“Oh, shut up!” Aiden snapped, frayed temper finally unraveling. “We just made a fortune off our dealings with HAE, more than we'd get from half a dozen prizes. If that's not enough, you're welcome to jump ship and swim through vacuum to that allnet node. Or void, hop off on the next station we visit. It won't change the fact that you've got bounties on your own heads, arguably even bigger than mine if the Ishivi are still after your genetic material. But go ahead and see how being on your own treats you.”
The elfin woman stood from her station, expression darkening dangerously. Before she could speak, however, Ali stood as well and grabbed Aiden's shoulder. “I have intel on Elyssa that may be useful, at least concerning her reach in this galaxy,” the Caretaker said. “It's sensitive information, but I feel justified in offering it under the current circumstances.”
She gently but firmly pulled him from his own seat and towards the door. “If you'd jump us to our next destination, gunner, I'll go debrief the Captain on our options.”
Aiden didn't want to go, but he had a feeling if he stayed he was just going to make the situation worse. Although he almost changed his mind when Belix shouted at his back. “Yeah, run off with your robotic drive piston shaft, Captain! Saves me from having to liquify your DNA like I should've done years ago!”
Okay, the situation was worse than he'd thought. Of course, the Ishivi threatened to scramble people's DNA on a regular basis, so he didn't take the threat too seriously.
Once Ali had him back in his quarters, he whirled on her. “So you knew useful information about Elyssa that you didn't bother to tell me until now?”
The Caretaker ignored the accusation, expression oddly resolved. “My love, you're on edge. You weren't as diplomatic as you could've been with Elyssa, and now you're even more tense after your confrontation. Especially since even though she betrayed you, you still feel guilty about failing her. That's hitting you harder than you'll admit, enough that you're now lashing out at your crew in a way you normally wouldn't.”
She rested a hand on his chest in a clear gesture of invitation. “You need an emotional release, and there's one I always know works.”
In spite of everything, Aiden couldn't help but laugh. “Wait, so when you said you wanted to debrief me, that was innuendo?”
Ali smiled crookedly. “I know things have been strained between us, but I want to be there for you like I have been. Especially when you so obviously need me.”
For a moment he was torn. But she was right that his confrontation with Elyssa had hit him harder than he'd realized. That, on top of his self-imposed isolation after distancing himself from his companion, left him feeling just low enough for his resolve to weaken.
It probably wouldn't make him feel any better about himself, but right now he had a hard time caring. “This won't change anything between us, you realize,” he muttered, giving in.
The beautiful woman gave him a sad look. “Until I can regain your trust, my love, at least it's something.” She pulled him into a warm embrace and pressed her body against his, a familiar, welcoming sensation he'd missed more than he'd thought. And he'd thought he missed it an awful lot.
Aiden leaned down towards her upturned face and pressed his lips to hers, allowing himself to be pulled along as she backed toward his bed.
* * * * *
Another day, another pointless errand for ERI.
Dalar wasn't sure he minded, considering the alternative was returning to Admiral Granoss's task force to fruitlessly chase a lone pirate vessel; he'd already endured enough humiliation under the man's command, he wasn't eager to get back to it.
In fact, it was nice to see other people enduring humiliation for a change; in spite of being top secret, word through the grapevine had reached his ears about those ERI android peddlers losing the precious scientists the Vindicator had special delivered to them. Not only that, but their security had been such a joke that the attackers had used their own robots against them.
Perverse as it was to take joy in the suffering of his own allies, he'd take what he could get at the moment. Especially when every failure that trashed the reputation of someone else put that much more distance from his own, bringing him that much closer to being able to earn his way back to his former glory.
It certainly helped when golden opportunities dropped right into his lap out of the blue.
Although at first it didn't feel like one. In fact, Dalar had to bite back a groan at the sight of Elyssa Ennos on the display in his tiny crew cabin, contacting him in the middle of the night with a priority communication.
Just what he needed, another homely woman making his life miserable.
Still, the facilitator was the sort who could be very generous to her friends. Or, as he'd observed in the past, someone who could arrange to make even Fleet officers, or crewmen now, disappear if she was properly motivated.
So he swallowed his irritation at being woken up, plastered a smile across his face, and did his best to be at his most charming. “Miss Ennos! To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”
Ennos gave him a cool look, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. “Dalar. My condolences on your recent fall from grace.”
He did his best to keep his smile from becoming a grimace. “Granoss needed a scapegoat, and I was the closest senior officer to the event.”
“Most unjust,” she murmured, with such a subtle hint of possible sarcasm that he couldn't help but wonder how much she knew.
Probably everything, knowing her. Dalar hurriedly changed the subject. “But I wouldn't want to waste your time, precious as it is, with my own woes. What can I do
