She'd slept on the shuttle, content for once to have someone else do the piloting; waking groggily at touchdown. Eyes closed, she's listened to the sounds of her fellow travelers -- three part-timers she knew from the repair bays, who had taken seats at together at the front, never once looking at the single occupied seat at the rear -- departing the craft. The angry energy that had seen her through her hearing and its immediate aftermath seemed to have deserted her entirely; and she considered simply going back to sleep. But no, that wouldn't do, would it? The shuttle would be returning to the Academy and she was banned from the grounds.

Eyes still closed, she fingered the chair's controls, sighing as it folded out of its recline.

C'mon, Theo, stand up. You got work to do. Another sigh and she opened her eyes, saw the shuttle pilot looking at her from his seat at the board.

"Time to move out, pilot," he said mildly.

"Right." That sounded a little surly in her own ears, so she added, "Thanks," as she levered out of the chair, and moved down the aisle.

At the door she paused and looked back at him, surprising a look of sympathy on his face.

"Good lift," she said then, feeling like she owed him something for his concern.

"Safe landing," he answered quietly, as she dropped to the tarmac, waking the protest of six dozen bruises.

It wasn't a long walk to the office, but she was limping when she reached the door. There was a light on, of course; Hugglelans never closed. She set her hand against the door and pushed.

Aito glanced up from the console. He didn't look surprised to see her, even though she wasn't scheduled. On the other hand, he didn't look particularly pleased to see her, and Theo paused with her hand out, holding the door open.

"Should I go?" she asked him. "I don't want trouble."

He blinked, his professional smile snapping into place.

"Of course you don't want trouble," he said smoothly, gesturing her to come 'round the counter to the second chair. "You want a cup of tea and a snack -- and possibly an analgesic. I'll have a tray brought from the kitchen. In the meantime, come and sit down, and tell me everything."

Splendid! she heard Father exclaim inside her head. You must tell me everything! She felt tears and a laugh rise together, coalescing in a sound something like a sneeze.

Aito raised his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, shaking her head. "It's just -- you sounded so much like my father!"

He actually looked horrified. "That won't do at all," he managed, reaching out to flick a toggle on his board. "Come 'round here and sit down, Theo, before you fall down."

She did as she was told, settling into the old wooden chair with its short left leg. Tonight, the rocking motion was soothing and commonplace, when it was usually annoying. So she rocked, gently, and listened to Aito while he ordered food, and then called the restaurant main board, and arranged to shunt his console's business there.

"Until I take it back," he said, sharply, apparently in answer to how long this arrangement was to go on.

Her fingers were twitching. Carefully, she folded them together on her knee. Aito hardly ever used the sharp side of his tongue; he must, she thought, be tired tonight.

"You may file a complaint with Father tomorrow if you --" He paused, maybe for an interruption, then continued with a full load of irony. "Yes. I thank you for your condescension, Seventh Daughter."

He closed the connection with a sharp move, and leaned back in his chair. Sighing, he lifted his hands and ran his fingers through his oiled hair, which didn't do anything more than make it sleeker.

"So," he said, giving her a grin that was less professional and more Aito. "What happened?"

The tray from the kitchen arrived while she was telling him everything; he poured tea for them both and shoved the plate of handwiches toward her. She took one, hardly attending what she did, and continued to talk.

When she was done, the plate was empty, a second hot-pot of tea had arrived from the kitchen, and she felt -- if not as energized as she had been after the hearing, then at least awake, on-task, and ...determined.

"So, I'd like to put in my app for full-time here at the yard," she finished, leaning forward, her cup cradled in both hands. "And to ask if I can claim a bed in the dorm -- or rent a wayroom; I've got some money..."

Aito moved his hand, cutting her off. "One course at a time, Pilot. First, now that you are unburdened and fed -- tell me how you feel. Do you require a physician? Will you have some painkillers?"

Theo considered that. Her hurts were mostly bruises and scrapes; while they nagged at her, she didn't think painkillers -- no, she decided abruptly, definitely not painkillers. She needed to be alert.

It was an odd thing to think, here at Hugglelans, where she was safe, but she didn't question the rightness of her decision.

