Page 20 of Ava Greasemonkey

She grabbed her eye mask to blot out the lights she couldn’t turn out and put it on over her eyes. Despite thinking she wouldn’t be able to sleep for some time, she fell asleep almost immediately. She was lucky to have both Ebel and Nuor. Despite everything, her heart felt full knowing just how hard they were trying to help her out. It alleviated some of her fear. That calmed her, as did the mysterious calm waves she’d felt from the prisoner in the animal cells that still lingered in her psyche.

Chapter 8

Nuor and Ebel were already in the control room when Ava stumbled in, sleep still in her eyes, stifling a yawn.

Nuor did not look refreshed; in fact, she looked like she still hadn’t slept. She looked up when Ava walked in, showing her the tail feather bow that she made. Her hands looked sticky with adhesive.

“That’s beautiful, Nuor,” Ava said, and meant it. Nuor gave a tired smile and resumed gluing.

“Any word from Wert?” she asked Ebel hopefully. He was supervising Nuor while eating a protein compound. His food looked like a bunch of wiggling spaghetti. It turned Ava’s stomach.

Ebel shook his head but referenced his screen, gesturing with his fork, where Wert had sent over a document listing the food Ava needed to bring and the tasks she was to complete.

Ava stared at the screen, took stock of the notes, and got down to work, synthesizing food and stacking it on a cart thatshe could easily roll to the animal cell area. Halfway through, she took a break when the food processor signaled it was overheating, happy to sit down for a minute to watch Nuor continue her work.

After making and eating her own food, much improved by the current shipment resources, Ava suited up with Nuor’s help. Between the thermal suit, the plain cotton robe, and Nuor’s ceremonial robe, she felt smothered and hot. However, even she had to admit while admiring herself in the bathroom mirror that it looked convincing.

“It looks great. Thank you,” Ava said enthusiastically. It did. She truly looked like a Vali, thanks to Nuor’s hard work. The feathers were not as vibrant as they were on Nuor, but other than that she could be Nuor’s little sister. “Why didn’t we think of this before when we traveled together?”

Nuor smiled a tired smile, face pleased from her hard work. “We really should have. We’ll use it from now on. We will be able to go so many more places.” It gave them both anxiety for Ava to have to stick to only the less populated, safe areas where they were sure no one could see her or wouldn’t care if they did. With this, she could go anywhere.

The freedom Ava imagined while looking at herself in the mirror was intoxicating.

Ebel nodded, putting his dish in the sink and washing it meticulously. “Wert said that it was no good to change the queen’s mind. He didn’t want to press more, or she would probably try to send you in extra to prove a point.” He stored the dish back in its proper place, along with Ava’s, which he washed from the sink. “He was okay with our plan for you though and said he would make sure your costume got ignored. No one walks down that way anyway usually, and especially not now with the Tuxa there.”

Ava frowned but knew better than to argue. There was no point.

So she nodded instead, and set about double-checking the load on the cart before she and Nuor walked out of the engine room, a pair of twin Vali. Ebel watched on, wringing a dish cloth in his hands as they left.

Ebel was right. No one was present during the walk she and Nuor took to the prison area. Ava practiced deep breathing the entire way, trying to mimic Nuor’s casual, smooth walk.

Her footsteps hitched when they reached the right floor. Two Tuxa were sitting in an almost vegetative state outside the front of the prisoner area flanking the door, their phasers plastered to their hips.

They rose to attention upon seeing Nuor and Ava, standing to the side to let them in.

The room inside was gray and utilitarian like every other area on the ship, but also was surprisingly roomy due to the lack of furniture. It was supposed to be a supply room and office space for the person monitoring animals during the voyage, but mostly was an overflow area due to never really being used. All the miscellaneous supplies that had accumulated over the years had been shoved to one side in the main area, clearing the center of the floor.

Inside one of the two offices, a computer setup monitored the conditions of the cells. It looked disconnected now. The Phor must have hastily taken the system offline, judging by the static on three of the four main screens. The Tuxa appeared to have put their own devices right on the top of the Phor’s equipment and were playing back videos of warfare highlights from their own planet. The video was also being fed through to a projector on a wall in the main supply area.

Four of the Tuxa were in the supply room sprawled out on couches watching the video feed. They looked utterly bored. One had out a deck of cards and was shuffling it absently.

Judging by the grim looks on their faces, they were none too happy about their accommodations.

Although, Ava considered, did they ever smile? Maybe it was better to not see what made them excited enough to grin.

Smelling the air, Ava grimaced. Thankfully, there was a shower down here already set up for them. Hopefully they used it.

They walked up to the Tuxa, her and Nuor a matched pair. She drew in a deep breath.Here we go.

“Ah good day, dear Tuxa,” Nuor trilled out before any of the Tuxa could do more than take note of their appearance. “We have my sister here, Ava, who is on her first journey away from our home planet. As is custom for us, we don our robe and do not speak until we have finished our first journey to adulthood. She is here to learn how to serve other species and will be helping with whatever sustenance you or your prisoners require. Please remember the treaty between our people. She is unavailable for any other needs but should be in the future should she pass our examinations.”

The Tuxa just stared at Ava blankly, their yellow reptilian eyes blinking sideways and nostrils heaving.

Ava did a low bow and reached into the large pushcart and began handing out food trays to each of the Tuxa. With the food in front of them, they easily turned their attention to that instead of scrutinizing her.

“I will leave her to it. Just tell her whatever you need, and I will be in contact should there be any issues or disagreements.” Nuor ended her talk with her hands clasped together in front of her, feathered head bowed.

Ava moved quickly to copy her in the universal sign of deference.

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