“Come along, Alice. It would not do to keep the captain waiting.”
“Okay. Um, we aren’t in trouble, are we? You seem a little tense.”
“Everything will work out, Alice. Just follow my lead, and be yourself.”
Well, that wasn’t very reassuring. What would the captain do, if he decided he didn’t want me on his ship? Send me back to Felicity? Sell me to slavers? Or maybe just space me, once they were beyond sensor range of Felicity’s stations?
Yeah, okay, better make sure to make a good impression here. Be polite, and respectful. What was the male version of ‘ma’am’? Sir? Yeah, that sounded right.
Eventually we came to a hatch flanked by a pair of security bots. Unlike the ones on Felicity they were heavily armored, and had guns along with the stunners and capture web launchers. I was getting a bad feeling about this.
The hatch opened with a cool swishing noise when we reached it. Naoko led me through, into a big room full of strange things. Cabinets, and shelves full of odd knickknacks. Pictures of strange-looking people, and interesting places. A big desk that looked like it was made of spaceship armor, with a bunch of holographic data windows floating in the air above it.
But it was the man behind the desk that I needed to focus on. He was big. Even bigger than the tall spacer women I’d seen in the port, and broader too. His arms were almost as big around as my waist, and he looked like he could snap me in half without any effort at all. He wasn’t happy, either.
His face was so odd. There was hair growing from his chin, a forest of dark brown that hid a third of his face. The hair on his head was cut short, and there were deep lines around his eyes. The whole effect was more intimidating than Matron Gisel at her worst, and he hadn’t even said anything yet.
“Naoko, good. Maybe you can explain to me what you think you’ve been doing for the last few hours?”
“I was simply completing my mission, Captain,” Naoko replied. “It seems that there are no vendors who sell the plants in question, so I was forced to acquire local assistance in obtaining them.”
His eyes narrowed. “You aren’t rated for wilderness activity, Naoko.”
“No, sir. Nevertheless, Alice and I were able to complete the acquisition. If you’ll allow it, I’d like to offer her half my share in payment for her efforts.”
“I see. Were you aware of her legal status, Naoko?”
“You mean, that she is a refugee from a mind control tyranny traveling in search of asylum? Yes, Captain, the matter did come up. I was under the impression that you favor offering assistance in such cases.”
“I do. That doesn’t explain why you felt the need to sneak her on board without informing me,” he scowled.
“I thought it would be best to ensure that any blame would fall on myself, sir,” Naoko said weakly.
“Oh, so you thought I should hear about this from the portmaster first?”
Naoko winced. “I’m sorry, Captain. I didn’t expect to end up in a confrontation with the local constables.”
“Always expect trouble to find you, Naoko. And you!” He suddenly turned to stab an accusing finger at me. “What possessed you to lead an urban environment android outside the port?”
I found myself standing up straight. “Sir, I didn’t know she’d have a problem with it, sir. She seemed really amazing when we were dealing with the inugami, sir.”
He blinked. “Inugami? What kind of trouble did you get into, Naoko?”
She hung her head. “There was a team waiting for me in the port, and they had my compliance codes. They would have gotten me, if Alice hadn’t come along and helped.”
He gave me another look. “You got into a fight with an inugami snatch team and won? What exactly are you, Alice?”
“Sir, no one at the orphanage could ever figure that out, sir. But I didn’t really fight the inugami, sir. They were using a jammer to keep Naoko from calling for help, so I just grabbed it and broke it. Sir.”
His eyes went to the long patch of medigel on my arm. “Is that where you got injured?”
“No,” Naoko interrupted. “I fear that I blundered into a monster in the swamp.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. “It was just a hexagator, Naoko. They’re not even fast enough to be dangerous, normally. But, um, she stepped on one, sir, so I had to get her away from it quick. We dodged the teeth, sir, but it got a good whack in on me with its tail before I could get us up a tree.”
“A hexagator,” the captain said slowly. “Computer, display Xenopedia entry for Felicitan hexagators.”
A new display window popped up above his desk. He studied the image for a moment, and sighed.
“Naoko, did you leave the port without your armor?”
“The integral weapons are a violation of local ordinance, Captain,” she said softly.
“Naoko,” he said again, sounding disappointed this time. “Why didn’t you call for help?”
“Males are not allowed on Felicity, and the techs would not be safe there,” she pointed out. “Beatrice is the only crew member who could come down, and I can only imagine the fuss she would have made. I didn’t want to be a bother, or cost the ship extra landing fees.”
“You could have just come back up,” he pointed out.
“And fail my mission?” Naoko said incredulously. “Never! I’ve caused you far too much trouble as it is, Captain.”
He gave an aggravated sigh. “Naoko, you aren’t with the Masu-kai anymore. You don’t have to complete every mission on pain of death, and you certainly don’t have to act like everyone’s servant. You’re a member of my crew, and I expect you to ask for help when you need it. Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been? When you canceled your launch window and went off the grid Jim was about ready to drop an extraction team to find you. I only stopped him because I had a hunch you’d make it back on your own.”
“What? But Captain, we’d be barred from the system if he did that. We’d lose access to the cheapest source of botanicals in the cluster, and the Association would surely levy a fine.”
“The lives of my crew are more important than profits,” the captain said firmly. “Naoko, please. Stop trying to do everything yourself. We’re a team, here.”
Naoko hung her head. “I’m sorry, my captain. I promise, I shall endeavor to do better.”
“Good. Now what’s the story with our guest? Do you have somewhere to go, Alice?”
“No, sir. I was trying to find a ship willing to hire me, sir, but I don’t have any certifications. Please, sir, will you at least drop me off someplace where a little orphan girl might be able to survive? I don’t eat much, and I promise I won’t cause any trouble on your ship.”
I gave him my best puppy eyes.
“Not bad,” he chuckled. “You need to practice, but I’d give it a seven out of ten.”
I pouted.