She looked to Aito and shook her head. "I'm...mostly all right. The healer said if I experienced any real trouble in the next seven days, then I should see him, if they'd let me..."

Aito's eyes sharpened. "Seven days seems a peculiar figure," he noted.

Theo laughed slightly. "I said the same thing. It turns out he's put in his resignation letter, and he had to give Academy admin seven days' notice."

"Oh," Aito said softly, and then, more loudly, "Oh." He snapped forward, fingers flickering as he entered a call-code into the board. "Your pardon, Theo," he murmured, picking up the receiver.

The comm buzzed twice, then clicked as the connection was accepted.

"Father?" his voice was brisk. "It's Aito. I apologize for the -- yes. Anglindin Academy's Healer has tendered his resignation, it -- seven days. Yes, sir. I have Theo Waitley here in the office. She has been dismissed for -- I expect they are, sir. I -- inciting a riot and being a nexus of violence. No, sir. She has had some tea and a snack. She reports herself capable and refuses painkillers, though she would like a job and a place to sle-- Certainly, not. It would be most inappropriate. Indeed, I will tell her you said so, sir. About the Healers? Shall I -- Ah. Thank you, sir. Your voice, of couse, carries the -- Pardon? One moment, if you please, I will ask."

Aito cradled the receiver against his shoulder and looked over to Theo. "What plans has Kara ven'Arith? Does she follow you here?"

Theo shook her head. "I don't know. She -- I gave her leave to gather up my things and to do with them as she sees fit. But, her family's local!"

"Yes," Aito said seriously. "Her family is indeed local." He lifted the receiver to his lips again.

"Theo does not know her friend's precise plans, which is doubtless wise. The ven'Arith has accepted the burden of Theo's will, in the matter of private possessions left behind. ...yes. Good-night, Father."

He cradled the receiver and sat starting at it for a moment before he raised his eyes to Theo.

"My father thanks you for your service to Hugglelans, and for bringing the news directly. We had, of course, heard rumors and rumbles, but we had not suspected that the explosion would occur so soon."

"I don't think anybody did," Theo said. "Pilot yos'Senschul thought something was...imminent, but not immediate. That's -- I think that's why he had me get my card at the station."

"Short Wing is longsighted," Aito said, and Theo shook her head.

"You're going to have to find another nickname," she said. "He has both hands now. The new one's mech. Top grade, too."

Aito stared. "You tell me that yos'Senschul has accepted the prosthetic? That --" he glanced toward the console, hesitated, and murmured, probably to himself, "No, it will wait."

"About a full-time job," Theo said, after a long moment had passed and Aito hadn't said anything else.

He started, looked to her and straightened in his chair.

"Ah, yes, the job," he said, and it was his professional smile he showed her, which didn't make much sense, Theo thought, though her stomach thought otherwise.

"Unfortunately, we cannot hire you here at Hugglelans Eylot," Aito said, so smoothly that the sense of his words almost slid past her.

She gasped, now realizing how much she had depended on Hugglelans -- how certain she'd been that she had a place here. But, of course, she thought, painfully, they didn't want trouble. They were local, too.

"However," Aito was continuing, "it may be possible that you will qualify for an apprenticeship position with Hugglelans Galactica."

Theo stared, feeling slow and slightly stupid. "Hugglelans Galactica?" she repeated.

"In fact," Aito said briskly. "Did you think that this was all there was to the Howsanda? We span worlds, Theo Waitley. And, spanning worlds, we therefore have need of pilots."

"I thought you were a -- service for pilots," Theo said. "The yard, the restaurant, the repair bays..."

"All of which we would need to maintain for our own ships! Why not extend the service and earn a fee to off-set the cost of doing business?"

He stood. "We'll talk more of this after you've rested. I'm going to put you in the ready-room."

Feeling not much less confused, Theo rose and followed him down the short hall to the rear.

"What about the pilot on-call?" she asked, as Aito opened the door onto a room just big enough to hold a cot.

"The pilot on-call this evening prefers to sleep other than in the ready room. As he's never missed a call and his partner is understanding of these things, my father accepts the arrangement." He pointed to the right. "Sanitary facilties at the end of the hall. You'll sleep safe tonight, Theo," he said, turning to look earnestly into her eyes. "My father is grateful for your service. After you've waked and broken your fast, ask whoever is out front to call me."

