Jill lay in a bunk in the crew's quarters. She could not sleep. She was not tired.
Jill got up and looked at the bunks. Three of them hung off the side of a beige structure that was large enough that it could be mistaken for a wall. A space for a fourth bunk was empty, covered by a flat panel.
She saw that there was a computer interface near each bunk. She put her hand on the edge of the interface. Her nanites spread out, forming a small, thin puddle of oily gray goop under her hand. The computer interface changed rapidly, showing different scenes for room temperature, mattress firmness, cryogenic suspension controls, and other options. Jill triggered some setting that caused a clear plastic canopy to extend over the bunk. She watched as the bunk receded into the nearby beige structure and disappeared behind a panel that slid into place in front of it. Jill turned her attention back to the control panel and issued a command to retrieve the bunk. The panel opened and the bunk slid back to its previous position, and the canopy retracted.
Jill walked to the side wall which had a row of four tall cabinets, some with handles. She pulled a handle and opened one. The cabinet had two shelves on the bottom and two empty clothes hangers on a metal rod at the top. There was a box on each of the the shelves. One metal box was marked with a large red cross, the multiversal symbol of a first-aid kit. She opened it and saw that it was indeed a first-aid kit filled with gauze, bandages, creams, pills, several small clear cylinders of liquid labeled as various medications and antivenoms, a device designed to dispense doses of the liquid, and other small devices of unknown function.
The second box, of a slightly larger shape and size, had no markings on it. It was locked by a small padlock whose key sat on top of the box. Curious, Jill opened the box and looked inside. Filling the left quarter of the box was a smaller jewelry box, while the rest was filled with a variety of objects. Jill lifted up and examined a menacing-looking metal headband with a large gemstone in the center. Beneath it were several small scrolls of paper tied together with ribbons. These she left alone. Beneath them, barely visible under everything else, was a folded banner with the same colors as the drape on Celestia's armor. Jill lifted a cylindrical object from the front-right corner of the box and saw that it was a stamp or seal of some kind. She put it back and closed the box.
Jill opened the next closet. Inside were neatly folded plain beige shirts and some underwear, probably Celestia's. Jill closed that closet and opened the third one. Jill saw that it was empty. She carried her bags of new clothing over to this closet, picked out a few items, folded them, and put them in the closet. It was not nearly large enough to contain them all. She soon gave up and put the folded clothes back in the bag.
Having finished exploring the crew's quarters, Jill walked toward the exit and opened the door. She hesitated as she heard a steady clanking from the lower floor of the ship. What was it? Were they being boarded? Her gun was still on the bridge. Maybe she could run for it?
The stairs lowered with a swooping sound. Jill stepped away from the door. There were two more clanks, and then the circular platform that used to be the stairs lifted Alex Smith to the second floor. Alex stepped off into the hallway.
Alex stopped to look into the open door to the crew's quarters. Jill stood still beside the wall. Alex continued walking down the corridor and opened the door to the bridge. Jill waited a moment for the door to close and then followed, filled with curiosity.
The door to the bridge had no handle at this side. "You gonna open?" Jill asked casually.
A panel beside the door displayed the message "Access denied."
Feeling up to the challenge, Jill placed her hand on the panel and let her nanites explore it.
Scene: Mick's ship, bridge
The door to the bridge opened, allowing Jill inside. Her gun was still propped against a side console. Celestia swiveled her chair to see her. Alex, standing behind Celestia, turned her head to look.
Jill smiled and playfully questioned them. "Are you two plotting something behind Mick's back?"
Celestia responded formally. "Alex will be accompanying us back to base when Mick awakens. We will want to have Alex on board before that time, and I also wished to consult with Alex on certain details of the ship's operation because Alex is familiar with the operations of space ships."
Jill eagerly joined the party. "Count me in. I'd like to learn how the ship works too." She stepped toward the nearest computer console.
Alex walked forward and stood in her way. "Do not touch anything."
Jill could not believe she was serious. "Or what? You're gonna shoot me?"
"Yes." Alex replied seriously.
Jill laughed and tried to step around Alex. Alex stepped in front of her again. "Very funny," Jill said with amusement, not taking this seriously until Alex stood in her way a third time. "Oh, come on." Jill put her hand on Alex's armor and sent her nanites in.
