by Clara Woods
Epilogue
“You really want this white?” Cassius asked Lenah for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Yes. Besides, it’s not for eternity. I can always color it back.”
The truth was, she’d be happy with any hair color that would stop people from seeing the similarities she shared with her father. And if she ended up looking unlike Lenah Callo, she wouldn’t mind that either.
“How do you like the new cut?” she asked Cassius, shaking out her chin-length bob.
“I, um, it’s nice.”
She lifted an eyebrow at him. “That was either the worst lie, and you think I did a terrible job cutting my own hair, or you’re very rusty with women.”
Instead of answering, Cassius looked back at the label of the hair kit they’d picked up on Neeth Station.
“Really? You’re not going to answer?” Lenah inquired in what she hoped was a light tone. She didn’t want to make her hairdresser nervous. And she was happy with her hair.
“It’s not because I don’t like it,” Cassius answered. Then he lifted the box. “Why didn’t you ask Persia again? She bought this, after all.” He looked at it dubiously.
“I told you, I don’t trust Persia with hair. She shaves half her scalp with the kitchen knife. I saw her do it the other day.”
“Uz?” He started to sound slightly desperate.
“She’s still in her cabin, sulking about the tree and won’t come out.” Lenah sighed. She felt bad for Uz but also couldn’t fully understand why she was so protective of one tree. Especially, being an outcast from her own people. As sad as it was to lose a precious object, was it worth being mad at your friends?
Cassius mumbled something she decided to interpret as agreement. Or resignation. He lightly touched the hair on her neck, bringing Lenah fully back to the moment. She pushed the unpleasant thoughts away for later and enjoyed how the touch of his fingers felt on her skin and gave her goose bumps all over.
The truth was that Cassius was her preferred person for helping her dye her hair. Even though her arguments for not choosing any of the female crew were true. Especially, Persia. She’d never let Persia loose on her hair.
Cassius started to brush her short strands back before helping Lenah ease her neck down on the washing basin. As she got comfortable, she fully admitted to herself that this intimacy was why she’d asked him. He might be a cyborg with cyborg strength, but he could be gentle. And he had diligently spent several minutes reading the instructions on the box of hair dye. It had been really adorable. Though she wouldn’t tell him that.
Lenah closed her eyes as Cassius adjusted the water to a pleasant warmth and started to get her hair wet, then rip open the dye pack and apply the creamy paste to her hair. Was he massaging her scalp as part of the treatment or was that on purpose? Lenah opened her eyes and found him smiling down on her. Awareness shot through her whole body as their gazes locked, and she remembered how nice it had been to kiss him earlier this week. She might feel more distance between them since their fight in the Callo mansion, but her body wouldn’t. Her body also didn’t want to talk about it, something they had both avoided. But her mind told her that it needed to be done.
“Cassius, I…” Lenah started.
His face grew serious.
“I want to apologize. It was wrong to influence you against your will, and I promise it won’t happen again.”
He regarded her, then asked. “Why’d you do it then?”
Lenah shrugged, causing warm water to trickle down her neck and into her clothes. She ignored it. “I guess I wanted to see what was up with you. You were so distant. And I—” she took a deep breath. “I was worried that seeing my house might change how you see me. How you all see me.” She shook her head, causing more water to enter her shirt. “And then, when it really happened, and you called me a rich girl, I was desperate to know for sure.”
His eyes held hers the whole time she was talking, but now he looked away. His hands left her scalp, and Lenah held her breath.
“I hadn’t seen it that way,” he said, slowly. “I didn’t realize you felt that way and I’m sorry for calling you that.”
Lenah didn’t speak. She didn’t want to say anything wrong.
Then he looked at her. “I guess I can see how it happened.” Cassius gave a lopsided grin. “And we still need to work together, anyway, so try not to do it again, will you?” His hands found her scalp again, and he continued massaging in the cream.
