Lana had a feeling she most certainly would. She wanted to throw her arms around Dax for this thoughtful gesture, but didn't want to embarrass herself. Or him . . . he didn't seem like the hugging type. She kind of wished Ali had covered hugs in one of her lessons on social interactions.
“I think I will,” she said instead. “Thank you again.” After a pause, she added, “It means a lot.”
Dax acknowledged that with a simple nod, then helped her pick out some food and prepare it before grabbing a can of his own bland sustenance and taking it to the table.
It turned out choosing what she wanted was both easy and difficult when she'd never had any of it before, at least not so far as she remembered. It all looked so delicious. And when the smell of the steak and vegetables meal she eventually settled on began wafting through the galley, the growing rumble in her stomach made her keenly aware of how delicious it smelled.
And tasted, once she got it in front of her, seated at a place at the table next to the weapons officer. He didn't show it, but from the way she kept catching him sneaking glances at her out of the corner of her eye she guessed he was surprised she'd chosen to sit next to him.
Thinking back to how he'd been all the way across the table when eating at the same time as Aiden and Ali, she wondered if it was the same with the twins. Did he prefer to eat on his own? She didn't want to make him uncomfortable.
But he didn't look uncomfortable, didn't look much of anything with his neutral expression, and she decided that even if he didn't appreciate the company, she did. “Don't you ever get tired of that?” she asked, pointing at the can in his hand. “I pretty much hated it after the first bite.”
Dax paused, turning to look at her. “Taste is low priority, as long as it provides the nutrients I need. Its other benefits outweigh the downsides.”
“If you say so.” Lana scooped another bite of vegetables into her mouth. They were in some sort of savory sauce that made her want to slide right off her chair in pure bliss. And the steak was even better. “I don't have much basis for comparison, but I can tell you that if it was a choice between what I'm having and what you're having, I wouldn't care as much about benefits or downsides.”
“It's easy to ignore the body's distractions if I don't indulge in anything enjoyable,” he said cryptically.
Whatever that meant. She took another bite of steak, chewing slowly with her eyes closed. “So where are we headed now?” she asked.
“To a different part of the galaxy, in case hitting the Fleetfoot brings any heat down on us. We'll take it slow, parse the information we've taken from Deek logs and obtained from other sources to help us select another target. Something that we're confident we can catch, we can beat, and is worth our time. Then, once the Captain's planned out the attack, and possibly we've visited the system to make preparations if we can do it without being noticed, we'll execute the plan.”
“We'll be hitting another Deek ship, right?”
Before Dax could answer, Aiden and Ali walked into the galley. The captain had his arm around his adult companion and was leaning close to whisper something in her ear while she giggled, but the moment he saw Lana he hastily straightened and let his arm drop to his side, looking slightly embarrassed.
She wasn't sure why he would be; she knew the companion was his, and even with as little as she knew about sex and relationships she'd figured out that they were almost certainly together that way. Hardly a surprise, considering how breathtaking Ali was. Especially if she'd been created specifically for that function.
“Sleep well, Lana?” Aiden asked warmly, pointedly ignoring Dax as usual. For his part the young man seemed to retreat into himself; his expression didn't change, but he turned his whole focus to his processed meat and began eating faster.
“I did,” she replied, taking a bite of steak. “And eating well now too, thanks to Dax thoughtfully getting this delicious food for me.”
The weapons officer showed no reaction to her praise, but the captain's expression soured slightly. “I'm glad he fulfilled his duty as ordered. Incidentally, you're welcome for how I thoughtfully paid for the food he got for you.”
Oh. Lana wasn't sure if she'd made the man mad at her, but she didn't want that. “Then thank you, too.”
Aiden waved that aside, settling down at the other end of the table while Ali began preparing his meal. The beautiful woman's efforts were far more elaborate than simply putting a prepared meal into one of the appliances, including sprinkling various powders Lana recognized as spices on the food, and even chopping some of it with a knife.
“Anyway, it's good to see you and the gunner getting along so swimmingly, since there's been a change of plans,” the captain said. He spoke with his eyes on Lana, as if he was still talking only to her even while directly mentioning Dax.
Although she had bigger worries at the moment than his treatment of the weapons officer. “I'm still a member of the crew, right?” she asked worriedly.
He smiled, green eyes crinkling with unexpected warmth. “You are. But I can't have Ali devote all her time to training you. She's my personal adult companion after all, and there are . . . other things I need her for.”
“Oh.” Lana did her best to hide her disappointment. “I think I can train on my own, with the information in the ship's databanks.”
“No need for that, since thankfully there's someone almost as qualified as Ali available.” The captain motioned curtly to Dax. “I can spare my companion for a few hours a day,
