Then everyone relaxed. “We're in the clear, all the way to Midpoint,” Ali announced. “All comm traffic verified benign.”
The captain nodded, seeming business as usual, and altered their course again to take them towards a distant dot marked on the main display.
Lana had learned from the companion how to call up sensor data on the display of her own terminal, and she highlighted the dot and pulled up information on it, some from long range scanners but mostly from the ship's databanks. A larger image of Midpoint Station appeared, providing her with her first view of it.
The station seemed fairly unremarkable. Just a simple donut shape so ships could dock on both the inner and outer sides, with protrusions regularly spaced along the top and bottom that the sensors identified as shields and weapons turrets, as well as sensitive long-range sensor arrays and communications relays.
In the distance, she could see a sun, small and bright white, but . . . “I don't see a planet for the station to orbit,” she observed. She half said it to Dax, since he was the only one who seemed to be talking to her at the moment.
After Aiden's earlier rebuke the young man didn't glance her way, but he did respond. “Most habitable planets are too far away from each other to reach in a single rift jump. So for planets on established trade routes that require several jumps, enterprising companies or planetary governments often build stations at the midpoint, or somewhere along the route that's heavily frequented. Especially if the spot happens to intersect the routes of multiple planets. It's a way to generate revenue and provide emergency services for stranded or attacked ships.”
“Midpoint,” Aiden cut in, looking directly at Lana to make it clear he was speaking only to her, “falls on the routes between three colony worlds, none of which are particularly prosperous or reputable. Its near proximity to other, more lucrative trade routes has made it a favorite haunt of pirates, smugglers, slavers, and outlaws.”
Lana frowned. “Why are we going here, then?”
“Because we're pirates!” Barix shouted across the room, sounding half amused and half impatient.
She felt herself blush. Right.
Aiden cleared his throat in annoyance. “Privateers, Ishiv.”
The Ishivi rolled his eyes and winked at Lana. “Of course, sir.”
“On the subject of the dangers of this spaceport, my love . . .” Ali abruptly said, rising from her workstation to stand beside Aiden.
The captain sighed. “This again?”
“Would you like me to escort you during your visit?” the companion asked as if he hadn't spoken.
Lana glanced between them. It seemed like a reasonable request, especially since she'd learned from Aiden's logs that he sent Ali on boarding parties, which meant she must be a capable fighter.
Aiden gave the beautiful woman a wry look. “We're both well aware of all the reasons why you shouldn't, Ali. Not least because you're stolen merchandise.” He patted the cauterizer he currently had strapped to his hip, something Lana hadn't seen him wearing before now. “Besides, I can take care of myself. I was doing this sort of thing long before I ever got you, you know.”
Ali frowned, managing to make even that stubborn expression look stunning. “But now you do have me, and my primary duty is to protect you.”
“In that case, consider this . . .” the captain reached up and traced a finger along the companion's flawless jawline. “Going into a scoundrels' haven like Midpoint with an obscenely valuable prototype android, who also happens to look like the most beautiful woman who ever lived, is almost guaranteed to cause fights. Putting me in far more danger than if I went alone.”
Lana felt a surge of indignation at that. Granted, she knew for a fact Ali had a perfection of beauty she could never have. But the man didn't have to say it right in front of her!
Ali folded her arms. “I'd be more useful as a bodyguard if I had a plainer and more intimidating appearance.”
“Yes, but then you'd be far less useful for other functions I happen to value more highly,” Aiden said with a grin. At his station, Barix snickered.
Ali finally gave up, giving the captain a wry smile. “You realize that if you are in danger, you can just say the word and I'll tear my way through that tin can to get you out of it.”
Barix outright laughed this time. “Yeah, that wouldn't cause more problems than it solved.”
They both ignored him. “I'm well aware,” Aiden replied solemnly. “That's why I love you.”
Lana frowned. The man had sounded like he was joking when he said that, but did he really mean it? She was still discovering her own feelings about things, but she'd already noticed that she thought of Ali differently because she knew she was a robot. Although it was easy to forget that sometimes, since the companion acted human in every way. Maybe that was enough to satisfy Aiden into letting himself have real feelings for her.
Or maybe Lana was just feeling disappointed that the handsome captain's heart was already taken by someone else. But that was silly, since she didn't even know if she liked him. Romantically, at least. She wasn't even sure what it meant to like someone like that.
Did it even matter, when she might be leaving the Last Stand at Midpoint anyway?
Thankfully, the conversation shifted to other things that didn't involve the captain's relationship with his adult companion. The spaceport drew steadily closer, the Last Stand's comms picking up more and more chatter from other ships and Midpoint itself on the approach.
Ali, monitoring all the various communications simultaneously as only she was able to do, glanced briefly at Aiden and shook her head. “No red flags yet.”
Lana looked between them. Was that good?
“Double check our IFF transponder,” he said curtly. “You can never be too careful.”
Barix