Lenah grinned back, nodding. “Promise.” Then she thought about his words. They were only working together? Wasn’t there more? They had kissed, after all.
“What’s your plan when this is over?” Lenah asked him, changing the topic and making an effort not to be disappointed. She should be happy that he’d forgiven her. And she shouldn’t even be this interested in him. After all, only a month ago, he’d kidnapped her and been anything but dating material. No need to get all worked up about him.
“Maybe I get myself a remote cabin in the woods with my grandfather,” Cassius answered.
“Really?” Lenah studied his face. “I didn’t take you for the hermit type.” After all, he’d made them deposit him on Oscuris, a planet full of smugglers and dirty air and with not a single forest growing on it. “Or the family type,” she added, thinking back to meeting his father and brother.
Cassius cocked his head. “I’ve lived in space almost my whole life, moving from one place to another and never staying anywhere on the ground long enough to see the leaves change color in the fall. At least not anywhere that’s not Victory II’s endless dust. I imagine it’s charming.”
Lenah chuckled. “You’re from Victory II?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, and the only thing we have a lot of there is sand.”
“I can only imagine. It’s Astur’s neighbor, but I’ve actually never been there. So, a charming cabin and forest, huh?” She closed her eyes again, going back to enjoying his touch. “I guess it’s a nice plan, though, for me, it always sounded boring to be stuck on a planet all the time and never seeing the wonders of the galaxy.”
“The wonders of the galaxy, right.” It was his turn to chuckle. “You seem to think that making a living out there is a scenic tour instead of years spent inside warp bubbles with nothing to do but train in the gym or seeing the same annoying people over and over again.”
“Annoying people? Like us here?”
“I was referring to my—family.” The last word came out pressed, and judging by the way his father and brother had treated him in their brief encounter on Neeth Station, Lenah couldn’t blame him for wanting to get away from them.
“Do you think your father will come after you?”
His lips pressed into a thin line. “At some point, yeah. But he must know that right now I won’t have the money to pay him back for my enhancements. And my father is nothing if not profit-oriented.”
Lenah nodded. In that way, her father and his weren’t so different.
“What about yourself?” Cassius asked. “What’s your plan once this is over?”
Lenah appreciated how he phrased it as if that were a sure thing.
“I’d like to see the galaxy. Hopefully, stick to the Rambler and take it out for a few spins, maybe start hauling some cargo. I don’t want to get stuck again on one planet, doing the same thing over and over.” And be free to have the adventures I want to have, she thought, but didn’t mention it as thoughts of adventures like kissing him popped into her head.
She felt her cheeks heat and closed her eyes, awareness tingling in her belly once more. When had she broken up with Mason again? That was over a year ago now, and she hadn’t been on a single date ever since. No wonder she was flinging herself at the first guy she met.
“What are you grinning about?” Cassius asked, his voice taking on a lighter tone. Lenah felt her cheeks flush even more.
“Oh, nothing special. I was ogling over your biceps.”
He licked his lips. “You h
ad your eyes closed.”
“Well, imagining it.”
“Ah,” was all he said.
She wanted to hide her face in her hands. When had she gotten so rusty at flirting? Ogling over his biceps? Really? Maybe she should reconsider her flirting strategy before thinking about kissing him again.
“You did send me that image of you in the negligee,” Cassius said into the increasingly uncomfortable silence, causing Lenah to pop her eyes open. Was he flirting back? His green eyes twinkled at her.
Definitely flirting back.
“I did,” she said, remembering that she’d taken it from her room in the mansion. They once again fell into an awkward silence. After a minute, Lenah decided to close her eyes and enjoy his hands in her hair.
Soon, he started to wash out the dye, then wrap her hair in a towel.
“All done.”
Reluctantly, Lenah got up, checking out the now white strands sticking out from the towel wrap. They seemed to make her brown eyes pop more. Definitely a change.
