38: Tink

They were slipping again. Tink's stomach always knew when they were in the slipstream, despite Ish's admonishments that she was being ridiculous and there was no such thing as slip sickness. But Ish was happiest in the stream.

Before they'd met, he'd been on the cusp of being forced into a life as a military leader. Until his formidable mother helped him escape those plans. It was a near thing though, despite the Hatari Convention, which mandated that every Dominion planet allow any adult of age to leave their home world. Together, Ish and his mother had stood up to his austere grandfather and domineering father, and the uneasy alliance they'd formed in order to set Ish's future, to see a somber and severe Ish replace his grandfather as head of their House.

Tink shook her head; she couldn't imagine that Ish. He would've been shut away from space and the stream. Forced to fight and politic instead of laugh and create. Unable to play music because it led to dancing, and dancing led to fornication. Dissuaded from loving anyone — male or female — unless it was deemed an advantageous match. Tink was grateful to Ish's mother, and thanked the Spinner she'd found him — an unlicensed navigator — looking for work on Ikari station. But she wished he wasn't so keen to take them into the slipstream, which he was eager to do even though it drained him. She liked things that were solid and followed the laws of foundational physics. Not this fluidic, cosmic hocus pocus.

Glaring at the spiced protein chunk wrap she'd taken from the kitchen back when they were in regular space, she counted the seconds, sure they had to surface soon. Her stomach rumbled while it heaved. It was used to space rations: protein chunks, green bars and rehydrated algal goo smoothies. Not the delicious creations Alek somehow concocted with the same ingredients and a dash of seasoning. Tink frowned, tearing her gaze away from the plate.

"No getting used to this food." She patted her abdomen. "He's not long for this ship." Her stomach fluttered, and she frowned, not sure it was entirely due to hunger. Regardless of his toothy smile and culinary skills, she was still determined to see the obnoxious pilot off at the next port, whatever the captain said.

A chirrup sounded in response to her voice, followed by a low caterwauling. Tink sighed and, grabbing a torch, shimmied under the impulse flux conduit, careful to keep away from the hot metal pipes to her left.

"Grim, where have you gotten yourself into now?" The cat chirred. "Always getting stuck and then refusing a helping hand unless it has food in it," Tink grumbled as she wiggled forward until the light caught two green eyes. She scritched her fingers along the floor, trying to coax the cat out. He just scooted further back. Then Tink's stomach lurched before settling down...they'd finally come out of the stream. One problem solved, but she still needed to figure out how to get a cat out of her engine.

Tink grimaced then crawled back out. Grabbing the wrap, she took a big bite despite her still unsettled stomach, then pulled out a protein chunk. Sliding back under the conduit, careful not to get too close to the searing metal, she offered the piece to the cat. He crept forward, his whiskers twitching as he sniffed the morsel. He started to back away, turning his nose up at her offering.

"Come on," Tink said with a huff. "You were a starving stray until I took you in." She was about to call him names when he streaked past her, leaving her alone under the engine.

"What's got —" The ship shuddered, throwing Tink further forward. She cursed as she hit one of the hot pipes. Luckily it was her back, covered by her jumpsuit. "What in Zeus' bollocks? Cass, what just happened?" she asked as she shimmied back out of the small space.

"The ship has come to a stop."

"Um, thanks." She dusted off the front of her jumpsuit. "Why? Is there something wrong with the engine?" Tink asked the question out of habit; she knew from its purr that the engine wasn't the problem, but the thought of sabotage made her queasy.

"No, the engine is running a-okay."

"A-okay? Are you okay, Cass?" Tink scowled but didn't wait for an answer. "The algal generator?" Though that didn't make sense. The ship wouldn't stop suddenly just because the fuel system was acting up; there were reserves in place.

"No. Ish stopped the ship."

"Ish? Where's Alek?" Tink ran down the corridor, intending to give him a piece of her mind. "Abandoning his post." Taking the stairs two at a time, she muttered to herself, not expecting an answer. "Why the hell would Ish stop the ship?"

"There's another ship off our starboard," Cass responded, not getting the concept of a rhetorical question.

Tink stopped short. "A ship? The same one that's been following us? How did it track us?" Ish had told her it was near impossible to track another ship through the slipstream. At least not without a set of tracers. Near impossible, not totally.

"This is a different ship."

