Page 44 of Sol Survivor

“How the farg did you survive, Vic?”Grunt smeared butter on a golden square and slid it onto her plate.

“We had meals, I just don’t know what went into them.Growing up was mostly hydro-gel.”

“Can you use these?”Dieter waved his knife and fork, only to wince when Tiny jabbed him in the ribs.

Vic laughed.“I’m not uncivilized.”She gathered said utensils and cut a piece off the egg.Not that she had eaten anything like this, but she had seen it served to Erv.“We had a white-gray glop.”

“Boiled oats?”Tiny squeaked while scrunching her nose.Dieter bopped her on it with his forefinger.She blushed at his attention.

Vic scanned the table.Did no one see how Tiny felt about the man?

“We had slabs of what might have been reconstituted meat.Once a week, they served sugar buns.”Shoving her forkful into her mouth, Vic groaned at the explosion of salt across her tongue.“Delicious.”Her fingers trembled when she grabbed the circle and bit into it.“What is this?The crunch, the gooeyness?”

“A hashbrown, and these are mushrooms sauteed in butter.”Grunt pointed with his knife.

Vic’s moans filled the room as she devoured her first breakfast.At lunch and dinner last night, they had been as entertained.

When Leah strolled in, the laughter died, and everyone focused on their plates, as if they were guilty of fraternizing with the enemy.She sat next to Tiny and packed her plate.

“Where’s Trent?”Vic asked before biting into a squidgy gray mushroom.

“On duty, manning the bridge.One of us must be on guard at all times.”Nikko scooped a hashbrown and a spoonful of mushrooms onto Leah’s plate.“It’s what I’ll be showing you after breakfast…once you’ve had a shower.”His nose crinkled.

Tiny giggled.“I wasn’t going to mention it, but you and Deets smell of cow.”

“Oh.”Vic placed her utensils beside her plate and sniffed her sleeve.The stench of Moo lingered.“Oops.I’ll take a sol-bath before meeting you on the bridge?”At Nikko’s nod, she wiggled off the bench.“Thanks for breakfast.”

Rushing to her quarters, she left the door open while she stripped in front of the sol-bath, letting the plate beneath her feet spin as the rays scanned her.While basking in the UV light, she studied herself in the reflective surface, confirming her hair was still braided and hadn’t yet begun to unravel.Not wanting to keep Nikko waiting, she threw on her uniform and jogged to the bridge, hoping they would have a heart-to-heart.It had been a dick move on his part to pretend to help her.

Trent rested his boots on the console, gripped a tablet in hand, and chuckled at a vid.

“Morning.”She stepped into the room, then sidled to the right to lean against the bulkhead.There wasn’t seating other than the chair in front of the console, which Trent occupied.She hoped she didn’t need to learn the purpose of the acronyms beneath the many flickering buttons.

“Hey, Vic.”He flicked his gaze at her but paused to appraise her from the boots to the tank top.“How was breakfast?”Without breaking eye contact with her breasts, he touched the tablet and slid it into the side pocket of his cargo pants.

“It was amazing.”She beamed then frowned.“I’m sorry, should I have brought you a plate?”

“No worries.Someone will.”He folded his legs and rose, prowling toward her.

Like she hadn’t seen that done a million times.A kick to the knee, and a punch to the gut and throat would incapacitate him for good.

“If you value your life, Trent, I suggest you accept the no-sex rule and use your hand instead.”

He winced and held up said hand as if in surrender.“Fair enough.”

“Now that that’s resolved…” Nikko strode onto the bridge and hitched his thumb at the door.“Leah’s holding breakfast for you.”Once Trent left, Nikko faced her.“Captain’s a little old-fashioned.”

“I gathered that, and it does minimize drama.”Which put paid to her untried matchmaking skills with Dieter and Tiny.“What if two employees married?”

“Married?”Nikko’s brows hit his hairline.“He might agree to that.Now, what’s with the Vic Har-Barnes?”

She stilled, having hoped no one had picked up on her faux pas.

“Part of your fugitive persona?”

“Yes.”She fluttered her eyelashes and swung out a hip as she’d seen Fortuna do for her fans.“All right, I’ll tell you.I had a stage name, but when the emperor fell pregnant with my baby, I had to run, y’see.”

Nikko’s lips twitched.“Onto business.”He tapped the chair, asking her to sit.

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