Ashley thought for a moment, stroking Zoe's back. She was dozing off again, with her nose buried in her hair. There was no choice. Even with the extra access she couldn't see what was going on throughout half the ship, so there was a chance that a large group of soldiers could retaliate by taking medical. Besides, if Larry really wanted to get in, he would. She crossed the room and pressed the open button.
Larry was on the other side with a gurney laden with two large duffel bags. “Thanks Ashley, I knew you'd see reason.”
“I'll keep your secret, but you find a way to give the crew more control over this ship so you’re not the one holding all the cards.”
He regarded her with a stunned expression for a moment then asked; “That's your only condition?”
“Well, yeah. What were you expecting?”
“You know, I'm not sure. I've never trusted anyone with this before.”
“Really?”
“Yes, you're the first person I've trusted with my real identity.”
“Am I safe?”
“Well, I know you won't betray me if I don't do something that's outside of your moral boundaries. That's the kind of person you are, you quietly apply your standards and expectations to everyone you know and that determines how you behave around them.”
Ashley didn't know why, but she found his summary of her personality irritating. “That's no answer.”
“Ashley, I'll agree to find out what Citadel wants to do with Triton, if they’ll let this ship go to someone aboard if you'll keep my secret.”
“That’s not what I asked for.”
“It’s the best I can do. If I gave total control to a group of people and my superiors decided I was out of line, they’d just find a way to eliminate the whole complicated mess. So is that good enough for you?”
“I s’pose. If there’s no other way, yeah.”
“Good, congratulations, you're the safest person on the ship. As the only other person with a command code for the Triton I might actually need your help sometime.”
“I wish there was something I could do to prove I'd keep your secret though. I mean, the more sure you are, the more sure I am that you won't just get rid of me.”
Larry nodded as he finished wheeling the gurney into the conference room and pulled one of the bags down to the floor. He pulled it open to reveal a large supply of meal bars, boxed food, water, and a few other odds and ends. “After seeing how you were mum about Stephanie and the Captain-”
“You know about that?”
“Yes, the ship alerts me of any unusual goings on, and that registered pretty high.” He handed her a full drinking bottle.
“The ship watches us?”
“Passively, but yes, everything is recorded and categorized.”
“And I can see all that with the code you gave me?”
“Well, yes, but that's not what it's intended for. Master codes are made for the highest ranking officers and Citadel agents for emergencies like this. The only reason why I could assign one to you is because I'm so far from home and I have the highest rank in the sector.”
“So you're some kind of Admiral?”
“No, I'm a Citadel agent. We're the ones who watch the government and the military. Most people think we're an urban myth, even on Earth.”
“Who watches you?” Ashley said, looking at him with mock suspicion.
Larry regarded her witheringly, a look she'd earned from him before under much less serious circumstances. “None of that matters now. We're about to have visitors and I need you to behave as though I'm no more than your copilot.”
“What kind of visitors?”
“You know that band of slaves Agameg organized?”
“Yup.”
“They're on their way here. Someone decided that they should secure medical and use it as a refuge from the soldiers left between here and the aft sections.”
“There are still soldiers fighting back there?”
“Not many, but enough to give the slaves you guys liberated some trouble. I closed a few emergency doors so they wouldn’t run into each other on their way here.”
“That was awful nice of you.”
“They’re too burned out for another fire fight,” Larry said with a shrug.
“How far behind you are they?” Ashley asked as she accepted a small plush blanket.
“About half an hour, and they need somewhere to rest, it's been a while.”
Ashley wrapped the small blanket around Zoe, who was still fast asleep again. She nearly turned away when Larry reached over and pinched a corner of the fuzzy offering. It gently came to life, warming itself and curving around Zoe.
“It's a swaddling blanket. I don't know if she's too old for it, but I didn't put mine down until I was three.”
To Ashley's surprise, Zoe withdrew from her and curled up in the new bedding, which actively hugged her back. “Wow, these must be popular back home.”
“Pretty much everyone on Earth has owned one, sort of standard issue for babies and toddlers. I figured since she's a marsupial, it might be even better.”
Ashley gently laid Zoe down on the gurney and locked the forward wheels, watching how she nuzzled the fuzzy blanket and smiled sleepily. “Do they make them in adult size?”
Larry chuckled and nodded. “Most people don't admit to having an adult sized one, but yeah, a lot of people do.”
“So what do I tell Oz and Jason about where you've been?”
“Just tell them I was hunting for supplies. Most of this stuff is logged with the fabricator down the hall,” he replied as he pulled boxes of food from the first bag. “And you can taunt them with your Vietnamese food.”
“Oh, you didn't,” Ashley said as she opened one of the containers and smelled the steam.
“That's Banh bao, a kind of onion, egg and mushroom dumpling. I figured since you seem to enjoy all things oriental, including our Wing Commander, you might want to try something a little more authentic.”
“Did the ship tell you that too?”
“I can tell just by the way you look at him when we hang out.”
“That's going to be different. Hanging out, I mean,” Ashley said, intentionally changing the topic. She didn't want to think about Minh, or anyone whom she couldn't account for.
“I hope not.”
“Oh, I'll pretend like there's nothing new, but it'll still be different for me.”
Larry handed her a pair of chopsticks and shook his head. “I know, but I still hope I can count you as a friend. You're the first I've made since I got this assignment.”
Ashley glimpsed something she didn't expect then when she looked at Larry. Vulnerability. “I don't know what to say,” she offered lamely.
“Oh, don't worry, I don't fancy you, it's not like that.”
“Right, I picked up on that. You fancy Oz.” She grinned.
“How did you-”
“Signals on the bridge. Hope you weren't trying to hide those sparks, Steph picked up on it too.”
“Guess that's one secret that'll find its way around the ship.”
Ashley took a bite out of one of the warm dumplings and savoured the rich flavour. The materializer had duplicated the texture and flavour of the mushrooms and egg almost perfectly, and she was sure that what she was tasting was at least a close match to the real thing. An unwelcome, nagging thought occurred to her just then and she decided to ask Larry about it before her opportunity passed. She still waited until she finished chewing, however, eating was a slightly higher priority. “Thank you for this, it's really good.”
“You're welcome.”
“So why didn't you just use your codes to take control of the ship and make a bee line for Earth?”
She caught him with a dumpling half way to his mouth. “That was quick. I thought it would take you a little longer to get to the important questions.”
“No deflecting,” she admonished with a wave of her chopsticks.
“All right, I can't tell you much.” He struck his chopsticks into his dumpling box. “Earth doesn't want Triton back. She's old, was never fully activated and the mission she was equipped for is over. Technologically and philosophically Sol Defence has moved on.”