Personally, I didn’t give a fuck what Mercer’s family wanted, because that man had saved my life on any number of occasions and I was damned glad he’d enlisted.
“Whatever,” Finn said.
Well, shit.That wasn’t good, but I couldn’t fix whatever Finn’s deal was from a distance.I’d have to wait until he was onboard.
“Burn, you still on Pangaea?”I turned my attention back to the star map.If she’d moved on, our plan would need to pivot again.
“Yep, just waiting for you to come get me.”
“Finn, we picking you up on Holyoke still?”
There was a drawn out pause until Finn said, “Um, no.How about I just meet you at Rigel Naught?”
I frowned at the unexpected change.“Sure.We’ll let you know when we’re on our way.Mercer, you good waiting a few more days?The plan right now is to make the first cargo run and pick you and Orion up after.”
“Ready and waiting,” Mercer said.The exhaustion in his voice was still there.
“I’d rush this if I could, butFortunacan only fly so fast.”
Unless...I’d have to ask Lacy about fuel mods or anything that could make us faster.
“Don’t worry about me, Dax.Come get me when you’re ready.”
We all spent a few more minutes catching up, then signed off.
It was good to talk to everyone, but this time it felt different.Was it because we’d all gone our separate ways, even if it was just for a short while?Or was it because I was hiding things from them?
20
Dax
The next morning,Lacy met me in the mess.“You really need to pick up more supplies,” she said between bites of toast.
I ignored her long enough to pour myself a cup of coffee and take a sip.The hot liquid was bitter on my tongue, but I ignored the taste for the hit of caffeine.When we finally made money on the cargo runs, I’d splurge on better beans.
“Sweetener, too.That coffee could fuel the ship.”
I stared at her over the rim of my cup.“Maybe I like my coffee black.”
“Maybe you do, but you can’t tell me your whole crew does.”
“True.But they’re not here yet.”
She scowled.“I am.”
“You’re not crew.”The word “yet” hung in the air between us, which was ridiculous because she hadn’t been part of the squad.We had a full crew contingent.Not to mention she’d stolen my ship!There were many reasons for her not to be part of the crew—but part of me liked the idea of her being around.It had to be her knowledge, I decided.That’s why I liked her presence.Not because of that damn kiss.
She gave me a long, charged look, then changed the subject before the tension in the air was unbearable.“You said something about a broken door in the cargo hold?”
“Yeah.The internal one.You want to take a look now?”My stomach grumbled in protest.
She laughed.“Get breakfast, while I get my tools.Where are they again?”Her voice was light, but was that a thread of accusation?
“On the bridge, right where you left them.”I’d felt safer knowing where they were.And since she hadn’t asked, I hadn’t bothered to give them back.
“Excellent.”She dumped the rest of her coffee in the sink, quickly washed and dried the cup, then brushed past me as she left the room.
What was I thinking, wanting her to stay on board?It didn’t matter how intriguing the packaging, the woman was trouble.Not to mention, Finn had already claimed the mechanic’s spot.He wasn’t trained, but where Mercer had been the one fixing up our bodies, Finn had patched up and jury-rigged our equipment when we were in the field.I was sure he’d do fine withFortuna.
