have a real future someday.
After all was said and done, she’d go to Gliese or another world like it, get a quiet position, and live a quiet life. If she could help it, she’d never return to Elyria.
Alexa made quick work of feeding the locusts then stepped out of the menagerie. She looked at the armory but kept going, leaving the weapons for another day. Passing the medical chamber and the side passage that led to the reactor and the ship’s bowels, she made her way to the stairs beyond them that led to the upper level of the ship. Sleek silver and white walls surrounded her on every side. Tubes of light ran across the ceiling as well as the floor, embedded into the ship.
The Questor was gorgeous, brand new, completely remodeled from a previous EPED ship. The remodel was obvious, even if she wasn’t already privy to that information. Alexa had never seen a nicer ship.
She was lucky—real lucky—to be here.
Just need a new captain… Then the job would be perfect.
Getting to travel around the universe, seeing exotic faraway places that others couldn’t because of travel restrictions, tasting new food, meeting new people… It was a dream.
Someone else’s dream.
Coming upon the lounge, she peeked in to see if Daniels was within. He wasn’t, which meant he was either in his room, the gym, or in the bridge. She’d have to be careful. Excuses ran through her mind, in case she was caught lurking.
She lingered on the lounge for a moment, eyeing the cleaning bots lasering the floor. There was a round table in the center and two booths to the left. The rest of the room was covered in food replicators of different varieties and activity stations to relieve boredom. It was the far wall that kept her rooted in place, though, where there was a porthole.
Outside, she could see Luxor Port, and the vast wasteland-like moon sprawling beyond. Huge, industrial buildings littered as far as the eye could see. From them, smoke plumed into a hazy pink sky like spiraling pillars. Drones and skiffs flew between them.
Luxor was a dreary place. Most moons were.
Alexa turned from the lounge, glanced at the gym across the way, and kept going. Ahead, she could see the hatch at the end of the hall that opened to the bridge. Before that was a series of closed doors that were more rooms used for housing the crew. Including one filled with dormant androids if the need for them ever arose.
All the doors were closed except one.
Her brow furrowed.
Hysterian’s room was open.
Alexa glanced behind her. She was alone.
I saw Hysterian leave. There’s no way he got past me. Why is his door open? Is it being cleaned?
She heard shuffling within. Instead of turning back and fleeing to the laboratory like she probably should—because it could be Hysterian and then she would have to explain herself again and he probably wouldn’t believe her. Alexa quietly tiptoed to the room.
She heard a bang followed by cursing.
“Fucking hell, where is it?”
Alexa stepped into the doorway to find Daniels rifling through cabinets at the back of the room.
“What are you doing?” she accused.
Daniels jumped, fear exploding in his eyes. When he caught sight of her, he straightened, stepping away from the drawers he’d been digging through. “Dear.”
“What are you doing?” she asked again, looking around the room pointedly. Multiple cabinets and drawers were open. Cabinets and drawers she would die to scrounge through herself to discover the secrets within.
But instead, it was Daniels doing it. Her lips pursed as her curiosity skyrocketed. Straight through the roof and into outer space.
“It’s not what it looks like.” He raised his hands. “Captain asked me to fetch his glock.”
She wasn’t buying it, not at all. “He needs another gun to pick up vaccines?” She’d seen Hysterian leave with a laser pistol.
“Don’t ask me why our captain wants another weapon. It’s not our place to question him.”
Fucker. I caught you red-handed.
“Right,” she agreed. “So he sent you into his quarters to retrieve it.”
Daniels scowled and pushed past her, striding out of the room. The door didn’t close behind him. Alexa turned, not wanting to lose sight of him. He was sneaking, like she was, but she didn’t know why he would be.
And that posed a problem. A big one.
If Daniels had an agenda, then they were bound to tangle. Why did he have an agenda? Was he looking for something of Hysterian’s or was he after the Cyborg like she was?
Alexa’s