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  “I’ll wake you in another two hours.” Spinner sounded breathless and sleepy at the same time. This should’ve bothered Dael on some level, she was certain, but she wasn’t sure why or how. She was simply too tired.

  Spinner’s arm was reassuring. Dael hoped her own presence would allow Spinner to sleep undisturbed until the alarm went off. She closed her eyes and drifted off immediately, Spinner’s soft scent lingering, accompanying her into a non-threatening, peaceful dream.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Spinner?” Dael tried to free herself, but the sleeping woman behind her had wrapped her arm around her very firmly. She wasn’t about to confess to anyone just how reassuring it had felt to have Spinner wake her up every other hour and have her repeat her name, rank, and IDSEC number. Dael had murmured the information and offered a few more words to demonstrate that her brain wasn’t in jeopardy and then promptly gone back to sleep. Virtually in Spinner’s arms. That hadn’t happened since her military academy days. She didn’t like cuddling and certainly not sharing her sleeping space. Her concussion had to have something to do with this anomalous night.

  “Aniwyn!” Dael grabbed Spinner’s lower arm. Perhaps she really needed to pinch her? “I need to get up and so do you.”

  “Huh? Oh, hell…” Spinner stretched behind Dael, effectively pressing her entire body against hers. This seemed to wake up Spinner better than any pinching. “Dael! How are you feeling?” Spinner let go of her and sat up. Her curly hair stood in all directions in wild disarray, her eyes darkening with concern.

  “I’m fine. Thank you. You performed your task perfectly.” Dael knew she sounded stuck up and reserved, but waking up like this, in the arms of another woman, had unsettled her. Her legs trembled and she still didn’t have her breathing under control. It wasn’t the first time she’d reacted like that around Spinner, which was yet another warning sign.

  “Ah. I’m glad you think so. I’m even happier you feel better. Any headache?” She frowned and examined Dael’s features carefully. “You’re still pale, but the shadows under your eyes are almost gone.”

  “Why, thank you. What a relief. Mind if I get up? We seem to be tangled in the same blanket.”

  “Oh, sorry. You were so cold last night, I pulled one more over us.” Spinner rose and climbed right over Dael, effectively freeing her from the blankets and her own limbs. “There we go. If you use the bathroom, I can make breakfast. What would you like?”

  So, Spinner wasn’t just going to leave. Of course. And it would be too rude to suggest it. Dael wanted to groan out loud but stopped herself, as this would not be polite either. “Tea and some bread rolls, please.”

  “Juice?”

  “Why not?” Dael stood and carefully maneuvered to the bathroom, grateful her legs felt steady and cooperative, unlike yesterday. The door automatically closed behind her as she entered the ensuite bathroom. She went through her regular routine and, coming out of the shower tube, she grabbed a towel and wiped off the mist gathering on the mirror. She examined her face and had to agree with Spinner. Her complexion wasn’t as pale and her eyes not as hollow as last night, even if she wasn’t quite herself. Styling her hair in her usual austere, low bun, she realized that wouldn’t work. She wouldn’t be able to take the tugging of her scalp. Sighing in annoyance, she pulled the pins out and started over. A plain, low ponytail had to suffice. Grimacing at the suddenly so very youthful person who glowered back at her, Dael turned and donned the uniform she always had waiting in a cabinet next to the shower tube.

  After she stepped back into the living room area she stopped at the table where Spinner was sitting, focusing on one of her computer tablets. She had indeed made breakfast, but not just the bread roll and tea, but slices of fruit, which had to come from the garden bays, juice, and hot nirami rice pudding.

  “Do you perchance have a personal caterer?” Dael sat down, her eyes still not able to take it all in. She hadn’t had a breakfast like this since long before she left Oconodos.

  “That’s too funny.” Spinner snorted and poured some tea. “I’m rather a good cook, although making pudding is hardly cooking. I hope you like it.”

  Dael suddenly realized she was hungry, which probably had something to do with the fact that she hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning. Without saying any more, she more or less inhaled the pudding, bread roll, and juice. Slumping back, she sipped the strong tea with delight. But she stopped with her mug halfway to her lips when she noticed Spinner’s stunned expression. “Something the matter?” She smiled into her mug and then sipped her tea again.

