The Defiant
Chapter Seventeen

The evening after we left Byth and continued our journey, Two and Seven summoned us all to the galley for a “surprise.” I approached with caution, knowing that what Seven and Two found fun would most likely be relentlessly mocked by Four and/or Three, and I was probably about to have a fight on my hands.

“Merry Christmas!” they shouted as we walked into the galley. I examined the room. Seven and Two stood by one of the tables, he dressed in the uniform Aerzhu black pants, shirt, and boots, and she in a flouncy red dress and heels that she must have bought at the station. Both had huge smiles stretching across their faces. The table they stood beside was piled with brightly wrapped parcels and packages.

“Merry what?” asked Three bemusedly from behind me.

“Christmas. I woke up yesterday morning and asked the computer what the date was,” Seven began, shining happily. “And when it said December 24, I had a weird feeling, like it was special or something. Something I remembered. At first I thought it was my birthday, but I asked the computer, and it told me about Christmas.

“It’s an Earth holiday. It used to be really widespread, but it’s faded in popularity over the last century or so. It’s a celebration of the birthday of Jesus, who some people believed was the son of God. Anyway, people celebrated by giving each other gifts every year. And I thought we all needed something to smile about.

“When we were at Byth yesterday, I saw something that made me think of One. So I figured I would buy gifts for all of you.”

“Why?” Four asked.

“Because it’s nice. Everybody loves presents! And when I learned about Christmas, I thought this would be a perfect time to give them to you. We need to unwind a little. We’ve all been very stressed out, what with the Kryllian attack and all.

“Two and I wrapped presents, I got Six to cook up a little something special, and Two programmed a holo to look like a Christmas tree.” She clicked a remote button, and a holo projector on the table spun to life, revealing a small green pine tree that stood over the presents. She clicked the remote again, and a red strand of beads wrapped itself around the tree, followed by a multitude of glittering gold and glass baubles that hung themselves on the branches.

We oohed and ahhed, approaching the tree.

“It’s beautiful,” I said.

“It looks so real,” Three said in amazement, passing her hand through the holo projection.

“Can we celebrate, then?” she asked, beaming.

Everyone looked to me.

“Why do you need my permission? Of course we can celebrate. Merry Christmas!”

Someone turned on music, and we all gathered around the tree. Six brought plates of steaming turkey and mashed potatoes from the kitchen, and we sat down to eat. Seven had contributed some vegetables from the greenhouse, and we ate our first fresh food of the trip.

After our meal, Seven signalled us all to gather around the Christmas tree.

“Okay, Four, this one’s for you, and Six, this is yours.” She and Two handed out the presents.

I hefted my present in my hand. It was light, flat and square, about the size of my palm and wrapped in beautiful blue paper, tied with gold ribbon.

“Hey, what about you, Seven?” Five asked. I looked up, startled. It hadn’t even occurred to me that Seven wouldn’t have gotten a present for herself.

“No, no, I’m fine, I don’t want anything,” she protested, but I suddenly had an idea.

“Oh! I have just the thing. I’ll be right back!” I told them all, then raced back to my quarters.

I found the tiny silver disc sitting on my bedside table. I palmed it and ran back up to the galley, where the crew still sat in a circle, parcels in their laps.

“Here. It’s not wrapped, but I think you’ll like it,” I said, holding it out to Seven.

“No, really, you don’t have to— Oh!” she said in surprise as I flipped the switch on the bottom and the green sprout appeared from the simulated seed. She gazed at it, watching its progress. Only after the flower had bloomed and disappeared three times did she speak.

“Thank you so much, One. It’s perfect.” She smiled at me.

“Can we open our presents now?” Five asked.

“Yes, of course, go ahead,” Seven said hurriedly, setting the flower in her lap so she could watch the rest of us.

Four immediately tore into her silver package, pulling out a toolbelt.

“Sweet!” she cried, buckling it on. “Next time we get blown up, or shot at, or chased—seriously One, we need to have a chat about conflict avoidance—I’ll actually be able to properly handle the situation.”

This triggered a spree. We all ripped into our presents. Two pulled a voice-controlled robot from the wreckage of his with a cry of delight. Eight received a sapphire spun silk scarf that looked like it came from the booth Three and I had visited yesterday. Three took a pair of earrings from her tiny box.

“They’re mood-metal—they’ll change color according to your mood. Put them on!” Seven said, a grin still splitting her face.

Three hooked the earrings into her ears, where they immediately turned from shiny silver to a vibrant kelly green.

“Cool! Thanks, Seven,” she said. The rest of the crew chorused their gratitude as well.

“One, open yours!” Two said, noticing that my package was still wrapped.

“Yeah, c’mon, One!” Five called thickly through a mouthful of sweets from the box he’d gotten.

I untied the ribbon and opened my box. Inside, nestled on a white cushion, was a bracelet, made up of spherical black glass beads. I lifted it out and put it on.

“Look at the beads!” Seven said.

I looked closely at the beads. Instead of being black glass like I’d originally thought, each round bead contained a tiny replica of space, speckled with stars like the view outside the galley windows. In addition, each bead held a planet from Earth’s solar system. I watched Saturn’s rings circle the planet in wonder. The earth bead had cloud formations that really moved across the sky.

“Thank you, Seven! It’s gorgeous.”

“You’re welcome. You’re all welcome!” she squealed happily, clapping. “I love this holiday!”

“Care to dance, m’lady?” Two asked Seven, bouncing to his feet and offering her his hand.

“Of course, m’lord,” she giggled, standing up. They walked to the empty space in the middle of the galley and started dancing to the music that was still playing through the computer.

At first it was cute, then it was just ridiculous. Clearly, neither of them could dance, and the height difference wasn’t exactly helping. After they bumped into four separate tables, I pushed Three and Six up to join them, and they were followed by Five and Eight. Four sat down to watch them, a bemused look on her face.

Seven came to join us after a moment.

“Yeah, I can’t dance.”

“No, you really can’t,” Four and I agreed.

“Which one of you lucky ladies is going to dance with me now?” Two asked.

“Go on, Four,” I encouraged, giving her a little push.

“Um, no. I don’t dance.”

“Come on. It’s Christmas!” Seven said.

Two grabbed Four’s arms and swirled her onto the makeshift dance floor, where they immediately crashed into Three and Six and went sprawling to the floor.

“Hey Seven, what’s that?” Five asked. He had successfully steered himself and Eight away from the collision, and they were dancing near the doorway to the kitchen, where a small clipping of some sort of green plant hung on the wall.

“Technically, basil. It’s supposed to be mistletoe. It’s a Christmas tradition. You have to kiss whoever you walk through the doorway with,” she answered.

“Okay. Cool,” he said, and immediately spun Eight into the doorway, where he dipped her on his arm so she leaned above the floor and kissed her.

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