“Hunter.” Luxea said.

“I know I messed up pretty badly and I hurt you.” I said. “Everyone seeing what happened with that scout ship helped to legitimize our status; but, it hurt you personally and I'm really sorry.”

“Then you did that.” Luxea said and waved at the blank viewscreen on the console.

“Yeah.” I said and didn't say anything else.

“What am I supposed to do with you?” Luxea asked.

“I have no idea.” I said. “We've never had a fight like this before.” I thought about it and shook my head. “I never realized the stakes could be so high if we ever did fight.”

“What do you mean?” Luxea asked.

“You're the backbone of our little group.” I said and saw the surprise on her face. “Without you, we can't really do anything.”

“Th-that's not true.” Luxea said, her voice and thoughts unsure.

“Who is the engineer?” I asked. “Who controls the finances of both businesses? Who do we all rely on to handle the meetings? Who investigates the new clients? Who hires the employees? Who buys the essential supplies we need?”

“I... I just... it just...” Luxea stammered.

“It was natural, wasn't it? You thought it was easy to handle it all and you did it so well that none of us noticed exactly how much work you actually do.” I said.

“Y-you noticed.”

“Only because I love you and we used to share a bed every night.” I said and saw her wince a little. “Otherwise, I would be just as clueless as everyone else.”

“Hunter...”

“I hurt you with what I did and my shortsightedness has jeopardized not only our relationship, it's jeopardized our business relationship as well.”

“No, I... I wouldn't...” Luxea tried to say it wouldn't and the Presence wavered.

“Luxea, you were completely prepared to burn the businesses to the ground when you saw Simone in bed with me.”

Luxea sighed and couldn't look at me or Simone. “Hunter, I... I need time to...”

“Well, we're going to be here in the Fogaris system for the next few months doing salvage. We can split into teams instead of working together. We've got two ships and plenty of room.”

I used Presence to grab a fresh pair of underwear and flipped off the blanket, then I stood up to put them on. Both Luxea and Simone watched me with the same expression, one that told me that neither of them expected to see me naked again for a while. I walked over to the closet and put on my long sleeved t-shirt and then the powered uniform.

“I want you, Simone, and Rhubin to stay here on Udelis.” I said and turned around. “I'll take the new guy and we'll take the lower priority wrecks and handle them.”

“You can't strip the ships by yourself.” Luxea said. “At least take...” She glanced at Simone and then she sighed. “You split us up this way on purpose.”

I nodded. “We both need a pilot, so trading them makes no sense. Also, if there's anyone who needs someone with them while salvaging, it's you.”

“Dammit, I can't argue with that.” Luxea said. “I do need someone to hold things for me.”

“Then it's settled.” I walked over to her and she didn't flinch physically; but, mentally she didn't want me to touch her right now. I held in my sigh and stepped by her and out into the hallway, then I went to the cockpit to get the data that I would need on the wrecks and to verify what I needed to salvage first.

*

When the door shut behind Hunter, Simone used her meagre mental abilities to erect a temporary privacy connection between her and Luxea, so that they could only hear each other and no one else.

“What is wrong with you?” Simone asked.

“Nothing.” Luxea said.

“Don't give me that.” Simone said. “You're way too angry and you're overreacting to everything.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

Simone felt the Presence waver. “You know that I can tell when you lie.”

Luxea gave her a look that said to drop it.

“Does having millions of people see you kill aliens really bother you that much?”

“Yes!” Luxea exclaimed and closed her eyes to try and calm down. After two long and slow breaths, she spoke. “Now those same people have seen that the man I'm dating goes out and...”

“Oh? So you're still just dating after all this time being together?” Simone asked. “I'm pretty sure Hunter doesn't see it that way.”

“I... I'm not... Hunter can...”

“Can what? Date someone else?” Simone asked and found some very strong thoughts on the surface of Luxea's mind. “Oh.” She said. “Oh, no.”

Luxea's face flushed red and she turned her head away.

