Chapter 20 Dax
Dax
The next morning, Lacy met me in the mess. “You really need to pick up more supplies,” she said between bites of toast.
I ignored her long enough to pour myself a cup of coffee and take a sip. The hot liquid was bitter on my tongue, but I ignored the taste for the hit of caffeine. When we finally made money on the cargo runs, I’d splurge on better beans.
“Sweetener, too. That coffee could fuel the ship.”
I stared at her over the rim of my cup. “Maybe I like my coffee black.”
“Maybe you do, but you can’t tell me your whole crew does.”
“True. But they’re not here yet.”
She scowled. “I am.”
“You’re not crew.” The word “yet” hung in the air between us, which was ridiculous because she hadn’t been part of the squad.
We had a full crew contingent. Not to mention she’d stolen my ship!
There were many reasons for her not to be part of the crew—but part of me liked the idea of her being around.
It had to be her knowledge, I decided. That’s why I liked her presence. Not because of that damn kiss.
She gave me a long, charged look, then changed the subject before the tension in the air was unbearable. “You said something about a broken door in the cargo hold?”
“Yeah. The internal one. You want to take a look now?” My stomach grumbled in protest.
She laughed. “Get breakfast, while I get my tools. Where are they again?” Her voice was light, but was that a thread of accusation?
“On the bridge, right where you left them.” I’d felt safer knowing where they were. And since she hadn’t asked, I hadn’t bothered to give them back.
“Excellent.” She dumped the rest of her coffee in the sink, quickly washed and dried the cup, then brushed past me as she left the room.
What was I thinking, wanting her to stay on board?
It didn’t matter how intriguing the packaging, the woman was trouble.
Not to mention, Finn had already claimed the mechanic’s spot.
He wasn’t trained, but where Mercer had been the one fixing up our bodies, Finn had patched up and jury-rigged our equipment when we were in the field. I was sure he’d do fine with Fortuna.
I heated up two breakfast pouches and ate them in quick bites.
Reconstituted powdered eggs weren’t my favorite, but they were high protein and filling.
Lacy wasn’t wrong about the need for supplies.
I’d initially only stocked enough food for one and had planned to pick some up on Elegium Station.
We’d definitely need to purchase more food at the cargo stop, since we were adding two more people
I was recycling the meal pouches when Lacy appeared in the doorway. “All set?” I asked.
She lifted her tool bag. “Lead the way.”
When we reached the cargo hold, Lacy asked, “So what exactly is the problem?”
“The internal door. It’s stuck a couple feet from the ground. I can’t get it to go up and I can’t get it to go down all the way.” I gestured for Lacy to go first into the hold.
“Do you mean the one that separates the space into two distinct spaces?” The lights flickered on automatically when she crossed the threshold. She clambered down the steps into the hold with sure, easy steps.
“That’s the one.” I followed her into the cargo bay.
It was a big space, obviously not as big as the hold of a troop transport ship, but big enough for what we wanted to do. Maybe even space for a shuttle. Was that even a thing for cargo ships?
Currently empty, the regularly spaced beams on the floor, ceiling, and sides to lash cargo to were visible and our voices echoed in the space.
She stopped in front of the rolling door and placed her tool bag on the decking. When she reached for the hanging switch that controlled the door, I growled. “Tried that. It didn’t work.” Seriously, I wasn’t that dumb.
Her lips curved just barely, like she was holding back a smile. “I believe you,” she said. “I still need to test it for myself. Go do something else and let me work.” She made shooing motions.
I crossed my arms and leaned against the railing. “Nope. I want to make sure you take care of my ship.”
Her smile faded. “I promise, I’m not going to harm her. I told you I would fix the door and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“You’re the one who said I needed to know Fortuna in and out. So I want to see what you’re doing.”
“Fine, if you want to play voyeur, knock yourself out.”
With a huff, she turned away and hit the button to raise the door. Something above us made a grinding sound, but nothing happened.
“Okay, so that doesn’t work,” she muttered to herself.
I was so restrained, I didn’t even say I told you so. But it was a hard-fought battle.
Next she crouched and grasped the edges of the door. Pretty sure this wasn’t going to work, but I took a second to enjoy the view, then focused on her form, to make sure she didn’t hurt herself.
She pulled up. The door didn’t budge.
“I tried that, too.” I couldn’t help it.
