“I can't believe the rabid mongrel actually betrayed us,” the slight man muttered. “I so don't regret stealing her eggs, now.”
Aiden whipped around. “What?” he snarled. He noticed Dax had also leapt to his feet behind the Ishivi, his usually tightly controlled expression practically murderous.
Barix held up his hands. “Joking! Joking!” At Aiden's continued glare he drew himself up in affront. “Fine! Go search my lab, Mister I Don't Have A Sense Of Humor.”
“You should probably rethink some of your “jokes,” Aiden shot back as he continued to the pilot's chair. “We put up with a lot from you, but you pick a moment like this to be outrageous and you might find a pissed off Construct trying to kill you. And we both just saw how he fights.”
The Ishivi shifted uncomfortably, like he hadn't considered the possibility. As if his verbal sparring with Aiden all these years had never factored in the other person who was usually in the room with them. “I'm, um, going to go check on Sis,” he said, edging around Lana and the gunner.
Aiden settled into his seat, scanning the nearby area. “Ali, you still with us?”
“Always, my love,” she said.
So soon after Lana's betrayal, the words seriously set him on edge. So much so, in fact, that he almost contemplated leaving the AI behind. It would certainly be better for his peace of mind.
It wasn't the thought of betraying her that made him dismiss the idea. Or at least, not entirely; it was more the fact that Lana and the gunner both needed medical attention, and most likely Belix as well. Also, if anyone could help undo Lana's brainwashing it would be the Caretaker.
Lastly, it had to be mentioned, the fact that he'd effectively lost five crew members in the last few hours and couldn't afford to lose another. Especially when there was a tracking device hidden on the ship, and he desperately needed to remove it before more enemies showed up and blew them all to the void.
“Sit tight, we're on our way,” he told her.
Chapter Seventeen
Trust
Ali had drifted farther than Aiden would've liked since being blown out of the shields room's hull breach.
Considering they were a big fat target at the moment, with the railgun slagged and the shields pretty much totally destroyed by Lana's treachery, every second counted. So even though there was no immediate danger he could see, he pushed the engines and inertial dampeners both to their limits to get to the Caretaker.
Luckily, neither system failed from that abuse, since Belix was still out and couldn't repair them. Speaking of a certain spiteful engines officer, Barix had confirmed his sister wasn't badly injured. Or, as he put it, “She's sleeping like a baby while we all do her job for her.”
That wasn't completely inaccurate: down to just Aiden, the gunner, and the science officer, they were scrambling to repair critical damage and plot a rift jump so they could get out of there the moment the Caretaker was recovered and finally able to track down the bug Lana had planted.
A lot of things made more sense, now that they knew the young woman was a sleeper agent. The mysterious intrusions into the ship's computer had to be her, not some elusive virus like Ali had thought. And the task force closing in on them so seamlessly back in their old stomping grounds was likely thanks to her feeding them information.
And, of course, the sabotage that had nearly gotten his ship blown up. It was anyone's guess what other chaos she'd sown that they weren't even aware of yet; Ali would have to dig deeper once she had the time.
For now, though, the Caretaker didn't even bother to come back inside the ship once they caught up to her. Instead, Aiden sent a loudly complaining Barix to suit up and meet her at the airlock with a tool chest, and they immediately got to work scouring the exterior.
Doing much of anything useful might've been difficult for most normal people, after getting a hand blown off by a Dormant. But Ali simply adjusted her feet to grip like hands, showing the same flawless dexterity with them. She even adjusted her legs in some way so they'd be more like arms, flexible enough for the needed tasks.
To be honest, Aiden was a bit glad he didn't have to see that. The Caretaker already creeped him out enough when she looked and acted like a genuine human. And exposure to vacuum probably hadn't helped her; he dreaded seeing the damage it had to have done to her impossibly beautiful features.
As the robot and science officer worked, Aiden fidgeted restlessly in his seat, ready to maneuver the ship if an enemy suddenly jumped in.
Although if the Deeks caught up to them now, with those two outside, it would be a disaster. There wasn't much Aiden would be able to do in those circumstances except try to buy time for them to get back inside, which was probably impossible. As a last resort he'd have to make the jump the gunner was currently calculating, somehow able to concentrate in spite of the agony of his broken arm. Which was as yet untreated, aside from being tightly bound in a crude sling.
A jump under those circumstances would scramble Barix's brain and rip his body apart, by pulling him out of spacetime while outside the protection of the ship's hull.
Which to be fair wasn't the most unwelcome idea, but then he'd be down a science officer. So yeah, Aiden hoped their search wouldn't take long.
Thankfully, it actually only took a few minutes. And in the end, it was almost predictable where Lana had hidden the tracking device that had nearly destroyed his ship: in the blind spot on the sensor array.
Granted, the Dormant had obviously gambled on the
