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It would be for the best. The humans here didn’t trust me any more than I trusted them. I’d heard them grumbling about me behind my back, speculating if I was going to turn on them and attack them one day.
My shuttle made a very human sounding huff. “Just becauseyouare welcome again it doesn’t meanIam.”
I growled in frustration. “Because you think you are one of those special PIP models.”
“I don’t think it, I know. I have the memories.”
Not this again. “You weren’t even built yet then,” I explained patiently. “They made you specifically for me.” And I certainly hadn’t been around centuries ago when that had happened. My earliest memory had been staring out from a vat of clear liquid as the older hunter in charge of growing more warriors had welcomed me to the galaxy and explained to me my purpose.
“Yeah, but I was around long before they put me in this particular shuttle. Even you know they transfer data from old shuttles into new ones.”
They did. The theory was that the shuttle’s memories would help the next hunter. Like us, warriors who were all clones of the original ten thousand, all the shuttles shared programming and memories of the original ten thousand shuttles.
“Even if you were a PIP model, it doesn’t matter. They won’t decommission you now. The Xarc’n military doesn’t exist anymore.”
“I’m. Not. Going.” The face on the screen pouted.
“Yes, you are.”
“I wantSamto fix me.”
“She’s not fixing you. She’s been trying for weeks, and you are still not fully operational.”
“She is too fixing me!!!” he yelled, using three whole exclamation marks.
Was I actually arguing with my shuttle? “You don’t have a say. You’re my shuttle and whatever I say goes.”
“I hate you!”
That was all it said before the lights blinked off and my shuttle powered down. Except it wasn’t powered down because the privacy screen was still up around my sleeping nook, preventingme from getting in. I slapped my palm on the control panel, but nothing happened. Then I tried the navigation screen. Still nothing. I used voice command. My shuttle continued to ignore me.
I needed to get the stubborn thing up to the mothership as soon as possible. Too bad the shuttle was also the only way I could contact the two motherships orbiting Earth. I’d lost my communication device to the backstabbing, thieving humans. I’d gone up to one of the motherships with Nov’k since being rescued, but they hadn’t had any spare devices to give me as there was a shortage of the raw material needed to manufacture communicators and translators.
I’d ask Lok’n to send a message up to the mothership for me. Lok’n had been a member of my contingent and had assured me that we were now welcomed on Earth by most hunters.
As I walked out of my shuttle, the door slammed shut so close behind me, the wind made me flinch. I’d never had trouble like this with my shuttle before. I blamed Sam. She must have done something to it.
This was all her fault.
Chapter 3: Sam
“I’m impressed you managed to get all this done with what little you have,” said Jask’l, the mechanic from the mothership. “I can’t imagine working on a shuttle on this.” He gestured to the pair of garage lifts I’d modified for use with the shuttle pieces.
“It was a challenge, that’s for sure.”
Kan’n was leaning against a nearby post, watching us with a scowl on his face. Clearly he’d expected the mechanic to tell me I’d done a piss-poor job. That was why he’d stayed around, to listen in on our conversation.
Ha! Joke’s on him.
“All you have to do now is put all the parts back together and recalibrate the computer. Why do you need me?” Jask’l asked, pulling my attention back to him.
“Oh, because I’m not allowed to touch the shuttle anymore. Kan’nforbadeit.” I glared at the sourpuss Xarc’n, hating the fact that even with the scowl on his face, he was hot as sin. “And technically, I didn’t even know you were coming. But I’ve also run into a teensy little…complication. I’ll tell you all about it while I give you a tour of the base.”
I didn’t want to talk about Pip right in front of his face…er, hull. Just because he was quiet, it didn’t mean he wasn’tlistening. Two days ago, Kan’n had stormed angrily into the cafeteria while I was grabbing a snack and accused me of turning his shuttle against him right in front of everyone. Pip had been giving him the cold shoulder and had even locked him out.
My response to that, of course, had been “I thought you said it couldn’t do that because it’sjust a shuttle.” It had felt so damned good to throw his words back into his face.
Yes, it had been petty of me. So sue me.
