But it wasn't, what Aiden had just said confirming it. Lana felt herself blush in spite of the man's bantering tone. “I suppose you're going to tell me you warned me?”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I'm not one to say I told you so.” For some reason, Ali poked him in the arm at that, and he grinned at them both. “Although if you're going to join my crew, you'll need to be willing to follow orders.”
Relief swept through her; she was still welcome here, even after what had happened. “I will. Thank you.”
The captain snorted. “You won't be thanking me when you see the workload you have to deal with as a member of this crew.” He gently placed a radio earpiece, same as he and the others wore, on her stomach atop the blanket. “Ask the others, they can tell you I'm a real taskmaster.”
Lana already knew that wasn't true; actually, aside from rift jumps most of the crew spent most of their time lounging around or doing basic maintenance. But she didn't comment on that, instead sitting up and reaching out to grab him by the arm, looking deep into his green eyes. “No, I mean thank you. For everything.”
He gave her a pleased look, although he also seemed a bit embarrassed. “You're welcome. Although much as I hate to admit it, some of the credit goes to Barix.” Something in her expression made him chuckle. “I know. But shocking as it seems, he's the one who saved you on Midpoint.” Then he paused. “He did save you, didn't he?”
She thought back to the slight man pretending he didn't know her as he negotiated for her purchase, not coming to her defense even as she was being choked unconscious. But he was the last person she'd seen and she'd ended up here on the ship, so he must have. “He did,” she said uncertainly.
Aiden shook his head in disbelief. “How about that. I guess even the Big Bang happens once.” When she didn't smile he sobered, resting his hand on hers and sending a flood of warmth through her. “I'm sorry for what happened to you on Midpoint. It must've been a terrible thing to go through.”
Lana's mind flashed uncomfortably back to the foul smell of the big slaver, his crushing grip on her throat, the sense of helplessness as the air was squeezed from her. She was sure she'd be seeing it again in her nightmares; it had only been a few days since her life effectively began, her past gone for good, and already she had such a horrible memory to haunt her.
What had possessed her to do what she did on Midpoint?
“You can thank the Deconstructionist Movement for your run-in with those slavers,” Aiden continued, piercing green eyes dark with righteous fury.
Her eyes widened. “They were Deeks?” she blurted.
Ali rolled her eyes, and the captain looked torn between amusement and irritation. “No, although they might've agreed with Deconstructionist ideology. What I meant was that before the Movement, slavery hadn't even existed as an institution for thousands of years. It hasn't been officially sanctioned by any governing body in the universe for tens of thousands. But as soon as the Deeks started erasing our past, some of its vilest evils began coming back. And they're just fine with that.”
“Oh.” She nibbled her bottom lip thoughtfully. “That's why you hate them?”
“That, and the hundreds of billions of innocent lives across the known universe that they're responsible for snuffing out, and the hundreds of billions more doomed to misery and degradation under their boots.” He stared over her head, eyes distant, as if seeing something far away or long ago. “That's why I fight them. Why I'll fight them until they're gone or I am.”
The companion cleared her throat, and Aiden abruptly started with surprise, then gave Lana a wan smile and offered her a hand to help her to her feet. “In any case, thankfully there's no lasting harm from you being knocked out. Ali's given you a clean bill of health, so if you'd like I'll walk you to your room and you can get back to sleep, ready to start bright and early in the morning.”
Lana nodded and accepted his hand, which felt warm and solid, as she slipped off the bed. She wasn't sure whether to be disappointed when he let go as soon as she was steady on her feet, walking beside her towards the door. Ali stayed behind in the med bay, busily cleaning everything up so it would be ready for its next use.
Probably to treat her again, the way things seemed to be going.
The captain seemed in a pensive mood, not saying anything as they walked. However, he didn't seem to be in a hurry either, perhaps to accommodate her recent injury, and walked so slowly she almost wanted to bolt past him and escape the growing silence.
After a dozen steps, she cleared her throat. “I read a wanted poster on Midpoint Station,” she said carefully. It was probably stupid to ask, and could only antagonize him when he'd just given her a chance to join his crew, but she had to know if it was true. “It said you're guilty of all sorts of awful things.”
Aiden paused to look at her, smiling bitterly. “Evil people tend to say awful things about those who oppose them. Especially when we somehow manage to stay one step ahead of them even though they have near infinite wealth and power, and countless ships and troops and spies all over the universe.”
“So none of it's true?” Lana asked. “You didn't murder anyone?”
“I've killed plenty of people in battle, where necessary.” He gave her a piercing look. “But I'm guessing you're talking about their accusation that I killed
