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The temperature dropped hard enough to fog my breath, then swung back so fast that thirty seconds later I was sweating through my shirt.
“This isn’t just temperature regulation.” I threw Rennick a look. “This is a tantrum. Your ship is fiercely unhappy.”
“She’s had a difficult month. It’s just been the two of us for most of it and... we don’t always get along.”
“I suppose you’ve been feeding her lines, too.”
His expression startled, then humor sparkled in his eyes, before vanishing. “I’d never lie to my ship. There’d be no point. She knows everything about me. Or she will, as soon as the bond fully takes.”
“Let’s keep moving.” I gestured for him to carry on so we’d catch up with the others.
The lounge we passed through was built for comfort. Deep couches, blankets, so many cushions that the previous crew must have loved their cozies. I half-expected there to be baskets of skincare products and slippers on display.
“This is lush.” Doc stopped and looked around. “Tambi, we need to take pointers. It’s gorgeous. Makes our place look drab.”
Tambi looked around. “It’s nice. Order what you like for our place.”
Doc danced on her toes. “Sweet! Rennick, I love this set-up. Your work?”
“I made some adjustments. I like to travel in style,” he replied with a simple shrug. “Why endure when you don’t have to?”
“Jeez. This ship put up with you for an entire month?” I smirked.
“Most females do if I let them.”
“Smooth fucker,” Tambi muttered as I walked past her.
Monica touched the wall. “Hey, baby, we’ll fix you up. Make you shiny and pretty for all the guys to drool over. Just don’t kill us, okay?” She giggled to herself. “My new ride won’t pay for itself, and I’m not ready to be a ghost rider just yet.”
“Nobody’s dying.” Tambi closed her handheld. “Right, Rennick?”
His gaze skimmed to me and stayed half a second too long before he answered. “No.”
“Then let’s do a full sweep,” she said. “See what we’re working with.”
“Or what’s not working,” Doc said. “Anyone else getting the heebie-jeebies about this place? I mean, it’s super cute, and I could sleep all night on that couch, but I keep feeling like I’m being watched.”
There was a murmur of agreement.
I hadn’t sensed that, although the wall pulsing was weird. I put my hand on the next panel. “Let’s get to know each other before we decide to fight to the death. I see so much potential within these walls.” The panel under my hand went still, and I leaned closer.
“You’re talking to my ship?” Rennick suddenly stood too close. For a big guy, he moved with lethal quiet.
“She’s grown, right?”
“Correct. Semi-sentient, like all our ships. An advanced Class F model.”
“So, we talk to sentient. Sentient listens.”
“Cass talks to everything. Even the walls when she thinks none of us are around,” Doc said, fond about it.
I shrugged and carried on.
We came to the mess hall. A galley island sat along the back wall, full of top-shelf gear. There was even a rack of crystal glassware.
A voice whispered past my ear, the cold lifting every hair on the back of my neck. I turned. The space behind me was empty.
Doc went rigid, and her wide eyes cut to me. “You hear that?”
