Read For Want of a Nail for Free Online

camera. That bit of body
language was so not subtle. It practically screamed that someone
was watching them.
    "Sure. Yeah. I haven't had lunch yet, so why
don't I do that and we can do diagnostics after." Rue wiped her
hand across her face, leaving the salt of sweat on her lips. She
tapped the VR glasses as casually as she could. "Holler if you need
anything."
    Sliding the door shut when she stepped into the
hall, Rue double-checked to make sure the thing had locked. In the
left corner of Rue's glasses, Cordelia faded into view, her
Victorian matron's form at odds with the hard gray walls of the
ship.
    As Cordelia spoke, the earpiece resting against
Rue's skull transmitted the sound. "I am very likely being
paranoid."
    "Given that the astronomy department has been
getting death threats from AIM since the mission was announced, it
seems likely that you aren't," Rue subvocalized the words and let
the glasses pick them up. "How long ago did you ask the ship?"
    "As soon as you confirmed that the cable was
unplugged. I should have had a response before you sat down to fix
it."
    "Begat me." Rue realized that she was standing
in the hall, so she started walking toward the ship's cafeteria, to
have a place to go. Hanson, one of the deck hands, nodded to her as
he passed in the hall. She tried not to stare at him to see if he
were the one who had unplugged the transmitter. The act of seeming
relaxed made her too conscious of her own body, as if the length of
her stride or the curve of her spine would tell Hanson exactly what
she was thinking. "So, you're thinking deliberate sabotage and
crap-- there are only six of us on this ship. You really think
someone's a plant for AIM?"
    "Possible. My specialty is astronomy, a Metta
would have a clearer idea, but there are anomalies here that I find
disturbing." Cordelia appeared to be floating backward in front of
Rue.
    Rue stopped at the door of the cafeteria. Inside
the tiny room, she could see Monroe and Osborne playing cards at
one of the fiberglass tables which folded down from the walls. Even
with cheery yellow paint, the cramped room seemed depressing and
more like a gerbil cage than anything else. It always managed to
smell like cheeze-whiz, even though, to the best of her knowledge,
that didn't appear on any menu selection. Rue could not wait to get back to Earth and have food that didn't come at the press of
a button.
    The broad-shouldered First Mate seemed to have
Osborne in a sweat over whatever game they were playing. The
diminutive engineer's face was nearly as red as his hair. He seemed
dwarfed in the loose blue coveralls the crew wore as uniforms,
while Monroe bulked his out like a Greek god.
    Rue glanced at Cordelia in her glasses. "Let me
talk to Dr. Chia and see what he says."
    "That sounds reasonable." The astronomy
professor was, theoretically, in charge of this project even though
the main focus was on Cordelia's mission.
    Pulling her PDA out, Rue dialed the
professor.
    The tinny sounds of Also Sprach
Zaranthrusta burst forth in the cafeteria. Osborne leaped
straight up out of his seat, squawking with surprise. He fumbled
and cards flew everywhere.
    "Sorry!" She stepped into the cafeteria. The two
men were alone, but Dr. Chia's PDA rested on the counter next to
the beverage dispenser. The man seemed congenitally unable to keep
his PDA on his person.
    Monroe slapped his hand of cards down on the
table and bellowed with laughter. "Dude, you jumped into
orbit."
    Osborne scowled, picking up his cards. "We are in orbit."
    "So, hey, have you guys seen Dr. Chia?" Rue
picked his PDA up.
    "Try the bridge. He was there muttering about
spectral analysis before I went on break." Monroe stood up from the
table. "Speaking of, I should get back."
    "Thanks. I'll head up with--"
    A klaxon went off, with ear-splitting bracks of sound. Osborne dropped his cards again and
sprinted toward the door. Monroe grabbed him by the back of his
collar, without any noticeable effort, and slammed Osborne