Chapter 16
Tavryn
“You’re a coward. You realize that, yes?”
I sigh as Stells repeats the statement, as if I didn’t hear her the first half a dozen times she said it.
I lean back against my ship, waiting for the fuel dispenser to finish filling our back-up tank.
I let them get emptier than usual since I knew we’d be stopping in Qauvela before venturing out on our next mission.
“We had to refuel,” I remind her, again. She snorts in response. Again. How many times are we going to do this?
“Yes, we had to refuel,” she agrees, but I don’t get my hopes up.
This argument is clearly far from over. “But there was no need to refuel right at this very moment. We could have waited until Banjo woke up.” Her voice gets a little softer as she continues.
“What you should have done is stayed in bed with that handsome human.”
“Come on. Not you as well.” There were plenty of comments made about Banjo’s appearance last night at the bar. All of them were complimentary, but not all of them were innocuous. He’s making fans fast.
“There’s something innately pleasing about the arrangement of his facial features,” Stells says with a sigh.
I cover my face with my hands and let out a groan.
It does nothing to discourage her. “And I have it on good authority that the rest of his body is quite proportional for his height. Maybe even over proportioned.”
“Stells!” I exclaim. She finally stops going on about how attractive Banjo is, but only because she starts giggling. Giggling. Why would anyone teach an AI to do that? She never even laughs at my jokes; only at my expense. “That’s enough.”
Of course, she doesn’t listen to me. “The point is, Banjo could easily have his pick from a variety of partners, but this entire time, he’s shown no interest in anyone but you.
” I chew on my bottom lip. That’s true, but it doesn’t make me feel better.
Banjo only wants me. He’s taken to being mine better than I could have ever imagined.
“He deserves better than you fleeing immediately after copulation.”
It’s not immediately after, it’s the next morning. Since pointing that out didn’t get me anywhere in earlier iterations of this argument, I don’t bother bringing it up. “I left him a note!” And tucked it right under his breakfast plate where he wouldn’t be able to miss it.
I couldn’t risk him thinking I’d run off without him.
Whether I’m willing to admit it or not, Banjo and I are growing closer.
It’s only a matter of time before I can’t help but drop my guard and let that sweet, charming man wiggle his way right past my defenses.
I’ve already done things with him, like hooking up multiple times, or cuddling, that I haven’t done with any other partner since…
I imagine slamming a large metal door to keep that thought from going any further.
No. I won’t let myself go there. Even thinking his name is giving him too much credit.
I’ve spent the last fifteen years doing absolutely everything I can to forget that he exists.
I’m not going to break that streak now just because Banjo has me feeling things I haven’t felt since then.
Since I got both my heart and body broken, all in one fell swoop.
I jerk out of my thoughts when an automated announcement comes across the loudspeakers.
“Attention, residents of Qauvela,” a deep, masculine voice says.
“UFO vessels have been spotted in the surrounding area. Take extreme caution when exiting the facility. If your ship is overtaken, reinforcements will only be sent upon receipt of proper payment to the Despot. I repeat: reinforcements will only be sent upon receipt of proper payment to the Despot.” With a click, the announcement ends as suddenly as it began.
I glance over at the fuel gauge, now in a far bigger hurry than before.
Usually, Stells can skirt around the UFO’s scanning technology without any issue, but if they’re poking around Qauvela, they’re planning something big.
Even an organization as intergalactically powerful as the UFO thinks twice before stepping into the Despot’s territory.
He’s bested them once. I have no doubt he can best them again.
What could they possibly want that’s worth the risk?
I suppose it could be me. I’ve been low on their “enemies of the federation” list for years, but as much as I hate them, I’ve always considered our relationship to be symbiotic.
They bring humans to space from Earth. I get paid to return those humans back to Earth, and by doing so, humans become a hotter commodity.
That means more otherworlders are willing to make deals with the UFO to acquire them.
It’s a nearly perfect system that benefits everyone…
well, except the humans, I suppose. Not that anyone outside of Earth really cares much about what they think.
