Oh, he had deliberately built her a nest on the bunk. How cute! Humans were so rare most individuals she met had never seen one of her kind before; although this was the first time she’d been mistaken for an avian nest-building species. He couldn't have known what kind of arrangement she liked to sleep in. He made a guess and the sincere effort was adorable.
It was too bad she was going to have to turn him in.
“I’d like to look at your wounds,” he said, pointing to her arm.
She only vaguely remembered swallowing an entire vial of medication and him treating her arm. Curious to see what he’d done, she tugged up her sleeve. He’d done a good job! The dressing was tight enough to stay but not so tight it cut off circulation.
“I know it hurts, but if you hold still, I’ll unwrap and redress it,” he said.
“Sure, thanks,” she agreed, holding her arm out. He unwrapped the dressing with gentle care. When he was finished, she took a close look at the puncture.
“I don’t see any signs of infection,” he murmured. “But I’m going to use more gel.”
“Yes!” she agreed. With the wrap off, the puncture was really starting to throb. The gel had analgesic qualities and would help with some of the pain.
He pulled an old med box close and popped it open. He rifled through it and pulled out a new wrap and packet of gel. He was quick, and almost as soon as the gel was applied the pain eased.
She let out a sigh of relief. “That feels a lot better.”
He started to do that purring thing again. It was a nice, comforting sound.
“Can I do the same thing to your leg?”
Her leg wasn’t hurting at all so she’d forgotten about it. Curious, she lifted her leg and tugged up the pants. All the skin patches were in place and looked clean. That was surprising! Considering the difficult time Jacks had making any of the old patches work, it was amazing they looked so good.
Wait, these patches were a slightly different shape than the ones Jacks had.
“Did you replace these?” she asked.
Zeph was leaning in close, staring at the patches. “Yes. The old ones were mostly falling off, and you’d started bleeding again.”
That’s why she’d thought she was being stung by bugs!
“You did a great job,” she complimented, letting go of the pants and dropping her foot back to the floor.
“Hopefully these will stay, because we’re out of supplies now. You need to see a real med tech.”
“Yeah, about that,” she said. “Where are we going anyway?”
“You’re amazingly calm,” he noted. “You wake up on a strange ship and asked me about our destination as if you’re not overly concerned.”
“I travel a lot for work, and sometimes I save money by catching rides on random ships.” She wasn’t completely lying, but she was definitely not telling the entire truth. Unfortunately, she was going to have to dip into the realm of complete fabrication next. “I don’t know why those two guys decided to attack me, but I’m glad you were there to get me out. I’m sure I can find my way from wherever you’re going next.”
She hoped he’d name a station with a broker office. Otherwise getting him back to Filsin was going to be a challenge.
“I didn’t know humans could be so resourceful," he said. For some reason, that didn’t sound like a compliment, but she kept her mouth shut. “I have things to pick up on Yormun; we’ll be there in two rotations. I’m sorry, but I can’t return to Filsin Station.”
She chuckled, thinking of how pissed Maslo was going to be when he saw the vid captures of the fight. “Neither can I.”
“Why not?”
“I bet I’m in trouble for starting a fight,” she said. “I think I’m at the maximum number of incidents allowed there.”
The same angry buzzing sound came out of Zeph like the two Talins from Filsin. “You didn’t start a fight, you were attacked!”
“Hey, it’s okay,” she said, reaching out to rest a hand on his shoulder. “I’m used to dealing with trouble.”
“No!” he said with another angry sound. How did these guys make those sounds? “You’re a human. You’re small and delicate. They never should’ve treated you like that. It’s deplorable! They call me dishonorable and then send men like that after me. How dare—” he suddenly stopped talking.
