“You don't like the name I gave you?” Aiden asked in a wry tone. She just scowled at him, and he shrugged casually. “We can get to that if there's time.”
His tone was annoying her. On the other hand, his reply was reasonable, even generous, all things considered. She still had yet to find an opportunity to thank him for saving her from slavery, and he'd not only allowed her to accompany him to the station but was offering to help her with her goal if he had a chance.
There was absolutely no logical reason why she shouldn't accept that, but for some reason she found herself speaking. “No need to go with me. I'll see what I can find on my own.”
The man abruptly stopped, turning to give her a sharp look. “That's really not a good idea, Lana. Did you not hear me mention that Midpoint is the haunt of smugglers, pirates, and slavers? A wide-eyed girl like you off on your own would get snapped up by the first predatory sort who caught sight of you.”
Lana scowled. She couldn't figure out why she was annoyed, but she was, and now even more determined to visit the station alone. “Belix literally just walked off on her own.” And wearing a dress that seems designed to draw attention.
Aiden laughed. “I sincerely pity the idiot who tries to screw with her. Including whoever she actually chooses for that. No offense, but I have far more confidence in her ability to handle herself. You'd be better off sticking with me.”
“Nevertheless, I want to do this myself,” Lana said firmly. “Maybe I can find my face on the allnet and learn who I really am.”
He sighed. “You realize the Deeks might've tagged you, and the moment your face shows up on a scanner they'll be after you? I could help you get out of that kind of trouble if I was there, but on your own, you'd be in a bind.”
Again, perfectly reasonable, and again, she cared more about going on her own. She gave him an impatient look. “I'm a Blank Slate, not a moron. I was worthless enough that they had no problem wiping my mind and shipping me off to a brothel for a life of sex slavery. You honestly think they'd bother chasing me down even if they did have some record of me? You're the one who's their enemy and attacks their ships, so your face is the one you should be worried about.”
He drew up in mock outrage. “Hey! Women happen to like my face.”
Lana knew that was a joke, and to be fair she did kind of like his face. But instead of laughing or even smiling she simply stared at him, resolved.
He was perfectly content to stare right back, green eyes seeming to see directly into her head. Which, to be fair, wasn't much of a trick since there wasn't much there. “You're going to ignore my warning?” he finally demanded.
She nodded, more confidently than she actually thought was warranted.
After a few more seconds of close inspection, he snorted. “Well, you're not a slave, or part of my crew. I can't order you to do anything. If you want to do something stupid against my advice that's on you.”
He reached into a pocket of his uniform, the one covered by the cauterizer holstered at his hip, and withdrew a small, wafer-thin sliver of metal with engravings on it. “Here's ten chits. That should be enough to buy access to the allnet for your query, maybe buy you a snack as well. Have fun.”
Lana nodded and started to continue forward, but Aiden caught her arm. She stiffened, certain he'd changed his mind and didn't intend to let her go after all.
But his expression held only caution. “Remember,” he said quietly, “this station is safe, for a given value of “safe”. But only because they think we're traders, possibly criminal elements of some sort, and don't care to dig deeper. Midpoint caters to the scum of the universe and doesn't rat any of them out to the Deeks.”
His grip on her arm tightened. “But if they ever get even a hint of who we are, they won't hesitate for a second to sell information about us for a huge reward, or capture or blow us out of the sky for an even bigger reward. Don't. Talk. About. Us. To. Anyone.”
Lana nodded again, mouth dry. After a few seconds, he let her go and kept going, and she let herself breathe again and hurried to keep up.
They reached the corridor, and he turned on his heel and strode away to the left, calling over his shoulder. “We depart at 2200 hours. If you're not here at that time I'll assume you're not coming with us, in which case I wish you the best.”
What if something happens to me and I can't make it? she wanted to ask. But considering the conversation they'd just had, if she asked that she might as well just agree to let him escort her. Which, honestly, she was feeling more and more like she should've.
Instead, she turned right and started in the opposite direction. She wasn't sure that was where she needed to go, but she didn't know exactly where she needed to go to find the answers she needed, either.
There were people passing by in both directions in the corridor. A few stepped around her with slightly disgruntled looks, while others eyed her with interest, some of it innocent and some seeming . . . not so much.
Lana ducked her head and quickened her step, trailing behind a group of men and women in uniforms similar to the one she'd been given and the other crew of the Last Stand wore. They were guiding a gravity field nullifier platform loaded down with cargo and seemed focused on their work, which was comforting.
They soon led her away
