By the time all the food was put away and the parts had been hauled down to maintenance, Eli, Anja, and Chira had returned, pushing a borrowed levcart piled high with additional items.

I met them in the cargo bay and pulled Eli aside. “How much did this cost?” I quietly demanded.

As soon as he looked at me sideways, I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer. “Nothing,” he said slowly. “Chira paid for everything out of Torran’s account.”

I closed my eyes and strove for patience. “Whose idea was it to get more parts?”

Eli frowned slowly. “Yours?” It came out as a question. When I sighed, he continued, “Chira said that you and Torran weren’t able to get everything, and that we should get the rest.”

I didn’t say anything, and Eli cursed. “You didn’t know.”

“I didn’t know,” I confirmed. “This was all Torran’s doing.”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story.” And the truth was, I wasn’t entirely sure why Torran had decided to buy the rest of the parts. The weight of this new obligation pressed on my temples, aggravating the headache I’d been fighting all day.

Eli met my eyes. “Do you want me to take everything back?”

The petty, stubborn part of me absolutely did want him to return everything, but I bit down on the response. Even if he returned it, the shopkeeper wouldn’t refund all the money, so I’d still be in debt and have nothing to show for it. I silently shook my head.

“Go have something to eat while we unload this stuff,” Eli suggested gently. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”

My stomach growled at the mention of food. It was nearly lunchtime and I’d been running on caffeine alone for far too long. “Once you’re done unloading the parts, make sure everyone has everything they need, then get us ready to fly. The sooner we leave, the better.”

“You don’t want to hire another engineer?”

I sighed. I’d spent last night going over our finances while waiting for docking permission. Things weren’t as bleak as they had been last week, but we were also spending money far faster. It made me nervous.

“Ideally we’d have another engineer, but we’re already burning through the budget. Anja confirmed she wants to stay on, so we’ll be okay until this job is done. If we find the heirloom and get the second payment, I’ll reevaluate.”

Eli nodded and went back to carrying parts, but not before giving me a pointed look and tilting his head toward the galley.

“I’m going, I’m going,” I grumbled.

I moved into the ship, keeping an eye out for Luna, but she didn’t launch herself at me. She was probably napping in the garden. Maybe I’d join her after I grabbed a meal bar.