Iapetus Shift

Chapter 7

When the turbulence from exiting the atmosphere finally died down, Olan unstrapped himself and stood from the chair he'd been shoved into by some bulky member of the crew. He saw Estha and Resa doing the same nearby.

He took his first look at his surroundings, rows of stacked crates full of presumably illegal goods. There was very little room for movement; Estha and Resa had to squeeze between crates to get to him.

"Hey, ah . . . Kester," said Estha, pulling back from what was about to be a hug. "We're mostly all set for the trip."

"Mostly?" said Olan, stretching his arms above his head.

"Well, we're on our way to Titan, we'll have to find our way to Iapetus from there."

"It's okay," said Resa, smiling at Estha.

"What?"

"You don't have to pretend, I know."

Estha arched an eyebrow at Olan.

Olan shrugged. "She knew right away that I wasn't Kester." The woman's dark eyes seemed to absorb everything; what did Artemis want with her?

"Well, that's nice," said Estha with a wary glance toward Resa. "But let's not go talking about who is or isn't who in front of the crew, alright? Speaking of, you should meet the captain. Best not to be strangers to your hosts."

As Olan followed her past the containers, he saw that they all had the same logo stamped on them—the symbol for SedTec. He made a mental note to find out what was in those crates.

They ducked through a portal out of the cargo bay and into a cramped mess hall with two sets of tables and chairs. Three people sat at one, scraping the remains of a meal off of their plates.

A bug-eyed woman with close-cropped hair and a big mouth looked up at them. "What do you want?"

"Captain Raasad, is he—" Estha started.

"Talk to him on the bridge," snapped the woman. "Don't bother him in his room."

"So . . . where is he?" said Estha.

One of the woman's companions, a bulky man with a head of tangled dreadlocks, looked up at them, snorted, then returned to his plate. The tall man with a square face and wavy brown hair smiled at them. "You may talk to the captain on the bridge if you must," he said.

Estha smiled back. "Thank you."

Olan had time to note that the big guy was the only one armed, then Estha tugged him down another hallway.

The bridge was as small and cramped as the rest of the ship. It was covered with panels showing readouts and various UI's that Olan couldn't identify. Two seats took up most of the standing room, so Olan and Estha stood crowded in the entryway with Resa behind them. One of the chairs swiveled around to reveal a brown-skinned man with a dark goatee and shaved head. A bright, white scar slashed horizontally across his cheekbone, just below his left eye.

"My passengers," he said, smiling a clean, straight smile. "I'm Captain Arit Raasad, if you did not already know." He shook their hands, then turned to the man in the other chair. "This is my talented pilot, Adya." A man with a mop of blond, curly hair and black-lensed eyes that didn't even try to appear natural gave a half-hearted wave and turned back to the controls.

Estha waved, even though the man wasn't looking anymore. "We just wanted to meet you," she said to Raasad. "And find out where our room is."

"Of course." He gave a small nod. "Follow me."