PANDORA

Chapter 8

Music drifted out from R&D as the door slid open. I tilted my head to listen; the guitar had a sound unlike today's synths, so I thought it might be Ancient Earth music.

R&D was a singular room split up into six stations, with the largest one taking up a fair bit of space against the right-hand wall. There was also all kinds of machinery I didn't recognize, aside from the 3D printer. Most of the work stations had two people at them, working in what seemed like relative harmony; a bit of chatter here, a little teasing there. Only the biggest work station was occupied by a single individual, and since it looked vaguely like the wreckage of a fire bombing, I figured the man there had to be Diver.

He had his back to me, fiddling with something on the table and swaying his hips to the music-which, I noticed, came from a podcaster at his station. I approached quietly, fascinated by the way the light glinted bronze in his shaggy, fawn-colored curls. And by the fact that he sang along to the music and even occasionally paused in his work for a little bit of air guitar, without any hint of self-consciousness whatsoever.

"Um, hello?" I called. "Mr. Diver?"

He swung around, still singing-and gazed at me in surprise. I gazed back, unable to hold back my horror.

This man was beautiful; the kind of beautiful you expected out of models or holo stars. His high cheekbones and strong jaw-covered with a day or two's worth of red-gold scruff-balanced out his long aquiline nose, a nose that would look awkward on many other people. His red-gold eyelashes were long and thick enough to be noticeable, especially against his startlingly green eyes. The gold and red tones in his brown skin combined with those soft, fawn-colored curls to create the impression of some sort of antlered nature god. Oh yes, he was beautiful-and I had learned all too well what kind of cruelty such beauty could hide.

Xan, you're staring! But oddly, he was staring back, his gaze for some reason drawn to my face. Then he gave his head a shake, snapping himself out of it, and flashed a sweet, boyish grin.

"Hey there. You the newbie?"

"Um, yes. Xandri. Xandri Corelel."

"Xandri, huh? Cute name."

I was pretty sure you could cook eggs on my cheeks, with how hot they were. "Uh...are you Mr. Diver? Captain Chui told me to find you."

"Just Diver, please." He grabbed a rag from the crowded work table and started wiping his hands. "I hate being called Mister. Now, if I got this straight, we gotta hook you up with some kind of communication. You got a HUD?"

I shook my head, then braced myself, expecting him to pry. He didn't. Instead, he moved around me, to a second table, and cleared a spot on it with a sweep of his arm.

"All right, hop on up," he said.

Before I could even try to figure out how to get on the tabletop-which came up to somewhere around my stomach in height-Diver hooked a booted foot around the rungs of a step-stool and dragged it out from underneath the table. Huh. Most people wouldn't even realize it might be difficult for me... The week of three meals a day and nutrient-bars was starting to help, but I was still dealing with severe malnutrition. Even with the stool, getting onto the tabletop was a bit of a struggle.

"Lotta people think I'm weird, 'cause I like messing with old tech," Diver told me, as he rummaged through an open toolbox. "But I think it's got its uses and lo, here you are. I got something I been working on that oughtta suit you real nice. You mind if I take a measurement of your dominant wrist?"

"Oh, um..." I studied the tool he held up, a white object with a handle, complete with display screen, and a broad, circular cuff on one end. "Okay."

"It'll get a little warm, but it shouldn't hurt. It bothers you, just let me know."

I nodded and held out my hand tentatively. Diver placed his palm under mine for support, his skin warm and slightly rough with callouses. Surprise jolted through me, and warmth spread up my arm-and through my cheeks-as I realized I found his touch...nice. Pleasant. More than pleasant, even. It wasn't that I necessarily hated touching anyone. Some people, like Captain Chui, I didn't mind. But this was different. Something about his touch made me want to lean into him, made me wonder what it would be like if he stroked my hair.

Fortunately, he was too busy getting the cuff around my wrist and then studying the measurements it took to notice how red my face was getting. I took deep breaths and started running through a lineup of starship stats to push the other thoughts away.

"All right," Diver said, as he removed the measuring tool. "My guess is we might have to tweak the sizing, once Captain Chui puts some meat back on your bones, but for now, this'll do."

"Um...for what?"

