Page 4 of Truthful Deceptions

“I can serve one of you,” I said. “But only one.”

They looked at each other, making the irregular sound again. I guessed that meant they were questioning or confused.

They leaned in close to each other and whispered for a few minutes. I couldn't make out their words, but the conversation seemed intense. Finally they straightened back up and looked at me.

“We understand that it's important for you to feel useful,” Tolreum said.

“You can choose which one of us you'd like to serve,” Mieshorum said.

“Any one of us is a good choice,” Narmuna said.

Lexarit made a sound that reminded me of someone running in sock-covered feet. “We’ll abide by your decision.”

They were quick to shuffle until they were standing in a straight line, shoulder to shoulder.

“I pick?” I said, feeling slightly amused. This wasn't going at all how I expected.

“Yes,” Tolreum said. “You can ask us questions if that will help you decide.”

That wasn't a bad idea. I stepped up to Lexarit, the first one in the line. He smelled a little like scented soap. The smell was strong enough that I didn't even ask him anything. I didn't think I could handle being close to that strong smell for long without developing a headache.

Tolreum was next. He had a strong scent also, but his was pleasant and made me think of the smoked sage my mother used to flavor our food with when we lived in places where she could grow it.

“How long have all of you been working together?” I asked, wanting to enjoy the way his familiar scent made me more relaxed.

“Three rotations on this ship,” he answered.

“Before this ship, we worked on the Ever Present,” Lexarit added. “It was a similar type, only much bigger.”

“The ship was decommissioned, and we decided to form our own company,” Mieshorum said.

I nodded as I stepped in front of Narmuna. “Was it decommissioned due to micro-fissures?”

All four of them made the same tools-being-dropped-on-a-metal-floor sound while I tried hard not to sneeze because Narmuna smelled soapy, similar to Lexarit.

“You know what fuel-caused micro-fissures are?” Tolreum asked. By his tone I could tell he was surprised by my knowledge. Whelp, that was an easy emotion sound to decipher: surprise.

“This space station used to be very busy,” I said with a chuckle. “I've seen just about everything that can go wrong with a ship show up here.”

This time the sound that came out of them was like the tink, tink, tink of water dripping on a bit of metal. It seemed like some of the noises came out of their chests and others came from their backs.

“Do you have a question for me?” Mieshorum asked. He was the last one in the row.

I shuffled over to stand in front of him and took a deep breath. Why did he smell soapy too? Even more odd, his soapy smell was different from Lexarit or Narmuna’s soapy smells.

Tolreum was the only one with a pleasant scent. That, combined with the fact I liked his deep voice the best, meant I moved back to stand in front of him.

“I'll serve you,” I said.

This time all the crew except for Tolreum grumbled to each other. Tolreum started purring again.

“I'll take good care of you,” he swore.

All I needed was for him to be quick and not hurt me.

“Where's your bedroom?” I asked. “Or do you guys share rooms?”

Tolreum stepped away from the others and pointed. “We all have our own quarters. Mine is this way.”