"Why?" Theo asked.

Aito smiled. "So that I can get you started on that application for full-time work you wanted." He inclined his head -- half bow and half nod.

"Goodnight, sleep well."

"Goodnight, Aito," she answered, and stood in the doorway until he reached the top of the short hall, and the door closed behind him.

Please insert Howsanda Hugglelans employee card in the red slot, the instructions ran across the screen in rapid yellow letters. Theo complied.

Please insert Guild or other professional identification in the blue slot.

She slid the Guild card into the blue slot, feeling a pang as the machine accepted it. You'll get it back, she told herself sternly. They just need to download your data.

Please wait, the screen instructed her, the letters flowing into the Howsanda Hugglelans logo. The logo expanded, twinkling, against a black background, morphing into a blanket of stars spreading prettily, if not very realistically, into infinity.

Theo closed her eyes and counted to twenty-four. When she opened them, the graphic had faded, replaced by dignified blue-limned letters.

Welcome, Theo Waitley, Pilot Second Class. Your Guild license is active and cross-matches with your Howsanda Hugglelans employee identification. Following is the general piloting application for Hugglelans Galactica. Data gathered by this application resides, encrypted, in the Howsanda Hugglelans corporate database. Job applicants have the right to refuse three offered jobs before they are removed from the active database. Ready to procced? Yes/No

Theo thumbed Yes.

The questions were interesting, not all of them having to with piloting, but a good number asking about her hobbies, whether she liked to be in a crowd or by herself, if she had any pets, if she'd taken self-defense. The 'yes' on that question opened up a cluster of sub-questions: when? which type? was she proficient? had she taught?

After that, there were more general questions, then the application program wanted to know if she there were any planets she preferred not to travel to, if she had any outstanding local 'rule violations,' if so, what and where.

Finally, the screen flickered and one last question rose to its surface:

Are you qualified to carry a weapon?

Theo punched 'yes' a little harder than was strictly necessary, and waited for a series of questions about her gun, her training with it, and her years of ownership.

Instead, the application program thanked her for her input and promised that a representative of Hugglelans Galactica would be contacting her with a job offer very soon.

It was, in fact, three days before she was contacted by a representative of Hugglelans Galactica, and that by proxy, in the person of Aito, who shook her awake on her cot in the on-call room.

"Theo! Your ship is here!"

"What!" She was awake all at once, on her feet and stamping into her boots, her hands flew down her body, touching pockets, doing inventory. She grabbed her sweater off the hook and hauled it on as she followed Aito up the hall.

"I thought I got three refusals!" she said, as they came into the office.

He gave her a peculiar look over his shoulder. "Do you want to leave this planet?" he asked.

"Yes," she admitted.

"Do you," he asked, slotting a data card, glancing at the readout and nodding. "Want to work as a pilot?"

"Yes!"

"Do you want to put your friends in peril?"

"What? No!"

"Good. Then you'll take this --" he flipped the card to her; she snatched it out of the air and stood holding it, watching him.

"That's your accumulated pay for unused vacation time, shift bonuses, and an override for a wayroom and a meal at any Hugglelans facility."

"Vacation time!" she exclaimed. "Bonuses? What --"

"My father," Aito said, "is grateful for your service. I believe he has said so previously." He tossed her another card, which she caught like the first.

"I am also grateful," he said quietly. "Listen, now, Theo. Cameron's on Number Two Hot, lifting in five minutes. The pilots are willing to have you sit jumpseat 'til Malta, where you'll disembark and report to the yard office. They'll give you papers. You'll be 'prenticing to Pilot Rig Tranza -- one of Hugglelans' long-time employees. You'll learn a lot from him."

"But, wait!" Theo cried. "What kind of ship? What kind of space? What --"

The board rang, and a man's voice rang out cheerily. "Our packet ready, there, boss? We're coming up on a mark."

"Heading out now!" Aito said, and gave her a glare, jerking his head toward the door.

Theo took a breath, turned, and ran.

Go on to Chapter Thirty-Two

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