Bartoc Secret by Clara Woods

Author:Clara Woods
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2020-04-24T04:00:00+00:00

21 Bartoc Coordinates

When Lenah walked into the engine room after her watch, she felt lighter than she had in days. Martello’s company had soothed her. His unworried attitude to life having rubbed off some. Uz and Cassius were both sitting on the floor, the Cassidian so smeared with dark-brown grease that Lenah could hardly see any of her green skin.

She smiled broadly at Lenah, revealing white teeth. “Almost done, Captain!” Uz pointed at several sheets of metal that were encasing the Star Rambler’s engine. They were covered in the same brown stuff Uz had all over her.

“The engine works?” Lenah asked, feeling some of Uz’s excitement seep into her.

“Theoretically.” Uz nodded. “I still have to run some tests and diagnostics. Just a few more hours.”

“That’s great.” Lenah clapped her on the shoulder and immediately regretted it when her hand came back sticky. Swiping her hand on the leg of her pants, she stepped around the engine. “What did you do?”

Uz, who was muttering to herself over a screen, didn’t react.

“She sheathed the engine in this isolating stuff.” Cassius got up from the floor and pointed at it. He, too, was smeared all over.

“And we had this?” Lenah asked.

“Yeah,” Uz nodded distractedly and tried to wipe her hands clean on her shirt. She frowned when she wasn’t successful. “The smugglers who owned the Rambler were prepared for hull breaches and engine failures.”

“It’s good practice,” Cassius said. “You never know when you’ll get shot down somewhere.”

Lenah frowned, then changed the subject. “How long will the tests take, Uz?”

“Huh?” The Cassidian looked up from her screen. “About five hours.” She scratched her scars. “That’s if everything will work well. Longer, if I have to fix something again.”

Lenah nodded.

Cassius cleared his throat. “So, we’re really going after humans?”

“Yes, we are,” Lenah said. “It’s the only way.”

Uz looked up. Her eyes were wide, but she slowly nodded.

Cassius’s eyes bore into Lenah. Their gazes met for several seconds until he looked away. He exhaled slowly. “Yes, it’s the only way.” He looked back at her, a smile on his face. “Stars, I could use a coffee now.”

“Oh, coffee,” Uz muttered.

“We’ll bring you one,” Cassius said, then walked to the hatch and held it open for Lenah. “Coffee?”

“Yeah,” Lenah smiled up at him, hoping her goosebumps didn’t show on her face.

They walked in an awkward silence, and when they stepped into the common room, Lenah hurried over to the coffee machine. The sounds of heating water and dripping coffee rang loudly in her ears.

Cassius hadn’t moved from the hatch. He stood there; arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked like he wanted to speak but had gotten something stuck in his throat. If he was going to argue about going further into Saltoc, Lenah was prepared to win her point.

“I’ve been thinking about your offer,” he finally said.

Lenah, who had turned to hand him two cups of coffee—one for him, the other for Uz—stumbled and spilled hot liquid over her hand. “Ouch!”

Cassius was there in less than a second, taking both cups out of her hands.

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