Page 1 of Ava Greasemonkey

Chapter 1

“. . . Rotation Two on the deck.” The blaring announcement reverberated through Ava’s room from the overhead intercom, waking her up.

She groaned, rolling over on her small pallet bed.

The rotations happened every four hours, and almost every time they blared she woke up startled and with her ears ringing. There weren’t rotations in the engine room, so why the announcements were blasted down here into this hall made little sense.

The intercom went static, then cut out with a click. Dust motes floated overhead while Ava counted the tiles lining her sleeping quarters.

Rubbing her face, she looked over at her nightstand and wrinkled her nose at the faded, worn picture of a smiling blonde Human.

“Good morning, Joy,” Ava muttered, voice still clogged with sleep.

The faded image stared back with blue eyes and a vibrant smile, silent as always.

Ava put her hand over her stomach as it rumbled. She looked away to grab the com watch she had set down next to the photo.

How long was I out?Ava glanced at the time on the receiver. Six hours had passed, almost half a cycle. She was so tired she must have slept through the previous intercom announcement.

Ava strapped her com watch to her wrist, stood up, and stretched, unable to remember the last time she’d slept that long. She could usually only manage catnaps due to the lack of darkness. The lights never turned off down in the engine hall.

Walking barefoot outside her room, she eyed the control panel of the navigation substation next to her small alcove. It looked exactly the same as when Ava went down for her sleep cycle. Her eyes narrowed, inspecting the thin layer of dust that had settled on it despite the filtration units.

She let out a huff, frustrated.

Ebel’s slacking.The panel hadn’t been touched at all.She spent all day yesterday greasing the gears on the west side of the engine at his request, and he didn’t do any of his assigned work. She didn’t really care if the work got done, but if she needed to do her chores it was only fair Ebel did the same. The clipboard she left on the control panel for him also hadn’t moved from where she placed it over a cycle ago.

Ava picked the clipboard up and flipped through the pages in annoyance. She would need to hand-deliver her notes instead of expecting him to come out to get them.

She stood motionless and silent for a minute, listening to the engine grind overhead. Nothing sounded out of place as the gears slid fluidly on their tracks. Even with the minor repairs neglected, the engine was so well oiled it still ran smoothly.

Ava’s eyes narrowed again as her gaze landed on the biologics, sensing something was off. The tiny creatures lived in a gianttank situated between the two halves of the engine. Bubbles swirled throughout the yellowish-tinted liquid in the tank, but they were moving slower than usual.

Ava felt a flash of anxiety when she realized her mistake. She’d forgotten to feed them before she went to sleep.

No wonder they aren’t moving as fast.Their wellness indicator must be on yellow or red in the control room. Ebel probably wasn’t even looking at the pin pad they communicated to him with in there.

Ava tapped on the thick glass, watching the bubbles follow her hand in their large cylinder container. “I’ll feed you. I’m sorry I forgot.”

The liquid inside swirled around her hand like it understood.

She walked sluggishly into the alcove next to where she slept, cracking her knuckles on the way before pulling out a white bag half full of their powder feed. It was more than she usually put in, but by the way they were moving, they probably could use extra food. Ebel would have to take care of the inventory discrepancy himself if it was off.

Ava slung the bag over her shoulder, holding it steady with one hand while she quickly climbed to the top of the machine. Her bare feet curved to grip the metal holds, making the climb easy. The hatch was at the very top of the shaft, nestled in between the two halves of the giant moving engine. Once put in, the powder would sift down through the liquid at a measured pace.

Ava put down the bag of feed and opened the hatch before she dumped the powder in, seeing it swirl and disintegrate in the yellow tank.

She smiled down at the biologics, fluffing the bag to make sure she emptied it all the way.

“Hullo Ava.”

Ava startled and lost her footing briefly as a voice floated up to her.

She stomped down loudly to regain her balance, the resounding ping echoing through the engine hall. It was a jarring note out of place amongst the engine’s smooth whirring.

The voice from below spoke again. “Sorry, dear. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

The translator implanted in Ava’s ear converted the words into the Common tongue. Ava heard Nuor’s melodic voice first, which sounded like soft bells, followed by the robotic voice that translated the words.

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