Sora

I had to stop myself from facepalming. When Bryce asked Sami to do this I didn’t have high hopes, but I had expected it to take her at least a little longer to slip up.

Thankfully, Varlin was on top of things, and spoke up before anybody could question her mistake. “Jayne, how about you take Samira down to the mess and grab something to eat?”

The human smiled. “Sure, I don’t mind. It’s been a while since I’ve been around another mechanic, at least one that breathes. How’s that sound, Samira?”

I wasn’t sure I liked this human all that much, but I trusted Sami to handle herself. They just happened to be going the same way as my target, which was why I followed them out of the hangar. It absolutely wasn't because I wanted to spy on Sami.

“What did you mean when you said you haven't been around another mechanic who breathes in a while?” Sami asked.

The human started laughing, and I used that as an opportunity to slip by the pair of them. “I didn’t mean too much by it. The Skull Candy runs with a skeleton crew, and I mean that literally for the most part. I’m the only living mechanic.”

Oh great, blondie was a jokester. I dodged past a few skeletons that were running by with cleaning equipment. One paused nearby and seemed to look directly at me. But it must not have seen me, because it continued past after just a moment.

I referenced my map and used it to re-plot my path to avoid the corridors with heavier traffic. The skeletons probably couldn’t see me, but there was no reason to take more of a risk than was necessary.

The human laughed again. Gods below, he was impossibly cheery, and definitely hiding something. “I take it you don’t like skeletons?”

“It’s not that,” Sami blushed, she was actually blushing. “These skeletons aren’t all that bad. They don’t even smell or anything.”

“Oh! Then you’re one of those mechanics that doesn’t let anybody else touch her ship?” Blondie asked. “Not even controlled minions.”

The human stopped in front of an elevator and I slid up next to him to watch him type into the console. After I memorized his access code, I continued down the corridor and left the awkward couple to their own devices. I was getting a weird vibe from this human, but it wasn’t a dangerous one. Once he found out sleeping with Sami was off the table, then he’d probably move on without a fuss. Most of her suitors did, and I had a way of dealing with the ones who couldn’t take a hint.

In the meantime, I had some communication logs to find. Unfortunately, that meant reaching the com-center, which my map had located on the topmost deck. And I couldn’t use the elevators, or I’d risk being detected. So, it was time for some cardio.

