Moon-goo,” Caligher said. Wet squelching noises slurped through the speakers.
“Is that what that’s called?”
“By Sanmantians. It’s what our moons look like through our sky. Oh—that’s something else I need to send you.” A new image appeared on her screen. A string of pearly moons hung in the middle of an opalescent sky, stunning and bizarre. His sky was an icy geode over a brimstone hellscape, a wonder of the universe.
“Your planet’s beautiful,” she said sadly.
He was quiet for a beat.
“Night is safe to visit, if heat’s the problem. We have long day cycles and temperature-controlled cities. So long as you don’t crash-land your ship in the middle of the badlands, you should be safe.”
Was he suggesting what Lucca thought he was suggesting? That humans could visit? He couldn’t be, could he?
The question was nearly bursting out of her. She swallowed it down. Let it turn bitter in her chest. How long would she have to play this game? It was growing more intolerable by the day.
“Alright, I admit it,” he said. “It’ll take more than I thought to take on our pirate.” His breathing had evened out. He sighed loudly, pacing on heavy footsteps that made his metal floor creak. “You saved my ass, Lucca. I think he was trying to poach my carapace.”
“That can happ—”
She bit her question right off, scolding herself.
Stop. Asking. Stupid. Questions.
For the love of all that’s holy, control your mouth.
“Just don’t go jumping back out there until your burns have healed,” she said.
“They’re not so bad. The moon jelly’s doing its thing.”
“Wait, you’re gonna let your burns heal. Right?”
“The pirate’s still close—”
Her jaw ticked with frustration.
“Caligher,no.”
“No?”
“That’s right, I said no. No more.”
