“Yeah, I could use a sandwich or something. It’s been a long time since lunch. And we have some stuff to take care of yet.”
I pulled out the meat and cheese tray and said to Sarah, “There’s some darberry pie in here, if you’re interested. If you leave it, Pip will just eat it.”
Pip came and glanced over my shoulder. “There’s enough for both of us. Don’t be chintzy with Cookie’s pies, Ish.”
“Well, if you’re sure it’s not a problem…” Sarah began.
I pulled food out of the cooler, and Pip started making a sandwich while I rummaged up a couple of plates for pie. “So, you were going to tell me about the booth, Pip?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said with a mouth full of sandwich. “I sold another fifty of the stones this morning before I packed them away. Biddy was doing well with the consignments. We should have a settlement for the co-op by tomorrow. We dragged the grav-pallet back and started stowing stuff, but you won’t believe how much twenty kilos of yarn really is.”
I slid a plate with a big wedge of pie on it over to Sarah while he was talking. “Eat up, Sarah,” I told her. “Pip will go on like this for some time.”
She smiled shyly and started eating while Pip picked up the story.
“I talked to the dye people, and they were nice. I do see what you mean about the packets of dye though. I bought about a dozen each of black, red, and purple. They were cheap and massed almost nothing. Maybe they’ll sell or maybe next trip we’ll pick up some uncolored yarn and do it ourselves.”
I went and got coffee for Sarah, Pip, and myself and slid the mugs onto the counter.
“Did you get any more of those statues?” I asked.
“No, I never found the guy, but I did come across Bresheu. That really was something to see.”
“Did you buy anything?” I asked curiously.
“Nope. I looked through the racks for a while, but nothing grabbed me. It did seem like good quality, though.”
He finished his sandwich, made short work of the pie, and washed it all down with the coffee. “So, Sarah,” he said while nodding toward me, “how’s he been treating you?”
She lowered her eyes and said, “It’s been a very good afternoon.”
“I even showed her the gym,” I told him. “She won’t have to discover it on her own—in four or five weeks!”
“You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Never.”
We both laughed and Sarah looked uncertain, but she did not flinch.
Clean up only took a few ticks and we headed back to berthing. “Sarah, you lead. That way you can make sure you know the way,” I told her encouragingly.
The trip was not a complicated path, but I was not sure how much attention she had paid when I first brought her aboard. Apparently, it was enough because she made straight to berthing and right into the proper quad. What I do not think she had counted on was Bev standing there in her ship-tee and shorts.
Bev flashed her a friendly smile. “Hi! Fancy meeting you here.”
“Oh, excuse me,” Sarah said. She stopped abruptly and tried backing out of the quad while looking down. With Pip and me right behind her, she ended up backing into both of us. There was a little traffic jam as she bumped into us and Sarah started looking around rather frantically.
“Wait,” Bev said softly. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I startled you.”
Sarah was still trying to keep her eyes anywhere but on Bev. I could not figure out what was wrong, but I backed up to give her room and tripped Pip. All three of us went crashing to the deck. Bev’s reflexes were the quickest. She pulled Sarah out of the pile and lifted her effortlessly up onto her bunk in less than a blink.
Meanwhile Pip and I were busy getting untangled. I got to my feet first and stuck out a hand to help Pip up. “We’re fine. Nothing damaged here,” I said.
Bev shot us a look over her shoulder. “Oh, you two buffoons. Is it a guy thing, or are you two just particularly clumsy?”
“We had to get special training,” Pip told her.
Even Sarah laughed a little at that.
Bev turned her attention back to Sarah. “Are you okay?” she asked softly. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“I’m fine, thank you. I’m just sorry to have barged in on you like that.”
“Like what?” Bev asked.
Sarah still wouldn’t look at her but nodded her head a little. “You know. Like that.”
Bev seemed confused and silently appealed to me and Pip for clarification. I was lost myself so I shrugged helplessly.
“I’m sorry, Sarah, but I don’t know. Like what?” she asked ever so gently.
Sarah motioned with her hand, pointing up and down then. “Like that. In your underwear,” she whispered.
“Oh,” Bev said and I could see the light bulb glowing over her head. She turned back to us. “Gentlemen, could you excuse us for a while? I think Sarah and I need to have a little girl talk.”
I looked over at Sarah, huddled up on my old bunk. “You okay with Beverly, Sarah?” I asked her softly.
Bev gave me a funny expression when I asked, but Sarah said tentatively, “Yes, thank you.”
“Come on, Pip. I feel like a sauna,” I told him.
“Me, too,” he answered a bit too loudly, and we left them in the quad and headed for the gym.
Neither of us spoke until we got down to the changing room. Pip was the first and asked, “What in the name of little fuzzy nuggets is going on here?”
I plunked myself down on the bench. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Start with how long has she been here, and just kind of fill in to the point where we played the game with the darberry pie,” he said seriously.
I explained how we spent the day and mentioned Cookie’s observation that he thought she might have been beaten recently. After watching her all day, I had to agree with him. I also added my two cents of speculation that she probably had not been eating much. I finished up by explaining how I had been forcing food and liquid down her since she had arrived ship-side.
When I finished Pip sat with his mouth half open. “Okay, how do we help her?” he asked.
“I’m not sure, but she’s hurt, she’s scared, and she’s here. I think we need to give her some room and learn to trust us.
“Ish? You know you’ve started talking about the imaginary crewman as if she were real, right?”
“What? Oh, yeah. Well, of course, she’s not real, but you can’t tell me that the
“Yeah, you’re right, but that doesn’t mean we have ghosts!”
“Not ghosts, Pip, spirit. We take care of our own.”
“Well, of course. We’re shipmates.”
“Exactly, and now she’s one of us, so we need to take care of her.”
“Okay, I agree. But that still leaves me with my original question. What do we do? How can we help her?”
“Trust
“You do know that sounds like your brain has lost a data coupling somewhere, right?”
“Yeah. I know what it sounds like. But I like the feeling.”
We stood there without saying anything for a few more ticks. “How long before we can go back do you think?” Pip asked.
“I think it’s been long enough for us to go and get a status report. We’re going to have to rack out soon. You’ve got the duty tomorrow and I have to start my new job.”
We went back to the berthing area and found everything quiet. Sarah was rolled up in the blankets and appeared to be sound asleep. Bev was awake and guarding her. She backed us out of the quad and over to the
