and his hand rested on the hilt of his holstered sidearm. There was a security or peace officer at every major hall intersection, even the temporary quarters she'd been assigned somewhere in the center of the ship were well patrolled even though they were only partially occupied from what she could tell. The hallways weren't disused, they just showed more signs of age than the rest of the ship. They were missing the degree of polish the rest of the ship had, and dust had settled on much of the cabling and piping that was neatly sorted along the walls.
They were in the elevator, which had cleared out when they stepped inside, when she asked; “Has anyone instituted cleaning stations aboard?”
He looked at her with mild surprise for a moment before shaking his head; “Only in the bunks, but I'll pass it up the line to Chief Vega.”
“You don't have to go to the trouble, I just couldn't help but notice a little scuffing and settling in the halls in some sections.”
“I'm sorry, Ma'am. We'll have it seen to right away,” he answered as he stared at the lift doors with all seriousness.
It wasn't what she intended. It was meant as an observation, maybe light criticism, but not as an order. She sighed and stared at the lift doors. They opened to reveal a broad, busy corridor with active observation and control stations down its length. The buzz of activity and quick interchange of information was something she hadn't seen since she managed the Engineering section of the First Light.
It only took a few glances to realize that she had been brought to the main repair, maintenance and damage control center. It was a subsection of the Engineering department, she had read, and through a transparent ceiling she could see the main engineering office. According to the ship's organizational charts that was where all the engineering department heads gave orders for their teams, monitored their progress and coordinated. “Good thing you didn't take me that way. I'd cause quite a scene in this skirt,” Ayan muttered just loud enough for her escort to hear.
He suppressed a chortle. “Yes ma'am,” he replied under his breath.
As she passed the bustle and buzz of the broad control corridor quieted and she was met with mild smiles and gentle nods. Her cheeks flushed and she mentally cursed at herself for showing that she was at all flustered. Years of military training had taught her that when a crowd affords someone so much respect the best reaction was to calmly, politely acknowledge it. Keep your back straight, your stride steady, straight and your chin up. As she recovered her attire felt all wrong. Well, not wrong, but very different; confidence showed through very differently in a dress. She was used to being in a uniform, commanding a different kind of respect that came from rank, camaraderie. Being in civilian clothing separated her from the rest of the crew in ways she hadn't realized when she first dressed that morning, add to that her soldierly gait and whatever incidental reputation that had been attributed to her and people admired her from a distance. As she nodded and sent modest smiles at people who stopped to regard her with a grin or a; “Ma'am,” she wondered, with some irritation, what exactly waited for her at the end of the hallway.
There were over thirty people in that hallway, all directing repairs from what she could tell and she was relieved when she got to the end of the corridor made for fifty or more foremen and women. Broad double doors opened into a heavily armoured airlock where they waited for the doors behind to close, the pressure to equalize with the space beyond the heavier hatch within and then for that two meter thick block of a hatch door to be drawn out by heavy arms.
Ayan peered within and saw something entirely unexpected. The Triton's six main reactors were like thick pillars in a white cathedral and in its center sat a man in robes. His back was to her but she immediately had the sense that he was in meditation.
Between the large sealed reactor chambers and broad spaces between he looked small but compared to her he was a very large fellow, and as she stepped out of the lift the guard smiled at her and whispered; “That's Chief Engineer Grady. Do you need anything else before I leave Ma'am?”
“No, thank you for walking me here Officer Radics,” Ayan replied.
He remained there, staring at her.
“You're dismissed,” she added quietly.
He saluted before closing the hatch.
She shook her head and turned her attention back to the Chief. The first steps she took towards him sounded thunderously loud as they reverberated throughout the large chamber. Her soles were soft, practical, but still fresh from Laura's materializer, so they had just enough stiffness to make too much noise for her comfort.
Liam let out a long breath and stood slowly, almost too gracefully for his height and size. “I told them you'd be all right to find your way here on your own,” he said as he turned and smiled at her. “You've probably browsed the blueprints for the entire ship by now.”
Ayan smiled back at him as she slowly closed the distance and offered her hand. “Just a few decks and the way here.”
He took her hand and shook it firmly but gently. “I'm honoured to meet you Ayan, I'm Liam Grady.”
She let her hand slip out of his, feeling small and delicate at the center of the reactors, standing in front of a man who was the better part of a meter taller than she. “I'm honoured to meet you, Axiologist Grady. I was taught by someone from your order when I was a child and have believed ever since. You couldn't imagine my reaction when I discovered there was a monk aboard.”
“Oh, I'm only a Pilgrim. I was supposed to be a Guide on Seneschal while maintaining a lead engineer's post, but there was a change in plans. Who was your teacher?”
“Tajen Emrissa, she stayed to teach ethics and history for two years. I still wish she could have stayed longer, a lot of us did.”
“I heard of her while I was with my Mentor but never had the chance to meet her. I'm fairly sure she was in retreat somewhere in the north east, though she was known for being a Pilgrim for a very long time.”
“I'm glad she made it back. She didn't speak about her time on Earth often, but by the time she taught us she had two belts.”
“I couldn't imagine, even though I've met Mentors with four,”
Ayan couldn't resist looking down at Liam's loosely tied red belt to see how many places he'd taught or mentored and was a little surprised to find only one marking; the emblem of the Triton had been pressed into the thick cloth. The gentleman's easy confidence and slightly weathered look suggested that he'd already taught hundreds, thousands of people.
“I'm only at the beginning of my journey, much like you, as I understand it. Word has spread across the ship that you've returned by near miraculous means.”
“I wouldn't call it a miracle, more good science and more dedication that I could begin to return. I still don't understand how that could lead to the quiet stares and smiles I've been fetching.”
“I'm on leisure time, so let's explore while I catch you up. Have you seen the heart of this ship yet?”
Ayan looked around at the large reactors and nodded; “I think so.”
“Well, in one respect you're right, but this ship has another heart that's just as important. You might have seen it marked as the Family Quarters?”
“I noticed, it takes up over twenty percent of the ship's interior space.”
Liam led her towards the main hatchway. “At its center is the Botanical Gallery, which I've come to call the Garden.”
“Ah, I haven't been cleared to see most of the ship. Laura was saying Chief Vega has been tightening security.”
“You probably haven't been told, but we have an assassin aboard. His or her motives are unclear at best, but our Chief of Security has made changes to keep everyone, especially key personnel, as safe as possible.”
“That explains a lot, actually. I've spent all my time here going between Laura's quarters, my little temporary quarters and the infirmary, or should I say hospital.”
Liam nodded; “I heard they opened the attached rooms since there were so many wounded from our encounter at Pandem. One of my people said he thought he was transferred to a different ship when he woke up in what looked like a normal two bed hospital room.”
“That's Iloona's doing. She's really been pushing the staff and they're giving her their all. I think they're just happy to have a real doctor aboard. Hard to believe that you've gone so long without one.”
“So she's staying?” Liam asked as the main hatchway closed behind them and they waited for the pressure to
