Page 2 of Ava Greasemonkey

“Ah, Nuor!” Ava yelled over the railing. “One second, I’ll be right down after I finish with the biologics.” Her fingers worked quickly to refasten the hatch before she swung over to the side of the platform and descended. She grinned at Nuor as she went.

Nuor’s beaklike face smiled up at her, her large aqua eyes sparkling with good humor. Her multicolored feathered tresses were tucked into the same kind of jumpsuit Ava wore. Unlike Ava’s, hers was neatly pressed and not covered in grease stains.

Ava skipped the last few rungs on the ladder and reached the ground with a jump. “Is it time for your nav report already?”

“Ah, yesss.” The translator extended thesrobotically in an attempt to convey Nuor’s emphasis.

Nuor motioned to the dusty navigation system that Ava had been glaring at earlier. “I can see that this thing hasn’t been touched since the last time I was down here.”

Ava nodded her agreement as Nuor walked over to the control panel and moved Ava’s clipboard aside before taking the protective cover off to check the calibrations.

Nuor glanced up from the control pad, eyes gentle. “What have you and Ebel been up to since I’ve been gone?”

Ava shrugged, spreading her arms out wide to motion at the engine. This was her life most days. “Not much happening here. Ebel has been watching the Boxhi tournament for the last few cycles, so not much work has been done on his end.”

“Oh yes, that.” Nuor rolled her eyes. “Men of every species are the same with their sports.”

Ava snorted her agreement and tossed the empty feed bag back into the storage alcove, then sat on the ladder in front of the biologics tank.

Nuor looked back down at the navigation panel, frowning, and shook her feathered head. “Tell you what, after I am done with this, let’s go to the solarium for a few minutes. I need the sun and you look pretty peaky for a Human.” She stretched her feathers on her arm out in front of Ava. “Look at the dull color. We haven’t gotten off this ship in forever to get some actual sun.”

“Yes, let’s go, but you’re beautiful as always,” Ava reassured her quickly as she glanced at Nuor’s feathers. Nuor was not as vibrant as she usually was, but Ava would never tell her that.

She leaned heavily on the ladder to wait for Nuor to be done, her bare feet dangling. A yawn came involuntarily.

The liquid inside the tank next to her moved vigorously from the biologics attacking the powder. Ava watched it and absently patted the glass while Nuor clicked away.

Bubbles popped underwater as the biologics swirled faster and faster. They looked so much more lively now. Where her fingers met the tank, the bubbles swirled and popped, giving the impression the biologics were following her hand.

Ava smiled and moved her hand across the glass surface, watching them keep up with her movements. She let out a soft giggle when she moved fast and they couldn’t follow.

She felt a little guilty about not doing her own chores, but glanced every now and again toward the control room where Ebel always sat. A blue light shone from underneath that closed doorway, shadows flickering. If he wasn’t doing any work, she felt no pressure to start on the tasks she needed to do either.

“Let’s go.” Nuor motioned with her hand after the reports were signed and dated. She put the protective cover back on the panel before turning to walk toward the exit.

Nuor looked back at Ava once she realized she was walking alone. “C’mon, Ava. Ebel doesn’t care.”

Nuor was probably right. Besides, Ebel could message her if he really needed her for something. It wasn’t like she was able to go too far on a ship like this.

Ava jumped down from the ladder, her feet slapping on the ground. After slipping on her worn sandals and grabbing a water bottle, Ava ran to catch up with Nuor, carefully avoiding stepping on Nuor’s trailing tail feathers.

Chapter 2

Ava skipped down the hall to keep up with Nuor’s faster gait. The ship,R526, was moderate in size with a cumbersome layout. It was a cargo transport ship, so not many areas were available for leisure. Actually, there were only two: the mess hall and the solarium.

They entered the solarium and Ava let out a sigh.I love coming here.She grinned at Nuor as they moved from the metal hallway onto the soft dirt.

She took off her sandals at the entrance to curl her feet in the dirt and grass, relishing the sensation. The artificial sun felt warm on her skin compared to the track lighting in the hallway.

The rest of the ship felt sterile in comparison to the solarium. Here it almost felt like they were on an actual world. The artificial sun kept various plants and flowers alive, along with a little pond with a waterfall running off into a tiny stream.

Sometimes, with her eyes closed, Ava could pretend she was someplace else.

The only thing missing were some small animals like they had on her nature feeds. If it was Ava’s call to make, she would have put more life here to watch and observe. It was pretty, but the lack of any little creatures made it feel sterile.

Nuor spread out on a bare patch of ground like a solar cell soaking up the sun’s rays, not holding back in making herself comfortable by sprawling out.

Ava mimicked her, lying on her back with her arms behind her head like a pillow. She took her black hair out of its bun and let it trail behind her on the ground, sinking into the grass.

---