The light in Alex's helmet went out as her power armor's systems started to go down. "Hey!" Alex shouted in her natural voice, unmodified by her helmet's voice distorter. Her left hip pocket opened, revealing a small armory holding three purple, blue, and green half-cylinders that matched the shape of the orange part on the underside of her arm cannon, and two columns of puttylike red and white blobs about three centimeters in diameter. She pulled out a blob and handed it to Jill. "If you want to play with something, play with this."
"Not on the bridge!" Celestia yelled.
"What is it?" Jill asked, holding the blob in her hand. It gave slightly when pressed and was coated in some sticky material. She turned her hand over and it stuck to her hand.
"It's an explosive," Celestia warned. "I suggest that you carefully return it and then stand in the back of the room and do not touch anything."
Jill handed the bomb back to Alex, who put it away. She stepped back, then decided she didn't want to be a part of this if she was going to be treated like she wasn't welcome. She picked up her gun, drawing Alex's aim, and said "I'm taking this back." Then she huffed and left the bridge.
Celestia lowered her head and sighed, showing fatigue that she had not displayed before.
Alex walked over, put her hand on Celestia's chair, and offered a suggestion. "Jump back to base now. If she causes trouble, you will have your powers."
Celestia tried to think about it. She was tired, but she saw how a fight would end. "If we have a fight we will wreck the ship. If we are in space when that happens, we are all dead. If we first manage to land, and I don't feel comfortable flying at this time --"
"I'll fly it in," Alex offered.
Celestia did not think that was a good idea. "You have never flown this ship before."
"I'll learn quickly," Alex said confidently.
Celestia continued her previous line of thought. "If we have a fight on base, we might wreck the base and the ship, leaving us stranded with no communications or resources, and that is assuming we do not crash the ship trying to land."
Alex looked down at Celestia. "So you're too chicken to fly out without Mick looking over your shoulder and telling you what to do."
Celestia rephrased that. "I am abundantly cautious. Space flight is dangerous. Dimensional travel is dangerous. Landing is dangerous, and I am too tired to be certain of bringing the needed precision to any of them. We have to consider the mission. We also have a chain of command to respect--"
"--Which you have already broken," Alex pointed out.
Celestia disagreed. "With Mick incapacitated, I am the ranking officer here--"
Alex laughed. "Of course you are, General," she said sarcastically. "You are the second in command of two people."
Celestia put up with the disrespect and carried on. "Regardless of the details, I believe it is within my authority to hire you to secure the ship."
Alex was silent for a moment. "You are that afraid of her."
Celestia admitted it. "She is strong and impulsive which could combine poorly with the fragility of this ship's instruments."
"And she can interfere with electronics," Alex added. Celestia looked up at the bounty hunter. Alex explained. "She turned off my suit. I had to reset it. Also, I think you locked her out of the bridge. She got in anyway."
Celestia took in this new information. "That is another reason to keep her away from the bridge." She sighed and stood up. "I suppose I should turn in. I hope we did not anger her."
Alex said, only partly jokingly, "If she kills you in your sleep. I will drop her on a planet full of J Parasite."
Celestia smiled. "Thank you." She turned and walked away.
Alex continued. "If Mick complains, I'll throw him after her. Then I'll steal the ship."
Celestia laughed and looked back. "I hope that will not be necessary."
"It would be fun, though." Alex joked. As Celestia reached the entrance to the bridge, Alex interrupted her. "Hey, do you have any beer around here?"
Celestia turned back to reply. "We have a dispenser in the cargo bay -- You will not be drinking while on duty!"
Alex sat in a chair. "You will not be awake to care."
Celestia sighed and walked away, surrendering the issue with a mutter. "Guards are the same in every universe."
The door closed behind Celestia. Alex sat in a chair. Her voice distorter amplified a quiet chuckle.
Scene: Mick's ship, crew's quarters
Jill was lying in her bunk, doing nothing much other than thinking, when Celestia walked into the room. Celestia headed to the cabinets and began removing her boots.
Jill lay still in her bunk. "That was an awfully short discussion about starships," she remarked.
