Now she had to tell Elena she’d lost her only worldly possession besides the bridge generator, which technically belonged to Callie’s crew now, and a few salvaged odds and ends on the White Raven. Like being a time refugee wasn’t hard enough already.

“Is everyone on board, ship?” Callie asked from her seat at a tactical board in the forward observation compartment.

“You’re calling me ‘ship,’ now?” the voice whispered in her ear. “That’s a step up from ‘computer,’ which was frankly a bit insulting. I’m as far beyond a computer as you are beyond a paramecium.”

“Would you please answer the question?”

“You said please! You are in a good mood today. Yes, Captain Machedo, the entire crew is currently on board, including Doctor Oh.”

“Systems check?”

“All the non-organic bits check out. The new weapons and defensive systems are fully integrated. You and Ashok have direct control over the weapons, Janice and Drake have the defenses on their screens, and of course, you can ask me if you need things done right.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Open a shipwide channel.” She cleared her throat. “Ready check. Comms and navigation?”

“If there’s anyone to talk to, we can talk to them,” Janice said. “And, yes, I know the way to Ganymede.”

“Pilot?”

“I have nothing but green lights,” Drake said.

“Engineering?”

“Everything’s zip-zip and zoom-zoom down here, cap,” Ashok said.

“XO?”

“I’m strapped into my acceleration couch,” Stephen said. “Wake me when it’s over.”

“Doctor Oh?”

“Hi.”

Callie turned her head, and there was Elena, still in her White Raven jumpsuit. She’d found some lipstick somewhere – or, no, she’d probably had a ziggurat in the Spinward Lounge. The cocktail reacted with the skin of the lips and made them turn dark cherry red, which was the mixologist’s preferred shade on women. Callie had never considered herself particularly vulnerable to lipstick femmes, but, yes, there was a definite reaction. Oh Oh Oh, yet again. “Yes, Elena?”

“I don’t have anything to do, and I didn’t like the idea of being strapped into the jump seat in my quarters, so Shall said I might be able to keep you company up here?”

Callie inclined her head toward the amorphous blob of a jump seat freshly extruded from the wall on her left. “Sure, strap in.”

Elena took her place in the squishy white gel, which conformed to her body’s shape perfectly. At that moment, Callie rather envied that jump seat. Elena adjusted the webbing of straps, then nodded. “I think I see how it works. This will protect us from being hurt by sudden acceleration?”

“That’s the idea, but we won’t be pulling too many Gs this trip. It’s just a little jaunt.” She looked at the tactical status board, which was happy and green. “All right, we’re ready to go. Drake, tell the station we’re off.”