Shi typed in the ten-digit passcode to unlock the door quickly, glancing down the street while the door buzzed quietly as it unlocked. A passcode lock was rudimentary for this day and age, but Shi had had too many print scanners broken by punk kids to invest in higher security. Anything he needed really secure he either took home or left in the vault.
It wasn't the right time of morning for a car to be hovering down the street. The prostitutes were all gone for the night, back to wherever they spent the daylight hours. The line of shops on the street—including Shi's—didn't open for another two hours. The car was also far too sleek for this part of town. It was black, polished to a shine, and showed none of the dents and scratches travelling in the hoverstreams typically produced.
Shi let himself into the office, shutting the door and flipping the lock back on. A car that nice was either never driven in the hoverstreams or had some sort of shielding. The former required tires, which had been conspicuously missing from the hovering car. The latter required a lot of money or for the car to be military-owned. Shi could guess which.
The lights in the foyer had turned on when he'd opened the door, displaying the secretary's desk and the various uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room. The electronic display on the left wall was off, not displaying the obnoxious loop of news that it usually broadcast across the foyer. The plants were real fakes instead of holo-projections, and they showed it in the bright florescent light.
Shi headed past the secretary's desk, into the hallway behind it. There were four offices in this building. Shi and two others were private detectives, and the last office was occupied by a sleazy divorce lawyer. There had been more than one client who had gone from Shi's office to the lawyer's office after learning their spouse was cheating on them.
Shi's office was in the back, with a view overlooking the river. It was the best view in the building, which wasn't saying much considering the river was gray on the best of days and black on the rest. He'd been at the office the longest—almost five years now—which was why he'd managed to finagle his way into the best office. The door was shut firmly, like it had been when he'd left. There was a telltale glow of light coming through the window in the door, however.
It was nearly impossible to turn off the lights when a person was in a room. The office had the glitchiest wiring Shi had ever encountered, but it was useful on occasion. Unbuttoning his jacket, Shi unhooked the strap holding his stun gun in place. Approaching the door cautiously, Shi paused outside the door and pressed his hand to the print scanner there. It chirped cheerfully and the lock mechanism in the door thunked loudly as it unlocked. Placing one hand on the butt of his gun, Shi opened the door.
A man sat in the chair opposite his desk. It was as comfortable as the chairs in the waiting room, but the man didn't show any discomfort sitting there. There was a real, physical file folder resting in his lap, thin enough it could only hold a few sheets of paper. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a casual shirt, his jacket draped over the back of the chair like he'd been there a while.
He was military. It was in the way he sat, his back rigid and tense, as though he was waiting for the order to relax. His hair wasn't quite standard military; it was cut short, but had grown out a bit. If Shi didn't know any better—and hadn't had the hint of the car out front—the man might almost pass for a civilian. That was obviously the intention.
Relaxing slightly, Shi stepped fully into the room and shut the door behind him. He stripped off his jacket, not bothering to relatch the strap over his stun gun, and hung the jacket on one of the hooks beside the door. Ignoring his visitor for the moment, Shi crossed the room, his boots muffled by the thin synthetic carpet covering the floor.
The office was bland and beige. The walls were pale and undecorated; the only thing that hung on them was the federal and state licenses Shi had, and he'd only put those up because the law required it. He had a rudimentary filing cabinet in one of the corners behind his desk, secured only by a thumbprint scanner. The secretaries had access to that one.
The desk was the most expensive thing in the room. Shi had commissioned it after receiving payment for earning his special license to work within the military. It was huge, and he knew most people thought he'd gone for the size to prove how important he was. They were idiots; if he could have gotten a TXL-49 vault installed in a smaller desk, he would have.
The vault was where he stored the most confidential cases. He'd gone after the highest level of security clearance when he'd trained to receive his military special license; it had paid the most and seemed like it would be exciting. Shi wished he could go back and shake his younger self out of that notion. If he hadn't gone for the grade N7 license, he'd never have met Elis.
"What can I help you with?" Shi asked, removing his stun gun from its holster and setting it on top of the desk. The man's eyes followed the gun, and Shi rolled his eyes, thumbing the catch that opened the hidden keypad on the front of the desk. Punching in the unlock code, Shi opened the top drawer on his desk and moved the gun into it. He shut the drawer, then sat down in his chair. "I'm assuming you didn't break into my office just for fun."
"No," the man said. He reached into his jacked and pulled out a small data reader, which he held up and scanned Shi's face with. Shi held still, letting the reader gauge his facial features and compare to the record on file. He'd gone in a month back to update their files, so he doubted there would be any issue. The man lowered his data reader, then pulled out a small black box and tossed it to Shi.
Shi caught it in one hand, raising his eyebrows in surprise. Whatever the man was here about, it was high security. Shi had only had to do a DNA confirmation for a case once before. Flipping the box open, Shi laid his thumb across the sleek glass platform, wincing when the collection needle stuck his thumb. The box chirped a second later, and Shi removed his thumb and snapped the box closed.
"You need to clear your schedule for the next six months," the man said, standing to retrieve the box. He tucked it into a pocket. "This is a mandatory assignment."
"My license specifically states I don't have to take mandatory assignments," Shi said flatly, not liking the man's tone.
"It's an N7 level case. You're the only licensed investigator we have available to take the case," the man said, his eyes narrowing. He hadn't sat back down, but loomed over Shi's desk. He was stockier than Shi; his muscles were obvious under the shirt he wore. He wasn't armed, but Shi's stun gun was locked in his desk, so it would still be a fight between them if it came to that. Depending on how quickly the man could move, Shi would probably lose.
"Only investigator available doesn't preclude the clause in my contract," Shi said, glad his mother had insisted he require that clause. "Tell me the case, and I'll decide whether I'll take it."
The man paused, looking as though he was listening to something, so he was probably being monitored and given instructions from the car outside. "I can't tell you much unless you accept it."
"Balls," Shi said, snorting. "I have level N7 clearance. That means you can tell me anything and expect that it won't leave this room."
"It's a need to know operation," the man said stiffly. He paused, then nodded, and Shi rolled his eyes again. Why were they sending an amateur to him who couldn't even fake not being connected to his superior? "Are you familiar with Team Bakala?"
"Special ops, undercover unit," Shi said. "Members are completely secret, even to top level security."
"Precisely," the man said sourly, and Shi connected the dots.
"This has something to do with one of them," Shi said, curiosity piqued. What did they need an investigator for that had to do with a special ops undercover unit?
"Do you know who Baron Volkov is?"
"Owner of the largest drug smuggling operation in this galaxy," Shi said. So there had been an operation for Team Bakala that had to do with Baron Volkov… but that still didn't explain why they need him.
"He's been killing off members of Team Bakala, one by one," the man said, grimacing. "While they're off-duty."
"You have a security leak," Shi said, and there it was. They needed him to find the security leak. It would be dangerous, no doubt. Messing with Baron Volkov was a death sentence. Perhaps that was why they'd chosen him as well? Shi had no family left, not after his mother had passed away last year. He had no lover, either, not after Elis, and Shi didn't particularly care if Volkov went after his ex.
"The security leak has been dealt with," the man said grimly. "But Volkov still has one of the members of Team Bakala."
"Not dead?" Shi asked, shuffling what he knew. If he wasn't to be searching out a security leak, then he was probably being sent after the missing operative.
"He's trying to barter the man's life for certain freedoms we do not want to give him," the man said, then paused again. "You don't need to know what they are."
"Right," Shi said, sitting back and contemplating. "Why not let the operative twist in the wind? He's special ops, sure, but easier to train a new operative than mount some sort of rescue."
"This operative…" the man paused, scowling. "… has friends in high places, who do not want to see him dead."
"Then why is he on Team Bakala?" Shi asked, rolling his eyes. The military was a bunch of idiots, but he knew that already. He really should have let his license lapse, Shi thought. If he hadn't renewed it last month, he'd be clear to tell them to all fuck off.
"We were unaware of the connection," the man said tersely. "Will you take the job?"
"What is the job?" Shi asked, because it had never actually been spelled out for him, and he wasn't stupid enough to agree to something without knowing exactly what he was getting into.
"We know where Volkov is keeping him, but Volkov knows all of our operatives." The man stared at him and sneered, obviously unimpressed by what he saw. "The security leak gave him everything."
"You want me to run an op?" Shi demanded, his voice rising. "I'm a detective, not special ops. I don't have any training for that sort of thing—"
The door opened, and Shi glared at the intruder. More military, this time a woman, and Shi glared harder as the man in his office hastily stood and saluted. Higher ranking, then, and how much of an amateur was the man that he saluted when he was trying to pass as civilian? Never mind that only Shi and his boss were in the office, it was still amateur.
"Go wait in the car, Norris," the woman snapped. Norris hesitated, but then nodded and departed quickly. The woman stepped into the room. She was dressed more smartly than Norris, with pressed gray slacks and a ruffled blouse under a pale colored cardigan. She held a sleek black handbag in one hand. Shi approved; she could easily pass as a businesswoman, despite her short hair.
"You're in charge, then?" Shi asked, sitting back in his chair. She shut the door, crossing over to the seat Norris had so recently vacated.
"For the moment," she said dryly, taking a seat. "You can call me Allie."
"Not your real name," Shi said, brushing the fact aside because it didn't matter. "What's this idiotic idea about sending me on an op?"
"You're the last resort," Allie said, shrugging casually. "You can say no, of course, but then the Team Bakala operative will be killed. Personally, I think that's what should happen. He's the last of the team, but we can train others who are not known to Volkov."
"Why am I sensing a 'but' there?" Shi asked, wishing he'd found burglars instead of military when he'd arrived that morning.
