Myrum
It didn’t take long for the crew to forget he was dangerous and start treating him like he was one of them. Within a few rotations, even Helmen lowered her defenses.
This morning marked the true turning point—they all sat down to eat together. He remained mostly silent, soaking up the crew’s banter.
A lot of the conversation revolved around where they’d be docking soon, Tik Station. It wasn’t a choice; the ship had to go through Ossiso inspection before they were allowed to enter Ossiso-controlled space. During the inspection they wouldn’t be allowed to stay on the ship, so they’d all have to disembark.
He was looking forward to visiting the station because he was determined to buy everyone a nice meal.
That was the reason he was walking the halls of the ship looking for Amina. Normally he and Ruby stuck to Amina’s sideeven while she worked. He’d gotten very good at handing her tools and parts based on her pointing and grunting.
This time he’d had to spend a mark filling out paperwork to submit to the Ossiso government since he was the reason for the entire ship’s visit. Very similar to the Talin Empire, the Ossiso Civilization of Souls was very particular about who they let into their space.
“Why would they make this so damn hard to get to!”
Amina’s loud, rhetorical question drew him down a hall to find her legs sticking out from an open panel. There was a bang from inside the wall, then she made a triumphant sound.
“Ha! Take that!”
He crouched down next to her legs and tried to look in to see her, but his view was blocked by various pieces of ship guts.
It was a little disconcerting to see the chaos inside the wall. How did all that work? What would happen if Amina or one of the crew slid a connector into the wrong port? How could they possibly keep it all straight, even with schematics to assist them?
It struck him again how delicate a ship was.
Fragments of memories floated through his head. The sound of micro meteors striking a ship’s hull. Alarms blaring. Fire suppression systems going off everywhere. Screaming.
Amina’s leg bumped into him as she wiggled out from inside the wall. He made himself focus on her instead of the past.
“Who’s there?” Amina asked as she kept moving.
“Myrum and Ruby,” he answered, proud his voice sounded normal. The memories had tried to drag him under and he hadn’t succumbed.
“Oh, hey! What are you doing here?” Amina asked, grabbing the edge of the opening to pull herself the rest of the way out. Sitting up, she smiled at him. There was a smudge of something on her face, and her normally messy bun was an absolute disaster with half of it flowing in disarray around her shoulders.
“We’re going to be docking soon,” he said.
She pushed a stray tendril out of her face. “I know. That’s why I’m making sure this regulator junction isn’t going to stick when the inspector pokes around.”
He moved his gaze to the opening behind her. “It must take constant oversight to keep a ship running.”
“You could say the same thing about almost anything,” she said. “Gardens, houses, or cargo bots all need maintenance."
He sounded a negative rattle. “That might be true, but when a cargo bot breaks down it’s unlikely that anyone will die.”
“If the regulator junction fails, all that happens is that the ship gets stinky," she said with a laugh. “We wouldn’t die.” Her eyes widened, and she put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, I forgot about what happened. I don’t know if this will make you feel better, but outside some really rare events, this is a very safe ship. Steady might not be a flashy or fast ship, but she’s built to last and to protect her crew and cargo.”
Myrum was comforted by her words but also intrigued. “This is the first time you’ve referred to this ship as a she. Why would you gender a ship?”
“Why wouldn’t I gender the ship?” she countered, taking her hand off his leg and patting the flooring between them. “We give them names and learn their quirks. They are the most important part of the crew. Of course they have names.”
“Who picked the name Steady?”
“Cousin Sansta named this ship,” she said, then shook her head. “I think. Or maybe she named Yorlik’s ship.”
“As long as Steady knows she’s important, I guess it doesn’t matter who named her,” he said.
Amina gave him an approving look. “Exactly!”
