Jim walked down the corridor towards engineering, where he knew Paige was waiting for him. Today they were going to work on the circuitry to the ships rockets. There had been some complaints from above that the ship was getting sluggish and the power outlets had to be looked at. Paige volunteered to have a look at it, on the condition that she have an assistant of her choice help her, and of coarse, she picked Jim.

The way to engineering took Jim past the living quarters to nearly all the Ctarl-Ctarl officers. This route used to bother Jim because he’d often walk past members of the crew and get sneered at or scrutinized like a piece of meat. He was a walking delicacy, hungered for by the whole crew. He’d nearly been attacked twice before they’d seen his collar. However, as Jim spent more time on board, everyone came to recognize him as the commander’s property and off limits. Now most of the Ctarl-Ctarl’s ignored him. For Jim, being ignored was a lot better then being drooled over.

“What do we have here? Have you come to beat up some more of my fellow Ctarl-Ctarls?” Jim stopped walking and turned to an open door, where Trisha was looking out at him. Jim was momentarily taken aback when he saw the female Ctarl-Ctarl officer was in her underwear, consisting of a tiny thong and an even smaller bra. Shaking off his uncomfortable feelings about being this close to a scantily clad woman, Jim smiled over at his ally from last night.

“Actually, I’m heading over to engineering to see Paige. I usually wait for the dead of night to strike at you Ctarl-Ctarl,” Jim said with fake malice. Trisha chuckled softly, it was hard to believe that this tiny terran took out a fully-grown Ctarl-Ctarl, but it was true. Hearing him joke about it so openly gave Trisha even more respect for the young man. It’s easy to be brave when you’re in danger, but to remain fearless after the situation had defused spoke a lot about his character.

“Why don’t you come in. I’ll get changed and we can both go down to Engineering.” Jim nodded and walked inside. He stepped into the lion’s den without a second thought. After last night, he trusted Trisha. She had protected him when she could of just walked away and left him to be eaten. Not many Ctarl-Ctarls would help a terran, even if they were the commander’s pet.

“Make yourself at home, just let me change into something more appropriate.” Jim nodded and took a seat on Trisha’s bed. The room was tiny compared to Aisha’s room, but that was to be expected. Aisha was a high-ranking member of the military and Trisha was pretty low on the food chain. It was about ten-by-twenty feet big, enough room for a bed, closet, desk, but not mush more. Jim noticed some pictures above Trisha’s bed.

“This your family?” Jim pointed to a picture of a bunch of Ctarl-Ctarl children sitting beside each other. They all looked very happy and were sitting close to each other. He could see someone in the background, watching them. It looked like a cheerful family picture.

“Kinda,” Trisha said, not turning around to face Jim. “They’re the people I grew up with in the orphanage.”

“You’re an orphan?”

“Yep,” Trisha said with no emotion. It was the natural response she gave whenever anyone asked her about her family, or lack there of. It didn’t hurt explaining that she was an orphan, but it didn’t feel good either.

Jim remained silent, as Trisha started changing. He was rolling the information in his head, thinking of how to respond. “I’m a orphan too.”

Trisha stopped changing, she had half her uniform on and was in the middle of buttoning up her shirt. She looked at Jim and her face softened. She walked over to him and sat on the bed beside him.

“I guess we’re in the same boat. We both belong to the no family club.”

Jim shook his head.“I don’t know about that,” he said with a small, sad smile. “I like to think that some of the people I’ve befriended as family, one in particular. She’s been like a big sister for me, always looking out for me when things get hairy. She brings out a side of me that I thought I lost. When I’m with her, I feel like I can be a child again. I don’t know what my life would have been like if I’d never met her, but I thank God every day that I’ve been blessed to know her.” Trisha stared at Jim, thinking hard about what he’d just said. She’d always thought she was alone, but maybe Jim was onto something.

“I think, I think, I have someone like that to,” Trisha said after a moment of thought. Paige was like a little sister to her, someone to tease and protect. Maybe she did have a family like Jim.

“This ‘big sister’ of yours sounds amazing.” Trisha said, getting up, she started to finish getting changed. While she was pulling her pants up, she added to Jim, “who is she by the way?”

If Trisha had been looking at Jim, she would have seen him become nervous at her question. Trying to act nonchalant about it, Jim replied, “No one you’d know.”

Trisha finished changing into her uniform. She led Jim out of her room, closing the door as she left. She turned to Jim and patted him on the head. “You’re a good kid, Jim. I hope you’re able to be with your big sister.”

They headed off to engineering, leaving the living quarters behind. As they went, Jim smiled about what Trisha had said to him. He’d keep it his little secret that he was already with his big sister.