"You were chosen for another reason," Allie said, and Shi did not like the sound of that. "Team Bakala's members were kept absolutely secret. Only a handful of people knew who they were, and they were erased, in as far as that's possible, which means only a handful of people know what each operative looks like."
"You're saying I know this person," Shi said, his blood running cold. It couldn't be… but Shi didn't really know anyone else from the military, and it would explain a few things that Elis had kept from him.
"I'd show you a photo, but we don't even have that," Allie said, spreading her hands in a 'what can you do' gesture. "You're one of the few people who would recognize Elis Carrington on sight."
Shi groaned, running a hand through his hair. "What else?"
"We know where he is," Allie said, as though she hadn't just slapped Shi in the face with the knowledge that his ex-lover's life depended on him taking this job. "He's on one of Volkov's ships."
"The flagship," Shi said, because that was where Volkov would be, and Volkov, from what Shi knew of him, would keep a high profile hostage with him at all times. Allie looked started for a moment, but recovered smoothly, nodding.
"There are openings on the ship, but they'll be suspicious of you," Allie began, but Shi waved her off.
"I can get myself on the ship, but what then?" Shi asked. He had a few aliases that would work, depending on the positions they needed.
"Find Elis," Allie said, flipping open her handbag and removing a small box. Standing, she walked over to Shi's desk and set it down in front of him. "If he's alive, activate this when you're a day or two out from an inhabited planet. We'll come get you."
"If he's not?" Shi asked, because that was the more likely of the two.
"Get off wherever and let us know," Allie said. "Don't activate that. It will bring a rescue squad from the nearest planet, and you'll be liable for costs if you press it and don't need rescuing."
"Why not inspect the ship when it lands?" Shi asked, because even Volkov's flagship wasn't special. It would have to stop for fuel and supplies at some point.
"They're resupplying in space," Allie said, shaking her head. "They're keeping the ship out of orbit of any inhabited planet."
That would solve that problem for Volkov. Ships in transit were protected from being stopped for inspections because of the prohibitive cost—both for the authorities and for the ship being inspected. Most ships ran tight to the wire on fuel; stopping then starting often caused them to waste enough fuel that they couldn't reach their destination.
"Will you take the case?" Allie asked. She was still standing in front of his desk, but not looming like Norris had.
"I want hazard pay," Shi said, mentally kicking himself. Agreeing was stupid, but even if he'd broken things off with Elis, he couldn't sit back and let Elis be killed because of a mole. If it had been Elis' own stupidity… Shi would probably still take the job. "And twice my usual rate."
"Done," Allie said, opening her handbag again. She pulled out a data pad and slid it across the desk towards him. "That has everything we know that will be pertinent. It will clear itself in three hours. If you need anything, let me know." She pulled out a simple card and tossed it on top of the desk. "This is a no-contact undercover mission—"
"Not an issue," Shi said, picking up the card instead of the data pad. It simply read Allie with a 14-digit phone number below. "Anything else?"
"Good luck," Allie said, snapping her handbag shut. She turned and strode towards the door. Shi let her go, picking up the data pad. Scooting his chair back, he propped his feet up on the desk and started to read.
*~*~*
Volkov's ship was hiring for a few different positions, but Shi settled on applying for a job as an assistant to the engineer. It was a simple job, which required basic math and the balls to do all the semi-dangerous jobs of running a ship's engine that a ship's engineer was too valuable to risk doing. One of his aliases, Shin Mari, was perfect for the job. Shin had worked as an assistant to the engineer previously, and had a few misdemeanor charges for barroom brawling on his record.
Hopefully, that would show he didn't give a shit about breaking the law, plus had experience with doing the job. Shi had sent in the electronic application the day Allie had given him the job, then spent the rest of the day shuffling his cases around to the rest of the investigators in his office. He'd cited a family emergency, and none of them knew that Shi no longer had family.
He'd gotten a communique early this morning telling him to be at the docks for an interview. It had included a note to be ready to leave immediately if he'd was hired. Shi packed a bag with clothes to last for a week; if they didn't have a uniform (doubtful), he'd be able to do laundry on the ship.
Picking up the transponder, Shi flipped open the box and rolled his eyes again at its contents. A simple gold band rested in the center of the box. The gold was worn, not bright and new, and Shi picked it up and slid it onto his left ring finger. Shi stared at his finger a minute, shaking his head and making himself move. It wouldn't do to be too late to his interview.
He caught the train to the spacedocks, striding out into the chaotic mess with his duffle slung over his shoulder. His jacket was unzipped, clearly showing off the stun gun at his waist. It was of dubious legality to carry it in plain sight, but no one would harass him for it at the docks, and it might lend him a bit of credibility with the interviewers.
Meet by bay 432CX, the communique had said. Shi picked up his pace, dodging around workers and travelers. Bay 432CX was quiet when Shi ducked into it. A small transport was docked. It wouldn't hold more than a handful of people and a few crates of supplies. There were two men standing near the loading ramp, discussing something. They were dressed in rough work clothes, nothing fancy, and one of them held a large data tablet that he was paying more attention than the other man.
"Hey!" Shi shouted, his voice echoing across the bay. Both men stopped what they were doing to turn and stare at him. Neither of them looked friendly, but Shi hadn't exactly expected a welcome wagon. "I'm here about the job."
"One minute," the man with the data tablet said, waving at him dismissively. He said something quietly to the other man, who nodded and then loped onto the ship. The man continued to pay attention to his tablet for a few more moments as Shi waited impatiently, shifting his weight and taking the chance to get a good look at the ship.
It was short range, obviously meant to shuttle people and a small amount of goods between a ship in orbit and the planet. The ship in orbit wouldn't be Volkov's; that would put him too close to the planet and being ordered down for an inspection.
"Get over here, then," the man snapped, his voice sharp. He still hadn't looked up from his tablet. Shi moved, crossing the bay nice and slow, as though he hadn't been left waiting. "You have any family, Mari?"
"No, sir," Shi replied, unsurprised when the man stared the ring on his hand. "She's dead."
The man nodded, leaving it at that. "You understand what radio silence means?"
"I got no one to talk to," Shi said, shrugging. "You get vids out there, or does that count, too?"
"There's an extensive library, and you can book holovid time," the man said dismissively. "We'll be out at least six months."
"As long as I'm getting paid, I don't care," Shi said dismissively. "The longer I'm off planet, the better." Shi glanced at the ring on his hand, then curled the hand into a fist.
"This isn't a pleasure jaunt—" The man started, scowling at him.
"I've been on ships before, sir," Shi said, cutting him off. "Long haul and short haul. I know how to keep my head down and do my job. I want off this rock, and I don't rightly care how I do it."
"Fine," the man said, turning the data tablet towards Shi. "You read over the contract I sent?"
"Yeah, yeah," Shi muttered, pressing his hand against the tablet's surface. It scanned his hand, chirped happily, and the man pulled the tablet back towards him. He tapped a few things, frowned, then jerked a thumb towards the transport.
"Take off is in twenty minutes."
Shi took that as a good sign. He strolled towards the transport, climbing the ramp and ducking into the ship. The interior was crammed full of crates, with only the forward four chairs free of any clutter. The pilot—the other man from the bay—was already seated, fiddling with controls, and Shi took one of the two seats in the second row of chairs. Dropping his duffle next to the seat, he strapped in.
It had been a few years since he'd been on a transport. They were never a smooth ride, but they were stable enough. He'd spent a few years in his early twenties ship hopping—that part of Shin's background wasn't untrue. Shi had worked as an assistant to the engineer for three months before he decided he wasn't stupid enough to keep risking his life and his balls to radiation and other dangers.
Hopefully he wouldn't lose either on this jaunt as well. It hadn't been long after that trip that Shi had settled into working as a detective, and started the process to get his licenses. The military license had been a whim; Shi had been low on money at that point, and the licensing office had been offering an insane amount for compensation.
It was during his course for military training that Shi had met Elis. There had been hundreds of stupid courses he'd had to take, and Elis had shown up to a few of them. He'd attracted Shi's attention the very first time Shi had seen him. Elis had a presence about him, even when he was sitting still. He was dangerous, like a coiled snake waiting to spring.
Shi had been the only one to pass the test that day; they'd been doing a practical demonstration of something that Shi didn't remember. Elis had been sneaking around and pickpocketing everyone. Shi had caught him, instinctively grabbing Elis when his hand slipped, whisper soft, into Shi's pocket. Too many years of dealing with pickpockets in the district he'd grown up in had come back to save him.
Elis had grinned, meeting Shi's glare with a challenging look. He'd found Shi after a different class, dragged him off to a late lunch. It started out casual, and Shi wasn't sure when it had gotten serious, only that it had. Elis had made promises to stay, promises he had to have known he couldn't keep, not as a member of Team Bakala. He couldn't tell Shi was he was doing, but that was all right. Elis was military, obviously high up in the covert division, and Shi understood that.
It was a stupid fight that had ended it. Shi toyed with the fake gold ring, twisting it around his finger. Shi had taken on a stupid case, but one that could have repercussions if he pissed off the wrong person with what he found. Elis had tried to get him to drop it, saying it wasn't safe, and if that wasn't hypocritical, Shi didn't know the meaning of the word. He'd refused, they'd fought, Elis had stormed off… Shi had expected they'd make up within a few days, but Elis ran off, disappeared without a trace.
That had been four months ago, and Shi was supposed to be over Elis by now. He wasn't supposed to be doing something that was even more dangerous than the case that had pissed Elis off, just to save Elis if he could. Sighing, Shi glanced up as the man from the bay climbed into the transport. His data tablet was tucked away, and his boots clomped loudly on the ramp as he walked across it.
Once inside the transport, he pressed a series of buttons on the panel by the door, making the ramp retract into the ship and the door slide shut. He headed up to the front, completely ignoring Shi.
