Ali was woken by a pounding on her door. She struggled to wake up. The bath water was still hot, which made waking up even harder. How long had she been asleep? Three hours. The Wanderer had automatically kept the water warm.
The pounding continued. Ali reluctantly pulled herself out of the water and slipped on a heavy dressing gown. Querying the ship she found it was Dash trying to get her attention.
Caution kicked in. She didn’t trust Dash. He was bigger and stronger than her. She still thought he was looking for a chance to grab control of the ship from Jess. Taking her hostage would be one possible route.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, not opening the door and using the Wanderer to pass her words on.
“It’s Sal,” he replied. “I can’t get her to wake up. And she’s cold. So
