Samira

“Alright, now check each of the lines one last time. If they’re still clear, then come back down and we can start installing the core,” I shouted up to Aurora, before taking a step back to let her down off the reactor.

“Where did you learn to do all this?” Suriel asked, and I actually had to think about it for a moment before answering.

“I think Ksen was the one who taught me. They used to handle all the shield upgrades on Mother’s ships. Although, now that I think about it, it might have been their apprentice. I don’t remember her name, but in my defense, she died like twelve years ago, and I didn’t know her that well.”

“Twelve years ago?” Suriel gave me a confused look, and I did the math again before nodding.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s been about twelve years, but don’t worry, this isn’t something that’s easy to forget. Besides, I unofficially took over most of the shield maintenance after Mother punished Ksen and they couldn’t do it anymore, then I kept doing it for Teolix while I was working for him. Although, he really didn’t need starship work done very often. Most of his business was planetside. Same principle, though, just less power to worry about.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to question your qualifications. It was just the number of years that surprised me. I’m not very good at judging mortal ages, and I assumed you were younger based on your appearance.”

“Don’t worry about it. Most people think I’m younger than I actually am. It’s one of the side effects of growing up eating table scraps. I’m actually like twenty or something, but if you want an exact age, you’ll have to ask Sora. They’re the one that likes to keep track of it.”

Suriel seemed like he wanted to ask me more questions, but Aurora jumped down from the reactor before he could. “Holy shit, there has to be an easier way to do that.”

“Sure, if you don’t force the ship to run on emergency power for a week straight, then you can use the console. As it is, we’re lucky to still have life support. A few more days and we’d be breathing aether right about now.”

“Fair,” Aurora chuckled as she looked around the reactor room. “So, what’s next? Time to power it up?”

“No, we need to install the nav-core while the power is still off.” I reached into the leather satchel Sora gave me and pulled out the small orb. The blue light from within it tickled the palm of my hand, and I smiled as my mind went back to Thea’s explanation about how souls interact. “Come on, it’s just over here.” I started walking back towards the corridors as I continued to explain. “Suriel, you’ll need to have one of these enchanted for you before you leave Paradise. But I’d recommend having a new core created from scratch instead of using the one Leila negotiated from Ulyd. A used core will technically still work just as good, but it leaves echoes of its last owner. I’ve been told that it can get weird.”

“Was Sora’s core used?” Aurora asked, and I shook my head.

“No, we stole a new one from the parts storage in Mother’s compound. A perk of working for a lazy mechanic is that they’ll give you their access codes to keep you from bugging them every time you need to swap out a tool. Here, pull open that panel. It’s a safe that’s normally magnetically locked.”

“Is that why we needed to wait to restore the power?” Aurora asked as she squatted down to open the panel, and I knelt down across from her.

“Yeah, it’s a security precaution to stop people from messing with the core while it's plugged in. Which can be dangerous for the navigator, and deadly for the idiot who tries. Make sure you pay attention to how I’m doing this. I’ll walk you through installing Suriel’s core once we get to it, but seeing it first will probably help.”

I narrated what I was doing while installing the core, and once it was done, I stood up to stretch my back with a smile. “See? It’s not too bad. Just make sure you space the connectors out evenly. Otherwise, it can give the navigator phantom sensations, and they’ll complain non-stop until you fix it.”

“Samira, thank you for doing all of this for us,” Suriel interrupted. “Not just for teaching Aurora, but also for the mechanical work on our ship. It has been truly invaluable.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re Thea’s family. I would’ve done it even if the captain hadn’t asked me to.” I smiled at him before looking over at Aurora. “Plus, it’s kind of nice having someone around who does what I ask without second-guessing everything.”

She shrugged with a half-grin. “Sora threatened me. Well, Thea did too, but it was their threat that really struck home. I don’t care if I have a brother who can heal everything up to and including death. I’m going to do whatever I can to stay on Sora’s good side.”

I shook my head with a grin. “Sora may act tough, but they’re a big softie. I mean, Thea gave them that nickname for a reason.”

“Dear gods, Suriel, she actually believes that. Is her brain broken? Can you fix it?”

“Sorry, but I think this one is beyond my ability. Maybe if we had made it to her sooner.”

I rolled my eyes as I turned to leave. “Come on, I’ll let you both flip the switch on the reactor if you promise to stop talking.”

“Did you hear that, Aurora? We get to flip the switch.” Suriel actually sounded giddy as they followed me to the reactor room.