"We have clearance?"
The pilot grunted, and Shi settled in. He hoped this trip went quickly, and he was able to find Elis and activate the transponder before anyone was able to poke a hole in his story.
*~*~*
It took Shi an entire month to get to Volkov's flagship. The transport had taken him to another ship, which made several pit stops at different planets, offloading suspiciously marked crates and taking on more supplies. The flagship was huge, equipped with enough firepower to sink half a planetary fleet. It had three engine rooms, Shi learned as he was shuffled off to a tiny crew quarters. He'd been assigned to the one on K deck, and would start third shift that night.
They'd arrived late enough in the evening that Shi had only a few hours to grab some sleep before his first shift began. He stowed his duffle under the tiny bunk, then crawled into bed, ignoring the itch to go searching for Elis. Wherever Elis was, it wasn't going to be easy to find, and it would be even harder to get to.
In fact, Shi conceded, it would be best if he didn't try to get near Elis at all. No doubt Elis was monitored around the clock; it would be highly suspicious for Shi to get anywhere near him. Shi had to do two things: figure out where Elis was to make rescue easy and find out where they were, so he knew when they'd reach the "few days from a planet" timeline Allie had specified.
Neither of which would be easy, Shi thought, stuffing the pillow up under his head as he stared at the ceiling of his bunk. Elis would be hidden, to keep him away from people like Shi. Likewise, the course of the ship would be confidential. He might have a chance of figuring something out from the engine room. The head engineer would be aware of the course, since that would affect how much fuel they needed, among other things.
Closing his eyes, Shi ran his thumb across the gold band on his ring finger. It was soothing, for whatever reason, and he'd become almost attached to it over the last month. Maybe if he rescued Elis, he could make Elis replace the ring.
Shi rolled his eyes at himself. There was no telling that Elis would even want anything to do with him. Four months was a long time, and Shi doubted Elis had been stuck on this ship for that long. If Elis had wanted him back, Elis would have let him know.
Turning onto his side, Shi scowled at the wall, then buried his head in his pillow. He needed to stop daydreaming and focus on his job. He could daydream all he wanted after he'd managed to save Elis or get them both killed.
He woke to the sound of the alarm he'd set, beeping obnoxiously through the room. "Quiet," Shi grumbled, then shoved himself out of bed before he could go back to sleep again. Stumbling across the room, Shi smacked the control panel in the wall. The alarm shut off and the lights flared to full brightness.
The room he'd been assigned to was little more than a cubby. The bunk took up much of it, set low across the wall opposite the door. There were drawers above it, which explained the low ceiling. There was more storage underneath, and Shi wondered why the hell they hadn't put the drawers down there so there was less chance he'd smack his head. There was also, Shi noticed belatedly, a vid panel on the wall at the foot of the bed. He doubted he'd get more than whatever vids were in the ship's collection, but he could check that out later, see if he could get any useful information on the ship's layout or course.
Changing his shirt, Shi ran a hand through his hair a few times to settle any locks that were sticking up. He could use a shave, but that could wait. He didn't want to appear too concerned about his looks on the first day of the job. Giving the room a last cursory look, Shi kicked his duffle back under the bed and left his discarded shirt on the bed. His things had been searched once, when they were en route, but he didn't doubt they'd do it again.
Running his thumb over the ring, Shi reluctantly gave the military credit for the ring. It might have been found out if it were among his things, but he never took it off, and no one seemed inclined to doubt the story about the dead fiancée—or to push about it, which Shi also appreciated. Not that he planned to say much if he was pressed. He'd rather throw a punch than talk about it—or at least, Shin Mari would.
Pressing the button to open the door, Shi stepped out into the hallway. He nodded in greeting to the few people who were emerging from their own rooms, likely on the same shift. Shi meandered down the hallway, stopping briefly to use the facilities, before heading to the shuttle room. The ship was large enough that it had its own internal shuttle transport running between the different sections of the ship.
It took him a few minutes to puzzle out that he was in section Q14 – Residential, Workers, another minute to find the train that would take him to section K03 – Engineering, Rear Center. Shi hung around another few minutes, noting where else the trains ran. He found the mess in the center of the ship, part of a sprawling court that included a few shops for toiletries, games, and snacks. He located the bridge, some cargo areas, and the holovid rooms, but he either overlooked the brig or it wasn't on the map.
Likely it wasn't on there, Shi thought as he headed towards the shuttle that would take him to K deck. He climbed on board, ducking his head to get through the short doorway. The shuttle was half-full, and Shi chose an empty seat, putting some space between himself and the other passengers. Most ignored him like he was ignoring them. A few gave him a second glance, probably because he was a new face, but Shi ignored them as well.
The shuttle jolted into motion, rushing through the tunnels with a steady thrum. It made a number of stops and people came and went. Shi stood when it reached K deck, slipping off the shuttle before the three people waiting got on. One other man got off with him, though he headed towards the higher numbered sections as Shi turned down the corridor that should take him to the lower numbered sections.
Thankfully, everything was well labeled, so it didn't take him long to find the engineering section. The space ship's engine's noise dominated the room, its steady thrum pulsing through the floor. The engineering section was huge, encompassing the space three sections of a deck typically took up. It also spanned three decks, the engine rising high into the ship. Control panels spanned the walls on the lowest level, but were much more sparse on the upper levels, dotting the walls at random intervals.
"You the new assistant?" A man barked from a nearby panel. He didn't look away from what he was doing, his fingers flying over the touch screen buttons in front of him. He looked to be fifteen or twenty years older than Shi, and wore a navy blue jacket with gold markings down the sleeves. Likely the master engineer of this engine room, Shi decided.
"Yes, sir," Shi replied smartly, waiting to be told what to do.
"Go talk to Kins," the master engineer said, pointing in the general direction of a man about twenty feet down the wall, working on something else. "Do whatever he tells you."
Shi nodded, despite knowing the master engineer wasn't looking at him, and headed in that direction. Kins looked up when he approached, punching a last few buttons. The panel flashed something brightly, too quickly for Shi to catch.
"You're late," Kins said. He didn't sound accusing or upset, following up with, "Third shift starts at 2200 exactly, not 2210. You get an hour break at 0300, then work through until your replacement shows up. Usually 0700."
Shi nodded, accepting that. It was better than the other ship he'd worked on. That shift had been 1600 to 0100, with no break.
"You're training today and tomorrow. We use a custom software, none of that stupid fancy shit regular ships use," Kins said, jabbing a few more buttons on his screen. The screen did look unfamiliar, Shi noted, hoping he could pick it up quickly. He didn't think Kins or the master engineer would take kindly to him flubbing.
"After that, you'll be on diagnostics for a few months," Kins continued, turning sharply and striding towards the ladder that led to the upper levels. Shi followed, making a face. Diagnostics were tedious, annoying, and time-consuming. They were also the easiest and least dangerous task for an assistant to perform, and would give him access to a computer terminal that might allow him to figure out where they were, where they were going, and when they'd be close to an inhabited planet.
Shi climbed the ladder after Kins, chiding himself to have patience. He'd spend a few days learning the system, then a few days doing diagnostics as instructed, and then he could start rooting around for the information he really needed. Rushing or getting impatient would only get him caught, and Shi had no doubt that Allie wasn't lying when she said that she'd rather Volkov kill Elis. He highly doubted he added any value in her mind.
Kins hopped off the ladder on the second level, walking over to a control panel. There was no seat here, which meant that Shi got to stand while he was doing his training. Kins punched a handful of buttons on the panel, pulling up a simple interface with a video front and center.
"Follow the training path, including the quizzes. Don't leave the training program. I don't want you fucking with anything I don't tell you to, you hear?" Kins stepped back, letting Shi approach the panel. Despite his words, his tone was still informational—not friendly, but not unfriendly either.
"Got it," Shi said, frowning at the panel for a moment before tapping the "Start" button. Kins lingered a moment more, then stepped away, leaving Shi with his training program.
Despite Kins' claims that their software was completely custom and not at all like regular ships, the training program told a completely different story. The interface had been given a facelift, but the rest of it was pretty standard. Even the interactive training program was the same old shit Shi had seen before. Hopefully, after this, he would never have to complete another training program ever again. They were the most boring things in the galaxy, he swore.
Still, Shi somehow managed to lose track of time while he was working on it. Kins tapped on his shoulder at 0310—to make up for the ten minutes he'd been late to his shift—and ordered him to the mess. Kins fell into step beside him as he left the engineering section, apparently taking his break at the same time. They climbed into the shuttle, and headed towards the mess.
The mess was huge, possibly because it was meant to feed the entire crew. If the shuttle map Shi had been looking at earlier was accurate, it was the only mess hall on the ship. It also doubled as an event hall, Shi noted, spotting a huge vid screen at one end. Tables and benches were bolted to the floor along two thirds of the huge room, leaving a wide open space at one end. The vid screen was in the back of the open area, along with something else that wasn't making any sense to Shi.
A small area was boxed in with a pulsing light fence, the kind that would give a nasty shock to anyone stupid enough to touch it. It contained a small area, and Shi could just barely see someone sitting down within the fence. There wasn't room to do anything but sit or stand, and Shi squinted at the box. It was impossible to pick out anything else, however; between the distance and the light fence, everything inside the box was obscured.
"What's going on there?" Shi asked, following Kins towards the line to receive their meal. The mess was busier than Shi had anticipated, but likely most of the crew working third shift got their break around this time.
"Punishment," Kins said, shrugging disinterestedly. He picked up a silver cup and filled it with coffee, then moved to add cream and sugar. Shi followed suit, eschewing the cream and sugar despite the burnt, butter smell of the coffee.
