time for Christmas. Her heart soared with the image of her sisters welcoming her home with hugs and jokes about her hair.
"Two thousand credits."
This squashed her urge to dance. "The private shuttle was seven hundred."
"I know," Grayson said. "But they want passengers."
Jenna hesitated. Should she try to talk him down? He didn't seem too confident in his decision to let her on board and she didn't want to give him a reason to change his mind. But two thousand credits was steep. Her salary coupled with the fact she didn't have to pay room or board on Titan meant she had more than enough money. But she didn't like knowing she was being taken advantage of.
"Two minutes," Grayson said. "With or without you."
So much for going home to grab her clothes and taking a shower. Screw it . Jenna scrambled on to Grayson's ship like it might jettison from the dock any second.
Chapter 3
A very quick tour of the ship followed. Jenna was instructed she was not to go into the cargo bay, which took up about sixty percent of the ship.
Grayson then informed her his bed was the only on the ship, so they would sleep in shifts. Jenna didn't tell him she'd be sleeping on top of the covers. The small bedroom quarters included a surprisingly pristine toilet/sink/shower combo room, standard at one square meter for a craft this size.
The engine room was her favorite part, but Grayson simply flashed the hatch open and closed it just as quickly, smirking as her eyes moved to catch the last glimpse before the latch snapped shut.
Behind the cockpit, a simple galley was home to a bolted-down metal table with two matching chairs, a food reheater, a fridge, and clear plastic drawers stuffed to the brim with instant food packages. Not a single piece of decoration personalized the slate gray walls of the ship but at least it was clean.
Home, sweet home.
"How long is the trip?" Jenna asked.
"Three days." He swung open the door to the cockpit and held it open for her to enter.
"Three? Willy said it would take two."
"It's not too late to go back and ride with him."
Jenna was starting to think that might not be a terrible idea, but it would guarantee she'd arrive too late for Christmas. No, she'd stick with Grayson.
"You'll need to strap in in the front with me until we break atmo. Once we're away from Saturn's pull, you should bunk up."
"I should ?"
"Yeah, at least eight hours," Grayson said. "You look like you need it."
As she buckled herself into the seat next to Grayson's, Jenna searched the cockpit until she found her distorted face reflected back at her in the glass of a navigational monitor. Aside from the smeared grease she had completely forgotten about, dark circles hung under her eyes. She didn't realize her shoulders were so slumped until she saw it in the glass.
Now that she was sitting down, exhaustion washed over her, making her head spin a little. Henry and she had worked around the clock to fix that hydraulic line in the hopes it would be done in time for her to make her shuttle. Other than the four hour nap she had unwittingly taken while waiting for a toolset to arrive from another station, she couldn't remember the last time she had slept.
Jenna laughed at her reflection. Grayson certainly didn't have a great first impression of her. No wonder he was so hesitant to take her on as a passenger; she probably looked like a lunatic running up to his ship like she had. And laughing at nothing now probably didn't help her cause. She snapped her mouth shut and focused on acting like a sane, normal person so he didn't make a last-minute reversal on his decision and leave her on the docks.
**
A gentle nudge roused Jenna from sleep that had come on like a sudden thunderstorm, nourishing and destructive in the same time and space. The lack of sleep must have made her drowsy because she awoke feeling... floaty. Her eyes labored open as she stretched her arms up and back.
Grayson's face filled her vision – and
"Two thousand credits."
This squashed her urge to dance. "The private shuttle was seven hundred."
"I know," Grayson said. "But they want passengers."
Jenna hesitated. Should she try to talk him down? He didn't seem too confident in his decision to let her on board and she didn't want to give him a reason to change his mind. But two thousand credits was steep. Her salary coupled with the fact she didn't have to pay room or board on Titan meant she had more than enough money. But she didn't like knowing she was being taken advantage of.
"Two minutes," Grayson said. "With or without you."
So much for going home to grab her clothes and taking a shower. Screw it . Jenna scrambled on to Grayson's ship like it might jettison from the dock any second.
Chapter 3
A very quick tour of the ship followed. Jenna was instructed she was not to go into the cargo bay, which took up about sixty percent of the ship.
Grayson then informed her his bed was the only on the ship, so they would sleep in shifts. Jenna didn't tell him she'd be sleeping on top of the covers. The small bedroom quarters included a surprisingly pristine toilet/sink/shower combo room, standard at one square meter for a craft this size.
The engine room was her favorite part, but Grayson simply flashed the hatch open and closed it just as quickly, smirking as her eyes moved to catch the last glimpse before the latch snapped shut.
Behind the cockpit, a simple galley was home to a bolted-down metal table with two matching chairs, a food reheater, a fridge, and clear plastic drawers stuffed to the brim with instant food packages. Not a single piece of decoration personalized the slate gray walls of the ship but at least it was clean.
Home, sweet home.
"How long is the trip?" Jenna asked.
"Three days." He swung open the door to the cockpit and held it open for her to enter.
"Three? Willy said it would take two."
"It's not too late to go back and ride with him."
Jenna was starting to think that might not be a terrible idea, but it would guarantee she'd arrive too late for Christmas. No, she'd stick with Grayson.
"You'll need to strap in in the front with me until we break atmo. Once we're away from Saturn's pull, you should bunk up."
"I should ?"
"Yeah, at least eight hours," Grayson said. "You look like you need it."
As she buckled herself into the seat next to Grayson's, Jenna searched the cockpit until she found her distorted face reflected back at her in the glass of a navigational monitor. Aside from the smeared grease she had completely forgotten about, dark circles hung under her eyes. She didn't realize her shoulders were so slumped until she saw it in the glass.
Now that she was sitting down, exhaustion washed over her, making her head spin a little. Henry and she had worked around the clock to fix that hydraulic line in the hopes it would be done in time for her to make her shuttle. Other than the four hour nap she had unwittingly taken while waiting for a toolset to arrive from another station, she couldn't remember the last time she had slept.
Jenna laughed at her reflection. Grayson certainly didn't have a great first impression of her. No wonder he was so hesitant to take her on as a passenger; she probably looked like a lunatic running up to his ship like she had. And laughing at nothing now probably didn't help her cause. She snapped her mouth shut and focused on acting like a sane, normal person so he didn't make a last-minute reversal on his decision and leave her on the docks.
**
A gentle nudge roused Jenna from sleep that had come on like a sudden thunderstorm, nourishing and destructive in the same time and space. The lack of sleep must have made her drowsy because she awoke feeling... floaty. Her eyes labored open as she stretched her arms up and back.
Grayson's face filled her vision – and
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