#reymir

“Technically, you’re both right,” Ocam says from his own bed. “Actual chances of rodent infestations on a starship are pretty low — you’ve got the airlocks keeping them out, the DOTs running a full-ship cleaning sweep on a regular schedule, and well, I guess even if one or two mice got past all that—”

Caleb’s fists tighten in his pockets. “Gonna get to a point anytime today, Ocam?”

Ocam’s mouth clamps shut. At once, Caleb feels terrible. Ocam does this, sometimes — shuts himself down, probably thinking his exuberance is too much, when it’s not so bad. Tarima, too, in her own way. Caleb hasn’t failed to notice the signs of two kids who’ve been taught to make themselves smaller. 

“Sorry, Ocam.” Caleb meets Darem’s stare with an unspoken challenge. I dare you to tell him to shut up. “Finish what you were saying.”

Ocam brightens again. “I was just gonna say that, even with all those systems, it is possible. We’re usually docked. A cadet forgets to follow procedure when they’re closing the doors, or brings something in from outside that the transporters misregister as an approved pet, and — boom. Mice. And those little freaks breed fast.”

Well, that didn’t help. Darem is now aiming the worst smug expression at the tin box. “Exactly. So I don’t care what neuroses you’re swimming in, Mir. Quit it. We have replicators.” He throws out a hand in the direction of the nearest mess hall. “There’s six of them, just a few doors down, for your convenience. You want a bacon sandwich or a frothy raktajino, any time of the day or night? Chancellor Ake’s paying your bill. Just make your little piles of food in there, not here, okay?”

Caleb forces himself to look away from the box. It’s got cake in it. The kind with enough calories that he could have eked it out to get him through a couple of days, on the street. 

Darem claps him on the back. (Caleb steels himself not to react.) “Great, so we’re all agreed. Food is for the mess hall. The drawer under the bed is for regulation PJs, and I’m really looking forward to seeing you two squirming in those grey monstrosities when I bring a girl or a guy back here. Maybe both at once. Good talk, thanks everyone.”