Lirien's POV
I stood in front of the mirror in Vael's quarters, adjusting the grey maintenance uniform for the tenth time. My hands were sweaty. The fake badge on my chest read "Ensign Lirien Voss" in clean white letters. It still felt fake. Like I was wearing someone else's skin.
Vael watched me from the doorway. He had already changed into his captain's uniform and looked calm and serious, like always.
"You don't have to do this tonight if you're not ready," he said gently.
"I am ready," I replied, even though my stomach felt tight. "I can't hide in this room forever. I need to start acting like I belong here."
He walked over and fixed my collar for me. His fingers brushed my neck, and for a moment I wanted to lean into him and forget everything. But we both knew tonight was important.
"Remember," he said quietly, "keep your head down. Short answers. If anyone pushes too much, tell them you're still learning the ship and need to get back to work. I'll check on you through the internal cameras when I can."
I nodded.
Vael gave me one last long look, then opened the door. "Be safe."
I stepped out into the corridor alone. The door closed behind me with a soft click. For the first few seconds, I just stood there, heart pounding. Then I forced my legs to move.
Deck 7 felt bigger at night. The lights were dimmer, and only a few crew members were around. I kept my eyes on the floor most of the time, walking at a steady pace toward the maintenance storage room Vael had shown me.
Halfway there, I heard footsteps behind me.
"Hey, new guy!"
I froze for half a second, then kept walking. Maybe they weren't talking to me.
"Ensign Voss, right?"
I stopped and turned slowly. Two male crew members one tall with red hair, the other shorter and stocky were smiling at me. They looked friendly.
"Yeah," I said quietly.
The red-haired one grinned. "I'm Jax. This is Milo. We work engineering on the day shift. Saw you yesterday with the captain. You settling in okay?"
I kept my head slightly lowered and gave a small nod. "Yes. Thank you."
Milo laughed. "Man, you're quiet. Where did they pick you up from? You look like you've never been on a big cruiser before."
"Calix Station," I answered, repeating the story Vael taught me. "First big ship."
"Ah, that explains it," Jax said. "Listen, if you need help finding anything or want to join us for meals sometime, just say. Night shift can get lonely."
I gave them the smallest smile I could manage. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."
They waited, clearly hoping I would say more. When I didn't, the conversation died awkwardly.
"Alright then," Milo said, patting my shoulder once. "Don't work too hard, Voss. See you around."
I nodded again and turned away quickly, walking faster toward the storage room. My heart was racing. Even that short talk felt dangerous. What if I said the wrong thing? What if they remembered my face?
When I finally reached the maintenance room, I locked the door behind me and leaned against it, breathing hard. The room was quiet and dim, just like last night. I let myself sit on a metal crate for a few minutes to calm down.
After a while, I started doing the fake tasks Vael had given me. I opened the supply log tablet and slowly checked off items. Counted tools. Organized a shelf that didn't really need organizing. Every few minutes I looked at the door, expecting someone to burst in and call me a fake.
Around midnight, someone knocked.
I froze.
"Maintenance? You in there?" a woman's voice called.
I swallowed hard and opened the door just a little. A female crew member with short black hair stood outside holding a broken light panel.
"Hey, sorry to bother you," she said. "This stopped working in the crew lounge. Can you take a look or log it for repair?"
I kept my eyes mostly on the panel. "I'll log it," I said softly. "Should be fixed by morning."
She smiled. "Thanks. You're new, right? I'm Kira. What's your name?"
"Lirien Voss."
"Nice to meet you, Lirien. You don't talk much, do you?"
I shook my head. "Not really. Still learning everything."
She laughed lightly. "Fair enough. The ship can be overwhelming at first. If you ever want company during breaks, come find me on Deck 4. Night shift crew looks out for each other."
"Thank you," I said again, taking the broken panel from her.
She waved and left.
I closed the door, locked it, and let out a long breath. My hands were shaking as I logged the repair request. People were being nice to me, and it made me feel guilty. They thought I was really part of the crew. But I was just pretending.
The rest of the night passed slowly. A few more crew members walked past the open storage door and waved or said quick hellos. I kept my answers short every time "Yes," "No," "Thank you," "I'll check it." I never started conversations and never gave them reasons to stay and talk longer.
By the time my fake shift ended at 4 AM, I was exhausted from being nervous the whole time.
I walked back to Vael's quarters using the quiet route he showed me. My legs felt heavy. When I finally reached his door and it opened, Vael was waiting inside. He pulled me in quickly and locked the door.
The moment I was safe, I leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around me without saying anything at first.
"How was it?" he asked after a minute.
"People tried to talk to me," I said against his chest. "I kept my head down like you said. Gave short answers. But it was scary. I felt like they could see through me."
Vael rubbed my back slowly. "You did well. I watched some of the camera feeds. You stayed calm. No one suspects anything yet."
I pulled back and looked at him. "How long can we really keep doing this, Vael?"
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he led me to the bed and sat down with me.
"One day at a time," he said finally. "Tonight you passed your first real test. That's enough for now."
I nodded, even though worry still sat heavy in my stomach. I had survived my first night pretending to be Ensign Voss. But I knew there would be many more nights like this.
And every single one could be the night everything fell apart.