with his duffel, ammo cart, and gun case ready to go. I gave him the same spiel about pay and duties Caldswell had given me. He listened attentively until I was done before asking a few pointed questions about rotations and the cargo checklists that hadn’t even occurred to me when I’d signed up.
By the time I’d given him the tour of the ship, which took me less than half the time it had taken Basil back on Paradox, I was more certain than ever we’d made the right choice. Rashid was unfailingly polite and surprisingly knowledgeable about antibreach tactics in older ships. We were talking about how he would have handled the xith’cal raid Cotter and I had held off during our first month on the Fool when we walked back into the lounge to see that the cook and Ren had returned to their customary places.
I averted my eyes immediately, letting Rashid introduce himself. Our new security officer greeted the cook politely, but when we got to the captain’s daughter, his face lit up in a smile that made all his others look brittle. “Hello,” he said softly. “And who are you?”
Since Ren wasn’t going to answer, I spoke for her. “This is Ren Caldswell. The captain’s daughter.”
“Hello, Miss Caldswell,” Rashid said, leaning over to catch Ren’s eyes. It didn’t work. Ren just kept playing her chess game, moving the little plastic pieces with mechanical precision without so much as a glance in our direction.
“Don’t mind her,” I whispered to Rashid. “She’s like that to everyone.”
My new partner ignored me and dropped into a squat so that he was peering up at Ren from across the table. “Can you tell me about your game?” he asked sweetly.
Ren’s hands didn’t slow, and she didn’t reply. Rashid asked again, his voice even gentler, but the result was the same. He might as well have been talking to the wall. Eventually, he gave up, giving Ren a final smile before standing with a sigh.
“Sorry,” I said awkwardly as we walked out the lounge door.
“For what?” Rashid asked. “She is absorbed in her game. Girls that age are ever too busy. I have a daughter myself.”
“Really?” I said. “What’s her name?”
“Yasmina,” he answered proudly.
I smiled. “That’s a pretty name.”
“She is a pretty girl,” he said. “And very smart.”
“Is she here on Wuxia?” I asked as we walked down the hall.
Rashid gave me a smooth smile I couldn’t help but think of as fake after seeing how he’d smiled at Ren. “Perhaps.”
His strange answer threw me for a second, but then we ran into Nova and Basil and I forgot all about it as we went up to see the newly redone bridge.
Getting blown up might have been the best thing that could have happened to the Fool . Caldswell had replaced the entire command deck, and except for the salvaged captain’s chair, which was still the same worn, dirty old leather lounger from before, the bridge now looked almost modern. Basil was beside himself with joy. He spent nearly thirty minutes showing us how his maps could now be projected across the whole bridge, filling the room with neatly labeled stars.
When we finally managed to escape the impromptu navigation lesson, I showed Rashid to Cotter’s old room so he could start settling in. The captain had shipped all of Cotter’s possessions and what was left of his armor back to his family on Paradox when we’d first landed on Wuxia, but with the door closed, I’d still thought of the room as his. Now that Rashid was here, though, Cotter’s presence was gone from the ship entirely, and that brought me down a lot more than I’d expected.
I’d lived among strangers ever since I joined the army at eighteen, but I’d always been around Paradoxians. Cotter had annoyed me, true, but he’d been a familiar annoyance. Now that all trace of him was gone, I was starting to realize that I was alone. Truly alone among aliens and off-worlders for the first time in my life.
That realization killed
By the time I’d given him the tour of the ship, which took me less than half the time it had taken Basil back on Paradox, I was more certain than ever we’d made the right choice. Rashid was unfailingly polite and surprisingly knowledgeable about antibreach tactics in older ships. We were talking about how he would have handled the xith’cal raid Cotter and I had held off during our first month on the Fool when we walked back into the lounge to see that the cook and Ren had returned to their customary places.
I averted my eyes immediately, letting Rashid introduce himself. Our new security officer greeted the cook politely, but when we got to the captain’s daughter, his face lit up in a smile that made all his others look brittle. “Hello,” he said softly. “And who are you?”
Since Ren wasn’t going to answer, I spoke for her. “This is Ren Caldswell. The captain’s daughter.”
“Hello, Miss Caldswell,” Rashid said, leaning over to catch Ren’s eyes. It didn’t work. Ren just kept playing her chess game, moving the little plastic pieces with mechanical precision without so much as a glance in our direction.
“Don’t mind her,” I whispered to Rashid. “She’s like that to everyone.”
My new partner ignored me and dropped into a squat so that he was peering up at Ren from across the table. “Can you tell me about your game?” he asked sweetly.
Ren’s hands didn’t slow, and she didn’t reply. Rashid asked again, his voice even gentler, but the result was the same. He might as well have been talking to the wall. Eventually, he gave up, giving Ren a final smile before standing with a sigh.
“Sorry,” I said awkwardly as we walked out the lounge door.
“For what?” Rashid asked. “She is absorbed in her game. Girls that age are ever too busy. I have a daughter myself.”
“Really?” I said. “What’s her name?”
“Yasmina,” he answered proudly.
I smiled. “That’s a pretty name.”
“She is a pretty girl,” he said. “And very smart.”
“Is she here on Wuxia?” I asked as we walked down the hall.
Rashid gave me a smooth smile I couldn’t help but think of as fake after seeing how he’d smiled at Ren. “Perhaps.”
His strange answer threw me for a second, but then we ran into Nova and Basil and I forgot all about it as we went up to see the newly redone bridge.
Getting blown up might have been the best thing that could have happened to the Fool . Caldswell had replaced the entire command deck, and except for the salvaged captain’s chair, which was still the same worn, dirty old leather lounger from before, the bridge now looked almost modern. Basil was beside himself with joy. He spent nearly thirty minutes showing us how his maps could now be projected across the whole bridge, filling the room with neatly labeled stars.
When we finally managed to escape the impromptu navigation lesson, I showed Rashid to Cotter’s old room so he could start settling in. The captain had shipped all of Cotter’s possessions and what was left of his armor back to his family on Paradox when we’d first landed on Wuxia, but with the door closed, I’d still thought of the room as his. Now that Rashid was here, though, Cotter’s presence was gone from the ship entirely, and that brought me down a lot more than I’d expected.
I’d lived among strangers ever since I joined the army at eighteen, but I’d always been around Paradoxians. Cotter had annoyed me, true, but he’d been a familiar annoyance. Now that all trace of him was gone, I was starting to realize that I was alone. Truly alone among aliens and off-worlders for the first time in my life.
That realization killed
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