They cleaned up the lav unit in an easy silence, and Lenah imagined what they might do next—maybe have dinner together in her cabin—when Persia stuck her head in.
“Ah, there you are. And you had a guy dye your hair?” She put her hand to her heart in a dramatic gesture. “Really, Lenah. I’m hurt. I thought I was your closest friend here.”
“You also love knives too much and carry a hammer,” Lenah commented. “That made me nervous.”
“You thought you would rather get help from a cyborg with an implanted arm and a weapon mounted to it?”
“She has a point,” Cassius commented.
“The gun doesn’t work,” Lenah said, patting his cyborg arm.
“Ah, I see what’s going on here.” Persia grinned so wide, Lenah could see every single one of her teeth. “In that case, I’m sorry to interrupt, but Corinna wants us all in the common room in five minutes.”
“And what gives her the right to call us all to meetings like that?” Lenah grumbled. Corinna Cheung might have helped out with the Muha Dara, but that didn’t mean that Lenah was happy to have her on board her ship. Especially, if she started to take control as if she were the captain.
“Don’t blame the messenger,” Persia said and turned around to go knock on Uz’s hatch.
“I can’t wait to get rid of her,” Lenah mumbled to Cassius before turning and making her way to the common room. He grunted in return as he followed.
They found Corinna sitting at the head of the table, her guard looming behind her back. But at least he’d finally stashed away his weapon into its holster.
Corinna gestured for Lenah to sit as she and Cassius entered. Annoying woman. This better be important. It wasn’t good for people to be overly used to being in charge. And this was still Lenah’s and Persia’s ship.
Doctor Lund, Uz, and Persia filed in, and Lenah glared at Corinna as she welcomed her crew with the same gesture.
“I was able to talk to High Ambassador Pantha,” Corinna started, and Lenah’s anger evaporated. She shouldn’t be mad at Corinna if she were able to provide them with useful information. Information that Lenah wouldn’t be able to get by herself.
“He has informed me that more Cava Dara were spotted.”
There were several sharp intakes of breath.
“They’re far away right now, going toward the Last Inhabited Worlds, close to the Saltoc sector.”
“How far away are they?” Cassius asked at the same time as Uz remarked, “Saltoc sector, interesting.”
“At their current speed, they’re about three and a half weeks out from the closest human settlement,” Corinna answered. “A UPL army will meet them there. This time, it will be a large one with forces from many corporations and under a central UPL command.” Lenah noticed that Corinna seemed fascinated by the rusty mark over the hatchway as she said that.
Having gotten a glimpse into the woman’s mind the day before, Lenah could only imagine how it had to hurt Corinna’s pride to be outmaneuvered like this. In the end, Lenah had been right about the nature of the threat, and, finally, UPL was moving.
“How many more are coming?” she asked.
Corinna looked at her. “About twenty times as many as we fought on Astur.”
No one said anything.
“We need to become better at influencing them,” Lenah finally whispered into the silence.
Corinna nodded. “Your claim that the Guild can help us better be true.” Her voice pitched a little as she said it.
Lenah couldn’t help but feel a little smug for knowing something Corinna Cheung hadn’t figured out yet. “We have a contact inside the Guild. He’s trustworthy. And he’s offered me to come. I’m sure you would be able to join.”
“And what exactly does your contact know?”
Demanding Corinna was back.
“That there’s a secret facility on their base where they train—or used to train—mind mages.”
“A secret facility inside of a secret facility?” Corinna asked, looking directly at Lenah, who stared back without answering. She had said what she had to say.
Corinna broke eye contact first. “If there’s even the smallest chance to get that much better at influencing them, then this crazy trip is worth it. You still plan to bring along all those mages?”
“Yes,” Lenah answered. She’d contacted Lorka earlier, and they were scheduled to pick up over a dozen mages the next morning.
Corinna’s chin came up, and Lenah wasn’t surprised. As one of the main culprits of the terrible treatment the mages had suffered, it would be a tense ride for Corinna to the Guild location. Wherever that was. Lorka hadn’t told her anything yet. Only that it was under a week away.