“Really? I’ve always wanted to flip a switch. Do you think she’ll let us turn some knobs, too? Maybe even adjust some of those little slider thingies?”

“Absolutely not. Neither of you are allowed to touch my settings, and if I hear any complaints about it, then I’m telling Sora that you didn’t listen to me.”

~~~~~

“Sora, are you dressed in there?” I banged on their door again, and it finally opened to reveal them sitting on the edge of the bed with Ithnaa standing on the other side of the room. Thankfully, they were fully clothed, but the atmosphere was gloomy enough that even I couldn’t ignore it.

“Hey, Sami.” Sora half-grinned at me before continuing with a frown. “I need to apologize to you. Well, and everyone else, but especially you.”

“Yeah, I forgive you. Are you going to come out now? The captain locked herself in the observation room and Thea is really worried about her.”

“Samira, don’t you understand? It was my fault. All of it. Just because I didn’t want to stay behind on the ship while Bryce and Thea handled everything.” They shook their head as they scoffed. “Even then, it would have been perfectly fine if I had an ounce of self-control, but no! You were almost handed over to Mother, just because I had to spend the night drinking with a fucking syndicate officer.”

“Sora, how long would I have lasted without you?” I asked, and they gave me a confused look. “Seriously, how long? Like since the beginning, all the way back to when we first met in Mother’s compound.”

“I don’t know.”

“Then let me rephrase the question. Eight years ago, the night my father died, what would have happened if Mother had sent anybody else to my bedroom?”

“Sami, that’s—”

“Alright, let’s assume for a moment that whoever Mother sent made exactly the same choices as you and I survived the night. Who else would have spent the next two years risking their life just to make sure I didn’t starve to death?”

“None of that matters if you end up right back in Mother’s compound because of me.”

“Okay, sure, you made a dumb mistake. But so what? You make stupid mistakes all the time. Hells, most of those mistakes saved my life.” I had to stop myself from laughing as I continued the tirade. “If you had even half a brain, then you would have just killed me like Mother ordered, then spent the rest of your life living in a literal palace drinking, smoking, and fucking until your heart gave out. So, seriously, please keep making mistakes, then just apologize for the really bad ones, and move on. I’m going to forgive you every time.”

Sora stood from the bed and did their best to crush me in a massive hug. “Thank you, Sami.”

“You’re welcome.” I held onto them as best as I could manage before eventually breaking the embrace. “Now, will you come help us deal with the captain? Or at the very least, help us calm down Thea?”

“Sure, let’s find out what our fearless leader has gotten herself into this time. Ithnaa, you coming?”

“I’ll leave dealing with Captain Virra to her crew. Interpersonal issues are a little out of my depth, I think.”

“Bullshit.” Sora gave her a skeptical look. “You tried to protect us when you should have just teleported away. Anyone dumb enough to make that choice is definitely a member of the crew. Besides, it’s not like you can go back to ruling your sector now that Mother knows you’re a traitor. You may as well just stick with us.”

“You got me there,” Ithnaa chuckled. “I guess I better get used to serving under a mortal.”

“Bryce isn’t a mortal anymore,” Thea declared from outside the door.

“I asked you to wait outside.” I spun around to glare at her.

“I am outside. Besides, Softie said they were sorry, you forgave them like a million times, then you both hugged and now Ithnaa knows she’s a part of the crew. What else is there to wait for?”

“She kind of has a point,” Sora said, and I growled at them.

“It doesn’t matter if she has a point. She didn’t listen to me.”

“What did you mean Bryce isn’t a mortal anymore?” Ithnaa asked before anyone else could argue with me.

“The ‘how’ is a little complicated and kind of what I’m worried about right now, but basically, she became a divine candidate while we were in the lower planes. Which I’m pretty sure means she’s not technically a mortal anymore, but she’s also not a god yet. It can kinda go either way, and it’s starting to look like neither are very good options right now.”

Ithnaa shook her head. “That’s not possible. I would have noticed if Bryce had become a candidate.”

“She’s been hiding it under a concealment spell whenever it’s not useful,” Sora explained. “She pulled it out during the mission to rescue you, but hid it again after we found an officer willing to surrender.”

“I'm not even going to pretend to be surprised anymore. Do you know which mantle chose her?” Ithnaa asked, but the captain hadn’t told us, so we all turned to Thea. She immediately started shifting nervously.

“That’s… complicated. Maybe we should go talk to her about it.”

“Works for me.” Sora shrugged before walking past us into the hall. “She’s just reading right now. I’ll unlock the door.”