Love and Rockets Part 6

"What are you doing in here?"

Evie spun around to see Cal standing in the doorway. He didn't look happy.

"I was . . . looking for you."

He took her elbow and moved her out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind them. "You can usually find me or Mule on the bridge, in the galley, or in the rec room."

"No idea where those are from here."

"Let's rectify that right now then." Cal's expression said he knew she was lying.

She sighed. "Brilliant plan."

The tour didn't take too long. Afterward, Cal suggested Evie get some rest. She didn't argue. She hadn't slept much for what seemed like a very long time.

She was awoken by someone gently shaking her. "We're at our claim," Cal said when her eyes opened. "I'd like you in your s.p.a.cesuit, we need to go out."

"You mean you don't want to leave me alone on the s.h.i.+p while you and Mule are on the rock, right?"

He smiled. "You didn't strike me as stupid."

"No, I'm not. I don't suppose we can shower or take a bath?"

"Not today. Since you're here and we have a good water supply, while we're mining we can bathe twice a week. Once a week otherwise. If needed."

"Do I need it?" She could easily believe she stank.

He chuckled. "No."

Back into the s.p.a.cesuit. Cal showed her how to lock her helmet alone, but he still helped her with it. He had her practice sealing his helmet, too, but he locked it again himself before they left the s.h.i.+p.

Evie had a lifeline, just like Cal and Mule did. The robot went first, then Cal. He turned and helped her across to the rock.

"Thanks." She looked around. "It's not very big, is it?"

"It's a kilometer in diameter and it's got good nickel readings all the way through." Cal sounded defensive.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I'm not familiar with . . . independent mining."

"Huh."

He showed her how the equipment worked, and she decided she'd better shut up and pay attention. It was harder to pretend to be learning what each thing was than she'd have expected. But it wouldn't do for him to realize she was very familiar with mining, because then he might make connections she didn't want him to.

They started drilling and this was very different. Evie knew what everything was for and what it did, but she'd never used the equipment herself-it had been considered unacceptable work for her. But Cal didn't seem to share that idea. He had to help her with the drill at first, but she got better at it quickly. And it was kind of fun.

After an hour Cal felt confident enough to let her drill alone while he drilled another patch a little ways away. The plan was to cut the top crust off in sections to send through the s.h.i.+p's extraction system. They had to be careful not to destroy the actual nickel, which was harder than it looked. After the initial drilling, they used lasers to make the cuts.

Once the pieces were free, they manhandled them to the s.h.i.+p. Mule and Cal could do this alone, but Evie had trouble and lost her chunk. It floated out of her reach.

Cal tossed his chunk to Mule, then jumped off the rock. Evie gasped. He caught the floating chunk just before his lifeline played out. Mule hauled him back.

"I'm so sorry," Evie said, waiting for his reaction.

"It happens. We'll cut smaller chunks for you or I'll help you."

"You're not . . . mad?"

He looked at her. "Are you experienced with this kind of work?"

"You know I'm not."

"Did you do it on purpose?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why would I be angry with you?" Evie stared at him. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Did you get hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. Just . . . relieved, I guess." And confused, but she didn't want to tell him that.

"Let's get back to work. Lunch break's soon." He turned back to his laser. Evie's throat felt tight, but she did what he wanted . . . she went back to work, determined to do better.

Days went by. Evie got better with the equipment, more confident in the s.p.a.cesuit, and more comfortable with the s.h.i.+p and the routine. It was a different routine from what she'd ever experienced, but in many ways it was more satisfying. There was always something to show for the effort.

They ran on Earth standard. They were up at six in the morning, ate, helped each other into their suits, then went out to work with Mule, who, when they mined, never took a rest break. Lunch break at eleven, dinner break at four, supper break at nine. Done for the day after supper.

They finally ored-out the rock and, according to Mule, ended up with a good load of nickel. Cal seemed happier than she'd seen him so far. "We did good work. You too," he said to her with a smile.

"How much will you get for it?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "Depends on the trade rate where we go to barter."

Fear hit her. "We're going into a port?"

"Sometime, yes. We'll have to restock."

"Oh." Evie fought down the panic and tried for a positive. "Did I help you finish faster?" If she was useful, maybe he wouldn't want to get rid of her so quickly.

"No. You slowed us down by at least four days."

He said it casually, and without any nasty inflection, but it hurt and she didn't know why. "Oh." She looked down. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You're learning. It's not a problem."

She nodded wordlessly, still looking at the floor. She'd been kind of proud of herself, but clearly it was an inaccurate a.s.sessment. She'd slowed him down, and why would he want to keep dead weight around?

"Why don't you take the first bath?" Cal said. "You'll feel better."

