[indent][indent]She remained on the gantry above the cargo area and waited for the captain to arrive. She knew he’d be as long as he wanted, that was one thing she had come to learn about him in the years they had flown together. When his life was in immediate danger, he did things as and when he wanted, and no sooner. They’d built a rapport and an understanding of one another and she had an amount of influence over him in certain situations, and she told herself it was mutual respect. She never really lingered on the truth of that though. 

Something had happened, she could feel it. He’d damaged the ship in some way. She and the Valkyrie had become as one in the times they’d flown. Of all the machines she’d worked on, she loved the old girl the most. Ruce was captain of the Valkyrie but she was Tes’ ship too, perhaps more than that. Tes tended her wounds, cared for her and, in return, she kept Tes and Ruce alive. She knew when something was wrong. She flipped her IMP back onto her music and let another song play, the music calmed her down. Soon thereafter, Ruce appeared on the ground floor of the cargo bay.

[color=6ecff6]“Cut through another coolant pipe, Chief?”[/color] she asked, inclining her head and looking down at him.

She shook her head and added a replacement pipe to her ever expanding shopping list. As he made his way over to the console and turned off the MHLs securing the cargo she plucked her IMP out of the air and returned it to her pocket.

[color=6ecff6]“You know what The Expanse are like.”[/color] She began. [color=6ecff6]“They expect us at a certain place at a certain time. They’ll already be waiting for us.”[/color] She said. She was not afraid of the Zantu Expanse, in fact, she rarely admitted fear of anything, but they always made her uncomfortable. She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something sinister beneath the surface…something unseen and malevolent. In no uncertain terms, she didn’t trust them. But they paid for the Valkyrie’s services.

[color=6ecff6]“Hey, Chief, do you remember that time, about three days ago, back on Atlas, when I said I needed to fix the collider-brake coolant relay, and you told me to bodge it because we had a job from the Expanse so I only had four hours, even though I needed 12 in order to do the job properly?”[/color] She asked, sarcasm bleeding into her voice. [color=6ecff6]“Then do you remember that time, about an hour ago, when I told you that, because I’d had to bodge the job, that we’d need to cut thrust on approach at about five clicks out so we don’t enter atmo too hot and subsequently, on landing, put too much pressure on the brake servos and blow a fuse cluster? Finally, do you remember, about 15 minutes ago, not cutting thrust until less that two clicks out, like I asked?”[/color]

She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the plastic tube with the charred gold wire inside and tossed it down to him.

[color=6ecff6]“That’s a new cooling pipe and a new fuse cluster you owe us.”[/color]
[/indent][/indent]