Hours later she was engrossed in going through power maps looking for spikes when a message popped up interrupting her study.
Desur:Talin is leaving the bay. Heading down S11 corridor.
Jossulum:He didn’t stop in the galley, he must be heading for his cabin.
Helmen:Desur, did you get his luggage in there?
Desur:All his stuff is in the cabin. It smelled like nothing in there. You did a good job with the biocleansers Jossulum.
She stayed quiet about the job switching.
Helmen:His cabin door is reporting closed and locked. I’ll set it to alert us if it opens again. It’s safe for Amina to move around if she wants to.
It was only then that Amina realized she was starving.
Amina:Who wants to join me for dinner?
The ship was running smoothly, and they were far away from station traffic, so almost everyone agreed. Helmen decided to stay at her post to monitor. She wouldn’t relax until they were docked again. It was the way she was.
Amina gathered around a table with everyone else, talking, teasing, joking, and eating. It wasn’t until Desur’s eyelids drooped that Amina realized how tired she was. Arriving one day and leaving the next was hard on everyone.
“How long are we going to be at the next station?” Amina asked. “It’d be nice to have a few days’ break.”
Before anyone could answer a roar vibrated through the ship. It startled all of them and caused Desur to fall off his stool.
“What was that?” Jossulum asked.
Amina shook her head. “It almost sounds like—”
Another roar accompanied by a deafening rattle cut off her words. The moment it was quiet, they all heard Helmen’s words over the ship's speakers.
“All hands report to corridor S11, aft section. Bring restraints and sedative medication.Now!”
Chapter 6
Myrum
Just like he’d done on the Talin ship to Polkor, Myrum walked for several marks, focusing on the sound of his footfalls echoing in the large chamber. This technique worked, and eventually he felt fatigued enough to attempt sleeping.
He might’ve overdone it because he was so tired it was hard to remember where his cabin was on this new ship. It was a relief to find his way back. He stumbled to the bed and laid down, Ruby still tucked in the fabric around his neck.
He wasn’t alarmed when she crawled out and settled on his chest. Sleep pulled him under within a micromark.
His sleep was so deep there was no sense of time passing. When he opened his eyes again it could’ve been a few submarks or a rotation later. The only proof that he’d slept for several marks was the stiffness in his legs as he sat up.
Ruby wasn’t on his chest or curled up against his neck, but sometimes she liked to explore. Standing up, he looked aroundthe room. His bags and the bug cage were on the floor at the end of the bunk. He searched through them, but didn’t find her.
Worry ate at him as he explored every place a jeweled lizard could possibly hide. The cabin wasn’t that big, and by the time he was done his possessions were scattered everywhere and all doors and cubbies were open.
Panic built in his chest. The room was getting smaller, and there wasn’t enough oxygen.
He was going to die.
No, he couldn’t let the room crush him to death. He had to find Ruby. She wouldn’t survive without him!
He roared, fighting against the panic. He made it out of the cabin door into the hallway, but that didn’t help. The space was still closing in on him. Another roar burst out of him as if he could hold the walls at bay with sound alone.
A loud war rattle came out of his back plates, making the pipes above him vibrate together.
