Broken Episode One (7 page)

With that, he turned from her and appeared to try to
get comfortable in his chair. Yet as he did, Mimi swore he shot a
calculating gaze towards the front of the ship and the small
command bridge.

In fact, the quality of his gaze was so concentrated
that Mimi realized something had to be up.

She was certain she was right, and Josh was still on
duty. She could bet he would only willingly go to a resort ship if
he could ransack it.

So what was his mission? And why did he need such a
flimsy cover?

As they dwindled into silence and the hours ticked
by, she never stopped watching him. He was very surreptitious, but
she could see that every now and then he craned his neck to watch
the Captain whenever he strode out of the bridge and through the
main deck.

Despite the intrigue of finding out what Josh was
doing, it slowly dawned on her that she would have to stay in this
seat for the next seven days, pressed between him and the wall.

Realizing the best and only thing to do would be to
sleep through it, she settled down and tried to get
comfortable.

Soon enough she drifted off.

The last thing she thought as her mind wound down
was that it could be worse. She didn’t know how, but surely it
could be worse.

He was still fuming. But he also had to work. He
paid close attention to the Captain’s movements. He also took every
chance he could to explore the ship.

No, that
was a lie
– he didn’t take
every chance to explore the ship – he’d only staked out the place a
couple of times on the way to the bathroom. He wanted the
opportunity to explore more, but something was holding him
back.

Something exceedingly stupid and pathetic.

Miss Mimi Chester.

She was
asleep, and as dumb as it sounded, he didn’t want to leave her
alone. He’d seen a few of the other passengers casting her certain
kinds of looks. Looks Josh knew all too well
– he’d been a pirate, and he knew the exact kind
of greedy glint you’d get in your eye when you saw a soft
target.

Even though this transport had left from Earth, not
all the passengers had departed from there. Some had already been
on the vessel. So it wasn’t entirely impossible that there were
bona fide brigands on board. Especially not considering the Captain
was a potential smuggler.

She’d gone and wandered into a pretty dangerous
situation, and she was fast asleep, unable to protect herself
should anyone make a move for her stuff.

The
longer he sat there and the more she snuffled softly, the more
resentful he felt. He shouldn’t have to baby sit her
– he had a real mission to complete.
He’d overheard her talking to the Captain before, and he knew she
was off on her first real assignment. Well he could bet it was
something pathetic, and something that didn’t justify wasting his
time.

Eventually he couldn’t take it anymore, and he
elbowed her in the side. Not too hard, but hard enough to see her
rouse.

She made an entirely cute “hup” sound as she bolted
awake.

She looked at him.

“Turbulence,” he muttered.

“Oh ....” She leant her head back against the wall
and closed her eyes.

“You’ve already been asleep for eight hours.”

“I’m hoping to make it seven days.”

“Nobody can sleep that long.” He crossed his arms.
There was something about this woman that made him want to cross
his arms permanently.

“You want to try me? I can sleep for days if I want
to. And I’m gonna. Because it’s certainly preferable to being
conscious for this journey. Now, goodnight.”

“I don’t think so. Wake up and stay awake. I’m done
watching you.”

Mimi pulled her head from the wall and looked at
him. Slowly her sleepy eyes widened with alarm. “Sorry? You were
watching me while I slept?”

“I was watching over you,” he corrected through an
awkward grumble. “Now it’s your turn. You need to keep your wits
about you; you’re not on Earth anymore.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Christ, can you really be this dumb? You know
before when you didn’t want me talking about your dad,” he lowered
his voice, even though it would have been fun to see her reaction
as he blurted it out once more.

Mimi
turned from him and quickly surveyed the other passengers. Her eyes
locked on a few particularly suspicious looking ones
– the same ones he was sure were
criminals. “Oh dear,” she said quietly.

“You should never have booked a ticket on this
transport,” he pointed out indignantly.

