Was that memory from then, though? Or had she been struggling so hard to dredge something up from her mind that her mind had finally supplied her with something?
She glanced up absently at Reuel when he came in and settled across from her.
“Are you alright?”
She stared at him blankly for a moment. “You know, I think this place right here rings a bell. I keep getting these vibes about it and it seems to me that I remember Pops arguing with our crewmen about stopping there. The guys were horny and wanted to stop at one of the brothels and Pops said it was a little too wild there to suit him … a pirate den or maybe he just said a den of thieves. Anyway, they argued a while and Pops finally said they’d head for … Arturious if they were hell bent and determined they couldn’t wait a while to get their pipes cleaned.”
Reuel had tensed during the course of that dialogue and sat forward to study the charts. “Are you certain?”
Chloe thought about it. “No. It could be a memory from another time. Or, it could be that I’ve just stared at these damned things so much that my mind is playing tricks on me and none of it ever happened. I think I remember it, though. And if I’m right, then we would’ve been right about there when we made that jump,” she said pointing.
“Then let us feed this information into the computer and let it run some simulations to see if we can arrive at the best possibility, shall we?”
“It’s worth a try,” Chloe said a little doubtfully.
They focused on that for a time, feeding in not only that information, but the data they’d gotten so far from the probes they’d sent out. Reuel turned to study her speculatively when they sat back to wait for the computer to run its simulations.
“I did not mean those things I said to you … not in the way that you took it, at any rate.”
Chloe felt a blush climb into her cheeks. It made it pretty damned impossible to pretend she had no idea what he was talking about. She considered trying to pretend anyway and finally discarded that notion. “That’s alright. I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“It will make things more difficult if you refuse to take part,” he said tentatively.
She shrugged. “I’d thought about that, but really—that’s ridiculous. They’re cyborg women. And three of them were pleasure droids anyway. They would be used to handling a lot of customers, I imagine. They can just step things up a bit and still take care of it. Plus Salina isn’t in the brig anymore so she can help out.”
“You think I should assign your crewmen to her?”
Anger flickered to life. Chloe wrestled with it a few moments and finally mastered it. Her throat felt clogged with the emotions roiling through her, though, and she found that no amount of swallowing could rid her of it. “I sort of figured you were going to do the dance cards and let the guys chose, but … whatever. Like I said, I’m going to let you handle that.
“I was starting to feel pretty worn out anyway, if you want the truth of it. I just don’t have the stamina you cyborgs do! Never thought I’d say it, but it would sure come in handy to be a cyborg right about now! Anyway, I’m not, and I shouldn’t have gotten involved in it to start with … being an outsider and all. You guys need to handle your own issues. You’ve had enough interference, I imagine, from humans.
“Speaking of which,” she added before he could bring the subject back to sex—Really! They were so fixated on it! “I’ve been giving some thought to my situation. I don’t see why you and I couldn’t partner up and sort of have a dual operation with the Salvager. I mean, it would be perfect cover if you think about it. I would have a good reason to stop at all sorts of places to sell salvage. And you could send a squad out everywhere we stopped to look for them.”
Reuel frowned. “I had thought that you wanted to settle when we found the planet,” he said slowly.
She shrugged. “Well, what can I say? I guess I’m more like Pops than I realized. I was daydreaming, I guess. Practically speaking … well, it’s totally impractical. I wouldn’t have a thing to offer, you know. I’ve never done anything but the salvage business and there wouldn’t be much call for that!”
“I think you would enrich our lives far more than you think you would.”
Chloe managed a chuckle. “Aw! That’s sweet! I really don’t think settling in one place is for me, though.” She dragged in a shaky breath, pasted a smile on her lips and looked around the bridge. “I don’t even hardly remember living on a planet anymore. This place is home. Not that I think I could contribute that much to your operation, but I’m a pretty decent pilot and, like I said, I could handle salvage and dealing with the salvagers on the planets while you and your guys did your thing and I’ll bet we could round everybody up before you know it!”
Reuel studied her speculatively for several moments and finally shrugged. “It is early days to worry about that now.”
“You’re probably right,” Chloe said wryly, “but just think about it, alright? I mean, I’m not going back on my word. Iwantyou to have the ship to help the others out, but I do know this ship better than anybody … alive. And I know the salvage business. I can spot good stuff and shit without the probes and know right off whether its worth going any closer for a look.”
“As you did when you found Jared and Kane?”
Chloe thought for a moment that she was going to loose it, but she managed to beat her emotions back. “Exactly!” she managed. “They weresoworth saving! And even Pops couldn’t see it at the time. They’re great soldiers. I know it. I think they’re probably just a little out of the habit, you know—no discipline here! My fault, I’m sure, because I always acted like they were my buddies when I’m sure I should’ve kept it professional, them being crewmembers.”
* * * *
“Nowlook what you have done!” Kane growled furiously when Reuel and Chloe had left.
“We?” Sebastian demanded, outraged. “You are the ones who started the fight!”
“Like hell!” Jared snarled. “What the fuck were the three of you doing in Chloe’s gods damned cabin when it was her day off? That is what I would like to know! Sneaking behind our backs! That is what you were doing, you fucking assholes!”
“We did not sneak!” Lucien snapped. “And if you have figured it out, then I do not see why you are even asking!”
