For all she knew, her crewmate was just curious, snooping on a being who was viewed as a God to many people. Maybe he was looking for something to steal and sell to the highest bidder.
Maybe he was a Cyborg hater, seeking a way to undermine him.
Whatever Daniels was doing, it was best she kept out of it. Safer if she did so. The last thing Alexa needed was someone out to silence her when there was no possible escape.
Suddenly, the Questor got a little smaller. Alexa shook herself, forcing her body to move. She’d fallen into her head, waiting for Daniels to come out of his room and threaten her again, to see if he did something else. Fight or flight wasn’t something she dealt with often. Now that her curiosity was waning, all she wanted to do was run.
But…
Hysterian’s room’s open. She turned back to the Cyborg’s quarters.
Stepping to the threshold, she peered in, shaking with fear, but unable to let this opportunity go to waste.
Cabinets and drawers remained opened, but from where she stood, she couldn’t get a good look into any of them. And entering the room, with Daniels at her back, wasn’t something she was keen to do anyway.
He’ll know. Hysterian will know if I invade his space.
She wasn’t dumb. She was willing to take risks, but she wasn’t an idiot.
Though her coworker was. Daniels spelled his doom right before her eyes.
Our doom. If she didn’t play it safe.
Her fingers twitched with curiosity. There was a big, unused bed off to the left up the short steps in the back of the room. Up those same steps, in the second half of the room, was Hysterian’s personal lavatory on the right, same with a glass desk devoid of knickknacks, and a metal dresser with drawers attached to the wall.
In the front of the room was a seating area with a glass, oval table positioned before it, and a wall of shelves, also empty.
Nothing. Nothing was incriminating. At least nothing out in the open.
Alexa took a step back and jumped when two cleaning bots moved past her and into Hysterian’s room. One went straight for Hysterian’s drawers and closed them. She didn’t know why but she was relieved when the bots began cleaning the space.
It was time to leave.
She opted to skip the bridge. Every second she meandered was more of a risk than the last. Heart thundering, she darted past Daniels’s door, and once she made it to the lounge, she was breathing easier, wondering if the ship had cameras.
She wondered if Hysterian already knew everything. He could… There was no limit to what Cyborgs could do.
She also feared not knowing what Daniels was up to and if she needed to watch her back.
When she returned to the menagerie, the ship’s hatch opened, and the blast of pressurized air filled the room. Her pulse ratcheted up, and she wrenched her eyes closed to calm down.
They’d come back much sooner than she expected.
Calm escaped her. Booted feet drew closer. And she knew by the way one of them walked that it was Hysterian and Horace returning, not Pigeon and Raul.
“Thank you for your help, Horace,” Hysterian said.
Horace grunted. “Just doing my job.”
“Are you going to join the others at the bar?”
“And spend money on drinks I could just make for free here? Fuck that.”
Alexa scurried to her desk and sat down just as Horace and Hysterian appeared. His eyes went straight to her, and she looked away, down at the briefcase in his hand. Palms slick with sweat, she twisted her hands in her lap.
“Understandable,” Hysterian murmured. “I’ll see you at the start of the next shift. Get some rest.”
“Have a good evening, Captain,” Horace said. He continued down the hall, leaving her and Hysterian alone.
Her face heating, Alexa wished she hadn’t taken so long upstairs. Still feeling the need to run, she thanked whatever god or devil ruled the spiritual plane that she had turned back when she did.
Hysterian made his way toward her, and she scrambled to her feet and hated that her computer screen was blank behind her, obviously unused. He knows. He has to know.
I didn’t do anything wrong.
If he doesn’t know now, he’s going to know soon that someone was in his room.
He saw me outside it.
He’ll think it was me…
A thousand more thoughts soared through her head as Hysterian came to a stop in front of her.
Keep your mouth shut. Alexa tore her eyes from the briefcase and looked up to meet Hysterian’s. “Captain,” she rasped in greeting.
He cocked his head, and her belly twisted. “Is something wrong, Dear? Your face is flushed. Are you getting sick?”
“No, Captain. I, uh...” She glanced around the room looking for an answer. Why wasn’t there anything when she wanted there to be something? “Just finished feeding the locusts.” It wasn’t quite a lie. She had fed them.
He stared at her.
Much longer than a normal person would.
Alexa hated Daniels more than Hysterian at that moment for putting her in this position.
“Are you sure you’re not sick?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.
She felt like a bug under a magnifying glass. “I’m pretty sure.”
She wasn’t ready to be caught. Or burned. Burned would be worse.
“Your heart is beating rapidly,” he stated as if it was normal for him to know that standing several feet away from her.
“The male locust scares me,” she said quickly. Also not a lie.
He finally took his eyes off her and looked at the creature. “Why?”
“He watches me,” Alexa said before she can stop herself.
Hysterian’s eyes returned to hers and the awkward silence that followed made her feel way worse.
“He can’t hurt you,” he said.
She swallowed. “I know.” Desperate to change the subject, she reached out. “Are those the vaccines? I’ve prepared a freezer slot for them.”
Slowly, far too slowly for Alexa’s comfort, Hysterian handed the briefcase to her. “Yes,” he said, eyeing her curiously.
When she had the briefcase in her hands, she held it to her chest. “I’ll take care of this.”
“You do that.”
Alexa turned and stiffly walked away, her joints suddenly glued together. She made quick work of securing the vaccines into their slot and prayed that when she turned back Hysterian would be gone.
Please be gone.
Please. Be. Gone.
When she turned, he was behind her.
Alexa startled. If today couldn’t get any better…
This was it. He was going to confront her about her snooping. She had to decide now if she was going to tell him about Daniels, lie, or come clean and hope Hysterian didn’t kill her.
To her shock, he didn’t say a word. Instead, for the second time that day, she was left in stunned silence.
Because Hysterian’s eyes weren’t dark, but bright and turquoise, unlike anything she’d ever seen, and his brow was beading with…
Sweat?
“Captain?”
Hysterian straightened, turned, and walked out of the room, and Alexa, once again, was rooted to the spot in confusion.
Five
Hysterian rested his head on the wall, pumping his cock. Warm water dribbled down his skin, washing his secretions away. With every thrust, the water was a little milder, with every pump, the water chilled ever more. His phantom female had jet black dyed hair.