  “I just wondered if you have a pet I don’t know about that helped you devour your food that fast.” Spinner laughed, sounding very pleased. “I guess you were hungry.” She finished her own pudding at a somewhat slower pace.

  “I was. Thank you.”

  “Well, it brought back the color in your cheeks.”

  Such a personal remark should normally have made the admiral show up and take over her persona, but instead Dael let Spinner’s obvious delight wash over her. Here was someone who truly seemed to care about her wellbeing, who cared enough to spend the night and set the alarm every other hour and then cook her breakfast.

  “Good thing it did. I’m due back on the bridge soon.” Dael put down the mug. “You, on the other hand, have the morning off. You’re not on duty until after lunch.”

  “I—what? Why?” Spinner looked completely taken aback.

  “You didn’t get a good night’s sleep, and you need more rest after what you did yesterday before you’re back on duty.”

  “All right, all right. I wouldn’t mind a chance to go swimming or something.”

  “Each to their own preference. Thank you for…last night.” Her cheeks warmed and she hoped her embarrassment didn’t show too much.

  “My pleasure.” Spinner crinkled her nose and then smiled broadly.

  Dael’s breath caught at Spinner’s audacity, but she couldn’t muster any true resentment. Spinner had this larger-than-life aura and played by her own rules when it came to certain things. Then there was the fact that they had danced. That in itself meant nothing, but the way she’d felt while dancing with this woman, so wild and certainly not the type she’d ever even considered going for, was entirely unexpected.

  “Well. I’ll see you on the bridge this afternoon.”

  “I guess that’s my cue to leave.” Spinner rose and stood still for a moment, as if she were hesitant to leave. “Be kind to your body today, all right?” She took Dael by surprise by bending down and kissing her cheek. Two small pecks, but the fact that it happened at all made Dael’s thighs press together.

  “I will,” she murmured huskily. “You too.”

  “Yes, sir.” Spinner took her computer tablet and then left after a small wave.

  Dael still sat in the same position, trying to bring her emotions to a place in her brain where she could decipher them, where they would make sense. She raised her fingertips to the place on her cheek where Spinner’s lips still seemed to linger. She couldn’t figure it out but knew this was dangerous on so many levels.

  “Aniwyn,” she whispered. “What the hell is going on?”

  *

  “Are you trying to set a ship-wide record?” Darmiya asked, holding on to the edge of the four-lane swimming pool. Like all water reservoirs, it consisted of recycled fluids and was located in the lower belly of the Espies Major, along with ten smaller pools that provided the same exercise, but against an artificial current.

  “No. Not really. Why?” Spinner held on to the divider between their lanes, trying to act casual. “I just felt like—”

  “Pushing yourself to the limits the day after you were part of a near-disastrous event during a mission. I don’t think so. Either you’re working off the post trauma, or something else happened when you left us yesterday that you haven’t told me.”

  “Really, Darmiya, do all Gemosians have such wild imaginations?” Spinner shook her head. />
  “Very funny. Remember that you’re talking to a hard-core scientist. I see. I take notes. I compare. I deduce.”

  “Oh, really. And lucky me, I get to be your test subject for today.” Groaning, Spinner dipped under the water and then hauled herself up on the edge of the pool. “I’m not trying to set records and I’m not working anything off.” The latter was, of course, a blatant lie.

  “You are so.” Darmiya joined her on the ledge. “Remember, I was there to greet you when you returned to the ship yesterday. You were frantic, cursing at the ones who wouldn’t tell you how the admiral was doing and shoving the medics out of your way.” Darmiya quieted. “Wait. What did I just say?”

  “I was shoving people, traumatized out of my mind.”

  “Don’t be silly. I’m serious. You were frantic about the admiral. That’s it!” Darmiya lit up like she’d just won the last hand of spin jack. “You care about her.”

  “She’s my commanding officer, the person who carries this mission on her shoulders.” Wrapping a towel around her shoulders, Spinner wanted to slap her hand over Darmiya’s mouth.