“Please, tell me you didn't.” Simone whispered. “By the goddess you abandoned, and for the god Hunter has a connection to, tell me you didn't!”

Luxea didn't say anything in response.

Simone shook her head in disappointment. “Are you going to tell him?”

“I shouldn't have to...” Luxea started to say.

“Are you insane?” Simone asked. “He's got one of the most powerful minds I have ever met! Do you realize what could happen if he finds out from someone else?”

“Are you going to tell him?” Luxea asked, almost accusingly.

“It's not my secret to tell and I'll try to bury it in my deeper thoughts.” Simone said and then sighed. “If he somehow forgets his morals and tries to read me without my permission, I won't hide it from him.”

Luxea gave her a look of relief, because she knew Hunter wouldn't do that.

“You're lucky he paired us together during this 'time apart' that you wanted.” Simone said. “I should have known you had a reason to act like a woman scorned and didn't try to dissuade him from giving you some space.”

“Once we're out here for a while, I'll...” Luxea took a breath and let it out. “When the commotion dies down...”

“Ha ha.” Simone fake laughed. “Do you really think that it's going to die down after the spectacle Hunter made of himself for you?” She waited a moment and then genuinely laughed. “You're delusional if you think people are going to forget about it!”

“We'll find out soon enough.” Luxea said. Maybe.

Simone stopped using the privacy connection and hit the intercom button. “Rhubin, are you ready to get going?”

“Hunter's already on the other ship and Hector's moved off, so yes.” Rhubin said.

“Then take us to the first wreck on the list.” Simone said. He didn't even say goodbye. She thought in disappointment.

He didn't even say goodbye. Luxea thought. Even though they were fighting, it still bothered her that he would leave like that. I shouldn't have hesitated when he tried to hug me before. She thought. I just... I didn't want him to touch me, in case he read my thoughts and... I'm not ready to tell him yet.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

*

Two days later, I finished stripping the wreck of the medium-sized ship and stowed the third, and last, laser cannon in one of the large collapsible metal cages on the hull. I went to the main hatch and went inside the ship. I didn't show off by using Presence, though. I just used the air lock controls and cycled through normally. I kept my space suit on and walked all the way to the cockpit.

“Hey, Hector.” I said.

“SIR!” Hector jumped in his seat and half-stood as he saluted me. He had been nervous around me since we had left the other ship and I wasn't sure why. I could read his surface thoughts easily and they didn't tell me anything. All he had going through his head were flight patterns and techniques to take us to the next ship on our list.

I thought that was odd, especially since I hadn't said we would be going there yet. I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder and used a minuscule amount of Presence to form a mental connection with him. I normally didn't do things like that; but, I wanted to ease the young man's nervousness so that he wouldn't fly us into the next wreck because he flinched when I tried to talk to him.

“Take it easy.” I said and used a mental technique to calm down and shared it with him.

Hector took a quick breath and let it out, and his mental train of flight patterns derailed slightly when he relaxed. His mind drifted towards something else and I stopped my eyes from widening at what I 'saw'. I immediately stopped sharing calmness and absorbed my Presence from him to sever the connection.

“You don't have to salute me. I'm just the boss.” I said, instead of what I wanted to say. “Are we in a stable parking orbit with the debris?”

“Yes, sir.” Hector said. “We're on the same trajectory and won't drift away from them.”

“Good.” I said. “Why don't you head to your quarters and relax? I'm taking the rest of the day off before heading over to the next wreck in the morning. There's no need for you to stay here on shift.”

“Thank you, sir.” Hector said, relief in both his voice and thoughts. “See you tomorrow, sir.”

I waited until he was halfway around the ship before I erected a Presence barrier around the cockpit and sat down on the chair next to the communications console. I thought about waiting, then decided it was better to get it over with, so I called my ship.

“Hunter!” Rhubin said from the little viewscreen. “How's it going?”

