Page 57 of Ava Greasemonkey

Ava pulled up the schematics and pictures of the interior of one of the interconnecting domes. It looked like the Phor cargo bay with how it sealed itself off.

She breathed in excitedly, pulse quickening while clicking through the photos. Inspiration hit her. If the outside air was that toxic, couldn’t exposing one of the domes to the air cause chaos?

She zoomed in farther on the seams of the building. She felt frustrated as she looked for anything similar to what she had worked with before to understand the schematics behind the structure. Even though the Phor used engine parts that the Tuxamade and could retrofit, the Phor guarded their technology and used things of their own design, so what the Tuxa had used to construct the domes was not familiar.Dead end.

Vents, though. She searched around for those. If the entire city was domed, they must have filtration vents like this ship did. Ava knew all about vents. Vents were universal. There were only so many ways for filtration to occur.

There.She tapped rapidly on the screen to make it zoom in on the ceiling of one of the interior photos. She then zoomed in on one of the outlet vents. Judging by the metalwork next to it and the way it displaced the edge of the dome, there had to be a large space to move within in that vent. She could fit. She let out a gasp, the screen reflecting her intense face as she got closer. She absolutely could fit.

She traced the vent structure along the ceiling, noting how it moved across and then into the next picture, and the next. Across most of the city, across all the domes. The entire vent system was probably interconnected between all the structures. It had to be so there was no pollution build-up in areas.

And if she was wrong . . . she looked for sewer schematics but came up blank. That was probably underground and not as visible, but as a backup—a very disgusting backup—it could work. There were toilets and running water in places. All those drains had to lead somewhere. She discarded the thought, shuddering.

Ava scrolled back up to the ceiling and roved through the pictures, looking for side panels. Each dome’s filtration system appeared to start on the ceiling and went down through the dome with vent shafts. One main filter unit must rest on the top of every dome. Once she could identify the pattern of the vent system, she realized it was repeated all over the city, with connecting points between each dome’s system.

Looking at an overhead view, her body sagged seeing the sheer scope of how large the city was. There were at least one hundred or so domes. If each one had their own filter unit they probably all shared the load. There would have to be at least some overlap, otherwise one unit being out would contaminate an entire dome if there was no backup.

She slowly formed a plan. If the vent systems weren’t connected, and if she had an oxygen tank, she could probably skip over the roof to the next section if she needed to, but she was almost certain the entire ventilation system was like a giant web, all interconnected.

She probably couldn’t compromise the dome structure itself to let any of the pollution in, but she could mess with the filtration. It definitely could help provide a distraction.

Rhutg, still shining, put his hand on her shoulder, following her thoughts. A grin slid across his face. “Yes, Ava. Yes.”

Ava smiled up at him and then over to Vox, who walked closer to look at the screen.

Vox sighed, resigned, looking at the pictures and where she’d zoomed in. He didn’t say anything, and still wore a pinched expression.

“How would we get her there in the first place?” Erox asked. “The Tuxa are not bright, but they would be aware of transports coming in and out of their space.”

It was Vox who answered, in a passive voice, “You send her in early with some of the Tuxa husks we have here. Have them land on a dome, and Ava will go into the vents before the other Tuxa come to investigate. We can monitor the ship remotely.”

“Won’t that make them question this ship then, when you come?” Ava asked.

“Not all the small transport pods you have on board are Phor made. Some were from contractors when they initially docked that were being held while they were here on assignment,”Rhutg explained, clicking on the feed himself and exploring the ceiling.

Ava remembered the Haroo, now dead, and realized that’s who they probably belonged to. Ava never bothered inspecting the small transport area unless she went off ship with Nuor. If that was the case, then the Tuxa wouldn’t put two and two together that the small Haroo vessels had anything to do with the Phor ship. Provided they didn’t arrive at the same time. Ships had to be coming and going like crazy there every day. She sat back, feeling more solid now that there was a realistic way for her to help. She could do this.

Vox was still glowing blue but seemed defeated. After all of this, she could be bold and ask him to stay with her when she rested this cycle. She doubted he would deny her now. Her stomach clenched in anticipation.

No, he wouldn’t deny me.She glanced at him. He gazed back with an uncertain look. She took his hand. He didn’t resist, and she became certain he would want to spend these next few cycles together as much as she did. Just in case.

Chapter 21

Ava left Rhutg and Erox a while later with Vox to go to the mess hall across from navigation. Her head was spinning with the logistics and plans that were formed, discussed, and agreed on.

By the next cycle, they would be sending Nuor off the ship with the other Phor still present, including Ebel. Before then, Ava would need to talk with Ebel about how to operate the tracking technology that they used when she had gone off ship before with Nuor. She hoped he would understand and cooperate for her to use it on her new mission. The Vorbax were not above taking the information directly from one of the Phor still alive, but there would be no need for that if she could get Ebel to help.

She busied herself and made both herself and Vox a plate from the mess hall synthesizer before running two plates back into navigation for Erox and Rhutg. Vox was already sitting in the mess hall, eating, when she returned. She pulled the chair out next to him and settled down with her own food, near the same booth she’d sat in at the mess hall before the ship changedhands. The stars were luminous here, adding their own light to the stark lighting given off by the ship.

Ava and Vox watched the stars as they ate, both lost in thought for different reasons.

“Will you miss it?” Vox finally asked.

Ava, thinking of the mission, furrowed her brow, confused by the question.

Vox clarified. “The stars. Once everything settles down and you are no longer part of a ship.” He said it so certainly, as if the mission ahead only was a stepping stone to his eventual plan of seeing her away from here.

Ava, nerves jangling, swallowed audibly. She forced the schematics of the mission from her mind to consider the question. If she was free of the ship?

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