Into the Black Hole

Chapter 24: Love and Destruction

"I'm gonna kill him," proclaims Timour.

"He clearly has issues," I say. "Don't let him bother you. We've got bigger problems."

"He tried to..." Timour paces back and forth, hands twisting in his blond hair.

"He didn't. I pushed him away, and he accepted that."

"Kind of a low bar. What gives him the impression that it was an okay thing to do?"

"Likely the same inner devil that tells him stealing ships and kidnapping people is okay too." I take a deep breath. "We need to talk to Felix."

"What for? And what happened between you and that Captain? You two act like..." he falters.

"Like...?"

"Like you're together," he finishes, subdued.

"Um... no, Timour. Felix and I are certainly not together... I..." I don't even know what to say.

"I haven't seen you for the past twenty-four hours. Where did you sleep last night?"

While his tone suggests he's concerned, the underlying accusation baffles me. "It's not like I had a choice. Regardless, he was a gentleman about the situation. He slept on the floor so that I could have the bed."

Timour raises his eyebrows, expression fluctuating from surprise to perplexity to outrage. "We don't know what his motives are. He's a pirate, therefore we can't trust him."

"I somewhat agree, but that's why we have to talk to him first."

"Isn't he too old for you?"

I sigh. Why am I even entertaining this? "One, you're not my dad. Two, I'm a Sergeant in the Interstellar Force who has a PhD in computer science. If I'm old enough to put my life on the line multiple times in service to my country and my planet, then I am capable of making my own decisions when it comes to my relationships. Three, there's a time and place for this conversation, and it's neither here nor now. A relationship is the last thing on my mind. We'll discuss this later, okay?"

Timour isn't pleased, but he responds, "Yeah, alright."

Ten minutes of sensitive silence passes until Felix emerges from the end of the hallway. He hands Timour and I separate portals, clarifying, "These are only good for specific contacts. You can't communicate with anyone outside Titan."

"Felix, we should—" I start.

"Wait," he orders, then changes his severe look to one of indifference. "I'll show you to your rooms."

We follow Felix through numerous hallways, doors leading to other rooms becoming smaller and more frequent. The surface we walk on is seemingly flat, since our view never extends far enough to discern that the floor is curved. But despite the illusion of horizontal ground, my spinning head begs to differ.

Reaching a blue door that already has "Chambers" holographically displayed, Felix unlocks it and ushers us inside. The cabin features a white and navy queen-sized bed against the wine-red right wall, next to two armchairs surrounding a sturdy circular table. A blue couch with canary-yellow pillows sits against the left wall, beside a long desk facing a floor-to-ceiling mirror. The back wall consists of an artificial window and balcony, framed by yellow curtains and sunrise orange lights.

I stand close to the circular table, Felix lingers by the fake window, and Timour leans against the front door—as far away from Felix as possible.

"Boss told me," the Quartermaster begins, "you'll be working on NeuroQueue." He smirks at me. "You've been busy. Care to fill me in on anything else I'm not aware of?"