Amina
“This is unacceptable!” Helmen admonished Amina as she rushed onto the ship through a small side door instead of the main entrance.
“Of course you’re here instead of the main entry,” Amina grunted as she pulled on the hatch to shut it manually. The controls on this door were old, and sometimes it would get stuck halfway. Opening and closing it manually meant no-sticking and no potential delay because they had to repeatedly cycle the control unit.
Helmen reached past her and easily pulled the door shut. Amina didn’t envy the Ugarian’s bodies very often, but at times like this she wished to be that strong.
She faced Helmen with a big smile. “I’m sorry I’m late. It won’t take me long at all to do the system checks. I promise we’ll be ready to go before we’re even cleared by traffic control.”
“I’m not worried about that,” Helmen said, her ears focused on Amina. “Our passenger hasn’t even gotten here yet. I meant you can’t go off on your own. You told Desur you’d be next door at the snacks shop, but then you wandered off before he got there. He was so scared when he couldn’t find you.”
Guilt hit Amina hard. “I sent him a message.”
“All you said was that you’d meet him back at the ship. Do you realize how frantic he was when he got back and you weren’t here?”
“I got back here perfectly fine, only a little late,” Amina snapped. She hated that she’d done that to Desur, but really, it was Helmen’s fault. “I don’t need a babysitter every time I leave the ship. If you didn’t have that stupid rule, none of this worry would’ve happened.”
Helmen’s ears snapped back so fast Amina could hear them slap the back of Helmen’s head. “Leave it to you to make this all about you! No one is supposed to go anywhere alone. Desur is your friend, cousin, and crewmate. How dare you abandon him! How would you feel if someone did that to you?”
All her annoyance and defensiveness wilted at Helmen’s words. “Ah shit. I’m sorry, Helmen. Where is Desur? I want to apologize to him.”
Helmen’s ears relaxed, and she rubbed a hand over her face. “I know you’re not as fragile as you look, but I need you to remember that anyone can be hurt, including you or Desur.”
“But especially me,” Amina said. “It just makes me angry that I’m judged by others because I’m human.”
“So many things make you angry,” Helmen shot back. “You raged at the grav-inhibitor yesterday. I walked in and you were yelling at an inAminate machine as if it was sentient. Maybe it’s time to start working on that.”
Amina shot Helmen a smile. “I’m positive that cussing at machinery helps to fix it.”
Helmen let out a sigh. It was a sound Amina was familiar with. Her cousin was feeling defeated, and it was Amina’s fault.
Stepping close, Amina put a hand on Helmen’s arm. “I’ll work on it, I promise.”
That was the right thing to say because Helmen perked up. “Will you join me tomorrow for chanting?”
Helmen was a practitioner of harmonic theory. It was a life philosophy that emphasized calmness and clarity. There was a series of chants practitioners were encouraged to perform daily. Amina tried it once years ago and hated it, but she was desperate to make amends with Helmen.
“Sure,” she agreed, trying hard to sound eager. “I’m assigned to engine one for the first shift, so it’ll have to be after that.”
“Certainly,” Helmen agreed, her ears relaxed and forward. “I’ll send you a chant to memorize.”
“Great,” she said, then remembered the snacks she’d bought. Digging into her pockets, she pulled out a few bags. “Here, these are for you.”
“Oh, my favorite!” Helmen exclaimed, grabbing the bags from her.
Amina chuckled. “I know, that’s why I got them. Where’s Desur? I got some for him too. Maybe he’ll forgive me if I have a bribe.”
“He’s not angry, only worried about you,” Helmen said. “He should be in the tool room, logging in the spare parts and making sure the catalog matches.”
Amina nodded. “I’m going to talk to him, then I’ll start doing my check. I promise if we’re delayed, it won’t be because of me.”
Helmen’s information square chimed. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked. “Our passenger is finally here. I need to show him around and give him a safety briefing.” She raised her gaze and pinned Amina with a hard stare. “Try to stay out ofsight. It’ll probably be easier if we can make the trip without the Talin knowing a human is on board.”
That wasn’t going to be an issue. Unless this new arrival was Myrum, Amina wasn’t interested in meeting them.
“That shouldn’t be hard,” she said with a little shrug. “The trip there is only a few days. I’ll be working most of that time anyway.”
“Good,” Helmen said, then hurried away.
