“Oh.” Well, that was a lot of information to take in. Maybe she should have followed Ali's advice about perusing the ship's databanks before she did anything else.
Barix interrupted her musing by abruptly clapping his hands, grin widening to reveal most of his even white teeth. “But enough about the Captain, let's talk about me. Would you like to become lovers?”
Lana stared at him in nervous shock. She understood the term, of course, but had no idea what it entailed aside from that it involved a close relationship of some sort, with implied physical activities she couldn't remember.
She'd just met this man, so this seemed very sudden. Was this how people normally became lovers? “Um . . .”
“I don't mean to press the issue, so please take your time considering the offer,” he quickly assured her. “A sexual relationship would be enjoyable, but I understand if you're not interested. Even if, to be perfectly honest, you should consider yourself fortunate to have an opportunity to be with someone of such superior genetics as myself. In any case, taking you for a lover is a secondary priority to my grander purpose. The purpose of all Ishivi.”
The slight man clapped his hands again. “On that note, I wanted to point out that while you're obviously by no means Ishivi, you seem to have excellent genetics. For the betterment of all humanity, if I could just have some of your genetic material, perhaps a few thousand ova, I could bring my people one step closer to the genetic perfection we seek. A goal we've been breeding towards for thousands of years. I don't offer this honor li-”
“Ishiv!” a voice behind her bellowed.
Lana nearly jumped out of her skin, looking over her shoulder with wide eyes to find Captain Aiden standing in the doorway she'd recently come through, glaring at Barix.
She turned back in time to see the Ishivi hunch his shoulders defensively. “What?” he demanded.
Aiden strode forward to stand beside Lana, keeping his glare fixed on the other man. “Blank Slates are not mentally competent to agree to sex, or give you rights to their genetic material. This is the last time I better hear of you bothering her about either.”
Barix straightened in affront. “I would educate her fully on the ramifications before I ever asked anything of her.”
“Like your sister did?” The captain snorted derisively and turned to stride back the way he'd come, calling over his shoulder. “The last time, Ishiv!”
The slight man turned back to her with a slightly uncomfortable smile. “Your pardon.” He retrieved his can of little round black things and tiny spoon from the table, then left through another door, leaving her alone in the galley.
“The Captain is right.”
Lana jumped for a second time, turning towards a third door she hadn't noticed before. Yet another man, younger than either Aiden or Barix and she guessed in his early 20s, stood in the doorway there, green eyes studying her thoughtfully.
He wasn't quite as tall as the captain, but still tall, with shoulders broader than Aiden's and an even more athletic build. He stood with his back straight, shoulders thrown back, and his arms hanging close to his sides in a way that appeared uncomfortable and oddly formal.
She almost thought the young man would be handsome if his features weren't so rigidly controlled, showing not the slightest hint of emotion, although she preferred Aiden's neatly trimmed hair to this man's blond hair buzzed close to his scalp. He wore the same uniform as the others, although his seemed to fit him better and was remarkably clean and free of wrinkles.
“Who are you?” she asked cautiously.
Instead of offering her his hand the young man gave her a stiff little bow, posture tense and slightly uncomfortable in spite of his expressionless face. “I was given the name Dax, although everyone on the crew pretty much just calls me “the Gunner”. As the nickname suggests, I'm weapons officer aboard the Last Stand.”
Dax had a clipped way of speaking, each word precisely enunciated. Something about him made Lana think he might be different, like Ali had been. Although not precisely different the way the prototype adult companion was.
It was worth asking, though. “Are you a companion, like Ali?”
His disciplined expression didn't so much as twitch, but his clipped voice sounded a bit curter than before when he replied. “No, I'm technically human.”
What did that mean? He didn't elaborate, so after an uncomfortable few seconds, she shifted slightly. “What, um, did you mean when you said the Captain was right?”
Dax hesitated, seeming oddly reluctant. “He told Barix to stay away from you, but he probably also should've told you to stay away from both the twins.”
“Twins?”
“Barix Ishiv and his sister, Belix Ishiv,” the young man clarified. “Actually, they're technically fraternal sextuplets, but that's beside the point . . . everyone calls them the twins.”
“Oh.” She wasn't sure how that was relevant at the moment. “Why should I stay away from them?”
Dax was slow to respond, expression thoughtful. “I like to read the historical database the Captain preserves on this ship, protecting the knowledge from Deconstructionist purges. One story seems to fit here . . . in the early days of humanity on Homeworld, there was a myth about a creature that would seduce humans, sleep with them, and steal their souls.”
Lana waited, but he fell silent as if that was all that needed to be said. “Okay . . . are you saying if I sleep with Barix, which by context I think is a euphemism for sex, isn't it, he'll
