Tolly and Hazenthull’s Private Quarters
They’d modified the bunk situation, so Haz had room for all of her, he had the little bit he needed, and room enough left over for some careful play.
They had played—exploring, mostly, which was all right. Both of them were deadly, and knew their pressure points—which turned out to be a feature, pressure points being just that excitable.
So, they’d played, and dozed, and played a little more before slipping into actual sleep, Haz curled around him, and his head on her forearm.
The comm buzzed.
Tolly opened an eye.
The comm buzzed again.
He took stock, trying to decide if he had ever in his life been as comfortable as he was right at this particular present.
And the comm buzzed again.
He could tell by her breathing that Haz was awake, so that was his only excuse for not answering gone.
He rolled to the edge of the bed, and punched the button.
“Tolly Jones here,” he said.
“Mentor, it’s Joyita. You asked to be informed of the results of our scan of the breach hall.”
Well, he had, hadn’t he? How was Joyita to know it was his off-shift?
“Find anything?” he asked.
“Nothing that looks like a network, or data storage. There are solid-state installations between layers of plate, including the section from which the armed bot emerged, but they’re inert.”
Tolly frowned.
“Inert like…craniums?”
“Possibly,” Joyita said slowly. “Analysis indicates that the installations are cermabronze.”
“Nice Old Universe stuff. Pretty stable, wasn’t it? Which is to say that whatever was installed isn’t likely to be degrading.”
“That’s correct.”
“Do you need me to do anything—go to the breach hall, inspect the bot’s ustabe cubby, or anything like?”
“No, thank you, Mentor. Tocohl is considering her options. I’m merely reporting our findings, as we agreed.”
“’Preciate that. How’s the ghost situation?”
“We’ve recovered additional tools, but the operator continues to elude us.”
“Not planning anything risky, are you?”
“Of course not, Mentor,” Joyita sounded hurt. Tolly felt his lips twitch. “We’re upgrading the perimeter and looking to personal armor.”
“That’s you, Bechimo, and Tocohl?”
“Yes.”
“All sounds reasonable to me. You need me to do anything, or if you find something innerestin’, let me know, right?”
“Right,” Joyita said. “Thank you, Mentor.”
“No problem. Jones out.”
He reached out, punched the button, and rolled over.
Haz had stretched out onto her back while he’d made small talk with Joyita, and he felt a pang as he looked down into her face.
“Sorry ’bout that,” he said, and wasn’t he just.
“So am I,” Haz said. “I was…content.”
“I was, too,” he admitted, turning his head to get a look at the clock. “Got an hour ’til we’re on-shift.”
“Good,” she said, and stretched out an arm. “Come here.”