As Vi and Molly were working in the kitchen, Oz came in. Molly placed another cutting board in front of him and more of the pink vegetable Vi was chopping.

Oz took up a knife and began chopping, without comment, then glanced over at Vi.

“You settling in here all right?”

“I guess.” Vi shrugged her shoulder. “The ship’s nice. Fancy. We don’t have all of this where I’m from.”

Oz’s face lit up. “I’m glad you like it. See Molly. Not everyone hates the Xeo.”

Molly grimaced. “It grows on a person, that’s all. I’m just not so sure it will ever grow on me.”

Vi glanced down the hallway, but there was no sign of the other guy.

Oz glanced back as well and met her gaze with a smile. “I left Haze in engineering with Xain. They’re arguing about our next location, although the captain is really the one who decides those things. I can only handle so much before I’m just: point me where you want me to go.”

“I don’t know, Oz,” Molly said. “You seemed a little keen on where we should go earlier today.”

“About that…” He glanced sideways at Vi, and his voice dropped off. “We can talk later…”

Molly glanced at Vi. “You know, if they want to excavate the rock so bad, let them.”

“Molly.” He studied his cutting board, and his voice dropped. “A month ago you would have been on my side.”

“A month ago I didn’t love you,” she said quietly.

Oz looked up at Molly with this pained expression, and the two sort of stared at each other while a whole conversation played out in silence.

Vi grimaced. So uncomfortable. Who knew being a miner could be so stressful? She carefully put her knife down. What was a polite way to haul ass out of there? She turned to the sink to wash her hands.

“You know, Molly, it looks like you’ve got all the help you need. I’m going to pop down to my room before dinner, make sure I didn’t forget to pack something I need.”

“Okay.” Molly grabbed Vi's knife and made quick chopping work of Vi's pile of vegetables. Vi heard the clatter of pans.

Vi glanced back as she went to push through the doors, and Oz had come around the counter to Molly’s side. He was leaning over her, kissing her neck. Molly was smiling and shooing him away. Molly looked up at him, and there was palpable heat between them. Oz bent down to kiss her.

Vi felt her mouth drop open. They were certainly hot for each other.

Okay, so maybe it was more than a glance. Vi shook herself free of the mesmerizing scene and hurried down the ladder to the crew quarters.

* * *

Vi’s stuff was waiting outside her room, so she dragged it inside.

She set about unpacking. There wasn’t too much to it. Probably good she’d only had a couple of minutes so she couldn’t stress about what she might forget or need later. Although, Vi tended to have good instincts about these things.

But why hadn’t she grabbed that little bag she’d spent six months saving up for? Okay, so maybe she should have packed ahead. But who the heck packs early, and what do you do after? Never wear what you like again on the off-chance you might need it in outer space?

Or did people actually pack and unpack every time there was a draft? No. That was definitely not her. Who had time for such things?

So, the bag was gone, and she couldn’t waste too much of her heart regretting it.

She reached for her phone before the truth even registered to her brain: no cell phone coverage out here, wherever here was.

Her friends would have to figure out, all by themselves, what to do with her favorite little knickknacks while they were dealing with her paintings.

Hopefully, they’d enjoy them at least.

Vi pulled out her painting. It’d gotten slightly bent at one corner, but it wasn’t in too bad a shape, all things considered.

She set it on the tiny desk. She’d have to check with someone on how to hang it or what was allowed.

She lined up her paints on one side of the desk, stowed her pads in a drawer, and set her bags to the side of the desk.

All set up.

She turned the room into a view of space, jumped on her bed, and leaned back to admire the effect. It was so awe-inspiring she could barely speak. Never had the night sky looked so clear and beautiful on Earth.

She found an adjust button, and it switched to a different view with a nebula off to the side and a star cluster in another spot.

She closed her eyes and locked it in her mind, how she would draw and capture the perspective. When she opened them, she knew how it might be accomplished.

Now, she only needed an easel, room to draw, and soft lights. Would a ship like this have an observatory? But really, what natural light could she hope for here?

Vi began to sketch, capturing the vague notions that had shaped in her mind, isolating and working it to see how it would fill a larger canvas. The trick would be to make a small paper feel like it expanded to the whole room, the way the sky did now. Actually, this might take a few tries before she quite captured the image in her mind.