"What did he do?" Shi asked, taking a sip of the coffee and making a face when it proved to be as terrible as it smelled. It was coffee though, and Shi wasn't going to turn his nose up at that.
"Pissed Lord Volkov off," Kins said, moving forward. "No one knows how, but it must have been something bad. He's been there for months."
"Huh," Shi said, then forced a grin. "Remind me to never piss Lord Volkov off. I'd prefer a quick death."
Kins snorted, and Shi let the conversation drop. He glanced back at the light fence, but it was still impossible to see anything. It couldn't be Elis. Surely Volkov would be keeping him locked away somewhere safe, away from the prying eyes of any spies. Unless he was cocky enough to think he would never be infiltrated? Or maybe cocky enough to think nothing would ever happen, even if an agent managed to get onto one of his ships.
Shi collected a tray of food, not paying any attention to what the man serving piled onto his plate. He set the cup of coffee on the tray, then wandered across the mess, ignoring when Kins took a seat at a nearby table. Most of the crew was eating at the tables on the opposite side of the room from the light fence, either for convenience—it was closer to the door—or to avoid the spectacle.
Shi didn't go much closer, not wanting to seem too curious about the display. He doubted anyone would be suspicious of his curiosity, though prolonged curiosity would certainly attract notice. Shi sat down, picking up his cup of coffee and glancing at the light fence again. Closer, he could see the man within the light fence was sitting cross-legged, his arms crossed over his chest and his head bent down, chin almost touching his chest.
He was the right build for Elis, Shi noted clinically, trying to ignore the way his heartbeat kicked up a notch. He also had Elis' bright blond hair, but without seeing his face, Shi couldn't say one way or the other. Still, how many prisoners did Volkov have? He'd been on display for months, Kins had said, and Shi's stomach twisted. How long had Elis been in Volkov's grasp? Allie hadn't said, and neither had the information she'd given him.
Could Elis have been caught after their last fight? That would explain why he'd never come back, and why Shi hadn't been able to find him. Shi had assumed it was Elis' way of ending their relationship permanently, but what if he'd not been able to come back? Shi's stomach dropped, and he willed the man in the light fence to look up, suddenly needing confirmation.
The man didn't stir, and Shi forced himself to start eating his meal. It was tasteless, but that was pretty normal for ship's fare. The only people on a ship who got food that wasn't completely bland were the upper officers and any rich passengers. Shi finished eating quickly, drowning the tasteless food with the terrible tasting coffee.
He glanced at the light fence again, and froze when he realized the man had lifted his head. He was staring straight at Shi, and Shi swallowed hard because it was Elis. He was far thinner than he should be, but that wasn't surprising. Shi doubted Volkov was feeding Elis well. He looked furious, and Shi could guess why—their last fight had been about Shi taking on a dangerous case, but that case paled in comparison to smuggling himself onto Volkov's ship to try and rescue Elis.
Shi didn't allow himself to react, but lifted his cup and swallowed the rest of his coffee as though Elis weren't glaring at him. He set the cup down on his tray and stood, turning his back to Elis and crossing the room to the tray collection area. He could feel Elis' eyes on him, and he hoped no one else noticed. The last thing he needed was to garner attention because Elis was paying too much attention to him.
Eating hadn't taken his full break, but Shi left the mess hall anyway, heading back to the engineering deck. He'd failed a quiz before break—if anyone asked, he was making up for that by returning to work early. The engineering section was quiet, half-staffed as it was, but no one stopped Shi as he climbed back up to the second level to resume his training.
He couldn't stop seeing Elis' angry expression, even as he restarted the training and tried to immerse himself in the training program again. At least it seemed like Elis was largely all right, even half-starved and caged as he was. He'd expected Elis to be in worse shape—or dead. Perhaps Volkov was keeping him alive and mostly unharmed since he needed to use Elis as collateral.
Who was Elis' influential connection? Shi fumbled on the training program, hitting the wrong button and getting a quiz question wrong. He hadn't thought about that. Elis didn't have family, Shi knew that. Shi didn't know what had happened to Elis' family, only that they weren't among the living anymore. Who would care enough about Elis to pull strings to save him?
A former lover, perhaps? A current lover? Shi's heart sank. Kins had said months—he hadn't specified how many. What if Elis had found someone better after their last fight? That made too much sense, and of course, Allie wouldn't tell him. She'd been banking on his attachment to Elis to get him to agree to take on this case. If he'd known that Elis was seeing someone else… well, Shi probably would have taken the case anyway.
Glancing down at the ring on his hand, Shi sighed. At least he'd accomplished one of his objectives. He knew where Elis was being kept. Now he only had to figure out when they'd be near a planet and activate the transponder. Running his thumb over the polished metal of the ring, Shi scowled and forced himself to focus on the training, pushing thoughts of Elis and his new beau out of his head.
*~*~*
Three weeks later, Shi was no closer to figuring out where they were or when they'd be close to a planet. The engineering panels were useless; the custom programming Kins had bragged about restricted everyone in engineering to only functions that were considered essential to engineering. In Shi's case, he was restricted to only working with diagnostics.
He'd managed to access Kins' control panel once, but even that had been fruitless. Shi was relatively certain the only engineer who would have access to any kind of navigation or course information was the master engineer, but the man never seemed to leave his panel, and when he did, he locked it down.
Shi was getting frustrated, despite his best attempts to keep patient. He wasn't sure what to do next—all of his options were risky at best, and would almost certainly get him caught at worst. Three weeks was nothing, really, but every time he went to the mess, he was vividly reminded why he was doing this. Elis didn't look any worse, but it was hard to see him locked up, sitting still in the center of a light fence, unable to even lay down.
Thankfully, Elis had ignored him after the first night Shi had seen him in the mess. Shi had returned the favor, though he still sat at the same table where he could discreetly gauge how Elis was doing. How long would Volkov keep Elis on display in the mess hall? Volkov would insist on an answer from the government on his demands at some point, and when they balked… well, Volkov would have no reason to keep Elis alive at that point.
Shi didn't think he was cut out for undercover operations. He much preferred the straightforward cases of tracking stray spouses or missing persons or fraud. He needed to find some way to find out what he needed to know without raising suspicion, but that was easier said than done. It didn't help that the third shift crew was completely unfriendly and standoffish. There were a few people who seemed friendly with one another, but Shi hadn't been able to connect with anyone himself.
So he was stuck. He couldn't access the information he needed without acting incredibly suspicious, and he couldn't seem to find it out in any other way. Stifling a sigh, Shi punched another few buttons on his control panel to kick off another diagnostic. Hopefully inspiration would come to him before it was too late.
The 0300 break seemed to take forever to come. Shi kicked off another diagnostic ten minutes before break, only belatedly realizing that he'd kicked off one of the interactive ones that required his input every few steps. Groaning under his breath, Shi resigned himself to leaving for break late, grumbling under his breath as he jabbed the touch pad to answer another prompt.
"Break, Shi," Kins said, coming up behind him ten minutes later. Shi jabbed another button, scowling.
"Started the Act Five diagnostic by mistake," Shi said, not bothering to hide his grumpiness. He wanted to go to the mess, to check on Elis, not be stuck at a control panel punching buttons.
"Break when it's done then," Kins said, hesitating a minute longer. Shi gave him a strange look, wondering what was with the hovering, but Kins turned and left then. Shi rolled his eyes and went back to the diagnostic.
It took another twenty minutes to complete, and Shi logged out of the console. Standing, he stretched his arms above his shoulders, making his back pop three times. Turning, Shi glanced around the engineering section. Was it his imagination, or were there more people around than usual? Not his imagination, Shi decided, recognizing one of the men conversing with the master engineer as part of the security crew. He didn't recognize most of the others, but they were likely security as well.
Why was security in his section of engineering? Shi hadn't actually done anything suspicious yet. Maybe it was unrelated to him. There wasn't exactly much he could do if it turned out that it wasn't, though. He was trapped on a ship with no escape route somewhere in the middle of the galaxy. Picking up the jacket he'd slung over the back of his chair, Shi slipped it on. It was navy blue, like the rest of the engineers' jackets, but the only gold decoration was the single line of gold around the cuffs, signifying he was the lowest assistant in the engineering hierarchy.
Kins had left his console up and logged in, Shi noted as he did up the buttons on the front of his jacket. It was queued up to a star map, of all things, and Shi's suspicions were not unwarranted, he decided. They weren't sure of him, and were laying a trap. A very obvious trap, and Shi wondered what he'd done to attract attention. Perhaps it was only that he'd logged onto Kins' console that once. Volkov was no doubt paranoid, and though it seemed like Kins had bought the explanation that Shi hadn't realized he wasn't logged on under his own name, maybe he hadn't.
Shi didn't give Kins' console a second glance, crossing the deck of the engineering section towards the shuttle. One of the unfamiliar faces followed him, but Shi ignored it. There wasn't anything he could do about it anyway. Pressing the button to call the shuttle, Shi waited impatiently, tapping his foot as he and the security goon waited.
The security goon followed Shi onto the shuttle, not making any selection after Shi pressed the button that would take the shuttle to the mess hall. Maybe he was on break now, too? Shi stifled a snort, sprawling across one of the seats on the shuttle and closing his eyes, pretending like he didn't care there was anyone else on the shuttle with him.
Shi yawned widely when the shuttle chimed that it had reached the mess hall, and slowly climbed to his feet, taking his time so that the other man had to leave the shuttle first, or seem suspicious for lingering. They could be a little clandestine about having him followed by security, Shi thought, rolling his eyes. Maybe they were trying to fluster him into making a mistake? Or were looking for a specific reaction that he wasn't giving? What if he was supposed to get indignant about being followed?
