Deep in the Depths

Chapter 8: Cracking the Code (Part 2)

Dawn stood in the engine room with cup goggles over her eyes. A yellow tint covered her face while a line of electricity created a bright red glow down the copper metal pipe. A raven bun sat on top of her head with the occasional strand poking out of the side.

The door to the engine room parted. "Dawn!"

She flinched, causing her finger to jerk up, creating a mini lichtenberg figure along the metal walls.

At her sharp glare, Bessie smiled sheepishly at her. "Sorry."

Dawn grabbed and lifted her cup goggles. "This better be good." Her gaze flickered behind Bessie. "Oh, hey Orion."

Orion gave a small wave.

"Dawn." All attention returned to Bessie. "I think I cracked the code to Orion's language. Is there any way you can program another translator with a mixture of Latin and Greek?" Dawn's eyebrow rose as she reached for a towel along the copper pipes. "It's possible. You think that's what his language is based on?" She wiped her hands with it.

"I think it's possible. They refer to Luna and Lunia and their families as familia." Dawn swung the rag onto her shoulder. "Then it's possible they use the Latin words and Greek rules. That or they use the Latin root but the Greek prefixes, suffixes."

They were just going to have to test the various options to see.

"However," Dawn folded her arms. "If you want me to make a translator chip then we're going to need some more to the ever growing list." Right, now that Orion had his coral, he promised to help them gather ore.

"So what exactly do we need to help repair the ship?"

"I'll send a list to your ITS tablet." Dawn turned her attention back to the work at hand. "Ask Owen for one of his metallurgy scanners and you should be good to go." At the mention of Owen, his words came flooding back.

You don't know what he's capable of. Bessie glanced at Orion, who simply smiled, revealing sharp teeth. Yet, there was no unease or fear at the sight. After all, if Orion wanted to hurt her then he had plenty of opportunities to do it.

He could be just biding his time though. The thought's vines wrapped around her brain like a wrapper. You never know when something like him is going to strike.

Bessie shook her head. Stop it! Orion would never hurt her. A touch to her shoulder made her glanced at Orion. At the concern radiating in his gaze, Bessie sighed. "I'm ok, Orion."

Just a little conflicted.

She shook her head again, before she turned to the door. "Come on, Owen might still be in the control room."

The doors shut behind her as they made their way back to the control room.

"And you still haven't been able to contact the agency." Bessie paused at Mathew's voice. Her gaze flickered to Orion as she pressed a finger to her lips and leaned in. Her ear pressed against the cool metal door.

"No, something is blocking the signal." Owen's voice muffled through the door. "I've been trying to find out who may have access but so far everything is coming up normal."

"Well, whoever it was made sure to erase any chance of it coming back to them."

"They were smart. I'll give them that." Owen sighed. "Now, about Orion..."

"What about him?"

"I don't trust him, Mathew. You can read the thing's mind, what does it want with Bessie?" What? Bessie's eyes narrowed. Was Owen really willing to stoop that low to find something?