Velda went to the cupboards and opened them, studied the clothing hanging there. “Someone definitely lives here.”
That was unfortunate but Ethan never thought they’d get that lucky as to find an unoccupied bedroom where they could stay until they were ready to venture out.
He looked through the clothing, found two uniforms, and Velda lifted one off the rack and held it up against him.
“It might fit,” she said.
There was nothing to lose, so he pulled off his now slightly frayed shirt and trousers and got into the uniform. It was a little tight, but it had quite a lot of stretch in it.
“Depending how small the crew is, and how well people know each other, you might get away with wandering around,” Velda said.
Ethan studied himself in the bathroom mirror. He agreed, and it would be a good idea to map the ship, and get to know where everything was located.
“I’m guessing they don’t walk around armed on their own ship.” He handed the laz to her and tucked the scalpels into his pocket. “Watch the door, in case the occupant comes back, but I’ll be as fast as I can.”
“I wish I could come too, but I know I can’t.” Velda held the laz to her side. “I’ll try not to shoot you when you come back.”
He grinned at her, gave her a quick, hard kiss, and then motioned her to stand out of sight as the door opened.
She leaned against the wall and he exited, striding out into the corridor with as much confidence as he could muster.
He decided to keep going right, because he was sure there was a lot of panic and commotion in the launch bay, and he didn’t need anyone looking at him and wondering who he was.
The corridor curved to the left, and then opened out into a communal social space, with lounges and screens, and what looked like a food station. Across the lounge, he could see the corridor curving away to the right, giving him the sense this was the front of the ship, and the doors even further to the front probably led to the bridge.
None of the crew eating or sitting in the large space looked up at him as he walked from one side to the other, and he made his way to the corridor on the left.
There were raised voices coming from that direction, and he considered reversing course but he hesitated too long. Two crew turned the corner, a raised stretcher between them, and one glanced up at him as they turned into a room on the left side of the passageway.
The door they’d gone through remained open as he passed by, and he saw it was the med bay. There were three beds—one held Linao, he guessed, plus the other guard from the runner, and now, the one he and Velda had just shot.
He kept moving along, aware he was headed back toward the end of the ship and the launch bay, and wondered again if he should turn around and go back the other way.
Except, there was no guarantee that would be better.
A man stepped out of an open doorway up ahead, turned in his direction, and then came to a stop. “I don’t know you.”
“That’s not my problem,” Ethan said with a shrug, managing not to break his stride as he continued forward.
“I think it is.” The man drew out a laz, and Ethan wondered at his new-found confidence as he eyed the weapon, already thinking of the ways he could make it his own.
He could feel a tingle in his arms and legs, could see a way to dart forward and grab the laz, and as the man lifted his arm to shoot, he did exactly that, leaping toward the wall as the man fired, then pushing off it to slam the man to the ground. The lazwas in his hand before the man even made a sound, and Ethan shot him immediately.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to see what or who lay beyond the door the man had exited, and as he rose up, he noticed it was the armory before he felt the jolt of a laz hit, and fell himself.
“Who is it?” someone asked above him, as he tried to breathe through the pain.
“I think it’s one of the prisoners from the other runner.” A woman crouched beside him, and then he blacked out.
31
Ethan must be caught.He had been gone too long for any other explanation.
Velda paced the room, worry gnawing at her, and wished there was a uniform available that would fit her, because stepping out as she was would definitely raise eyebrows. The casual outfit she’d packed for Nanganya, what seemed like a lifetime ago, was now very much the worse for wear.
She would have to step out, though. That was just reality.
The occupant of this room could come back at any moment, and then she’d be cornered, and if Ethan was captured, she needed to be free to be able to help him.