“I
didn’t exactly have a choice
– it was booked for me. There’s so much traffic going to
the Interstellar Baking Championship, that this was the only ride
they could find.”

“...
Hold on, what?
Interstellar Baking Championship?”

She blushed slightly, but didn’t turn away. “Yes,
what of it?”

“That’s your first assignment?” He started to laugh.
As he did, all his tension washed away.

This was the best thing he’d heard all year.

“Yes it is, but how do you know that?”

“I overheard you talking to the Captain. But this
... wow, you’ve really made it big now, haven’t you, Miss? I mean,
a baking championship. You must be the best journalist in the
galaxy.”

“It’s an interstellar baking championship. And I’ll
have you know that it can get pretty exciting. Last year there was
a shootout in the donut round.”

He laughed harder and harder. Until all his tension
disappeared entirely.

“It’s nothing to laugh about; some races take it
incredibly seriously. The Hakar have bakers training all year
round, not just in cooking skills, but in combat skills too, in
case it comes down to fists over dough.”

Josh kept laughing. He rocked back and forth in his
chair, and it was a surprise he didn’t fall off.

“It’s really not that funny. You know the winner
gets the opportunity to bake for the President herself?”

Josh finally tried to calm himself. Clamping a hand
over his mouth, he let a few more chuckles escape before stifling
them with a cough. “Oh wow. Just wow.”

“You know, you’re kind of mean. A lot of people take
this championship very seriously. Just because you don’t share
their views doesn’t mean you should belittle them. I mean, I’ve got
to admit I was a little hesitant about it at first, but the more I
read, the more I realize how important this event is. It can change
lives.”

Despite his best attempts, Josh started laughing
again.

“Okay fine. You have your chuckle. I’m going to the
bathroom.” She stood up abruptly, flicking her hair over her
shoulder as she did.

Josh pushed to his feet too, pushing away his mirth
at the same time. “Not on your own.”

“What? What do you mean not on my own? I don’t need
you to chaperone me to the bathroom. I’ve got my recording ball,
I’ll be fine.”

“I have no idea what that means, and it sounds
pretty weird, but you’re still not going on your own.”

He watched her cheeks start to burn. A mighty flush
climbed her neck so quickly it looked as if she’d swallowed hot
coals.

“My recording orb is programmed to scan my
surroundings, and can alert me should anything untoward happen,”
she clarified in a single breath.

“You
don’t want to be alerted when something bad happens
– you want to prevent it from
happening in the first place. So I’m coming with you.”

She closed her eyes and took a massive breath that
saw her chest punch distractingly against her top.

He only looked away once she opened her eyes.

“Fine.” She picked up her recording orb and stalked
off.

Josh followed. He paid keen attention to the other
passengers as he did.

To be honest, he wasn’t sure they were going to try
anything. This did, however, provide him with a great opportunity
to explore the ship. While Mimi was busy wrestling with zero
gravity, he’d be able to scan the rooms next to the bathroom. He’d
tried to do it before, but without a reason to loiter in the
corridor, he’d been shooed on.

This was his excuse.

It was a short walk to the bathroom, but it was a
treacherous one. This old tin-bucket ship surely deserved its lowly
rating as a Class Y tug. There was junk everywhere, and the walls
were nearly all broken. As they made their way through the
corridor, they had to navigate through pipes jutting out of the
floor and patches of oil. Once or twice Mimi nearly slipped.

He could have caught her. He didn’t.

Let her fall, he thought. Someone had been propping
her up all her life. She needed to learn to survive on her own.

Also, it was kind of fun to watch her tripping
up.

When they finally made it to the bathroom, Mimi had
to press herself against the wall to navigate around a particularly
obstructive pipe in the floor. It was very much a tripping hazard,
but the Captain was very much not the kind of shady operator to
care.

“God, I hope I don’t die on this thing. Why are
there all these pipes everywhere? And what’s with all the oil?”

