control

We got attacked right after I discovered that I couldn’t program anything into the navigation system.

Em wasn’t exactly holding us captive, she didn’t have any specific demands, she was just making herself a hassle. We couldn’t exactly get rid of her until she undid the mischief she’d managed with our systems. The first night we locked her in a room she went up and out through the crawlspaces, and played with us all night until we managed to coax her down with a plate of hot food. The plan has been, since then, to dump her at the first heaptown we come to, but we keep finding more of her tinkering. Ice seethes, Kon curses, Caban simply grins and says how useful a skill like hers might be.

I thought it might be useful, too, until she locked me out of the navigation system.

We didn’t expect to be attacked. This sort of thing happens, I prefer to avoid it like I avoid most contact with other Runners, and other space-goers in general. It’s messy, and often bloody. The ship that started firing at us was a junkheap, but it shook my bolts not to be able to slide away like usual. A flush of fear came over me, real fear, when I realized I’d gotten lazy. I’ve begun to rely on jumping away, to the point where other solutions don’t occur to me. Kon earned his coin with the gun show he put on, those junkheap pirates didn’t get close enough for us to worry about being boarded. Ice and Kon made sure they had their business done, and I don’t envy the repairs they’ll have to do. Most likely they’re just Runners like us, on a stretch of low jobs and looking to find a prosperous target. Caban kept calm through the whole thing, and afterwards was almost amused to be seen as a rich mark. Eventually he got Em to put the wiring back the way it was so I could plot a course out, but he hasn’t gotten her to promise not to do it again. Not sure that we can stop her, the little scrap-girl can fit in every crawlspace on the ship. Maybe she could rig things up to work better than they do now, but I can’t trust her to do it right.

There has to be a way to show her we’re decent folk who have nothing against her. For the most part, that’s true. For now she’s got me worked up, putting us at risk. I didn’t know I was so protective of this ship until I found I was powerless to prevent it from being destroyed. I won’t risk Caban’s trust by doing anything...but if she touches the navigation system again she’ll find that I’m exactly what she thinks I am.