I went back down to my floor and went into my sleeping compartment, then put my things down. Okay, now the hard work. I thought, and picked up my old apprentice robes. I used Detect Presence and very slowly went over every square inch of the cloth. I wasn't surprised to find three very small devices. I didn't remove them, mainly because I assumed that there were three of them for a reason. I didn't think they could triangulate my position with such a small sample; but, you never know the limits of technology that you're unfamiliar with.

I hadn't had a lot of exposure to technology that wasn't used by or related to things used by The Order. As far as I knew, they could track these little things across an entire galaxy and only needed a relay to maintain contact with them.

I chuckled. I guess that's why they call their rest stops 'relay stations'. They are literally relays for their tracing technology.

I put the robes aside and stored them into the personal storage space in the compartment, then picked up my mother's Light sword. Now that I had access to a fully functioning one, its complexity was head and shoulders over the very simple one I had constructed the year of my training graduation four years ago. Kara had shown me some of the modifications she had done on her own; but, she had been reluctant to take it apart completely, because the parts were so delicate that she would have had to readjust it for her flow of Presence.

I didn't have that problem with this Light sword, since I hadn't adjusted it to my flow yet. I took out the micro tool kit that I always carried with me. I could have used Presence to do it; but, in space I would have to let my body recover if I used too much of it at once. With Presence so sparse outside of a planet's atmosphere, I had to be careful of how I used it. I took my time and very carefully disassembled the Light sword. I didn't strip it down to individual wires, though.

I left the components pretty much intact and took out my datapad to check what each one was and compared it to the parts I knew. It was surprising to learn that technology hadn't really advanced in the sixteen years I had been alive. The parts inside my mother's Light sword were the same ones that you could still get today. The thought of that made me shake my head.

What the hell are they doing with this advanced technology to let it stagnate like this? I asked myself. I would have been trying to improve it and refine it, just like I proposed in the paper I had given to my teacher during my last training year. I pushed my indignant thoughts aside and analyzed each component, compared it to the technical data on the datapad and inside my own Light sword.

Kara had been right. My understanding of the limitations and the scope of Light sword technology and how it was applied to modern weapons had been lacking. I had tried to change that over the last four years; but, The Order was very strict with its information concerning the technology. Now that I was outside their constraints, I had access to information that the general population had access to. Of course, that made me think of the tiny trackers in my robe and I stared at my mother's Light sword.

“No, they... dammit, yes they would.” I said and spent several hours completely pulling everything apart. I had been right. They had installed one of the trackers inside a dummy wire. I was both pissed and impressed. I removed it of course, with the dummy wire, and spent twice as much time very carefully attuning the parts to my flow of Presence. When I had them all in sync, I assembled them and added the focusing crystal. I had to keep the external knobs and switches, mainly because the casing was much too slender to make them internal. I would change that as soon as I could.

I felt someone approach my sleeping compartment and tucked everything under the blanket on my bed and covered it in Presence and made it solid. I turned to see Rhubin as he stepped to my hatch and knocked.

“You awake in there?”

“Yeah.” I said.

“They've got supper ready.” Rhubin said.

I barked a laugh and opened the hatch. “What happened to lunch?”

Rhubin smiled. “Rumor has it you needed some time alone after a run-in with Cassie.”

“Who told you that?”

“Cassie.” Rhubin said, and we both laughed.

“I assume it's safe for me to show my face.” I said as he stepped back and I stepped out and shut the hatch.

“She's not chewing through the bulkheads right now, so it should be okay.”

“Wow, really?” I asked and we walked to the central shaft. “What floor?”

“Third from the top is the galley.” Rhubin said.

“Grab on.” I said.

“Um...”

“There's actually straps on the back of the jumpsuit.” I said and pointed with my thumb over my shoulder. “I'm sure they're for a life-pack or something.”

Rhubin held on and we jumped at the same time. I used Presence to guide us, rather than propel us, up to the right floor and nudged us over and landed. Everyone was there and serving themselves.

“Damn, boy!” Rus, the captain said with a spoonful of some green sludge halfway to his mouth. “How the hell did you do that?”

“I'd like to say practice.” I said and smiled. “That's only the second time I've done it, though.”

Rus laughed. “I knew you were a space rat as soon as I saw you!”

“A space rat?” I asked, confused.

“Rat is short for 'rating'.” Evelyn said. “It's supposed to be a compliment.” She shook her head. “I don't know why anyone would think being called a rat is a compliment.”

“You get rated for space when you pass a safety course in zero gravity and basic maintenance of life-saving equipment.” Luxea said and handed me a tray of food.

I opened my mouth to ask if it was hers and to tell her that I could get my own, and she touched my lips with a fingertip.

