Except…
“WhereisLourdes?” I ask.
Only Kane seems to register the question. He looks up and around, distracted, before focusing on me. “She’s not with you?” Then he seems to take in my appearance and straightens up, turning fully toward me. “Are you okay?” he asks, his forehead creased in concern.
“I—” I begin.
“You have to see this, TL,” Nysus calls to me excitedly.
“Can you guys shut up?” Voller swivels around in his chair. “My head is fucking killing me.”
Kane rolls his eyes. “Old champagne seems less than a good idea now, right?”
“Whatever,” Voller mutters. “It’s not that.” He rubs at his temples. “I didn’t drink that much, and it was hours ago. Besides, I’ve had a hangover before. This is different. It’s like my teeth are vibrating in my head.”
“Uh-huh,” Kane says, folding his arms across his chest. He glances to me, and I realize he’s waiting for me to make the decision.
“You can take your six in the bunk room, but leave the door open so we can hear you,” I say to Voller reluctantly. That should be a decision Kane is making now. But Voller vaults from his chair and leaves the bridge before I can say anything more. I turn my attention back to Kane. “But I still need a minute to—”
“No, Ny is right. You definitely need to see this,” Kane says, his mouth set in a grim line.
My eyebrows go up. Kane is not one to exaggerate or over-respond. “Okay,” I say slowly.
Kane frowns at me as I approach. “Is that blood on your collar?”
“I hit my head,” I say, each word clipped. Telling Kane and taking myself off active duty is the right thing to do, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
Which conversely makes it easier to put it off for a little while longer. “I’ll tell you about it in a minute,” I say. “Part of what I need to talk to you about.”
“Are you okay?” he asks, reaching out to tilt my head toward thelight. I want to lean into his warm touch, but he spots the lump almost instantly, reaching to probe it with gentle fingertips.
I suck in a breath, and he pulls back immediately.
“That’s a hell of a hit,” he says. “Did you fall out of bed or what?”
“Something like that,” I say flatly.
“Okay, okay,” Ny says, shifting his weight from foot to foot, eager to get on with his show. “Can I just tell you now? We found a couple things and—”
“Start with the diagnostics,” Kane suggests.
“Fine,” Nysus says, his fingers flying across the boards, and numbers and abbreviations dance across the screen above. “Okay, so you know the ship runs a diagnostic every time—”
I wave my hand. “Yeah, yeah, I got that earlier.”
“So, I decided to just review the data from the initial diagnostic at the start of their trip until the end. Just to see what I could see. For fun.”
Thatwouldbe his version of a good time. “Knock yourself out,” I say. At least my sense of humor is intact.
Nysus looks up at me, startled.
Or not. “Nothing. Never mind.” I shake my head, forgetting for a moment, and wince as pain reminds me of the injury. “Just… what did you find?”
“There are some anomalies I can’t explain. Everything is operating within normal parameters until a few days before the last recorded data.” He pauses, doing something until the numbers and figures change into a recognizable bar graph. “Look, here, this is the energy draw on the engines. You see some minor fluctuations in the first six months of travel, no big deal, depending on who’s running what on the ship. How many people are awake with the lights on, whatever.”
The thick yellow lines move up and down in slight increments.
“But if you look at this point, toward the end, that last week…” He gestures toward the screen, and I bend forward for a closer look.
