He’d left the girls in the control room to get some rest. But as he lay in his bed staring at the ceiling, he found there were too many things on his mind keeping him awake.

After a while of trying and failing to sleep, he grunted and got up.

He wandered through the ship’s corridors, hoping exhaustion would get the last word.

As he turned at a corner, he paused and looked up.

“Nim? Can you hear me?”

“Of course, Kaine. I can hear everything that is said on the ship.”

He nodded thoughtfully as he started walking again.

“What do you think of the girl?”

A long silence followed the question.

He glanced up.

“Still there?”

“Yes. Of course. I... I’m just not sure how to answer that.”

“That’s okay. Just give it your best shot.”

“She is... interesting?”

He chuckled. “She is that, yes, I suppose. What else?”

“Could you be more specific with your question?”

That was almost, almost the type of thing a real AI would have said. If it weren’t for the tone of confusion he heard in Nim’s voice.

“To be honest, I’m not sure myself what I’m trying to ask.” He laughed. “I guess I’m trying to understand her. And since she can’t speak...”

“You seem to have found a way to communicate.”

“That’s true. But it’s a bit tedious.”

“I could help with that.”

He found his steps had led him to the refectory. Stepping in, he sat at a table. With a few quick stabs at the surface, he ordered a cup of coffee.

“How so?” he asked.

“A tactile glass tablet. She could write on it and the words would be clearly visible.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“That would be nice.”

The cup popped out of the table. He grabbed it and pulled his hands away instantly. It was burning hot.

“You still seem troubled,” remarked Nim’s voice.

He sighed. “The prisoners. What are we going to do with them?”

“We’ve never had prisoners before. I do not know.”

“Is there any other room we could put them in that would be more secure?”

There was a moment of silence as Nim considered the options. Kaine blew on the drink to try to cool it. He should have been more careful and changed the temperature beforehand. Now he’d have to wait. He hated waiting when he needed to drink.

No, that wasn’t true, he realized. He didn’t need to drink. He needed to keep himself busy—to keep his mind busy. Drinking coffee wouldn’t help with that, would it? If anything, it might keep him from sleeping—which was the exact opposite of what he needed.

With a frown, he grabbed the cup by the handle, stood, and walked to the sink. He emptied the still fuming contents, set the cup down, turned, and walked out of the room.

“The only places more secure than a cabin are the engine room and the thilium core.”

He grunted. The latter would be impossible to get in, as only authorized technicians had the required codes to open the multiple hatches protecting the core. Not that it would have been a smart place to put prisoners anyway. The engine room would be just as risky. Too much damage they could do if they managed to break out of their bonds.

“So I guess they are where they need to be.” He groaned as he walked. “Fine. How about you tell me a story.”

“What?”

He waved his right hand in the air. “My brain is in overdrive. I need to be distracted. So, tell me a story.”

“I don’t know any stories.”

Kaine rolled his eyes. “Then tell me about your work with Val.”

“We are scavengers.”

“So I’ve heard. Tell me about your last job.”

“Well, we found a nice place with hundreds of wrecks floating in space. There’s not much to tell, though, since we got pulled into that space rift.”

Kaine stopped in his steps. Frowned. Looked up.

“That space rift?”

“Oh.” There was a long pause. “Val didn’t tell you about that?”

It felt as if the AI that wasn’t an AI was wondering if he’d goofed up and was trying to backpedal. Fearing Nim might stop sharing, Kaine took some liberties with the truth.

“She mentioned it once or twice, but I’m not sure I understood the details correctly. Could you elaborate?”

Was that relief in the disembodied voice?

“Well, the rift appeared out of nowhere just as Val was about to exit the ship. It popped up and pulled us through. Next thing we knew, we were in the middle of a battlefield above Rimzana.”

Kaine blinked. “So that’s how you got damaged?”

“Yes.”

“Where did that rift come from?”

The voice hesitated.

“I have... analyzed what happened, but...”

“But what?”

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“How do you mean?”

He trotted back to his cabin, stretching his arms as he ran. A bit of exercise might help him sleep.

“According to the data, the ship created the rift.”

Once again, Kaine stopped in his steps.

“What?”

“Starrider caused the rift.”

“And you don’t know how?”

“No.”

“Could you reproduce it?”

“No.”

“You’re right,” he said, “that doesn’t make any sense.”

He resumed his walk, his mind spinning at full speed.

“Can you identify which part of the ship, specifically, was involved in creating the rift?”

“Yes, I can. It is in the hold.”

Odder and odder.

Nothing in the hold should be able to create a space rift.

“What is in the hold?” he asked.

“It is empty.”

Kaine stopped in front of his cabin, his hand inches away from the tactile panel that would open the door.

He grimaced.

Who was he fooling? He had even more on his mind now.

He would never fall asleep.

With a sigh, he headed back toward the control room.