Chương 441: Book 7 - Chapter 37 - Relaxing

"What are you doing down here?" I heard Sharron ask, prompting me to turn away from the window and back towards the stairs.

"Thinking. I figured the lower observation room was both quiet and let me get a good look at the area," I said, gesturing at the sea below.

"Not that the view helps; it's not like I can actually see what's going on down there."

"Thinking about what?" she asked, striding across the room to join me at the window.

"What to do with myself," I admitted.

"I've come to the realization that the bears and I are just so far out of our depth that we can't stand on the frontline, like I'm used to, and I have to take a supportive role. I'm so used to taking an active role in combat that I'm not sure what I should concentrate on." Sharron raised an eyebrow.

"You can't find anything to do?"

"Well, no… There have been small chores, like checking on the deployment of the sonic weapons and mines and figuring out what to do with the first batch of otters, but nothing major that requires my full attention," I replied.

"I've mostly been sitting around waiting."

"So? So have half the other samurai in the fleet. Not everyone has access to the points and catalogs needed to conduct a detailed sweep of the ocean, especially when our opponent seems to have developed countermeasures to our most common scanning technologies," Sharron said.

"You don't have to handle everything, you know, we're all in this together."

"I know, I know," I muttered.

"I'm used to relying upon others when it comes to dealing with Antithesis, but I'm also used to people having to rely upon me, too. I just don't feel like I'm pulling my weight."

"That's because you're a workaholic who likes to take on more than your fair share of the work," Sharron snorted.

"I think the only way you could do more right now is to either buy the same scanning tech they have on the Destiny and Retribution, probably spending several hundred thousand points to do so, or get out there and swim around looking for signs of Antithesis manually."

"I'm not going out there," I growled.

"I know, you've made that abundantly clear," she replied, throwing an arm around my shoulder.

"What I'm saying is you're already doing what you can with the tech you have available. Relax a little."

"I refuse," I huffed.

"I may not know what to do with myself, but that doesn't mean I'm going to slack off. Who knows when we might catch sight of the Gene Tender? I need to be ready." Sharron sighed.

"Evelyn, you have an entire crew full of robots that don't need to sleep. They don't even need to rest. You don't have to be on duty twenty-four-seven."

"While that's technically true, my problem isn't with being tired; it's the fact that I'm restless," I replied.

"With all my synthetic enhancements, I could stay up for several days straight without issue."

"You need to find yourself a hobby," Shannon snorted. I cocked my head to the side.

"Honestly? I've got one; I cook," I said, glancing over at her.

"I'm not a great one, but I try." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"You? Cook?" Sharron replied, looking at me strangely.

"What brought that on?"

"Well, since the hydroponics have been providing the sector with food, and the people around the shelter were coming up with new recipes, I thought I'd give it a shot myself. I mean, Jane and the kids have that strict 'No workaholic' policy, so I needed to find something to do," I said.

"That's true," Jane said.

"What do you think they're going to say when I tell them about this?"

"You wouldn't dare," I growled.

"Besides, this is a combat situation, so it's allowed."

"Really? I don't see any Antithesis around," Sharron replied, a smug grin plastered across her face.

"Who do you think Jane would side with if I did?" My eyes narrowed.

"We both know the answer to that," I said.

"Since you're willing to threaten me with that, you must want something. What is it?" Sharron smiled and turned, pulling me towards the stairs.

"Just come with me. I'll help you find a way to relax."

"Do I have a choice?" I grumbled.

"Nope," she chuckled.

"So where are we going?" I asked once we finished ascending the stairs.

"To my RV," she replied.

"I've got plenty of things to help you take your mind off the current situation." I considered complaining but ended up keeping my mouth shut and letting her pull me down the hallway and into the hangar. We got about half way across the busy area before I finally saw it sitting between all the Kodiaks ferrying bears back and forth and the Ursas undergoing resupply. I'd almost forgotten that Shannon had been living out of an RV before she left.

It seemed like she hadn't made many upgrades to it since she'd left for the red planet; it still looked like the same standard hover recreational vehicle that I remembered. Sharron led me right up to the door before turning on her heel to look at me.

"I hope you like what I did to the place," she said as she opened the door dramatically. The question I had of 'What changes?' died before it could make it to my lips. The RV's interior had to be more than three times larger than the last time I'd seen it. Not only that, but the space had been redesigned and rebuilt to resemble a moderately sized apartment. I stared dumbly at the redesigned RV for several seconds before stepping back outside and checking the exterior again.

"You're not seeing things," Sharron laughed.

"The RV is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside."

"How…?" I asked.

"Spatial manipulation tech," she replied.

"You know how I store my suit in my armlet? Similar idea, different application. While we were up on Mars, there wasn't a ton of space in the citadels, so the other samurai made liberal use of the tech in order to make sure there was enough room for everyone. After seeing it in action, I decided to adopt it for my own use."

"It's bigger on the inside," I said blankly.

"Yes, yes, it is," Sharron replied, smiling brightly.

"Come on in." I hesitated for a moment, then climbed up the stairs and stepped over the threshold.

"When did you find time to do all this?" I asked.

"You didn't think I was fighting twenty-four seven while I was up there, did you?" Shannon chuckled.

"I got some help from Cry Havok, a samurai from Cincinnati who works as an interior designer, during my downtime and paid for the entire thing with points, so I didn't have to do any of the hard labor. It was my own little sanctuary while I was up on Mars."

"It's nice," I said as I wandered between the doors, poking my head into each to see what was behind them.

"Why is everything painted the same color as the Shelter?"

"Helped with the homesickness," she replied.

"At least, when I had enough downtime to actually think about such things." She wandered down the hall, heading towards the front of the RV, before ducking into the door right at the end. After I finished poking around, I jogged to catch up.

"So what exactly is your plan?" I asked as I pushed my way through the door, only to get an apron in the face.

"First, I'd like to see your so-called cooking skills," Sharron laughed.

"So how about we put together a few snacks. After that? Perhaps some music and video games? There's no need to make it complicated. Just two friends enjoying each other's company."

"I thought you had a plan," I said, shaking my head.

"You don't need to have a plan to relax, just good food and good friends," she replied.

"Now get over here and show me those skills. We've got some relaxing to get to."