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I really wanted Frank to be asleep and his notifications turned off, but this wasn’t something I could wait on. I sent him a message. Check the photos I sent you last night. They’re wrong. They’re not what we first saw.

He’d understand when he looked at them. Unless, somehow, his copies hadn’t been tampered with.

Did the Ohuli have the technology to do that? They sure didn’t seem like it on the surface, but then, I’d never seen a starcraft that could change its appearance, either. Not like that. Cloaking and invisibility were one thing, but a completely different interior? Unheard of.

It was a lot to think about while I ate my lunch. I still didn’t have much of an appetite, but I ate anyway, knowing I needed to keep my strength up. I didn’t like to waste food either.

I’d be meeting the girls for dinner tonight, which meant Frank would have a little more time to himself. To sleep or research or whatever he wanted.

Not going to lie, I was a little worried about him. He’d really latched onto this. I guessed the same instincts that had driven him to become a Space Marine drove him to be so protective of the Athos and all those on it.

I felt the same way but probably not quite as passionately as he did. I admired that about him. He went wholeheartedly into things, whether it was fly-fishing or making sure I saw the perfect sunset.

Smiling, I took a bite of salad. It wasn’t bad. I generally wasn’t a huge veggie fan, but I did like a nice salad now and then.

Usually, I’d go into my office and eat, but as I was the only one on duty, that would have been silly.

I just sat at the desk, watching an old episode of Moonlighting on my screen.

I could pretty much watch that show anytime.

I planned to add it to the programming for the next season of Channel 2, one of my other responsibilities as head librarian.

As my salad and the show neared the end, the library doors opened and Sten returned. I touched the screen to pause the show. “Did you get checked out?”

“I did,” he said. “And Vashti said to tell you hi.”

I smiled. “She’s lovely, isn’t she?”

“Very nice. She didn’t make me feel like an oaf at any time,” he said, laughing.

“How many stitches?”

“Three.” He held his hand up, which was now professionally bandaged. “And they’ll dissolve in a few days, so I don’t even have to go back.”

“Even better.”

“Thanks.” He tipped his head toward the breakroom. “I’ll get that Instachef out and be back with the new one in the hour. I know we’re all on reduced hours during fallow, but what time do you close?”

“At five, but if you need me to stay longer?—”

“No, I’ll be done. None of us wants to stay longer.” With a chuckle, he headed for the back.

Once again, I found myself wishing I had my knitting. Instead, I finished the dusting. Sten had taken the old Instachef out by then, so I went into the breakroom and started the vuum.

Frank’s response reached me as I went to the desk. The pictures are definitely wrong. Can you resend the originals?

I can, but it won’t help. They’ve been changed too. Any idea how that happened?

Not yet. But I’m about to dig into it. Are you coming here after dinner?

Yes, unless you’re too busy.

Never too busy for you.

I smiled. See you then.

The rest of the day lagged with only a handful of patrons coming in.

The most exciting bit was getting to test out the new Instachef after Sten finished installing it, which I did by ordering a small, iced decaf coffee.

It was very nice, and I was suitably impressed.

But as soon as closing time arrived, Harry and I locked up and headed back to our quarters.

Since I’d be going to Frank’s after dinner, I exchanged my jumpsuit for dark-wash skinny jeans with a high percentage of stretch for comfort, a white tank top, and over that, a loose, off-the-shoulder heather-blue sweater.

I twisted my hair up, secured it with a wide comb designed for a French twist, and with a kiss to Harry, was out the door and on my way to the dining hall with time to spare.

I found Benni and Zanya about to get in line, so I joined them. “Hey, there. How was your day today? Anything interesting going on?”

Benni raised her brows. “Oh, there’s something interesting going on, but I’d rather wait until we’re seated.”

“Oh?”

She just nodded with a conspiratorial gleam in her eyes.

Zanya grinned. “My day was fantastic. I only worked half a day, and I’m off tomorrow.”

Zanya taught art one day a week, but she also worked in the laundry for housekeeping, so naturally, she had a lot less to do with fewer cruisers on board. “Good for you,” I said.

“Teresa wasn’t quite so happy, though,” Zanya added as we moved forward.

Teresa was the head of her department. “Why not?”

Zanya made a face as Benni handed us each a tray. “Apparently, those new guests are very picky.”

“The Ohuli,” I said softly.

She nodded. “They requested their quarters be recleaned because they felt like something in them was giving them a headache.”

“Sure,” Benni scoffed. “Well, that tracks.”

“Meaning what?” I asked.

“When we get to the table,” she replied.

We reached the food and put the conversation on hold. There was rigatoni with tomato sauce or alfredo sauce, and sausage or chicken could be added to either one. I did a small dish of pasta with alfredo and chicken, even though I’d had chicken on my salad.

We got drinks and took our trays to our usual table. As I sat, I saw Vashti in line. “Let’s wait for Vashti before we say too much.”

They all nodded, and a few minutes later, Vashti joined us. “Evening, all.” She glanced at us as she took her seat. “Long day?”

I smiled. “We were just waiting for you before we got into it.”

She spread a napkin over the lap of her scrubs. “Is this about our new guests?”

Benni nodded. “Got it in one.”

“Go on, Benni,” I said. “Tell us what happened today.”

She stabbed a few rigatoni. “Well, Parinder and Joe work Section B, okay? That’s the side where the docking bays are and where the disabled ship is tethered.”

We all nodded while she ate her rigatoni. She washed it down with a swallow of ginger beer. “I know you guys know that we clean all the solar panels, but that’s not all we do. We run random tests on them too, just to be sure they’re all functioning as they should be. Just part of the gig.”

She shrugged. “Sometimes, a single panel can lose strength and it doesn’t get picked up by the monitors, so we do checks. Anyway, Parinder and Joe said that their entire section is running at a twenty percent deficiency.”

Zanya shook her head. “Meaning what?”

Benni had another mouthful of rigatoni, so I gave it a guess. “Meaning the Ohuli ship is the reason for that deficiency?”

Benni nodded as she swallowed. “That ship is pulling power. There’s no other explanation. It’s directly plugged into that side of the grid, and there have been no other changes. With the size of our power grid, it shouldn’t even register.”

Vashti’s eyes narrowed. “But wouldn’t that make sense? I mean, is it really something to be concerned about? It is a Class 4 cruiser. A ship of that size would definitely take up some juice.”

“Except I’m not so sure it is a Class 4 cruiser,” I answered.

They all looked at me. I had to explain.

“Listen, I don’t want to start any rumors or freak anyone out, but there’s something weird about that ship.

Frank and I have been on it twice. And the first time, it looked very different than the second time. ”

“Let me guess,” Benni said. “Someone tore it apart looking for something?”

“Not exactly.” I explained how we’d found it the first time, then how it looked on the second visit, and I told them about how the photos I’d taken had been changed, too.

Vashti shook her head as she reached for her water. “That shouldn’t be possible.”

“I agree. Frank’s looking into it. He thinks it has something to do with the ship being made from an organic material similar to … iridaphones. Or something like that.”

“Iridophores?” Vashti suggested.

“That’s right,” I said.

Zanya frowned. “And those are?”

I looked at Vashti.

She explained. “An iridophore is an iridescent chromatophore, which is the kind of cell that produces color. They give your irises their particular shade, and in the animal world, iridophores allow certain creatures like chameleons and cuttlefish to change their color as a kind of camouflage.”

Benni leaned forward, brow furrowed as she looked at me. “Are you saying the disabled ship is … alive?”

I stared back at her, my mind whirling. A little shiver went through me. “No, but now that you’ve said it, I can’t stop thinking that maybe it is.”