Brightly Burning(39)
I didn’t know who Bianca was or what Xiao suspected, but it was clear she didn’t plan on telling me. She fluffed the last pillow, and we headed back upstairs.
“Now, when they arrive, I will guide the more senior members of staff, and I’ll expect you to see to the more junior.” She dismissed me, and I hastened to get to my lessons with Jessa. We barely made it through an hour of math and two of history when my comms buzzed. It was Orion.
“Incoming birdie, Stella,” his voice rang in my ear. “They’ll be docking in the transport bay in ten.”
“Roger wilco,” I replied, drawing a satisfied smirk from Jessa. I’d finally learned the jargon.
I left Jessa watching a movie and hurried upstairs to change into a more formal dress. As I arrived, breathless, at the outer transport-bay door, I quickly smoothed back my hair into my bun before the outer airlock door opened to admit a small shuttle. Once it had docked, with the airlock closing and the red light above the door switching to green, I opened the door to greet them.
The first thing I was struck by was the uniforms. On the Rochester, we wore a lot of black, dark blues, and stiff, structured styles I had quickly become accustomed to. But our clothing wasn’t identical; we didn’t wear uniforms. The Ingram staff emerged from the craft like a mini army, the men in navy waistcoats with brown insets over navy slacks, the women in navy-and-brown dress coats like mine, but stiffer.
Xiao appeared behind me, pasting on a smile and approaching the figure at the head of the procession. “Lieutenant Peters, welcome.” She shook the hand of a man who looked to be in his forties, continuing the trend of private ships having a considerably older personnel roster.
“Good to see you again, Iris,” Peters said. “May I introduce my staff? Much the same as last time, though with a few additions.” They lined up in front of their craft in a coed formation that made it clear they delineated themselves by rank. The senior staff members wore insignia on their left shoulders—?all lieutenants. There were three junior staff among them—?two maids and a valet, with titles familiar to me from the Empire. The maids were to serve the ladies of the party; the valet, a high-ranking male. It gave me a good idea of the gender balance to expect.
Xiao busied herself with the eight senior crew members, leading them off into the ship sans any bags. Instead, the junior members began to haul bags and trunks from the ship—?one of each for each member of staff.
“Hello. I’m Stella Ainsley, the Rochester’s governess and auxiliary engineer.” I shook each of their hands, though both ladies stared at my outstretched hand like I’d sprouted tentacles before reluctantly offering me their weak grips. Guess the Ingram wasn’t into that form of greeting. They rattled off their names for me in short order—?Griegs was the valet, and the maids were Elizabeth Greene, Lizzy for short, and Preity Khan. I hailed Orion on comms to come help us with the cargo.
“Who did you just ask to help us?” Lizzy asked, mouth agog.
“Orion, the communications officer. Why?”
“You can just ask senior officers to assist with manual labor?” Preity chimed in. I didn’t think of Orion as my senior, and said as much. All three looked uncomfortable.
“I’m guessing none of you have been aboard before?” I asked, though their relative ages told that story obviously enough. Griegs and Lizzy were probably in their early twenties, and Preity looked closer to my age. “Well, welcome to the Rochester. We’re pretty casual around here.”
Orion arrived, and the boys exchanged brief greetings, not even hesitating before shouldering a bag and a trunk each. The trunks, thankfully, were on wheels, but the addition of a bulky bag had me spitting curses under my breath.
“There are six rooms, twenty-four bunks,” I said as we reached our destination. “So you can spread out if you want.”
Griegs shook his head. “There are more coming with the Ingram, so we’ll need the space.”
Accordingly, we deposited the senior officers’ belongings into two rooms, and the junior staff’s into a third. We would leave them to sort out their gender splits on their own. From the way Griegs eyed Lizzy, cohabiting didn’t seem like the best idea. I showed them the basics, how most of the doors they’d have to worry about operated on simple button switches, and how most other things were voice-activated through Rori. Upstairs in the dining quarters, Griegs made inquiries as to which member of the Rochester staff was responsible for serving meals, and when I told him none, he nearly lost his balance.
The arrival of the Ingram’s staff was a harbinger of Hugo’s return, something I both craved and dreaded. Would he be stiff and formal with me, like our last encounter? Or could we reclaim the easiness we’d had between us, get back to reading and talking like we were friends? The Ingram represented the unknown variable.
The junior crew provided little elucidation over the next day, choosing to spend most of their time separate from the Rochester staff, alternately sleeping, playing games, and eating. It seemed to me they were taking the opportunity to rest as much as possible until their charges arrived. When I asked how long they thought they might be staying, all I got in return were shrugs and, from Preity, a cryptic “Well, that depends,” followed by a pointed look shared among them.
They, on the other hand, prodded me for information on Hugo.
“So, what’s the captain like?” Lizzy asked over dinner on the second night post-arrival. Preity and Griegs—?who was called Thomas by the girls but never invited me to do the same—?leaned in with interest. They’d waited until Xiao left with Jessa, and Orion had also excused himself, before jumping on me. They clearly saw me as nonthreatening, but I wasn’t delusional enough to assume they considered me a friend.