The Lost Star Episode One (11 page)

She nodded forward. “I didn’t think it would
be a problem. The cargo bay was empty, and I was still completing
my scans.” She proffered her scanner as evidence.

B’cal didn’t even glance at it. He was too
busy looking ecstatic at Ava’s performance. “Ensign, I don’t care
if you were slacking off – that was a pleasure to hear. Why didn’t
I know you could sing like that?”

“
Ah, we’ve only met over an intercom,
sir.”

B’cal’s face crumpled. Then his smile
froze. “You were the ensign from the lift incident.”

She nodded. “Ava.”

“
Well, by all reports, you did some pretty
quick thinking yesterday, Ava.”

She nodded bashfully again. “I had help. I
wouldn’t have survived without the
lieutenant here.”

Hunter
didn’t say a word.

There was no point.

Because this was all an act, wasn’t it?
Sure, she looked sweet and decent, but he knew the truth.

She looked up at him, and he knew she
registered his hard expression.

B’cal, on the other hand, was clueless.
“What rotation are you on right now, ensign?”

“General. I’m assigned to whatever
department needs hands.”

“
Well I’m going to make a request to have
you transferred to Engineering. You’re quick, and I need people
like you. Especially now this whole ship is falling
apart.”

She gave another polite nod. “Thank
you
, sir. Though I
should warn you – I’m not physically quick. I have… an
impairment.”

B’cal snorted. “I don’t care. This is the
future. We can account for that. And now you’ve told me, I’ll just
adjust your detail.”

She glanced up at Hunter before returning
her attention to B’cal. “Thank you for being understanding,
sir.”

Hunter
knew 100% what she was thinking. He was the asshole who
couldn’t accept her physical limitations, while B’cal didn’t appear
to care.

Except
Hunter knew the truth here. All questions of physical
ability aside, Ensign Ava shouldn’t be on this ship.

She didn’t deserve it.

“
Plus,” B’cal suddenly boomed through a
laugh, “With you under my command, I can get you to sing whenever I
want.”

“
I’m not really sure singing comes under
your command, but I’ll see what I can do,” Ava replied with a
friendly smile.

B’cal gave a satisfied laugh. “Alright
then. Get back to work, ensign. And don’t let us stop you from
singing.”

“
Don’t you think that would be
inappropriate?” Hunter spat.

B’cal slowly slid his gaze over to Hunter.
“No. But do you have a problem with it, lieutenant?”

“It’s distracting. She should focus on her
tasks.”

B’cal slowly lifted his single eyebrow and
focused his single eye on Hunter. “I didn’t see you complaining a
couple of minutes ago. You couldn’t take your eyes off
her.”

Hunter
became rigid as blood rushed to his neck and
chest.

He cleared his throat and took a step
back. “It’s inappropriate. It will distract people.”

“
Well, that’s your opinion. She’s under
my
command,” B’cal
stressed, “And I say it’s okay. With a rank of commander, I trump
you on this one. So, sing away, ensign. And I’ll finalize that
transfer when I get back to my office.”

Hunter
didn’t react. B’cal had given him a not-so-subtle dressing
down in front of Ava.

Then again, Ava didn’t seem to care.

She looked calm, a marked difference from
the distraction she’d shown yesterday.

That calm irritated him more than
anything. She must have realized he was angry at her – anyone with
an ounce of emotional awareness would know he couldn’t stand to be
this close to her.

Yesterday, he hadn’t wanted to leave her
side when she’d been injured.

Now he’d changed.

She should be shocked.
Hurt
. Angry.
Something.

Instead she looked as calm and unperturbed
as ever.

Which only served to prove everything he
thought he knew about her. He cleared his throat. “Chief, can I
have a word in the corridor?”

“What’s this about?” B’cal asked.

“
It’s to do with the captain’s intended
purpose for this cargo bay,” Hunter lied.

B’cal conceded with a shrug, nodded at Ava,
and left the room.

As soon as the doors closed behind him,
B’cal turned and locked a three-fingered hand on his hip. “What’s
this really about?”

“
Don’t trust her,” Hunter
blurted.

“Excuse me?”

“
Look… ah…” Hunter had no idea what to say.
Not without it sounding stupid.

“
Speak up, lieutenant.” B’cal crossed his
arms. “What’s your problem with Ensign Ava? You sore that she saved
you yesterday?”

“No. Just… look, she’s not loyal.”

“And how exactly have you concluded
that?”

“
Look, I can’t really go into it, but the
other Avixans have a justified problem with her. She’s not loyal,”
he defaulted to saying, knowing he couldn’t break Meva’s trust by
revealing the full truth.

“Ah, Avixans. I’ve worked with a couple.
Strange mob. Usually as spikey as a Waridian tiger. But Ava’s been
competent, polite, and friendly in both the interactions I’ve had
with her so far. So I’m going to go on that,” B‘cal concluded
pointedly.

Hunter
locked his jaws together.

He wouldn’t win this.

Suddenly the doors behind them opened. Ava
burst out.

B’cal spun to her. “What’s
wrong?”

“
My scanners are picking up a fleeting life
sign,” she blurted, scanner clutched in her hand as she spun around
on the spot.

B’cal used his tail to snatch the scanner
from her hand.

“
I only picked it up when I walked to the
far corner of the room. I ran out here, but.…” Her eyes were wide
with fear as she twisted around in the corridor. “My friend Nema’s
out here somewhere.”

B’cal’s fingers flew over the controls.

Then he punched forward, showing
considerable speed for his large form. “She’s in the second air
lock.”

Ava sprang forward.

Though she could barely keep up, her
breathing so labored she sounded as if she’d cough up a lung, she
didn’t drop behind.

The three of them ran to the second air
lock.