"You ever heard of a wristlet?"

"Like, in old holos and stuff. That was before HUD technology was perfected to suit everyone." Well, almost everyone.

"Yep." Diver pulled a small chip from the measuring tool, dropped the tool back into the box, and inserted the chip into a large holo-slate taking up part of the surface of one table. "Not sure why they went outta fashion, gotta say. I got a HUD, but I keep it set low, 'cause otherwise it annoys the fuck outta me. And I need that."

He winked and to my utter shock, I giggled. I never laughed at sexual innuendo but...he didn't seem very serious. More like he was just talking the way he would to anyone. I didn't quite know why I was so certain of that; some instinct, I guess. Normally I didn't trust my instincts much in social situations-especially with other humans-but this one was insistent. It was just something about him. The way he smiled, perhaps, which was, impossible though it seemed, a bit dorky and sexy both at once.

"Aha! She does laugh!"

I stared down at my knees. "Sometimes."

"Good. We're a bit of a kooky bunch, aboard the good ship Carpathia. You'll need your funny bone. Now, here."

He held up something that looked kind of like a bracelet, eight to ten centimeters in length, made of gleaming whitish metal. Switches, buttons, and a small view screen covered the raised and lowered surface; it reminded me a bit of some sort of space station from a really old Ancient Earth vid. Diver held it up to the holo of my wrist and made a few quick adjustments, then turned to me.

"Want some help the first time? You'll get used to it quick, but I can show you the best way, if you like."

"Uh...yeah. Please."

I wouldn't lie to myself-though I'd lie like hell if anyone asked: I wanted him to touch me again. Curiosity sharpened her claws on my insides like a mischievous kitten. I had to know if what I had felt was real or some, I don't know, weird synapse misfire caused by all the recent changes in my life.

"You want the lower edges, like this."

Diver held the wristlet up so I could see. His hand wrapped around it, his fingertips near the far edges. When he held out his other hand to me, I reached for him in turn-and almost jolted off the table at the sweet warmth that spread through me as our skin met. Either Diver didn't notice, or was too kind to say anything. He pressed down and the wristlet closed around my forearm with a faint click.

"And there we go."

I poked at it gingerly. "I've heard you're a bit of a mad genius. It's not gonna like...do weird stuff, is it?"

"Do you want it to?"

"Ha, ha. Tell me what it does, smartass."

For a horrified moment, I thought he'd get angry at me. I hadn't meant to let those words slip out. But Diver just chuckled.

"Right now, nothing too fancy. Haven't even worked in voice commands, but we'll do that, especially since it won't hook in neurally. It will communicate with your translator-implant, which will give you all the stuff you'd get with an implant and a HUD. It can output a fair bit of holo, and has good memory storage-we can up that later if need, too. And I made sure you got the files on there that you need for this mission. Wanna see?"

"Please. So uh...Captain Chui mentioned something about you using drones to gather intelligence on this new species."

"Trying, anyway," Diver grumbled, as he flicked a few settings on my new wristlet. "Damn creatures are clever. I've gotten some, but they find my drones so damn easy."

"I wonder if...No. That's foolish."

All of a sudden a holo-screen sprang to life, projected from my wristlet. I stared at it, first startled, then pleased. Energy buzzed as I touched my fingertips to the holo. It dipped slightly under my touch when I pushed. Slowly, I spread my fingers and used them to divide the screen into two smaller screens.

"Hey, don't knock foolish ideas. Everyone said this was one," Diver said, tapping on the wristlet.

"Well, but this...it doesn't make much sense."

"Out with it, newbie. Or else."

Diver unhooked an omni-tool from his belt and poked it at me mock-threateningly, his expression so over-the-top "evil" that I laughed again.

"Okay, okay. Put that down before you accidentally...fix something, I don't know." I sighed and slouched a little. How did he get me to let my guard down like this? "The thing is, Ancient Earth birds-and some of Ornithomorphs we've found elsewhere-their vision is pretty specific. They see quite well, and especially tend to see more colors than, say, humans. But they have little to no depth perception.

"It's why creatures like rabbits and other small mammals use the strategy of freezing. They go really still, and to the eyes of, say, an owl, they've basically vanished into thin air. Maybe...maybe these sapients are the same. So if you make sure the drones are camouflaged and still..."

