“Kill you,” she said, not looking his way.
The closest agent spoke. “All Antogin were subdued through non-violent means. They should regain consciousness within 4 to 6 hours. There are still two Antogin unaccounted for, however, they are more likely to reveal themselves as we move Jadis Ter closer to his ship.”
The pre-flight checklist was just completing as they moved forward, the crowd of nearly twenty feds keeping them centered within a tight circle.
“I’ll board with Jadis,” Betta announced. “Do we have enough resources for an escort back to his station?”
“I will come with you, Miss Reganta,” Friz said, eyeing Jadis distrustfully.
“I didn’t invite you, Miss Reganta,” Jadis replied. All he wanted was off this infernal station. No more issues, no more complications, no more feds, and no more assassins. Just a nice swim in a warm pool, a good night’s sleep, and peace from the Antogin.
The dull throb at the base of his skull intensified as if he’d called it into being. Jadis stumbled. Friz caught him before he fell and they all came to a stop a few feet from the airlock.
“Are you okay, Jadis?” Betta whispered, though her eyes darted around, almost as if you she knew—
Jadis grabbed Betta by the shoulders, lifting her small frame easily. The heat from the force rifle seared his cheeks. He was grateful that was all that happened. He ran through the wall of burning feds, holding Betta close to his chest. He chanced a look back at Friz, but she waved him on, her pulse rifle firing first at the fiery ring, then at the two Antogin that scurried toward them from the aft of the cargo hold.
Pushing through the airlock, he immediately secured and pressurized the area. He then set Betta free, calling up his ship’s interface and disengaging from Betta’s Station. He set the thrusters on full and pointed them toward his primary power station.
“Friz should be all right,” Betta said, seeming to reassure herself.
Jadis ignored her. Calling up another screen, he activated a contact he’d avoided for years. Not just because they’d wiped it from his memory, which took some work to recover, but also because it meant they would know he’d managed to get past their sophisticated wipe.
An older, more middle aged, Olly appeared in holographic form.
“A ghost from the past, eh, fam? What’s it you want, Jadis? Ain’t getting me kicked off the darkNet enough! Now you come to mock me in my last few years?”
Jadis was always amazed at how quickly Humans aged. They were so frail, and so quick to die. His eyes fell on Betta and he shook his head to focus. How long did she have before she’d need a rejuvenation? Five more decades, maybe?
Instead of speaking out-loud, he broke off a part of his consciousness and allowed that part of himself to engage in the conversation while he listened and observed.
“I didn’t know. I thought you’d just made off like the others,” Pseudo-Jadis said.
“Made off. They took everything I’d saved up and put me on some mining rock half a sector away. No ship, no marks, and no access to transport. You killed me, fam.”
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Betta asked suddenly.
“I’m sorry. I was checking through my messages,” Jadis lied.
“Are you sure the Antogin queen isn’t messing with your head?” Betta tilted her own head as if she could get a better view of descent into insanity.
“What?” Jadis looked away from the other conversation that went on heedless to his existence.
Pseudo-Jadis sighed. “Look, I’m calling because I need a favor. You still got contacts, right?”
Betta shrugged. “I noticed on the way over how your eyes would get lost, as if you weren’t all here.”
“I don’t want nothing to do with you, Jay. Go pull some other fool’s leg, eh?” Olly gave him a gesture he was sure was an insult.
“Wait, Olly! I’m in real trouble. Antogin trouble,” said Pseudo-Jadis.
Olly’s eyes were alight. “They finally caught up with you. Every night I prayed for something like this. God does exist.”
“I got 40,000 marks for info on a name.”
Jadis closed himself off from the interface, confident that his pseudo consciousness would handle things appropriately. He returned his focus to Betta, realizing they still stood in the entryway. The lighting was dim and Betta gripped one of the bulk-holds nearby.
“Sorry,” he said quickly. “I have to get the stabilizers serviced and I wasn’t expecting guests. The gravity is better further in.” Jadis pointed down the entryway to the main deck.
Betta didn’t move, her eyes studying him. For an uncomfortable amount of time, they stood silently. Suddenly, she said, “What’s it like being part of the hive mind?”
“She’s not controlling me.” Jadis tried to brush past Betta, but she grabbed his forearm, gripping him tightly. Her body was tugged along by his momentum.
“If she was, you’d probably be dead by now,” Betta replied. “Or on your way to die.”
Jadis continued moving, guiding her onto the main deck. He eased her into one of the chairs. Betta released her grip, her eyes still watching him with that same intenseness that made him uncomfortable.
“It’s a two-day journey.” He looked away, his eyes on the console near the chair. “You can use that to contact your station and let them know I haven’t done anything strange to you.”
Betta smirked. “Do you want to do strange things to me?”
Jadis frowned. “Look, let’s get this straight. I’m not even Human. We wouldn’t even fit together… like that. I don’t have urges like Human men. It won’t work.”
“What won’t work?” Betta crossed her arms just below her breasts.
Jadis swallowed something bitter and tried to keep focused on the console. He activated it, pulling it up on the hydraulic swivel. Now that it was between them, he felt a little less tense. The last thing he wanted was for her to attack him with her mouth again. Just the thought of it caused his hearts to shudder. “All you have to do is wave your hand and the screen will bring up comms and the Net. There’s a bathroom through those doors.” He pointed to a set of doors to the port side.
“What won’t work?” she asked again.
“Let’s just say, I wasn’t made with compatible equipment.” It wasn’t something he wanted to admit. At the same time, he needed a break from her advances. He needed to think, and she was more of a distraction than he expected. He’d always known the Antogin to be unhappy about his existence, but this was the first time they’d tried to kill him outright. That’s what he needed to focus on, a way out of this mess.
Betta was frowning now. “You know, I’ve never been with anyone, not Human or anything else.”
This was exactly the type of conversation Jadis didn’t want to have with her. “I’m grateful that you saved my life, but I can’t be what you want me to be.”
“I didn’t ask you to be anything!” Betta snapped.
“Then why did you kiss me?” The question came without forethought. Internally, Jadis kicked himself. Why didn’t he just walk away?
“Because I’d never done it. I spent most of my life locked in a room or locked in a box. I always wanted to kiss someone. It was a thing I wanted to do. Like trying chocolate or trying alcohol—”
“And did you ever think about how it would affect whoever you tried it on?”
A small smile crept across Betta’s features. “I affected you? You just saved our lives and I was drunk.”
“On purpose,” Jadis accused.
“I told you, it was a thing I needed to do. When I was being held by the feds, all I did was make lists of all the things I wanted to try. And yes, I did think about how it would affect the people around me. Every person on this station is either my employee or a customer. With you, there wasn’t much risk of affecting. You came off as so experienced. I didn’t know it was an act.”