Chapter Thirty-Seven - Captain

Every ship needed a captain. Someone had to choose where the damned thing was going and what to do once it got there. There was no such thing as a democratic bridge.

"Two-Six," Missy said. The younger girl's head rose up from the station she was working at. "Can you do me a favour and go check on this ship's engineering section? We did put her through some of her paces and we don't know much about her. Just give her a look, maybe poke at the shields too."

"I can do that," Twenty-Six chirped.

"Make sure to check for booby traps too," Missy warned.

That was actually a good point. Ivil endeavoured to keep a metaphorical eye on Twenty-Six. If she somehow managed to trigger a mine or something, Ivil would yank her away from whatever trouble she'd found.

"Oh, alright," Twenty-Six said. She stood, then yawned hugely. Ivil might have been somewhat insulted at the impolite gesture if Twenty-Six didn't have a cute little snaggletooth and didn't wrinkle her nose at the end of her yawn. "I'll be careful," she promised before pulling herself away from the station and floating to the back of the bridge.

They were operating without any acceleration gees at the moment, so everything was free floating.

"Did you want to have this discussion here?" Ivil asked.

"Yes, here work's nicely" Missy said, standing and disconnecting from her station.

"I think," Aurora cut in. "That it might be best to have it in a more neutral location. This ship must have a mess, or a dining area, yes?"

Missy glared, but then she nodded. "Fine," she replied. "Probably a deck down or something."

With everything in the bridge left on stand-by mode or left to automatic systems, they filed out of the bridge and into the main corridors of the ship. The top level was the bridge, with a staircase leading down into a set of corridors laid out more or less like a capital E. The two branches on either side lead to the airlocks and some small storage rooms at the rear. The middle branch led down a narrow corridor that ended at the ladderwell.

There were rooms in between the branches, both helpfully labelled. 'Captain' and next to it 'First Mate'. There was also a washroom under the bridge. Ivil extended her senses within and was surprised to find a relatively large room, with a full shower and lockers. It was actually quite luxurious.

The three of them moved down that narrow central corridor to the end, where Missy tugged herself down the ladder and to the level below.

This one was split down the middle. On her right, while facing the front, was a large storage and stowage room, with shelves of bolted down equipment and some access to the internal machinery of the ship. On the left, opposite, were the crew bunks. Smaller rooms with little more than a bed and a small entertainment suit. There was a mess by the front, and another, much more humble, washroom.

The mess had a table with seating for eight around it.

Counting the beds, Ivil made out room enough for seven souls onboard the ship. The Sappho could probably take on a few more, if they were willing to sleep in shifts, but then those same people would be stepping on each other's toes. The ship had a few spacious areas, and a few luxuries, but it wasn't that large of a ship.

Aurora floated over to a wall, then tapped a panel, opening a few more lights so that the room wasn't only lit by its standby lighting. It made it much brighter. "Let's sit," she said before gently kicking off the wall and heading towards the small kitchenette at the back. It was just a few stovetops, a microwave, and a bit of storage. She moved right past that and to the vending machine next to it.

A minute later, as Ivil was sitting herself down, Aurora returned to the table and sat across from her. She placed a can in front of Ivil, then another before Missy. Ivil stared for a moment before taking the can and popping the tab. There was a plastic 'sippy cup' top. It funnelled the soda out of a little beak with a cheap 'suck valve' that would stop it from spraying all over.

"Thank you," Ivil said as she took a sip. "So, how do we want to do this?"

Missy glared, then softened her features. "Alright. A lot has gone down. This time yesterday we weren't even aware that we were being chased by pirates. Now we have one of their nicer ships, their station looked like it was on fire when we left, a dozen ships are in bad need of repair, a few more are unusable, and something like a hundred-odd pirates are confirmed dead."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"That sounds about right," Ivil said.

Missy smacked the table, then pointed at Ivil. "No. That's not about right. What we, you, did isn't impossible. But I wouldn't believe that anyone but a full infiltration force could pull it off."

"And we need to talk about our current situation as well," Aurora said.

Ivil looked between the two. "So, is the issue that we're in a better position now than when we started, or is it that I was able to get us here in the first place?"

Missy licked her lips, then took another sip of her soda. "Can it be both?" she asked.

"I suppose," Ivil said with a shrug. She considered the situation for a second, then slowed down the next second because she needed more than the one to think this through.

Missy was, probably, right to be worried. From her perspective Ivil was skilled in and had done things that would be impossible for all but an A-Classer. There were a few B-Classers that Ivil trusted could manage to do the same. Sonic Spectre could certainly have made a mess of the station herself, if she was given the opportunity, and she even looked mostly human.

But no, that wasn't the point. Missy was on edge because Ivil was both powerful, and an unknown. Her situation had been uprooted and changed in a violent way, and while she suspected that the former Warmime was better at rolling with the punches than the average person, this was still asking for a lot.

Aurora, likewise, had some issues, but they were perhaps simpler to address than Missy's. Aurora wasn't as well-versed in what they had done might mean. Someone powerful rocking by and doing something big was... politically not entirely unusual. Aurora wasn't used to being so close to the action, but otherwise, she was probably fine. Ivil imagined that she was more worried about Ivil's intentions than her actions.

"Alright," Ivil said. "Let me speak a bit before anything else."

Missy nodded reluctantly. Aurora did the same, though without hesitation. "Go ahead, Miss Ville."

"Just Evelyn, please. We've been through enough that I think we can do away with some formality," Ivil replied. She smiled at Aurora and received a small smile in return. "Alright. So, as you both may suspect, I'm somewhat... powerful? I have a number of cores, yes. What you're no doubt worried about beyond that are my allegiances."

"I have to admit that I am curious," Aurora said.

"That's fair. I'll admit straight away, my story about being a professor from Hellas is... a lie. A convenient cover. But, I swear that I'm not working for Mars or MINT, nor am I really associated with any other government in the solar system."

Missy frowned. "So, what, you're just a free agent? You just happened to be on the Held Together?"

"Oh, no, that kind of coincidence is way too unlikely to be true," Ivil replied. "I'm a free agent, yes, but my being on the Held Together wasn't coincidental."

Aurora gasped. "Are... are you here for me?"

Ivil quickly shook her head, then, on a whim, she reached across the table and carefully squeezed Aurora's hand. It was very warm, and Ivil almost forgot what she was planning on saying next. "Ah, yes, I mean, no. Hmm... how do I salvage this. Missy, are you familiar with someone named Claire Voyant?"

Might as well just fling the seer under the metaphorical bus.

"The Lunatic prophet?" Missy asked as she sat up. "I... yeah, I know her. We met, once. It was a bit before she got her rep."

"I'm unfamiliar," Aurora admitted.

"The Lunatics had a number of cores that let you predict things," Missy said. "They were... troublesome to use. They, or splits of them, somehow all ended up in the hands of this one girl called Claire. She became a prophetess. She's good. At least, that's what the rumours say. Could just be a psy-ops to keep people away from Haumea."

"I see," Aurora replied. "And Miss... Evelyn, you visited this seer?"

"Recently, yes," Ivil said. "And that's what led me to being here, today. I asked the seer something... personal. Perhaps one day I'll tell you what that is, but for now, that's why I'm here. As for what I intend to do, I can assure you, truthfully, that I don't mean to hurt any of you."

***