Junebug settled back against the comfortable restraint of the medicomp.

“Well shit.”

----------------------

The slap of boots on the hull plating echoed through the cavernous hangar. The training hall was large enough to hold a dozen Highlanders, the ceiling, occasionally accessable by rope or other climinbing equipment, was at least ten meters high at its lowest point. A group of twenty men and women with severe haircuts were running an assault course, weaving in an out of obstacles and vaulting walls. A sallow faced female drill seargent hurled creative profanity at the soldiers as they tried in vain to reach a bar which would be perpetually be raised. Despite several massive ventilation grates at the end of the training hall, it still smelled like stale sweat and effort.

As Sayeeda completed her lap the training computer attached to her wrist beeped, flashing up a variety metrics to offer critique of her performance. She ignored the data for now, forcing herself to keep the same pace as she started the next rotation. It had been nearly a week since she got out of sickbay. True to York’s prediction she had made a full recovery, if anything she felt stronger than she had before the smugglers moon. Her training times were up across the board as were her marksmanship and reaction exercises. A brush with death could sometimes be good for focus.

The crew of the November Sky was reserved though she had seen a few of the female crew members giving Neil covert glances. For the most part they were polite but distant. Junebug wasn’t sure if this was the result of orders or of a generalized distaste for York and the other intelligence personell which had transferred to his ‘guests’. If they were prisoners there were few restrictions placed on them. Marines kept them off the bridge and out of engineering but beyond that they had the run of the ship. According to York the trip to Sarvan would take almost three months. That given the currents and tides within the RIP that was actually amazingly fast. The bulk of the November Sky meant it could tolerate gradients that would shred a freighter the size of the Highlander. According to what little she had been able to get out of one of the ships astrogation staff she had cornered in the cafeteria, the currents were nearly as bad as it was possible to be. Judging by how haunted the fellow looked, the navigational staff was working long hours to make any progress whatsoever.

The Highlander was still accessible but a swarm of Terran technicians were helping ‘refit’ the vessel. Although the actually seemed to be doing real work, they had ‘coincidentally’ stripped out the fusion plant for a partial rebuilt. The vessel was unflyable without several hours and a full tech team to put it back together. Worst of all York and his men had confiscated the aestimobium while Junebug had been in medical. It was technically a restricted substance in Terran space and though York had made a few token statements about evidence and due process but she wasn’t holding her breath.

“Junebug!” Sayeeda slackened her pace as Taya hurried into the training hall. The girl was wearing a terran uniform without insignia. It was a flattering cut on her, though Junebug wasn’t, in general, a fan of uniforms. The girl had initially been timid but she seemed to be relaxing into her new surroundings.

“Major York is looking for us,” Taya said as Junebug came to a stop breathing hard. The computer on her wrist beeped as it registred that her exercise had come to an end. The mercenary laughed without much real humor.

“I would be shocked if York was in any doubt as to where we are, I’m willing to bet he gets a briefing on what we have for breakfast.” Taya shrugged as if that were of no import.

“Apparently they are going to release Saxon and York wants to hold some sort of briefing, I figured we would meet up with Neil and talk before that.” They were walking towards the showers as they spoke. Sayeeda nodded.

“Good thought, let me grab a shower and then we can meet Neil… somewhere.” Taya reached out and laid a hand on Junebug’s forearm.

“Junebug, I wanted to talk to you about something,” the girl said earnestly. Sayeeda frowned uncertain what the girl had in mind.

“Sure, whats on your mind Taya?” Junebug asked as she stepped into the shower cubicle and began stripping off her sweaty exercise clothes.

“Are you… well are you feeling alright?” 

Junebug stepped into the shower and clicked the button, bracing herself. The Terrans evidently believed in toughening up their troops because the shower was icy cold.

“Yeah, I feel great, Terrans may be assholes but they got the best medical tech in the galaxy.”

“Right,” Taya returned in a tone that didn’t quite convey agreement. Sighing Junebug stepped out of the shower and fixed the girl with a level look inviting her to get to the point.

“You look younger, younger since the surgery I mean,” Taya blurted. Sayeeda looked in the mirror, it wasn’t something she made a habit of, after thirty, the chances you would find an improvement were pretty small. It didn’t seem to her that their was much difference, the shadows under her eyes were a bit lighter, her face a bit less taught.

“I was burning the thrusters pretty hard before the Smugglers Moon, I’m sure its just rest and the doctor enforced diet.” Taya looked unconvinced at this as Sayeeda pulled open a locker and retrieved a white t-shirt and her customary fatigue pants.

“Let see what Niel makes of this briefing shall we?”