Sher's boot soles tapping on the floor of the upper deck announced her arrival long before she poked her head through the door. And she smiled. Day loved children uncontrollably. Both the very young ones, like that little kid in the Shopping Center, and boys who could only be called "young man"... However, this was so understandable to Sher...
"Oh, Sher, how timely! Maybe you can tell me how many people to set the table for?"
"I intend not only to tell you but also to help, if I'm not stepping on anyone's toes," Sher declared animatedly, finally appearing fully in the dining room.
"Let's count together? Everything for the captain in a thermos, separately. Unfortunately, he won't be dining with us," she remembered.
"He'll dine later, sleep is more important for him now. Next..." Sher began to count on her fingers,
"Nick, Bus, Weymi, Larius, Shay, Les, - she cast a glance towards the boy's long bangs, - you, me... And yes, Nick also mentioned Mr. Haylan..."
Her fingers on both fists were bent.
"That makes ten. Shay is a dactyl. For the captain – in a thermos. Larius is on watch... And also Muha!" she remembered.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Sunshine," Day smiled warmly at Sher.
"And indeed, she's like sunshine – she just glows!"
"Please, lay out the cutlery, I really don't know who eats with what," and she spread her hands in repentance, and then, suddenly lightly hugged Sher, and whispered in her ear:
"We survived, and that's the main thing, right?"
- and plunged back into the hustle and bustle.
"I think we should also put Larius's food in a thermos, or should it be taken directly to her post?"
Sher doubtfully twisted a strand of hair around her finger.
"I don't think Rick would like crumbs in the cockpit... Let's put it in a thermos for now, and then contact her via comlink later?" she suggested, laying out the simple ship's utensils according to all the rules of a formal dinner.
"I think we'll put the same for everyone, and then let each person decide for themselves how they want to eat. We won't tie anyone to a specific place for now... Especially since I don't know at all how everyone likes to eat; we only drank kaf together, in full, on the first day," Sher admitted with a laugh.
"I'll take it," Les offered, unloading the cart.
"Who is Muha?"
"Be so kind, Les," Sher smiled gratefully.
"Actually, his name is Mr. Karvo, he's a Toydarian," she explained, serving portions for the sick.
"He, of course, prefers porridge with eggs, but meat is nutritious. And also cake... The third cabin from the elevator on the middle deck, Les. Thank you!"
In the glance she cast at the boy, there was gratitude.
"Well, my dears, that seems to be it," Day looked with satisfaction at the set table,
"make yourselves comfortable."
Nodding, Rayno took a few plates on a tray and disappeared behind the door.
"This young man needs to be fed too," Sher sighed after him with a smile.
"Sher, listen, sorry if anything..." Day didn't know how to start.
"Who do you think those scoundrels were hunting?"
"What questions you ask, Day," the doctor chuckled.
"I think the captain is trying to figure that out. And Jenaro on Bakran too. I can definitely say it wasn't me. But I really hope that those who were interested in me are no longer looking for me. And if they are, then very half-heartedly. If I get caught myself. And these are not pirates or mercenaries. It's one of two – either they're hunting all of us, as the crew of the "Chance," or for your information," Sher said, shrugging.
"What's the difference, Day? We're together."
"Indeed, there's no difference," the former planetologist's smile was not cheerful.
"Don't lose heart, Day," the girl's hand gently touched her friend's shoulder.
"You can hide from the law, there are such places, but... I wouldn't wish that on anyone. And certainly not alone," Sher admitted.
"And on the "Chance," we are all together, we have an amazing captain and navigator, not to mention the first mate, you've seen it yourself... Larius is taciturn, but she's so reliable," Sher chuckled, remembering how she had offered to help hide the "corpse."
"Weymi... Weymi is a smart cookie, she has so many different abilities, and Shay hears the inanimate, talks to stones... Hutt!" the doctor slapped her forehead.
"It's better for the girl to eat in her cabin. She absolutely cannot eat human food, and who can resist that?!" Sher nodded with a smile at the red soup.
"I've wanted to ask for a long time, how do doctors use medcrystals? So far, I've only found them."
"Medcrystals... Thank you for finding them – their usefulness cannot be overstated. Where isn't their radiation used! Both for safe and rapid dissolution of blood clots, and for cleansing the vascular bed of cholesterol deposits in it, for destroying liver and kidney stones, even for destroying tumor cells in any body system, yes, such a method also exists. And all this is fast, safe, and effective, can you imagine? And much more," Sher smiled.
"In surgical instruments, for example. I have laser scalpels. And a plasma replicator, thanks to you. Medcrystals have also found their application there."
Sher fell silent, considering her monologue slightly too long.
