m from sleep. “Allie,” he murmu

ing ‘little pig little pig let me in.’ To which he would naturally respond, ‘not by the hair on my chinny chin chin’ before opening

male voice. Michael pegged it as Gillie. The smile

ghts turned to ash. The knocking co

n. The knocking stopped. Michael sighed know

ithout too much of a problem, but couldn’t find his shoes and socks. Unwilling to crawl around in the dark, Micha

Gillie inquire from the

or aside. Gillie seemed relieved to see him safe and sound. “Did yo

is cherubic face creased with con

his sore toe, noticing a spot of blood whe

om. “I think your boots are

d them off the night before. “Oh,” he said. He noticed Gillie’s face was still filled with concern and h

Michael made his way to his discarded shoes. He chose a pair of fresh socks from the arrangement on the bench and took both b

bed,” he

m strangely. “Yes,

was a cot before. This is a real, actual bed.” He wonde

placed by actual furniture. The cots and things are being stored in case of an emergency or something. Yours was actually one of

Michael finished for

the words black out drunk. “Yes sir. I can see i

ordered his cot burned with his bedding. Using it in a future emergency situation would only

continued as they walked to the mess tent. “It f

Consuelo spotted them, she gestured towards one of the tables. A short while later she came out carrying a tray with two plates, a couple of

eggs powdered?” he asked remembering the stock o

bark of laughter. “W

nted,” Michael answer

ake a point.” She replied. She studie

oing to take Mateo up on his o

as trying not to do anything to attract attention. He lo

f,” she told him. She nodded and stepped away, leaving them to eat. As sh

ile she is cooking, even if she does look like the Queen of the Unde

or if they were something other than chicken eggs. He poured his coffee into his mug and frown

explained as Michael took a tentative sip o

ok another sip and decided he lik

ubstitution. We got kind of low on coffee when we had limited channel activity, so Consuelo tinkered a

o. He doubted anyone had the temerity to complain. ‘Although if they did,

tty lethal he thought it best to leave the matter lie. Michael finished his breakfast and pushed away

said pouring himself anoth

anned their day over their morning coffee. He doubted he would be up for a leisurely cup for a while. He could prac

Substitution had higher levels of caffeine than he was used to. Gillie finished eating

ing that while in town and out of his quart

of the mess tent he wondered if the boy drank a pint of sea

ed each of the walls with larger pieces lurking beneath them. In the center of the room was Mateo’s work bench. He had his hands wrist deep in the mechanical guts of something

Mateo’s habits. “Profanity in two l

ressed enough for me to ask for the bathroom, a beer or how to find the library, I’m making do.” He looked at the item on his workta

hael suggested. He moved closer and sniffed the air

seem intent on climbing inside when the engines cycle off. Then when they

ichael

teo sighed and shook his head. “So, leaving my fried lizard bi

e time to draw up at least a basic f

of the teams, if possible. That way they have something concrete to start with and aren’t just adding on details out of the blue. You are our only actual cartographer. Well, the only one accust

ctures and the markings fo

rmed. “What would you n

d that he had no idea if his and Allie’s belongings made it to Haven and if so where they would be. He also realized that to

storage.” Mateo told him. Michael nodded, grateful enough for the reprieve that he

it, so if you could tell McLaughlin that I don’t intend to harm myse

ed. “I’ll

a few pounds during his trip into oblivion. “And if you could get him to return at least one of my bel

head. “I could have told him that was pointless. We both kn

ortable with the accura

Mateo with his mechanical bits and fried lizard guts. He walked slowly back to his quarters,

d figured the act of bathing might kill some time. “Too bad I don’t have a rubber duckie.” When they reached his quarters,

ed back out of his room. He lifted an eyebrow when he saw Gillie

ter to do?” Michael asked, n

tion or the tone. Michael wondered if it was even possible to insult Gillie. He

leave?” he

. It’s a great honor. The Commander ordered me to assist you in any way possible b

n. “Of course he did.” He turned his steps towards the bathhous

his large pockets. “I only have about tw

limit?” Michael

While they gather information from near and far and add literature from every culture they meet, Earth based popular fiction is

the settled population of Haven to produce a writer of its own. ‘My guess is shortly before a theater troupe

ut the book, sir?”

eading to you watching me in

sir,” he told him. Michael waved off the st

the boy. “You just want to make s

ntly mid-morning isn’t a popular time to get clean,” Mi

and frowned as he pulled the privacy screen into place behind him. He heard Gillie settle himself and heard the pages of a book being turned and Michael rel

bathwater. He was somewhat surprised to see a second pipe leading to the bathtub. This one was fitted with a faucet-like knob. Experimentally he turned the knob. Water gushed from the pipe and

head with amusement. ‘I should have known peo

in imitation of the various activities the physical therapists had made him learn after he had been put back together again. Satisfied that his arm worked, he moved to his left leg. The scars were ug

ugh to end what he had optimistically called his military career. The ending led him to Alexandr

l picked up the soap and tried to shift his thoughts from both the past and the present. As that left only the future to contemplate, Michae

nder who had taken it as his mission to make him live again. Suddenly, he thought of Gillie and the dark smile dropped from his face. Gillie seemed to be all of twenty years old, a little less than

or on the DF,” Michael mused. They hadn’t gone too

far away from the docks. Even without the sailor’s dislike of land driving him, i

e thought, rinsing the suds from his

the plug to let it drain. Once the water level was low enough, he opened the sluice gate and followed the posted instructions for rinsing out the

e from if they wanted someone from the patrol ships to go

them and earned him a great deal of suspicion. The Guild as a whole may not care for outsiders, but it recognized the need to bring in new blood every now and

decided. “They probably didn’t have enough peopl

and smiled. He stood and tucked the book back into his pocket. Michael decided that even if Gillie w

sion, Michael realized that the thought of leaving Gillie out in the wild to fend for himself, sent his conscious

ed to Gillie. “Have you studied the flo

e predators that we need to watch out for, so

any doors to block once we

we going to another town

ze this isn’t a road trip? There are no gas station

the buildings in the next town?

” he told Gillie thinking about the distances on the map and how far a survey tea

o a wide grin, punctuated on either side by the dimples. “I’ve never been camping before, but

back to my quarters I’ll give you the guide book

eplied with an o

red while he bathed. He was thrilled that somehow Mateo had managed to unearth some sort of bulletin board with push pins so he could tack up the images

out of the messenger bag and handed it to Gillie. “Go

quiz later?” he a

omplete their task. “Yes,” he replied. “There will be a test.” Gillie nodded and left with the book.

ories,” he repeated under