After Priya’s sudden appearance and introduction to Logan, the trio, along with Marcus-who showed up a half hour later-began carting the Headsman’s new upgrades from outside the hatch, and into the cargo bay, depositing them next to the towering mass of the black hooded mech. Priya, for her part, was not only polite in her conversations with Logan and Marcus, but seemed to do more than her fair share of the heavy lifting. So much so, that it only took the group a little more than an hour before they had finished, panting from exertion, with even the muscle toned Logan displaying a thin film of sweat from the top of his bald head.

  “That… wasn’t so bad, eh?” Cameron asked, catching his breath.

  “Speak for yourself, Sir,” Marcus said, sitting on a larger box, producing a small white handkerchief from his pocket to dab his forehead, “We’re not all spring chickens, you know.”

  “Is this all for the Headsman?” Priya asked, looking from the group of men to the mess of packages that surrounded them and the mech.

  Cameron nodded, “I spent a little more than I’d like to admit, but it’ll be worth it in the end… I hope.”

  “You hope?” Logan scoffed, raising an eyebrow, “Just what are you planning on doing to the thing?”

  Cameron smirked, offering a shrug, “You’ll have to wait until Aurora gets back to find out,”

  Logan rolled his eyes, before looking up at the clock that ran the length of the hangar, it’s red numbers showing the time as a little more than half past one.

  “Speaking of,” Logan said, “I better get going. She’s gonna be released here in about an hour and I wanna be there when she is.”

  He gave the group a wave, before turning on his heels to walk out the door as he called over his shoulder, “Marcus! Feel like tagging along? Feels like forever since we got a chance to just relax together. May as well take the time while we have it.”

  Marcus looked to Cameron who gave him a nod. With a nod back, he quickly followed behind the man, as the two of them exited through an automatic door, leaving Cameron and Priya alone in the hangar bay.

  “And then there were two,” Priya said, nearly whispering the words into Cameron’s ear. She grabbed one of his hands and snaked around her waist, while looking up at him, batting her eyelashes, as she spoke in a sing-song voice, “Whatever shall we do?”

  Cameron smiled, and motioned to the space around him with his free hand, “How about I give you a tour of the ship?”

  “Ohh, a tour you say?” She giggled, “Such a gentleman. I certainly wouldn’t be averse to that. The only question I have is where the end destination is.”

  Cameron’s smile slowly morphed into a smirk as he offered her a wink, “Please hold all questions until after the tour.”

  Cameron showed her around the Fenris taking his time to highlight the medbay, the gym, and everywhere else he could possibly think to highlight of his home. To his surprise, Priya seemed genuinely interested in the specifics of the ship as well as its functions, poking around and asking questions everywhere they went. Those questions persisted as the tour finished up, though were slightly more suggestive, as Cameron opened the door to the final location he wished to show her.

  “A bedroom?” She asked, stepping through the threshold and giving him a knowing grin over her shoulder, “Whatever are we doing here?”

  “Just seemed like the right place to end up,” Cameron said, following after as the door shut behind him with a pressurized hiss.

  Priya giggled and shook her head, walking over to the bed “I’m sure it did, though I can’t say I’m disappointed.”

  She climbed atop it, taking her time to show off her physical assets, making the simple act more of a performance as she bent and twisted, making sure to keep her eyes glued to his as she beckoned him forward with a lone slender finger.

  “Tell me what you want, baby.” She said, her voice faint and breathy.

  Cameron’s smirk fell then, as the playful light left his eyes with something else replacing it. He didn’t follow her onto the bed, but instead, leaned against the wall ten feet away from her, arms crossed and jaw set firm as he spoke, “I want to know what the fuck you think you’re doing here Priya.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  She blinked once, twice, then three times, her smile never wavering as she answered him.

  “...What?”

  ***

  Marcus and Logan spent the few minutes it took to exit the ship and come to the elevating platform that would take them back to Arsius Station’s main line in relative silence. It was only when the large stone disc started to descend, that Marcus spoke up, turning to his old friend with a knowing grin.

  “Seems like Cameron will be in good hands while we’re gone. I wonder just who-”

  “I don’t trust her,” Logan snapped back, crossing his arms and looking down, deep in contemplation.

  “I’m sorry?” Marcus asked, brows raised in confusion.

  “You heard me,” Logan said, looking up at him, “We don’t know where this chick came from, all we know is that she apparently knows Cameron, and that concerns me.”

  Marcus guffawed, “Oh please Logan will you listen to yourself? If you must know, she’s a socialite… and an escort.”

  “Say that again, but be serious.”

  “I am!” Marcus exclaimed, “He met her shortly after our… exodus from the Fenris. Apparently she was very upfront about her occupation and intentions. She wished for Cameron to accompany her to some party or event, I’m not sure on the specifics, but given the fact he returned to me in one piece and vastly more financially well off than he was at the start of the night, I doubt that she meant him any harm.”

  Logan shook his head, “You don’t need to inflict pain on someone to cause them harm Marcus. She’s working for someone… I can feel it.”

  “You mean… her pimp?” Marcus asked, voicing the last part in a whisper as if it were some lascivious secret.

  “No, Marcus. By the stars, sometimes I forget how sheltered you are,” Logan said, shaking his head, pointing a finger upward to the direction of the Fenris, “A woman like that certainly doesn’t have a pimp. But she definitely has an employer. And we need to figure out who they are and what they want with Cam.”

  “Oh, please,” Marcus shot back, “Can’t the poor boy have someone interested in him without there being and unscrupulous circumstances behind it?”

  “Has that ever been the case?” Logan asked.

  Marcus opened his mouth to respond, then quickly closed it, looking up as if trying to pull the answer from the air. As the minutes dragged on, his eyes widened further and further, to the point that when he looked back at Logan, they were the size of dinner plates. He shook his head, “Now that you mention it… No.”

  “Exactly,” Logan said. As the platform settled to a stop, he motioned for Marcus to follow, as the two of them melded into the mass of people strolling through the mainline. Logan sighed, cracking his neck as he continued their conversation in a more polite whisper.

  “You know how a royal court works, Marcus,” He said, “And I’ll never challenge your expertise when it comes to that point. But I know how this place works. And believe me when I say that no one in this place puts any value on someone’s time alone. She wants something. Or rather she works for someone who wants something.”

  “It couldn’t be her alone?” Marcus asked in a hushed tone.

  Logan shook his head, “No. You saw what she was wearing. That’s some shit you’d wear to a Sunday brunch, or to a gym, but certainly not when you’re visiting a ship full of mercenary pilots. Heavy machinery, oil, transmission fluid, et cetera. She dressed to be noticed, not for practicality.”

  “But what could anyone want with Cam?” Marcus asked, causing Logan to give a look like he’d grown a second head.

  “Are you serious right now?” He scoffed, “Do you want me to list the reason alphabetically or chronologically? Maybe we should start with the fact he’s reached Beta rank in less than a year. Or maybe it has to do with the fact he has an A.I.. OH! Better yet, how about the fact that that A.I. lives inside his fucking head!” He hissed.

  “There’s no need for rudeness Logan,” Marcus said, chastising his old friend, “I’m merely trying to understand it all.”

  Logan sighed, slowly nodding his head, “I know… I’m sorry. I’m just worried. Cameron’s locked inside a ship with a bombshell, and I don’t want him doing something stupid while we’re gone.”

  “You really think he would?” Marcus asked.

  Instead of responding with words, Logan simply eyed the man, raising an eyebrow as if he already knew the answer.

  After a moment, realization seemed to dawn on the old man’s face, as he nodded and slowly started to increase his speed, “Fair enough, we better hurry.”