Aiden's expression twisted. “Yes, and look how that ended up.” She opened her mouth, but he continued firmly. “No. Whatever the future may bring, it would be foolish to even contemplate that at this time.”
“But you're acknowledging that it's a possibility for the future?” his companion pressed.
The only possibility I see is dumping her on Callous so she doesn't end up a casualty of the Deeks, like everyone else I've ever known and loved. But he couldn't tell Ali that, since if he did she'd do her best to make sure it happened; even though he knew it was best for Lana, he still felt torn about actually making her leave.
And there was that small, prideful part of him that said that she'd be safe on his ship, in his care, even though he knew it wasn't true. He'd thought he would be able to keep all the other men and women under his command safe as well.
And look how that ended up.
So instead of answering, he twisted his companion around and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Why would I want her when I have you?” he murmured, and began kissing along her jaw and down to the hollow of her neck. “Speaking of which . . . we have a while before the next jump.”
Thankfully, Ali let the conversation die there and led him to their quarters.
* * * * *
Lana was a bit disappointed when Captain Aiden sent her down to the engine room to, as he put it, “learn the ropes” with Belix after lunch.
She thought things had been going well with him, and he even seemed to like her. But for some reason when he returned with Ali and their food, after taking a surprisingly long time to fetch both, he'd gone back to being reserved as they ate.
She had a feeling that was because she'd said something during their talk about the ship's name that had annoyed him. In which case she'd probably completely blown her chance to be his friend, and wasn't even sure how or why.
Maybe she could ask Ali for advice on patching things up with the man.
In the meantime, Belix was overjoyed to have Lana there, and seemed eager for a chance at doing some befriending of her own. She chattered nonstop as she showed Lana the various valves and gauges and tanks and other machinery and control equipment in the engine room, a lot of which Dax had already shown her.
But Lana didn't have the heart to mention that, since the elfin woman seemed so happy to be teaching her everything she knew. In fact, she got the distinct impression the Ishivi was lonely.
Specifically, she got that impression because Belix told her exactly that several times over the next few hours. Apparently being confined to the engine room with no one to really talk to wasn't much fun, and the main thing the other woman looked forward to were her chances to use full immersion during her off-duty hours, and the infrequent opportunities to disembark on a spaceport or planet and meet other people.
“Don't you talk to anyone on the ship?” Lana asked. “What about your brother?”
Belix gave her a sarcastic smirk. “Yeah, he's the only one I really spend any time with. But you know Barix.”
Lana frowned in confusion; she did, but she didn't know what that had to do with anything.
In spite of her reservations about the volatile engines officer, and the warnings she'd received about the Ishivi, the rest of her shift with Belix was surprisingly pleasant. Lana didn't have to struggle to think of things to say because the elfin woman never seemed to run out, and her chatter became a soothing background as they worked on the engines.
The Ishivi seemed disappointed when their shift ended for dinner. Lana invited her to come to the galley so they could eat together, but while she seemed tempted she reluctantly shook her head. “Nah, I'll probably just scarf down some food in my quarters, then stay in bed playing with some of my toys. Maybe hit the full immersion rig. Spending time in the galley is just asking to run into him.”
In spite of the elfin woman's refusal, she still walked with Lana to the galley. She even pulled her into a tight hug goodbye before continuing on to her quarters.
It turned out Lana didn't have to eat alone, because Dax was up and eating. She hurried to prepare some food of her own and joined him. “Did you sleep well?”
“As well as usual,” he replied. “Did you have a productive day?”
Well, she'd gotten to know Aiden and Belix better, and learned a bit about piloting and a bit less about the engines. “I'd say so.”
“In that case, are you ready to actually start using your free time to relax, or do you still want to keep up the off-hour lessons?”
“Lessons,” she immediately replied. Even beyond learning the ship's systems, she found she enjoyed spending time with Dax; beneath his strict discipline she was even starting to get a feel for what he was thinking and feeling.
Like right now, when she was fairly confident he was pleased by her response. “Okay, we'll get started after we eat.”
Lana tucked into her meal, some sort of spicy meat and beans with a vegetable paste to go with it that was all absolutely delicious. But as she ate she eyed the young man thoughtfully.
Her conversation with Aiden had been eating at her all day. She'd tried to talk to Belix about how she felt about going into combat, but the elfin woman had just laughed the questions off.
“Fighting Deeks and pirates is no more dangerous than visiting any spaceport or planetary city, these days,” she'd replied airily when Lana had persisted. “Aside from in the smaller colonies where Deeks aren't wrecking everything and breeding major criminal underworlds, that is. Everywhere else