Celestia gave a brief reply. "It was. We made the decision to continue at a later time." She removed her helmet, revealing full blonde hair that would flow better if she had not had it under a helmet all day.
Jill raised herself partway up on an arm, and she turned toward Celestia. "So what was really going on with you and this Alex Smith?"
Celestia stopped removing her gear and turned toward Jill. She unconsciously ran a hand through her hair before beginning a crafted reply. "We were discussing mission-sensitive matters regarding--"
"Mission-sensitive?" Jill interrupted Celestia, her voice carrying a strong sense of disbelief. She leaned forward and put a hand on her chest for emphasis. "I am the mission, unless there's something you're not telling me. In either case, I have the right to know."
Celestia calmly deflected. "The mission is to win the tournament. We need capable fighters, financial resources, a base of operations, transportation, the proper equipment... hold on for a moment." Celestia continued removing her armor.
Jill understood what Celestia was not saying outright. "And you don't want me touching anything on the bridge. Especially with my nanites. You could have just said so."
Celestia finished removing her armor, revealing her small body covered by a plain beige shirt that she had been sweating in all day. While her arms were thin, she had muscle tone showing that she exercised regularly. She continued her conversation with Jill. "Would a mere word have inhibited your curiosity?"
Jill took a moment to consider the question, and admitted "probably not."
Celestia continued talking while she began removing her trousers. "There is indeed much that we have not yet told you. There is much that Mick has not yet told me. Every day, I learn new things that he has forgotten to mention. I am sure that you will be learning more tomorrow and the day after."
Jill had a philosophical question. "Does space have a tomorrow and a day after?"
Celestia had a utilitarian answer. "In space, 'tomorrow' is whenever we all decide to wake up. On land it is much more obvious as there is a sunrise and sunset, although the precise time of sunrise and sunset and even the length of the day is different from one planet to another. Did you know that?"
"I knew that." That was part of the basic astronomy that Jill learned in second or third grade.
As Celestia walked towards the bunks in her underwear, Jill remarked on her slightness. "You look tiny without your armor. Is it heavy? How do you wear it?"
"Practice," Celestia said. "I have worn it every day of active duty since my first field expedition."
"Why?" It didn't make sense to Jill that someone would weight themselves down like that.
"It keeps me strong," Celestia explained as she climbed into her bunk. "If I did not wear it regularly, my muscles would deteriorate and I would not be able to wear it as effectively when I need it for battle."
"That makes sense," Jill lied politely, still unconvinced that it made sense. She wondered if her nanites’ powers might have dulled after years without fighting.
Celestia planted herself face-down in her bunk. Jill hesitated a few moments and stated the obvious. "You look tired."
"I am." Celestia's voice was muffled by the padding that she spoke into without raising her head.
Jill wished her "good night," then had a thought. "Hey. Are you and Mick on the same sleep schedule?"
Celestia lifted her head. "We do not have shifts, if that is what you mean."
Jill did not intend to be that specific. "I just meant, in general. Do you go to bed and wake up at the same times?"
Unsure of the reason for the question, Celestia answered in detail. "Early on I would awaken early and sleep shortly after sundown, while Mick would often stay up late and sleep in. After seeing the same sunrise for several weeks, we do tend to rise and sleep at similar times."
This confirmed what Jill was thinking. "I just noticed that Mick said he was really tired and went to bed, and then he sent you running around shopping with me, which was nice but, wouldn't you have been just as tired as he was? That was a jerk thing to do."
Celestia relaxed, appreciating Jill's consideration for her well-being and humored by the recruit's haste to form an opinion of Mick. "I doubt he meant anything by it. A task needed to be done and I was willing to serve."
Jill continued. "If you were falling asleep out there, I didn't even notice."
Celestia smiled. "In officer training you learn not to show it."
"I'll let you go to bed then."
"Thank you." Celestia leveled her head into the bunk's padding.
"Should I turn off the lights?" Jill offered. She looked toward the door. "I don't see a switch."
Celestia explained how the ship's lights worked. "The light will extinguish itself when it sees that there is no movement."
"Okay," Jill said. She lay back and waited for the lights to go off. She still was not tired.
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