Page 25 of Fire Forged

She ignored him as she perused the genres.“How do I get it onto my tablet?”She tapped the device to the screen for a transfer without success.

Warmth soaked her right shoulder and flung out a wave of tingles when he leaned around her to flick a file at her tablet.It dinged, confirming receipt.She laughed, dancing on the spot just like Dad had taught her.Yup, she knew all his moves.

“Thanks, Nerx.You’re the best.”

With her focus on the tablet, she sank onto her pre-warmed seat by her untouched meal.She didn’t hear Nerx leave and only when Lily clambered onto the bench did Britt look up.

“Whatya doing?”Lily asked.

“Breakfast and reading.You?”Britt tried not to smile at the pink furry onesie she was wearing.

“Nerxie said to find something to do.”

“So you’re asking me?”Britt placed the tablet face down and scooped a grape into her mouth.“Mm,” she said while chewing.“We could play hopscotch?”She chuckled.That counts as exercise, right?

“Can we?”Lily bounced on her backside, clambered to her feet, then leaped off the bench to dance around the common.

“Sure.Let me finish eating.We’ll need chalk.I suppose this is the only area big enough?”To the left was a narrow passage that led to an impenetrable door.She didn’t know what was beyond that.To the right was the passage to her mom’s quarters, the star deck, and the communications room.The other way was a door she hadn’t tried to open, yet.

“Harder,” Nerx’s voice came to mind.

She focused on Lily but found her gone.With a shrug, she finished her breakfast and was sipping her coffee when Lily slapped chalk on the table.Her cheeks glowed a bright pink.

“Fetch your brush; let’s braid your hair first.”

And again Lily bolted, turning right to the untried door.So, her quarters was that way.She returned with a brush and a hair band.Britt circled the table and sat on the bench, tapping it to ask Lily to come closer.As she ran the brush through the girl’s long hair, she threw ideas at her.

“We need a stone or an object to throw onto the squares.It’s got to be something we can order from the replicator.”

“Oranges?”Lily said, while swinging her hips.

“Too big and squishy.What will Nerxie say when the mat’s all sticky?”Britt bit her tongue to hide a chuckle.Maybe she should start calling him that, just to irritate him.

“A tiny ball?”Lily twisted to smile.

“A cube or an odd shape that won’t bounce or roll away.”Britt leaned in as she finished braiding and tied the end.

“I have old data cubes,” a man said.

Britt jerked back, having not heard him approach.She knew that face—the other man sitting at the console when she’d accused Nerx of kidnapping.Great, a witness.

“How big are they, Uncle Ziot?”Lily crossed to him to grab his hand.

He kneeled and tugged on her braid playfully.“About the size of my thumb.”He wiggled it.

“That could work.Want to join us?”The idea of a big alien skipping and hopping had Britt swallowing her laughter.

“Certainly and my thanks for the offer.How many cubes do you need?”

Britt held up three fingers.“One for each player.”

Lily trailed Ziot, leaving Britt alone.She swept a stick of chalk off the table and began to draw squares on the blue mat.They couldn’t be too big otherwise Lily wouldn’t make the jumps, and they couldn’t be too small for Britt and Ziot’s feet.One square, two on top, then another one, and two again, until she hit the end.She wrote ‘10’ in that block, then added the numbers going down to ‘1.’

Lily raced into the common and thrust a three-inch cube at Britt.The thing was iridescent and too pretty to be tossed around.Old, he’d said.

“This is perfect.Thank you, Ziot.”Britt stood before ‘1’ and dropped her cube on it.“The goal is to make it to ’10’ and back without lowering your other foot on a single square.Those side by side like ‘8’ and ‘9,’ you use both legs.You toss your cube in each square as you progress.If it touches the chalk, you lower your foot, or step on the chalk, you lose your turn.”She hopped over ‘1,’ spread her legs for ‘2’ and ‘3’ next to each other, then hopped on one foot to ‘4.’When she reached ’10,’ she swiveled and hopped back, bending to pick up her cube.She beamed at Lily.“Want to show Ziot again?”

Lily placed her cube on ‘1,’ then went through the motions, almost perfectly.She did touch the chalk once, but Britt let it slide.This was a demonstration, after all.

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