Station Day 21
Storeroom Core Six
Tolly Jones popped the power pack out of the rifle, slipped it into a leg pocket, and put the rifle on the floor in the front of the jitney. Hazenthull sat the bot on the passenger’s bench in the back, and secured it with the existing shock webbing, while Theo and Tolly made the four boxes garnered from the storage room secure with cargo netting.
That left the front seat, next to Hazenthull nor’Phelium, for Jen Sin, if he was to ride, and apparently he was.
“There is no need to disrupt—” he began.
“There is need,” Hazenthull said firmly. “Something large fell on you.”
“I—”
“There’s a bruise coming in over your right eye,” Theo said. “Do you have a headache?”
In fact, he did have a headache, not that it signified.
Tolly Jones gave him a grin and nodded at the jitney.
“You’re outnumbered, Pilot,” he said. “Take the easy route, and rest yourself, why not? You still got incoming to deal with, remember.”
He had forgotten the ships due to dock, the strangers who would soon be overtaking the halls, and for a too-bright moment, he thought that he would rescind this permission, and send them all away. What had he been thinking? What—
“Jen Sin,” Theo said. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and opened his eyes to meet a straight dark gaze. “You hit your head hard. We’ve got an autodoc, if you need it. Meantime, it’s not going to do any harm to let Hazenthull drive you in.”
“I am honor-bound to your Line and House,” Hazenthull said unexpectedly. “Your safety is my priority. You were not able to control your fall, and might have additional injuries, which a long walk could exacerbate. Allow me to do my duty.”
One could scarcely deny a petition to duty. Jen Sin inclined his head, feeling a flash of pain.
“My thanks,” he said, and climbed into the front seat next to Hazenthull. He was not so large as Tolly Jones, so there was room enough for him to sit without crowding the pilot.
“Catch you soon, Haz,” Tolly Jones said, as the pilot engaged the craft and brought them in a sweeping circle ’round the hall, speed increasing as they raced back the way they had come.
Jen Sin closed his eyes, breathing deep, accessing a calming exercise.
You are the light keeper, he told himself. There are, indeed, ships coming into the station. It is the nature of stations, to receive incoming ships; to make the halls available to travelers.
There was little enough in the halls at present to tempt travelers, but that would be changing, too. Korval intended their new property to become a profit-line. Therefore, incoming ships and crew were required, in numbers.
He took another deep breath, and dared to enter board-rest.
The jitney bore strongly to the right. He opened his eyes as the doors to the bay access halls rolled away before them.
“We go first to Seignur Veeoni,” Hazenthull said.
Yes, of course. Seignur Veeoni would want to know that her researches had borne fruit.
He stirred.
“Tocohl, what is the status of the incoming ships?”
“Still incoming,” Tocohl said from the jitney’s speaker. “Station estimates three hours before Karil’s docking, the others behind her.”
“I will meet Karil when she docks,” he said. “Please bring Lorith current.”
“Yes, Light Keeper,” Tocohl said, as Hazenthull turned into the bay Seignur Veeoni had chosen to house her work space.
“Do you want to go back to the seal and see if there’s anyone there?” Theo asked, and it wasn’t half a bad question, either.
“Y’know? I do. But I’m thinking it’s best to let tempers cool a bit before we make another visit.”
Not to mention—and there wasn’t any reason to mention it to Cap’n Theo—he wanted a look at what was in those cases presently on their way to Seignur Veeoni. Jen Sin had been there before them, presumably because he knew or had made a shrewd guess about those boxes, and the Old Light had killed him before he could open them. In Tolly’s opinion, anything the Old Light wanted hidden was worth studying on.
“Should’ve asked how you’re feeling,” he said, suddenly aware of that omission. “I wasn’t particularly gentle taking you down, either.”
Theo turned and started walking; he kept pace.
“Bechimo ran a diagnostic,” she said. “I’m fine—” She paused, and repeated, with emphasis, “I am fine, absent a few bruises, none of them as bad as Jen Sin’s forehead. We’ve got a ’doc aboard. If I feel the need when I get home, I’ll use it.”
He nodded.
“What’s the word on the incoming?” he asked, after they’d gone a couple dozen steps in silence.
“They’re out of Hacienda Estrella at Edmonton Beacon,” Theo said obligingly. “The Carresens-Denoblis put out a Traveler’s Aid Notice for the Light, and this is the first wave of workers and supplies. Three ships—Karil’s carrying supplies, Rodger Dodger and Crinolyn are bringing work crews.” She paused, added, “They’ve worked with Ren Stryker before and seem on good terms.”
“Good to have an experienced crew,” Tolly allowed. “Did you get Ren that sample? I’m innerested to hear what he might’ve thought.”
“According to Bechimo, he thought he could work with the old racks and tiles, to render them into useful components.”
“Things are fallin’ into place,” Tolly said. “Work crews staying on-station?”
“They didn’t seem eager to stay on-station,” Theo said slowly. “They were coming in to help unload Karil, but were planning on staying with—in?—Ren Stryker. They’ve done it before; they said he was a good host.”
He nodded.
“I thought you’d be more upset. Hiding on Ren Stryker isn’t going to be an option for you.”
That was a bit sharp, Tolly thought. He slanted her a look.
“Come to it,” he said mildly, “Haz convinced me to give that plan up.”
“Good,” said Theo, and frowned, like she’d just heard something she wasn’t expecting.
Tolly waited.
“My crew finished a sweep of the upper and lower levels of the old core,” she said. “They didn’t find any more avians or anything else that looked like it was still…functional. Did you see anything like it when you were in the core?”
“I didn’t, but truth said, I had other things on my mind. Did it attack when it was disturbed, or just—run?”
“It ran—well, no. Flew. It was a surprise, but nobody who was there thought it was a threat.”
“That don’t sound like the Old Light,” Tolly said. “Makes me wonder if a drone or a remote got separated from its ship, back in the old days.”
“And it’s been hiding all this time?” Theo didn’t sound convinced, and Tolly couldn’t blame her.
“Best I can do, ’til we can find it and ask,” he said mildly.
She nodded, and lapsed into silence, again. This time, he didn’t try to bring her out of it.