Divergence

Saskia was staring at Edward. Her lips were narrowing.

Maurice spoke up. “Could we speak to the others?” he asked quickly.

“You can do whatever you like,” said the Stranger. “Here, allow me to help you.”

The viewing field split in two, the lower area opening up to show the living area on the other Eva Rye . Joanne stood on deep red carpet, a look of immense satisfaction on her face. She was wearing a tailored green suit that complemented her red hair. It also made her breasts stand out more, Edward noticed.

“Hello there, everybody,” she said. “Gosh, I like the black-and-white theme! What do you think of our ship?”

“It’s very nice,” said Saskia through gritted teeth, taking in the rich golds and reds of the floor and furnishings of the other living area. “And how are you, Captain ?”

Joanne gave a little smile.

“Just call me Joanne,” she said. “We’re all fine. We’re taking the Stranger to his destination, then we’re going to follow a lead he sold us. Isn’t that right, Michel?”

Michel was sitting on a red-and-gold sofa, tapping at a console and looking more relaxed than he had seemed in weeks.

“That’s right,” he said. He gave a sudden gulp of laughter. “Hey, I’ve just realized. We’ve got all your colors! You’ve got all of our black and white. The Stranger has a sense of humor.”

“Obviously,” said Maurice tightly.

“Hello, Craig!” called Edward, walking up to the viewing field with the teapot in his hand.

“Careful, Edward,” said Craig warningly. “Don’t spill that tea!”

“Are you coming back?” asked Edward.

Craig looked guilty. “I don’t think we can at the moment. But I’m sure we’ll meet up again sometime.”

“Oh.” Edward felt a heavy weight settle in his stomach. He looked at the floor through blurry eyes.

“What do you mean, you don’t think you can?” Maurice called out. He was fiddling with his console, checking local space. “You’ve certainly wasted no time in putting some distance between our two ships. Are you abandoning us?”

Joanne came forward again, that faintly smug smile still playing on her lips, even as she tried to look sympathetic.

“It’s not like that, Maurice. Check the FE contract. We’re not one crew anymore, we’re two. Check the manifest net. You haven’t done too badly out of the deal. You got most of the cargo; take a look in the holds.”

“Fuck the cargo,” Saskia called out. “You’re running out on us.”

“I don’t think it works that way,” said Joanne. “Look, I’m sorry. We’ve got a contract to take the Stranger to where he wants to go. After that there’s nothing to stop us meeting again, is there?”

There was silence inside the lounges of both ships. Edward twisted his fingers around one another, uncertain of what to say. It was Craig who spoke up first.

“Saskia,” he called, “look after Edward. You too, Maurice.”

“We will,” replied Maurice dismissively.

Craig gazed at him coldly. “You’d better.”

“Hey, Maurice!” Armstrong was calling from his usual place at the table, still rubbing up his panga. Maurice merely gave him a wave of the hand. The scene on board the other ship suddenly shrank and the Stranger took its place.

“Now,” it said, “I’m sorry to butt in like this, but you will have plenty of time to talk later on. I just wanted to straighten a few things out.”

“Like what?” said Saskia.