Broken Episode One Read online

  Chapter 7

  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 babysit 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 leaned 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 toward 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, imminent crash landing. Immanent crash landing.”

  He cradled her head and closed his eyes.