“Yes.”
“Like the nano poison, the corrupt code darts they keep punching into me.”
Aera forces herself upright with a grunt. “Nanos in our blood don’t like Solcrue products?”
I riffle through the cabinets again.
“Can’t we just put some antibacterial crap on this and a bandage and call it a day? I don’t know how much longer I can stay awake.”
“I do not wanthismarks onmymate’s neck,” I growl.
Aera stills. “What did you just say?”
I fidget, realizing that came out more crude than I had meant, and I am a Rogue. I am not supposed to feel such carnal urges or make such claims. But just the idea that the enemy thinks he can try to claim what is mine for himself is infuriating. He would not treat her like she deserves. He would not protect her or listen to her terran stories orloveher.
She laughs a quiet sound of amusement. “Mate, huh?”
“We...have. Does that not make us...together?”
Aera snags my hand and pulls me to her. She peers up at me. “I am with you, Evo. Are you with me in here?”
She taps my chest over my ultromotor. It speeds up its cycles at her contact, even without a threat or an intense stimulation. It seems to just know it’s her.
“Hmm. I guess that’s a yes.” Aera licks the tears from her lips. “Why does it bother you so much that he bit me? As long as it’s clean, it will heal with time.”
I look down at the marks. “Because that is his way of claiming you.”
Her face pales. “W-why would he do that?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. But males only do this when they pick their female.”
“Gross. Okay. Let’s find something I can tolerate to get this to heal.”
In another drawer, I find some generic dermal repair cream that she accepts. I spread it over her neck with a finger, then cover the solution with a bandage.
“Why me?”
“I don’t know. But he has mentioned Joey of CSP in the past. So my guess is he’s part of some sort of joint task force between Solcrue and CSP.Captain Crazylikely works with humans more than most, so he could be like Sythius and Jeris, but is in denial and fighting it.”
“Or he could just be another asshole who doesn’t know what he wants,” she replies.
“Also true.” I pick her up and cradle her close to me as I return to the pilot’s seat.
“You’re sure there’s no one else on this ship?” she asks.
“Yes. I’ve scanned, and the ship has scanned. It is just instinct to check.” I adjust her so her head rests against my shoulder, then I monitor the stars and navigation for any hints of ships on intercept courses with us and continue trying to ping my Brothers.
Aera soon falls asleep. When I look down at her closed eyes and realize she trusts me to protect her, it heals a bruise buried deep in my core.
I have a feeling that wherever Joey, Leah’s half-brother, pops up next, we’ll get another chance to kill Crezlith. But I wonder if Aera’s theory set in motion something different in the Solcrue.
For several hours, I keep us on track for returning to the nebula. Aera sleeps. But even I can’t, not when I’m still unable to get a pingback from a single brother.
Maybe they’re not there anymore?
I check the timestamp and star date in my vision. It’s been three and a half days since we left the salvage site. It’s possible they’re gone.
Then I get a pingback from my twin.
