Vas peered over the staggering array of boxes and cases that Jane had managed to procure in only a few hours. She’d filled them in even less time, despite how carefully she wanted to package them and the fact she would only allow Lynx and Reyer to help her. The captain was going over the invoice she’d created, checking each box off, one by one, against the things in front of him.

Ciro added two more cases to the pile. “That’s the last of them.”

Vas nodded.

Ciro stretched out his back. “Will this all fit?”

“Easily,” Adan said. “I’ve had to pack six or seven times this much before.”

“No! Don’t tell her that! How else am I going to tease her about how much women pack?”

Vas lowered the paper. “Your romantic banter needs work.”

Ciro grinned. “Still beats yours.”

Vas grabbed two cases and started hauling them up the ramp.

Ciro picked up a box and followed. “Have you even talked—”

The question was cut short by Ciro’s abrupt halt. He hadn’t realized that his brother had stopped at the top of the ramp and turned to face him. He almost hit Adan with the box in his arms.

“You’re my brother,” Adan said, “so you’re welcome to harass me as much as you want in private, but you are not to say anything where Miss Reyer might hear you. Understood?”

Ciro didn’t dare lean back, or he might tumble. “Yes, Captain.”

Vas turned around. “Boxes at the end by the head.” As he put the cases away, he said, “What are you trying to do anyway? Dr. Jane’s at least twelve years older than you.”

“She’s beautiful, brilliant, and fun to fight with.”

Adan pointed at his little brother. “You’re insane.”

“Yeah. Probably. I like them feisty. The make-up sex is better.”

Vas stopped everything to stare at Ciro. “You expect me to believe you know that for a fact?”

“Well…you know. I’ve heard.”

“Uh-huh.” Vas went back to the ramp. “If you annoy her too much, I will gag you.”

The brothers fell silent when they saw Reyer and Jane making their way along the stone path toward them. They had their kit bags and Lynx in tow.

“Huh. Not done loading?” Jane asked.

Ciro put his arm over a box. “You’ve been hogging our bot this whole time.”

“He likes me better, Wonder Boy.”

“I can assist now, Master Ciro,” Lynx said, stepping forward.

“We can all help.” The doctor dropped her kit bag. “I want to get moving.”

“That statement is inadvisable, if not inaccurate, Dr. Jane.”

“What? Why? You won’t let me load?”

“It’s not you, Jane,” Reyer said. “It’s me.”

“Considering Miss Reyer’s injury, this type of work would be particularly harmful to her well-being. I advise—”

“Shut up, Lynx.” Reyer brushed a lock of her hair back behind her ear. “I know what you’d advise.”

She was staring at the ground off to the side.

Vas pulled his eyes away from her face and picked up another two cases. “Dr. Jane, this is your last chance to go to the hot springs. Considering the fact you paid for all of it and what might be in your near future, maybe you should take advantage of it.” He started toward the ramp. “Take Reyer with you.”

Jane’s outraged face changed to something thoughtful. “But I thought that she couldn’t—”

“It won’t matter,” Vas said. “We’re leaving the planet anyway. Lynx will go with you. Ciro and I can manage without him.”

“We’d get done a lot faster with him!” Ciro pointed out.

Jane smiled. “So that gives us more time at the pool, right?” She stuck her tongue out at the sputtering Ciro. Tugging Reyer by the arm, she said, “Come on, Alix! Last chance.”

“But—”

Reyer didn’t even have time to figure out what she found objectionable before Jane had pulled her further away. “Don’t argue with the man. He might listen to you! Would you rather sit around here, doing nothing?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Come on.”

Vas smiled as their voices faded away. When he returned from putting away the cases, his brother still hadn’t moved.

“What?” Adan picked up a box. “Grab the ties and straps, will you? We have to secure what’s there before we bring in too much more.”

“I cannot believe you,” Ciro said.

“Are you afraid of a little heavy lifting?”

“Yes!”

“Then sit down, and I’ll do it.”

“You know, I have half a mind to.”

“If it’ll spare me your whining—gladly.”

Ciro still wound up helping his brother and did so with minimal complaining. They were done long before the two women returned.

Vas was standing at the top of the ramp when they reached the ship.

“There were no problems, sir,” Lynx reported.

The captain nodded to him, then turned to Jane. “Doctor, do you need anything from your kit bag before we get underway?”

“No, Captain.”

He pulled out a piece of old wrap he’d shredded and rolled. “Are you ready for this?”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Jane sighed. “Whatever.”

Vas came around behind her and tied the blindfold firmly over her eyes.