“Don’t be dramatic,” he lectured, “we’re not going
to die. The pipes and oil are from non-essential systems.”

“If they’re non-essential, why are they on the
ship?”

“Just hurry up. I don’t have all day to shepherd
you.”

“What, you need to get back to sitting in your seat
and looking surly?”

He pressed his lips together and offered her a
sarcastic smile. “I’m doing you a favor, Princess. Now less of the
attitude. Go.” He waved her on with a brief flick of his hand.

She rolled her eyes and turned.

That would be when the ship lurched.

It wasn’t too bad, but it was enough to see Mimi
stumble. She caught herself before she could fall over, but her
torso came perilously close to the jutting end of the pipe.

“You okay?” He asked quickly.

Before she could answer, the ship lurched again.

This one was worse. It felt like the damn thing
struck an asteroid.

Mimi was thrown towards the pipe.

He somehow got there first, wrapping his arms around
her waist and pulling her away from the pipe before it could impale
her.

They struck the floor together, his arms still
around her middle.

Before she could pull free, the ship lurched again
and again.

He held onto her. She held onto him.

The floor started to buckle.

She screamed.

Seconds later, a klaxon blazed through the ship. Old
and crackly, he still picked up the message: “Warning, warning,
immanent crash landing. Immanent crash landing.”

He cradled her head and closed his eyes.

Somehow it didn’t kill them. He felt it though, in
every bone of his body.

The transport crashed.

The thing buckled around him, pipes protruding from
the walls like bones from a broken body.

The ceiling bowed down too, but somehow held its
integrity, rather than buckling and bringing the hull down on their
heads.

They were knocked around badly, but were lucky
enough not to get skewered or squashed.

Through it all he held onto her, one arm around her
back and one hand cradling her head. She held onto him fast,
too.

Then, as the shaking abated, and the ship came to a
stop, he loosened his grip and stared around him.

The corridor was ruined. The ship would be
unsalvageable. Yet somehow, somehow they’d survived.

He tried to sit up. Mimi was still holding onto
him.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. You’re fine. We’re
alive,” he said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder
reassuringly.

Her face was littered with scratches and there was a
deep gash in her arm. He knew she was alive, though; he could feel
her heart beating through her chest and into his torso as she still
held on tight around his middle.

“Mimi, it’s okay now. We’re alive,” he said in a
voice as close to a coo as Josh Cook would ever manage.

She opened her eyes.

Those piercing pools of blue stared up at him.

It was an arresting sight.

The whole damn situation was arresting. They’d just
freaking crash landed and somehow survived.

She slowly let him go. Shaking, she tried to push up
to her feet.

“Careful,” he warned as he put out a hand to steady
her.

“What happened?” She coughed into her hand before
checking on the gash in her arm and groaning.

“We crash landed.”

“What? Where? Weren’t we on a transport route?”

“That’s
a good point. I don’t really know. Let’s go find out. If we make it
to the bridge
—” he
began.

Mimi stopped him with another coughing fit. She
doubled over, and he hooked a hand on her arm to ensure she didn’t
topple onto the broken, buckled floor.

He patted a hand on her back. “Come on, we’ll get
you to a med kit. I’ve got one in my luggage ... wherever that is
now. But we should get to the bridge first to find out what we’re
dealing with. If I had a scanner with me, I could do it from
here.”

“Klutzo,” she managed through coughs.

“Sorry, what did you just call me?”

She pointed behind her to her recording orb. The
little device had been smart enough not to get squashed during the
crash, and was now floating a half meter from Mimi.

“You
gave it a name?” Josh questioned. Though now felt like the perfect
opportunity to insult Mimi again
– as only fools named soulless machines – it really wasn’t.
They’d just crash landed, Mimi was injured, and god knows what
planet they’d ended up on. So he held his tongue.

“Of course,” she coughed again, placing a hand on
his arm for support as she finally righted herself, “he’s a
friend.”