Page 27 of Bonded

“I would never let you come to harm Pilot-Priya. The previous crew used to abuse my robots. However, they did not do so for long. I would make sure that they were out of the way so that they would not be harmed. I would do the same for you.”

The Ship continued. “The current crew here would not do such a thing, anyway. Their behavioral patterns would show that they would do what was necessary to maintain order, especially under Captain Ithran’s supervision.”

I smiled at that. “Thank you so much for saying so, Ship. By the way, one of these days I will come up with a name for you. I just want to make sure it is right.”

“Time is not a concern for me, nor am I rushed. I will have a name when I have a name.”

“You seem to like Captain Ithran.”

“Yes. For one who is not linked, he is a very astute being. He is very observant, and that allows him to avoid problems before they arise. Even regarding you. You were an unquantifiable variable and yet he had taken your existence in stride while also ensuring my heart and mind were protected and honored.”

At the thought of Ruzan and Vryek, I had to smile. “They are keen to please, are they not?”

“They are eager to please you. You are what they had hoped for in a soul.”

“I am sure that any person would have been more than adequate.”

“That conclusion is fallacious, considering that no one else had resonated with me or them until you.”

I bit my lip. There was something there beneath the surface, something that the ship was implying, but I was too afraid to acknowledge it. So I pushed it away.

Minion and Dash zoomed forward, and I knew that meant we were close. Gizmo kept up with me and helped to be my guide while Minion and Dash opened the port.

The panel slid away, and I came upon a storage area. It was likely a docking bay, but it became a place of odds and ends. There were walking paths, so they used this place regularly enough to create a walkway; however, rarely enough for it to be completely clear.

If it was up to me, I would’ve had this cleared regardless of how often it was used.

“It can be up to you, Priya. If you wish this room to be organized, it shall be.”

I carefully eased around random crates so as not to trip. The less trouble I could be, the better. No need to upset the crew’s work flow more than I already had. “I do, but that is not important at the moment. Let’s find that console.”

There was a shuttle positioned right by the docking bay doors. It was one of the few that was clean and organized, so it was clearly the one that was used from time to time, though not recently. It was quite spacious.

It was actually bigger than my studio apartment back in the colony. Gizmo took the initiative of going to the port and turning it on. Minion and Dash made a seat for me out of a few boxes that were available.

“Thanks guys.” I balanced on the box and allowed the console to power up. It was an older model, but recent enough that I could still control it with ease.

I thought about the link with the ship and what we had done during our practice run. And so, I gave this a try. I took a deep breath and upon the exhale I thought about what I wanted to happen with the computer.

I wanted to turn it on and research files containing Earth 4040 or the ship’s home base. And how I might communicate with the captain’s counterparts.

When I opened my eyes, a rain of letters and numbers appeared before the screen as data was being sifted and sorted for me. What I saw was amazing and something that I knew I would read through later. It was the history of what had once been a prison planet.

“Hold.”

The data stopped.

“Refine search for the most recent.”

The most recent message was a star date that I was unfamiliar with, but based on context and a feeling I had from the link of my ship, it was about a week ago.

“Okay, so this was relatively recent. That’s good.” So that was what the last outgoing messages were. The last one was about three days ago. What about incoming?

“Sort by the latest incoming data.”

There was one unread message. With only a brief hesitation, I clicked play.

The desperate voice coming from it unlocked something primal within me. I recognized this voice. A name echoed back from the depths of my mind.

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