“I wonder what this is.” He’d raised his open palm eye-level to examine the strange-looking secret thingamabob Morgan had hidden, hoping the Ozevroc never found it.
“I’m not sure, but I was hoping at least that might jog your memory.”
The spider-shaped gold-and-silver droid hadn’t moved. Its bulbous body, with its four spindly legs spread on its side, didn’t so much as twitch.
Ari flipped the lifeless bot over, bringing it closer to his face. “I can’t say I recognize it,” he murmured, his voice tight, “but I feel there’s something about it.” The steel gray of his eyes darkened, shadowed by a sudden intensity. “Something important I should know.”
Chapter Three
Aristudiedthestrangespider-looking contraption. The more he observed the bot, the more his throat tightened as a creeping sense came over him. The urge to dosomethinghit him hard. No, not something. To find someone. He glanced at Morgan. Her bright eyes followed him. He returned her stare. For some reason, being in the same room with her calmed his nerves. How strange was it that this particular woman calmed him? And, he suspected, she did it like no one ever had before.
Well, okay. At least as far as he knew.
Keeping the little bot nestled in his palm, he stood. “What do you think is wrong with it?” An inkling of a memory floated by. It was him looking at this droid surrounded by other bots that looked very similar to it, but in different colors and sizes. He frowned when nothing else came to him.
“I’m not sure,” Morgan stated, looking at the unmoving bot. “But I have some experience in computer mechanics, and I thought I’d try to repair it.” She smiled. “I’m hoping it has a working knowledge of how to fixElemi, or at least tell me what I can do to help her heal. That ship is our ticket out of here.“ She held out her hand, palm up.
With a grunt, Ari pinched the bot between his fingers and thumb and carefully dropped it onto her hand.
The small thing remained unmoving.
“Now that you’re here, it’d be helpful if you do some cleanup while I thinker with Charlotte.”
Ari’s eyebrows rose. “Charlotte?”
Morgan nodded as she turned the spider-bot one way and then another as she examined it. “You know, after the popular book about a spider of the same name.”
Ari shrugged. Like he knew what she was talking about. “Works for me,” he hedged.
With careful, exaggerated deliberation, she placed the bot into the large pocket on the chest of her overalls. Patting it closed, she again focused on him. “I’ll show you around, and we’ll make a place for you to sleep.” She grimaced. “I’m afraid I can’t take you around the rest of the ship since we’re confined here. We’re not allowed to step out of this room without an Ozevroc escorting us. If we do, these stupid things will activate and blast us into dust.” She tugged on the large, black, leather-looking collar around her neck. “Or just knock us out. Depends on their mood.”
Reaching up, he fingered the thick material covering his neck. Yeah, staying here sounded good. At least the place was big enough.
It didn’t take Morgan long to show him the main room, then the alcove where she slept. She handed him a few blankets from the rag-tag pile of bedding and linens she used, assuring him there’d be more if he needed them. Then, she pointed to another alcove not too far from hers where he could set up his own sleeping spot.
But the best thing she took him to was a cramped, separate room for private use. With a mumbled “thanks,” he went inside, grunting when the doors swished closed behind him. It didn’t take long to finish taking care of his personal needs. Once he finished, he used the obvious sink. He turned it on, and a single trickle of water came out of the spout. Cupping his hands under it, he splashed the captured water on his face. At least he hoped it was water. If memory served him right, water was usually clear and not dark green. Above the odd-shaped sink was a vid mirror. Ari leaned in and pushed back his wayward blond hair and studied his image. He fingered a small scar at the edge of his bottom lip before concentrating on his eyes. Their steel-gray color stared back, selfishly hiding many secrets.
Whowasthis man looking back at him? Would he ever know? He clenched his teeth and fisted his hands. The vid wavered before blacking out.Gilgamesh’s balls.This was getting him nowhere. With a huff, he left the room to search for Morgan.
There she was, back at the workbench she’d been at when he first woke up. Ari took the chance to study her before she became aware of him. Even in her baggy clothing, she was one fine-looking woman with a killer body. Obviously smart, but she also carried a hint of hidden mischievousness. Yeah, and he was just the guy to bring that out of her.
He was?
Damn, this not knowing was getting on his lastfrukingnerve. Throwing his shoulders back, he tromped over to her. “So, what do you need me to do?”
Morgan turned to him, putting the spider-bot on the table. She nodded at a stack of loose metal parts combined with panels and goddess knew what else piled against the opposite wall. “See that mountain of junk over there?”
He nodded.
“Until we know what you’re good at, you’re in charge of cleanup.” She gestured to the large barrel he’d dumped his plate into earlier. “Put everything in there. When it’s full, you’ll get rid of the contents in the incinerator over there.” She pointed to a large, rust-colored contraption that dominated the far corner of the engine room. “I’m sure that’s something you can handle.” Her attention returned to the spider-bot.
Great. Just call him the King of Clutter.
It didn’t take Ari long to fill the barrel. It hardly made a dent in the pile. The only interesting thing from the clutter was a whiff of an unusual odor coming out of it. The more stuff he removed, the stronger the stench got. It was a sweet and sour smell like… death? It’d been nice if she’d have warned him there’d be disgusting carcasses in there. He’d be damned if he touched any future fertilizer.
“Hey, Morgan.” He made sure his voice carried across the room.
“Yeah?” She didn’t look up.
