She woke with a start, and thought for a minute that she was still in the Brig, and that Pavid would be coming down anytime to let her out.

In the second it took for her to realize where she was she noticed a deep, guttural breathing. She turned her head to see the Ursine sitting on his bunk, wrapped in the dark quilts. At first she thought he was staring at her, but then she realized his eyes were closed, and she realized he was sitting in a lotus position: Short, stocky legs crossed, thick hairy arms limp with his four fingered paws cupped. He had a short black pelt, thick and shiny,covering most of his exposed skin, except for a shaven patch on his left breast. This part showed a tough leathery hide tattooed with a spiral, intercut with several unknown symbols, part of his race’s pictographic alphabet.

Izzy sat up and watched him for a moment. Then, when it appeared he wouldn’t be greeting her on his own account she slipped of down the hall to use the head. On her return, the Ursine was still in the same position, so she got her tablet from her locker and absently thumbed her way through a stupid sitcom about miners who lived on a planet of gems and gold. Then she played a puzzle game based on the sitcom in which she had to line up gems in order to score points to buy more imaginary gems. Then she started reading news and research articles on Gem mining in the outer quadrants around New Helena. Finally, right after she had decided to become a gem miner but before she was going to get some breakfast, the Ursine stirred.
He made one paw into a fist and brought it up to his tattoo, tapped it and then brought it to his lips and kissed it. He uncrossed his legs, opened his eyes and nodded to her before standing up. Although he looked short and stocky, he towered over Izzy, already tall for her race, and stretched out a paw.

"Morn’," he managed.

Izzy shook his paw.

"Hi Morn. Izzy"

A grin spread over the ursine’s fae, exposing a mouth full of sharp fangs.

"No. Good Morning. Morn. My name is Manok Stormfarer"

His voice was deep and rich, the R’s rumbling in the sib bass range.

"Manok. Nice to meet you." Maonk reached over to the desk and grabbed the skull, then opened a drawer and hid it.

"Sorry. Didn’t know there’s be partner this trip."

"That was a friend. He died."

"I assumed."

"I don’t have much friends. My People don’t either. We stay alone, no?"

"That’s what I understand."
Manok looked like he was going to tear up.

"Thanks Izzy. I must go to work now."

He reached down and shouldered a sling pack of tools and electronics.

¨"I will see you later. I will stay out of your way," he said.

" Thanks Manok," Izzy said to his back as he shoved his was through the door. It clanged shut behind him.

" I guess I’ll see you around?"

***

Padre Mimosa laid a Queen down on the discard pile and drew a card from the deck.

"I just don’t understand how a sweet, young girl like you can stand living with such a savage."

Izzy. Swirled the ice in her glass, one of the few luxuries afforded passengers in this class. She glanced over at Harold. It was his turn to play, but in the few days they had been meeting to play, she had learned that he was glacially slow. And although she didn’t want the Padre to bait her into another political conversation, she knew she wasn’t going to get any help from that quarter. It was either respond or let the conversation die around her.

"I don’t know Padre," She said, trying to keep her voice even. "It’s not all that bad. Manok is different."

"But his race has turned their backs on the third gospel. Isn’t that skull he carries a Missionary? A fellow human?"

"He doesn’t talk about it, but I think he’s obligated to it somehow."

"Yeah, Like after you eat your enemy, their energy is added to you so you carry a piece of them around forever, literally." Harold played four Aces, including the one Izzy needed and drew a card.

"Exactly," the Padre said, pointing first to Harold, then to Izzy. "The beast who turns his back on the third gospel will never be saved, and are rejecting the path toward their divinity.

"All of this," Here he swept his arm around the entire entire lonuge, "all of this, however prosaic it is, is part of God’s plan. The first Gospel prepared our individual civilizations to protect their homeworlds in a single, Holy Government according to His Laws. Those of us who heard the Word and were saved, made it past the nuclear fires and received the Second Gospel. That prepared us to join our Bethren. And now we live in the time of the Third Gospel, the Revelations toward a Pan-Galactic Ascension. We shouldn’t be welcoming those who reject the Word among civilized men."

Izzy drew the discard pile and played a run up to the King of Spades.

"Bullshit, gentlemen. Manok is just as civilized as any of us."

"Well, that’s damning with faint praise, isn’t it? We’re all out here on the rim for a reason aren’t we?"

"Puh-leeze. Not now Padre."

"Allow me. We’re docking soon, and I so very much never get a chance to sermonize."

Izzy fumed. The Padre had been trying to weasel his way into converting her since he first laid eyes on her, and it was just starting to piss her off. She had wanted the game to go on to increase her stake, but she was no longer having any fun. She quickly played the rest of her hand and picked up the kitty.

"That’s all guys. I’m going for a drink before we dock."

Harold and the Padre were both frowning at the table, considering the cards. Izzy got up and started up the ramp to the central corridor.

Maybe they were right, she thought. Maybe it was dangerous to hang out with a giant man beast. After all, she was looking to sign with a privateer to go hunting a legendary warship. It wasn’t like she wasn’t risking enough already.

Or, she thought, she could use Manok. There was a fear of his kind out here, and he seemed to be perfectly capable as an engineer. Together, they complemented each other, with little overlap. She was smart, he was strong. She was acceptable, he wasn’t. He had skills, she… her skills weren’t as noticeable. At least not at first. By the time she made it to the bar she had made up her mind.

Next Chapter: New Chapter5