Page 41 of Skinwalker's Bane
“I would have got them all. Stupid, as I said.”
Noa rolled her eyes. “He says that,” she told Devin. “Only, I remember patching him up when the Cavers laid him flat.”
Haydn dropped his arm around her. “Home, my love. I’m hungry. All this bedside manner stuff is wearing.” He smiled at Devin. “If there’s anything you need, anything we can do to help with Adam, just call. Noa will send you the private codes for us.”
“Already have,” Noa said calmly. “Come on.”
They were the last to go. Devin closed the door on them as the taxiboat landed on the dirt outside, the struts and hull crunching and scraping.
She didn’t get to sit down. The door alert sounded once more and she opened it, expecting Noa or Haydn had returned for something they had forgotten.
The short man with black hair who stood there was not a stranger. “You were at the meeting on the bridge yesterday,” Devin said. “You’re…”
“Peter Hannah,” he said. “I’m also Adam’s housemate.” He held up the duffel bag he was holding. “Adam asked me to bring some things for him. Stuff without blood, was what he said. Did he really take on four of the bastards?”
“Three. The fourth got him.”
“Damn, I wish I’d seen it. Adam is good in a scrap, while I just cringe and find the nearest corner.” Peter held out the bag. “They’re holding the taxiboat for me. Noa says you’ve had people tramping in and out all morning and besides, I’m supposed to be working.”
Devin took the bag. “Thank you. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”
“No problems. Gotta go, the taxi’s meter is ticking.” He hurried away, pushing his hands into his pockets.
Devin shut the door again, then took the duffel bag into the bedroom.
Adam rolled over onto his side as she put the bag next to the bed. “I can’t seem to stop sleeping,” he complained.
“Drugs and injuries. Don’t fight it,” Devin told him. “Peter Hannah says hello.”
He looked down at the bag sleepily. “He’s a good man.”
“That’s what he said about you.”
His eyes closed slowly. Devin left him to sleep. While she was standing there, he would fight it.
The flow of visitors stopped after Peter and Devin wasn’t sure if she was glad or not about that. The peace, of course, was nice. It was the reason she had bought the house in the first place. Yet there had been something energizing about the stream of friends and well-wishers, with their concern and their easy camaraderie.
Devin didn’t have friends of that sort. The people she called friends were all political power-players. No conversation was casual. Banter was a foreign concept. There were always hidden shoals, agendas to navigate. Devin always felt drained after a few hours in their company.
She had not gotten into politics for the friendships, though. She had been reminded this morning of exactly why she was angling for the Captain’s chair. The Man and her time alone as a child had given her the momentum to aim for the highest role on the ship. The role that would let her make a difference.
The nightline rolled over the house and the darkness soothed her. She left the lights off as usual and had the house AI open all the windows, so she could hear the cicadas and smell the sage.
She heard the shower in the en-suite start running. Adam was awake again.
Sometime later, he came out of the bedroom, dressed in the usual engineer’s uniform, this one clean and sans blood. He didn’t have the multi-pocket jacket that all engineers favored, though. His hair was wet and his eyes were bright.
“I woke up and I was suddenlyawake. Finally. I couldn’t stay in bed.” He sat on the chair in front of her. “I have no idea what time it is. The day-night thing here always completely screws me up.”
“It’s about four in the afternoon, ship time,” Devin told him. “Are you hungry? You could eat in the kitchen this time, instead of getting crumbs on the sheets.”
“I could murder a steak,” he said. “That big three-hundred gram one with the mushrooms. Do you know the file?”
Devin nodded. It was one of Bishan’s favorites, too. “I’ll get it going,” she said and put her terminal aside.
“I’ll be right in,” Adam told her, getting up again.
She went in to the kitchen and set up the printer to run the steak meal Adam wanted. She selected a casserole for herself and was just putting the plates on the table when Adam returned. The little room shrank around him.
