The following day and we were already back in orbit after an early morning launch. Even without the solid fuel, the engines could deliver some serious thrust – enough to break the pull of gravity and haul us up into space. My stomach was playing hell again, but there was no time to lie in bed and whine about it. Rhea was already hard at work moving the pieces into their new locations. Soon we'd have a new compartment to do with as we pleased.
There was one other matter to attend to now that Ruri released Rhea from her safety protocols.
"Now that you're allowed to be a hardened bloody criminal, how about we get on top of sourcing some documents so we don't get deported to god knows where?"
"That will not be necessary Captain. Having concluded by accumulation of cached data from the local archives, I have come to discover that at some point an up to date collection of documentation was already provided. Using the ship's printer – I can recreate the identification documents without a third party assisting us."
"Oh, I didn't realise we could do that."
"Neither did I. Please give me your personal information and I can demonstrate. I'll need your name, age, and place of birth."
"Lewis McAllister, twenty-five, United Kingdom."
"I'm afraid that the United Kingdom is not a selectable option."
I groaned, "You know what I mean. British Republic."
A minute passed before the hydraulic tube at the back of the bridge slid open and revealed a freshly printed passport. The design was entirely unfamiliar to me as a man from a thousand years in the past, but I'd worked as an ID jockey once – so all of the numbers checked out. Rhea even went to the effort of mimicking the security features, like the holographic elements, the stitching, and the randomized details like the red lines on the top of the page.
"What the hell? We could make some serious money by forging these."
I briefly imagined that this was a serious security issue for the respective nations these documents were lifted from, but then I thought that no two-bit gang of criminals had an advanced 3D assembly machine and nanotechnology to produce counterfeit documents on an industrial scale. It must have been harder than I was thinking, security features I couldn't perceive and the like.
Ruri was listening in, "Address mine to Peaceland."
"Peaceland? I'm pretty sure that it doesn't exist in this universe," I said.
Rhea offered an alternative, "There is a colony under American jurisdiction called Peaceland. It should serve as an acceptable place of birth and issuance."
Ruri nodded, "That is acceptable."
A few seconds later, a different kind of passport was presented. This one was made from a tougher, card-like material. It seemed that documents issued from Peaceland and other colonies didn't follow the same style as a rule.
"And for the Commander – a passport from Spain."
This one was more traditional, with paper pages and a leather cover. I chuckled when I noticed that it still sported the exact same EU imagery from my own time. They sure lasted for the long haul. Sumeragi wasn't on the bridge to join us, so I handed Ruri's ID over and pocketed my own.
"Where did you get this image of me?" Ruri asked.
"There are cameras all over the ship. She probably pulled it from her memory," I explained.
"I did not consent to have my picture taken."
I laughed, "Tough titty. I'm not letting someone break into this ship and wreck up the place. It's too valuable."
Ruri attempted to argue with me – but my turn of phrase threw her off; "Tough… titty?"
"It means tough luck."
"Clearly I have to study more of your colloquialisms if we are to work effectively as a crew."
The door to the bridge opened and Sumeragi floated through using the hand holds.
"The modifications are looking good. Everything is running smoothly."
Rhea 'exhaled' through the sound system, "There is no need for you to concern yourself with these basic tasks, Commander."
"Sorry, but there's nothing else to do around here; and I got into the habit of keeping an eye on everything back when I was with Celestial Being. I don't trust something unless I see it for myself."
"Noted. I will adjust my responses accordingly."
Sumeragi buckled in at her desk, her brow rising after picking up the newly planted passport.
"What's this?"
"ID document. Don't want any of us getting deported or arrested for something stupid," I explained.
Sumeragi spent the next ten minutes silently searching for any discrepancies with the passport Rhea printed, comparing it to an example document pulled from the network. She wasn't going to find any. Rhea could print them with even greater precision than the real production facilities that pumped out thousands of them every year. Now if only we knew how to sell them on to our fellow illegal immigrants.
She gave up and placed it back down again, "I hope we haven't unleashed a monster by removing Rhea's illegality protocol…"
Even with that protocol in place she was all too happy to brainwash a few people to make me happy. How much worse can it really get? Rhea showed a willingness to follow my orders – and I didn't see the operative difference between her throwing Sumeragi and Ruri into the chamber versus printing out a fake passport.
"Did you hear that, Rhea? You better not go rogue on us," I cautioned.
"You have my eternal loyalty, Captain. It is as true as the cold, unfeeling code utilised to shape my behavioural patterns. It is to say – my word is law."
Ruri paused, "That sounds concerning."
"She just has a flair for the poetic," I excused. I was flying way too close to the sun by speaking about this with her in public. I never knew when she was going to crack and say something rampant.
"Idiots…"
-----
"Knock knock."
I leaned up against the headboard of my bunk. Sumeragi was hovering at the threshold to my room with a friendly smile.
"Hey, did you want to talk?"
She nodded and pulled her way through, pressing the button to close and lock the door behind her. Aside from Rhea peeking in with her eyes and ears, this was the most private place on the ship at the moment. Those doors were thick enough to protect from an atmospheric break or hull damage. Sound couldn't get through them. The walls were the same. Each compartment on the Pariah was like an individualised nuclear shelter.
I reached out and took her hand, helping her to settle down on my bunk. She refused to let go once she was settled in, choosing instead to squeeze my hand with hers. It was a small thing, but from where I was sitting it was like a bomb being detonated inside of my chest. She was being very proactive about this new relationship of ours.
