Which Dalar didn't completely disagree with, considering HAE's stated goal was to give every human one of their “companions” to meet their every need, including sexual. Turning humans into lazy, purposeless cattle with no barriers to a life of abject hedonism.
Not that he objected to a little hedonism, of course. But what the mega-corporation planned was crossing a line; Dalar was almost willing to believe the more foaming-at-the-mouth sorts in the Movement, who called companions an abomination meant to enslave humanity.
Which was somewhat ironic, since this raid on an HAE production facility, with orders to seize or destroy a batch of their new line of adult companions and the technology to create them, was ultimately going to end up with all the corporation's human employees enslaved and put to work for ERI.
Just before the Vindicator made her final jump to the facility, Dalar was called into his replacement's ready room. That required going through the light cruiser's bridge, facing the stares and hidden, or not so hidden, smirks of his former subordinates at his change in fortune.
“Captain not on the bridge!” the weapons officer intoned formally, to snickers from the others.
Dalar flushed and did his best to ignore them. The Vindicator's entire crew had been humiliated and discredited by their failure to destroy the Last Stand at Brastos 4. As captain, the blame had fallen solely on him, whether that was fair or not, and he'd been punished for it far more harshly than the mistake deserved.
But that didn't stop them from resenting him for their own sullied reputations. He tried not to look like he was hurrying as he quickened his step the last several feet to the door, slapping the buzzer.
Almost a full minute later, all the while trying not to shift uncomfortably at the attention no doubt directed at his back, and swallowing the humiliation of being kept waiting, Dalar was allowed into what had once been his domain.
He'd stripped the small room of his own decorations, trophies, and nicknacks when he was demoted, of course. It looked as if Bresac either hadn't had time to replace them, or preferred a more austere look. Which fit her unattractive, severe face and lanky body, currently seated stiffly in the chair behind the captain's terminal.
She didn't offer him a seat in the room's only other chair, simply motioned curtly for him to come in. Flushing, Dalar did what many crew he'd called before him in this room over the years had done, and took an at ease position in front of the desk, eyes ahead.
Although he could only see his ship's new captain out of the corner of his eye, he was aware she was studying him as the silence dragged on. Putting him in his place? Gathering her thoughts?
Bresac was a somewhat unusual case in the Fleet, as she'd risen largely through merit. Dalar had been responsible for most of that, recognizing the value of having a competent XO he could rely on to handle the ship's operations, so he could focus on bigger picture items. He'd even been somewhat fond of the woman, in a purely professional sense.
At least until she had the gall to benefit from his misfortune with such a clear lack of grace. Especially since she'd kept the ship running just as smoothly as it had under his command. Rubbing it in his face.
When Bresac finally spoke, she got straight to the point. One of the things he'd always hated about her. “The Vindicator is sending down our complement of combat androids and our security officers to join the ground attack.” She pointed imperiously at the cauterizer strapped to his hip. “You will be leading them.”
Fantastic. Not only reduced to crewman, but fodder to go off and die with the robots. Dalar kept his tone neutral as he replied. “What is our mission?”
“I'm glad you asked.” The new captain gave him a wide smile, which she should really reconsider with those horse teeth of hers. “You'll be responsible for making sure all HAE's human staff in the facility are peacefully rounded up, kept safe while it's secured, and transported back to the Vindicator without mishap. Once we have them secured in stasis pods, we'll be shipping them through a rift hub to an ERI lab the next galaxy over.”
Fantastic. So not only was the Vindicator being pulled off the ignoble task of hunting a single pirate ship, to the even more ignoble task of attacking a bunch of scientists, but now they were on transport duty as well. Dalar nodded stiffly. “I'll coordinate with the rest of the attacking force about corralling these scientists.”
“Good.” Bresac once again appraised him, although this time only for a few seconds. “I'm going out on a limb, crewman, giving you even such a humble position of authority as this one. But in spite of your recent fall from grace, I'm trusting in your competence to see this job done to my satisfaction. If you do, I might consider trusting you with more responsibility in the future.”
She paused, voice hardening. “Screw this up, and the only thing I'll be trusting you with is licking my personal toilet clean. Is that understood?”
You'd like that, wouldn't you? Dalar thought resentfully. He'd always suspected the less than attractive woman had harbored a crush on him. Although at least she'd been realistic about it, and hadn't tried to pursue it or allowed it to affect her professionalism.
He wondered if that would change now that she was in command; power did awful things to some people. “I'll bring the scientists back unharmed,” he assured her stiffly. “All of them.”
“Good,” the new captain said again, leaning back. “We've actually got the preferred courier job, you know . . . the rest of
