Page 11 of Under Control

“Why not? You an alcoholic?”

“No, but…”

“Nah, he’s totally not allowed. No alcohol for Alex here.” Ackerman clapped Alex on the shoulder too hard to have been friendly. How long had he been watching them? “Plus, bar food? Forget it. Only the best, healthiest meals for the captain’s favorite.”

Alex dislodged Ackerman’s hand and stepped away, although his first instinct was to punch the guy’s smug face. Ackerman made no secret of the fact that he thought it was Alex’s fault three of his friends had been kicked off the ship. What Alex didn’t get was why Ackerman was still with the Sigrun, if he hated Alex so much. Alex certainly wasn’t going anywhere.

“Screw you.” Alex got queasy thinking about eating without permission. Tracht wasn’t above starving Alex for a few days if he went against that directive. “I eat the same as everybody else on the ship.”

Bauer tapped her cue stick against Ackerman. “You jealous? Go sign up to be a bondservant then.”

“Fuck no. You see the shit the captain does to him?” Ackerman sneered. “What kind of idiot lets somebody degrade them like that?”

Fuck it. Alex dropped his cue stick and curled his hands into fists. Whatever the punishment ended up being, it would be worth rearranging Ackerman’s face.

“The only idiot I see is you, Ackerman. Who do you think is more replaceable here, you or Alex?” Bauer looked at Alex. “Don’t let him bother you. He’s just upset that he isn’t getting laid.”

Ackerman’s face turned red. “You want to know what happens to people who get close to Alex? They all disappear. I’m just trying to warn you.”

“That’s not my fault!” Alex growled. “They’re the ones who decided to piss Tracht off.”

Their argument was drawing some attention. Alex noticed a few people leaving the lounge, pointedly not looking in their direction. Well, yeah, they should be leaving. They were all scared of him? He didn’t give a shit.

Only Giehl stayed, setting down his tablet and walking over to the pool table. He wrapped an arm around Ackerman’s shoulder. “Hold up, Ackerman. You still mad about Carpenter? That was ages ago.”

“Carpenter, and Rodriguez, and Parsons, and—” Ackerman tried to dislodge Giehl, but to no avail.

“You fucking shut up about Parsons,” Alex growled. “You have no fucking clue what happened.” With Giehl holding Ackerman, he was an easy target. Wouldn’t be able to dodge a punch to the face. The blood was rushing in his ears, and the misgivings he had about causing trouble were getting trampled by his rage. Every muscle in his body tensed, ready for a fight.

Bauer recoiled and took a step back. “Uh, what are you all talking about?”

Giehl shook his head. “Alex, chill. Ackerman isn’t worth it.” He turned his body to be between Alex and Ackerman. “Ackerman, I know you’re pissed about your girlfriend—”

“You don’t know anything, asshole,” Ackerman spat. He shrugged Giehl’s arm off.

Giehl, still between the two of them, turned to Alex. “He got dumped just before we left comm space. She probably timed it so that he wouldn’t be able to respond.”

Was that supposed to mean something? It was hilarious though, and Alex laughed loudly. “Serves you right. Dunno what anybody would see in you anyway.”

Bauer and Giehl both grimaced, and Ackerman flipped him off.

The sound of the lounge doors sliding open caught all of their attention. Espinosa walked in, walking over to them with purpose.

“Is there a problem here?” she asked, glancing around at all of them.

Somebody must have snitched. That seemed to happen a lot to Alex; whenever people picked fights with him, Espinosa or Tracht appeared out of nowhere to interrupt.

“No, ma’am,” Bauer said, snapping to attention. “Everything is under control.”

Espinosa’s gaze settled on Alex. “Really? Nobody’s been arguing with anybody?”

What the hell was her problem? Alex sneered at her. “None of your business.”

He thought that would have provoked a reaction out of her—she usually hated it when Alex talked back to her—but this time she snorted a laugh. “Quite honestly, I’m in too good of a mood to deal with this. You’re all adults here; act like it. Ackerman, Giehl, I don’t know what went on, but you both know better than to provoke Alex. He has no control over himself.”

Alex forced himself to open his fists, or else he’d be too tempted to divert his fight energy from Ackerman to Espinosa. He thought Tracht might not be too mad about Alex punching Ackerman; punching Espinosa would be unforgivable.

“Yes, ma’am,” the other three said in unison. Alex kept his mouth shut. He couldn’t do anything to Espinosa, but he sure as hell didn’t have to show her any respect either.

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