“I just finished the first wreck.” I said and sent him the data on the things I had retrieved, like computer consoles and electronic components that we could use in the new ship, which included the three intact laser cannons and their large power coils.

Rhubin let out a low whistle. “How did you get all that from a low priority wreck?”

“From what I could tell, the ship had been sheared off right at the bulkhead between the fore and aft sections. It was relatively undamaged, except for what the aliens did themselves.”

“Sweet!” Rhubin said. “I think we need to reassess the wreck priorities, if that's the case.”

I chuckled. “No, I think I was just lucky this time. It looked like a small ship and wouldn't have much to it, so it was assigned a low priority. Even Udelis couldn't tell what it was originally from and he's got the whole database from this ship.”

Rhubin nodded. “Luxea did good unlocking that from the alien code.”

I nodded. “Having intact programs for her to work backwards from was a huge help, as was the shipyard leaving everything and adding things on top of it.” I looked at the time and back at him. “I guess Luxea's still out?”

“Yeah, she and Simone are on the huge ship.” Rhubin said. “The bridge was practically destroyed; but, they found part of a shuttle bay and there's another shuttle in it.”

I smiled. “Our bay can't hold that many, you know.”

“I can squeeze two more in, if we turn them perpendicular to the hull and mount them on runs like the cargo containers on the long haul transport.”

“You want to mount shuttles on the walls?” I asked, surprised.

“It should work.” Rhubin said. “The landing gear is designed to hold the ships in almost any terrain...”

“The weight of the shuttles would rip them out.” I said.

“We can just turn off the gravity in that section of the bay. We could even put up a force field like the one that covers the external exit of the bay that holds the air in when the door is open.” Rhubin said. “The secondary reactor can handle the load, since it was designed for the incidentals, and it won't impact the ship's main power.”

“You've given this a lot of thought.” I said, impressed.

“I just want my own flight of shuttles.” Rhubin said, and that made me laugh.

“You can't fly them all at the same... oh, wait. You can. Never mind.” I said and it was his turn to laugh.

“Why make one shuttle delivery when we can make three?” Rhubin asked.

“All right. Run it by Luxea. If she agrees...”

“We already have the mounts made and we're just waiting for the rendezvous with you at the end of the week.” Rhubin said with a grin.

“Thanks for at least telling me about it before you did it.” I said and he laughed again.

“Want me to tell Luxea to give you a call when she gets in?”

“No, that's not why I called.”

“Oh?” Rhubin looked at me with concern in his eyes. “What's up?”

“Hector's not working out and we need to hire someone else.”

Rhubin's eyes widened. “Can I ask why?”

“He's too nervous.” I said, completely honestly. “I'm afraid that he's going to ram the ship into one of the wrecks and you know I wouldn't say anything if I didn't actually feel that way.”

Rhubin sighed. “Have you tried talking to him?”

“I even tried using a calmness technique and shared it with him.” I said. “As soon as I stopped, he was back to being a bundle of nerves.” I brought up the security footage in the cockpit and sent it. “See for yourself.”

Rhubin took a minute to watch the interaction and he sighed again. “His inexperience really shows.”

“He's been like this since we came here.” I said. “I can't work safely if I'm worrying about my pilot killing us the next time he takes the controls.”

“I'm sorry, Hunter. I thought he was ready for this.”

I thought about that statement for a moment. “You like him.”

“He's a good kid.” Rhubin said and then laughed. “That makes me feel so old.”

“You're only thirty-six.” I said with a smile. “I'm authorizing half of the three month payment we agreed to in his contract, as a severance pay for early dismissal. Could you let Luxea know in the morning and have her make up the chip?” I asked, and Rhubin nodded. “We can pay for a transport to take him back to the Dizahl system, too.”

“Hector will appreciate that.” Rhubin said. “I'm sure once he gets a bit more experience, he'll be able to handle things like this more professionally.”

“One can only hope.” I said and Rhubin nodded.

