The Secret War - 1st novel in the Shadow Series

Chapter 8 .

VAI

After more than a week aboard the Shadow, and with our journey of exploration officially begun, I was having some trouble adjusting to starship life. Perhaps that was just because it was this starship -- the Shadow, the ship that had almost single-handedly defeated the K'thaktra, and the only remaining icon of the life I knew before this one. Perhaps it was because FTL speed looked so dreamily unreal -- the constantly changing arrays of stars beyond the windows, sheened-over with a strange iridescence, shifting from one vista to the next multiple times per second. Perhaps it was because even my clothes were wrong. Apparently no one wore boots or cloaks or jackets on a starship. They were either tight and crisp in their color-coded Gathering Exploration Fleet uniforms, or soft and baggy in their off-duty clothing with geometric pastel patterns and kaftan-ish shapes.

Whatever the reason, I felt far away from everything, a stranger in my own body. I rarely left the quarters to which my father and I had been assigned, and when I did, I got lost, luckily Warpaint was always with me to guide me back.

I needed to make peace with the ship. Preferably before starting G.E.F. school next week. Toward this goal, I had tasked myself with visiting one of the Shadow's public venues every day.

It was early in the evening, and the lighting in the corridors had taken on their pre-programmed twilight glow. I was entering the museum just passing below the sign that read --

MUSEUM OF THE I.A. SHADOW

The doors slid open with an almost inaudible whisper as Warpaint and I stepped through. The doors slid shut behind me and I stood there staring at the various displays. I wondered if I was supposed to start with the displays on the left, right or the middle. I decided to go with the ones in the middle.

Inside the first glass case was the old Captain's uniform. There was a little plaque in front of the display that explained not only about the last Captain and his duties, but also what materials were used to make the uniform.

I moved to the next display.

"Hey, pretty lady. Come here often."

My body jerked alert. I hadn't seen anyone when I first came in and I had assumed, wrongly, that I was alone. Warpaint's head swiveled around.

Further into the museum to my left, at an exhibit called Aether Field Prototype, I saw the captain of the ship for the first time. She was Bundu-Jo same as Papa, but she was a vibrant blue and her stripes were snow white. Papa was obese in a way that wasn't supposed to be possible for Bundu-Jo. The captain was taut with pure muscle.

The bridge above her blue eyes arched upward as she stared down at the little human standing between her and the Aether Field Prototype display. He wasn't a child, just a little person standing at about 1.22 meters. I guessed he was about my age. Was he the one who had spouted that ridiculously outdated pickup line?

Warpaint opened his mechanical mouth as if to speak, but I shook my head at him and he grew still beside me.

"Are you speaking to me?" The captain asked the little person.

"Of course." The young man replied. He spread his arms out wide around him. "You're the only pretty lady here."

"I don't understand why a human child is asking me this."

He turned his eyes to the ceiling before settling back on her. "I'm not a child. I'm just small. The smaller the size, the greater the package, eh?" He nudged her leg with his elbow.