"They might not detect them." Diver grinned. "Hey, it's worth a shot. Got any other 'foolish' ideas in there?"

"Well..."

I watched Diver hit more buttons in sequence, and soon I had a choice of files on the holo-display. I chose an image of one of the new sapients, creatures I couldn't help but think of as Psittacans due to their parrot-like appearance. I'd seen the videos of them snatching Diver's drones, though they never got in front of the cameras. Silly games. I smiled a little, remembering some of the games Cake and Marbles played.

"Come on," Diver coaxed. "I've tried everything. Even got the lenses swiveling, but they still keep outta the way of them. Damn creatures won't stop playing with me."

"Then play with them back."

He drew back a bit, brows furrowed in thought.

"They're clever, like you said, and clearly playful. So play with them. Get them to chase your drones. Get as many of them involved as possible, so you can sneak some drones into their village and hide them without being caught." I used a similar method of distraction when I needed to, say, extract a too-old toy from Marbles or Cake. "They're people, not subjects, so start thinking of them that way."

Diver grinned. "You know, I think I get why Captain Chui went so outta her way to get her hands on you."

I had no idea what to say to that.

"All right, you're set for the moment. Come see me in the morning, so I can double-check I got this right. And I'll send you any new stuff I get, yeah?"

"O-okay."

I made to slide down off the table, but my feet missed the step-stool. Quick as could be, before I fell and hurt myself, Diver caught me around the waist, swung me away from the table, and set me down on my feet. His movements were so fluid, so graceful, he almost seemed to be dancing. I was turning redder than I'd ever felt possible. I could swear I felt the blush rushing down towards my toes.

"Th-thanks for everything," I stammered. "I should, um...let you get back-back to work. Thanks."

I backed up and almost tripped over my own feet. A look of what I thought was concern flickered across Diver's face. He didn't try to stop me, though, and when he noticed the other workers in R&D staring at me, he flung a wrench at the nearest one, drawing their attention to him. I made my escape, heart pounding and braining whizzing.

Don't get too excited, sneered the nastiest voice from the back of my mind. If he knew the truth about you, he wouldn't be so nice. I wrapped my arms around myself and started heading back towards my room. It was probably true. But no one needed to know any of it; Captain Chui had promised to keep my secrets. They would know about the autism by now, but none of the rest of it. Better not let him get under my skin like that again, or I might say something I'll regret.

I didn't take the grav-tubes yet; I figured it was better to wait until I was a bit stronger. Which meant that as I was walking back to my room, I noticed a rumbling sound coming from another corridor of the ship. It grew in intensity quickly; soon I recognized it for booted footsteps. And then they turned the corner, a huge crowd of what I guess were soldiers-some were in casual fatigues, others in civvie wear, but they all wore those big, stompy boots and walked like they meant business.

I hurriedly pinned myself against the wall, but of course they noticed me.

"Hey, you the newbie?"

"Of course she's the newbie. Ain't seen her around before, eh?"

A chorus of greeting followed. I pressed harder against the wall as the huge crowd neared, wishing I had some sort of camouflage. All these years of genetic engineering and no one had thought that chromatophores might be useful? Ugh.

"Come on, newbie, it's time for some grub."

"Follow us."

"Man, she's tiny and cute. Don't let Jensen see her, he'll get ideas."

"This way, newbie. Cafeteria is this way."

I remembered, then, an animated movie I'd seen when I was little, and a scene with a lion cub staring down a herd of stampeding wildebeests; suddenly I knew how the little guy had felt. I held as still as I could as the crowd, big enough to fill the corridor, squeezed their way past me. I will not cry, I will not scream, I will just wait for them to pass and everything will be fine. But it was so loud and stifling in the midst of them that I thought I might lose control and scream anyway.

Finally they were pulling away. A few of them called to me as they turned the corner, but no one tried to drag me away or anything. Then they were gone, along with the echo of their stompy boots. I leaned by head back against the wall, finally remembering to breathe.

"Carpathia?"

"Yes, Xandri?"

"I'm allowed to eat in my room, right?"