Empire's Legacy

Chapter 3: Little Girls and Their Toys

Amy had travelled extensively across Commissionate space since she was old enough for prolonged time offdirt, but now, standing on the viewing deck, she was barely able to contain her excitement. Her love of Empire ships was just about the one thing she knew to be true about herself, despite years of being other people. She loved the anticipation of discovery. The fact that her current iteration of herself got to express her love openly was a bonus.

Grey glanced sideways at her and hid a smile. "You're bouncing."

Amy realized she was on her toes and dropped back to the deck. "I love the anticipation. You have no idea."

"I'm getting it in waves, actually. You're a pretty good transmitter."

"Oh, shut up." She stared at the covered window in front of her. "How much longer?"

Benji, who had just walked into the room, stopped short. "Seriously?" he said. "I thought I was the kid in the family. That's my line." He held up a laser spanner and tossed it to Grey. "Taz says the cover for the window in here hasn't been working for a month. Sends his regards but can't spare the time to fix it if you want the connector chute to be operational, so he recommends you try that."

Grey looked at the spanner in his hand and raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

Benji shrugged. "Don't look at me. I'm the salvage and cargo guy. Also, he says if you break it you owe him two since you still haven't replaced the last one."

"Please don't tell me that your ship breaking down is going to make me miss my first glimpse of my ship," Amy said. "I might cry."

"You're breaking my heart, Jones," Grey said. "My ship never breaks down." Benji made a strangled noise. "Well, never for long. Besides, a captain always knows something about fixing ships."

"Mhmm," Amy replied, watching Grey flip open a wall panel and twitch aside several wires. "Any chance that one of the ships you know something about fixing happens to be yours?"

Grey pointed the spanner at her. "I started off as an engineer, Jones. I'm not incompetent."

Amy held up her hands in surrender. "Apologies, mon capitan. I was led astray by your unhealthy dependence upon Taz."

"Oh, come on." Grey turned to look at her, an expression of disbelief on his face. "I do not have an unhealthy dependence on Taz."

The wall panel pinged and the vidscreen crackled to life before Amy could respond.

"Hey guys," Kate said, "the asteroid belt just came into sight, so...we should be stumbling into that ship here in about, oh, I dunno, five minutes? Just so's you know..."

"Thanks, Kate," Grey said and flicked the vidscreen off.

"Wasn't her hair lavender this morning?"

"I stopped noticing Kate's hair color years ago. Look, if you want to be able to look out that window and actually see something other than the protective screen, you might let me do my job."

Amy perched on a defunct console and swung her legs back and forth. "Aye aye, Captain."

Grey opened his mouth, thought better of it, and turned back to the open panel, ignoring Amy's humming. Several minutes and a number of sparks later, the screen covering the window began to grind its way upward.

Banging the panel closed, Grey folded his arms and turned expectantly towards Amy, but she'd crossed to the window and was standing with her nose pressed against the glass, gazing at the blurred asteroids as they slipped past.

"She's cute when she's that absorbed," Benji remarked quietly to Grey. "Like a little kid."

"Yeah, something like that," Grey muttered. "Remind me to tell Taz the coating on the wires up here is shot and needs to be replaced."

"Sure, right after the engines get a new coolant tank and the hull gets replated so we aren't vaporized the first time we hit something bigger than a pebble," Benji said cheerfully. "No problem. Anything you say, boss."

"Smartass," Grey said, smacking him across the back of the head. "Don't you have something you can go sort?"

Benji snorted. "Yeah, sure. I've been through our last haul so many times I can list it off by heart. Wanna hear?"

Amy's gasp distracted them both. Grey hadn't thought she'd actually do it, but her nose was touching the window, her hands pressed flat against the glass, as the ship slowed to curve around one of the asteroids. Dwarfed by the size of the rock, the Sophia crept along its edge until the first gleam of polished alloy came into view, reflecting the Sophia's search beams. The little salvage ship rounded an outcropping, and Amy let out a little squeak.

"God, it's gorgeous," she said, staring out the window at the silvery ship before them. "Definitely an Apollo. How soon can we get aboard?"

"Assuming Taz managed to get the connector chute working again," Grey said, "it'll only take as long as Benji needs to get together his cutting equipment so we can get in. Barring checking that there's not, you know, something on the other side of the airlock waiting to kill us."

Amy turned. "Absolutely not. You are not going to cut into my ship."

"If you've got a better idea I'm open to suggestions," Benji said, "but most ships have their own complex locking systems and take days to work out, and I'll bet you something that old and flash has a locking mechanism even more intricate than the Commies. Fastest way will be to cut through."

Amy huffed impatiently. "I'm not an amateur, boys. I do know how to spring an Apollo's lock."

Benji glanced at Grey , who shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said. "Just check with de Sara and Kate that it's safe to go over before you work your magic. I'll go pack up." He stalked to the ladder and clambered up out of view.

Amy frowned at Grey. "He's pissed at me. What did I say?"

Grey sighed. "Took over his job. He's not used to someone else knowing more about salvage than he does. Don't worry about it. Make sure you know what you're doing and go meet up with Taz. I'll check in with Ramina and Kate." He grinned. "We're about to board us an Apollo."