Chapter 24 – Acting on Suspicion

Vacy reached forward and into the cluster of stars that twirled slowly before her. With a firm pull down and to the side, she enlarged a particular sector, noting the shifting alignments of the suns and their planets. Frowning to herself, she zoomed back out, then gently traced a twisting path with one thoughtful finger. "Ell-tee!" she called over her shoulder.

Without waiting for an answer, she headed to the doorway and opened the channel for the ship's intercom. "Rish, where you at?" she asked before switching it back to receive. Sighing impatiently, she leaned back against the wall, folding her arms across her chest.

There was a burst of static before the reply. "Down here in the engine room, where else? We got a problem or something?"

"No, no, I think I've worked out a new route to Alderaan that'll cut down our time and keep us away from most of the pirate-pull areas. We just need to reconfigure the ship's response to the gravity sensors, have it alter our heading by – ah – point-oh-three degrees GSE, instead of just yankin' us out of hyperspace."

"Captain…" Risha's voice trailed off, and Vacy heard her sigh over the com. "You have to be kidding. That's – it's insane. You can't change safety settings mid-jump, so once we set that response, we're stuck with it for that entire leg of the route."

Vacy rolled her eyes. "So? C'mon. Space is huge. It's not like we're going to run into a planet that wasn't there before."

"No? And what about a space station? Or a fleet of capital ships that's been mobilized for duty – or sent somewhere out-of-the-way for training exercises? Random obstacles aren't common, sure, but if we hit something unexpected, shifting our course at the last second won't keep us from getting vaped."

Grumbling while she listened to Risha's tirade, Vacy downloaded the newly-programmed route to her datapad, along with the relevant information from the starcharts. "Just hold on; I'll be there in a second," she said into the com before heading down the hallway.

Calm as ever, Risha was waiting just outside the archway to the engine room as Vacy strode toward her. She waited for the captain to come to a stop in front of her and let the shorter woman glare at her for a moment before she lifted one shoulder in a graceful shrug. "I won't do it, Captain. You can fire me if you like, but I'd like to remind you that you're hauling my cargo, and while you may be able to scrounge up some other jobs, you haven't paid any of us in full, since we're all waiting for a cut of Nok Drayen's treasure – which you don't have a prayer of a chance of getting without my help."

And besides that," the mechanic added, "you're not going to find a tech willing to make those adjustments to the sensors, no matter how hard you look or what you promise to pay. Changing course at that speed would induce catastrophic stress on the ship, not to mention the injuries sustained when we all get smashed into the walls."

It was in the furious silence that followed, as Vacy stood there glaring at Risha with nostrils flared and lips pressed into a thin line, that the airlock hissed sharply and the door swung open. Corso strode in and then abruptly stopped in his tracks, looking back and forth between the two women uncertainly. "Uh. Hey, there…" He cleared his throat, his brows quirking together. "Am I inneruptin'?"

His captain turned to look at him with those blazing eyes, and he gulped, taking a step back. But Vacy shook her head and forced a smile. "No, Riggs," she said tightly. "We're done here." And she turned on her heel and marched back up toward the bridge.

He blinked, and then turned to Risha, who was looking at him with her usual smirk. "What?" he said after another few moments. "What'd I miss?"

Risha just shook her head. "C'mon, Mouse," she said, letting out a long sigh. "You and I need to have a talk."