“At least I’m not the only one,” I said with a laugh. “Good work today, but go easier tomorrow. You don’t have to fix everything all at once. If you’ve been working this hard the whole time, I’m surprised you didn’t escape on Bastion.”

She ducked her head. “I like your ship,” she said quietly. “I wanted to ensure you would keep me on.”

“Consider yourself kept. Now promise me that you won’t push yourself quite so hard.”

“I’ll try to ease up a little. Thanks for your help today.”

“You’re welcome. Now that the processing unit upgrade is done, ship maintenance is the highest priority. In a couple of days, once the rest of the crew gets done with their extra cleaning, I’ll adjust the roster so you have more help every day. Until then, I’ll help when I can.”

She waved me off. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know. But I have a bit of time, and it needs to get done—without you doing it all yourself.”

Eli called us all to the table, but I stared at Anja until she gave me a reluctant nod. “I won’t do everything myself. But,” she said, drawing out the word, “I can knock out a lot of the smaller tasks while you’re busy with other things. I won’t overdo it.”

That was likely all of the concession I would get, so I smiled and let her go.

Torran’s eyes tracked me across the room. I was positive my limp did not go unnoticed, but he didn’t say anything when I sank into my seat.

Eli had made a potato and veggie dish with a cream sauce that was simple and delicious. He didn’t cook much, but when he did, he proved that he knew his way around the kitchen.

The lack of sleep followed by the afternoon’s work had left me exhausted. I let the conversation flow around me, soothed by the sound of my crew enjoying a meal together. I’d missed Lexi’s snort-laugh when Kee said something especially ridiculous, and the way Eli gently teased both Lexi and Kee until their smiles were wide and genuine.

All of the surviving members of my squad were safely back in my care, and while I knew it wouldn’t last, I would enjoy it while I could.

After dinner, the crew headed down to the rec room to get ready for the next episode of Crash Crush while I stayed behind to clean up. Both Eli and Lexi had offered to help, but I waved them off.

Torran was harder to dissuade—mostly because he didn’t offer, he just started helping.

He cleaned the counters and stove while I loaded dishes into the sanitizer. I set the machine to run and then stretched my arms overhead, trying to work out the tightness in my back.