"You've reassured me. Both about the crew and about the crystals. If they are needed – ask the captain. I gave him the samples I had. And about the smells... maybe they are neutral for Shay and not unpleasant at all?" the prospect of being alone in the dining room now was not inspiring at all. And she wanted to see Shay. It was interesting to see an alien who talks to what you are used to considering inanimate. And already somewhere into space, Day said:
"A strange tendency, it seems everyone is hungry, but they scatter from the dining room..."
"You're reading my mind," Sher confirmed, listening to see if the elevator was opening.
"I also don't understand why no one is here yet. And it's starting to worry me..."
The elevator was not heard.
"And the thing is, the smells are pleasant for Shay, on the contrary... You see, the girl has just begun to overcome her harmful addiction to salt. For Arkonians, it's a drug. And Shay had to eat salted human food for a long time. And it's better not to provoke her. Women from Kona become dependent very quickly, and they are difficult to treat..." Sher, unable to resist, grabbed the comlink, explaining to her friend.
"I'll find out from Nick... No, really, what is this, where is everyone?"
"So that's how it is..." Day muttered,
"and what should she be fed with?"
"We have extensive supplies of dactyl, our stern captain took care of that too. Arkonians eat dactyl on their planet. It's both water and food for them," Sher explained, hastily touching the comlink. The call signal went to Nick.
The comlink did not answer. Instead, Nick answered, peeking into the dining room:
"Ladies, you want me dead... The smell is such that you can choke before you even get to the table. Where is everyone else?"
"Ladies want to feed you, sir," her gray eyes darted a quick, cheerful glance at the navigator, and Sher made a deep curtsy, lifting imaginary skirts with two fingers.
"It's just that the messengers sent for you, Your... Navigator Majesty, damn them, where are they prowling..."
The girl stopped imitating a lady at the court of the Queen Mother of Hapes and hung the comlink on her belt.
"I was already going to call you to find out why no one is here yet."
"It's not a ship, it's a black hole," Day laughed,
"everyone disappears somewhere and doesn't come back."
"Bus went to get Haylan out, and the young man was looking for Weymi," the navigator explained, hugged Sher by the waist for a moment, pulling her close, and sat down at the table.
"I decided I'd get more if I didn't wait for the search results."
Sher's high cheekbones flushed a pale pink, her gaze at the navigator, and she seemed to rise even higher.
"So, it's not as hopeless as a black hole," she smiled. Seizing the moment, Sher filled Nick's plates to the degree she, as a doctor and a loving woman, considered optimal, and placed them in front of him. Casting a furtive glance at Day, she smiled at her. It was an expression of gratitude for the delicious food she could feed Nick, and a promise to participate in the cooking, both partially and fully.
"Day, let me take care of you, and you rest, okay?"
"Thank you, but right now I don't want anything but kaf," the woman smiled,
"I've had enough of smelling and tasting."
Sher looked at her friend understandingly. Fatigue, what they had been through... And her mother after cooking... Again! This wasn't hers. It was someone else's memory.
"I'll put it all in a thermos for you, okay? Eat it when you want, otherwise, there won't be anything left of such a delicacy by the end of lunch." Sher placed a glass and a biscuit in front of Day, and in the cheerful voice of an express service restaurant vendor announced:
"One kaf! Next register!"
No queue formed, so with a clear conscience, Sher poured herself a little soup, sat down on a chair next to Nick, and prepared to enjoy the exquisite Corellian dish.
Gradually, the missing ones showed up. Bus returned alone, said that Haylan and Shay preferred to dine in their cabins, and crunched on salad with appetite. Weymi waved her leku in greeting, danced to the table, and managed to try everything and praise everything, including the salad stolen from a Kushiban. Bus ungrudgingly gave up his portion, but his plate was returned almost untouched.
Les ate quickly, silently, hiding his eyes, but from time to time he glanced at those present through the curtain of his bangs.
Nick kept the conversation going, asking for details, slowing down in time as soon as the table talk began to resemble an interrogation, and squinted his green eyes at the young man.
"Did the captain say anything about what we need to do at our destination, besides refueling?"
"Yes, Nick, don't run away from me after lunch, there's one thing," Sher asked. She cleaned her soup plate to its pristine state, savoring every spoonful, and smiled at Day.
"A luxurious lunch, like at home, a thousand thanks, Day, thank you! Les, guys, how about seconds? Who else should I serve, admit it?"
No one had to be persuaded.
When everyone was finally full, Les stayed to help with the cleanup, Weymi left with Bus to take the thermoses to the watch and the captain, and Nick beckoned Sher to follow him.
"What matter?" he asked, when the dining room door closed behind them.
