But she had a more pressing concern at the moment: the fact that this was a perfect chance to push for Dax to come along too. “That sounds okay, I guess. What sort of disguise do you have in mind for Dax?”
The plain woman froze, and the long-haired man beside her slowly turned in his chair. “What?”
Lana squared her shoulders, trying to get over the surreality of having this argument with people who looked like total strangers. “I'd like to visit this spaceport with my boyfriend, so we'll need to make sure he's disguised as well.”
Aiden cleared his throat, looking irritated. “The gunner doesn't leave the ship during stopovers, aside from rare exceptions. He doesn't have time, since he needs to see to the refueling and ordering supplies and other tasks.”
“But he's wanted to go,” Lana said sharply. “You've refused to let him until now. So unless you have a very good reason for it, like you think he's a prisoner or a slave, he's coming with me.”
She wasn't blind to how the captain flinched slightly when she mentioned slaves; she'd heard the man passionately insist on more than one occasion that there were no slaves aboard his ship. But for whatever reason related to how Dax had come to exist, and the fact that Aiden had been made to father a child without his knowledge or consent, the captain had a strange blind spot in his reasoning or ethics when it came to the young man.
Which he displayed now. “He's not,” he growled. “But he's still a subordinate officer, and needs to obey my orders.”
Lana narrowed her eyes. “Not good enough. He's going.”
Aiden narrowed his eyes right back, and for a moment she was sure he was going to refuse out of stubbornness, maybe even spite. Although not towards her; her relationship with the man had smoothed over the last month, following the friction after she'd begun her relationship with Dax. He'd settled into the role of a superior officer, providing guidance and advice and direction for her work.
But she'd also caught a hint of something else, maybe even a paternal protectiveness. Although it was hard to know for sure, since she couldn't remember her own father. If she even had one. Seeing that kinder side of him had made her harbor the belief that he might eventually even allow himself to show those feelings, act that way, towards his actual son. In spite of the pain and bitterness of their shared past.
But if that was her hope, it hadn't happened yet.
In any case, even if Aiden wasn't ready to relent with just pressure from Lana, that changed when Ali leaned over and rested a gentle hand on his shoulder, her stranger's features concerned. That seemed to be enough to push through the man's stubbornness, and after a moment of tense silence he abruptly twisted back to his display. “He's going,” he snapped.
Over the man's shoulder, where he couldn't see, Ali shot Lana a warm, even approving smile. She leaned down to hug the captain, then bristly straightened and started for the corridor, motioning for Lana to follow. “Come on, let's get you and Dax in your disguises.”
* * * * *
A few hours later, everyone was gathered on the bridge as they prepared to make the final rift jump to Ceras 2.
Lana had seen herself in her disguise, and thought she looked silly. Not like she was wearing a disguise, of course . . . Ali was apparently an expert at this sort of thing, like she was with everything else, and had done an excellent job. But the stranger with toxic looking green hair, even more startlingly bright matching green eyes, a prominent beak of a nose, and full, broad lips who stared back at her in the mirror felt wrong.
Like when she'd first seen her reflection after waking up with her memories wiped, and hadn't recognized her face at all. Not to mention she thought she looked uglier like this. Maybe not as bad as Ali's disguise, but not great.
Looking at Dax in his disguise was even more unnerving; his short-buzzed blond hair had been replaced with a medium length wig that had a silvery metallic sheen, and his eyes were just as startlingly silver. Apparently coordinated hair and eye coloring was a trend for young adults at the moment. His skin was now even darker than Ali's, and the companion had somehow managed to make his nose look smaller.
To be fair, Lana had to admit she liked her boyfriend's hair that length, even though the color was absurd. She wondered if she could talk him into relaxing his ascetic, disciplined habits enough to grow it out like that.
But good hairstyle or not, she was having a hard time not staring at this stranger she was seated beside; even though she knew it was Dax, she felt curiously awkward. Also, she thought he wasn't nearly as handsome.
He seemed to notice her attention, or studious lack of, and shifted self-consciously. “You okay?”
It hadn't escaped Lana's notice that her boyfriend had been a bit antsy ever since she'd sprung the news on him that he'd be coming aboard the station with her. Nervous in a good way, she hoped; she knew he'd been wanting this for a long time, probably his entire life.
But at the same time, it would be the first time he'd visited a spaceport, and even for a super soldier conditioned to be cool and collected at all times, that had to be a bit intimidating.
She smiled and showed more enthusiasm than usual for his sake, leaning forward to pat his hand; she would've liked to kiss him, but Aiden had been pretty clear, and adamant, about his thoughts on public displays of affection. “Still getting used to the new you,” she joked.
Belix snickered. “You should take it as
