Page 46 of My Alien Bughead
As she grabs another piece of the unfinished grenade, I stop her. “Wait. We’ll need that.”
“You just said it won’t work! Make up your fucking mind, D’Aakh! This isn’t a game.” She’s pretending to be furious but I can see the deep-seated fear hiding inside her anger.
“Lucía.” Using the workbench to keep myself stable, I move closer. Reaching out to touch her arm, I hesitate, then change my mind. If she starts beating me now, I’m dead. Then I won’t be able to help her. “It’s going to be okay. We’ve done this before. We’ll send those QuantumTech bastards packing, and the UGC will penalize them so heavily they will crumble to dust. Everything will be alright.”
Her shoulders droop as she sighs resolutely. “I just hate being so useless.”
“I know a thing or two about that. Feeling useless is my default setting.”
“You’re not useless. You know everything. Me? I only know how to fix a handful of machines. This…” She waves her hand over the workbench. “I don’t understand any of it. I just thought I’d do the same trick we did in the tunnels and blow some assholes up but it’s not going to work. I can’t shoot, I can’t fight, I can’t do anything. I’m just a glorified plumber and nobody needs that.”
My frail, tired heart is breaking for her. Since meeting her, Lucía has always been so confident in her abilities, about herself, about everything. To see her this dejected is excruciating.
The need to comfort outweighs my self-preservation instincts, so I put my arms around her. When Lucía doesn’t immediately slap me, I pull her deeper into my chest, reveling in how she leans into me instead of away.
Unsure how to properly comfort someone, I ruffle Lucía’s hair a little. “First, everyone needs their toilet repaired. Everyone. Every ship I’ve ever been on, the utilities maintenance crew were the most treasured beings on board.”
Lucía hiccups a sob while chuckling at the same time. “You’re an idiot.”
“We can agree on that. What I’m saying is that even if you were just a, what did you call it, plumber you’d still be needed. Yet, you are so much more than that. It’s one of the reasons I was horrible to you. I actually hated you for being so good at your job when you came onto the Supernova. I was worried Zarkan would kick my stupid ass off the ship and hire you instead.” He might still do that. Especially after he looked so disappointed in me like I was something he’d scraped off the sole of his combat boot.
“I’m not as good as you.”
“You’re close enoughandyou’re much more pleasant to be around,” I repeat her own words. “Anyone would considerthemselves lucky to have you on their crew.” I certainly would. Too bad I’ve burned that bridge so thoroughly. There is no way Lucía would want to set foot on the Supernova again.
Lucía sniffles, more tears soaking into my uniform. “It’s weird to be around you when you’re not being a jerk.”
“Good weird or bad weird?”
“Not sure yet. A bit of both, I guess? Anyway.” Lucía pulls away. Reluctantly, I let her slip out of my arms without protest. I’d much rather hold her in my arms forever but I’m grateful for anything she gives me. She wipes her tears away before scowling back at the workbench. “So, what exactly can we do with all of this crap? You said we can do something, right?”
“Absolutely. You had the right idea. We can use the crylonite you have on the station to intensify the power of explosives, just not this type of explosive,” I say, pointing at the paused video Lucía was apparently following. “Besides, that Aliran is totally lying. Those components are never going to fit together.”
“I said that!” Lucía glares at the screen, then shuts off the device. “Bye, bitch. So, what do we do now?”
Reaching for my comm I call, “Omni, do we still have some of those thermal grenades on the Dart?”
“Probably.”
“Could you bring them to us?”
Omni curses something my translator nodes don’t decipher, merely informing me it’s “extreme profanity”. “I’m busy. Get them yourself.”
“Come on. I’ll buy you a box of warpberry fritters at our next stop.”
Lucía raises her brows. “You’re bribing him with sweets? Give me that.” She grabs my comm. “We have an excellent baker on board this station. If you’re nice, I’ll make her bake you a ton of warpberry fritters. If you continue being a jerk, you won’t geta fucking breadcrumb. Think about it.” She ends the call with a resolute button smash. “That should do it, right?”
“Absolutely. I estimate he’ll be here in less than two minutes. Omni takes sweets-related threats very seriously.”
Lucía laughs gleefully, making me regret not recording it. I’d love to listen to that sound over and over. “Okay, but what are we going to do with already functional grenades? Wait, don’t tell me.” Lucía chews distractedly on her lower lip as she contemplates the possibilities. Even though my body is currently a worn-out, battered mess, that sight has me primed and ready for sex instantly. “We’ll use the crylonite to multiply the explosive effects of the grenades?”
“Huh? Oh. Yes.” Too busy fantasizing about her riding my cock, I nearly missed the question. “Exactly. We just have to be careful not to blow up the entire station.”
Her gaze slides down my body, stopping at the bulge in my pants. “Mmm. That would be bad.”
“Yes. Bad.” My breath quickens in time with hers, my tongue darting out of my mouth to wet my lips. As if subconsciously mimicking me, Lucía does the same.
She steps closer, caging me between her body and the workbench. “Very bad,” she whispers.
