“Fine,” he said, pulling the small tablet from his pocket. He held it close to his face, swiping a few times, pushing the text aside. That was a letter from his wife, and it was none of anybody’s business…no matter how much they hounded him. Lise’s words hadn’t really convinced him she wasn’t still mad, but anything from her was a welcome respite from the hell of battle. She’d told him she regretted that they’d parted on uncomfortable terms, that she understood why he had to go. He believed she was sorry they had argued, less so that she understood his reasons for leaving. He was going to write her himself, as soon as he had a free moment, tell her he felt the same way. But that would have to wait until he’d worked himself through the still enormous list of repairs on the schedule.

He looked at his grinning comrades and turned the tablet around. There was a photo there, a newborn baby, all red with puffy cheeks. His son, the other news Lise’s letter had delivered.

“He’s cute, Sam…must have gotten most of his DNA from mom.”

The engineers in the hold laughed, jockeying to get close and have a look.

“Congrats again, Sam.” Billings was a wise ass, far more likely to give him a hard time than a serious emotion. But now his voice was sincere. “That’s why we’re working so hard…so we can get this tub fixed up and get the hell out of here. So you can give your son a kiss.” The others nodded, and gave him a ragged round of applause.

“Thanks, guys. Really. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say about what? Why I have half a dozen engineers standing around like they’re at some kind of picnic? Can I assume Dauntless is one hundred percent operational again?” Fritz stepped into the room, holding a section of heavy duty cable. Her uniform was covered in black dust, and it had a large tear down one side. She looked like she’d just been crawling around somewhere in Dauntless’s guts…which Carson knew was probably exactly what she had been doing.

“Sorry, Commander…we were just…ah…”

“Carson was showing us the kid, Commander.” Billings looked a little startled still. “We kept at him until he gave in.”

Fritz stepped forward, an ominous presence approaching like some dark shadow. “So, I can assume that all of you have work you should be doing, correct?” Her eyes focused on Billings.

“Yes, Commander…we’re on it.” Billings looked around at the others. Then they all started moving toward the exit.

“Not you, Sam.”

Carson stopped, feeling like he was trapped in a spider web, watching as his comrades fled through the doorway and out into the corridor.

“Commander, I’m sorry. They kept asking me, and I finally…”