She started running towards the bridge again. "Captain, what's our status?" Rebeka didn't answer. Tink stumbled onto the bridge, stopping at the face that filled the viewscreen. It wasn't one she recognized but, judging by the captain's expression, she did. A woman with sharp cheekbones and long black hair stared at Rebeka with eyes that glinted like obsidian. Dark liner framed her eyes. Her lips pulled into a sharp frown, were a shocking red.

"What do you want, Gothe?" Rebeka asked, and Tink's mouth dropped open as she flicked her gaze back to the woman onscreen. She might not recognize the face but the name was infamous. Legate Marpo Gothe, rebel leader. Not some piddly regional commander either but the high muckety-muck, the big kahuna. The general at the head of the Hudsonite Brigade, the most successful, most feared rebel faction. Tink had to be honest: the Legate wasn't what she'd expected. Even from the cropped image of the woman on the viewscreen, Tink could tell she was reedy under her black uniform, and she seemed too young to have risen so high. She'd always assumed Gothe was 70 years old and built like a tank.

"You have something I want." Her black eyes were hard as stone, and Tink was left with little hope of them getting out of this without giving her something.

"We've been over this," Rebeka replied, pulling her shoulders back as she took a step forward, placing her hands on the rail between the captain's chair and the cockpit. "I have nothing to give you."

Gothe's lips formed into a vague smile, half sneer, as an eyebrow raised. "I think we both know that's not true. But I'm not here for you...this time." She looked down at her hands, nails painted a red that matched her lips. "You picked up something that belongs to me."

Tink leaned as casually as she could on the railing beside the captain. "You don't know what you're talking about. There was nothing but a worthless plant." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wished she'd stayed silent as both the woman's cold eyes and the captain's turned to her.

After a few long seconds of glaring at her, Rebeka turned back at the viewscreen. "As she says, I don't know what you're talking about."

Tink stood up straight as she felt a presence behind her, and the woman's eyes shifted to look over her shoulder. She followed the direction of her gaze. Alek had stepped onto the bridge, followed by Severn.

Returning to peer at Rebeka, the woman's eyes narrowed. "You're sure you have nothing for me?"

"Sure." The captain made the single word hard and crisp.

"Clearly, I've been misinformed."

The screen blinked out, and Tink collapsed into the captain's chair.

"That was easy," she said, her gaze shifting between Rebeka's tense back, Alek's tight jaw and Severn's narrowed eyes.

"Too..." Alek and Rebeka both started.

"...easy," the captain finished, and exhaled sharply before turning to peer at Tink. "Get out of my chair."

Back in her engine room, with her stomach rumbling so loud that Grim danced away from her, Tink finally chowed down on the wrap she'd abandoned in her sprint to the bridge. It was cold but still delicious — not a bad choice for a last meal. As she chewed, the cat stalked off down the corridor, soft and low: he was hunting something. At least he wouldn't get stuck somewhere in her engine this time.

She turned back to examine her latest project: a goo bomb using inedible leftovers from the algal generator that would coat their opponents in slime, clogging air holes and blurring visors. As long as she could contain the blast radius.

"'The smoke will blind us, Tink'." She paused, appreciating her impression of the captain. Putting the wrap on the plate, she flipped her goggles over her eyes and rifled through the tools on her desk for her plasma scalpel. Her hands didn't find it in its usual spot amongst the bits and bobs. She twisted her lips — the mess had morphed into downright chaos. Instead of cleaning, she reached for her laser gun. She was just leaning in to solder the first join when she heard light footsteps behind her.

"What do you want, Ben?" she asked without turning around. When there was only silence in response, she lifted her goggles up and turned to him. The boy stood in the doorway, a slight frown on his face, his eyes wide as always, as if they were sucking up the world. Tink sighed to see the cat clutched in his arms, purring away and rubbing his head against Ben's jaw.

"Come on in." Tink jerked her chin in invitation.

He hesitated a few seconds then stepped over the threshold. When he gently put the cat down, Grim didn't dart off into the maze of the engine room, instead twining through Ben's ankles as the boy took a few careful steps over to the bench. "I can help?"

Tink couldn't decide whether it was a question or a statement, but she answered anyway. "No, you shouldn't help with this." She turned back to her work. "Kids shouldn't make weapons."

"S'not a weapon," he said, the words muffled. "Self-defense."

She glanced at him, curious. Her mouth dropped open. "Are you eating my lunch?"

