Chapter 151: [ Book 2 ] Chapter 11: Rescue

The inner hatch of the Stardancer’s primary airlock exhaled a gentle hiss as it cycled open.

A single figure burst forth—Ruki, stumbling into the main cargo bay. One hand pulled her mask free, the other hand cupping her mouth.

She ran aimlessly, her head shifting back and forth. The mad dash to nowhere ended when she fell to her knees and retched.

Dash exited the airlock, one hand pressed against the nearest bulkhead. He inhaled a deep breath to orient himself, then approached Ruki. He stopped a respectful distance short.

“You’ll be alright,” he assured her. She remained on her knees, her breathing shallow and wet. A limp hand lifted from the deck and waved him away.

Dash stepped backed and summoned Tinker, his mechanic bot. “We need a bio cleanup in the main bay. Top priority.”

Tinker acknowledged the command from somewhere in the bowels of the ship. Behind Dash, the other two performers cleared the airlock, a hint of unsteadiness in their legs. Celescia scampered past Dash to Ruki. Yanna marched right up to Dash like a drill sergeant pouncing on a fresh recruit. She stopped close enough that he thought she was going to bump into him.

“You idiot! What were you thinking? You could’ve killed us all!”

Anger flooded Dash's core. He squeezed his fists, staring down at the singer. “Are you kidding me, lady? I just saved you all. But I’ll gladly bring you back and hand you over to those spooks if you like,” he fired back.

“That was dangerous and reckless! You have no idea what the loss of Sister Celescia would mean!” she snapped at him. “The fate of our entire race rests in her hands. She is too important to place in such danger—”

“Entire race? Are you crazy? She’s just a singer—” Dash stopped himself, regretting the words immediately.

He peered over his shoulder at Celescia, kneeling by the side of her friend. The troupe leader raised her head to him. He braced for a dressing down for his crass words. The ire was there, flickering like the plasma flame of the cutting torch the operatives had tried to cut open the airlock hatch with. But something else lingered, mixed in, shining through. He couldn’t place it, but he thought it might’ve been disappointment.

Before Dash could explain himself, Yanna stepped close enough where he could feel her hot breath. “If you put her in danger like that again—“

“That’s enough, Yanna,” Celescia commanded. The sharpness in her tone pierced the membrane containing Yanna’s anger. The intensity on her face began to deflate as the pressure released. She settled into a look of displeasure and turned away from Dash with a dismissive sigh.

He was fine with that. He didn’t like her much either. Still, he owed the troupe an explanation.

“Those carts have an emergency decompression system built in. They fit into standard airlocks so they can jettison in the event of some catastrophic event. Their failure rate is less than that of a standard EVA suit. I believed there was a greater chance we would be harmed by those operatives than if we escaped in the cart. I didn’t have time to explain all that, and I’ll admit I don’t enjoy launching myself out of an airlock either. But it was the only choice we had.”

Celescia said, "We understand." She handed Ruki her mask. Ruki, still facing away from the others, pressed it to her face, running her fingers around the top of her forehead and down the sides to her lower jaw. Celescia helped her stand and they padded to Yanna’s side. Ruki’s mask had settled over the contours of her head, her anonymity restored.

Celescia stood within arm’s reach of Dash. Her stoic posture held a commanding presence. A natural aura of calm and confidence. He remembered noticing it before, but it became more pronounced on his ship where he was always the one in charge. It reminded him of the few HuCo officers he’d admired long ago. The true leaders, who looked out for their subordinates.

“Captain, Yanna is very protective of Ruki and me. Please don’t hold her passion and loyalty against her,” Celescia said. On its surface, it was a reasonable request and an attempt at making amends. Something a politician might do. But Dash could sense her politeness masked by an icy layer beneath.

“I can see that,” Dash said, glancing at the other two performers. Yanna didn’t meet his gaze. Ruki had an expression that fell between neutral and pleasant. “Look I didn’t—“

Celescia held up a thin hand. “You don’t need to explain your ignorance. I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand.”

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“Someone like me? Ignorant?” Dash said. His chest tightened, the heat inside him blooming again. He stopped, made himself take a deep breath, and think. He got her point, but her condescending words pissed him off.

The hatch to the deck C passageway opened, sparing him from a response. Gaius and Wesley rushed inside the bay, each holding a medkit. Wesley offered his services but the singers politely refused.

“Some zero-g stomachs, that’s all,” Dash said. He saw Ruki lower her eyes to the deck. “I’m a little queasy myself.” At that, she lifted her head. Dash thought he saw a hint of gratitude.

The interior hatch opened again. The eyesore of mismatched parts that was Tinker lumbered into the bay holding bio material cleaning equipment. A recent attempt by Gaius at updating the system resulted in one leg stepping further than the other, giving the bot an awkward gait like it pulled a leg muscle. It functioned fine and Dash hadn’t thought any more of it until the sudden embarrassment he felt in that instant.

He noticed the concerned stares of his passengers. “That’s Tinker, our mechanic bot. Yes, it looks funky, but it does a pretty good job.”

The singers said nothing, but they didn’t have to. The doubt in their eyes spoke for them.

The bot halted once it neared Dash.

“Captain, reporting for biological matter cleanup—“

“Over there, get to work then go back to your list,” Dash said, pointing at the spot where Ruki was sick. He swore the damned thing exhibited bad timing on purpose. The bot ambled to Ruki’s mess, then kept going, confirming his theory. “What are you doing?”

The bot pointed to a nearby equipment locker.

“Captain, this cleaning requires a safety barricade to prevent—“

“You don’t need it. Just clean it up.”

“Yes, Captain,” the bot said and went about its task.

“I apologize for that,” Ruki said in a low voice.

“Don’t worry about it. Happens to the best of us. Tinker will clean it up good as new,” Dash said.

A suction sound drowned out their voices. Dash watched Tinker clean the mess of the deck, rinse the grating with a disinfectant spray, and repeat the cycle.

An awkward tension formed between the troupe and crew as the silence lingered. The massive volume of the empty bay somehow compressed it like diamonds forming deep beneath the ground. The gentle background hum of the ship’s systems might as well have been absolute silence.

When Celescia spoke, her voice was soft. “Captain, you said it was unwise to return to our ship. What are we supposed to do then?"

“I don’t know," Dash said. "We can talk through the options in the galley. But I need two things when making a plan. A comfortable seat and a drink.”

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