Chapter 8

"Are you done yet?" Bren's voice came from behind Sophia, soft and amused even over the background noise of the flight deck.

"Not yet." Sophia licked her lips behind the welding helmet's dark face plate and carefully brought the electrode close to the metal of the hatch cover. She held her breath as she delicately spelled out another letter.

"It took me all of five minutes when I did my name." He pointed out.

"Your name is eight letters long. That's hardly a fair comparison." She breathed out slowly, then started on the second R in her last name. Even dressed in heavy protective gear, with a helmet on her head and the crackle of the arc welder in her ears, Sophia could still hear Bren. More importantly, she could practically feel how close he was by the way the back of her neck tingled.

She was doing her best to ignore the sensation, but she was still unnerved by the sight of his name neatly written above her sister's on the Warlock's engine hatch cover. There had been the likelihood that he had been in the Warlock before, had perhaps even sat in the navi's chair once or twice while Carolina flew the ship. But he hadn't seemed to recognize the Warlock at all, nor her, so she had discounted the possibility.

Now it turned out that not only did Bren know the ship, but that the Warlock had originally been his.

She wanted to reach out to touch the Warlock, to remind herself that the ship was hers alone now, but she could wait until she finished adding her name to the list of owners. She carefully lifted the electrode away from the hatch, shifted her hands in the heavy gloves, then started on the S.

The thought of having Bren repair the Warlock was an uneasy one. Sophia had been the only one to touch the workings of the ship since she had bought it. Partly because she'd been very careful to use a cover story to explain her fascination with and her work on the ship. Partly because no one else knew or cared to know how to repair an eighty-year-old vanship.

It was only the worst luck that the one man who would know what really happened on the Warlock six years ago also happened to be that same ship's mechanic!

She was going to try her hardest not to give him the chance to touch the Warlock, however. She had a plan to get rid of him for the rest of the day, and then she would frantically repair what she could, but the plan would only work once. She planned to think of a new reason to keep him away from the Warlock by the next day, or, with any luck, something else would happen to take up his time.

"This gear is really heavy." She said casually, making her voice breathless. Her hand was steady as she finished the last E. "What time is it?"

There was a pause as Bren checked, "Nearly time for dinner."

"Good thing! I could use a bit of a break."

"Let me finish that." His voice came from her right side, and Sophia concentrated on finishing the last letter of her name.

"All done." She said, and stepped back, making sure to turn off the welder before she sagged her shoulders. When she lifted the helmet's face plate, Bren had already taken off his helmet and was watching her carefully. She gave him a slight smile as he came forward and took the welder out of her hands. "I apologize. I guess I haven't been careful about getting some rest. I was ... Impatient to talk to you and make my situation known."

It didn't take much artifice to sound tired, because she was. It was true that she'd been pushing herself since she left Oriskany dock to find the Silvana. But she wasn't done yet. She'd get some real sleep when the Warlock was up and running once again, and there was no further need for Bren to have his hands on the ship's systems.

A primal thrill snaked down her spine at the thought of Bren's hands deep in the Warlock's systems, making the ship run again. Sophia shook her head in disgust at her own sick imagination.

"You look tired." He said as he coiled the hose back on to the power supply for the arc welder. "We can start tomorrow."

Exactly what Sophia had planned. She nodded. "Thank you."

She waited while he finished putting the arc welding equipment and portable curtains back where they belonged and headed for the lift, shedding the thick welding protection as he went. Banks caught up with him before he made it to the left, and the two men had a short conversation that Sophia would have paid money to hear. At least once, Banks looked in her direction. She shucked her own gear with relief — she hadn't lied about how heavy the huge welding jacket was either — then stowed jacket, gloves, and helmet back in their compartment and climbed into the Warlock to eat some flight rations while she waited for Bren to leave.

The smeared windows of the canopy didn't allow her to watch the lifts, but she ate slowly and decided that fifteen minutes was long enough. When she came back down out of the Warlock, both Banks and Bren were gone.

Sophia made her way back to the Warlock's engine compartment and glanced at the toolbox on the floor, reacquainting herself with what had to be done. It was then she realized that Bren had left his wrench in the toolbox. She hoped he wouldn't come back for it. She would have a hard time explaining why she was suddenly not tired anymore.

Besides, if he stood around any longer looking surly and sexy in a mechanic's jumpsuit, she was going to say something really stupid. Like the truth.

Bren didn't dash down to the flight deck on the instant that the previous day became the next, but he was up and moving before the sun was above the clouds. The Silvana still flew in darkness.