“Ah. Good to know. I’d hate to find myself made prudish by circumstance.” Propositioning someone you’d hired to lead a reckless rescue mission was probably a social faux pas, though.

“Callie does respond well to directness, though, so–”

“Shut up shut up shut up.”

“I will, if you like, but Jana wasn’t wrong. It’s been five hundred years. And you’re going on a mission you might never return from.”

“Let’s change the subject, shall we, Shall? What’s Callie’s problem with you? Why doesn’t she call you by your name? Why does she seem really annoyed every time you talk? What is your secret history?”

A long pause. “Shut up,” he said. “Shut up shut up shut up.”

“Fair,” Elena said.

Callie departed the security office, comming with Ashok to let him know the ship was going to be fitted with new defensive and offensive systems, and letting him know he should coordinate with the engineers from security about getting it done promptly and well.

She made a few more stops – arranging for resupply since she wasn’t sure how long they’d be out, and grabbing fresh clothes from her quarters (including a couple of things she thought she looked especially good in, but definitely not for Elena, she just felt like dressing up). She met up with her friend Hermione, who’d been born out here and upgraded from the life of a rock-hopper to become a designer of expert systems, and had the single foulest mouth and raunchiest mind Callie had ever encountered. They caught up over lunch at their favorite halal cart in one of the inner rings.

“So tell her you want to climb on,” Herm said after Callie had laid out her feelings about Elena (whom she described merely as a sexy time refugee, and not a survivor of bizarre alien interventions). “She hasn’t had so much as a sad solo orgasm in five hundred years? She’ll worship you like a god.”

“I like her. I don’t want to take advantage of her. And I think she’s carrying a torch for one of her crewmates anyway.”

“She’s got two hands, so she can carry two torches. Why not take advantage of each other? That’s healthy. That’s what I always do.”

“As always, your ethical guidance is the star that lights my way.”

“If you’re not going to climb it, point her in my direction. I’ll blow the dust off her properly.”

Callie threw a napkin at her.

By the time Callie got back to the hangar, Ashok was supervising the security engineers crawling all over the hull of her ship with torches and epoxy and rivets. He spun toward her and came bouncing over. “Cap! We’re getting so many new toys. We’re going pirate hunting?”

“Yes,” she said, for the benefit of anyone who might overhear. “Everything working out?”