Biting his lip, Ben looked from her to the remains of the wrap in his hands, then his gaze darted back to her. His lips twisted into a grimace, and his eyes started to glisten.

Tink's stomach went gooey. "It's alright. You're a growing boy." She turned to the workbench. "I was done anyway," she said, despite the quiet rumble in her tummy. She nodded towards the tool chest. "There's some more candy in the bottom drawer. Why don't you bring it over, and we can share?"

Ben did as she suggested, then came back to sit on the floor at her feet. He was quiet, not pressing her to help work on the slime bomb. She glanced at him, thinking it weird that a kid who woke up screaming was so quiet. Her mouth opened again when she realized that he was using her snake scope to play with Grim, flicking it around for the cat to pounce on. It was a delicate instrument of her own making. She breathed in sharply but was distracted from saying anything by a shadow appearing in the doorway.

"Severn." The computer tech's smile grew when he looked at her, his dimples deepening. Tink's stomach felt like she'd swallowed one of those flittering bugs Grim was always catching then letting go so he could catch them again. She returned his smile as the memory of his lips on her neck flickered through her body.

"Tink, am I glad to see you." He stepped into the room, the smile wavering as he noticed Ben and Grim. Slowly, his eyes came back to her, and he jerked his chin, a silent request that she come over there.

Tink's eyebrows quirked in question, but she put her tool down and went to join him by the door.

"Do you think he should really be in here?" Severn said, his voice low. "You know, given what he can do? It's unnatural."

Tink glanced at the boy. If Ben heard him, the boy gave no indication. "I...."

"And I don't think he's telling us everything he knows." Severn peered at the kid. "He might be dangerous...to the engine."

Tink frowned. It didn't feel right to listen without defending the boy, but she also couldn't really disagree. Instead of saying anything on that point, she changed the subject. "What did you need me for?"

Severn glanced up and lowered his voice even further. "I think someone has messed with Cass."

"What?" Tink said; at a normal volume again, it sounded too loud. Severn grabbed her shoulders, as if the weight of his hands would make her voice quieter.

"I found evidence of encrypted messages without a signature. Who else could do that except the ship itself?" He glanced at the boy. "I can unencrypt the content but..." His eyes slid sideways again. "I need to crack her core. And that needs two people to press two buttons."

Tink's head was shaking before he even finished speaking. "No, no. That's a bad idea."

"You know Cass has been having problems." His volume rose, before he dropped it again, glancing up, as if the AI lived above their heads rather than throughout the ship.

Tink's stomach growled, and she used that as an opportunity to put him off. She tipped her head towards Ben. "Kid ate my lunch. I can't think on an empty stomach." Raising her voice, she continued. "Hey, if you're still hungry, I'm going to get some more to eat."

Ben smiled at her and scooped up the cat. His hold on Grim lasted until he got to the door, then the cat took off down the hall, followed more slowly by a subdued Ben and a silent Severn. Tink made sure to slide the engine room door closed, though the cat could find a way in if he wanted to.

The common room was empty except for the three of them. Tink stuck her head in the fridge to see if there was anything left of the lunch Alek had made. With a sigh, she accepted that no matter how long she stood there, it wouldn't magically appear. She popped her head up.

"Chocobug bar?"

Severn grimaced but Ben nodded, his nose pressed against the window overlooking the cargo bay. Tink pulled out a couple of bars and went to stand beside him, handing him one. He tore it open and started munching without removing his head from the glass.

"Whatchalookingat?" she asked through the mastication of her own bug bar. The boy poked the window with a pale finger. She looked in the direction he indicated. Grim walked along the railing at the top of the staircase.

"Seriously, Cat? You're going to break your neck."

Tink jumped sideways, her mouth full of chalky bug meal, at the sound of Alek's voice. She scowled at him, but he was focused on the view through the window as he chewed his own bug bar with gusto.

"You should not be so silent," she said, looking askance at the muscle-bound man, disconcerted she hadn't heard him enter the room.

His shoulder lifted, but whether he was shrugging or working out a kink, she couldn't tell. "What's that?" he said.

Tink followed his gaze to a point beyond the cat. She squinted, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. The bite in her mouth turned chalky, and she swallowed hard, trying to force it down despite the lump in her throat. "Fire!" She coughed the word out, sending flakes of bug bar against the window. She didn't know what fed it, but it had gone from spark to conflagration in a matter of seconds. "Cass! Fire in the cargo bay."

"Locking down the cargo bay. Suppression in 10 seconds."