"Have you even rested a bit?" Sher looked up at him. Her gaze and tone subtly changed when she spoke to Nick. And when no one else was around, it changed completely.
"Do you know a joke?" Nick hugged her by the waist and led her towards the cabins.
"Navigators are sitting in the barracks, telling stories: who slept with whom and how many times. One sits, silent, telling nothing. They start pestering him: tell us, tell us. "Leave me alone, guys," the other replies, "I haven't slept with women!" "What?! Not a single one?!" "Well, how can you sleep with them..." - sighs the navigator... What matter?"
Sher smiled and quietly said:
"And one thought that one shouldn't let oneself die without knowing this miracle – sleeping with a loved one... True, it wasn't a navigator," she added, casting a shy glance at the navigator.
"And the matter... In that compartment with the escape pods," she indicated with a nod,
"there's a combatant in a deep trance. Rick doesn't know yet that the mercenary is in a trance, but that's not the point. The bandit himself won't get out of it. Rick worked with him, who created an image of our ship in his consciousness as an Imperial one, well, under cover, so to speak... What do you think, are the Imperials capable of letting such people go? And we need to let them go. The captain asked me to discuss this with you, Nick."
"In a trance?" the navigator shook his head.
"That's bad... Alright, I'll try to figure it out. So, I need to make them believe that we are Imperial agents, and they were badly framed?"
"Rick was counting on them mistaking our ship for an Imperial one," Sher confirmed.
"But a person doesn't remember what they were instilled with during a deep trance. If they received this state after Rick worked with him, the images might remain even after waking up."
"He needs to be brought out first," Nick frowned.
"And I'm not a specialist in such things... With the others, it will be enough for me to just talk to them – and they won't have any doubts about who they've contacted."
"Nick, are you going to talk to them?" Sher became worried.
"I don't doubt that they will very quickly believe that you are an Imperial agent, but... Nick... They might remember you!" Sher looked at the navigator with all her huge eyes.
"And how can they remember someone they won't see?" Nick gently ran a finger along her cheek.
"The stamps that cover holofilms have their advantages... Don't worry, darling, they won't have anything to remember."
"How well you know how to reassure..." the girl smiled weakly, touching his hand with her palm and feeling how everything in her reached for that tender caress, like a green leaf reaching for sunlight.
"What is required of me in this situation?" Sher asked seriously, gathering her scattered thoughts.
"Just wait a little," Nick replied quietly, opening the compartment door.
"Just very quietly, okay? I'll need to concentrate..."
"One more second," she asked, holding him back.
"Maybe I'll bring him out of the trance? And... What you're going to do, won't it harm you? I'm not talking about personal identification now," she explained in a slightly tense tone.
"First, I need to determine how badly he's been affected," Nick shook his head.
"The influence of the Force... Sometimes after it, it's more merciful to finish them off. It won't harm me; I'm not going to penetrate his consciousness to the point where it becomes dangerous."
Sher nodded, becoming quiet, right from that minute. Just as silently, she let Nick into the room and pointed to the lighting panel.
"Please bring something to tie his eyes with," the navigator asked quietly.
"And water. These drugs always cause thirst."
She disappeared behind the door for a couple of minutes. That was enough to run to the dining room, where Day and Les were still clearing dishes, leave her strange actions without explanation, because fitting a napkin over eyes couldn't be called anything else, pour a glass of water, disappear as suddenly as she appeared, run to the compartment, and quietly slip into the room, where it was still dark, and her eyes needed some time to adapt and distinguish at least the outlines.
"Thank you," the whisper was almost inaudible, long, thin fingers unerringly found her hands, taking the piece of fabric.
"This will do..."
Sher could hear a faint rustle as the captive's eyes were being bandaged. Then a steady, emotionless word was heard:
"Light."
The automation turned on the lighting.
The navigator stood behind the man tied to a chair, his palms held above his head, not touching it, and looked somewhere through the mercenary.
Sher merged with the wall and froze, trying not to disturb Nick even with her breathing. The only thing she couldn't control was her heartbeat. It seemed to pound so loud that it could be heard throughout the compartment... It was not easy to restrain it – it was the first time Nick had used the Force on a person. And she saw it.
It looked simple – and terrifying in its simplicity. The navigator's half-lowered eyelids hid the gray ice of his eyes, but it was clearly felt – he was seeing something inaccessible to ordinary sight. Something that made the person turn into an icy statue. Nick didn't touch the mercenary, but at one point he twitched, breathed more often, and groaned.
"Don't move."
If the illusion created by Rick gave the impression of an indifferent servant, then the navigator's voice instantly awakened all the nightmarish fears of the smuggler and mercenary tribe.
The prisoner froze.