Galactic Gambit

Chapter 11

When she woke, she could hear banging and muffled curses coming from somewhere in the ship. Neo peeked her head out of the doorway, looking right, toward the empty engine room, then left down the hall toward the flight deck. Apparently whatever work was going on required all the doors to be left wide open, as the bridge exit was exposed to the outside air allowing yellow dust to accumulate on the floor extending into the hall. Not to mention large boot prints tracking straight through into the kitchen.

A jolt of anger went through her. She marched through the ship still in her socks. Reiyna was in the kitchen leaning against the counter with her arms crossed and a scowl firmly in place. "I think you managed to get more sleep than I did," she remarked with clear agitation.

"How long have you been up?" Neo asked as she continued across the room.

Reiyna mocked thought, tapping her finger to her temple. "Hm, since that loud ass started fixing the ship," she grumbled.

"Where is he?" Reiyna pointed a finger in the opposite direction toward the flight deck. Neo sighed exasperatedly and started that way. When she walked onto the deck, Asa was lying on the floor and slid partially up underneath the console. His arms were extended up above his head and his shirt had ridden halfway up his torso exposing his golden skin and a perfectly neat line of dark hair that trailed down. She froze with her breath caught in her throat, watching for a moment as he toiled with the wiring.

When she pulled herself together enough to stop staring, she cleared her throat and kicked his boot. His muscles jolted and a grunt escaped him as he pulled himself out from beneath the console. As he stood, he smiled and said, "Captain, what can I do for you?"

"You've made a mess on my ship," she stated attempting to scowl past the erratic fluttering of her heart.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said as he reached one hand around the back of his neck, massaging it for a second. "I was in and out a lot working, but don't worry. I'll get it all cleaned up."

"Good," she replied firmly, tilting her chin up to look at him. He was still looking at her in a way that made her struggle to keep her head together. Like she was an elaborate feast, and he was a starving man. "How much longer until we can be off?" she added, glancing down to her comm band to break the tension.

"Well, as soon as I get done in here you should be good to go. I just need to finish installing the trigger switches. Everything else is done," he answered, motioning to the spot on the console where he added the switches. She checked the time—it had only been four hours. Less time than she had thought.

"You're quick. You got it done faster than I thought you would," she commented feeling a bit more relieved.

Asa laughed, "I might work fast, but I'm not quick with everything," he said, looking her up and down again, his words dripping with insinuation. Neo shook her head and walked off to hide the burning in her cheeks, not that she even had a response for such a brazen comment. She could hear him chuckling to himself as he got back to work. If she thought having to deal with Pax and all his glory was bad, dealing with Asa was going to be much worse.

Reiyna was still in the kitchen when she walked back in, milling about opening cabinets, and searching the fridge. She turned around when Neo walked in, a smirk cast across her face.

Neo put her hands on her hips and said, "What?"

Reiyna turned, closing the fridge in the same motion. "Nothing,"

She narrowed her eyes at Reiyna, "You might as well spit it out, it's not like you to hold back your opinions."

"It's nothing, I just thought that little interaction with the new guy was funny," she answered as she turned back to the fridge grabbing out two drinks and bringing them to the table. Neo sat, taking one of the drinks she offered and sighing out her frustrations. She had almost forgotten how well Reiyna's hearing was.