Ni'ev part 4

The most important thing I learned as I got my Accounting degree is that assets equals liabilities plus stockholder’s equity. Today, I’m reminded that my assets equal generous hips and breasts.

I’m currently on the ship, struggling to wiggle my hips into a vent. The vent is narrow at the entrance, but wider on the inside.

I’m running out of time. The men will discover me if I don’t get these stubborn hips in the vent soon.

After sneaking into a crate full of food, I waited two hours before an Ezronian finally picked it up and carried it into the ship. My heartbeat thundered and I sweat enough to fill an ocean, but I didn’t pass out face-first into the bags of food.

Technically, I survived being carried by a man! There’s light at the end of the tunnel.

He survived carrying me, too. Last time I saw a scale, I was 185 pounds at my 5’5 height. I must not have gained much, so I don’t understand why my hips are acting like I’m shoving them into a can of Pepsi.

With one last attempt, I suck my breath in and wiggle until I slip in. I crawl deeper in and sigh when the vent becomes wider. There’s enough air for me to breathe, but there’s no light at the end of this tunnel. It’s dark, dusty, and cold metal nips at my skin.

I follow the length of the vent, not sure where I’m going. When I reach a fork, the voices of men become louder. My heart beats harder as fear comes to me like breath. Although I know the men can’t hear me, I know they’re mere feet away.

I inhale, exhale, and then stop when I realize I’m about to sneeze. Damn, it’s dusty in here!

Thankfully, I’ve been around enough stinky diapers and brown-finger-painted-toddler-art that I’ve mastered holding back gagging and vomit. Avoiding a sneeze is easy as cheating is to Janice.

I focus on the conversation. The men are talking about the ship taking off, which I’m not looking forward to because it’s going to be one hell of a bumpy ride.

I crawl deeper up the vent, freezing whenever I make so much as a thud against the metal. I feel like I’m under a microscope.

There are dozens of voices— all male. Light pours into the feet ahead of me, so I crawl toward it eagerly. There are small horizontal holes carved into the metal that give me glimpses of hallways and rooms. Ezronians walk around, some in pairs, talking about many things without realizing they’re being spied on.

Their conversations are… normal, harmless. They’re just people going about their day. This observation is the first step towards leaping over my fear.

I keep crawling, and I get views of empty rooms. There are individual beds on the ship that extend from the walls. Each room can accommodate four Ezronians. I keep going until I find a room that’s different from the others. This one has a single bed that takes up most of the room. It’s a master bedroom.

Ni’ev’s bedroom.

I warm in inappropriate places as I imagine Ni’ev sprayed out on the bed. The room is neat, bare, and minimal. There is so much space to fill with scattered clothes, blankets to wrinkle, floor to wet with our dripping—

No. No. No!

The vent must be low on airflow, because my brain has begun to fail me.

I can’t have sexy time with Ni’ev on the ship, because that would mean getting discovered. I can’t leave this ship before I complete my mission. My mental health comes first, and my ovaries later.

There just so happens to be a removable slot in the vent that would allow me to climb out and enter Ni’ev’s room, but I won’t fall for the temptation.

I hear aloud slooosh when the door of the room disappears into the wall, and I tense so quickly that the vent metal creaks.

An Ezronian man enters. He opens the top lid of a metal bedside table and pouches inside. I recognize the food pouches immediately. The rations aren’t the yummiest, but food is food, and I happen to have none. Whoops. I guess I should have planned how I’m going to feed myself.

Already, this little scheme of mine is failing.

I crawl away from the room. I’m not hungry yet, so I have time to return to the loot room and snatch from the food packs.

The vent becomes dark again, and I can barely make out what I’m seeing. I hear voices, though, so I must be approaching another room or hallway.

Something soft— like strands of hair, slides into my face. I panic and claw away at the spider-web-like material. A critter must have snuck in here and nested. Gross!

I wipe my face aggressively, but no amount of wiping makes me feel less disgusted. I’m disoriented, panicked like a trapped prey. Without thinking twice, I crawl backwards and spit wildly.

I push the vent slot open, and drop into Ni’ev’s room with a thud so loud that it hurt my feelings more than my knees.

Death seems imminent as I rush into the adjoined room— a bathroom, or my grave.

I smack and pull knobs, trying to get the water running. Whoever designed this ship needs to die a painful death that involves spiders.

Just as I’m considering ducking my head in the increasingly attractive-looking toilet, I hit the right knob and a steady steam of water comes out. I scrub my face furiously for one or five minutes. I don’t know how long its been, or if I still have a face attached to my head. I just rub like my face is a winning lottery ticket.

I wash my hands, too, and then I run my wet fingers through my hair. There’s no mirror in here, so I don’t know if I have a fucking tarantula living on my head rent-free.

The sound of approaching footsteps makes me freeze. Someone is coming toward the room— maybe it’s owner.

I’ve gotten myself into a hairy situation. No pun intended.

Thinking quickly, I slam the knobs closed and stand there like a guilty toddler. If Ni’ev finds me, I’ll be really in for it.

The door of the room opens, and someone enters. I hear their steady footsteps. Then, there’s a pause as if they’re observing the room. If they look up, they’ll see the panel I opened when I fell in.

I’m so nervous I squeeze my buttocks tightly, as if that will make me disappear. Dread crawls up my spine. Nevermind, that might be the spider, but at this point, I don’t care.

The footsteps continue— although they’re fading instead of approaching. They’re walking away!

I almost melt into the ground with relief. That was a close call. I need to get back into the vents.

After making sure the coast is clear, I tip-toe to the nightstand, snatch the bags of rations in there, and look around. I’ll need to climb a few feet to reach the vent.

a/n: Ni’ev will definitely notice his dinner is missing, lol