Vai

"Before I went to Mazax VIII," Owen said, "she came to me in my room. She told me to look for more ruins with that writing on it, but I didn't see any. I made sure my volo got a good recording though in case I missed anything. I thought she'd come back to my room last night to get the recordings, but she didn't."

"Maybe she'll come back tonight," I said. "Should we report her?"

"No," Owen said.

"Yes," Warpaint said.

"Don't report her," I said to Warpaint. "Don't tell my father. Not until we can figure her out first."

"I need to talk to her," Owen said.

"Yes. We need to know what she knows. Why does she think there are other aliens. Dangerous aliens. Warpaint do you know of any other aliens?"

"No, sir."

"Maybe the dangerous aliens are onboard," Owen said. "Maybe they kidnapped Officer Hansi."

"Maybe," I said. I couldn't help but remember the pink glint I thought I had seen in Officer Hansi's eyes. I thought about mentioning it to Owen and my own painful experience with zek. Instead I said, "How would they evade the surveillance though? How would they have hidden themselves this entire time from the Gathering."

"We need to ask her," Owen said. "Do you want to sleepover at my place in case she shows up tonight?"

"Warpaint and I might scare her off if she sees us. Instead of being there physically, maybe we could just leave a call open between us and you mute me. That way I can hear what's happening on your end, but she won't detect me listening in."

"That could work," Owen said. "Let's try it."

"Shel and Minmin want us to give them an update."

"Okay, you call them first and tell them. Maybe they'll have more insight."

"Okay." I put in a call connecting both Minmin and Shel. Only Shel answered, but Minmin was next to him. They appeared to be in the arboretum on the Armstrong.

"Friends," Owen said beside me, "you're not eating the fish are you? They are there only for aesthetic reasons."

"I'm not eating the fish," Shel said.

"Are you on a date then?" Owen asked.

"We already told you we aren't dating," Minmin said. "Stop trying to make things weird between us."

Owen held up a hand. "Okay, okay. That wasn't my intention."

I relayed to them what Owen remembered and our plans for that night.

"Will that work, though?" Shel asked. "I thought her voice wasn't picked up on your volo recordings or on the surveillance. It probably won't be picked up over the call either."

Owen and I both paused.

"That's true," I finally said.

There was another pause.

"I could repeat everything she says," Owen said.

"That might seem suspicious though," I said.

"He could try," Minmin said. "If it seems weird or like she is becoming suspicious, Owen can stop and then relay to us later what he said."

"I'll try that," Owen said.

"Okay," I said.

"Any more on that missing officer?" Shel asked.

"No," I said.

"Let us know tomorrow how it goes," Shel said. He ended the call.

"We have some time. Do you want to go to the pool and go swimming?" Owen asked me.

"Sure," I said.

*

I hadn't been to the pool on the Shadow before now. It connected to the gym, but I had only come to the gym.

"Very good, sir," Warpaint shouted at the side of the pool. Luckily Owen and I were the only ones in the pool or I would have been even more embarrassed.

"Chop that water," Warpaint continued. "Chop it with your arms and legs, thus propelling yourself forward through the liquid!"

I turned onto my back with a languid kick. "Shut up."

"I am trying to be encouraging."

"Who told you to do that?"

"No one did. I thought of it myself."

"Well knock it off," I said. "It's weird. I'm trying to swim, here."

"Trying and succeeding sir. Rather admirably."

"I said stop encouraging me."

"But sir," he reasoned, "the standard psychological profile of a male Human suggests that your kind thrives under conditions of positive feedback. The seed that is watered with the water of positivity is the seed that -- "

"You can encourage me," Owen interjected.

Warpaint went silent. I nodded towards Owen as Warpaint watched me.

"Yes, young sir," Warpaint said to Owen. "You are also succeeding in swimming."

"Yeah," Owen said, "not quite what I wanted."

"Your little limbs must work twice as hard as Vai's even though he is an elder. Am I doing a good job encouraging the young one?" Warpaint asked me.

"You don't need to encourage me," Owen said. "It just feels weird."

"It does, doesn't it?" I said. Two humans - both female - and a Starwatcher entered the pool area. I recognized the Starwatcher as Dr. Rags. They hadn't noticed us yet. I don't think they expected anyone to be at the pool at that time of day. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so open with their conversation. Their voices echoed in that weird way it does in an empty pool facility.