He was never going undercover again, Shi swore. It was far too delicate a balance, and he didn't think he could manage it. He was obviously not managing it here; if he were, he wouldn't have security following him.
The queue for food was small, the 0300 rush having died down before Shi had gotten there. Glancing at the time display on the wall, Shi sighed. 0330. At least he could take his full hour, and then there would only be two and a half hours of running diagnostics after his break. If he wasn't dragged off in chains by security first.
Deciding to deal with that when it came, Shi fetched himself coffee and a plate of dinner, and took his usual seat. He glanced at the light fence, but everything was the same there. Elis sat cross-legged, arms crossed over his chest, his head down as though he was sleeping. Shi pulled out his data tablet, setting it down next to his tray, and queued up the novel he was reading. The security goon had taken a seat two tables over, with his own tray, but Shi ignored him, pretending to read.
He wasn't making much headway; it was hard to concentrate when he could feel the security goon's eyes boring a hole into the side of his head. Ignoring it as best he could, Shi forced himself to eat, even though it was the last thing he felt like doing. He wasn't going to give them any reason to be suspicious. The coffee was even worse tonight than usual, and Shi couldn't wait to get back to real, civilized coffee.
If he ever got off this ship, Shi conceded, and it was looking like that was a big if at this point. Sighing, Shi glanced at the time widget on his tablet. 0350. Most everyone was leaving the mess hall now, to return to their stations. There were technically two break periods for third shift—one at 0200 and one at 0300—to keep the ship fully staffed even late at night. So other than the few stragglers like Shi, who had run late going to break, the mess hall would be empty until end of shift.
Shi could still feel the security goon staring at him, but when he glanced that way, the man was looking away. Shi rolled his eyes, wondering if he was getting paranoid. Probably, but paranoid didn't mean he was wrong about the man watching him. Stifling a sigh, Shi finished his coffee and flipped a page in his book. He could at least pretend to be reading.
He'd only barely bent his head over the tablet when the mess hall went suddenly quiet. Frowning, Shi looked up, and realized that the light fence around Elis was gone. The lack of its steady pulse was stark, and Shi stared, dumbfounded as Elis rolled off the platform as though he hadn't been caged within it for months.
Shi scrambled to his feet, snatching up his tablet and heading for the door. Elis glanced at him, quirked a smile, and sprinted that way as well. Shi didn't bother to glance behind him, relatively sure that the security goon was calling all sorts of hell down on his head. He hoped like hell Elis had a plan, because Shi didn't.
He met Elis at the door, dropping back slightly to let Elis lead the way. He was much thinner than Shi had realized, and Shi suppressed a flash of worry. He could worry when they were safe.
"This way," Elis said, not waiting to see if Shi followed, turning and darting down a side hallway. Shi followed, barely keeping pace despite Elis' prolonged confinement. It really shouldn't surprise him; Elis had always had more stamina than Shi… and now was not the time to be thinking about Elis' stamina. Elis flung himself around another corner. Shi followed, and nearly ran right into Elis, barely stumbling to a stop before thye collided.
Elis didn't pay him any attention, pulling a flat piece of metal from a pocket. He dug it into the side of a panel on the wall, yanking viciously. The panel came free, falling to the floor with a clatter that sounded incredibly loud to Shi's ears. He checked, but there was no one in the corridor. No alarms were blaring, and there didn't seem to be anyone chasing them.
It was odd, and Shi didn't like it. At the very least, the security goon who had been following him should be showing up. Shi really, really wished he had his stun gun. He hadn't missed it before, but he hadn't been in the middle of Volkov's flagship, on the run and with no idea what was going on.
"Do you have a plan for getting us out of here?" Shi asked. He had lots more questions—how had Elis broken free of the light fence, for one—but that was the most important. If they didn't get away, the rest of the questions didn't matter.
Elis grunted what sounded like an affirmative. Shi glanced at him, startled to find what looked like half the wall's circuitry on the floor in front of Elis. The little metal tool was in his mouth and his fingers were flying, switching wires around and sending sparks flying. Shi shook his head, taking a few steps away to glance down the corridor they'd turned down. They weren't that far from the mess hall, after all, surely someone was going to come this way looking for them.
The door to the mess hall was shut, for the first time Shi could remember. There were a few people standing in front of the doors, but no one was looking in their direction. One was pressing buttons on a panel next to the doors while another was trying to pry at them using the manual holds sunk into the door panels. Ducking back around the corner, Shi waited impatiently for Elis to finish whatever he was doing, watching the corridors and nervously anticipating when someone would show up.
"That should keep them busy," Elis muttered, shoving the wires and circuits off his lap. He stood quickly, then wobbled, losing his balance. Shi quickly steadied him, worried all over again, but Elis shook him off. "Come on, stop lollygagging."
"Yes, princess," Shi said, the familiar refrain rolling off his tongue before he could stop it. Elis smiled faintly, but only started down the hallway.
Elis led him down a few more twists and turns, circling back a few times before finally slipping into a restroom a few sections away from the mess hall. Shi followed him in, locking the door behind them. They'd managed to avoid running into anyone, though it had been a near thing a few times, and Shi really hoped Elis' escape plan became more about escaping and less about running in circles soon.
Elis climbed up on top of the sanitation sink, steadying himself with a hand on the wall. Shi leaned against the door to the bathroom, watching as Elis pulled out his flat piece of metal. He levered it between two tiles in the ceiling, prying one of them loose, and kept going until he had four of them down. There was a crawl space in the ceiling, Shi realized, wondering how Elis knew about all of this. Elis quickly tossed the four tiles down behind the toilet, shoddily hiding them.
"Someone will notice that," Shi couldn't help but say, and Elis rolled his eyes.
"That's the point. Back out, now," Elis said, gesturing to the door behind him. "Quickly, Shi, we don't have a lot of time."
"Right," Shi said, deciding to try and keep his mouth shut until they were relatively safe. Shi flipped the unlock button, then palmed the opening mechanism for the door. He froze, startled, when he came face to face with a security goon. The guard hesitated, obviously just as surprised, and Shi moved, slamming his fist into the goon's nose before he could do more than blink.
The man dropped like a rock, and Shi winced, shaking his hand out. He'd forgotten how much punching someone hurt. Shi glanced up and down the hallway, but it looked like goon was alone.
"Drag him in here," Elis said, backing up so Shi could do so. Shi grabbed the goon's ankles, pulling him into the tiny restroom, then pilfered the man's stun gun.
"Tablet?" Shi asked, holding up the tablet he was still carrying. He wanted one hand free, and the stun gun would probably prove more useful. Elis' gaze focused on the tablet, and he snatched it from Shi, a familiar pleased smile lighting up his face.
"Oh, this will be useful," Elis breathed, tapping a few keys before shaking his head. He tucked the tablet loosely into his waistband, then gestured for Shi to lead the way. "He won't be out long."
"I could stun him," Shi suggested, but he moved toward the door anyway.
"Left," Elis said, and Shi followed the direction, jogging down the corridor ahead of Elis. They went down three decks and across enough sections that Shi wasn't sure where they were, only that they were heading deeper into the ship.
Elis seemed to have some sort of sixth sense for knowing where to go to avoid people. They only ran into two more people—a pair of security guards that Shi quickly stunned before they could remove their stun guns from their holsters—before Elis pulled him into what looked like a cargo area. Elis headed towards the back wall, pausing to study the crates stacked there for a long moment.
"Help me move these," Elis said, gesturing to the set of crates in front of them. "Away from the wall about a foot and a half."
Shi nodded, setting to work. Elis helped, but he was obviously not up to the task. Shi didn't try to dissuade him from helping though, relatively sure that whatever Elis was planning, they didn't have time for an argument on whether Elis was physically capable.
"Slide the top ones back," Elis said, gesturing to the top row of boxes. Shi frowned, confused, but did what Elis said. Elis stepped back when they were done, studying the crates intently. "It'll do. Crawl in there." When Shi gave him an incredulous look, Elis shoved him towards the opening created by the crates. "I'll follow."
"Fine, fine," Shi muttered, dropping down to his knees and crawling into the little cubby created by the crates. It was barely wide enough for him to fit, but he managed, wiggling around in the dark cubby so that he was face up, back propped against the crate behind him. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it would do.
Elis, true to his word, crawled in after Shi, fidgeting around until the opening at the far end was mostly blocked. Then he shuffled backwards, clipping Shi's shin with his elbow. Elis stopped moving, and Shi scowled into the darkness, wishing he could see better.
"What now?" Shi asked quietly. The dark, hidden nature of the cubby seemed to call for quiet, though Shi knew there wasn't anyone else in the cargo hold with them.
"We wait," Elis said, his voice quiet as well. "They'll be on high alert for the next few hours. They'll also be searching. If we can avoid detection and wait a few hours, security should drop their guard enough that we can surprise them."
"And do what?" Shi asked. "We can't get the drop on all of them."
"No, just the ones around the hangar. They'll increase guards there, because that's the only real way for us to get off the ship, but give it a few hours and they'll be tired and bored and we'll be able to steal a ship and leave," Elis said, as though it would be as simple as that.
"You better know how to fly a spaceship," Shi grumbled, well aware he was mostly useless for this escape. He could help keep Elis safe, though, and that wasn't a complete waste.
"I do," Elis said distractedly. Shi's tablet flared with light, highlighting his face. He bent over it, and Shi bit his lip. Elis' cheeks looked sunken in the pale light, the shadows it cast making him appear more gaunt than before. "You should try to get some rest. I don't know when we'll next have the chance."
"I think you need rest more than I do," Shi retorted, knowing he couldn't sleep if he tried. He was too keyed up to even think about sleeping, not to mention he was used to sleeping through the afternoon and late evening because of his third-shift.
