Chapter 15

"Captain," Mase started, twisting the bottom of his second empty glass in half-circles, "the light at the end of the hallway broke again."

The atmosphere in the dining room seemed to stiffen, as did fists and shoulders from the other three crew members. Even Doctor Daryl swallowed thickly, and as he adjusted his scarf around his neck, he glanced over his shoulder at the hallway door.

Again? So the light had broken before.

The thought of the scream I hadn't heard earlier shivered up my back. Maybe that hadn't been the engine protesting. Had it been Mase? But no amount of imagining it could solidify that picture in my brain. He didn't seem like the type who screamed at falling lights. What could possibly make a grown man who reduced my stomach muscles to mercury with one look scream like that?

The captain pushed his bowl of stew away. "Will you fix it, Nesbit?"

Nesbit gave a curt nod, with no sign of an upheaval of giggles.