1. Chapter 1

“. . . Rotation Two on the deck.” The blaring announcement reverberated through Ava’s room from the overhead intercom, waking her up.

She groaned, rolling over on her small pallet bed.

The rotations happened every four hours, and almost every time they blared she woke up startled and with her ears ringing. There weren’t rotations in the engine room, so why the announcements were blasted down here into this hall made little sense.

The intercom went static, then cut out with a click. Dust motes floated overhead while Ava counted the tiles lining her sleeping quarters.

Rubbing her face, she looked over at her nightstand and wrinkled her nose at the faded, worn picture of a smiling blonde Human.

“Good morning, Joy,” Ava muttered, voice still clogged with sleep.

The faded image stared back with blue eyes and a vibrant smile, silent as always.

Ava put her hand over her stomach as it rumbled. She looked away to grab the com watch she had set down next to the photo.

How long was I out? Ava glanced at the time on the receiver. Six hours had passed, almost half a cycle. She was so tired she must have slept through the previous intercom announcement.

Ava strapped her com watch to her wrist, stood up, and stretched, unable to remember the last time she’d slept that long. She could usually only manage catnaps due to the lack of darkness. The lights never turned off down in the engine hall.

Walking barefoot outside her room, she eyed the control panel of the navigation substation next to her small alcove. It looked exactly the same as when Ava went down for her sleep cycle. Her eyes narrowed, inspecting the thin layer of dust that had settled on it despite the filtration units.

She let out a huff, frustrated.

Ebel’s slacking. The panel hadn’t been touched at all. She spent all day yesterday greasing the gears on the west side of the engine at his request, and he didn’t do any of his assigned work. She didn’t really care if the work got done, but if she needed to do her chores it was only fair Ebel did the same. The clipboard she left on the control panel for him also hadn’t moved from where she placed it over a cycle ago.

Ava picked the clipboard up and flipped through the pages in annoyance. She would need to hand-deliver her notes instead of expecting him to come out to get them.

She stood motionless and silent for a minute, listening to the engine grind overhead. Nothing sounded out of place as the gears slid fluidly on their tracks. Even with the minor repairs neglected, the engine was so well oiled it still ran smoothly.

Ava’s eyes narrowed again as her gaze landed on the biologics, sensing something was off. The tiny creatures lived in a giant tank situated between the two halves of the engine. Bubbles swirled throughout the yellowish-tinted liquid in the tank, but they were moving slower than usual.

Ava felt a flash of anxiety when she realized her mistake. She’d forgotten to feed them before she went to sleep.

No wonder they aren’t moving as fast.Their wellness indicator must be on yellow or red in the control room. Ebel probably wasn’t even looking at the pin pad they communicated to him with in there.

Ava tapped on the thick glass, watching the bubbles follow her hand in their large cylinder container. “I’ll feed you. I’m sorry I forgot.”

The liquid inside swirled around her hand like it understood.

She walked sluggishly into the alcove next to where she slept, cracking her knuckles on the way before pulling out a white bag half full of their powder feed. It was more than she usually put in, but by the way they were moving, they probably could use extra food. Ebel would have to take care of the inventory discrepancy himself if it was off.

Ava slung the bag over her shoulder, holding it steady with one hand while she quickly climbed to the top of the machine. Her bare feet curved to grip the metal holds, making the climb easy. The hatch was at the very top of the shaft, nestled in between the two halves of the giant moving engine. Once put in, the powder would sift down through the liquid at a measured pace.

Ava put down the bag of feed and opened the hatch before she dumped the powder in, seeing it swirl and disintegrate in the yellow tank.

She smiled down at the biologics, fluffing the bag to make sure she emptied it all the way.

“Hullo Ava.”

Ava startled and lost her footing briefly as a voice floated up to her.

She stomped down loudly to regain her balance, the resounding ping echoing through the engine hall. It was a jarring note out of place amongst the engine’s smooth whirring.

The voice from below spoke again. “Sorry, dear. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

The translator implanted in Ava’s ear converted the words into the Common tongue. Ava heard Nuor’s melodic voice first, which sounded like soft bells, followed by the robotic voice that translated the words.

“Ah, Nuor!” Ava yelled over the railing. “One second, I’ll be right down after I finish with the biologics.” Her fingers worked quickly to refasten the hatch before she swung over to the side of the platform and descended. She grinned at Nuor as she went.

Nuor’s beaklike face smiled up at her, her large aqua eyes sparkling with good humor. Her multicolored feathered tresses were tucked into the same kind of jumpsuit Ava wore. Unlike Ava’s, hers was neatly pressed and not covered in grease stains.

Ava skipped the last few rungs on the ladder and reached the ground with a jump. “Is it time for your nav report already?”

“Ah, yesss.” The translator extended the s robotically in an attempt to convey Nuor’s emphasis.

Nuor motioned to the dusty navigation system that Ava had been glaring at earlier. “I can see that this thing hasn’t been touched since the last time I was down here.”

Ava nodded her agreement as Nuor walked over to the control panel and moved Ava’s clipboard aside before taking the protective cover off to check the calibrations.

Nuor glanced up from the control pad, eyes gentle. “What have you and Ebel been up to since I’ve been gone?”

Ava shrugged, spreading her arms out wide to motion at the engine. This was her life most days. “Not much happening here. Ebel has been watching the Boxhi tournament for the last few cycles, so not much work has been done on his end.”

“Oh yes, that.” Nuor rolled her eyes. “Men of every species are the same with their sports.”

Ava snorted her agreement and tossed the empty feed bag back into the storage alcove, then sat on the ladder in front of the biologics tank.

Nuor looked back down at the navigation panel, frowning, and shook her feathered head. “Tell you what, after I am done with this, let’s go to the solarium for a few minutes. I need the sun and you look pretty peaky for a Human.” She stretched her feathers on her arm out in front of Ava. “Look at the dull color. We haven’t gotten off this ship in forever to get some actual sun.”

“Yes, let’s go, but you’re beautiful as always,” Ava reassured her quickly as she glanced at Nuor’s feathers. Nuor was not as vibrant as she usually was, but Ava would never tell her that.

She leaned heavily on the ladder to wait for Nuor to be done, her bare feet dangling. A yawn came involuntarily.

The liquid inside the tank next to her moved vigorously from the biologics attacking the powder. Ava watched it and absently patted the glass while Nuor clicked away.

Bubbles popped underwater as the biologics swirled faster and faster. They looked so much more lively now. Where her fingers met the tank, the bubbles swirled and popped, giving the impression the biologics were following her hand.

Ava smiled and moved her hand across the glass surface, watching them keep up with her movements. She let out a soft giggle when she moved fast and they couldn’t follow.

She felt a little guilty about not doing her own chores, but glanced every now and again toward the control room where Ebel always sat. A blue light shone from underneath that closed doorway, shadows flickering. If he wasn’t doing any work, she felt no pressure to start on the tasks she needed to do either.

“Let’s go.” Nuor motioned with her hand after the reports were signed and dated. She put the protective cover back on the panel before turning to walk toward the exit.

Nuor looked back at Ava once she realized she was walking alone. “C’mon, Ava. Ebel doesn’t care.”

Nuor was probably right. Besides, Ebel could message her if he really needed her for something. It wasn’t like she was able to go too far on a ship like this.

Ava jumped down from the ladder, her feet slapping on the ground. After slipping on her worn sandals and grabbing a water bottle, Ava ran to catch up with Nuor, carefully avoiding stepping on Nuor’s trailing tail feathers.