pushed into
any course of action, but she didn’t want pride to make decisions for her
either. What would she have done without the Magi’s revelation? As an engineer,
she couldn’t walk away from the greatest invention in history. As a friend, she
wouldn’t leave Echo to die or Max to suffer. As a null, Roz wanted the chance
to belong to something larger. As a woman, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon
a relationship with Max, even if it seemed a little unconventional. Every
aspect of her urged her to yield. The most she could do was dictate the terms
of her surrender. “If I do this, no more hiding things from each other.”
“Agreed.”
“I want him to ask me first,
though, and without prompting from anyone. A girl has to have some standards.”
“So Max meets with your approval?”
Roz shook hands with the frail Magi,
trying to sound businesslike. “This guy could have a lizard tail and I’d have
to agree. The subbasement drive is too important to pass up.”
“Such noble sacrifice.” Echo
suppressed a smile.
Halfway to the elevator, Roz
remembered why she had come down here. “Do you approve of what they’re doing
for Deke?”
Echo stood and tilted her head.
“How could I object to someone else being freed from slavery and allowed to
develop their potential, whatever their race? Besides, the military AI on
Deke’s shuttle has a great deal of navigation data about our route, saving us
weeks of guesswork.”
“Did you know Alyssa is a
criminal?” Roz asking, hoping for some moral outrage.
“Nothing violent. What you call a
confidence artist,” Echo explained, waving the furniture away. “Max has
informed me of the relevant details, and I approve. I believe in the power of
love to heal and reform a wounded soul. Don’t you?”
Roz opened her mouth to object, but
no arguments came. All she could manage was a weak, “If any of them endanger my
ship, I’ll kick them off at the first police station, bound and gagged.”
“ Your ship?” teased Echo.
Before Roz could fumble an apology, she said, “ Our ship.”
****
Roz returned to her room, confused and aflutter. One of the
most advanced species in the Union had treated her as an equal, asking for help
in complete honesty. She couldn’t be mad at Echo. That left a complicated snarl
of emotions for Max. For his sake, Roz had left behind everything in her
stable, boring life. The new job had worked out better than her wildest dreams,
so why was she angry? She dragged the sleeping Jeeves out from under the bed to
have a one-sided conversation. “Your daddy has been hiding things from me. I’m
not okay with that.”
She pulled a pouch out of her
pocket, which contained fresh coconut meat. Jeeves devoured the offering,
making noises of pleasure.
After a long discussion, Roz
decided she could repair her relationship with Max for the sake of their
“child.” Jeeves was sensitive and might react poorly to seeing his daddy shouted
at and kicked in the testicles by Mommy. At the very least, she promised Jeeves
that if she absolutely had to act on her anger, she would take Max into another
room first.
She stroked Jeeves until he slept
in her arms. Then she decided to catch a nap herself because Deke starting his
shift early meant she would begin her next stint at about three in the morning.
That time shift alone should help buffer her from others until she could better
face them.
Chapter 11 – Hidden in Plain Sight
Roz managed to avoid Max for over a week until the
transition to subspace. Both he and Ivy hovered over her narrow bed like
nervous, old women. “We just jumped,” Ivy announced at last.
Max had been watching the EEG
readout. “Your electrical activity spiked.”
“That’s because she squeezed my
hand like a python swallowing a rabbit,” Roz complained. The event hadn’t hurt
this time. It affected her more like the rush of falling from several stories
up. “I’m fine. You can all go back to your daytime duties
any course of action, but she didn’t want pride to make decisions for her
either. What would she have done without the Magi’s revelation? As an engineer,
she couldn’t walk away from the greatest invention in history. As a friend, she
wouldn’t leave Echo to die or Max to suffer. As a null, Roz wanted the chance
to belong to something larger. As a woman, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon
a relationship with Max, even if it seemed a little unconventional. Every
aspect of her urged her to yield. The most she could do was dictate the terms
of her surrender. “If I do this, no more hiding things from each other.”
“Agreed.”
“I want him to ask me first,
though, and without prompting from anyone. A girl has to have some standards.”
“So Max meets with your approval?”
Roz shook hands with the frail Magi,
trying to sound businesslike. “This guy could have a lizard tail and I’d have
to agree. The subbasement drive is too important to pass up.”
“Such noble sacrifice.” Echo
suppressed a smile.
Halfway to the elevator, Roz
remembered why she had come down here. “Do you approve of what they’re doing
for Deke?”
Echo stood and tilted her head.
“How could I object to someone else being freed from slavery and allowed to
develop their potential, whatever their race? Besides, the military AI on
Deke’s shuttle has a great deal of navigation data about our route, saving us
weeks of guesswork.”
“Did you know Alyssa is a
criminal?” Roz asking, hoping for some moral outrage.
“Nothing violent. What you call a
confidence artist,” Echo explained, waving the furniture away. “Max has
informed me of the relevant details, and I approve. I believe in the power of
love to heal and reform a wounded soul. Don’t you?”
Roz opened her mouth to object, but
no arguments came. All she could manage was a weak, “If any of them endanger my
ship, I’ll kick them off at the first police station, bound and gagged.”
“ Your ship?” teased Echo.
Before Roz could fumble an apology, she said, “ Our ship.”
****
Roz returned to her room, confused and aflutter. One of the
most advanced species in the Union had treated her as an equal, asking for help
in complete honesty. She couldn’t be mad at Echo. That left a complicated snarl
of emotions for Max. For his sake, Roz had left behind everything in her
stable, boring life. The new job had worked out better than her wildest dreams,
so why was she angry? She dragged the sleeping Jeeves out from under the bed to
have a one-sided conversation. “Your daddy has been hiding things from me. I’m
not okay with that.”
She pulled a pouch out of her
pocket, which contained fresh coconut meat. Jeeves devoured the offering,
making noises of pleasure.
After a long discussion, Roz
decided she could repair her relationship with Max for the sake of their
“child.” Jeeves was sensitive and might react poorly to seeing his daddy shouted
at and kicked in the testicles by Mommy. At the very least, she promised Jeeves
that if she absolutely had to act on her anger, she would take Max into another
room first.
She stroked Jeeves until he slept
in her arms. Then she decided to catch a nap herself because Deke starting his
shift early meant she would begin her next stint at about three in the morning.
That time shift alone should help buffer her from others until she could better
face them.
Chapter 11 – Hidden in Plain Sight
Roz managed to avoid Max for over a week until the
transition to subspace. Both he and Ivy hovered over her narrow bed like
nervous, old women. “We just jumped,” Ivy announced at last.
Max had been watching the EEG
readout. “Your electrical activity spiked.”
“That’s because she squeezed my
hand like a python swallowing a rabbit,” Roz complained. The event hadn’t hurt
this time. It affected her more like the rush of falling from several stories
up. “I’m fine. You can all go back to your daytime duties
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