"The surveillance doesn't show anyone taking the sedatives. They are just gone," one of the humans said.

They entered the opposite end of the pool.

"Maybe the supplies were miscounted originally," Dr. Rags said. "But I doubt it. I double counted the supplies myself."

"Don't get too close to the elder," Warpaint said to the group.

They looked at him strangely, but then noticed me and Owen.

"Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa's son," Dr. Rags said. He swam towards me a little ways, until he saw Warpaint move closer to me. Then he stopped where he was. "Are you feeling all better?" he asked across the water.

"Yes," I replied. "I guess we should go," I said to Owen. "Let them swim without Warpaint watching them."

"Yes," Owen agreed. He pulled himself out of the water.

"Excellently done, young one," Warpaint said to him.

"You really don't need to encourage me anymore," Owen said.

Warpaint looked to me for confirmation. I thought about telling Warpaint to continue with the encouragements, but in the end I said, "Yes, that's enough for now, Warpaint."

"Yes, sir."

I waved to Dr. Rags as we left, but he wasn't paying attention to me. He was back speaking with the humans. I probably wasn't supposed to have overheard about the missing sedatives. Maybe the strange girl had taken the sedatives. That would explain why no one showed up on the surveillance. But why would she take them? I thought about mentioning it to Owen, but if he mentioned it to the girl and she did take them, I was afraid it would turn her completely against us. Owen and I didn't say much as we made our way back down to the 6th level where we parted ways.

*

I called him an hour before midnight just as planned. His projection was already in bed.

"What time did she show up last time?" I asked.

"After 1:00. Are you a heavy sleeper? Will you hear her when she and I start talking?"

"I'm not a heavy sleeper," I said. "Do you snore? I might not be able to sleep at all if you snore."

"I don't snore," Owen said. "I think."

"Let's try to sleep then," I said. "She won't show up if we're talking to each other."

Owen muted me. It didn't take long until his breathing was deep and steady. It took me longer to sleep. It was weird to have the call open. It was a little easier knowing Owen couldn't actually hear me.

"You startled me." Owen's voice woke me up.

I opened my mouth to respond, but remembered I had been muted and Owen wasn't speaking to me.

There was a pause before Owen said, "Yes. I have the recordings. I didn't see any writings though."

There was another pause. I assumed the girl was speaking. I wondered how she hid her voice. Owen was still projected through my volo, but there was no girl.

"Of course you can have a copy of the recordings. I think you are going to be disappointed though. What is special about those recordings?"

Silence.

"I know I'm not supposed to ask questions, but how else are we going to get close, friend? You know me, shouldn't I know you too? Like what is your name? No don't make me forget." His hands covered his forehead. "Aren't you all alone? Don't you need help? A friend? I can help you. My friend, Vai, he can help you too. There isn't any harm in just telling me your name."

Pause.

"Esther is a pretty name. Where are you from, Esther?" His hands had started to retreat from his forehead, but he immediately brought them back up after his last question. "That's okay. I don't need to know where you are from. We all have secrets right?"

Silence.

"Don't go yet," Owen said. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but I remembered what you told me that day about dangerous aliens."

Pause.

Owen sat up in his bed. His arms rested at his sides. "Impossible or not, I remember. Are they aliens that the Gathering don't know about? Shouldn't you warn them? You heard the ship wide announcement about Officer Hansi didn't you? Maybe the aliens took him."

Silence.

Owen's hands shot up over his forehead. "Don't make me forget. I'm on your side, Esther."

There was another long pause and then Owen sighed out. His hands dropped to his sides. He unmuted me.

"Did you hear all that?" he asked me.

"Only your side of the conversation, but I think I got it. She didn't make you forget again."

"No. She reacted strangely when I mentioned Officer Hansi. I think...I actually wondered earlier, but didn't want to bring it up, but I think she took Officer Hansi."

"I've wondered if she took him too. Especially after we overheard Dr. Rags talk about the missing sedatives."

"But why would she take him?" Owen asked.

"Sir," Warpaint interjected, "it is way passed your bedtime. It is important at your age to get the proper amount of sleep." He tried to push me to lie back down on the bed. I hadn't realized I had sat up until then.

I complied, but said to Owen, "I think we need to find her and Officer Hansi before security, Owen. Can you get the maintenance access codes?"

"I will do my best."

"Sir, I really must insist that you sleep."

"Fine, Warpaint. Let's end the call now Owen, I'll talk to you tomorrow."