Lenah turned toward her crew. This was the part of the plan that she feared almost more than fighting twenty times the Muha Dara.
“I realize this is not where any of you want to go next. If you want to stay here on Astur or be dropped somewhere along the way, I’m happy to do so,” she finished quickly. Truth was, she didn’t want any of them to leave. Especially, Cassius and Persia who had become true friends. In the case of Cassius, maybe even something more. Her eyes met his, and his green gaze was thoughtful. Was he thinking about where he wanted to be dropped off?
“I want to stay.” Uz interrupted Lenah’s thoughts. “If I get to keep my own, private cabin.” She shot a look over her shoulder toward the hatch. “And maybe you’ll need an engineer at some point. Or want to employ one once this is over and you decide to start hauling cargo?” She gave Lenah a questioning look.
“I’m not sure yet what I’ll do once this is over. But getting into the cargo business is top on my list.”
Corinna snorted.
“I’d be happy to have you on board as my engineer,” Lenah said, ignoring Corinna. She was over what she was supposed to be doing as a family member.
“I’ll probably get off on Astur,” Doctor Lund said. “I need to contact my order and see if I can get picked up. I’m fed up being stuck on this ship.” He looked around the room with disgust.
Lenah couldn’t blame him. After all, he’d been on board the Rambler for longer than she. And as a hostage. She would still be sad to see him go.
She looked at Cassius to hear what he had to say—he still looked serious—but Persia spoke first.
“I’ll stay. No way am I leaving you alone. You’ll need someone to protect you when doing your mind stuff.” Her hand patted the hammer she was carrying slung over her back. “Besides, I have no job, no boyfriend, and no apartment.”
“I can’t help with the boyfriend, but you own half the ship, and there’s a cabin and a job for you here,” Lenah said, feeling lighter, knowing that at least Persia was going to stay.
“That’s because you started to ogle the cyborg first, and he’s the only eligible candidate on board. If he hadn’t kidnapped us, that is,” Persia said.
Cassius’s face went from mildly annoyed to serious again, and Lenah
wanted to slap Persia. She wasn’t helping in making Cassius stay. Besides, Lenah wasn’t keen on having her relationship with Cassius announced in front of everyone, especially Corinna.
“If the cyborg gets off, maybe we can get another candidate on board,” Persia continued, unaware or not caring about Lenah’s discomfort.
“I saw a lot of mages in your age range,” Cassius commented from the sidelines. At least, he looked like he hadn’t taken Persia’s comment too badly. Then he continued in a more somber tone. “I have things to do, to make up for a negative balance with the universe, so to speak.”
Lenah’s heart sank. He looked around the room but finished by fixing his gaze on Lenah. She braced herself. She was being dumb wanting him to stay so badly. Cassius was trying to start an independent life somewhere and being dragged along with her adventure surely wasn’t that. His leaving was for the best.
“I might have to go back to Oscuris while you train at the Guild. Then I’ll stay until this is over. It’s—I have a family thing,” he finished, but Lenah had only really paid attention to the middle part of the comment.
He would stay. She couldn’t hide her grin. The fight of her life was coming, but she would be in it with her friends. And that was a lot better than what she had hoped for.
THE END
About the Author
CLARA WOODS is the author of the Lunara Station universe.
As a writer as well as a reader, she enjoys quirky characters on an epic adventure, humor, and a little bit of romance. Even better, if it has spaceships.
Her other obsessions, apart from books, usually involve coffee and her rescue dog, Sofi.
Clara lives in Costa Rica, where she decided to move six years ago to be with her better half and now enjoys the sunny weather all year around. When it’s not raining, that is.
Keep up to date with her news and receive the Lunara Station free prequel novella by signing up for her Newsletter.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clarawoodsauthor/
Website: https://www.clarawoods.com/
