Page 56 of Ava Stargazer

Ava took her meal communally in the mess hall with the others, instead of down in the engine room alone with Vox. She was all smiles as they ate together, including all the younger Vorbax. Tiral sat by them, answering their questions about the meeting earlier. It was the most ragtag group a Phor ship had ever known in the mess hall.

The common area was also starting to look different. Sai had taken a break from the more intricate drawings they were doing by the engine room and had started to paint the walls a plain blue color. Sai sat down heavily next to her in the row of chairs that ran alongside the table, the blue paint still on her hands in places where it didn’t scrub off all the way. Her elbow knocked Ava’s arm in greeting.

“You are so excited, Ava,” Fijjak started, his antennas coming forward to almost touch her shoulders as he sat. “It is fun to feel.” He did not sit in a chair. Instead, his black carapace rested on itself in an empty spot at the table.

“Yes. They found Joy,” Sai answered as she stood up again to retrieve a box from the corner of the room.

Ava looked over her shoulder, curious, as Sai pulled out several red fruits.Fruit?The synthetic plate of food in front ofAva looked plain in comparison. “You know too? About Joy? Already?”

Sai tapped her head with her even more blue-stained finger before beginning to eat. “Of course. I was listening here, right across the hall from navigation while painting.”

“Oh,” Ava replied.That’s so convenient.

After eating a few bites Ava looked up, feeling eyes on her. Zeed was watching her with an intensity that made her squirm. She pushed further into Vox’s side, sliding her chair closer. Vox didn’t notice her discomfort, as he was speaking about the logistics regarding Cipra, out loud for everyone’s benefit.

Rhutg added to his explanation, giving details about what they’d discussed in the meeting.

Ava forced herself to focus, repeating the words spoken out loud in her mind to absorb them, determined to participate and be informed enough to make her own decisions.The facility at Cipra was invitation only. It is clear from what little they could find that to come without an invitation meant resistance.Most of the talk centered on how to enter, and they all agreed that stealth was the best option. Which, due to the modifications on the ship from the Spry, should not be a concern.

Sai pushed her food away, the protein noodles on it trailing off the plate. “How did you eat this all the time, Ava?”

Ava took a big bite from her plate.Tastes fine.“I guess I got used to it. You should have seen some of the things the processor made when supplies were low. Now that was gross.”

Sai poked at her food again, a disgusted expression on her face. “I don’t get it, we filled the synthesizer with the best protein components, but it still tastes so bland.” She leaned over it to grab another of the fruits from the box she’d brought.

Ava looked at what Sai was eating, then back to her own plate.I didn’t know there was fresh fruit on board.

“Yes,”Sai answered, glowing, her mouth busy eating, “the parents of the ones Tiral is mentoring dropped it off as a contribution before we left.”

Fijjak leaned back in his seat, talking with her before she could eat more. “Ava. How long did you live here? On the ship? Do you know how many cycles? Do you know how old you are? I am so curious.”

It took her a minute to answer. Ava pushed her synthetic food away and took one of the fruits on the table from Xai instead. “There was a record when I came. I lived here for a long time. I think a bit over half my life has been here.”

She remembered the cycle count from when the advertisement was made until now. Her tone was firmer now, more certain she was correct. “Yeah.” Ava rubbed her arms. After staying on Xai, the amount of time she’d lost was starting to weigh heavily on her.All the living I didn’t do.She peeled open and bit into the real fruit hungrily, as if to emphasize the difference.Sai is right. This is better.

Fijjak’s antenna tapped her on the shoulder as she peeled off the rest of the fruit’s fuzzy outer layer, bringing her attention back to him. “So, half your life on Cipra and then half on the Phor ship?”

Ava kept her hands busy splitting the inside of the fruit into sections. “That’s about right. Maybe a bit more here on the ship than Cipra. The Human logs showed how long Humans could live. It said around eighty of their sun rotations, which was something like a few million cycles.”

Vox tilted his head. “Erox said you are full grown, but I didn't know you had an actual Earth reference.”

“Yea, Ebel had worked it out at one point. I think I’m around twenty-four of that number now, for the Earth rotations. Maybe around nine when I left Cipra.”

One of the younger Vorbax asked, “When were you an adult?”

“I don’t really know. I grew faster than normal. That much I do know. They gave me shots to make me grow faster but it kind of messed with my head a little too, made it harder to focus for a while after.”

Zeed's eyes narrowed. “Growth shots?”

“Yeah. Anyways, I left with Ebel before getting all of them, so I didn’t grow for a bit, but then had one more big growth spurt here on the ship after he thought I was at full size,” Ava said the last part in a rush, noting she felt better thinking it through out loud. She was still young.Lots of life left. More than three times my life again is left, if that number is right.That was enough time to really live.

Vox put his hand over Ava’s on the table and rubbed it gently. She turned hers over and squeezed back.

Zeed leaned back, watching her carefully. “We will need to do some calculations to see how that compares to us at some point.”

Rhutg interjected as he got up from where he was sitting in one of the booths along the edges of the room, coming over and grabbing some fruit. “Erox said Ava’s blood has the same aging indicators as ours, so it should be similar.”

Ava shrugged.I guess we will have to see.

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