“I’m Anja, mechanical engineer. Nice to meet you.”

“Have you ever replaced a processing unit?” Kee asked. “I could use a hand, and these two are terrible at delicate, fiddly work.”

“Don’t fall for her rainbow hair and sunny smile,” Eli advised over his shoulder. “She is completely ruthless when it comes to her systems. Once, I made a tiny little mistake and she refused to talk to me for a week. A week! That’s like three lifetimes in Kee time.”

Eli’s mistake had taken out the navigation system. He hadn’t meant to, of course, but Kee had been furious—and worried. Without nav, our chance of finding our way out of deep space was basically nil. It had been a long week.

Kee sniffed. “That’s how long it took me to fix your mess. You deserved longer, but I couldn’t stand your sad eyes. And you made me apology cookies. You know I can’t resist cookies.”

“I’ve never replaced a processing unit, but I’m good with fiddly tasks because my job involves a lot of them.” Anja paused and looked back and forth between them. “But what kind of cookies? Just in case.”

“Snickerdoodle is my favorite, but I’ve never met a cookie I didn’t love. Eli made me chocolate chip, with the chocolate bar he’d been hoarding for two months. That’s when I knew he was really sorry.”

Eli plated the last of the eggs and joined them at the bar. “I was sorry. I told you that about a million times.”

Kee’s smile was gentle. “I know. But actions speak louder than words, and I was mad at you.”

The proximity chime cut off whatever Eli was going to say. “Show me,” I said, moving to the nearest screen.

Torran Fletcher had arrived without so much as a message of warning. As I watched, he climbed the cargo ramp, three Valoffs in full armor behind him, each of them pushing a levcart piled with supplies.

I growled under my breath.

“Problem?” Eli asked, his earlier playful mood wiped away, leaving the hard-faced soldier.

“Our guests have decided to arrive early and make themselves at home.” I waved him off when he would’ve left his breakfast. “I will go say hello. You stay here. If they murder me, avenge my death.”

“Not funny,” he said with a scowl.

“I’m kidding.” Mostly. I looked at Anja. “You okay here?”

When she nodded, I took my leave and used the short walk from the galley to the cargo bay to compose myself. I needed to be calm and cold and professional, even if Torran’s audacity made me furious. And I needed to practice my mental shielding.