“Watch her hair, Vas,” Jane heard Reyer say. She pulled Jane’s wet pony tail out of the way as the captain yanked down on the final knot.

“Lynx,” Vas said, “go enter in the coordinates now.” He took Jane by the arm. “I’m sorry, Doctor, but I have to insist that you don’t ask Lynx any question directly. Relay them to me first.” He led her down one of the narrow walkways. “I’m leaving you next to Ciro. If you try to remove the blindfold, this whole trip stops right then. You’ll be returned to the home we took you from. We’ll leave you with all your work, but don’t expect us to stick around to help you explain things to the Supremacy. Be careful not to move around too much—”

“God!” Jane burst out. “I can’t even move now? What do you think I’m going to do, Captain? I’m unarmed and blindfolded!”

He chuckled. “It’s not that. You might accidentally break something. Ciro’s already set up his tech-junk.”

“Junk!” Both Jane and Ciro cried at the same moment.

Obviously Jane couldn’t see, but she had a feeling that Ciro was grinning. In that moment she felt a modicum of gratitude for the blindfold, rather than nothing but frustration.

Vas gently pushed her down by the shoulder.

The bench under her was cold, and the cushion did almost nothing to hide the fact it was covering solid metal. As her hands wandered out, she felt something soft to her left.

“A pillow and blanket,” Vas explained. “We’ll be in velox for a long time, and I know you didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Her right hand brushed cloth and a leg.

“Uh, that’s me,” Ciro said.

“Oh, good,” Jane said. “You’re close enough I can hit you if you get all smart-ass with me.”

There was a silence, then she heard the captain say, “What? You think I’d stop her? I’ve already warned you.”

When Vas turned away, Jane was still exploring her surroundings, trying to feel out the bulkhead and areas she might want to lean on, occasionally nudging a piece of equipment with her feet. Ciro started scooting things away from her.

Vas walked over to where Reyer was standing just inside the ramp. “How was it?” he asked.

“It was lovely, Captain. Thank you. I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to go.”

Vas reached behind her and pushed the button to raise the ramp. “It’s fine. I’m glad you got the chance.” He paused, still looking at her. “You should wrap up your hair. It’s going to get cold in here.”

“I thought nagging me was Lynx’s job.”

“He’s busy.” Adan managed to pull himself away. “Actually, I should be helping him.”

He walked over to the cockpit and jumped up the three steps. As he was sitting down in the pilot’s chair, he heard Reyer come up behind them.

“Do you mind?” she asked after she climbing up the steps. “I’m curious about our destination.”

“Not at all, Miss Reyer. Lynx, if you answer any questions about where we’re going, you’re to whisper.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Reyer looked over the bot’s shoulders as Vas prepped the ship. He put his hands on the control wheel and called out, “Get ready for take-off. Doctor, I’d brace yourself.” To Alix, he said, “You should probably sit down.”

She took the arm of his chair to help ease herself to the deck.

They were off planet and out of orbit a few minutes later.

When Vas had confirmed the course in a whispered conference with Lynx, he dropped the ship into velox and set the autopilot.

Reyer was still sitting beside him, her back against the panel.

“You aren’t going to go down to the main deck?” he asked.

“Not at the moment,” she said. “I’m still too relaxed from the pool. I don’t want to ruin it by standing up or going up and down those stairs again. Do you need me to move?”

“No. You’re fine.”

“Thank you.”

“Jane knows she’s not supposed to ask you or Ciro questions?”

“Nothing relevant to the Uprising. Yes, Captain. I have managed to keep one or two things secret in my life.”

“Then the only thing we have to worry about is if Ciro knows how to keep his mouth shut.”

[https://i.imgur.com/6iM8gcI.png]

Jane woke up from her nap by gentle degrees, the serene sense of awareness creeping up on her. When her eyes couldn’t open, her hands went to her face with no conscious thought.

Someone reached over and pressed her hands down again.

She heard Ciro’s voice: “Whoa there, Doctor. Don’t do that.”

“Right,” she said. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry. I get it. I didn’t think you’d want to go home too soon.” She heard the sound of fingers pattering on the surface of a tablet. “I’m sorry about the precautions.”

“You sound like Ciro Vas, but that statement was almost polite. Is it really you, Wonder Boy? Or did your feeble brain finally run out of wisecracks?”

“Adan said he’d gag me if I annoyed you too much.”

“That’ll do it.” Jane laughed. “Oh, the power.” When she was done reveling in her power trip, she sighed. “This is boring.”

“Go back to sleep.”

“You’re not in the mood to match wits with me?”

“I’m less likely to get in trouble if you’re asleep.”

“How much long—”

“Sorry, Dr. Jane, I can’t tell you that.”