The enchantments in my boots, combined with my illusion magic, hid the sound of my footsteps as I started jogging down the corridor.

~~~~

I didn’t mind cardio. In fact, I really enjoyed it under the right circumstances. Those circumstances usually involved a partner or two, and a few mind-altering substances.

These were not those circumstances.

The Skull Candy was an unreasonably large ship, with 61 decks in total. Thankfully, the hangar was on the 42nd, but that still left nearly 20 for me to get to the com-center. Which meant a lot of stairs.

I was having difficulty breathing by the time I made it up the last flight of stairs. It wasn’t exactly that I was regretting my recent life choices. It was just that we had been going nonstop ever since leaving New Eden, and I hadn’t really had the opportunity to exercise aboard the ship. We were probably going to have to wait until after we got Thea back before we could get some shore leave.

But I fully intended to get some more cardio practice in then, and it was going to have to be under the right circumstances. I smiled to myself as I thought of all the different ways I was going to fund the local economy of our next stop.

That brief distraction was the reason why I walked through the door on the 61st deck and nearly ran right into a wandering skeleton. My invisibility held, but the skeleton stopped to stare at the door that had just mysteriously opened. I had no idea how self-aware these things were, but I got the feeling the answer was 'not very', as it continued down the corridor away from me.

I let out a sigh of relief as I turned to locate the comm-center. It was behind a nondescript door a few turns from the stairwell, and unfortunately, there was no way for me to know if anybody was inside. If there was, then I would probably have to kill them. So, I just hoped for the best and opened the door.

And immediately after I did, I felt my body go stiff as I stared into a pair of glowing green eyes. It wasn’t fear holding me in place, and it was nothing like when we accidentally shifted into an aether leviathan nest. This was some sort of magical effect that was forcing me to stare into the creature’s eyes and do nothing else.

“Please, come in and have a seat. Close the door behind you.” The voice was deep and ancient. The being spoke with an undeniable authority. Like literally, undeniable. My body began moving on its own as I closed the door and stepped into the room. I found the chair by feel as I continued to stare into the eyes of the creature.

Once I was sitting, it stopped staring at me and looked down at their desk. Which allowed me to get my first good look at the room and its sole occupant.

The room was set up exactly the same as it was on the map. Servers, monitors, and other technical equipment lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Then there was the desk in the center of all of it, and sitting at that desk was an emaciated… something. They were humanoid, but that was the only thing I could make out for sure. Their skin was leathery from rot and they had no distinguishing facial features beyond the glowing green eyes. Even their ears were missing entirely. The strangest part was that they were at a desk doing honest to the gods paperwork. Like with actual paper.

“Would you mind telling me what it is you’re doing here?” The being asked without looking up from their work. “And while you’re at it, explain to me why I shouldn’t call security.”

I looked down at my lap, and sure enough, I was still invisible. The being shouldn’t be able to see me. There was still a chance that they couldn’t and they were just guessing at an intruder when the door opened. With that in mind, I started to materialize my daggers.

“Please don’t make me kill you,” they said. “There’s a lot of paperwork involved with an unauthorized corpse and I already have too much on my plate dealing with the civil unrest on Zephili.”

“You can see me?” I asked. The being responded with a sigh and a wave of their hand. I felt mana pass over me as the magic powering my invisibility was dispelled. They went right back to their paperwork. It felt like I was in the principle’s office trying to explain myself after getting in trouble with a teacher. Which was an odd feeling for me, since I had never even stepped foot in a school.

“Well? Do you have an explanation for me?” The being asked.

I obviously couldn’t tell them the truth, and lying felt dangerous. There was no way for me to know if they were able to detect a lie, but my experience with Thea had taught me to avoid lying whenever possible.

“And why do you think there’s civil unrest on Zephili?” I crossed one leg over the other as I leaned back into the chair.

“The protests were the first indication,” they sighed, exhaling a literal cloud of dust. “And the riots pretty much confirmed it.”

“That’s not what I asked, and you know it.” I leaned forward and spoke slowly. “I asked, why do you think there’s civil unrest on Zephili?”

The being finally set their pen down and looked up at me. “Because that’s what happens when you annex a planet. People protest, and people riot, then we pull a bunch of PR stunts and they settle down.”

“Except they aren’t settling down this time, are they?” I asked.

They crossed their arms against their chest and shook their head. “No, they’re not.”

I mimicked their pose and smirked without saying anything. That seemed like the right thing to do, because they continued talking.

“Is that why you’re here?” They asked. I stayed quiet and after a beat, they again continued to talk. “It is, isn’t it? You’re here to deal with our Theocracy problem. I bet the higher ups sent you because the new admiral couldn’t cut it.”

I widened my smirk to a smile and leaned forward to rest an arm on their desk. “I’m going to need to see your communication logs. Everything sent in system and out, then I’m going to need you to install this on your subspace transmitter in a place the new admiral won’t notice.”

I pulled a micro drive from one of my sleeves and held it in front of my face between the two of us. The being mimicked my smile and leaned in before whispering conspiratorially. “I take it you’ll want me to keep this a secret from the admiral?”

“See? I knew you were one of the smart ones.” They took the drive from me, so I leaned back before continuing. “You take care of that, and I’ll make sure our civil unrest problem is dealt with.”

That wasn’t a lie, well not exactly. I was pretty sure the favor we were doing for the admiral was related. So once we handled that, I would have held up my end of the bargain.

“And the new admiral?” They asked.

“I promise he’ll get what’s coming to him,” I said. Which was, of course, the most meaningless phrase that has ever been invented.

The being materialized a datapad and handed it to me with a malicious grin. “You have yourself a deal.”