Free Children of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy Page B

Did that count for anything now? He’d been given a choice between freedom from the leash, or retaining the cryptoglyph so they could help the Fringers. He’d chosen the latter. Now those plans were in ruins. Did he blame her? Edie didn’t want to find out.
    Finn straightened, drew a deep breath, and changed the subject. “Natesa said something about food?”
    Grateful for something else to think about, Edie called the galley. By the time someone arrived with a tray, Finn had figured out the entertainment caps and turned on some loud music. Just in case a bug was already in place.
    “Does everyone usually eat in the mess?” Edie asked the kitchenhand, a skinny lad with lank blond hair.
    “Yes’m. Deck E. Supper starts at eighteen-hundred hours, breakfast at oh-six-hundred. Tomorrow’s pancakes.”
    Finn had other things on his mind. “What’s the crew complement?”
    “Sir?”
    “How many milits, how many officers? And the rest of the crew?”
    “Well, there’s Captain Lachesis and his first and second officers. There’re four of us in the galley, including me and the cook. I’m Nevill, by the way. Five or six maintenance tecks, I think. And a whole lot of workers on the skyhook project and the terraforming, of course.” He topped off his report with an emphatic nod and a grin.
    Finn winced at the sketchy information and Edie felt embarrassed for the boy.
    “Nevill, do you know about the seeding team?” she asked him, eager to extract more information although not for the same reason as Finn. “How many cyphertecks?”
    “Oh, the tecks don’t come to the mess,” he said, contradicting his earlier statement. “They stay on Deck C. Sometimes their teachers come by.”
    “Teachers?” A curious word to use.
    “You know, their trainers and the op-tecks.”
    “Oh.” She smiled her thanks and Nevill made to leave. “Wait, who should I ask about supplies? We need a few things.”
    “The quartermaster is Mr Kensee. I’d do it now rather than tomorrow morning because he’s real grumpy before noon.”
    “Thanks for the advice. And for bringing lunch.”
    Nevill gave a shy smile and left, snapping the hatch behind him. Edie and Finn settled cross-legged on the floor and ate off the low table between the couches.
    “Natesa suggested you get work. I guess she’d rather you stay busy. I’m going to be in the labs ten or twelve hours a day.”
    “Forget Natesa.” Finn lowered his voice so that Edie had to lean forward to hear him over the music. “This is what we should be concerned about, right?” He tapped his skull—the cryptoglyph.
    “There’s nothing we can do about that here.”
    “Then we need to not be here.”
    She should’ve guessed his thoughts had already turned toward escape. “But how…?”
    “I don’t know yet. Opportunities always come up, eventually.”
    “I saw boxes of neuroxin implants in the infirmary. If I could steal some, they’d keep me alive a few years.”
    “That’s a start.”
    “Cat’s out there. She’ll help us.”
    “Most likely she’s still in cryo.”
    “Then who? The Saeth?”
    Finn gave a small shrug. “The war’s been over for years. I don’t know how many survived, or if they’ve disbanded. I don’t know how to find them. But we’ll get out of here, Edie. I just need to know you haven’t forgotten the mission.”
    Edie put down her fork. “I haven’t forgotten.” She sounded defensive, which wasn’t what she’d intended. “Finn, I’m on your side.”
    “I know.” His lips quirked into a quick smile that disarmed her. The intensity in his eyes reminded her of the first time they’d met, when he’d trusted her to save his life—and of all the moments since then, the connections they’d forged because no one else had been on their side.
    Silence between them stretched several seconds too long as those moments flashed through her mind. Looking away, she fumbled with the tray and pushed her plate aside.
    “I’m exhausted,” she