Over 100K words at this point – but, more importantly, a bunch more of the ‘add something here’ sections have been filled in! I might have this first draft done by the weekend! Huzzah!
I didn’t feel the urge to watch one friend cut up another friend for parts, so I decided to see how Oft was doing. I assumed that the conversation would be just as grim than if I had stayed with Maki, but at least it’d be differently grim.
He had been set up in Burcu’s old office, and was busily going through her notes when I dropped by. “Oh, hello, Pam,” he said with the wan smile that had been living on his face since the attack. “I’m going through shore leave reports for the crew. Perhaps I’ll see something Burcu didn’t.”
“What are you looking for?” I asked him as I sat. “Suspicious behavior?”
“Yes! The problem is, I have no idea what ‘suspicious’ would entail. I’m not very familiar with what normal shore leave behavior is.”
“Really, Oft? Can’t you just see if anybody’s acting weirder than usual?”
“No, I’m afraid: there’s no ‘usual’ to look at. This is the first voyage to a populated Tomb World for most of the Redacted’s crew,” Oft shook his head. “Including the captain. Oh, and me, truthfully.”
“What?” I said, just like an intelligent and educated professional. “That makes no sense. Why would the Council send out an inexperienced ship?”
“I didn’t say we were inexperienced, Pam. Dealing with living settlements is just not in our normal skill-set.”