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Bechimo
Dock A


“Joyita, see me in the meeting room. Now,” Theo said. She leaned a hip against the table, crossed her arms over her chest, and waited, trying not to count the seconds.

The screen didn’t flicker, it merely opened as if it were a window indeed, and she was looking into the comm tower, directly at her comm officer.

He was thinner in the face, and it looked to Theo as if there was some bruising around his right eye. He was wearing a blue shirt she hadn’t seen before, the sleeves rolled back from his wrists. Four cermabronze rings on four fingers, one wide band of the same material around one wrist.

The other wrist was enclosed by a dark woven net, in which small crystals glittered.

Theo frowned.

“You weren’t careful,” she said sternly. “You endangered the ship.”

“I did not endanger the ship,” Joyita said. “Bechimo locked down tight.”

Theo waited.

Joyita sighed.

“Which does not negate the fact that I wasn’t careful, Captain. I was lost, and if not for Seignur Veeoni’s timely assistance, I would still be lost.”

“It would not be a trivial thing to lose the comm officer,” Theo said sternly. “Not to mention our crewmate and friend.”

Joyita looked down at his desk—looked back.

“Captain. I will be more careful in the future.”

“Because you couldn’t be any less careful.” Theo nodded. “Good. I’m looking forward to seeing how that works out for you.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Are you—all right?” Theo demanded then.

“Captain, I am. Once I was free of the legacy system and in the cranium, Seignur Veeoni did a deep scan to ensure that I was not infected. When I returned to the tower, I compared my operations to my last backup. I am intact and able.”

“If you find that’s changing, you tell me immediately,” Theo said.

“Yes, Captain.”

“All right, then. Anything else?”

“Yes! Bechimo tells me that Catalinc Station has come fully into herself. We should throw her a party.” He grinned. “A birthday party!”

Theo stared at him, briefly struggling not to grin in response—then gave it up.

“That’s not a bad idea,” she said. “But we should wait until Jen Sin’s out of the ’doc.”

Bechimo, Tocohl, and I will start planning,” Joyita said. “In our spare time.”


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