Jane huffed with frustration. “This is stupid.”

“It’s important. It’s a miracle Adan ever agreed to it.”

“Really?”

“I argued with him for hours about what to do with that ping. He was adamant.”

“What’s his problem with me?”

“No problem, Dr. Jane. He likes you fine. He didn’t think it’d be fair to do all this to you.”

“What gives him the right to make that kind of choice for me?”

“He’s the captain of the mission, and we’re in a war. We have to be careful about information. Telling you about the ping would have dragged you into a rabbit hole with no easy outs.”

“What changed his mind?”

“Miss Reyer.”

Jane leaned back. “Alix is really something, isn’t she?”

“You have no idea.” His voice was low and emphatic. Then he added, “And don’t bother asking about any of her history, because I can’t tell you that either.”

“Can I ask if there’s anything between her and the captain?”

Ciro stopped his work so he could think about that. Adan had asked him not to talk about it—sort of. But there were a few other things to consider: it wasn’t classified information found in any Rising file, Reyer wasn’t anywhere near close enough to overhear him, and Vas wasn’t either.

“Not at the moment,” he said, “but I have hopes.”

Jane smiled. “So you wouldn’t make a play for her?”

Ciro snorted. “God, no. Adan would kill me.”

“Is there territory marked or something?”

Ciro put the tablet down on the bench in front of him. “Kinda. I mean, he hasn’t tattooed his name on her or anything, but…yeah. Technically, he’s her bodyguard, so he’s done the whole ‘rescue’ thing a couple of times. It’s hard to beat that kind of a first impression. Most other guys are probably out of luck—not that I couldn’t hold my own against him if I wanted to. I know he’s a big, bad warrior, but I’m prime nerd material. He wouldn’t want to mess with me. He knows I wouldn’t hesitate to go in and delete all his high scores on our computer games.”

Jane laughed.

Ciro smiled, then turned away. “But she’s not really my type.”

“Oh?”

“Well…she knows when to get a man a can of coffee—”

“High standards you have there.”

“I know. But on the other hand, she doesn’t appreciate the art of technology. And she gets frustrated at Lynx instead of understanding he’s only a bot.”

“Ciro, you get frustrated at Lynx. I’ve seen you cussing at him while you work.”

“Sure, but I’m his creator. I have rights.”

“You created Lynx?” she said with awe.

“Why did you think he called me Master?”

“To stroke your ego, Wonder Boy, and I have a ten coin that says that’s the real reason.”

“Keep your money. But I did make him—built and programmed.” Ciro turned to her, his unseen grin obvious in his voice. “What do you think?”

Jane shrugged. “Not bad for a bot. Adequate.”

“Hmmm. No insult. No diminutive nickname. That’s high praise coming from you.”

Up in the cockpit, Lynx started to turn but stopped when he heard Reyer’s soft command: “Shut up, Lynx.”

The robot began ticking down the required time before he could address the topic again.

“Let them talk,” Reyer whispered. “They need some privacy. You shouldn’t interrupt humans when they’re flirting.”

Reyer had moved away from the panel so she was sitting on the top step with her back against the pilot’s chair. Vas had his hand on the arm of the chair, and her was resting his jaw on his knuckles. Lynx noticed he was smiling down at Reyer.

Before the bot spoke, he made sure his speaker volume was at its lowest setting. “I did not know your hearing was good enough that you could make out what they were saying.”

Alix lifted one shoulder in a tiny shrug. “When Ciro gets excited, he raises his voice. But I don’t have to hear what they’re saying.”

“Then how do you know—”

“Lynx, I can smell the pheromones all the way over here.”

“I detect no unusual scent relating molecules present in the air, Miss Reyer.”

“It’s a human thing, Lynx,” Vas said. “Humans just know.”

Lynx processed the new idea. “If humans are equipped to perceive information that I have no way of discerning, I will never be able to fully understand the behaviors I encounter.”

Reyer and Vas both laughed quietly. Lynx tried to analyze what they might have found humorous.

“Don’t worry, Lynx,” Alix said. “We love you just the way you are.”

“Even though you get frustrated with your inability to interact smoothly with my programming?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Lynx.”

“I am a thing, Miss Reyer. Why would you feel affection for a thing?”

“I had a teddy bear once. It was a thing. That didn’t stop me from feeling affection for it.” She pulled herself forward enough to pat the robot’s cold metal hand.

She sat back while the robot was busy processing.

“Humans make no sense.” Lynx knew the conclusion was ambiguous, but he was equally certain it was accurate.

“There!” Vas said. “And I thought you said you’d never understand us.”