At Galactic Central by Kate MacLeod

Author:Kate MacLeod
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946552709
Publisher: Ratatoskr Press

14

Scout spent most of the journey in the airlock. She wasn’t sure if Daisy had ever thought to ask how big of a ship Captain Jocquette Dieu-le-Veut flew, but the fact that she never flew with a crew or passengers besides a single dog might have been a clue that it would be close quarters.

At least the captain had given up her personal bunk space. Geeta and Seeta spent most of their time in there, sitting with their legs crossed across each other’s in a tangle that didn’t look remotely comfortable but didn’t seem to bother either of them in the least. Warrior had told Scout that the word games they were playing were specific cognitive exercises designed to aid in Seeta’s recovery.

Scout wondered if Seeta knew that. In the flight to get away from Galactic Central she hadn’t needed to talk enough for Scout to notice it, but by the second casual conversation aboard the ship, it became apparent that she was having trouble with word recall. But she showed no frustration; it was like she didn’t even notice it.

There was no way to pull Geeta aside to ask her without Seeta overhearing either.

Emilie was tucked up in a communications and navigation nook behind the cockpit. It wasn’t even comfortable for sitting in, but in free fall, the tightness of the space mattered less. She spent too much time searching the library records she had downloaded to her node before they entered warp space. But what catnaps she took and what food Geeta gave her to eat must have been more than she had been getting back at Galactic Central, because her appearance started to improve. She looked less like her body was consuming itself to fuel the frantic racings of her mind.

Daisy split her time between the cockpit with Jocquette and the airlock with Scout and the dogs. Scout could see how jumpy she was, and it wasn’t hard to guess why. Daisy was an obsessive planner, but there was nothing for her to plan now. When they reached Amatheon, they would be following Sparrow’s plan, and whatever modifications Tom Tom had cooked up on his own. They didn’t have any intel to base their own planning on.

At least Scout was feeling mostly okay. She could close her eyes, and the feeling of tumbling forward would be there, but like a ghost of its former self. It was easy to ignore. Jocquette’s ship wasn’t as fast as even the tribunal enforcer ship had been.

Scout hoped this meant she wouldn’t be sick later after they left hyperspace. That would be very inconvenient. No one was going to pause their warmongering until she felt better. If it did come up, she’d have to soldier through.

But in the meantime, there was nothing to do but wait, which was worse here than it had been at Galactic Central given the tighter quarters and the lack of anything productive to do.

At least Daisy’s wounds were healing. The gash in her head was a jagged scar now, but already fading to silvery faintness.

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