She tossed a glare over her shoulder. “Hit the button, would you?”
“Should we trade places?” I asked as I grabbed the controller. “Me lift and you press the button?”
She rolled her eyes.
Okay, then.
“On three,” I said. “One. Two. Three.” I hit the button.
The sound of gears grinding against each other filled the space, but nothing happened.
Lacy released the door and stood, arching to stretch her back. “It’s jammed. Pretty sure I can fix it, but I’m going to have to cut the power to the cargo hold while I do it.”
“Won’t cutting the power kill the gravity?”
She raised a brow. “No. The cargo hold power is completely separate from the gravity controls. And life support. And the pressurization.”
I held my hands up in front of me. “It was an honest question.”
“I need you to wait outside while I reroute the power.”
What the hell did that mean? “Outside outside?”
“Relax. I need you in the hallway, outside the cargo hold. I may need you to manually restart the power to this sector and it would be better if we both weren’t in here.”
A new, worse thought occurred to me. “Is this dangerous?”
She looked up from the tools she was pulling out of her bag. “I’m playing with electricity and hundred-pound doors. What do you think?”
“Beyond that.” I didn’t want her to get hurt. I could hire another mechanic . . .
She stood and approached me, not stopping until she was right in my face. “Do you want this fixed or not? I can back off right now if you don’t want me to work on this.”
Torn between fixing up Fortuna or protecting Lacy, I hesitated too long.
“I. Am. A. Fucking. Professional.” She poked me in the chest with each word. “I’m more qualified than you to fix this. You don’t need to protect me. I’ve been working on ships since I was a kid and I know this class of ship inside and out. Now act like a goddamned captain and make a decision.”
I looked down at the finger poking into my chest and then back up to meet her gaze.
She was completely serious. And worse, she was right. I had to do my goddamn job. “Fix it. Please.”
“About time,” she muttered.
“What do you need me to do?”
Lacy walked me through the process, explaining each step quickly but clearly, giving estimates of how long the repair process should take. I appreciated the details.
“Approximately two minutes after I cut the power, the lights in here will go out and the emergency lights will kick on. Okay?”
I nodded.
“Now go out into the hall and close the door.”
“Be safe.”
“Always.”
Turning her back in a way that clearly signaled dismissal, I reluctantly took the stairs out to the corridor. Once I secured the door behind me, I planted myself outside the tiny porthole window in the door.
Just as she’d described, the lights inside the cargo hold went out and the emergency lights kicked on. They weren’t bright enough to allow me to see inside. I could just barely hear the clang of a tool against the door.
My breath fogged up the window. Though I knew it wouldn’t help, I rubbed the glass with my sleeve. What was she doing in there?
It wasn’t that I doubted her experience or her capabilities. It wasn’t even worry for Lacy, specifically. I’d have the same concerns if Finn were in there.
Liar.
I could tell myself it was worry for a teammate, the same worry I had when we were on a mission, but that would be a lie. I trusted my team to do their jobs and there was no room for worry on a mission. I needed to do the same for her.
Stuck out here waiting for Lacy to let me know when things were back up and running, I started to pace. It was that or enter the cargo hold against her orders.
The door to the cargo hold creaked open—finally!—and I whirled around to see Lacy standing in the doorway.
At least, I assumed it was Lacy. Grease liberally streaked her face and her coveralls were more grime than fabric at the moment.
I burst out laughing.
“Asshole,” she muttered.
“Sorry.” I swallowed my laugh. “I was not expecting . . . that.” I waved my hand up and down.
“Neither was I.” A tiny smile slipped out and she shook her head. “Want to come see your door?”
“Yes.” Though I was dying to see the repairs, I kept a careful distance from Lacy and her grease-covered, well, everything.
She stood next to the door that now reached all the way to the floor.
“May I?” I reached for the controller.
“It’s your ship,” she said innocently.
I hit the button and, with a slow creak, the metal door rose up, disappearing into the track at the top.
I hit the button again. It rolled back down with fewer creaks this time. Another press and the door started its upward journey again, smoother and quieter.
“I swear,” Lacy said, “if you hit that button one more time I’m going to break the damn thing.”
“Fine. Funsucker.”
She raised a greasy hand toward me and I dropped the controller and dashed back up the steps. Her laughter echoed around the cargo hold.