“You care about Torian as a best friend, too, then.”
“I—” Amelia went quiet, then finished, “Yeah. Sure.”
I compiled this data, and reviewed her deal. It seemed favorable for both of us. Torian remained safe, and Amelia would not become romantically involved. I wouldn’t lose Torian to her, the way I’d lost Dutch to Zenthielutos. It felt like a fair middle ground.
“I accept your deal,” I said. “You will not become Torian’s lover. And I will keep Torian safe when you are not around.”
“Glad we could reach an arrangement.” Amelia paused. “Now, get the fuck out of my room. Please.”
“I still have fifty-two questions—” I started to say, but abruptly, my access was cut off to the microphone and speaker inside that room. I still had ship-wide access, but the captain’s suite was effectively a dead zone now.
Well. That was rude.
IDENTITY: Mechanical Operations and Support Systems
→SUB-IDENTITY: Moss
TIME/DATE: 10:50/Januous 15, Year 90113 [System U2Ab Universal]
LOCATION: Colony 4 [human]
Hours later, we finally left the human colony.
To my dismay, we did not bring Lyric. To my exasperation, Torian waved at her not-romantic partner, Amelia, through the flight deck window—and when my camera registered Amelia winking in response, Torian’s body temperature climbed by a degree.
When I pointed out this rise, Torian ignored me.
[Which was also rude.]
While she ran preflight checks, I finally lifted the block to the engine and auto-navigation.
Moss: Systems. Report.
Engine: Running at 99.87 percent capacity. All clear. Fix is accepted and logged.
M: Conduct a check of all engine parts. Any further maintenance required?
E: Negative. Running at 99.87 percent capacity.
That was mildly depressing, simply because another fix would have required Lyric to return. Glumly, I pivoted to the other system.
M: Auto-Nav, you ready?
Auto-Navigation:
M:
A:
M: Auto-Nav. Report.
A: No. You’re mean.
[There was not enough code in the world to tell me how to handle this system.]
M:Pleasereport.
A:
