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Daisy reached forward and caught hold of her hand. “Cleo, we all know you’re the boss, and you do a great job of leading by example, but no one’s perfect.”

“If I leave and accept full responsibility for what happened, maybe Hunter can come back,” Cleo said.

“And what would he do without you here?” Sloane said. “He’d be miserable working with anyone else, and he wouldn’t stick around for long. He’d break the rules again and come looking for you.”

Cleo closed her eyes for a second. “He would. I... I didn’t realize how much I relied on him until he was gone. I got so used to him always being around. I started taking him for granted.”

“Those Apexians get you like that,” Daisy said. “I can’t imagine my life without Rexx in it, hovering over me like a giant second shadow, and threatening anyone who looks at me funny.”

“How are you two getting on with all the baby making?” Sloane said.

Daisy’s cheeks flushed, and she glared at Sloane. “It’s a work in progress. And Cleo, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”

She forced a smile. “You’re all good. As we all know, this place can’t keep anything secret. I’m thrilled for you both. And if that’s what you want, you have my full support.”

“Um... thanks.” Daisy grinned, her cheeks growing pinker. “It might not happen for a while. These things take time. It could be months, maybe longer.”

“When you and Rexx do get pregnant, let me know what you want to do about your workload. I can reduce the number of missions you go on. Or as you can see, I’m missing a partner. If you want to take over the duties here, just let me know. Actually...” another lump lodged in her throat. “Hunter even suggested you might like more ship based duties in the future.”

Daisy grinned broadly. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure whether to tell you what we had planned, or to just see what happened. There’s no guarantee I’ll even get pregnant.”

“Humans and Apexians are compatible on the breeding scale,” Sloane said. “And the amount you two are having it off, you’ll be pregnant in no time.”

“You don’t know how many times I have sex with Rexx,” Daisy said.

“Yeah, I do. You get this daft look on your face after you’ve had a good seeing to. You look like that almost every day.” Sloane rolled her eyes. “I’m green with envy.”

Daisy giggled. “Well, Apexians have a lot of energy. And Rexx is insatiable. Not that I’m complaining.”

An ache of loneliness throbbed through Cleo. “I’m happy for you both. It’s good to have some good news to think about. Let me know what you want to do and I’ll support you all the way.”

“And we’ll do the same for you,” Daisy said. “We’ll fight to get Hunter back.”

“And we’re not letting you resign over this.” Sloane popped a chocolate into her mouth. “We could mutiny. That would make High Command sit up and listen to our demands to reinstate Hunter. If their gold star conservation projects stop pulling in the animals, that’ll get people talking.”

“No, no mutiny! But I am planning to visit High Command, have a face-to-face meeting with all of them, and get them to see sense. Taking Hunter away has upset the balance of the ship. Everyone is unsettled, and that means we’re not as productive.” Cleo glanced at the pile of unfinished reports she couldn’t muster the energy to tackle. “They’ll soon see I can’t keep up with the work they keep sending me now I’m on my own.”

“Are they arranging for a new Apexian to join you?” Sloane said.

“I’ve said I wouldn’t accept a new partner. There’s only one partner I want.” The words stuck in Cleo’s throat, so she downed more coffee.

“Have some chocolate,” Sloane said. “It always makes me feel better when Dallin’s ignoring me, or being a grouch. I can’t work him out. He’s oblivious to my charms.”

“Not true. He likes you, he’s just shy,” Daisy said.

“That alien is a block of ice. I doubt he’s ever had a dirty thought about me. It makes me so mad.”

Cleo couldn’t face eating, but she took a piece of chocolate anyway and dunked it in her coffee. “How about we focus on work?”

“Have you got more animal signatures for us to chase up?” Daisy said.

“Not for now. High Command is focusing on the Siblet problem, so other than the missions already out, the conservation work is on a temporary hold. We’ve got our next target for a possible Siblet operation base.”

“Where there are Siblet, there are usually animals to rescue,” Sloane said. “That’s a win as far as I’m concerned.”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” Cleo said. “We have to make sure they don’t have any more gabblefoot. We can’t let them create an animal with a camouflage ability.”

“Or anything else,” Daisy said. “I can’t wait to shut down their gross experiments. Where are we going?”

“Rowick. I’ll be leading a small team down there to investigate the activity High Command has detected.”

“You’re still going on field missions?” Sloane said. “Without an Apexian partner?”

“I’ll have my team looking after me.” Cleo glanced around, her skin feeling tight and uncomfortable. “And there’s no point staying on the ship. I can’t focus on the paperwork. It all seems so pointless.”

“Rexx promised Hunter he’d look out for you,” Daisy said. “My guy will keep you safe.”

“I’d offer Dallin as backup,” Sloane said, “but I can’t get his gorgeous body out of the lab at the moment. He’s working on some kind of protein synthesis that has an anti-molecular coding of blah snore. And I’ve just bored myself to sleep.”

“You love the science,” Daisy said. “And you love taking care of Dallin.”

“I wouldn’t push it that far, but someone needs to make sure the big sexy geek eats, and showers more than once a week.”

“Getting out is what I need. It’ll help me to focus.”

Daisy raised her mug. “Here’s to stopping the Siblet.”

“And here’s to getting Hunter back.” Sloane chinked her mug with Cleo’s. “We’ve got your back, honey. Whatever you need, we’re here for you.”