berthing area’s table. When we got out where the light was brighter, I could see that her eyes were all red and puffy.
“Beverly?” I asked. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. We had a chat about the ship-tee and boxers. I think she understands now and seeing other people wandering about has helped. Sarah has some issues that will take some time to sort out. She shared them with me a bit, but I don’t want to speak for her. It’s her choice if she wants to say anything. I’ll warn you, though, the story is horrific.”
Pip sighed. “Anything we can do?”
Bev shook her head. “Give her room. You’re both good-hearted guys even if you’re both blockheads,” she said with a grin. “Just treat her like a shipmate and don’t make a big deal if she’s a little further off balance than a normal greenie. We’re heading out tomorrow and the sooner the better. It will be good for her to get into a routine.”
Pip asked Bev, “So? Now what?”
“She’s exhausted. We had a little talk and I told her that I’d watch out for her while she slept. She rolled into the blankets and went out like a light. Tomorrow’s another day. I suggest that you guys call it a night, as well. I’ll sit up for a bit in case she wakes up.”
“Is it going to be okay for me to sleep in the same quad?” Pip asked.
Bev considered the question for a few heartbeats and I thought she might say no, but finally she sighed and said, “Well, bunkie. That’s the way we sleep here, isn’t it? I think it might be good for her to see how things work. Just keep it down tonight so she can sleep, okay?”
“No problem with that,” Pip said. “I’m gonna get ready for bed. See you tomorrow, Ish.” He headed into the san.
Bev turned to me and lowered her voice further. “You did good today, Ish. She trusts you, and I don’t think she trusts easily right now.”
“I didn’t do anything special. Just fed her and showed her around the ship.”
“You have no idea how far a simple friendly gesture can go, do you?”
“Well, she’s one of us now. We have to take care of her, don’t we?”
Bev smiled at me. “You’re a good man, Ishmael Horatio Wang. In Sarah’s world, there haven’t been many of those.”
“I figured. Is she badly bruised?”
Bev shot me a sharp look. “What do you mean?”
“I was with her all afternoon in the galley, Bev. I’m stupid, but I’m not blind. She’s got bruises on the left side of her face that she tries to hide behind her hair that she pulls forward. She might have a cracked rib on the right, and she’s favoring her left arm. If I had to guess, I’d say she hasn’t had a decent meal in about three days. Plus, she’s so dehydrated that even though I poured three liters of water and coffee in her over the course of the afternoon, she hasn’t even hinted about needing to use the head. When I first met her, she flinched when I extended my hand to shake, and you picked her up off the deck and lifted her into her bunk like she weighed nothing at all. I know you’re strong, but she can’t weigh more than fifty kilos.”
Bev just stared at me. “Is that all?”
I shook my head. “She’s a hard worker and a good person. She has calluses on her palms and fingers from some kind of rough work, and she has a grip that could bend steel pipes. She’s spent a lot of time out of doors based on the UV damage to her hair and skin, and I don’t think she’s used to being around people. She appears old enough to be my mother, but I doubt that she’s got more than ten stanyers over me.”
“Anything else?” she asked with a half grin.
“Isn’t that enough?”
Bev stared at me for a long tick. “Yup, that’s plenty. How much have you told Pip?”
“Just a bit about what I figured out, but I won’t say anymore. Like you said, it’s her story to share. He’ll find out for himself if she wants to say anything.”
She looked at me hard, in a way I think I might have liked except that it scared me so much. It left me feeling both weak and strong at the same time. Then she sighed. “You’re a good man, Ish.”
“I’m a tired man, Bev. See you tomorrow.”
Chapter 8
ST. CLOUD ORBITAL
2352-FEBRUARY-21
I woke with a start and tried to figure out why. Then I remembered that I did not work on the mess deck any more. The watch stander had not come for me. I did not really need to get up, but after six months of rising at 04:30, my bladder told me that it was still working on the mess attendant schedule. I crawled quietly out of the rack and padded into the san. After my shower, I climbed into a fresh shipsuit and headed up to the galley to see if breakfast was ready.
When I stuck my head through the galley entry, I found Pip and Cookie being schooled in biscuit making by Sarah. “Look,” she was saying, “just because you have to make a lot of them, that’s no reason to make them so roughly.” She came only up to Pip’s shoulder but she could see eye to eye with Cookie, who gave every appearance of paying very close attention. “If you use the soft flour and cut in the shortening before you add the leavening agents, you’ll wind up with a much lighter biscuit.” She had the sleeves of her shipsuit pushed up and worked the biscuit dough with her hands deep in the bowl. The most dramatic change was that she had her hair pulled back in a pony tail. The left side of her face did indeed have several layers of bruising along the jaw line and around her eye. Neither Cookie nor Pip seemed to notice. She held the bowl at an angle so they could get a good look. “See? This is cut in nicely, and we haven’t bothered the structure of the flour terribly. If I just sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda, and a little sugar on here…” She matched actions to words. “I can use my hand to turn it like a garden spade tilling the soil.” Sarah proceeded to scoop and fold, scoop and fold, spinning the bowl on the counter a bit with each motion. “Now, this…” she stopped to show them the inside of the bowl again, “is ready for adding the liquid.”
Pip waved to me and Cookie nodded in my direction, but Sarah was so absorbed in her biscuit prep that she did not notice me there. I quietly withdrew to the mess deck and helped myself to a mug of coffee. I took a seat at a corner table, pulled out my tablet, and started reviewing the environmental section of the ship’s schematic. Hearing Sarah’s voice from the galley I found it difficult to concentrate on the tablet. I was trying to reconcile this Sarah with the fearful, wounded woman from the day before. The change was not simply dramatic—it was frightening.
I glanced up at the chrono and realize that there was still half a stan before the mess officially opened, so I holstered my tablet again, topped off the coffee, and headed down to environmental. Since it was going to be my new home, I thought I might as well get used to hanging out there.
Brill sat at the watch stander’s station, leaning back in the chair with her long legs propped up on the desk. She had her tablet out and was editing something on it with a stylus. “Good morning, boss!” I called.
She looked up and smiled. “Hey!” She glanced at the chrono. “What are you doing up so early? Don’t you know you’re supposed to sleep in when we’re in port?”
“My mind knows, but my bladder has a six month habit to break.”
She chuckled at that. “I can see where that might be a problem. So? You’re officially assigned to me