“So, do you want to tell me the real reason you're getting rid of him so quickly, instead of giving him a chance to acclimate to the hazardous flight conditions?” Rhubin asked.

“I don't want our company to become what the long haul transport was like.” I said, without sugarcoating it.

Rhubin stared at me for about ten seconds before he spoke. “I'll have his transport there first thing in the morning.”

“Thanks, Rhubin.” I said and cut the call.

*

Luxea and Simone came back into the ship after storing their latest acquisition, a main computer bank from the large wreck, in the main cargo hold. Luxea hoped that this would give them enough processing power and storage capacity to let them try to twin Udelis' software onto the new ship. She had access to the Udelis AI's layout and configurations, so she was confident that all she needed to do was replicate the setup as closely as she could.

Luxea couldn't do that until they made their first delivery back to their home base in the Dizahl system, though. She needed to pick up some of the computer components she had ordered to make the attempt. With those in hand and the new specs the previous owner had given her for combining the technology, she knew that she could get the two different computer hardware systems to work in conjunction with each other and create a much more powerful whole. If that worked, then making the central hub for their own satellite and communications network would only be a matter of scale.

Since they had access to literally tons of electronics and computer consoles, their plans were coming along swiftly. Neither woman said anything to each other as they stripped off their space suits and stored them in the temporary lockers Luxea had installed for that purpose next to the main hatch.

“See you in the morning.” Simone said without inflection as she walked down the hallway towards the holding cell.

“Simone, you know that...”

“You've said that every day so far.” Simone said and kept walking. “It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself and not me.”

“I only need to wait until...”

“That's your problem.” Simone said and opened the door of the cell. “You're just digging the hole deeper and deeper. The longer you wait to say something, the worse it's going to be.”

Luxea watched the cell door close and then she walked past it and down the hallway to Hunter's room. She entered and stripped off her clothing and stepped into the shower to wash off the day's sweat. She had thrown herself into the salvage operation with a vigour that had surprised her and they were making better time than she had allotted for. She washed herself diligently and then reached for the pulse option that she had been using a lot lately.

Luxea left the bathroom and dried off, changed into a small nightie, and climbed into bed. It was a big bed and she was once again struck by how empty it was. She thought about what Simone had said and couldn't deny that she had a point. It was going to be worse the longer she kept it secret; but, she only needed to wait until the rendezvous at the end of the week. The public frenzy over The Wave, specifically Hunter, should be over by then.

Luxea woke up the next morning when the ship's alarm went off. She dressed in a plain jumpsuit, since she was going to be working in a space suit and didn't need to wear the company's uniform, and went to the kitchen to get breakfast.

“Morning.” Luxea said to the two people there at the small table. Rhubin and Simone nodded and didn't say anything as they kept eating. Luxea heated her own ration meal with flavoring and sat down with them. No one spoke until they were all done.

“Luxea, I need to you drop seven weeks of basic crew pay onto a chip for me.” Rhubin said as he stood and put his empty food tray into the slot. “Also, I need a chip with transport fees from here to the Dizahl system.”

Luxea looked at him with wide eyes. “What for?” She asked, surprised. “Are you going on vacation or something?”

Rhubin barked a laugh. “That's actually a pretty good idea.” He said, then shook his head. “No. Hector's leaving on a transport in about thirty minutes.”

“Wh-what?” Luxea practically gasped.

“Hunter is scared that Hector is too nervous around him to fly near the wreckage, so he fired him.” Rhubin said and saw the color drain from Luxea's face. “You know Hunter wouldn't say anything unless it was a real danger.”

Luxea had to nod in agreement. “I... I'll do the chips up right away.”

“Thanks.” Rhubin said. “I'll get us on our way to meet up with the other ship.” He said and left the kitchen to go to the cockpit. When he was out of earshot, Simone spoke.

“I warned you.” Simone said as she stood and dropped her empty food tray in the slot, then she left the kitchen. She had a feeling that there wouldn't be much salvaging going on today.