Tink gazed out at the Lyra, sparkling bright in the inky sky outside the station, showing few signs of their recent escapades. She hadn't let the Sisters touch her engines. She'd fixed the axial stabilizer herself, all the while apologizing to the Lyra.
She'd only allowed the Sisters to patch the outsides of both the ship and herself. Watching them the whole time. Tapping her long fingers on her leg, she waited for the rest of the crew to join her. She hadn't talked to them much since arriving, preferring to stay with her ship, overseeing the Sisters' mechanists work, while the others explored the station. She didn't know if they were still angry that she'd kept her status as owner of the Lyra a secret.
Gazing out at the ship, her back faced the Tiered Gardens of Elazir, one of the 1000 Wonders of the Universe. Right up there with the Sisters' station itself, with its ability to disappear from normal space, presumably into the slipstream, even though the next largest thing to navigate the stream was...well, the Leviathan.
But to Tink the marvel was that the Lyra was in one piece and looked almost new. She sighed, taken by a sudden wave of melancholy. At what point would the Lyra cease to be the ship she'd grown up on? Quit being the ship her uncle had given her a home on after her parents abandoned her? Stop being the ship he'd left her in his will?
Prodding her side with her fingers, she barely felt the bruising from being bashed around the engine room. The Sisters' healing prowess was legendary for a reason. And somehow it hadn't cost them a single chit. Her eyebrows tugged together. A flicker in the glass caught her eye. She turned to peer at the person who'd come to stand beside her. Ish.
"I..." they both said at the same time. Ish fell silent, looking out at the Lyra.
"I'm sorry," Tink said. "For not telling you about, you know, the ship being mine."
He shook his head, bringing his hand to her elbow. "It's okay. We'd only just met. I get why you kept it a secret." He turned to meet her gaze. "I would've treated you differently, and we wouldn't be the friends we are." Dropping his hand, clasping it behind his back, he returned to look out the window. Tink followed his lead. "And once you keep a secret, it's hard to unkeep. But now, I think we can still be friends, despite you being the boss."
Tink scoffed, glancing over her shoulder as she heard steps behind them. "I think we both know the captain is the boss of both of us."
"True." He tipped his head then turned away from the window, leaning against the buttress, arms crossed over his chest.
Tink turned to the others, smiling at Ben. She swore he'd grown taller in the few days they'd been with the Sisters, his head almost the height of her shoulder. Though he still had no hair.
"Are you sure you won't come with us?"
He nodded. "This is the best place for me to stay." He turned his big, sea-blue eyes on her. "For all of us." She wrapped him in a powerful hug, like the ones her uncle used to give when he was being very avuncular, which caused the cat in his arms to grumble. She pulled away and ruffled the fur on Grim's head. The cat stared daggers at her, but she didn't care. The smile on her face started to falter.
"You should keep him," she said, looking from the cat to Ben. "He's taken a shine to you. He can keep you company as you settle in."
Ben returned her smile, then the smile fell. He shook his head. "I can't protect him." His voice dropped lower. "I don't have the same powers here."
Tink inhaled sharply — it was the first time he'd acknowledged he was different somehow. "How will you protect yourself then?"
He straightened, standing even taller. "I can take care of myself. I escaped, didn't I?"
"No, you...." She realized she had no idea how he'd ended up in a crate on the Leviathan.
He sunk his face into the spot between the cat's ears then lifted his head, his smile back, more subdued. "No, a ship cat belongs on a ship." As if to punctuate his words, Grim jumped out of his arms and sauntered over to the door leading to the docks, where he proceeded to lift his leg and start cleaning himself. It seemed the Sisters had worked their magic on him too.
"Thanks." Tink turned back to Ben with a half-smile, half grimace. "If you need anything...."
"I'm not the one who will need help," the boy said. His gaze shifted over her shoulder and became unfocused as he peered out at space, his eyebrows twitching. "Be careful of the sea serpent. There's a kraken in the deep that will try to kill the lion."
Tink squinted and shifted from one foot to the other, then opened her mouth to speak, but Ben shook his head then looked at her again, a grin on his face. Hearing footsteps behind them, she turned.
Rebeka walked towards them, the Sister Prime at her side. The Sister wore no makeup, and her headdress dug into the skin at the side of her face. Despite her placid smile, the woman's sharp eyes flicked from Tink to Ish to Ben. She even examined the cat in a split second as she and the captain came to a stop.
"You're sure you're okay taking care of Severn Lynch?" Rebeka asked. "We can't pay you to tend to him." It was probably the tenth time Tink heard her ask the question in the few times she'd seen Rebeka on the station. But the Sister just smiled serenely behind her gauzy headscarf.
"We do have some capacity to care for those who cannot pay. It's our sworn duty, in fact." Her voice lilted through the humid, flower-scented air. The purveyors of culture thought the gardens beautiful. Tink found them cloying. The Sister's tone deepened as she continued, her head shaking softly. "And we have much experience caring for those whose minds are broken. And his is a very broken mind." Her gaze slid to Ben.
"And the boy..." the captain paused. "After our next contract, we can give you some money for his keep. And the repairs too."
A tinkling laugh that grated on Tink emanated from behind the fabric swathing the Sister's mouth. "Nonsense. Part of our mission is to care for orphans as well. And as for the ship, it's not every day we see a ship with a CASS-ANDRA AI. Besides, we're happy to help friends of Kandira." The woman's gaze slid to said friend, and though she couldn't be sure, Tink thought the Lyra's medic-security officer flinched slightly. The Sister reached out her hand, palm up.
"Thank you." Rebeka nodded sharply, placing her own hand on the outstretched one. "If there's anything —"
"We should probably be going soon." Alek muscled between the Sister and the captain with his shoulder bag. "We do really appreciate the hospitality, but if there's one thing my mother taught me, it's to leave as a happy memory rather than as a rotten guest."
The Sister's eyes shifted to Alek's face, focusing sharply. "Your mother taught you well, Alek Wa," she said, the serene smile back on her lips. Then she slowly turned her body to Kandi. "Kandira, I hope you had a good visit." Kandi nodded, shuffling from one foot to the other as she looked down at her shoes. The Sister placed one hand on Kandi's head. "I'm sure it heartened him to see you."
Kandi lifted her head to look the woman in the eyes. "Yes." She nodded sharply. "I was surprised to find you elevated to Prime."
The Sister shrugged, though Tink noted a tightening at the corners of her smile. "I live to serve. And I do my duty." An eyebrow quirked, almost as if she hadn't meant it to, and she held her other hand out to Kandi in the small space between them. Tink caught sight of a cylinder in the palm. "Be well," the woman said, her voice low.
"I will." Kandi snatched the object from the Sister and slid her hand into her jacket pocket.
The Sister Prime returned her attention to Rebeka. Flicking her hand, the door behind them slid open. "Fare well amongst the stars." She bowed her head slightly and took a sliding step back. "Go through the jump gate. It will take you past your hunters."
The question of what jump gate formed on Tink's lips as she turned to the door. But it died and withered in her dry mouth, a trill of fear rippling through her veins, as she watched a patch of dark space beyond the window shimmer into a circle of blue waves.