It wasn’t a primary air lock. It was used to
vent atmosphere in a controlled manner before the airlock was
opened.

And right now it was running through
a
venting
procedure.

A terrified female ensign was banging
against the glass window of the door as the atmosphere slowly
vented from the lock.

“
What the hell?” B’cal roared as he threw
himself at the air lock. His fingers raced so quickly over the
controls, he could have started a fire.

With a beep the doors opened.

But only for a fraction of a second. Long
enough that a burst of oxygen sailed past them and whipped into the
rapidly venting room, but not enough to get the ensign
out.

“Nema,” Ava screamed as she threw herself
against the door.

Nema fell back, face practically blue.

B’cal swore in his mother tongue, the word
cracking out with all the ferocity of a blast. “I can’t stop the
venting. These doors are jamming. I can’t keep them open long
enough.”

They opened again for a fraction of a
second, then closed with a snap.

B’cal swore.

Nema was on the ground. Hunter watched her
from the glass window, heart in his throat.

There was nothing any of them could do.

“Can you get the door open again?” Ava
screamed.

“It won’t do any good,” B’cal snapped.

“Just do it,” she snapped back.

He did it.

And in that split second, Ava shoved her
right arm through the gap.

His heart froze as he expected her arm to be
clean cut off.

It wasn’t. The doors jammed against her
right armlet.

They slammed into it with enough power to
snap steel, but they couldn’t snap the armlet.

Atmosphere rushed past them into the venting
room.

Ava’s body was crunched at a painful
angle, but she squeezed herself forward, pushing her face against
the gap in the door. “Nema? Nema? You okay? Grab my
hand.”

Nema slowly lifted her head, stretched out a
weak arm, and grabbed her friend’s hand.

She was alive.

Hunter
felt like whooping.

He didn’t get the chance.

The atmosphere sensors in the corridor
started blaring.

“
Aha, at least something still works,”
B’cal spat in triumph. “The hull breach shields should come on and
secure the vent system.” Even as the chief spoke, it happened –
blue crackling shields spread across the top of the secondary vent
room.

They prevented the vents from sucking the
oxygen out.

“Right, let’s get these doors open.” He
pressed himself into the task, drawing his face close to the panel
as he broke it open in a powerful move and started manipulating the
neural circuits within.

There was a beep, and the doors opened.

Ava fell forward, but punched out a hand so
she didn’t fall on Nema.

There was a crunch. It was Ava’s wrist.

That didn’t stop her from pushing back and
folding over her friend. “Are you okay?”

Nema pushed up slowly with Ava’s help. Her
dark features were understandably drawn. After a deep reassuring
breath she nodded. Then she collapsed her arms around Ava. “Thanks
to you.”

“Chief B’cal saved you,” Ava clarified with
a happy laugh.

“
I’m not sure about that,” B’cal pointed
out, “If you hadn’t sacrificed life and limb, that room would have
vented. Now get out of there.”

Ava pushed up, wincing as she helped Nema to
her feet.

Hunter
was no expert, but it looked as if Ava had broken her
wrist.

Ava supported her friend until they walked
a few meters down the corridor. Then she propped Nema against a
wall and jogged back. “What do we do?” Ava looked straight at
B’cal.

“
Me, I pull my hair out trying to figure
out how the hell another fatal accident almost happened on my
watch. I also pull another detail off gravity control to fix it.
You, ensign, you go to the med bay because unless I’m very much
mistaken, you broke your wrist. How you didn’t lose an arm, is
another story.” He looked across at her right armlet. “It’s not
even dented. What the hell is that thing made of? Triplated
bularium?”

At first she looked as if she wouldn’t
answer. Then she slipped her gaze towards the wall.
“
They’re ceremonial.
They’re the most important objects I’ll ever own.”

B’cal shrugged. “Well they sure came in
handy. Now get to the med bay. Lieutenant, take them both,” he
ordered as he took a step back and considered the secondary
vents.

Hunter
stiffened.

He had no option but to follow orders.

Ava rushed back to Nema and wrapped an arm
around her back.

Before Hunter could turn to leave, B’cal
leaned in close. “You were questioning her loyalty, lieutenant? You
don’t see selfless acts like that every day. She belongs on this
ship,” he concluded as he turned and started manipulating the
controls to the door, conversation clearly over.

Hunter
didn’t respond.

There was nothing to say.

H
e walked in silence as he followed the two ensigns to the
med bay.

His head was swimming with questions by
the time they made it.

Nema was a little out of breath, but mostly
fine.

Ava’s arm, however, was a different
matter. Her wrist was already turning purple, the break obviously a
bad one.

As soon as Ava walked in, Chen saw her. With
a frown denting his cheeks, he walked up. “Don’t tell me you’re
injured again?”

“
There was an accident with one of the
secondary air locks. Ensign Nema Baka here was almost
suffocated.”

Chen snapped into action.

He motioned several junior doctors over and
they helped Nema onto a gurney.

Hunter
stood there staring at the back of Ava’s head, gaze darting
down to her broken wrist.

“Aren’t you going to tell them about your
injury?” he eventually snapped.

She didn’t even bother to respond.

He took a sharp step beside her.

She glanced up at him slowly. “My wrist
can wait. When there’s time, I’ll get myself seen to.”

He pressed his teeth together so tightly
it felt as if he would bore down into his jaw. “There’s no need to
pretend you’re selfless. You’re injured, no
w get your injuries seen to.”

She didn’t move. She returned her gaze
over to Nema. “I believe you’re done here, lieutenant. I can watch
over Nema.”

He let out a stiff bitter laugh. He could
pull her up on that, or he could just walk out and leave her to
stand there in pain.

He knew which was more satisfying.

He turned and stalked out.