"This old box of bolts doesn't look like much," Will said as they walked through the dirty hall. "But it's good and reliable. It's pulled us out of a fair number of jams."

    Will sounded younger than he looked to Alex. Until he talked. He thought the crew man was close to his own age, at least his mid thirties, but now Alex wondered if he was even in his mid twenties.

    "You've been on the ship long?" Alex asked instead of commenting on the state of the corridor. He wasn't in a position to judge, not that he had anything to base whatever judgment he'd make, the only time he'd been on a ship was back when he traveled to Deleron Four to start working at Luminex, and he'd done that on a passenger ship, on the top deck. Luminex had paid for his trip and they hadn't spared anything.

    "My whole life feels like. Not a complaint, I love it. Wouldn't do anything else." He opened a door. "This is the dining room."

    Alex looked into a large room with long table and benches. at the back he could see people preparing food. The largest of them a tall woman with severe feature who was currently yelling at one of the cook about something. Alex couldn't make out the words.

    He turned to Will, who continued looking in the room for a moment longer, smiling, before closing the door. "We get good food. the captain makes sure we're fed. he says a crew only does good work if it eats well."

    Further down the hall, then a right turn. Alex thought they were at the other end of the ship now. Will opened a double door. "This is where we come to rest. The ships mostly cabins, this room, the bridge, dinning room, engine, and cargo hold. So most end up here."

    The room was vast. Like the gymnasium back at the school he went to as a kid. He could see clusters of seats around projections screens, tables, lockers at the back, exercise machines here and there. A handful of people were in the room.

    "What are you doing here," one of them asked. He was short and squat, with a face covered with scars. "This ain't no place to bring your boyfriend to."

    "Fuck off Anders," Will replied. "This is Crimson, just joined."

    The man joined them at the door. Up close he couldn't be more than five six. He looked Alex up and down, disgust on his face. "The captain hired that?" He poked Alex in his ample stomach. "What's he suppose to do, feed us?"

     Will patted the short man on the shoulder. "Hey, if you want to question the captain's decisions, be my guest, just remember, when he kills you, I get your knife collection."

    That seemed to give Anders pause and he looked at Alex again. "So why are you on the ship?"

    "Don't answer him," Will said. "You don't owe him an explanation. The captain says you're good, then you're good. What this asshole thinks doesn't matter."

    Anders grinned at Will. "Just remember the next time we go out, you're going to need me to watch your back."

    "Anders, I wouldn't trust you to watch my piss pot." Will pulled Alex away. He looked over his shoulder to make sure the door was closed. "Watch yourself around Anders. He likes causing trouble."

    "Doesn't the captain space people who cause trouble with the crew?"

    "Yes, but he and the others are the captain's favorite, that's why they're here instead of working. So long as the captain doesn't catch them causing problems, no one's going to dare report them, so they can get away with stuff. So long as Anders sees you as easy prey, he's going to come after you. If he causes you trouble, just kick him in the balls. he'll respect you a little more after that."

    "Is that what you did?"

    "Four times now. He treats me a little better each time." Alex tried to decide if Will was joking or not.

    They moved through one corridor after another. turning here and there in what felt like random. Going up an elevator, then down another one.

    "How many people on the crew?" Alex asked, no longer able to tell where anything was in relation to where he stood.

    "Dunno. Less than a hundred. The engine people stick to their own, as does most of the bridge."

    "So you and the ones outside are what? laborers?"

    Will smiled. "I guess. We do the hard stuff." he opened a door. "Here we are."

    The room was small, no more than ten feet deep by eight wide. a bed was on each side of the room. with shelves above them, and a small cabinet at one end. Unlike the rest of the ship, this room was clean. Immaculate even.

    Alex had been alarmed to see how dirty and rusted some of the walls were. He hadn't known ship walls could rust, he'd thought they were all constructed of polymers to resist the ardors of space.

    "You can take that bunk," Will said, sitting on the one on the right. that one had an end against the far wall, while Alex's bunk was against the closest wall. "The piss pot, as well as the shower is over there." He pointed to the door. he turned to Alex, then started laughing.

    Alex's ears burned.

    "Sorry," Will said. "You look like you entered your bedroom only to find your dad made it the kitchen."

    The mention of his father brought other memories to Alex's mind and he hardened his face. "I just didn't realize crew quarters were so small." he sat on the bed, putting the case and bag beside him.

    "S'okay. I get it. This ain't no rich cruiser, but at least we get our own piss pot and shower. the first ship i was on was all communal, not fun."

    "I thought you said you'd been on here forever."

    "Nah, I was on another first. but the captain he took me away from there. The clothes you have can go in the dresser, and for the large stuff, you can lift the bed and put it under there, but you want to keep anything you care about in your pocket."

    "The door doesn't lock?" Alex asked, running his hand along the edge of the bed, feeling for the latch.

    "'course it does. but you don't want to trust it."

    Alex found the latch and raised the bed. The space was filled with a dozen topless crates, four of which contained small statues, a box of computer chips, one of energy packs, a box was filled with chronometers.

    "Is that yours?"

    Will peered in. "Yeah, sorry. forgot about them. Never thought I'd get a roomie, so I spread out last time we got a good haul. And I woulda gotten good credits for them too." He looked around. "I can move them if you want the space."

    "It's okay," Alex replied. "This is all I have." He put the case in one of the crates and his bag in the one next to it. He took the holographic base out before lowering the bed. he sat back down and fingered it.

    "What's in it?" Will asked.

    Alex hesitated for a moment. then the dark furred Samalian appeared, about a foot in height. He was looking at Alex, smiling, and he returned the smile.

    "Who's that?"

    "That's Jack." He knew it was really Tristan pretending to be Jack, but Alex couldn't bring himself to see that monster in this hologram. It was all he had left of his time with Jack, this was who he was looking for. his gentle furry lover.

    "He's your special guy, ain't he?" Alex's head snapped up, his eyes wide.

    "It's okay," Will said. "I don't care who you're close to." The fear had to be plain on Alex's face. After his father, after that man, when he was a prisoner, he'd been scared someone else would judge him for how he felt.

    "Look, I'm cool with it." Will said, "I swear. But you're going to want to keep that under wraps. Not everyone here like the aliens, some outright hate them."

    "Thanks for the warning." Alex opened the base and took out the memory chip. "How about you? do you have someone special?" He placed the base on the lower shelf. he'd be able to reach it lying down when he felt like looking at Jack.

    Will lay on his bunk with his hand behind his head. "Oh yeah. Carlina Forturan," he sighed.

    Alex looked at him, and the goofy expression on the young man's face. He knew he'd worn such an expression, upon meeting Jack.

    "How long have you two been together?"

    "Ahh, err, we're not," Will sigh, in sadness this time. 

    "But you care about her, right?"

    "More than the stars." 

    "Doesn't she care about you?" 

    "She doesn't know about it." 

    "Why not?"

    Will sat up. "You saw her in the dining hall. She was the tall, screaming, one. I'm afraid of what she'll do to me if she doesn't like me back."

    Alex wanted to offer Will some encouragement, but found he couldn't. She did look rather scary.