Her boyfriend frowned. “Not one of mine . . . she was a few years before my time, left not long after the twins came aboard.”
She had the brief, uncharitable thought that that might've provided the woman another reason for leaving. “Was she some kind of super hacker aboard the ship?”
Dax's frown deepened. “Actually, her records show her service was fairly unremarkable. She mostly kept in the background during her years as a shields and repairs officer aboard the Last Stand, well liked enough by the rest of the crew, but not really standing out.”
“Well, she certainly stands out now,” Lana murmured. She was about to press for more, but a confrontation looming on the other side of the young man caught her eye.
Aiden had stood from his seat and was glaring at Ali, green eyes flashing in a silent demand for an explanation. So much so that the companion hunched her shoulders defensively as she replied. “She, or her agents, managed to plant a stealthed state of the art hacking drone on the isolated comm relay before we departed. It attempted no intrusions until she initiated the conversation, at which point it used an override I wasn't aware of to access the main display. The hacker operating the drone didn't attempt to breach the computer in any other way, and the information Miss Ennos sent us was benign, so I let it through.”
The captain didn't appear mollified. “This still represents a serious lapse from your usual security measures.”
“I know.” Even though the poor woman looked like a stranger in her disguise, her expression was so forlorn it was hard not to feel sorry for her. “As I've already told you, my love, my programmed abilities are over a year out of date now, which might as well be an eternity in the world of hacking. I've been adjusting and innovating as best I can, but unless I can connect to the HAE mainframe and sync-”
“No!” Aiden nearly yelled, making Lana jump. He slammed his fist on his armrest, face reddening. “You know the moment you do, they'll take control of you. They'll steal you from me, probably use you to destroy this whole ship!”
Ali's expression was a mixture of caution and impatience. “HumanAssist Enterprises has a huge amount of respect for the bond between an imprinted companion and its human, no matter the circumstances of that bonding. Having a companion betray its human would be anathema to them. They'd rather I remain stolen property.”
Barix laughed mockingly. “Yeah, because that's how all ultra rich and powerful mega-corporations operate.”
The disguised woman's sensuous lips thinned. “HAE's priorities aren't as clearcut as you seem to think. They're no friends to the Deeks, if for no other reason than because the Movement has been going after them so aggressively lately. However you acquired me, they're likely to consider you an ally now.”
“And then I'd be on the radar of one of the biggest AI development corporations in existence!” Aiden snapped. “Explain to me how that's ever not just asking to get dumped in the universe's most colossal waste pit.” Ali opened her mouth to protest further, and Aiden raised his voice. “Do. Not. Sync. I would consider it the very betrayal you claim you'd never do.”
“Yes, my love,” the companion said in a small voice, clearly unhappy.
Belix snickered. “Looks like someone's not getting any tonight.”
Lana gave the elfin woman a confused look. Any what?
“Don't be absurd,” Ali told the Ishivi, voice abruptly warm again, as if she'd completely forgotten her previous argument with the captain. “I'll always attend to my human's needs.” She turned to Aiden. “Speaking of which, would you like me to neutralize the stealthed drone now?”
“Not just yet.” He stared down at his station's display as if looking through it. “I assume you've analyzed the data she sent us?”
“Of course, my love.”
“Great. But before you tell us about this job Elyssa wants us to do, maybe you could tell us exactly who she's become since she stormed off my ship. I like to know who I'm working with.”
Barix made a noise of mock disgust. “I know you're a hopeless skirt chaser, Captain, but I sure hope you never “worked with” that battleaxe.”
For once Aiden was too preoccupied to pay attention to the slight man's jibes. “Ali?”
The companion frowned. “I've been trying to find information about her ever since her face appeared on the display, and I identified her from the ship's logs. But as of about a year following her departure, I've been unable to find a single reference to her or her activities.”
The captain blinked. “Anywhere?”
“Anywhere, my love. I've gone through the significant portion of the allnet I've downloaded, the databanks of every ship we've captured, every spaceport and comms relay we've visited, even what I got from the station we just left. If she really is as influential as she claims, it should be impossible that nobody has mentioned her, even just by accidentally letting it slip when trying to use an alias. She must be exceptionally talented, or have such people working for her, to have zero presence anywhere.”
“Well, there's something to be said for working for competent people,” Barix said. “And I've noticed ugly people tend to be the most competent people I know. They must try extra hard, to compensate for lack of looks.”
Lana cleared her throat. “If Elyssa's really that big a deal, and she's got a hacking drone on us that Ali hasn't disabled, it's possible she might be listening to us right now. Do you really want to insult her?”
The Ishivi opened his mouth, glanced at the display, then closed it.
Aiden snorted and turned to Ali. “All right, let's go over this job she's offering us. What's it looking like?”
The display abruptly shifted to show Iglis galaxy, highlighting the Ceras system and then one not far from it. Lana jumped, worried for a second Elyssa had hacked the display again before realizing the companion was simply manipulating it remotely.