As Tink flung herself down the corridor to the door leading into the cargo bay, she counted out the seconds. She arrived at the closed door with a second to go. A tick later, nothing happened. "Cass?" she queried as Ben and Alek stepped up beside her, pressing their faces to the window set into the door.

"Suppressors are non-functional." Cass' voice was calm, as always.

"I told you she was having problems," Severn said with a calmness that unnerved her. He leaned against the wall behind her. She scowled at him before turning back to the door. The fire continued to grow.

She slammed her palm against the door as she blinked away the stinging in her eyes. "Cass, vent the cargo bay."

"There's a lifeform in the cargo bay," the AI said, and tears formed in Tink's eyes as she spotted Grim. The cat was climbing the boxes of algal nutrients Tink hadn't gotten around to stowing yet, as he tried to get away from the flames licking through the air. A tear tracked down her cheek.

She felt a hand on her right shoulder. She looked into Alek's eyes, which also glistened in the dim corridor.

"A fire on a ship can't be allowed to burn," he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Cass, vent the cargo bay."

"NO!" The boy's voice seared through the air, the force of it causing Tink to stagger back into Alek and throwing both of them off balance. She landed on top of him as he fell to the floor, then she watched, stunned and unable to move, as Ben placed his hands on the door.

"It's locked," she said, but her voice was drowned out by a sudden roar as the door opened. Ben lunged through before anyone could stop him.

Severn lunged forward, his eyes wide, reaching out his hand. He pulled his arm back just in time to save it from being broken by the door slamming shut again. He stepped up to the door, banging a fist on the glass. "Come back here, you little...."

Standing, Tink went up on tiptoes beside him, craning her neck to get a view of Ben. He stared at them with big eyes and shook his head.

Grabbing the cat, he tucked Grim into his pyjama top, holding him tightly with one hand. When he reached his other hand towards the wall a few feet away, the cover on a switch shattered. Tink knew what it was, and apparently so did he: emergency atmosphere evac. Any hauler worth its snot had one, meant to be used by someone in an atmo suit with grav boots on. She pounded the door with her hand. Whatever he was, he was still a living, breathing person.

Bracing his feet wide, he met her eyes again, then punched his hand towards the distant wall. Tink watched in horror as the button moved without him touching it. Wind whipped at his clothes, but somehow he managed to hold himself in place, like a tree rooted into the cargo hold floor. After a few seconds, he closed his eyes and wrapped his other hand around the cat.

"Cass! Stop the depressurization."

"Manual override in effect. Atmosphere evac complete in 10 seconds."

Tink slammed her hand into the door again. "Bleeding Hades, Cass."

"How long can he survive in there?" Severn asked, horror dripping from his words.

"No idea." Tink turned and slumped against the door, head in her hands, unable to watch it anymore. "If he were a normal boy, he'd be dead already."

"Evac complete. Repressurization commencing."

"How long, Cass?" she asked without looking up.

"30 seconds to safe atmosphere levels."

"Too long." Tink shook her head in her hands.

"We don't know that," Alek said, his voice drifting down from over her head. She felt gentle fingers graze over her hair before pulling away.

"It's just a damn cat," she said, the words hoarse as they tore from her throat. Though, if she were honest, her stomach ached at the thought of Grim being consumed by flame or jettisoned into space.

"Kandi?" Alek said as Tink lifted her head, wiping away her tears.

"Already here. What in Poseidon's barnacles happened?"

"Fire," Severn said, giving her room. Tink shifted, coming to standing.

"Cass, open the door," Kandi said.

"10 seconds to safe atmosphere levels."

"Safe enough. Open the door. Override code nine-one-one-whiskey-tango-foxtrot."

The door slid open. Ben stood on the other side, shivering. Freeze-dried blood tracked from his nose over blue lips, and his teeth chattered. Otherwise, he appeared unharmed. Then Tink noticed streaks of blood across his pyjamas.

Grim's claws, she realized, her eyes watering again as there was no sign of movement from the bundle the boy clutched.

Carefully, Ben extracted a limp cat from underneath his top and handed him to Kandi. "Fix him?"

Kandi nodded, her expression grave. "No promises, but I'll try."

Tink sniffled and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her jumpsuit. Grabbing Ben's shoulders, she shook him then drew him tight to her. "What were you thinking? Risking your life for a cat."

He pulled away from her. "It's not Grim's fault someone started a fire."