  “Nah, that look in your eyes yesterday said something else.” Darmiya lowered her voice and gazed around them as if they were on a covert mission. “Don’t worry. I won’t breathe a word to a soul.”

  “What word? There’s nothing to breathe.”

  “Don’t forget that I’ve gotten to know you very well since my brother and I signed on. I know, I know, I had this sort of hero-crush on you, I did. I’m totally over that. Ask my brother. I’m very fickle.” Darmiya smiled broadly.

  “I don’t have to ask him. I think you’ve broken two hearts already among the bachelor ensigns.”

  “Wait now. Don’t change the subject. This is about you and the admiral.” Darmiya’s voice sank to a whisper. “Does she know? Or better yet, does she feel the same?”

  “You have got to be kidding me!” Spinner was angry now at Darmiya’s carefree persistence. “You’re totally wrong about everything, and I don’t want to continue this conversation any longer. I’m due at the bridge.” Furious, Spinner stood. “Just because you’re my friend doesn’t mean you can just carry on like my life is there to amuse you.”

  “Ah, come on, Spinner. You don’t have to get so angry. It’s just girl talk.” Darmiya stood as well, looking confused. “What harm does it do to just gossip a little between us friends? Unless it’s very, very serious.” Darmiya’s eyes grew huge. “Is it?”

  “You’re unbelievable.” Turning to stomp out of there, Spinner stopped when she felt Darmiya’s small, cold hand on her arm. “What?”

  “I’m so sorry, Aniwyn.” Darmiya rounded her, clutching at her towel with her free hand, the other one holding on gently to Spinner. “I can be such a nosy little idiot sometimes. I’m just so glad to have a real friend for the first time in ages that I took it too far.” Darmiya looked imploringly at Spinner, her black hair in dark corkscrews around her triangular face making her look like an oceanic princess. “Please. Don’t be mad. I take everything back. Everything. It’s none of my business.”

  “If we’re going to stay friends, Darmiya, you cannot put pressure on me—or anyone, I should say—like this. Things said in confidence are just that: confidences that are given freely to a trusted friend and companion.”

  “And I’m neither, am I?” Darmiya shrank backward, pulling her towel closer. Her lips were now bluish from being cold and wet, which made her look utterly pitiful.

  Spinner harnessed her anger and reeled herself in. Darmiya was a brilliant scientist, very impulsive and on occasion a bit more naive than might be expected of someone her age. Her cute looks and innocently charming personality made most people give her the benefit of the doubt, and Spinner knew Darmiya didn’t have bad intentions, but when it came to Dael, Spinner was protective. To be truthful, she was also protective of herself, of what was stirring between her and Dael even if it’d never amount to anything. She was certain Dael would wise up and recoil at any given moment, but until then, she just couldn’t be the one who blew it. When Dael pulled back and slammed on the mask of command, it would be her doing, her decision—not because Spinner had screwed up. She cringed. Who was she kidding? If anyone was a record-holding, certified screw-up when it came to relationships, it was she.

  “Spinner?” Darmiya’s teeth were clattering now.

  “Shit, you’re freezing.” Spinner bent and picked up one of the fluffy robes they’d brought and wrapped it around her friend. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. Well, that’s not true. I did mean to yell at the time, but I shouldn’t have. I know you’re my friend and I could’ve explained better.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to explain anything.” Darmiya still looked utterly miserable, her huge eyes filled with tears and something close to panic flickering over her face.

  “Darmiya, calm down. You know me pretty well by now. I blow up, then it blows over, all right?” Concerned now, Spinner rubbed Darmiya’s arms. “We learn about each other by these little…skirmishes.”

  “So you don’t hate me?” Darmiya hiccupped.

  Pretty sure she’d never seen anything so pitiful, or so cute, in her life, Spinner hugged her spontaneously. “Are you kidding me?” she asked again, but this time with a smile in her voice. “Who in their right mind could ever remain angry at you?”

  “Really? You’re not just saying that?” Darmiya smiled, her lips still trembling, but her eyes started to regain their usual sparkle. “I’d loathe myself forever if you hated me even for a second.”

