Tish cursed softly and slapped a hand against the console she was working on. None of this wasfraxxingfair, not to her or them. She hated it, but she had to keep this secret a little longer.
One day soon, she’d be able to put this nightmare behind her. She’d let her fathers know she was doing okay and finally be able to tell her lovers who she was and what she was running from.
What happened next? That was up to them, but if she waited a few more weeks, she could use that time to prepareher explanation. Maybe a good delivery would help them understand.
Maybe.
She finished the last simple job and gave herself a mental shake. Moping around the engine room wasn’t going to help fix the shiporher personal problems. She couldn’t do anything about the latter, so she needed to focus on the former.
“Livy, please activate simulation mode. It’s time we put the new jump drive through its paces.” She’d already had the AI create a digital copy of the new engine. It was identical in every way to the real thing, and it gave them a way to test the system without any risk to the ship.
“Simulation mode ready. I will start and end the program whenever you say the word.”
“Give me a moment. I want to watch this from inside your systems.”
“Of course.”
Tish sat down in front of the main console and made sure her feet were firmly planted on the deck. The longer she stayed inside a system, the higher the chance she’d be disoriented when she came back to reality. Sitting made it less likely she’d fall on her face during the transition.
“Interfacing now,” she told the AI and placed her hand beside a data port. For a moment of disorientation, she felt like she was moving despite knowing that her body was still in the chair. Only her awareness shifted. She moved through the protocols, activating the digital handshake that allowed her to cross into Livy’s systems.
At least, that’s how she envisioned the process. Everyone’s experience was different. To her, the inner workings of a system looked like thick cables running off into the distance. The cables themselves were translucent, which allowed her to see the information pulsing through them. The data all moved atdifferent speeds and came in a variety of colors that gave her hints as to their content.
“Show me the simulation,”she thought directly at Livy.
An orange cube shimmered into existence just a few meters ahead of her. As she approached, the cube turned clear and a wire-model of the back half of the ship appeared inside it. She positioned herself, or the part of her in this space, so she could see the model clearly.
Fully jacked cyber-jockeys could summon digital avatars of themselves in cyberspace. She didn’t have that level of access, so instead of anything useful, her awareness was more like a glob of water floating in zero-G.
“Run the program, please.”
The model lit up as power flowed into the jump drive. Green lights showed where things behaved as they should. She was looking for warning colors. Red, orange, or yellow would indicate problems. As the simulation continued, data flowed into her onboard memory like water poured into a cup. She sensed its flow but wouldn’t be able to review it until she was back in the real world. For now, her job was to observe.
After the third run, she had everything she needed.“I’m withdrawing. Thank you, Livy.”
She withdrew from the system. The false sensation of motion made her slightly queasy.
“Ugh. I hate this bit,” she muttered as her stomach rebelled. The longer she stayed in cyberspace, the worse it got.
She found the box of crackers she’d stashed nearby and nibbled one as she reviewed the data she’d brought out with her. Everything looked good. Not perfect but close. Another day of tweaks and tests was all it would take.
“Livy, please do your own review and let me know if you see any issues. I think we’re almost there. This ship should be ready to fly again soon.”
“You have done a commendable job, Tix. Thank you.”
The AI’s compliment made her smile.
“You are the best ship’s AI I have ever worked with. Thanks for all your help.”
“You are welcome.”
Tish ate another cracker and waited for her stomach to calm down. It never took long. With nothing pressing left to do, she fished her comm out of her pocket. Maybe the guys had sent her a message letting her know when they’d be back.
A flashing light indicated that she did have a new message. She activated the view screen and froze.
The message wasn’t from Mace or Xaber.
It was a notification from her digital mailbox. A message had arrived.
