Brightly Burning(24)
“I haven’t, but I recall seeing my father read it more than once. All the books in here were favorites of his. I’m still getting around to reading them all.”
“May I borrow it?” I asked.
“You may,” Hugo replied slowly. “On one condition.”
I braced myself. This was where the other shoe dropped, I was sure. He was going to say something rude. Buy me a drink first, at least. I flushed at the memory.
“This room has temperature and humidity controls, so I prefer to keep the books in here. If you’d like to read it, join me in the evenings and read here. Consider it our standing appointment.”
“Um, sure,” I stammered in my surprise.
“Excellent,” he said, pulling himself up from his chair. “Now, I was serious about being tired, so if you’ll excuse me, I will bid you good night.”
I set the book on a side table next to my chair, and as it seemed uncouth to camp out in his study, I followed him out and started for my quarters. Only the captain seemed to be following me. I glanced back over my shoulder, and indeed, Hugo was about ten steps behind.
“It seems we are going the same way,” he said, jogging to catch up. “I didn’t mean to rush you to bed.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “I’m honestly exhausted. I had a six-a.m. wakeup call and a rough morning.”
“That goes for two of us,” he said, reminding me of our auspicious beginnings just over twelve hours before. “On that topic, I’d prefer we keep everything that happened with the transport bay just between you and me, if you don’t mind.” I readily agreed, not exactly keen to have everyone know how badly I had messed up. He stopped in front of a door one down from mine.
“Looks like we’re neighbors,” I said, continuing to my own door.
“I’ll try not to snore too loudly,” Hugo called out, voice echoing down the corridor. The sound was followed by a curious meow, the fluffy black cat sidling into view. He marched a few steps past Hugo, sitting down halfway between us.
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“He wasn’t quite as friendly and forthcoming as Rori, I’m guessing,” Hugo quipped. I cast him a steady glare. “His name is Luna,” he finally supplied. “And I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry, he’s very secure in his masculinity.” Explanation came after a beat. “Jessa named him. She was four. Luna here also has a sister named Jupiter somewhere on board, and another brother named Sunny.”
“How have I not seen all these cats on board? I only just met Luna last night.”
“Sunny likes Officer Xiao better than anyone, so he’s probably in her quarters. Jupiter’s a rogue, so who knows where she is?”
“Well,” I said, pressing my fingers to the bio-scan lockpad next to my door, “the Rochester certainly has a lot of mysteries.” Three cats, one inhuman laugh, and a possible saboteur, to name just a few. And now the captain. Young and odd and unpredictable.
“That it does, Stella.” Hugo moved to open his own door. Luna stretched to standing and trotted merrily into his room. Traitor. “Have a good night.”
“You too,” I said in return, but he was already gone, his chamber door sliding shut behind him.
Chapter Nine
The gentle chime of the alarm woke me, a welcome shift from the angry siren of the morning before.
“Good morning, Stella,” Rori said as I roused. “You have unread messages. I did not wish to bother you yesterday but thought you would like to know.”
“Thanks,” I said, getting out of bed and padding over to my desk tab. In the chaos of the previous day, I hadn’t even thought to check my messages, the first day in a week that I’d skipped writing to George. But the top message in my inbox wasn’t from him. It was from Karlson, of all people.
Hey, Stella!
Hope it’s okay that I’m writing to you. George said it would be fine, though even if he hadn’t, I would have messaged anyway.
Engineering isn’t the same without you. They replaced you with a thirteen-year-old apprentice, another boy, so now it’s testosterone overload all the time. I lobbied for a girl, like you, but Jatinder called me a pervert. It’s his mind that went there, though, not mine.
George says you’re living like a princess now, with tons of food and no water rations, and I’ll admit I’m more than a little jealous. I know you think I enjoy not showering, but it’s not true. I’m curious—?what kind of vegetables do you guys have out there? How do food deliveries work?
Let me know how you’re doing.
Jon
The best way I could think to describe it was weird. That Karlson was writing to me; that he was so friendly and casual; his questions about food supply. How was I supposed to respond to that? So I didn’t, instead eagerly digesting George’s latest message.
Dear Stella,
You missed a movie last night that I think you would have liked. It was about a terrible nun who becomes a governess for this captain, though she has to care for seven children instead of just one, and there’s lots of singing. I didn’t really care for said singing, but Joy and Cassidy just loved it. Anyway, it made me think of you and how everything is going. You still like the kid you’re teaching, or is she annoying you yet? The kids have been driving me crazy—?Jefferson’s been especially insufferable since you left—?and honestly I’m kind of looking forward to turning eighteen and transferring full-time to the fields.