Other than a few mentions of her among the Deek crew's private communications, that is, none of which were flattering; some of them Ali even strongly advised her not to look at, claiming they offered no useful information and were obscene or disturbing.
Considering the contents of some of the messages the companion had let her read, Lana took her word for it.
The work hadn't been a waste of time by any means, though. For one thing, like Aiden had promised she'd learned useful things about how to work the ship's data entry and parsing systems. Her progress felt frustratingly slow to her, considering how much she had to learn before she could even begin to be useful as part of the crew. But she was getting there.
What had been far more enjoyable was spending just about every waking hour on the bridge, watching the interactions of the various crew and learning more about what things were like aboard the ship. She'd even seen Belix briefly when Aiden was off duty, when the woman had made an appearance. Not for any purpose that Lana could see, other than to sprawl in a chair near her and chat about anything that came to the Ishivi's mind.
Which, it turned out, was a lot; the elfin woman really must've been starved for socializing before now, because she never seemed to run out of things to talk about. Thankfully none of it was about her fellow crewmen, other than various veiled insults Lana thought were directed at the captain.
A lot of what Belix had to say was about what she intended to do for recreation when they reached Midpoint. Lana didn't know very many specifics about sexual activities, but she knew enough that the elfin woman's plans made her blush with embarrassment; Dax had left the bridge around the same time Belix showed up, but from Ali's reaction to that particular topic of conversation Lana got the feeling the companion didn't consider it an appropriate one.
The elfin woman didn't seem to care, though, and Ali didn't say anything. Thankfully, eventually, the subject shifted to fashion, as Belix lamented that Lana only had drab uniforms to wear and that her own clothes were too small to even consider sharing.
Aside from when the Ishivi visited, Dax was a familiar presence on the bridge, rarely saying much aside from to provide relevant information. He was there for even more of the time than Ali, who only seemed to leave when the captain wanted her. Lana soon found his presence almost comforting, since it meant she was never alone on the bridge.
Or, for that matter, left with just one of the twins for company for too long.
At one point Lana was even finally able to get a look at Fix, the combat android, when it came to deliver an item Dax had asked it to fetch. It certainly looked impressive: vaguely human-shaped, except enormous and obviously heavy, making the deck plates shiver beneath its weight. It had several recessed attachments on its arms, which the young man helpfully explained were mostly weapons.
Although she would've thought a robot like that would be endlessly fascinating, like Belix had warned her the day before the android had little to say. It simply dropped off the item Dax had sent it for, then walked away without a word.
“It'd be like talking to a brick wall, anyway,” Ali said, noticing Lana's obvious disappointment. “A brick wall that's occasionally called on to blow enemies to bits. Not the best source of company.”
Activity on the bridge picked up as they prepared for their final rift jump to reach Midpoint Spaceport; everyone was there besides Fix and Belix. When Barix announced they were ready Aiden leaned forward in the pilot's chair, fingers loose but ready on the controls.
“Combat stations, just in case someone has a surprise waiting for us,” he said calmly.
Lana felt a surge of panic at that announcement. What did she do if that happened? Should she leave, maybe go back to her cabin where she wouldn't get in the way?
Was she ready to possibly die?
Ali wasn't there to reassure her, busy with her own duties at her station. But nearby Dax seemed to notice she was quietly freaking out. “Midpoint is a trading spot we visit often,” he told her quietly, his voice just as rigidly controlled even at a whisper. “It's unlikely we'll run into trouble there.”
“Unlikely isn't impossible,” Aiden cut in, voice seeming unnecessarily sharp to Lana. “Stay focused.”
It looked as if the weapons officer was the most focused person on the bridge, in spite of having taken just a moment to reassure her. But he somehow stiffened to sit even straighter in his seat. “Yes, sir.”
“Opening rift now,” Barix announced, then there was a slight rattle as the ship eased through the tear in spacetime.
Lana had barely even noticed the previous jumps, aside from a moment or two of mild dizziness and confusion which she'd at first just attributed to her memory loss, until she'd mentioned them to Ali and had rift travel explained to her. Apparently, most people and animals suffered some form of discomfort, occasionally fairly severe, from briefly being in an environment outside of space and time which the mind simply couldn't comprehend.
Lana's symptoms were actually some of the mildest the companion had ever heard of. Barix had seemed very interested to hear that, although she couldn't guess why. Maybe it meant she had good genes, since that's what everything seemed to be about with the twins.
This time the dizziness lasted for slightly longer than usual, then the big display flickered and changed to show them in a new place. For a few tense seconds, everyone looked