“Sit and eat.” Luxea said and went back over to what looked like a buffet table. I sat down at the end of the table next to Evelyn, because it was the closest spot.

Cassie made a 'pfft' sound with her mouth and picked up what looked like a stick with some bark on it and bit into it. “Ooh, that's good.”

“You're supposed to have dessert after the meal, young lady.” Rus said.

Cassie stuck her tongue out at her father and took another bite of her stick.

“That's no way for a girl to respond to her father!” Rus said and picked up a small round yellow ball from his tray and threw it at her. Without missing a beat, she opened her mouth and caught it with almost no effort.

“Fangs.” Cassie said with her mouth full of whatever it was.

“Some attack that was.” Donny said and chuckled.

“What are you going to have for dessert?” Evelyn asked as she turned to me.

“I have no clue what any of this is.” I said and motioned to the tray in front of me. “Which one is supposed to be the dessert?” I asked and she laughed. The other crew members froze at the sound and turned to stare at her.

“I suppose as a medical professional, I should point out what you have there.” Evelyn said and slid close to me and pointed to the green blob. “That right there is a multi-cell bacterial compound that's had eight essential nutrients and proteins added to it.”

“That doesn't sound very appetizing.” I said, and she laughed again. None of the crew moved or spoke.

“In layman's terms, it's yogurt.”

“Oh.” I said. “I guess that's the dessert.”

“No, that's part of a balanced meal.” Evelyn said and pointed to the next thing on the tray. “Now this blue stuff...”

I sat there and learned the scientific name and components of the food I was supposed to be eating. The crew successfully got over their shock at hearing her laugh and everyone sat down to eat. Rhubin sat down across from me and I thought I saw Cassie giving him an appraising eye.

Donny's right. I thought and smiled. They really will eat you up if you're not careful.

Evelyn finished telling me everything about the food and I managed to eat it despite knowing what it really was. “Now, what would you like for dessert?” She asked me with a bright smile.

“I'm tempted to say 'surprise me'; but, that's way too much of an invitation for you to kiss me.” I said, and she laughed again.

Her fellow crew members only jumped slightly at the sound.

“If there are any of those sticks left, I'd like to try one.” I said.

“I'll go get one for you.” Evelyn said. When she walked away, Rus leaned over her chair towards me.

“What did you do to her?” Rus asked in a whisper.

“Not a thing.” I whispered back. “I swear to...”

“She's only ever laughed like that once.” Rus whispered and cut me off. “It was when...”

“Here you go.” Evelyn said as she came back over to the table and sat down. “Cassie really likes these and we stock up on them whenever we stop for supplies in the Granis System.”

I hadn't had a chance to do more than glance over the details of the ship data that I had taken from the administration building; but, that name sounded familiar.

“The Granis System?” I asked. “What's it like?”

“I really should let Cassie tell you about it, since she's the navigator.” Evelyn said and looked over at Cassie, who pointedly looked away from her. “Then again, maybe not.” She said and turned back to me. “It's a binary star system that has a red giant and a white dwarf star.”

“Is that even possible?” I asked.

“Sure.” Evelyn said. “The white dwarf's gravity is siphoning off the red giant's outer layer, though.”

“What are the planets there like?” I asked.

Evelyn chuckled. “There are no planets.”

“But...”

“It's a tourist attraction.” Evelyn said and my eyes widened. “There's a huge space station... well, a series of them, actually... that are far enough out to not be caught in the extreme gravity sheer from the two star's coronas mixing, and close enough to enjoy the constant light show.”

“You're kidding.” I said. “You have got to be kidding.” I shook my head slightly. “You're not kidding.”

Evelyn laughed. “You really are completely ignorant about everything, aren't you?”

“I haven't ignored the information.” I corrected. “I just haven't had access to it before.”

“I think someone needs to spend some time studying the ship's database.” Rhubin said and then laughed. “Who knows the wonders a completely clean mind like yours will find!”

“Ha ha. Very funny.” I said.

“Actually, that's not a bad idea.” Rus said. “If you really don't know anything about space travel, you're going to be nothing but deadwood on this trip.” He said. “I'll add your datapad to the network and...”

“Could I get a new one instead?” I asked. “This one is pretty much full. Rather than try to go through it and delete things, you can give me one that's already on the network.”

“Good point.” Rus said and dug into his pocket and pulled one out. “I barely use this one anyway.”

“Thanks.” I said and accepted it and slipped it into one of the many pockets the jumpsuit had. I looked at my nearly empty food tray and saw the stick that Evelyn had given me. It looked a little damp and I glanced at her face. I was a pretty good judge of facial expressions, so I was sure I saw anticipation there.

“Go ahead.” Evelyn said and licked her lips. I could see that Presence had gathered on her forehead and at the base of her skull.