"If you can reprogram this tablet to hack into the ship's controls so we can open the hangar doors, then sure, I'll rest," Elis said snappishly, his fingers not pausing as they flew over the tablet's controls.
Shi didn't reply to that—there wasn't really anything he could say, after all. Escaping with their lives was a little more important than making sure Elis wasn't overdoing it. He watched Elis in the semi-dark, wishing he could ask all the questions that had plagued him since he'd accepted this job. He wanted to know if Elis had meant to walk away from their relationship or if he'd had no choice in the matter. He wanted to know if Elis still wanted him, if he was still allowed to hold Elis, or if he was relegated to looking and not touching.
Stifling a sigh, Shi glanced around the little cubby, but it was small and dark and didn't have any answers for him. Shi shifted slightly, trying to get more comfortable. He jarred Elis' knee, but Elis didn't even look up, sliding himself out of Shi's way without even a sideways glance. He ended up sitting closer to Shi, though, and Shi couldn't protest that.
He wasn't sure how long they sat there, Elis' fingers jabbing at Shi's tablet, doing whatever it was he had to do in order to make it a hacking device. It couldn't have been very long—maybe half an hour or an hour—before Elis made a quiet noise of triumph. He pressed a few more keys on the tablet, and the screen went dark.
"Good?" Shi asked, though he knew the answer already. Elis wouldn't have shut the tablet down if he hadn't finished.
"Yeah," Elis said, punctuating it with a yawn. He shifted deeper into the hidden cubby, worming his way up next to Shi, which was quite a feat in the narrow confines. Shi pressed back against the wall, giving Elis more room to squirm in close. He dropped an arm around Elis' too narrow shoulders, smiling faintly when Elis rested his head against Shi's shoulder.
It was a familiar embrace, as it was often how they ended up when they spent the evening watching vids together. Elis usually ended up passing out on Shi's shoulder, snoring quietly until the movie ended. He seemed to have the same idea here, and Shi didn't protest, happy just to have Elis close, even if he was still uncertain where it would end.
"Wake me in two hours, if I don't wake before then," Elis ordered quietly, leaning into Shi and resting a hand against Shi's stomach.
"Will do," Shi said, stealing the tablet from Elis to check the time. Its light flared briefly through the cubby, and Shi frowned to realize it was nearly 0700. "You really want to try to break out at 0900? That's the ship's busiest time."
"It'll be fine," Elis said, and Shi bit back further protest. Elis was the expert, after all. Elis relaxed after a moment, and his breathing evened out quickly as he dropped into sleep.
Shi frowned, worried all over again. Still, Elis was part of the infamous Team Bakala, the most highly trained special ops team in the military. If he said leaving at 0900 would work, it would work. It wasn't as though they had many other choices—they'd be found out eventually if they stayed where they were. The hidden cubby would work for a little while, but eventually they'd have to eat, or Volkov's people would search the cargo bay from top to bottom.
So they'd steal a ship and escape to the nearest planet. Shi ran his thumb over the gold ring on his finger, hoping Elis had considered how far out into space they might be. Any ship stored on the flagship—even as large as it was—would still have to be small, and have a limited range for flying.
Shi debated briefly turning the tablet back on, seeing if he could connect to anything to sort out any useful information. There was no guarantee he'd find anything, though, and Elis' plans would be irrevocably mucked up if he drained the rest of the power cell in the tablet with his attempts. He hadn't charged the tablet in a day and a half, so he should reserve whatever power remained for Elis.
Which left him with waiting and hoping that Elis' plan worked, and that this wasn't the last time he'd get to hold Elis.
*~*~*
Elis woke about fifteen minutes before he requested Shi wake him. He jerked awake suddenly, tensing in Shi's hold before abruptly relaxing. He didn't move for a long moment, and Shi started to think he'd fallen asleep again when Elis spoke.
"Did I miss anything?"
"A search party," Shi said, following Elis' lead and not moving. "They did a half-assed search and then left, about half an hour ago."
Elis nodded, then shifted, sliding away from Shi. Shi let him go, anxiety churning to the surface again. The search party hadn't seemed particularly intent on finding them, but he had no doubt their faces were plastered across the ship. How in the world were they going to make it to the hangar without being caught when the ship was the busiest and most crowded it ever was?
Light poured into the cubby as Elis kicked the box blocking the end out of place. He slid out, and Shi followed, climbing awkwardly to his feet when he was free. Stretching out sore, cramped muscles, Shi glanced at Elis, frowning when he realized Elis had taken the tablet from him at some point. Shi usually noticed when Elis lifted things from him. He must really be distracted.
"Can you jam the door?" Elis asked, not looking up as his fingers flew over the tablet. "Ah-hah." Elis grinned, taking a few steps to his left. He looked down at the floor, then up at Shi. "Do you know how?"
"Yeah, sure," Shi said, leaving Elis to his inspection of the floor. He jogged across the cargo bay, his boots ringing on the metal tiles. The door was large, to accommodate the larger crates that were stored in the bay, so it wouldn't be easily blocked physically. He didn't know where the door mechanisms were in the frame, which left the most rudimentary means.
Prying off the top panel on the door control, Shi tossed it aside, studying the wires for a moment. The configuration was completely foreign to him, but he hadn't expected anything else. Drawing his stun gun, Shi wedged it in under the circuitry and fired a blast. Sparks flew from the control panel, and the doors shuddered in their tracks, shuddering open a few inches and then slamming shut.
Tucking the gun back into the waistband of his pants, Shi tried pressing the remnants of the control panel. The door didn't so much as twitch. Turning, he glanced at Ellis, but Elis was prying up floor panels. Leaving him to it, Shi started moving crates, creating a nice, thick barrier in front of the door in case someone got the bright idea to manually pull the doors open. That done, Shi returned to Elis' side, staring at the hole Elis had created in the floor.
"Our escape route, I assume?" Shi asked, watching as Elis shoved wires and thin, flexible piping out of the way. The space beneath the flooring was about two feet thick, and Elis had managed to find the perfect spot to pull up the floor tiles. There were support beams running alongside the opening, but not through it. There wasn't very much in the way of wires and piping in the way, and Shi could see light through the tiles lining the bottom of the space.
"That's the hangar, down there," Elis said, pointing. He flashed Shi a grin, looking inordinately pleased with himself. "We just have to knock the tiles out, jump in a ship, and go."
"Oh, only that?" Shi said, rolling his eyes. "How are we getting down? The hangar has to be very tall. Dropping from the ceiling to the floor will end with broken bones."
"I'm working on that," Elis said, glancing around the cargo bay thoughtfully. "What do you suppose is in those crates?"
"Drugs," Shi guessed, squinting at the nearest crate. It was completely unmarked, with not even customs seals or the planetary origins stamped on the box. Glancing back down into the hole Elis had made, Shi gestured to the piping. "What do you suppose runs through there?"
"Don't know," Elis said, leaning over to reach for the pipe. He pulled it out, the pipe coming with little resistance. It was clear, which meant either recycled water or coolant. Hopefully the former, since the latter would cause some rather nasty chemical burns. Elis studied it for a moment, then shrugged and picked up his flat metal bit. He set a curl of the pipe down on the floor, then dug a corner of the metal bit into the pipe.
It gave with some pressure, and liquid spilled out onto the floor. Shi edged closer, but the acrid smell of coolant was conspicuously missing. A water pipe, then.
"That'll work," Elis said, and they both jumped when something banged loudly on the cargo bay door. "Here, you work that apart, I'll see how much length I can get."
Shi nodded, dropping to his knees. He started twisting and turning the plastic piping, working the split in it bigger. His fingers kept slipping, the steady flow of water making the pipe slick and hard to maneuver. The steady pounding on the door continued, and Shi glared at the door when the pipe slid from his fingers once more.
Giving up on getting it apart with his fingers, Shi lifted the pipe to his mouth and bit it. The water in the pipe was definitely recycled, Shi noted, wrinkling his nose as the metallic taste of it washed through his mouth. The pipe came finally came apart, and Shi tossed the split pieces down, spitting out the nasty water.
"What?" Shi asked, crossing his arms at the amused look Elis was giving him. "It worked, didn't it?"
"I didn't say anything." Elis leaned over the hole to swiftly wrap the pipe around a support beam. He'd gotten a good length, and Shi swallowed, not sure he liked the idea of rappelling down into who knew what. "Get your gun out. Follow my lead."
Shi nodded, glancing at the cargo bay door as the noise suddenly increased. The door was open a fraction, and he could hear shouted commands now, though they made little sense through the barrier of crates. Elis was working on prying up the panels that made up the ceiling of the hangar, and Shi hoped no one looked up until it was too late.
Elis tossed the last panel behind him. It clattered loudly, and Shi barely registered the noise as Elis dropped the length of pipe down through the hole. The hangar below was brightly lit, but that was all Shi had time to notice as Elis threw himself down the pipe, his hands wrapped around it. Shi followed suit, realizing he was disregarding Elis' command to get his gun out, but in the next second he was glad for it. The pipe was slippery, and he needed both hands to slow his descent.
The pipe ended a good four feet above the ground, and Shi's hands slipped off it before he realized what was happening. He landed hard, falling to his knees. Elis was already moving though, and Shi pulled his stun gun, forcing himself to move despite the pain radiating up through his knees. He shot one man who tried to rush them, then sprinted after Elis, who was darting through the hangar like his ass was on fire.
Shouts and the sound of stun gun fire rang through the hangar, echoing through the enclosure and making everything seem much more chaotic. Shi took down another security goon, even as Elis dropped two more goons without a stun gun. Shi didn't have time to be envious of Elis' skills or to worry if Elis could keep it up, as another goon rushed towards him. A stunner blast grazed Shi's left arm, leaving it numb, and he grimaced, leveling his own stun gun at the man and firing off a blast. It hit the man square in the chest… but the man didn't drop and Shi cursed, throwing the gun at the man before he could recover.
