then? Should I contact them as well?”
“No. We’re only laying over at Libra. There’ll be no other stops in the sector.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Horace swiped several of his correspondences away and brought up new ones. For the past few days, it had only been Horace working the bridge with him, and Hysterian preferred it that way. Daniels had done an okay job, but Hysterian preferred not keeping an eye on the bastard.
Overall, there was only minor curiosity in regards to Daniels’s abrupt departure. Hysterian hadn’t needed to provide his other bridge officer anything but the simplest explanation.
That Daniels left.
Horace had shrugged. He even grumped when Hysterian asked him to collect Daniels’s belongings from their shared quarters so they could be dropped off on Earth the next time they landed on the homeworld. Apparently, Daniels hadn't been liked, and morale had…gone up since his disappearance. It seemed that way. It might also have had something to do with the fact that Hysterian promoted Horace to second-in-command, and with that came a steep pay increase.
Horace was good at his job. He never questioned any decisions made, and promptly got his work done. All a captain could ask for in a subordinate.
Unlike some others in his crew.
Alexa was avoiding him.
It pissed him off, but he couldn’t do much about it. She needed time to come to terms with what he’d told her. What he planned to do to her.
What he wished to do to her… It was better that she accepted it on her own terms, in her own time. He had time.
He was going to have Alexa. Especially if she chose to remain in his employment after what he’d said. Hysterian couldn’t live with her otherwise, being tempted, because someday it would get the better of him. A mistake would be made. His mistakes often resulted in dire consequences. His job was dangerous, and if he planned to stay for the entirety of his contract with Nightheart, Hysterian needed to keep his head on straight.
Alexa made that hard as fuck with their current situation.
It may be a while before he found his perfect woman. Having Alexa around to enjoy in the meantime would make the wait immensely more tolerable. She would get whatever it is she wanted from him—if it was a pay raise or a promotion she’s after—and he would get his practice on her.
Hysterian rubbed his brow.
He wouldn’t be here either if it weren’t for his…problem.
His future meant nothing if Nightheart couldn’t deliver. If Hysterian couldn’t touch living flesh without killing it, or making a person addicted to him, there would be no true relief. Alexa or not, he’d be doomed to suffer.
There would be no escape.
It wasn’t only his secretion production that kept him away from others, from Alexa; he also had no reason to approach her. He’d come up with dozens of great ones but they were all lamely crafted excuses in his head.
I shouldn’t need a fucking excuse to talk to one of my crew. Hysterian’s jaw ticked.
He understood now why so many ships hired a live-in prostitute or invested in a state-of-the-art sexbot. He’d only ever fucked sexbots in the past, and although they were good—really good—at giving the illusion of a real woman, it wasn’t the same. They were too perfect. Too…plastic. It was the imperfections that made something real. Something warm.
He couldn’t have Alexa the way he needed yet, but he could fuck a sexbot and much more, plastic or not. One hard night with one will ease me.
It was decided. He was going to hire one on Libra.
“Captain?” Horace called to him, interrupting his thoughts.
“What?”
“Besides the problem with our water supply—which I assume we will have looked at while we’re on Libra and get the necessary items to fix it—are there any other supplies you would like to request?”
Hysterian thought it over. “Ask them if they have any suppliers or incoming transports of nanocloth.” Anyone could get nanocloth and manually configure it the way they wanted, but a Cyborg could control it on a cybernetic level. It was why they all wore a suit of nanocloth under their uniforms.
“Yes, sir.”
“We’ll be warping tomorrow once we get to Juda. First thing. I want to get there quickly.” Hysterian scanned through his navigational specs. “Let the others know so they can prepare. Shift ends in five. Enjoy your evening.”
Horace raised his hand in acknowledgment.
Hysterian pulled up an information packet of everything on Libra station, familiarizing himself with the giant space port and what it had to offer.