He clicked it back in place and tilted his head for Theo to watch as he removed it again. Theo immediately shoved his fingers behind Jun’s ears to feel for the base, but only encountered skin. Except, there. There was a small raised circle of some hard material just beneath the surface, bumped up against the cartilage.
“We’ve just received a message from our contact, Captain.” Axel was all business as he cut in, harsh around the edges without his signature humor. “They’re demanding that we go in dark. Disconnected. No live augments. No pads. And…there might be a problem with communication.”
Jun went laser focused on his pilot, auto-com clenched in his fist while Boom gave a put-upon sigh at his side and started to remove her cuffs. The glow in her fingers faded once the cuffs had disconnected. “Explain,” Jun demanded.
Ruffling his hair, his face screwed up with confusion, Axel sent the message to the main screen. “See, there? Halfway through, the message switches to something I can’t read. It isn’t Standard or Patch. It’s not even Grunt. I’m a little rusty on that one, but I can usually make it out. I don’t know what the hell this is supposed to be. Code, maybe?”
The assembled crew all read over the message in tense, ringing silence, finally broken when Jun muttered darkly in Patch.
Boom gestured angrily at the screen. “Seriously, what in the rusted stars is that? Did you run it through a translator?”
Theo had never witnessed a person angrily chew a stick of gummy candy, but Axel managed it.
“No, Boom,” Axel drawled. “I just decided to show it to the captain without attempting to figure it out.” He gave her an insulted glance. “I sent it through three translators. Nothing. That’s why I’m thinking it’s a code.”
Theo read over the message thrice more just to be sure before he tossed his hat into the ring. “It is. Well, it is, and it isn’t. It’s a mix of six languages, five of which are no longer used in any capacity, including heirlooms. Most written records of them haven’t been digitized. One must consult physical copies of samples in the literature simply to be aware of them.”
The startled, assessing once-over Boom bestowed upon Theo after that revelation gave the impression she was completely rearranging her perception of him in real time. “You can read that shit, Dr. Campbell?”
Everyone at the bridge turned to Theo with varying degrees of surprise.
Jun appeared the least surprised. If anything, he seemed resolved. “Can you please translate for us?”
Theo suppressed a happy little wriggle at being deemed useful and continued in the professional, polished tone he usually reserved for lectures. “Certainly, Captain. The messenger seeks to convey that they will absolutely not be communicating in anything but these six languages for the remainder of your interactions and demand that you do the same. They believe that doing so will aid in keeping the exchange clandestine and undetected.”
Theo jumped a little when Marco’s voice sounded over the coms: “Sounds like they’re trying to keep it undetected by us, as well. Pretty hard to negotiate when they refuse to speak to you. Also, Captain, turns out I am gonna need to replenish crystal stores while we’re docked. I estimate about half an hour to get it done.”
Jun leaned on the console, his head hanging low between his shoulders while he took a deep breath. “Thank you, Marco.”
Boom reached over and grabbed the auto-com from Jun’s hand, blithely ignoring his irritated grunt. “Dark and disconnected means you can’t use your regular assortment of toys, Park. We’re gonna have to get creative.”
Jun flicked one of the metal lines embedded in her hands with a frown. “It also means you can’t go with me. I’m the only one on the ship without live augments. Sounds like I’m going in alone and unarmed. Fantastic.”
Theo grazed Jun’s boot with his own to gain his attention, striking a confident pose. “Not alone, Captain. I possess no augments whatsoever, and I believe you are in desperate need of a translator.”
Jun’s bark of denial was overshadowed by Boom pulling out a six-inch blade from a hidden holster inside her top.
“How good are you with knives, Dr. Campbell?”
Chapter Twenty-One
It was universally agreed upon by the Crew, with the notable exception of Theo, himself, that Theo should not be given a knife.
He and Jun waited in the docking bay, surrounded on all sides by crates stacked higher than Theo’s head, for Boom to return with alternative weaponry.
Theo snapped and unsnapped the dark hooded jacket Boom had bestowed upon him to cover up his hair. It was apparently crucial for them to avoid unwanted detection by passersby and surveillance equipment. He looked up to Jun, who stood close by.
Jun regarded him with a conflicted twist to his lips, and his voice dropped to a growl. “How? How are you the best thing that’s ever happened to me?”
Theo had the singular experience of being both thrilled by the words and insulted by the tone.
He scoffed, pretending to brush imaginary dust from his trousers while he attempted to conceal his pleasure at the words. “I suppose you think you deserve better.”
The bay was cold, but Jun radiated heat as he stepped closer. “You know nothing of what I deserve. Better is not the word.”
Jun’s hand wrapped around Theo’s jaw, firmly but gently lifting his face to look into Jun’s eyes.
They were naked and clear of the facade of irritability he had been wearing moments before. Jun leaned in close enough that Theo’s ever-hopeful heart leapt at the possibility of a kiss.
But, of course, he stopped with a buffer of cold ship air still between them. “I meant it, Theo. You are.”
Theo tried to twist away, disappointment bubbling in his stomach at the denial of a kiss. The
