Page 24 of Bonded

“That is not the point—”

Ithran shifted one step forward. That was all it took for me to shut my damn mouth. “The point is, you are the ship’s heart and also my second-in-command. As the captain, I get to tell you what to do. Unless you propose a new captain?”

No one was taking the position of captain unless Ithran himself stepped down. I knew that. We all knew that. But I didn’t have to like it.

“We need supplies, Ruzan,” Ithran continued. “Listen to your counterpart if you will not listen to your captain.”

“The captain is right, Ruzan. We need the supplies, and the buyers will only comply with you or Ithran with me. They will try to fuck over anyone else. Hard. I would rather have Priya stay here on the ship than be with us on that space station. There are too many variables to account for. We don’t need to worry about the transport, the deal, and her well-being.”

I knew all that. I knew all that, and I still wanted to stay.

Vryek continued. “Ithran could go to make the trade, however as the ship’s captain it would be hard to make a quick getaway in case there are issues. And he would be the only one able to lead the crew in case they encounter any subterfuge.”

Their words were logical, but I still did not want to accept them. Priya was my soul. It did not feel right to be parted from her.

Yet…what would I do? Abandon my duty? Take her with me to the space station? Madness.

I could not help but face the stark truth that being with Priya would distract me. I could not afford to be that vulnerable.

“Fine. I will go.”

The selected away team, along with some jacks, rigged up one of the two shuttles that could make it to the space station. We tried to be careful because even though we stripped the ship of its markings, that it was a short range shuttle implied a longer range ship connected with it.

And I didn’t want to have the ship be recognized as a potential Intergalactic Republic or colony transport of any kind. We tried to make it look as much of a plain Cephela as possible. Vryek and I heard stories about them, and we had decided long ago that it would be in our best interest to make it seem as if we were explorers traveling far from our original systems.

I tried to establish my link with Priya multiple times over the hour; however, the ship was doing a great job of filtering. It said that Priya needed to rest, especially after several days of practice. She did so well during her first shuttle run, and every time since was only an improvement. I was so proud of her I couldn’t contain myself.

I wished, just like the ship, that we would bond soon. However, I would wait as long as she needed to adjust to the idea.

After all, she had been asleep far more than she had been awake so far. And considering that progress to her health and also to her feeling of belonging, I felt optimistic.

Vryek would be pleased with my reasoning about this matter.

It would be simpler if the ship would just let us link directly with her rather than use the ship as a conduit. But I had to concede that my newly linked experience was a lot to take in. Standing had made me dizzy.

“A few days?” Vryek intruded in my head. “You think Priya would submit to a bond with us in a few days?”

“How come the ship doesn’t filter you out?”

“Probably because it already knows that we are on the same team, regardless of our bickering.”

“I see.”

“And you are right. I approve of your line of reasoning, even if I feel your timeline is optimistic.”

“Stop eavesdropping. My thoughts are my own.”

“Then keep your thoughts to yourself if you don’t want everyone listening in on it. You don’t hear mine, do you?”

Now that I thought about it, I didn’t.“How come the ship is filtering yours out too?”

“Because I asked it to,”Vryek responded.

Oh. That would have been a reasonable conclusion. “Hey Ship can you please make sure that my stupid thoughts stay in my head? Thank you.”

A warm feeling in my chest expanded and a buzzing in the back of my neck made me aware that the ship was communicating. It felt like an affirmative confirmation, and I thanked it.

With the shuttle all set and packed, I wanted to say my goodbyes to Priya.

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