With that said, every few years some new, young upstart comes into the UFO and attempts to hunt me down for notoriety.
It stings, considering I’ve already been a stepping stone for one political figure’s career.
My heart beats a little faster when I think of him.
I can’t believe I still feel this way after such a long time.
Like I’m still young, stupid, and defenseless.
I’m not, and I refuse to be that way ever again.
This is different from that anyway. New UFO recruits coming after me is annoying, but it’s mostly harmless.
I’ve only been caught twice. Once, I managed to blackmail the captain into letting me go.
The second time there were no humans on my ship, so the UFO didn’t have any proof to support the kidnapping charges.
Whatever the UFO’s reason is for snooping, I want to be far, far out of their reach before they find what they’re looking for. I’m not willing to try my luck a third time, especially with Banjo with me. Sure, I rescued—not kidnapped—him, but will the UFO be willing to see the distinction?
My guess is no. Abandoning Banjo on Hurcaria broke protocol. I’m positive a higher-up in the UFO would be very pleased to have him back in their grasp, and then he’ll never be able to return home.
I can’t have that. If Banjo can’t be with me, I’m certainly not giving him up to another otherworlder.
I finally give up on filling the backup tanks all the way, since it seems like the pump has slowed to a trickle.
It should be fine; the main tanks are completely full.
That last little bit won’t make any difference in the long run, even if we’re journeying somewhere as out of the way as Dhamoirs, an ice covered planet just outside of the UFO’s territory.
I wasn't surprised when Stells informed me it was the most likely destination for Remington.
Of course the UFO would pick somewhere cold and inconvenient.
Once I’ve finished disconnecting the ship from the fuel pump, I climb up the ladder and pull it up behind me as I speak to Stells. “I’m assuming you heard the announcement?”
“Of course,” Stells replies. She continues to speak as I quickly move to the cockpit.
“If you had woken Banjo and brought him with you as I suggested, we could be leaving right now.” She lets out a sigh nearly as dramatic as mine.
“Instead, we must waste valuable time returning to your assigned lodgings to collect him and your belongings.”
“I seriously doubt fifteen minutes will make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things,” I mutter. Most of my focus is on guiding us out of the refueling bay, not on our conversation.
Quarters are tight as other ships navigate the space. I don’t want to accidentally scrape the side of my ship on anything. Last time it took forever to buff the scratches out, and I never heard the end of it from Stells. She already complains about my driving enough.
“You could use that time to do something useful, like, I don’t know, locate the coordinates of the UFO vessels?” I suggest. An image of an oddly round, cartoon face rolling their eyes pops up on screen, and I can’t help but snort in response. “What in the stars was that?”
“Banjo calls them ‘emojis.’ He says they can be quite helpful for portraying one's emotions. I went ahead and downloaded the most commonly used ones on Earth. I predict this one will be the most useful when communicating with you.”
“I swear, once we’ve finished this mission, we’re taking some time off so I can reprogram you,” I warn her. I say the same thing at least once every assignment.
This time, it’s Stells who snorts. At least she doesn’t say anything else, allowing me to focus on safely returning to our temporary quarters. Hopefully Banjo is awake and finished packing. The sooner we leave, the better.
As soon as the bay doors close, I let the ramp down at the back of the ship.
We might not have brought much off that needs to return, but it’s easier to carry things up the ramp than dealing with the ladder.
Banjo peers around the doorway, a bright smile spreading across his face when he sees me striding in his direction.
“Hey! Y’all are back!” he exclaims, as if it wasn’t obvious. The corner of my mouth attempts to twitch up into a smile. I quickly control it. “Did y’all hear that announcement about the UFO? I didn’t figure they’d be brave enough to stick their necks out ‘round here.”
“That’s typically true,” I say, refusing to make eye contact as I brush past him into the living space.
His things are all packed, and it looks like he’s grabbed the last few items I left as well, along with some other supplies.
Well. Call me impressed. “Which means they must be up to something important. Or at least, something they consider important.”