Caihiri, from what I remember, but after the Earthers brought the Fleet down on top of it, the underground moved to Cyaria.”
“So you were working in the underground on Cyaria? For who? Doing what?”
EJ’s eyes drifted away from his as she shrugged and maneuvered another crate to the lifter. “Odd jobs, mostly. Trying to get by. I was accused of being involved with a ring that bought and sold some of the Fleet tech that crashed on Caihiri when they claimed eradicate the Slasu slaving rings. Fleet tech is always valuable, you know, so there was an active trade for a while in whatever people could get their hands on.”
Nokx nodded. They’d heard something about all of that. Apparently the Galaxos had been involved. The details were sketchy, though perhaps Faros’s mate knew more about it. Still. If EJ was arrested under a Fleet warrant, it was surprising she survived to end up on a gen ship transport instead of dead in a back alley at the hands of her Information Ministry friends. “That was all? Purchasing illegal tech?”
“Not quite,” she said slowly. EJ perched on top of one of the crates, removing the exo lifter, and rubbed her shoulder. “They thought I was helping with comms, maybe. All kinds of allegations. Conspiring with rebels and criminal elements, trafficking people and weapons. All of it nonsense. I just... got mixed in with a bad crowd.”
But she didn’t display her usual pep and torrent of words that he would have expected after their conversation the day before. She’d spent thousands of words trying to convince him of the Hollbrd being bad news, but when it came to protesting her own innocence... She hardly completed a sentence.
Nokx grumbled but didn’t speak immediately, trying to order his thoughts. Her reticence made it clear there was something to the charges. Perhaps whoever arrested her didn’t know the true extent of her crimes. Maybe she was completely innocent but had been used as a scapegoat. Or maybe it was a pack of lies and nothing about her was genuine.
Before he could decide what to ask next, his comms unit pinged with a message from the bridge. His eyes narrowed. Something from Faros, no doubt, and likely to do with the stowaway watching him warily from across the room. Nokx glanced around the bay and frowned more. He couldn’t leave her alone, and not just because Faros ordered it. Part of him wondered if she might still try to take an escape pod and head for the closest port.
“I am requested on the bridge,” he said slowly, still casting about for a solution. He damn well wouldn’t let another male be in the same room with her without him there. He trusted the rest of the Sraibur crew with his life but a warrior’s mate was another thing entirely.
“I’ll stay here and finish moving these,” she said, nodding at the last few cases of food. She hopped to put on the exo lifter once more.
“There must be someone to monitor,” he said.
She sighed. “Fine. Send one of those ensigns in and then you can...”
“No.” Nokx heard the bite in his voice and saw it in the way EJ’s posture changed. He ran a hand through his hair and turned away for a moment to find his composure. It was not her fault. She did not understand the maelstrom of emotions that roiled inside him, and she likely couldn’t interpret the colors in his scales for how he truly felt. He took a deep breath before he faced her and deliberately gentled his tone. “It is... complicated. I do not... want another male here with you.”
“So what’s the solution, big guy?” She made an exasperated noise. “Because I can’t apparently go with you, and you can’t leave me here on my own or with another dude, and since everyone else here is male...”
She trailed off and a smile tugged at her mouth. Nokx’s hearts sank as he realized exactly what she did. The only option was another Earther.
EJ held up the comms unit Violet had given her the day before. “Surely Violet could supervise me.”
His eyes narrowed. “But who would supervise her?”
“I would.” EJ grinned and started playing with the comms unit to signal Violet. “See? It works perfectly.”
Nokx groaned and stared up at the ceiling. He would have stayed to argue but his wrist unit flashed again. Faros grew impatient. Not that the captain wanted the Earther females left alone to conspire. Nokx’s hearts were torn,