Terrestrial Undead

Chapter 6

004 sat alone in the mess hall. Every time she looked at the empty chair across from her, she felt sick. What had 003 gotten themselves into? Life on the Airship wasn't the same without them.
She tried to tell herself that it was 003's own fault. Besides, it was a lot easier to get things done without them around— sort of. There was no chatter, but there was no doubt 003 was a good mechanic; possibly Airship 11's best. Not one but two valves had busted on 004 today, and she was sure the inspectors were starting to notice.
Whatever trouble 003 was in, she was sure it was the Punished's fault. Who knew what thoughts that criminal mind had put into their head? The Captain would see. It would all be alright.
Made a little more easy by the thought, 004 was about to eat when 001's bulk plopped into the seat opposite.
"Fooooouurr," he drawled, "been looking for you. Got news for you, you see."
"What is it, 001?" 004 hated her brother's constant sneer, but they were crew members, and therefore family. Respect for fellow crew members was respect for the Captain.
"You oughta go by the hold tonight on your way to your cabin. Just take a sneak peek inside. There's something you oughta see."
Something about his tone made 004 anxious to end this conversation.
"Thank you, 001."
A tremor in her voice gave her away, and 001 pressed her.
"I want to know you'll go. Give me your word."
"Maybe soon, but I'm really very tired, and it's not right to poke around the Airship. There's no need to go anywhere the Captain doesn't order us to, right?"
To her great relief, 001 hoisted his weight out of the chair again with a grunt. She knew he couldn't argue with that. 004 had the feeling 003 had been right in thinking he had ambitions to be Captain one day. Not unlike someone else she knew, she thought, cheeks burning. Suddenly she only felt like a very light meal (working on an empty stomach was disrespectful to the job) and bed, as soon as possible.
But when she finally fell into her bunk, a churning mind guarded her aching body from sleep. She told herself that it was wrong to listen to 001– nobody listened to 001. But what had he meant? What did he want her to see? Squeezing her eyes shut, she willed herself to sleep. Working tired wouldn't be good for the Airship.

When the 6am whistle blew, however, 004 knew that she would be working tired. Cursing 001 for putting foolish thoughts in her head, she pushed herself off the mattress, vaguely wondering whether it was the mattress creaking in protest or her bones. As she tried to shovel porridge down her throat, a courier trotted briskly up to her.
"Unit 004? Captain's order," they said, passing her a slip of parchment neatly sealed with CA11 encircled in the elliptical outline of the airship's own balloon. 004 quietly thrilled at it every time she saw it. It was enough to awaken her groggy brain. Typed below it were the words:
'CAPTAIN'S ORDER: UNIT 004 TO TAKE PRISONER FEEDING DUTIES FORTHWITH. ONE ALLOCATED RATION TO THE HOLD PER DAY. SUBTLETY REQUIRED, DUE TO POSSIBLE CREW ALARM.'
All the uneasy queasiness of the night before came back to her in full force. The hold— precisely where 001 had told her to go. No doubt he had had these duties foisted upon her, meaning not only was this something significant enough for 001 to use his brain to get what he wanted; he clearly held more sway with the Captain than 004 ever would have guessed. She tried not to doubt her mother. After all, 001 was still her son, she reminded herself. She decided to get this over with as quickly as possible, and headed past the kitchen to pick up the meagre portion.
As 004 neared the hold, she grew paler with every step, and when she slid open the chute in the door, her suspicions were confirmed.
"004!"
003's face lit up in the gloom when they saw her. They were attached to the wall by a hefty shackle.
"What the hell have you done, 003?"
"Gotten myself in so deep it's only a matter of time before I'm finding new sea creatures. Listen," she whispered urgently, " There are tools I need, and nobody else but you will help us."
"Us?"
004 looked around. Sure enough, 009 was strapped up and looking back at her. She inclined her head the same as she had before. 004 took a breath to steady herself.
"You know I can't do that unless the Captain orders it. I'm sure this will all be over soon, just try and stay safe until—"
"No, no, no," 003 interrupted. "Things don't go back to normal after this. They're going to annihilate 009! And replace her with me."
She struggled to reply as she tried to amalgamate the Captain always knowing what was best, and The same person  decreeing her best friend to be Punished.
"There must be some mistake," she finally managed to blurt. "You can't have done anything that bad. The Captain wouldn't allow it unless you had."
"The way she was talking when she had me thrown in here leaves me no choice but to believe it," 003 mourned.
004 couldn't take it any more, and three caution to the winds.
"It's that Punished's fault, isn't it? They took advantage of you, made you confer with the enemy somehow. Don't worry, she's bound up, you can tell me!"
"You don't understand—"
"Whatever thoughts she's put into your head, don't believe them! I can fix everything, I'm sure!"
"004!"
"Stop, please!"
A third, automated voice piped up, silencing them both.
"I understand your thinking, 004," 009 said, quietly. "I know how you're supposed to treat me. But whether you're wrong or right, 003 still needs tools to save themselves. I'm defect, remember?"
004 nodded, stunned.
"And what does defect mean?"
"A malfunction..." 004 began suspiciously.
"Right. And who better to deal with a malfunction than a mechanic?"
As much as 004 tried to drown out the voice inside her head telling her 009's argument was making sense, it would not be silenced. Logic was a good crew member's compass. 003 seemed to sense she was thinking it over, and pounced.
"I can fix her, I promise. How is she going to stop me? She's bound, like you said."
"And if you fix the defect... you'll prove you're not in league with them."
"So, will you get me the tools?"
Again, 004 had to assess the situation. It would be wrong to go behind the Captains back... but what if 001 had her under his thumb? He'd already proved he had some influence, and if his condemnation of a good mechanic was out of line, helping 003 had to be best for the Airship. That's what a Captain did; what was best for the Airship.
"Alright. What do you need?"