Last Stand (Stag Privateers Book 1)

still a close run thing for a while, and the captain spent the majority of his logs talking about why, in great detail, as he mused about the war and his own part in it. He seemed firmly convinced that in spite of the fact that the Movement ultimately won, Deeks lacked the strength of conviction necessary to willingly risk sacrificing themselves for a greater cause when the fight looked tough.
On top of that, while they were great at tearing things down, they were complete garbage at building anything worthwhile. They were also terrible at cooperating, and turned on each other almost as often as on their enemies.
Of course, that might've all just been Aiden's bias, looking at things from the other side. But bias or not, Lana couldn't deny that he genuinely seemed to hate the Deconstructionist Movement's guts and would've happily pushed a button to kill all their most ardent proponents if someone had put one in front of him.
He actually said words to that effect at one point.
Lana had a slightly better, if one-sided, grasp on the current history of the universe she'd suddenly found herself in several hours later. At least enough to know that if the Deeks really had destroyed humanity's home planet just because it was a reminder of their past, along with all the other stuff they'd been accused of doing, then they were pretty horrible people.
She was about to move on to the next of Captain Aiden's logs when a tone rang through her cabin. She didn't know what it meant, but Ali contacted her over the intercom soon afterwards, explaining that it indicated the dinner hour and she was welcome to come to eat with the crew if she wished.
She did wish, in fact, judging by the mild pangs in her stomach that were her body telling her she was hungry. So she turned off her terminal and headed for the galley, stopping briefly to use the facilities on the way.
That didn't take long, and she didn't exactly dawdle walking down the corridors. But even so only Aiden, Ali, and Dax were there when she arrived, the captain and his companion seated intimately at one end of the table and the weapons officer alone at the other.
And technically she supposed Dax wasn't there either, since he'd apparently eaten fast; he shoved a last bite into his mouth as she entered the room, then cleared his section of the table and reset the chair with the almost mechanical speed of someone who'd done it a thousand times.
Finally, the young man nodded politely to her and saluted Aiden, who completely ignored him, then turned and walked out of the room with a precise gait.
“Lana,” the captain said warmly, giving her a polite nod as well. “How are you settling in?”
She wasn't sure what answer he wanted for that. “The room is comfortable, and your crew were all very friendly.”
He snorted in disbelief at that for some reason.
Guided by the gnawing ache in her stomach, Lana made her way over to the locker where she'd found the cans of processed meat and grabbed one. Aiden looked amused by that, and Ali slightly concerned, but neither of them said anything.
She filled up a cup of water as well and brought the food over to sit beside the companion, tucking in enthusiastically as the captain also resumed his meal. She noticed Ali didn't have any food, which she supposed made sense because the companion didn't need to eat; she was probably just there to keep Aiden company.
“So I noticed you were reading through my historical treatises,” the captain mentioned after a few bites. “Gratifying to have someone besides the gunner finally show an interest in them.”
“I frequently talk to you about them,” Ali protested mildly.
“Well yeah, but you have them memorized so you never actually go in and physically read or listen to them.”
“Oh.” The companion digested that for a few seconds. “Would you like me to?”
Aiden snorted. “I can find an audience for my work without your pity reads.” She seemed puzzled and slightly concerned by that, then seemed to realize he was joking and just patted his hand.
A brief silence settled as they focused on eating. Lana kind of regretted just going for the food she'd had before, since the captain's meal looked, and smelled, much more appetizing. But she felt too embarrassed to bring it up, now that she'd already eaten half the can of bland meat.
“How far is it to Midpoint?” she asked instead.
“Depends,” Aiden replied. “It's a far ways off, but if we headed to the nearest rift hub we could be there in hours. Unfortunately, the Movement controls all rift hubs, and they wouldn't exactly be thrilled to see us. Which means we have to content ourselves with normal rift jumps. That adds hours or even days to trips, but is far safer. And we don't have to rely on anyone or anything but ourselves and our ship, which is a plus.”
“So how long will it take?” she asked again.
“About another day.” He gave her a slight smile. “Just long enough for you to finish exploring the ship and get settled in, before you decide to leave us for good.”
Lana had a feeling he was joking with her, too, although she wasn't sure she disagreed; the Last Stand and its crew seemed kind enough, and it was the only place she'd actually been to and was familiar with, which definitely added to the appeal. But at the same time, this Midpoint might be better for her, even if Ali hadn't seemed to think so.
After all, Aiden had rescued her by attacking the ship holding her, and Barix had claimed they were pirates, which meant people who attacked other ships for profit. That meant if she stayed here she'd probably end up in a battle, and sooner rather than later. She didn't know much about battles, but she certainly didn't like the sound of what she did know.
She must've mulled over