Deck jolted out of his sleep, the remembered shock of detonating the grenade felt too real. He blinked rapidly, tiny sparks slowly fading from his vision as he glanced around. The room's lights slowly brightened but Eve said nothing. Rubbing his face he added fixing the bathing facilities to the list of important upgrades. For now, he stretched before exiting his bunk room. Rolling his shoulders he considered what to do. His restless night of sleep hadn't helped him come to terms with what to do next. For now, he thought he should take a proper tour of the ship.
Besides the bridge and the entrance area, there was a primary hallway. There were five sleeping rooms, small with only a single bunk in them. He had been using the one closest to the entrance while Nai was using the one furthest back. Next to the currently unworking locker room, the plumbing had been ripped out leaving it unfunctional. They were lucky the toilets were still there.
On the opposite side of the hall from the sleeping bunks, there was a large dining area. Big enough to house a decent food processing unit, tables enough for not only the full crew to eat but even a small recreation area. That was where they had been dining. At the sole table still bolted to the floor and using the stools with the padding stripped away.
Past there was a nice Medical bay, stripped of all useful equipment like every other room. And another room completely bare. He wasn't sure what it was for as there was nothing left to identify it. Down the stairs in the back led to the engine room where he and Aln had previously engaged the manual jump. From there another set of stairs turned forward leading down to a set of workshops and cargo bays. There was also the ship's storage for algae tanks, water filtration, and other necessary components to sustain a ship's organic crew.
As he finished his little tour he noticed he hadn't spotted Aln or Nai. Probably in one of the bunks since he hadn't bothered to poke his head into them. Deck's stomach grumbled making him sigh knowing he was going to have to give in and eat. He had been avoiding that after revisiting the meal during the emergency jump.
Returning to the main deck he entered the dining room to find it occupied. Aln and Nai were sitting at the table eating. It took him a moment to realize what all was wrong with the sight. First, both seemed to be enjoying the meal. Second, there was a piece of hardware installed against one wall that he recognized what it was but not where it had come from. He walked over to the food processor and couldn't help but feel his eyebrows rise. This wasn't some low grade basic model, it was shiny and new. On top of that, it looked to be more of a commercial grade processor, one designed for some expensive luxury restaurant. Definitely not on a personal ship.
While he was examining it there was a chime and a door slid open exposing a plate. On it was a perfectly seared steak, what looked to be butter soaked potatoes, and even some sort of crisp green salad drenched in an oily looking dressing. "Where did this come from?" Deck almost didn't want to ask as he took the plate.
"While we were on station a bug in a shipping manifest had this… accidentally delivered to us. Since we departed before the error could be correct I felt there was no need to let it go to waste." Eve answered in a neutral tone. "If you would like I can uninstall it." Deck was already sitting down at the table. He reached over and stole the fork out of Nai's hand. Speared a potato even as she cried out in complaint and sank his teeth into it. Buttery goodness flooded his mouth.
"No." he spoke past a mouth full of deliciousness while Nai glared at him. "It would be a waste as you said. Nothing we can do about it since it was a bug right?"
"That is correct Captain." Eve sounded slightly happier after his response. "Is it better than my previous attempt captain?"
"Loads!" He was busy tearing into the steak, they only had one fork and one spoon they had managed to find. Aln was currently eating something that looked far too close to what they had eaten before. Nai was eating a meal similar to his with her fingers now seeming to have deemed fighting over the fork a lost cause.
"I can't believe this is made out of the same stuff as that slop." Nai spoke past her own full mouth, juices from the steak running down her chin.
"It is amazing what a thirty million credit food processor can do." Eve added happily. Both Nai and Deck choked on their food. They both shared a look then almost as one began eating again.
"Well, hopefully, no one finds out about the bug. I'm flat broke. No, worse than that I am in debt now." Deck paused his meal only briefly to think about his financial crisis.
"Oh, yes about that. Here let me transfer you credits as promised." Deck received a notification from his PDA implant and raised an eyebrow.
"Five Thousand Credits?" Deck asked confused.
"Yes. It is everything I have. So please don't spend it all at once." Aln had finished eating his meal and was now wheezing away happily.
"Uh, this wouldn't even pay docking fees!" Deck frowned down at the little alien then shook his head as he let out a loud sigh. What did it matter? They weren't going to be hitting any stations any time soon.
With that thought, he brought Aln up to speed. "So, you plan to try and locate your species origin world somewhere in this arm of the galaxy? Interesting. Sounds fun. I'm in." They wheezed away happily.
"You do realize he is talking about roaming wild space. Unknown species, pirates, uncharted regions, and all of it probably dangerous." Nai sounded exasperated as she spoke to Aln. She opened her mouth as if to say something else and belched loudly. Her face flushed bright crimson and her eyes shot to Deck as if challenging him to say something.
"She is right Aln. Are you sure you want to do this? We could probably drop you off at another station." Deck wasn't so sure but he had to offer.
"No this sounds perfect. Exactly what I was looking for." He hopped down from the stool. "If you need me I will be down in engineering. I have some things I want to work on. Your ship's AI is just amazing. They have been so helpful." Deck wished Eve had an avatar in this room as well so he could look at her. He wanted to know what they had been up to.
"Oh, I let them know about the River of Ruin. It sounds like it will solve a lot of our problems." Aln added just before leaving.
"River of Ruin?" Deck asked, Nai was sitting across from him her face glowing crimson still.
"Apparently our new engineer knew of a cosmic anomaly that might be useful. Two black holes have stabilized near one another. Their gravity pulling in all kinds of cosmic debris. There is a narrow section between them where their gravity is equally matched. Here much of that cosmic debris has come to rest. It is popular amongst salvagers apparently." Eve answered.
"So we have to go back then?" He wasn't happy with the thought of heading back into Terra Alliance controlled space with that bounty on his head.
"No, it is deeper in the wilds." Now Deck paused. How would Aln know about someplace deeper in the wilds? Alnimox were not even from this arm of the galaxy. Plus, it was called the wilds for a reason.
Whether she was reading his mind or simply had come up with the same thoughts Eve spoke up. "It does sound promising and the best option given our current situation. I have been unable to calculate any better options. We need materials to bring the ship up to an acceptable level."
"Can't you just like break down an asteroid or something?" Nai finally spoke up seeming over her moment of embarrassment.
"I could, but the amount of useable materials gained would most likely be limited. The time to harvest enough for our needs would be exceedingly long. Breaking down already processed materials will greatly streamline the process." Eve answered bluntly.
Nai just shrugged. "Alright then, Set a course Eve? I'll trust you to handle it." Deck replied, giving the ship more than one answer.
"Of course captain. I appreciate your trust in me." She sounded positively bubbly.
Nai was giving him an odd look and Deck just shrugged before belching loudly. "Now that's a belch." For a moment Nai just stared at him then made a face as she threw a piece of potato at him. He managed to catch it in his mouth, chewing it around his grin. For a moment the two grinned at one another then Nai seemed to catch herself giving him a curt glare and standing up.
"I'm going to…" she didn't seem to know what she was going to do. Instead, she just brushed past him.