Page 131 of Seven Oars
Gro found a cleaner“towel” for Rosamma, and Eze went to check that the tank had enough filtered water.
“I’ll pray for you, Rosamma!” Anske called out when she went into the shower stall.
“Thanks, Anske.”
As she washed the Meat Locker’s stink out of her hair, she thought of Fincros.It was hard not to think of Fincros.Impossible.
What he had done was abhorrent.
And he’d left her there!
But he wasn’t a sick fuck like Gro thought him to be, like some other pirates prided themselves on being.He was tough and rugged, but not twisted. In some ways, he was almost… normal.
Anske was singing softly when Rosamma came out of the stall.
“Galan is on duty,” Eze informed Rosamma with a twist to her lips and a sigh.
Anske’s singing stopped.“What does that tone mean?”
Eze assumed a bland expression.“Nothing at all beyond my most fervent hope that his shift ends soon, so you can move your spirit-worshiping to the Habitat.”
“Always sneering and negative! You won’t end well, Eze,” Anske pointed a finger at the Sakka.“With your shady past, it’s only a matter of time.”
Eze’s thick Sakka brows twitched.“Oh, it’s my shady past! And what do you know about it, holy one?”
“For one, you were living on Meeus illegally!” Anske declared to the room.“You’re not human.”
Eze gave her a flat look.“A keen observation.”
She wasn’t taking Anske seriously, but the other woman was too caught up in her righteousness to notice.
Her round, protruding eyes narrowed sharply.
“What brought you to Meeus?” she asked, suspicious.
“I was born there,” Eze replied.
“But you’re a Sakka.” Anske’s eyes widened like a cartoon character’s.
Eze propped her chin on her fist.“Yes. And yet, I was born. On Meeus.”
“Did you have papers?” Anske’s tone implied a gotcha.
Eze chuckled.“Well, no. You got me there.”
“See?” Anske was practically vibrating.“And what were your parents doing on Meeus, again?”
“Working,” Eze said.“My mother was commissioned as a domestic servant by a rich family. Not super legal, but at least she was invited. And before you ask, I don’t know my father. There, satisfied?”
Anske pursed her lips.“Your mother let you down by not getting papers for you.”
Eze laughed without rancor.“Yes, she let me down by dying in a fire when I was a baby and leaving me alone on a foreign, hostile planet without papers.”
Anske drew back.“Meeus is not hostile!”
“Spoken like a human,” Eze scoffed.“But I managed alright. And anyway, doesn’t your Holy Guide teach you to be more accepting?”
“Only if you open your mind to freedom. Which you’re refusing to do.” Anske sucked water through her straw.
