“Well, that’s good news, at least. We’re probably going to need them.”
“Why? Where are you taking us now?”
“Someplace called Corinair. It’s on the other side of the Pentaurus cluster.”
Vladimir continued to devour his food at more than twice the rate of Nathan. “What is there?”
“Apparently, they have some sort of rebel base there. And get this, it’s inside an asteroid, no less.”
“Inside?”
“Yeah. According to Tug, we can fly right in and park. They have some kind of repair and refit facility there.”
“Interesting idea,” Vladimir said as he tore off a piece of his roll and popped it into his mouth. “So, you are considering using this facility?”
“Yes. I gotta tell you, though. It makes me a little nervous.”
“Why? Because you have to fly into a cave?”
“No, because it could be a trap.”
“You are being paranoid, Nathan.”
“You trust them?”
“Of course not. But if they wanted to capture the ship, they could’ve done so long ago. This ship is not as secure as everyone seems to think it is.”
“Well, that’s comforting.”
“My point is, I do not believe their intention is a hostile takeover.”
“I hope you’re right. I sure wouldn’t mind fixing the hole in the bow. Flying around with a hole in our hull just doesn’t sit well with me.”
Nathan noticed Tug and Jalea entering the mess hall, along with both of Tug’s daughters. “It’s got to be hard for them,” Nathan commented, gesturing toward Tug and his girls. “Losing their mother and their home all in one day.”
“Deliza seems to be handling it pretty well,” Vladimir said.
“Really?”
“She was following me around engineering, asking me questions for more than an hour. She said she was bored sitting in her cabin. She’s a very smart young lady. And she is much easier to understand than Allet.”
“Maybe you should put her to work.” Nathan said, only half joking.
“I just might,” Vladimir said in between spoonfuls of molo stew. “I can use all the help I can get down there. And who knows, she might teach me some new tricks, yes?”
Nathan had to smile at the image of his larger-than-life Russian friend taking lessons from a demure sixteen year-old girl on how to fix the ship’s systems.
“You know, this molo stew, it is not too bad,” Vladimir commented as he finished the last of his serving, sponging up the remaining broth with his roll.
“That’s good, because we may be eating a lot of it for awhile.”
“More stew, sir?”
“Yes, please,” Vladimir exclaimed, his mouth still full of bread as he leaned back to make room for the Volonese woman. She filled her ladle and deposited its contents into his bowl. Vladimir admired the woman’s ample bosom as she deposited a second scoop into his bowl, then looked at Nathan, his eyebrows bouncing up and down twice in rapid succession as a grin formed on his face. Nathan just shook his head slightly, smiling back. Despite all that had happened to them over the last week, Vladimir hadn’t changed a bit.
“My compliments to the chef,” Vladimir exclaimed. The stew, it is Ochen vkusna.”
“Spaseeba,” the woman answered.
Vladimir’s mouth dropped, as did his spoon. “You’re Russian?” He was as excited as a little boy on his birthday.
“Nyet,” she told him.
“But you speak Russian?”
“I speak many languages,” she stated proudly. “Sadly, though, my Russian is not very good.”
“I will teach you, then,” Vladimir promised. He quickly brushed off his hands on his pants before offering it to her. “I am Vladimir. What is your name?”
“Naralena. My friends call me Nara.”
“Then I may call you Nara?”
“We shall see,” she answered coyly.
“Ah, there is hope,” Vladimir exclaimed victoriously.
“You have an interesting accent, Naralena. Where are you from?”
“Volon, Captain. The same place you pretend your ship is from.” She suddenly dropped her accent and started speaking in what Nathan recognized as perfect Angla. “The accent was more for the benefit of your friend. I can use many accents.”
“That’s an unusual skill.”
“I was a translator before I was sent to Haven.”
“Really? How many languages do you speak?”
“At last count, I believe it was eight.”
Nathan almost choked on his stew. “You speak eight languages?”
“Fluently, yes. But I can also communicate in several others, only not as well.”
“That’s quite impressive.”
“Thank you, Captain. But it is not as impressive as you might think. I was genetically skewed to have a talent for languages.”
“I see. Nevertheless, I am still impressed.”
The woman smiled politely as she left to check on the next table of diners.
Vladimir leaned forward in order to be discreet and smiled. “I think I’m in love.”
“What, again?”
“Captain. Chief.” Josh addressed as he and Loki stepped up to the table, their dinner trays in hand. “Mind if we join you?”
“Not at all, gentlemen. Have a seat.”
“Thought you might like to know, we’ve got one shuttle all checked out and ready to go,” Josh told him as they sat down and prepared to eat. “And between the harvester and the other shuttle, we should have enough used parts to keep the remaining shuttle flying for some time as long as we don’t get shot at too much.”
“We’ll try to keep you out of the line of fire,” Nathan promised. He noticed a confused look on Vladimir’s face. “Didn’t I tell you?” he said to Vladimir. “I hired these guys to be the flight crew for the shuttle. This way, we won’t have to depend on strangers for rides.”
“And they are not strange?” Vladimir said.
“Well, he is,” Loki admitted, pointing at Josh.
Vladimir let out a chortle. “Listen, I’ve flown with you two. Trust me, you’re both insane.”
Both Josh and Loki watched the big Russian’s facial expression cautiously until they were sure he was kidding.
“Did you say that you can use parts from the harvester for the shuttle?” Nathan asked.
“Sure,” Josh answered, as if it were common knowledge.
“They’re both made by the same manufacturer,” Loki explained. “Many of the systems are identical.”
“Makes sense,” Nathan said as he scooped up the last of his stew.
“Captain,” Josh started. “I was wondering something.”
Nathan noticed that Josh looked a little apprehensive, as did Loki. “What is it?” he asked.
“No offense intended, but if this ship is from Earth, and we all originally came from Earth, why is that most of our technology is more advanced than yours?”
Nathan thought for a moment. “Well, you’ve all heard about the Legend of Origin, right?”
“Sure,” Josh said, looking at Loki who nodded as well.
“What does it tell you about what happened on Earth?”
“Just that there was some terrible evil that drove humanity deeper out into the galaxy.”
“Well, that’s a pretty vague description, but fairly accurate.”