  “Hey, I don’t do hate.” Much. Anymore. Spinner pointed toward the shower area. “How about we hit the shower tubes and get back to our duty stations? I’m due on the bridge, and no matter if I helped save the admiral’s life, she can still write me up if I don’t do my job properly.”

  “Oh, she would never! She really cares—oh, there I go again.” Darmiya’s eyes grew wide. “Just forget I said that. Why are you laughing?”

  “You…you…” Spinner managed between paroxysms of laughter. “Only you would say such a thing right after…oh, Creator…” Laughing, she tugged the now-flustered Darmiya with her, and even if her friend had an innate way of stepping in the middle of the cake with both feet, then wiggling her toes on top of that, Spinner felt infinitely better. Inside the shower tube she found herself humming and looking forward to yet another boring shift on the bridge.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Are you certain?” Dael stood on the bridge, her hands in tight fists at her side. On the main screen, Captain Tylene Vildan of the ship Rondos looked grim.

  “My chief medical officer has run the tests four times to ascertain the nature of the outbreak.” She closed her eyes briefly. “It’s the Garazabian plague.”

  “Creator help us,” a voice whispered behind Dael, and she couldn’t disagree. The virus responsible for this particular illness could lie dormant in damp places, or inside unsuspecting people, unless they were screened, which the entire crew had been before boarding the ships. This included the Gemosians who had joined the five vessels, which meant the contamination was located somewhere aboard the Rondos.

  “You know what I have to do, Tylene.” Dael pushed her shoulders back and laced her fingers. “Captain Vildan, I hereby place the Rondos in quarantine until all evidence of the illness is eradicated and the crew and passengers register as clear of infection.”

  “I know, sir. I’ve already deployed sanitation units, and we’ve assigned extra personnel in the infirmary to help with the infected ones. They’re working in hazmat suits as a precaution, but—”

  “They could already be infected.”

  “I apologize that you’re going to be a few hands down because of this, Admiral,” Vildan said. “I suppose it’s better than them bringing the infection back with them to the Espies Major.”

  “Excuse me? I have crewmembers visiting your ship?” Dael took a step closer to the screen. “I will need their names so I can let their famil
ies know.”

  “Certainly. I have a list. Transferring it now.” Vildan gestured with her index finger to a crewmember out of view.

  “Got it, sir,” Ensign Umbahr said. “It contains eight names.”

  “On screen.”

  The list filled the smaller screen to the left and Dael quickly scanned it. Blinking, she reread the sixth name. This had to be wrong. Why would Spinner be aboard the Rondos? “I have your list.” Dael spoke despite tense lips. She read the last three names. Ah, so that was why. She had no doubt transported the Do Voy siblings to the Rondos for some reason.

  Dael’s hands stung and she looked down as she uncurled her fingers. Her blunt nails had managed to make deep, semicircular indentations into her palms.

  “Sir?” Captain Vildan gently cleared her throat. “Five of your crewmembers, who all have small children back on Espies Major, have been put into protective quarters. They were screened and checked clear. The other three all insisted on volunteering in the infirmary and we placed them in hazmat suits immediately. Their initial screens were clear, so if they can manage to not remove them, and you know as well as I do that some people become completely claustrophobic after a while, they should be fine also.”

  “You’ve acted very quickly and astutely, Captain. Keep me informed. I will reduce our speed to half magnetar drive, as you will have other issues to deal with. How long do you estimate before you have a handle on this?”

  Captain Vildan pinched the bridge of her nose. She was normally a radiant woman with an immediate, unquestionable authority. Now she looked decisive and ready to tackle the issue at hand, but also tense around the eyes and pale. “You know what the rules stipulate. If we find where the contamination is located quickly, and keep the infected contained while we carry out the screening of the rest of the crew and passengers, we can deal with this in seven to ten days. But it’s a big ship.”

  “I will send any extra supplies you need by unmanned probes.” Leaping into action, Dael gave in to the energy reserve inside herself wanting to burst free. “Also, we have to find out what the incubation period is and make sure anyone aboard the other ships who’s visited the Rondos is quarantined and screened.” She nodded briefly at Captain Vildan. “You focus on what you have to do, Tylene. I will take care of everything else. And have my people schedule a video-talk with me when it’s convenient.”