Zampata

Chapter 12

"Why are we meeting up here?" Dean asked, following Bayley onto the bridge. "I thought we met in the kitchen so I'd be too busy stuffing my face to contribute to the discussion."

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's one of the reasons, yes, but then we have to stop at every second planet to replenish our food supply, so a change of venue is cheaper."

Dean sighed as he leaned against the back wall. "Just as well. We're all out of those fancy crescent things that Finn gave us. And those strawberry-kiwis. Those fuckers were tasty."

Sasha and Becky arrived next, both looking wary. "Roux's in the playroom," Becky said, sitting at one of the monitor consoles and bringing up the feed for the room. Roux was amusing herself by diving into a large pool filled with spongy balls. They were meant to be medical equipment but had a manufacturer's flaw, so Roman had intended to keep them for the crew to use for cleaning until Roux fell in love with them. "She should be fine for a while. What's up?"

Roman gazed around at his crew. To say he trusted them with his life was an understatement; it was a fact of the life he lived every day. He'd had the opportunity to expand his crew, to hire people with more experience or better connections, but he trusted these five implicitly. That meant he already suspected he knew the answer to the question he was about to ask, but decorum dictated he ask it all the same. "Have any of you been in contact with Finn since we've left?"

All eyes turned to Becky first. "Oh, sure. Always suspect the ex. That's for murder, you know, not communication. And no, I haven't. I encrypted some pictures of Roux to send to her grandparents, but I was going to wait until we were on a planet to send them."

Seth snorted softly. "Well, I know you're not going to accuse me of that," he chimed in. "I don't think I've been cleared of something so easily since—"

"Since ever?" Shaking his head, Roman glanced at Dean and moved on quickly. If Dean had quibbles with a mission, he had no issue saying them out loud—emphasis on loud. He wouldn't have had clandestine communication with anyone to arrange a workaround. That left Sasha and Bayley, who were both looking at him straight on. "Sash? Bayley? Either of you?"

Bayley shook her head. "I was going to ask you to call him when we were in a safe zone. I noticed a strange clamp on a converter box. It doesn't seem to be doing anything, but I didn't want to take it off in case it's some weird proprietary thing. Finn had parts from suppliers I'd never heard of, so it could be some sort of new fail-safe." Her eyes went misty for a moment. "I could live in that man's garage, I swear. Do you think he would let me? I could organize all the parts and—"

"Sasha?" Roman had been trying to avoid talking to her directly after his indiscretion, but since the rest of the crew was there, he figured it was as safe as an interaction on Zampata could get.

"Not me." Sasha spread her hands wide. "Feel free to check my logs. I've contacted a few potential clients and checked in on my brother, that's all." She held his gaze steadily. "Now are you going to tell us why you're interrogating us?"

"No." Roman went to the communications panel and hit a few buttons, making Seth flinch and swat at his hand. "Finn is." When the communication screen crackled to life, Roman stepped to the side.

Hello, dear friends. How has your journey been so far? I heard you ran into a spot of Corbin trouble. The gaiety in Finn's gaze died quickly. It might have only been DEEP SIX, but Corbin isn't to be taken lightly. If you want to abandon the mission, I understand. Just come back here and I'll find someone else to take the book. I'll pay you in full, of course. If you insist on being stubborn—hello, my heart, I hope you managed to get Roux to settle without too much trouble—then I ask that you please go to Kana and visit Asuka. ZAMPATA isn't equipped for a full fight, so I'll talk to Asuka and see if there are any of her ships I can rent on your behalf. Please reply as soon as possible.