Page 42 of Seven Oars
“That’s what the Striker told us,” Rosamma confirmed.“We’ll take inventory and go from there.”
Alyesha leaned forward.“That’s good, actually. It gives us time to come up with a plan. You’re a space pilot.” She pointed at Phex.“Can you fly a ship by yourself?”
“What ship?” Phex asked slowly.
“Our cruiser! It’s docked to the station.”
“Is it operational?”
Alyesha’s face fell.“I don’t know.”
“Even if it is,” Phex said,“it would be locked in the dock. Unless you know the access code, you can’t break away from the station.”
The mood in the Cargo Hold sank, but Phex seemed unaware of it. He leaned against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut.
“A better strategy is to send out a distress signal,” he said without opening them.
“Who will hear it?” Gro asked, doubtful.
He shrugged, fading into his stasis.“Anybody. Somebody.”
None of them had any idea where to begin. Everyone felt lost. Thoughts were in disarray. Plans refused to formulate.
Their spirits were dangerously low.
Anske adjusted her voluminous overcoat decorated with bright embroidery of sunflowers and bees, as incongruous on the pirates’space station as it was back home on Meeus.
“That’s not right. Ladies, we need to keep our spirits up. Who wants to sing some hymns with me?”
“What are you talking about?” Alyesha stared Anske down.
“If I had my Holy Guide, I’d find the right quote to ground and soothe you. But no matter. Hymns work as well when you need to clear your mind.”
She began to sing nasally and in the wrong register, a jumble of words that could mean different things for different people.
Gro rolled up the sleeves of her plaid shirt, exposing extensive tattoos on tough, leathery forearms. Her lined, clever face took on a determined expression.
“Hymns are good, but we need action. Let’s get familiar with the station so we can make a plan.” She nodded to herself.“We’re many and we’re smart. And the pirates are… well, not so.”
“Don't underestimate them,” Eze cautioned.“They may look dumb as rocks, but they haven’t survived this place by being complete idiots. And then there’s that wily robot.”
Daphne raised her head.“I need to pee!”
Anske stopped singing.
“Me too,” Fawn admitted sheepishly.
Chapter 7
They found a way to devise a bathroom.
Its establishment in the enclosed corner under the hulking tank did more for everyone’s state of mind than any hymn could. No, it wasn’t inviting or even adequate, but having a bucket set up behind an enclosure went a long way toward reminding everyone that they weren’t some crawling pests with no self-awareness. They were people. And no one, not even the Rix pirates, could take dignity and self-awareness away from them.
“Now that I’m looking at it, it’s a water closet.” Eze poked her head into the corner enclosure.
A puzzled line formed between Gro’s graying eyebrows. “Why would there be one in a cargo hold?”
“Could have been a sanitation area or a laundry site. This,” Eze pointed at the hulking tank that hung so low it gave the impression of falling down, “has water in it. It’s connected to a filtration system back there. But I don’t think it works.”
