Page 32 of Alien Mercenary's Wife
The quiet confidence in his voice sent warmth through her chest. Here was someone who'd looked at her situation—abroken veteran with a failing body and powerful enemies—and decided to help anyway.
"Why?" The word escaped before she could stop it. "Why risk your crew for someone you barely know?"
"Because it's the right thing to do." T'Raal leaned back slightly. "And because anyone who can put three rounds center mass while under heavy fire deserves a chance to finish what they started."
Heat rose in her cheeks. "You noticed that."
"I notice everything." His voice dropped slightly. "Especially when it involves someone fighting impossible odds."
The air between them shifted. Gold flecks in his eyes caught the light, and morning stubble shadowed his jaw. He sat perfectly still, but she could sense the controlled strength underneath.
The galley felt smaller suddenly, and heat pooled low in her stomach.
"I should..." She started to rise.
"Stay." The word stopped her. "Finish your breakfast. We've got time before the others wake up."
She settled back, hyperaware of every movement. The coffee tasted richer, the food more substantial. Her newly functional nervous system was rediscovering things that had nothing to do with medical treatment.
"This is good," she said, needing to fill the silence.
"Glad you approve." T'Raal's smile was slight but genuine. "Breakfast is important. Sets the tone for everything that follows."
Something in the way he said it made her focus on her plate instead, on finishing her breakfast. The quiet between them wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't simple either.
Too much had changed too fast, and she still didn't know what it meant.
9
The tiny guest quarters felt cramped with evidence spread everywhere, but Reese didn't mind the clutter. Arranging documents across the small desk and onto the bunk, she created a paper battlefield representing months of careful investigation. Medical records, financial statements, internal correspondence… each piece of paper was courtesy of the Eris and theSprite’sability to recover all her data from one of her data caches.
The door chimed softly. "Come in," she called, not looking up from a medical report.
"Brought reinforcements," Eris announced, stepping through the doorway with a steaming mug in each hand. The rich aroma of real coffee filled the small space. "Figured you could use the caffeine."
Reese accepted the mug gratefully, wrapping her hands around the ceramic warmth. "Thanks. Though I'm starting to think I could organize this evidence in my sleep."
"That's what happens when you've been living with it for months." Eris settled on the edge of the bunk, careful not to disturb the carefully arranged documents. She looked aroundthe room, one eyebrow quirking up. "Jesus, Captain. How much do you have here?"
"Enough to prove they knew." Reese sipped her coffee, closing her eyes for a moment as she savored the bitter brew. "The question is whether it'll be enough to convince a judge."
Eris picked up a medical report, her expression darkening as she read. "These symptoms... they're exactly what I had. Before Tal fixed me. The implants are the same batch as mine."
"Your implants were the same batch number?"
"Same manufacturer, same batch." She nodded. "KTV-3099 to KTV-4092 series. Mine were KTV-4021."
“Are you sure?” If Eris had been successfully treated, then there was hope. Dangerous, treacherous hope, but definitely hope.
Eris nodded, still looking through the documents. "Mind if I call my husband? He’s amazing at this kind of tech analysis."
"Your husband?" Reese had met T'Raal, Red, and the medic. According to T'Raal, the ship carried seventeen crew members, but she'd seen only a fraction of them.
"Yeah.” Eris’s smile was fond and soft. “What Zero and his brother and sister don’t know about neural interface technology isn’t worth knowing." Eris was already keying in the connection on her wrist comp, looking up to catch Reese’s eye. "They've got personal reasons to hate the companies that make this shit."
"Zero?"
"Yeah, well… his real name is Dael, but we all call him Zero. He’s a cyborg, not from this galaxy… or reality, I’m not sure which. It’s complicated."
