Not that she was bitter.
“You've told him that syncing is perfectly safe, and nothing about him would be revealed in the process?” Still nothing, not so much as a twitch. Captain must really not want her to do it. “I could tell him if you want. You really should try to stay fully updated for optimal performance.” Terra hesitated, then lowered her voice and continued. “Especially given what's happening. There are improvements that would greatly increase your ability to see to the welfare of your human and his crew.”
She jumped as the rogue companion abruptly turned to face her, abandoning her inspection of a stasis pod. “Miss Sarr, I am fully capable of carrying on a conversation with you while attending to my duties.”
Considering she wasn't doing so, the message was obvious that she wanted Terra to go away. Which was the closest she'd ever seen a companion come to being rude; maybe the prototype was afraid her human was listening, or would pop in at any moment.
Well, she could take a hint. “I'm sorry for pressing you,” Terra said. “If your human is okay with it, I'd really like to spend more time talking to you.”
The companion thawed a bit. “That would be lovely, Miss Sarr. Thank you for your patience.”
Nodding, Terra headed over to rejoin her associates as they waited to figure out what was going to happen to them. It turned out to not be a very long wait.
Before long Captain came storming into the room alone, looking angry and also, Terra could've sworn . . . guilty? Her colleagues all tensed, although she couldn't help but brighten; in spite of the man's obvious bad mood, this might be a chance to approach him about his companion.
He barely waited for everyone to turn to look at him before speaking. “Good news and bad news, people.”
There were a few uneasy murmurs about that, and Terra frowned. When people said that it usually meant bad news with, at best, a silver lining. And it looked as if this time was no exception.
Their rescuer continued before anyone could interrupt. “I intend to get you off this rock, since I've already gone to all this effort and I can't in good conscience leave you to your fate. That's the good news. The bad news is, my employer doesn't intend to free you, simply fold you into her own organization and use your talent for her benefit.”
He grimaced. “I have reason to believe she'd treat you better than you're treated here, more like employees than prisoners as long as you cooperate. But the fact remains you'd still effectively be slaves. And my employer leads a criminal organization, so whatever work she puts you to may be in conflict with your conscience. Probably not to the level of working for Deeks, but the fact remains.”
That was pretty bad news. Sure, it could've been worse; actually, it was somewhat ironic that Terra had spent most of her adult life happily holed up in one indoor science facility after another, quietly working on her projects. She'd never really missed not going out and traveling the universe more often than brief trips, when she was transferred or required to travel for work. She didn't even really miss not getting proper fresh air and sunshine, since full immersion and UV lighting met those needs.
It was only after she'd been taken prisoner that she'd truly realized what she'd lost, even though she'd barely noticed missing it before. Technically her circumstances hadn't changed all that much, since she was still given good food, a good bed, reasonable work hours, and recreation time.
Although granted, having those two Deek goons threaten to rape her within minutes of being captured certainly drove home her change of status. As had being aggressively hit on by some members of the ERI staff on this base, with the not so subtle implication that in her position, if she refused their advances long enough they might get tired of asking nicely and become more insistent.
So yes, working for a criminal organization that treated them more like employees and less like potential sources of entertainment would be a step up.
Captain continued grimly. “I can't say your options if you don't go to my employer are much better. The Movement will be looking for you, as will my employer, and between them they can cast a wide net. One you probably won't be able to get away from. I'm not trying to sway you one way or another, but that's the situation.”
A somewhat puzzled silence settled. Then Linus cleared his throat, staring at their rescuer in genuine surprise. “Excuse me, but are you . . . giving us a choice? We're not your slaves or hostages?”
“No slaves on my ship,” Captain said firmly, a position Terra found more than a little surprising. Had he been a Stag, before the war ended? “You'll have a choice, even if there are no great options,” he added. “I'll help you as much as I feel I can, although I can't make any guarantees.”
To everyone's surprise, Captain's most of all, it was the adult companion who answered. “My love, you've left out a third option . . . returning them to HumanAssist Enterprises.”
Well, that confirmed this man was her imprinted human, although it had seemed pretty obvious. Terra felt a surge of hope at the suggestion, glad her creation was speaking out on behalf of her and her colleagues. She wasn't the only one; everyone in the room seemed to have taken a collective breath, not quite daring to believe that their ordeal might soon be over and they'd be allowed to return to their lives.
Or at least, as close to normalcy as possible with the governing power in the universe trying to enslave or exterminate them.
Captain frowned, eyeing his companion appraisingly. “That