I picked up the stick and moved it towards my mouth, then leaned in close to her to whisper. “Did you suck on it or stick it somewhere?”

Evelyn's face went a little red at the question, so I leaned back and very slowly started to put it down. I saw her disappointment, so I lifted it to my mouth and took a bite. She almost sighed as I did, and I held in my chuckle.

“This is actually pretty tasty.” I said and took another bite. “When's the next time the ship is going to stop there?”

“We've got two stops with a three day layover for unloading cargo at each location, then we stop there for resupply.” Rus said. “It's a week layover there, since we need to unload and load cargo.”

“When's the first jump?” I asked.

“When?” Rus laughed. “We've been in it for about a day so far.”

“What?” I looked at his and then at everyone else's faces. “When did that happen?”

“Wow, he really doesn't know anything.” Cassie said, and I couldn't tell if she was making fun of me or not. “We jumped into hyperspace when we hit the Lagrange point, about thirty minutes after we accelerated out of Ulathall's gravity well.”

“I didn't feel anything.” I said, completely surprised. “Shouldn't I have felt something? I thought we were still in normal space.”

Rus laughed. “There's a reason the ship is called a long haul transport.” He said. “Our jumps take a long time and the transition is like being dipped into a pool of water instead of splashing in like the smaller ships.”

“So, you're saying that if I was on a smaller ship, I would have noticed the change in the flow of Presence?”

“What? No.” Rus said. “The ship would have vibrated slightly when we crossed the barrier into hyperspace. The smaller ships don't have the finesse... or the time... to transition smoothly like a big ship can.”

“Oh.” I said.

“You definitely need to start studying.” Rus said and pointed to my pocket with the new datapad. “I'd suggest starting right away.” He said and stood up, then he dropped his empty food tray into a slot by the buffet table. “The sooner you can pull your own weight around here, the happier you'll be.”

“You mean the happier you'll be, Rus.” Luxea said, and he laughed as he left the galley. She stood up and put her empty tray in the same slot, then walked over to me. “Concentrate on ship operations, mainly the loading and unloading of cargo and operating the equipment.” She said and put a hand on my shoulder. “Remember what I told you.”

I nodded and she left the galley.

“What did she mean?” Evelyn asked and I turned to look at her.

“When I told her that I'm saving myself for someone back on Ulathall, she warned me not to play around or to get involved with anyone, not even her.” I said.

The sound of a food tray as it clattered to the floor got everyone's attention and we all looked over at Cassie.

“Sorry, I missed the slot.” Cassie said with a red face and picked up her tray, then she put it in the slot and didn't say anything else as she quickly walked by the table and left the galley.

“Let me get that for you.” Evelyn said and picked up my tray with hers, then went over to the slot and put the both of them in. “If you have any questions, I'll be in the med-bay on level two.” She said as she walked by the table and left the galley.

“Okay, that was some freaky shit.” Donny said and laughed. “You got all three of them going on the same day! Ha ha!”

“I didn't.” I said. “I don't know why Evelyn's acting that way.”

“I suspect it's because she hasn't had you up to the scanner yet.” Donny said. “She loves that thing.”

“What does it...”

“I almost forgot!” Evelyn said as she came back into the galley. “All new personnel need a full medical checkup to make sure everything's fine.”

“Shouldn't we have done that before leaving the planet?” Rhubin asked.

“There wasn't time.” Evelyn said. “I expect to see you both first thing in the morning.”

“What happens if we fail the tests?” I asked.

“I get to keep you! Ha ha ha!” Evelyn cackled an evil laugh and left.

“Okay, now I understand why you guys were upset when she laughed earlier.” I said to Donny, and he laughed as he put his tray in the slot.

“Good luck, kid.” Donny said and left.

“Should we be scared?” Rhubin asked as we got up to leave as well.

“Only if you've got some kind of contraband shoved somewhere that's going to show up on a full body medical scanner.” I said as he dropped his tray in the slot and we left the galley.

“Thankfully, no.” Rhubin said and grabbed the strap on my back. “I can't say I've never done that, though!”

We both laughed as we jumped into the central shaft's zero gravity and I floated us down to the crew quarters. He went to his bunk and I pulled out the captain's datapad and used Presence to check it over. Now that I had one that I knew wouldn't have been altered by The Order, I took mine out and used Presence to check it. Sure enough, there was a tracking device inside.

I didn't destroy it or even disable it. I copied over the relevant files I needed to the new datapad and tucked the old one back into the shower tray that still had my other things in it. I wanted to check the rest of my items and see what else was altered, then decided that I should take Luxea's advice and studied the ship's operations first. If I was going to become a valuable member of the crew, I needed to know everything I could to help.