Rightful Salvage by Frances Pauli

Author:Frances Pauli [Pauli, Frances]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Goal Publications
Published: 2020-09-21T21:40:30+00:00

SIX

Scratch glared at the captain and leaned back in her chair. The fur ruffled all down her back, and she fidgeted to get comfortable while Mass droned on about the devil android.

“…has proven quite useful around here, Scratch. I’m disappointed you seem unwilling to even give her a chance.”

She had enough experience with Mass in maternal mode to know better than to argue, but the words leapt into her throat anyway. They tasted like righteousness, and Scratch spat them out knowing full well they’d bounce off the captain’s willful ignorance. “I suppose you can’t think of one reason, not one, why we should be concerned about it? We should have reported it first thing and you know it.”

“She,” Mass corrected.

“She is dangerous,” Scratch snarled.

“Nonsense.” Mass waved off the danger and continued pacing, click click click across the bridge deck. “She’s skilled in the kitchen, better at cleaning than any one of us, and look…”

Scratch leaned back as the captain lowered her head, shoved her ears into Scratch’s face, and patted at the fur there.

“What?” Scratch’s chair didn’t allow her to lean away, and she wished the booby trap was still live. The jolt had sent the android into a downward spin, but it was just enough of a shock to make an ursine wake up and take notice. At the moment, Mass definitely could use to wake up.

“No tangles.”

“Blastoids.” Scratch cursed. “You can’t comb your own fur?”

“Nor can you,” Mass said. “Got a knot behind your left ear as we speak.”

Scratch shoved her paws under her legs to keep from reaching up and checking. She growled, and the captain stood.

“It would be nice to have another crew member.” Mass paced to her chair and stopped, paws resting on the seat back and staring into the viewscreen, which showed nothing but a star map and their blinking locator. Her voice lowered, shifting into a tone that was unfamiliar, and made the fur on the back of Scratch’s neck lift. “One who doesn’t need to sleep. We could take our torpor two at a time that way.”

“Why the hell do we need to sleep two at a time?” Scratch shifted in her seat, reached up while the captain wasn’t looking, and found the tangle behind her ear. Blast. She could get it out if she wanted to, they just had better things to do on board than worry about grooming.

“You know.” Mass kept the weird tone in her voice, dragging out each word now as if it held a secret. “Just in case.”

“In case of what? A torpor emergency?” They only needed to sleep for two weeks, really. Just because she’d taken a few extra days on her last rotation didn’t meant they required another crew member to compensate.

“Gargle…” Mass fiddled with her chair, rocking it from one side to the other.

“Gargle can wait his turn,” Scratch snapped. Of course it was him. The gunner had complained about her, and now Mass was using it to justify keeping that thing on board long term.

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