In A Starship's Wake

Chapter 10: The Next Step

Joseph started cooking breakfast while Tyrone was finishing the system checks. By the time Tyrone got back to the kitchen to pour himself more coffee, he was dumping chopped-up vegetables and scrambled eggs into a pan. They joined the hash browns already on the stove, and Joseph laughed to himself as he realized it was the same breakfast he'd had yesterday in the diner. It was a fairly common meal for them, when they weren't too lazy to cook.

He and Tyrone finished their breakfast and started looking over morning news from the Teton Sector before Allison emerged to join them. Joseph looked up from his datapad to greet her and was momentarily lost for words. He hadn't realized that in only one day he'd become accustomed to her wearing pants and a t-shirt. This morning's knee-length blue dress caught him off guard.

He tried to keep the surprise from showing on his face, but failed. She spotted it and smiled, a bit nervously. "You look lovely this morning." It was about all he could think of to say.

Her smile broadened. "Thank you."

"Breakfast is on the stove." Tyrone made the comment in the bland tone he used when he was trying not to laugh. Joseph fixed his partner with an irritable glare, and received only a smirk in return.

Allison scooped the rest of the eggs and hash browns onto a plate, seasoned them a little, and sat down. "Sorry I startled you. I forgot I never told you I mostly prefer to wear dresses. Tyrone already knew because he was there when I bought them."

"No need to apologize," Joseph assured her. "It's good to keep me on my toes. You weren't really comfortable wearing them when you were working for Terrence I suppose?"

She made a negative sound and shook her head, pulling her fork out of her mouth and swallowing. "Not at all. I didn't think they were very utilitarian for busing tables in the first place, and I never wanted to set foot in that place in one.

"I think working there made me uncomfortable in them all together." Her voice fell sadly. "I would never wear one in the apartment or around Nevarris either. The excitement of leaving drove it out of my head for a while when I was picking them out yesterday. It was back this morning, but now that I'm somewhere safe I don't think I should let that stop me. Now's the time to get comfortable with them again."

"That's a good plan." Tyrone nodded approvingly. "And I suppose we can help by not making you feel self-conscious. Which we're so far failing miserably at." Joseph and Allison laughed.

"I guess we should change topics then." Allison looked back at her plate to cut up another bite of egg. "Today we spend a lot of time in the cargo bay looking at plants, right?"

"Yup." Tyrone rose to pour his third mug of coffee. "More specifically, we prod the dirt they're sitting in with cheap moisture meters. If they read what they're supposed to, we move on to the next pot. If they don't, we'll have to adjust the irrigation line."

"They should all read what they're supposed to today, shouldn't they?" Joseph recalled their client, Mr. Carver, mentioning that the irrigation system shouldn't need much adjusting the first few days. He'd shipped enough plants into Couradeen Station to know.

"That's what Mr. Carver said." Tyrone echoed his thoughts. "I never actually talked to the farmers from Temorran, did you?"

Joseph shook his head. He didn't think they had been at the port, and since he and Tyrone were hired by the buyer rather than the seller, he'd had no reason to contact them. "Well, I guess there's only one way to find out." He rose and began collecting plates. "Let's grab some more coffee and get back there. The sooner we start, the sooner we're done."