So he disentangled himself from Ali, who immediately stirred. “Clean me up, I'm going to go talk to Lana.”
She complied without a word, although there was only warmth and supportiveness in her expression and movements. When he was dressed in his uniform, medals gleaming, newly shaved, and hair freshly trimmed, his companion briefly hugged him. “I hope it goes well, my love.”
I hope it's not a disaster, he thought grimly as he left his cabin and strode towards the crew quarters. As he went he worked through what he'd say, what he'd do . . . as he'd contemplated before, having an adult companion was poor preparation for putting himself out there with a real human woman.
He could fail. He could make a fool of himself. She could hate him.
Absorbed in his thoughts, Aiden bit back a groan when the door to the gunner's room just ahead opened. There couldn't possibly have been a more inconvenient time to run into the construct. Granted, encountering him off-duty was awkward at the best of times, since outside of their official capacities their interactions were always incredibly stiff and forced.
To be honest, it was one of the main reasons he avoided the crew quarters when he could, sometimes even going the long way around through the life support compartment to get to the galley. He was almost tempted to do that now, so he wouldn't have to work up the courage to talk to Lana again after an unpleasant encounter with the young man.
But to his shock, it wasn't the ship's gunner who slipped out into the corridor. Instead it was the very woman he'd been going to visit, the last person in the universe he'd expected to see in the last place in the universe he'd expected to see her.
And it didn't take a genius to figure out what Lana had been doing in the young man's room, or rather what they'd been doing: her normally lustrous hair was disheveled and damp with sweat, her porcelain skin flushed, and her nightgown slightly askew. She also glowed with happiness, even more so than when he'd seen her at her most content on Callous.
As if that wasn't enough of a hint, the moment she caught sight of Aiden she froze with a guilty expression, and her flush deepened to a true blush. The guilt quickly flashed to defiance, and without a word she turned and practically bolted the other way, disappearing in the direction of the facilities.
Aiden felt something clenching tight and hard inside him as the truth of the situation sank in. Then he stormed into Dax's room.
The young man, just getting out of bed, hastily pulled the sheets up to cover himself. “Sir-”
“What the blazes is this?” Aiden demanded.
The construct's eyes darted past him, searching to see if Lana was still there, then he stiffened to his usual military posture and saluted. “It's exactly what it looks like, sir. Crew mate Lana and I have begun an intimate relationship.”
Unreclaimed waste, he hadn't even known constructs felt the desire to procreate. And this was certainly the first he was hearing of Lana showing any interest in his gunner beyond simple friendship; maybe it was hubris, but he'd been trying to laugh off the idea that she might have a crush on him.
Laugh it off, while at the same time secretly hoping it was true.
Which was why he couldn't quite believe the young woman actually liked someone else. Especially a genetically modified and conditioned construct with all the warmth and personality of a railgun slug. Maybe she was simply responding to the tension of nearly dying earlier, a perfectly human thing to do, and had gone to the person she felt most comfortable with.
Maybe it wasn't any serious feelings, just simple release. Maybe Aiden still had some hope after all.
Or maybe he was a complete idiot. For a moment he paused, breathing deep and struggling to get his anger under control. “You're screwing the Blank Slate.”
Dax's only reaction was a slight narrowing of his eyes, but Aiden had been around him long enough to know he was affronted. “With her full reciprocation. She's been researching the matter carefully using the ship's archives, and being counseled by Ali. She felt ready to take this step.”
“It's been less than a month since she woke up with her mind wiped!” Aiden snapped. “Who says she's ready to make that decision for herself?”
The gunner squared his broad shoulders, expression becoming even more rigidly controlled. Which always meant he was fighting strong emotion. “At Midpoint Station I overheard you say that Lana is responsible for her own decisions, as well as that she's not your problem. So which is it? You're happy to let her walk off and nearly get taken by slavers if she decides that's what she wants, but when she decides she likes me and wants to be in a relationship now suddenly you need to intervene?”
Aiden opened his mouth, then shut it. Void, the kid had a solid point there. Which just annoyed him even more. “She's a member of my crew now, and her wellbeing is my responsibility.”
“Then let me assure you, Captain, that I'd sooner die than harm her, and I fully respect any decisions she makes regarding us. Even if she were to decide to break it off without an explanation.”
“And what about your captain? What if I ordered you to break this off right now?”
Dax's eyes looked through him, expression perfectly blank on the surface. “With all due respect, sir, is this about trying to protect her, or about trying to have her for yourself?”
Aiden decked the young crewman, sending him crashing back onto his bed.
He wasn't proud of losing control like that. Most of all because had Dax wanted, he could've easily blocked or evaded the attack with his DNA-encoded martial prowess. The fact