She went to her room and had a quiet little cry. Then bathed like he'd told her to. She tried not to feel completely alone again, but didn't manage it. She was with him, but she wasn't a part of his crew, and clearly never would be.

Weeks went by. Evie researched the s.h.i.+p's logs, usually when Cal wasn't aware she was doing it, so she knew a lot about him by now. His parents had been miners in this s.h.i.+p, they'd sent him to t.i.tan to go to school, but he'd come back to mine and had never left the Belt since. He had no family left, just Mule and Goldie.

She was sure he liked her and that her being with him made him less lonely. But he pulled back any time it seemed like they moved toward the remotest kind of intimacy, and he never asked if she wanted to stay with him. She wished he would, even if it might mean she had to tell him the truth.

So Evie went for the next best thing, to be useful as a crew member. She was good at everything now, though the stronger machinery was a little beyond her. She could fly the s.h.i.+p, though Cal didn't like her to-he seemed to think she was too reckless or too slow, depending. Mule let her prepare meals and Cal even let her do some navigation and rock spotting. Though he didn't always listen to her, which drove her crazy. Like now.

"Why are you ignoring those rocks?" she asked for the tenth time.

"They're small," he replied for the tenth time. "It's a lot of work to check them and they're likely to have little to nothing that's worthwhile in them."

"You said we're using more water because of me. Even if they only have a little water, that would be a help, right?" They hadn't made port yet, which had been good in most ways. But she'd almost died once from lack of water and didn't want to do so again. "I mean, you haven't let us bathe for three weeks." She heard the panic in her own voice and clamped down on it.

Cal realized what was bothering her. "We're not going to run out of water."

"You can't be sure."

"Of course I'm sure!"

"You haven't had anyone but you on this s.h.i.+p for years. I looked at the logs. When your parents were alive you had triple the amount of water on board than we do right now."

"There were three people. And what were you doing going through my logs?"

"Learning. And, fine, three is more than two. But that means we should have double the water that we do."

"My reclamators work more efficiently than the ones we had when I was young. Besides, I don't know what you're worried about. You're off the s.h.i.+p when we make port."

It felt like he'd slapped her. Evie's throat went tight and her eyes filled with tears "Oh."

Cal looked uncomfortable. "Well, aren't you?"

She turned away. "Sure. That's what you want. I just thought . . ." She shook herself. "Never mind."

"Evie, I'm-"

"Used to being alone. I know." She held herself. It wouldn't do to cry in front of him. "It's okay. Sorry I was worried about nothing. Do whatever you want, it's your s.h.i.+p and everything." She walked off, hoping to get to her cabin before she lost control.

"Evie, wait-"

She ran for her cabin, closed and locked the door, then threw herself on her bed. She buried her face in the pillow and sobbed.

There was a quiet knocking on her door a while later. "It's me. Can I please come in?"

Evie got up, wiped her face, and opened the door. "Sorry."

Cal shook his head. "No. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn't mean to."

She couldn't look at him again. "It's okay."

"No, it's not. Look, I want to show you how to net."

Despite herself, Evie looked up. "Net?"

Cal looked embarra.s.sed. "It's how we gather in a lot of small, likely useless rocks, what we call 'fish'."

"Ah. Sounds interesting." She debated saying anything else and chose not to. She could recognize a peace offering when one was handed to her.

It took a week, but they finished clearing out the cl.u.s.ter. Water reclamation didn't require a lot of effort on her part, so Evie spent the time searching for another rock. She found one, two kilometers in diameter and they headed there immediately. Cal felt it was iron-rich, which was good news.

"We got lots of water from that cl.u.s.ter," Evie remarked as Mule radioed the information to Ceres Central and logged their latest claim. "It'll give us enough so we can mine this new claim without worry, I think."

She saw Cal look at her out of the corner of his eye. She tried not to look smug. She refused to say 'I told you so', though she desperately wanted to.

He sighed. "Fine. You were right."

She grinned. "Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"Admitting that someone else might have a good point?"

"I'm not like that."

She snorted. "Right. How many times did I have to say we should mine the cl.u.s.ter? A dozen?"

"Ten." He rolled his eyes. "Everything with you is dramatic."

"I'm a girl."

"True."

"And you're a man. I'm clear on the differences."

Cal blushed, which Evie found fascinating. "What does the log tell you?" He busied himself with something on the instrument panel.

"That we're okay as long as we don't decide to shower every day."

Cal laughed. "Do we have enough water for baths?"

"Yes. Easily. Now."

He grinned. "Ladies first."

"Saying I smell more than you?"

"Doubt that's possible."

She patted his cheek. "You smell male. It's not a bad scent."

He got a funny look on his face, but he didn't say anything. She headed for her cabin, wondering if she should have suggested they save water by bathing together. Evie had the impression Cal would blush all over his body if she said that. It was certainly something that would be worth discovering.