"I picked a great time to ask you out. We can't get any privacy up here, or go for something to eat together."
I laughed, "That's true. We'll have to get off the ship and see if Ecclestone has any good places to eat when we return."
"I'll quote you on that. Having some time alone with you sounds nice."
"What do you think of Ruri?" I asked out of curiosity, "You aren't mad at her for ruining our love-den, are you?"
Sumeragi rolled her eyes, "I hardly consider the interior of a military warship to be romantic."
"It could be if we decorated the place a little…"
"Ruri is interesting. I forgot how much difference an extra face or two can make when you in an enclosed space for long periods of time. When we were first deployed into orbit with Celestial Being, they didn't have the full crew ready for almost a year. It was just me and a few other senior officers."
"I'm happy that you two seem to get along."
"Ruri is the type that likes people who take things seriously, isn't she?"
"To an extent, but you shouldn't forget that there's a twelve-year-old girl beneath that collected exterior."
"Fairly easy to be cognizant of that when she's only four foot tall. I think she has a crush on you."
I played ignorant, "A crush? I think I'm a little too much of a fuckup for her to feel that way about me."
"She can be dishonest when she wants to be," Sumeragi chuckled, "It's cute. Girls that age always look up to men like you."
Now that was too complementary. Why the hell would Ruri ever look up to me aside from the brainwashing we did? I wasn't special, or talented in any particular avenue. A girl like Ruri would prefer an older brother in her orbit that could actually do something.
"I guess you'd know better than me."
There was a certain complicity in the way that she spoke about it. Rhea's plan to create a personal harem within the confines of the ship clearly extended beyond making them agreeable about normal, singular relationships. There was a chance that Sumeragi and Ruri were both conditioned to accept polyamory, and to ignore any legal or moral objections that may arise from it. I was not going to push her boundaries to find out though. The truth would come on its own in due time.
Sumeragi studied the various objects I'd bought and placed in my room. Keeping something in place in zero gravity was a pain in the arse. If it was a fixture – you needed to place a magnetic plate on the bottom to keep it from floating away. If it was a fluid or substance that could be jostled loose, another cover would be needed to prevent contaminants from getting into the air.
I'd tried to liven the place up a little with some fake plants and other decorations that caught my eye while we were down on Ecclestone. It was a far cry from the collection of oddities I had back in my original time, though models of giant robots would perhaps damage my street cred beyond repair, and I needed every shred of that I could get.
Sumeragi found it charming for what it was worth.
"Wouldn't it be better if we moved into the same room?" she proposed, "We could free up another room for storage, or another crew member, and it'll give us a chance to get to know each other better."
I turned my head towards the backboard of the bed. It was pretty small, but just large enough for two people to use with some jostling. It was more likely that Sumeragi would stay in the cot above mine rather than leaping ahead and sleeping with me.
"I wouldn't mind. I'll have to take down some of the boxes I threw up there."
Sumeragi's brow furrowed, "Up there? Why would I sleep in the other bed?"
Okay – that was my mistake. Sumeragi was obviously going to be on board with sleeping with me. Rhea's conditioning had wormed its way so deep into her psyche that I could essentially do or propose whatever I wanted without arousing any judgement.
"That's… bold of you."
"We've been together for quite a while already. I don't see a problem with sleeping in the same bed now that we're official. Do you think that I'm worried about you taking advantage of me at this point?"
I was getting flustered by this subject, "No, no. That's fine. I was just… I'm not very good with relationships, so I keep thinking that we have to go through all of these steps in sequence instead of doing whatever we want."
Way to pour out all of your fucking spaghetti in front of the hot older woman, genius.
If Sumeragi was put off by that, she graciously ignored it and moved on, "We can give it a trial period, if you'd prefer. My room is only next door, so we can skip moving my clothes into here and give it a try."
"Sounds good to me, but if you want to sleep on the same bed I have to warn you – I'm a restless sleeper, and I can only sleep on my back."
"Really?"
"Really. Don't ask me why."
"Hm. Everyone has their own circumstances. I shouldn't be surprised that you have a preferred way of sleeping," she conceded, "I hope you don't mind me stripping down into something more comfortable."
"That's fine. I sleep in my boxers and a shirt anyway."
Sumeragi was trying to hide how excited she was about doing this, but it was all in vain. She briefly disappeared back into her own room and returned a minute later wearing a tank top and panties. I knew that Sumeragi had some impressive curves hidden beneath those thick, cold-weather clothes – but now there was no hiding from them.
I wasn't one-hundred percent ready for this, but it wouldn't be fair to Sumeragi to rain on her parade for no clear reason. I followed her lead and swapped into a shirt and stripped down to my skivvies. Sumeragi floated over to the bed and secured herself into place, lying on her side and facing outwards towards the wall.
I slotted in next to her and was pleasantly surprised to find that there was enough room for both of us without too many compromises. Despite this, she was eager to wrap her arms around mine and plant her head against my chest to use it as a pillow.
"Goodnight."
"Night."
I reached over and flicked off the lights and closed my eyes.
Sleeping with someone else was novel. I could feel the rise and fall of her chest against my side, and the occasional release of warm breath into the crook of my neck. It didn't take long for Sumeragi to pass out and start snoring. I focused all of my energy on not popping an unwanted boner and tried to sleep.