The gun clipped the goon's shoulder, startling him and giving Shi enough time to close the distance between them. Shi gave the man a solid punch to the face, grimacing as his knuckles—already sore from hitting the security goon earlier—split under the new assault. The goon stumbled, tripped, and Shi shoved him, knocking him down. He grabbed the stun gun in the man's hand, wrestling it free after a moment and a knee to the man's stomach, and then stumbled free and shot the bastard before he could try to get up again.
"Shi!" Elis shouted, and Shi's head whipped around, towards the noise. Elis was standing on the loading ramp of a small ship, waving at him impatiently. He'd picked up his own stun gun somewhere, and he shot at a goon trying to be sneaky and shoot from behind a stack of crates. Shi added his own shot, darting across the open space and shaking his numb arm to try and force feeling into it.
"Hurry, hurry," Elis muttered, backing up the ramp and shooting off another few stunner blasts. Shi slammed the side of his hand down on the button that would raise the ramp, turning to fire another stun blast through the rapidly closing ramp.
The ramp closed, plunging them into sudden quiet, and Shi let his arm fall to his side, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. His arm was still numb, though he thought he could feel his fingertips starting to tingle.
"You all right?" Elis asked, moving swiftly to the control panel where Shi was standing. He punched a few buttons, then glanced up at Shi questioningly.
"Arm's numb," Shi said, making a face. "You?"
"Fine," Elis said, grinning as though this was the most fun he'd had in years. His cheeks were flushed and his hair was askew, and even though he was thinner than he should be, he was still Elis, and Shi wanted nothing more than to pull him close and kiss him senseless. Elis seemed to have the same thought, leaning closer—
Something chirped from the front of the ship, and Elis jerked away. Shi pushed away his disappointment—there were more important things to focus on at the moment. Elis jogged through the small cargo bay towards the stairs that led to the rest of the ship, and Shi made himself follow, keeping an eye out for anyone who might have taken refuge—or was lying in wait—on the ship itself.
It was a small ship, not a short range transport, but not much bigger. Most of the space on the ship would be dedicated to fuel reserves, and Shi hoped that, if they got out of Volkov's flagship, those reserves would take them somewhere other than the middle of space.
They encountered no one on their way to the bridge, and Elis immediately made himself at home, propping Shi's tablet up on top of the main navigation console. He leaned down, pulling free a panel below the console and fishing out some wires. Shi shook his head, wondering just how much training Elis had, that he could pull apart electronics and reprogram them and hook them into other systems without hesitating.
He was a member of Team Bakala, Shi reminded himself, taking up a position where he could see the door. His whole hand was tingling now, as though he'd slept on it wrong and it had fallen asleep, but times ten. Grimacing, Shi shook his arm, keeping his freshly acquired stun gun at the ready as Elis muttered to himself at the navigation console.
"Anything I can do?" Shi asked, at the risk of distracting Elis.
Not looking up, Elis pointed at a chair across the deck, situated in front of a small console. "Sit down. Strap in. Try to find the weapon systems."
Shi obediently headed that way, nearly tripping over himself when the engines suddenly roared to life. Elis was muttering under his breath, but he'd sat down and was taking the time to strap himself in, so Shi moved more quickly to his designated seat. He'd barely managed to sit down and struggle into the restraining harness before the ship gave a familiar lurch, shoving out of its docking clamps and into the air.
He did not want to be anyone in the hangar bay; the discharge from the ship's engines would be heating the hangar quickly. If they didn't immediately evacuate, they'd be charred to a crisp or killed whenever Elis got the hangar bay door open. Dismissing that thought, Shi focused on the console in front of him.
The console flared to life when he hit the button to unlock it. Shi rolled his eyes as the heading of the screen lit up: Weapons Offense Interface. The ship was moving, and Shi punched through the console, trying to figure out what the ship had for weapons and how to use them.
"Four missiles, a few scatter charges, and an EMP net," Shi listed off, hoping like hell that Elis had a plan for this part of their escape as well. Volkov wouldn't let them fly off without trying to stop or kill them. Probably the latter; Shi had no doubt Elis had likely become a larger problem than he was an asset, and Shi had never been an asset.
"Deploy one of the scatter charges," Elis said, not looking up from where his fingers were flying over his console. His hair glowed with the light from the screens in front of him, and he occasionally turned to the tablet to make a change there, as well.
"Now?" Shi asked, startled. "We'll get caught in the blast."
"No, we won't," Elis snapped. "Do it, Shi, now."
Shi hesitated for a second, then hit the series of keys he thought would deploy a scatter charge. They were nasty things, scatter charges. They started out as a bundle of small, stable bombs. Once deployed, the bundle broke apart using a small grav-pulse that scattered the bombs. The grav-pulse also destroyed whatever element that kept the bombs stable, causing the least disturbance to set them off.
"Done," Shi said, when the console flashed a confirmation that the scatter charge was deployed. He was going to kill Elis if they managed to get out of this alive.
Elis punched a button on the console in front of him, and Shi was forced flat back against his seat as the ship launched into motion, far faster than normal launch speeds. They didn't really care about keeping the hangar intact, Shi thought wryly, which was one of the main reasons launch speeds were typically slow. The ship jerked strangely as it moved, and Shi bet the scatter charges were discharging.
"Get the EMP ready for my mark," Elis said, slamming the only physical lever on his console up and forward. He ripped off the harness strapping him into place and slid out of his seat below the console. Shi frowned, turning back to his own console and wondering what Elis had planned now. The EMP on a ship this size wouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to really affect Volkov's flagship. They probably had deflection shields that would sneer at the EMP this ship could create.
Deciding he could ask later, Shi queued up the EMP, waiting for Elis' command. The ship was too small to have a nav screen to show Volkov's ship, and Shi glanced around the small bridge, wondering what Volkov was doing. Deploying ships to run them down? Gearing up weapons to simply obliterate them? The console in front of him told him nothing, and Shi scowled, twisting his chair to face Elis.
Elis was still under the console, rewiring it to do something, and Shi frowned, wishing for the umpteenth time that he had some idea of what Elis' plan to get them away was. Elis' shirt had ridden up slightly, showing a strip of pale skin and Shi turned away, focusing on his console and not how lovely a sight Elis made, sprawled out below the console and concentrating fiercely on his work.
"Now," Elis said loudly, and Shi hit the button. The ship rocked as the EMP discharged, Shi grabbed the arms of his seat, bracing himself until the ship settled.
"All right, and …" Elis said, speaking to himself. Shi swiveled his chair around again. Elis was on his feet, staring down at the console, frowning in concentration as readings swam across the left panel of the screen. He pressed a series of buttons on the right panel, then sat down, half on his own and half because of the lurch the ship gave as the engines kicked up and they surged forward.
Elis continued to stare at the console, engrossed in whatever it was telling him. Shi waited, trying to tamp down his nerves and impatience. Nothing happened—they weren't shot down, they didn't slow down, Elis continued to not say anything, and Shi fidgeted, not happy with the lack of information.
"What now?" Shi finally asked, his voice loud in the quiet of the bridge. Elis ignored him, tapping a few buttons on the panel in front of him. Shi scowled, crossing his arms and waiting.
"That should do it," Elis said, ten minutes later. He'd stared unblinkingly at the console the entire time, occasionally tapping keys and completely ignoring Shi.
"Should do what?" Shi asked, a little testily, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Elis kept talking and giving orders as though Shi was fully aware of his plan and not following orders solely because he trusted Elis to get them out of there.
Elis swiveled his chair, turning to face Shi. "Get us away, what else?"
"How?" Shi asked, unhooking the straps on the harness holding him into place. He shoved the harness out of his way irritably, leveling a flat look on Elis. "What did you do?"
Elis looked startled, then scowled at Shi, so familiar and annoyed that Shi's heart gave a twist. He'd almost lost Elis, almost lost the scowls and the way Elis never could sit still for more than a few minutes—
"Scatter charges disabled their hangar doors, for all three levels," Elis said brusquely. "EMP combined with nav trails for six directions confuses their radar and makes it impossible to tell which way we've gone. Volkov's flagship doesn't have the speed to catch up with us, so by the time they sort out which direction was actually us, we'll have enough of a lead to get to a safe planet before they can reach us."
"Okay," Shi said, digesting that. "Why didn't they try to kill all six decoys?"
"They won't kill me," Elis said, his forehead furrowing worriedly. "They don't dare."
Shi let that one go for the moment. He didn't really want to hear how Elis was protected, since he was pretty sure he wasn't going to like it. "Where are we going?"
"Planet called Kinfari," Elis said, shrugging. "Three days from here. They'll get us home."
Shi nodded. Kinfari was maybe two week's travel from Helinsar, where Shi and Elis both made their home. Shi thought briefly, longingly, of his small, compact apartment. Hopefully he still had an office as well—he wouldn't put it past one of the other detectives to take his prolonged absence as an invitation to move into his.
"What the hell were you thinking, Shi?" Elis demanded, pushing himself out of his chair. "Volkov is dangerous, and you don't have anywhere near the training to handle him! If I hadn't been there—"
"If you hadn't been there, I would never have agreed," Shi snapped, crossing his arms across his chest and wondering why he'd expected anything else from Elis. "They needed someone Volkov wouldn't know, and someone who knew you. I was the only option."
"They shouldn't have sent anyone at all!" Elis threw up his hands, like it was Shi's fault that his superiors were idiots. "Least of all you. You don't have any training for this type of mission. What would you have done if I hadn't had a plan to get us out? Volkov was suspicious of you, and what was your plan if you got caught? Did you have a way out?"
