adventures in vents

Darcy fiddled with the controller, watching intently out the window as the little spider droid skittered around fixing the wing. She craned her neck to get a better view of where the damage was, typing in code to tell the spider how to fix it. While it worked, her eyes drifted back to the view. The engine room didn’t have the most impressive window but it was impressive enough. It was hard to believe she was really here, in space, leaving Onius-1 behind. It was all she’d ever wanted, even if the circumstances weren’t exactly what she’d imagined.

Darcy returned her attention to the spider, watching as it finished with the panel. She pressed a button that summoned it back inside the ship, and she couldn’t totally suppress a tiny smile at the way it sat there. It was like a puppy. She pushed another button that sent it scurrying up into its little nook. She leaned forward slightly to look at it more closely. It reminded her of that first little bot she had tinkered with when she’d snuck into the mechanic garage, though the spider was of a more advanced design than the little cleaning droid.

“He’s…impressive,” she said, a little begrudgingly. “And kind of cute.”

Miles seemed startled over in the dark corner he was lurking in. “Oh. Well, uh, thanks,” he said uncertainly.

“I have a lot of my own tools,” Darcy said, straightening to her full, unimpressive height and doing her best “all business” voice. “Where do you want me to keep them?”

“Oh. Well, you can keep them here by the other toolbox, if you want.”

Darcy hesitated, eyeing the spot he’d indicated. She didn’t know if she wanted to keep her stuff so close to the other tools. She was used to sharing her workspace, but for all she knew he resented Daniel just bringing her onboard and dumping her here in Miles’s territory. She didn’t want another situation like the one she’d had with Jesse and Mr. Grady. She decided she could store her stuff there for now, and move it later if she felt like she was starting to be too in the way.

Darcy scooped up her neatly organized little toolbox and set it up on the shelf next to the other one. Then she cut a quick glance at Miles, wondering if he’d get on her case for snooping if she looked around. He seemed occupied with something else, so she proceeded to nose around the engine room and acquaint herself with where things were and what kind of equipment they had on board.

It was an Osprey Class ship, though it seemed like a lot of the parts had been replaced over the years; many of them weren’t original and some weren’t even technically for the Osprey style of ship. She thought about the amount of damage the power converter had taken and wondered what exactly what kind of shenanigans these guys got into. She wasn’t going to ask though; being nosy wasn’t going to do her any favors. She was lucky they had let her come along at all.

Once she’d finished her little inspection of the engine room, Miles cleared his throat and she tensed slightly.

“Did Daniel show you where anything is on the ship, or did he just drop you off down here?”

“He doesn’t strike me as the tour guide type,” Darcy replied, and Miles sighed.

“I can just learn my way around myself,” Darcy said quickly, thinking he was annoyed at being stuck with her.

“No, you don’t have to do that. Daniel should just…not be so Daniel. Come on, we need to get you a room too.”

Darcy picked up her rucksack and followed after him, trying to commit the tour to memory so she wouldn’t need to ask anyone for directions or help later.

“This is where the kitchen and dining room is,” Miles said, gesturing to a large door when they passed it. “And the sleeping quarters are around here.”

Darcy started to round the corner and smacked into someone, bouncing back and almost falling. She caught her balance and warily eyed the big guy she’d just run into. He chuckled slightly.

“I almost didn’t believe Daniel when he said he was bringing the girl onboard.”

“Well no one warned me there was a lumbering behemoth roaming the halls,” Darcy muttered, rubbing her nose.

“Darcy, this is Logan,” Miles said. “He’s one of our weapons guys.”

“Hi,” she said and Logan stuck out a hand. Darcy shook it, trying not to grimace when she felt like her hand was going to break. She just stubbornly stared back at him.

“Nice to meet you, Darcy,” he said, looking amused as he walked away. Miles rolled his eyes and Darcy flexed her hand.

“Sorry about him,” Miles said. “He enjoys throwing his weight around. Literally.”

“I’ve met worse,” Darcy said simply, readjusting her bag on her shoulder. Miles’s eyes flicked to the bruise that had become visible when her jacket collar pulled to the side as she shifted. She straightened the collar out quickly.

“You said the rooms are this way?” she asked.

“Yeah. Thankfully we have one that’s free. These guys are kind of divas and need their own rooms, but this ship could technically have a slightly larger crew, so this room here at the end is unoccupied.”

He pressed a button and the door slid open. It wasn’t anything fancy, but frankly the room was nicer than her creaky studio apartment had been back on Onius-1.

“You can program in a four digit code to lock and unlock the door,” Miles explained, gesturing to the keypad on the wall by the door. “There’s a bathroom attached, through that door there. You can get settled and then come down to the engine room in the morning. And feel free to raid the kitchen whenever you feel like it. We don’t exactly do scheduled meal time around here.”

“Yeah. Okay. Um, thanks,” Darcy mumbled. He gave her a tentative smile and left her to get settled in. Darcy went to the keypad and programmed in her unlock code, then went into the little bathroom to wash her face and hands. They didn’t really look like mechanic’s hands; Darcy made sure of that after kids from the orphanage had made fun of her for having grease smudged under her nails. Now she obsessively lotioned her hands and buffed her nails.

She took her hair down out of its braid and took her things out of her bag, setting her lotion on the tiny nightstand and putting her clothes and pajamas into the dresser. Lastly she pulled out the faded pink bunny with little moons and stars embroidered on its ears and tummy. She’d found it by the side of the road once when she was a kid. She’d felt a sort of kinship with the stuffed animal; no one had wanted her either. She’d cleaned it up and it lived on her nightstand now.

Darcy sighed and flopped across the bed, staring out the small window and propping the bunny against the wall.

“Well, Starbunny. We finally made it.”