"No, I didn't," Shi said flatly, anger burning through him. "I wasn't supposed to be known, and I didn't do anything to draw suspicion."
"Except that you did," Elis pointed out, scowling. "You would have been killed—"
"I was supposed to let you rot, then?" Shi demanded, cutting him off. "I'm sorry I was worried about you!" Shoving out of his seat, Shi stormed from the bridge, ignoring when Elis tried to get his attention. He hesitated in the corridor outside the bridge, then picked a branch at random and headed down it.
Elis wasn't following him, and Shi squashed the hurt and disappointment that tried to rise up. He wasn't upset, he was angry. Elis was an idiot if he thought Shi had been unaware of the dangers. He was an even bigger idiot if he thought Shi should have said no, even if they technically weren't together anymore. Maybe Shi was an idiot. Elis was his ex, not his lover, and he wasn't supposed to put his life on the line for an ex, not when their last parting had been so angry.
Shi stopped as he reached the end of the corridor. It spilled into a small room that looked to serve as the galley for the ship. Shi's stomach growled audibly, reminding him that he hadn't finished his last meal. Elis should probably eat, too, even if Shi didn't particularly want to be in his presence at the moment. Crossing the small room, Shi popped open a cabinet and scowled at the contents. Dehydrated rations, which, in addition to being completely flavorless, would have a lovely sawdust texture.
Doing a quick inventory of the galley, Shi concluded they were going to hate eating until they reached Kinfari. Hopefully, he'd be able to get a meal that tasted like something there. Pulling out two of the metal bowls, Shi mixed the dehydrated powders with their rehydration packs. He collected three fortified juice bags and turned, planning to head back to the bridge.
Elis was standing in the galley doorway, his face expressionless as he watched Shi. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Shi crossed the small room and shoved one of the bowls at Elis.
"Eat." Not waiting to see if Elis followed that order, Shi returned to the other side of the room and picked up his own bowl. The rehydrated stew was no different than any rehydrated ration Shi had had, but he'd much rather eat than try to talk to Elis again. From past experience, that was almost as useful as beating his head against a wall. Usually, their fights ended after a few days of ignoring each other, when one of them broke the silence, and they carried on as though the fight had never happened.
Elis was eating, at least. He didn't seem put off by the rations, and he deftly caught one of the juice packs when Shi tossed it to him. Shi leaned back against the counter, debating whether to break the silence or whether to continue to ignore Elis. He wanted to keep ignoring Elis, but he also really wanted to know where they stood. There was too much going on to ignore everything and fall back into routine in a few days.
They'd reach Kinfari in a few days. If he ignored Elis for a few days this time, there was every chance they'd go their separate ways and Shi would never see Elis again. He didn't want that, but perhaps Elis did?
Shi set aside his empty bowl, cracking open the juice pack and taking a hearty swallow. It was pitifully flavored with barely a hit of sour-tasting apple. Shi drank it regardless, fidgeting with the transponder ring still on his finger as he tried to figure out how to ask Elis where they stood without kicking off another fight.
Glancing at Elis, Shi found him staring at the ring. His expression was resigned and weary, and Shi felt another flash of anger. Did Elis really think that Shi would find someone new—and commit to them fully—within a few months?
"Who do you know that they couldn't write you off? The operatives I met said that's what they should have done," Shi said, the question out of his mouth before he could think about it. It was petty, but he wasn't going to admit that he'd been hung up on Elis for the last few months if Elis had moved on.
Elis' mouth tightened and he looked away. He didn't want to say, which could mean anything. Lover, relative, ex-lover, friend … Shi was grasping at straws, trying to come up with an explanation that fit what he wanted to be true. He needed to let go of Elis, go home and move on with his life. He needed to let his N7 license lapse, so he wouldn't have to deal with Elis or the higher tiers of the military anymore.
"My father," Elis finally said, which made no sense. From what Shi knew about special ops, Elis would never have been trained for special ops—and especially not Team Bakala—if he had family that could be used against him.
"Your father," Shi repeated, not bothering to keep the skepticism from his voice. Elis was going to have to give him more than that if he wanted Shi to believe him.
"Yeah," Elis said, shrugging awkwardly. "I didn't know until about a year ago. My mother never talked about him, and I never cared enough about him to find him. Apparently," Elis' mouth twisted into an unhappy imitation of a smile, "he's been keeping an eye on me, and finally decided to meet me last year."
"Politician?" Shi guessed, because he could definitely see that sort pulling that crap.
"Senior Ambassador from Helinsar," Elis said, shrugging, as though it wasn't a big deal that his father was one of the most influential and powerful men on their planet. "He tried to get my special ops classification pulled, but the military refused. I guess something about millions of dollars of training made them balk, though I don't doubt they've reconsidered after this."
Shi nodded, then thumbed the ring down his finger. He tossed it at Elis, who caught it, frowning at it.
"We had that fight about the starshield case, and then you disappeared. I didn't hear from you for months," Shi said, not above a small amount of revenge for Elis trying to treat him like he was somehow unable to take care of himself because he didn't have Elis' training. "It's a transponder. I was supposed to find you, wait until we got close to a planet, and then activate it. I wasn't going to say no, Elis, even if I thought you'd walked away from me."
Elis stared at the ring, twisting it between his fingers for a moment. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not a fool," Shi said, ignoring the apology because he didn't know what to do with that. "I can handle myself well enough, but I went into this knowing there was a lot of risk. I thought it was worth it. You can disagree with that all you like, but I'm not sorry I agreed."
"I never meant to leave for months," Elis said quietly, running his hand through his overlong hair and mussing it further. "I was sent on what was supposed to be a short mission—two days, tops. It took a week, and on the way back, Volkov's men got the drop on me." Elis grimaced, and Shi wondered how, exactly, Volkov's men had managed that. Elis was too good at his job to go down easily.
"Blowing up and ignoring each other for a few days isn't going to work," Shi said, even though his heart was screaming at him. "I never know if you're going to come back, and that's not fair."
"I …" Elis started, looking distinctly uncomfortable, like he did whenever anything relating to commitment or relationships or feelings came up. He shifted, then shrugged. "If that's what you want, I can go my separate way when we reach Kinfari."
"That's not what I said," Shi snapped, scowling because Elis was trying to dodge around the real issue. "I said, you need to not walk away after a fight and ignore me. I said, you can't just pretend it doesn't happen when we fight."
"I'm not good at talking," Elis said, staring down at the ring he still held. "I never will be."
"We're talking now," Shi pointed out, rolling his eyes.
"And nothing's been resolved," Elis said, scowling. "I can't guarantee we won't fight in the future—"
"I'm not asking for that, either," Shi interrupted, shoving away from the counter and stalking across the galley. He stopped in front of Elis, jabbing his finger into Elis' chest. "I'm asking for you to not storm off after a fight and ignore me for days."
"Okay," Elis said, somewhat warily, like he expected there to be some other condition attached.
"Good," Shi said, dropping his hand.
"Just do me a favor?" Elis asked quietly, not meeting Shi's eyes. "Try to keep the cases where you're in danger to a minimum? I don't want to lose you."
"I think I've had my fill of dangerous," Shi said, unable to say 'no' or 'fuck you' when Elis used that tone. It was true, though; Shi would be happy with the mundane cheating spouses and theft cases from then on out.
"Good," Elis said, echoing Shi's affirmation from a moment before. He looked up, meeting Shi's eyes, and Shi wasn't sure which of them moved first, but Elis' lips were sliding against his, slow and almost hesitant. Shi wrapped an arm around Elis' neck, dragging him closer even as Elis settled his arms around Shi's waist. It was a comfortable, familiar embrace, and he shut his eyes, pouring months of longing and frustration into that kiss. Elis returned it full measure, and Shi didn't doubt he'd felt the exact same way the months they'd been apart.
"I'd say we should take this someplace more horizontal, but I'm afraid I'll fall asleep," Elis said, breaking the kiss and speaking breathlessly against Shi's lips. "I'm a little tired."
"A little?" Shi asked wryly, not relinquishing his hold on Elis. He didn't want to let go, even though he probably should. Elis needed to rest.
"Yeah, only a little," Elis said, and Shi could feel his lips twitch into a smile against his. Shi slowly, reluctantly let go, stepping back and out of Elis' arms. Elis let him, and he really did look as though he was three steps from falling asleep and never waking up.
"Go lay down. I can keep an eye on things," Shi said, unable to keep from smiling at Elis. "I'll be here when you wake up."
"It would be strange if you weren't," Elis said thoughtfully. He didn't move, and Shi shoved him towards the hallway. "Considering we're in the middle of the galaxy."
"So you should have no problem taking a nap," Shi said, following Elis down the corridor. Elis seemed to know where he was going, as he led the way towards the bridge. He took a side hallway, punching the button to open the door at the end of it. Inside was a rather spacious captain's deck, with a wide bed tucked into a cubby on the far side of the room.
"Stay with me until I fall asleep?" Elis requested, yawning as though to punctuate the question. Shi nodded agreeably; he doubted it would take long, and he didn't really want to let go of Elis yet. Elis grabbed his hand and pulled him across the room.
They settled into the bed, Elis tucked into the inside and Shi barely balancing on the outside—wide for a spaceship didn't mean wide enough for two, unfortunately. Luckily the ceiling of the bed cubby was tall, which would give them some extra room later, when Shi finally got the chance to do everything he'd been trying to not think about during the months he'd thought Elis had left him. Elis tucked himself close to Shi, resting his head on Shi's shoulder. His breathing evened out after a moment, but Shi didn't move, listening to Elis breath and soaking in the feeling of having Elis close again.