P: Exchanges

Brendan wished that he'd phrased his reply more gently or something as he watched Rafaela react. She seemed scared by the idea of asking the king for the report.

"He'll be your father-in-law, if we go through with this and actually get married?" he added in an attempt to present the king in a more approachable relationship.

His own mind caught on the words as he watched her flinch again. 'If we go through with this,' he still didn't know if he should even be entertaining the idea of actually marrying the half beyonder girl. He tried to focus his eyes on the details of the beyonder ship around him, but they kept wandering back to her.

She held her face in an artificially neutral expression as she pointed out, "I don't even have any of your personal contact information yet, let alone your family's."

"I can say the same thing," he replied quickly, as he realized that he wanted that connection. If he was going to make her his wife he needed it.

"I can assist with the exchange," the ship's system announced cheerfully. Both Brendan and Rafaela jumped, even though neither of them should have been surprised.

"Not right now," Rafaela protested quickly.

Brendan's eyes that had focused on the animated avatar on the main screen moved back to the girl's face. She looked surprisingly stubborn. "Why not?" he asked with surprise.

"I… We've just met? I mean…" her stubborn expression melted into confusion.

"I think it's better to be able to communicate more easily," he suggested.

"If we're communicating, then I should be telling you that I need access to the prize money," she blurted.

Her expression turned wary even as her cheeks pinkened, and he could feel himself go still as he considered her words. The contract they'd signed should have been effective within minutes, at least within this station, though it would take hours to reach the outer system.

"I assumed you'd already received it," he said after a puzzled moment.

"No funds have been added to the accounts I have access to," the ship announced in its cheerful feminine voice.

"Already?" Rafaela's expression shifted toward horrified and she darted over to the screen and began tapping things too quickly for him to process it easily, although it was interesting that the avatar of the ship remained on the screen, even though it shrank down into a tiny corner. She was looking at both the contract and some bank accounts, he realized after a moment.

He wasn't sure what to say when the screen stopped flickering, and she sagged against the cabin wall and heaved a sigh. "Is it…" he began.

"Just needed to complete the transfer, she didn't get it," she explained confusingly, relief evident in her voice.

"The restocking will be completed within three hours," the ship announced cheerfully.

Brendan blinked and stared at the plump avatar on the screen behind Rafaela as it expanded and twirled a sparkling stick around itself as though celebrating its announcement.

"She didn't get it?" he asked warily. He didn't know if she just meant that the ship hadn't had access, or if she meant someone else.

She turned and gazed at him for a moment before answering quietly, "My stepmother."

A few more things seemed to click into place. Her age gave her parent some control over her accounts, and Brendan replied simply, "Ah."

Rafaela wrapped an arm across herself to rub her other arm for a moment, but then she looked at him and explained, "Since neither her daughters or I have reached our majorities yet, she had to file the registrations. But I was wrong to have worried that she'd have changed the information afterward." She hesitated before adding, "She and one of her daughters even came to the announcement ceremony."

"The other is still with her ship I think," he volunteered after a moment.

She winced, and he wondered if he shouldn't have mentioned it until she turned back to the screen while saying, "I should also set up the transfer to SkyWater so they can cover the repairs and stuff."

Brendan's attention was stolen from the ship's display when his own device vibrated demandingly. He tapped his wrist and read the urgent message from his brother while Rafaela was distracted.

'Three more tried to follow you, but I caught them in time. Still can't find the real source of the orders,' Lief's message announced. 'Waiting for you to exit the girl's ship."

When Brendan looked up, the ship's avatar had filled the main display again, and both it and Rafaela appeared to be watching him with wary interest.

"You still want to exchange personal information right away?" she asked.

"Yes," he agreed without hesitation. The exchange was made without any more fuss, and then he told her, "I need to go attend to a few things."

She raised her hands and made quotes in the air as she echoed, "A few things?"

He felt his smile tugging the corners of his mouth as he replied a touch wryly, "I won't always be able to tell you everything, even if I want to. However, right now my brother is waiting for me to deal with the Eks Corp Security officers he caught following us." She stiffened at his words, as he'd expected, and he added, "You don't have to get involved."

Rafaela glared at Brendan and asked him a bit stiffly, "Aren't I already involved? I killed some of their co-workers didn't I? And I'm not even being charged for it?"

He blinked at her in surprise, but stepped forward to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder as he replied firmly, "It's not your fault. Even though I don't have a full anim of the fight, I've reviewed everything that was recorded in the public access corridors prior to and after it, plus the data pulled from the team members."

"But…" her protest trailed off as she stared at his face, but he couldn't guess what was going on behind her frozen expression. He released her and moved to the airlock before she asked a bit bitterly, "Mine too, right?"

He turned back to her and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Yours too?"

"You reviewed my data too, while I was in the medical unit, right?" she asked.

"You weren't carrying any devices," he pointed out after a moment.

She blinked at him, and then tapped her head. He blinked at her, and then his eyes widened, and he shook his head in negation. "No! That… you just got standard medical treatment, it was an ordinary unit."

Her expression changed again as she gazed at his face, doubt, uncertainty, and argument he thought, but it settled after a moment into something closer to acceptance. "Okay," she said as though announcing a verdict.

He hesitated in front of the open airlock. He wanted to reassure her, but he didn't want to lie, and he didn't know yet if she was actually safe. "I'll talk to you again soon," he promised after a moment, "but I think it'll be better if you don't wander around alone."

She shrugged, as though indifferent, but then nodded. He reminded himself that they had a full year to learn to communicate better, since he'd been too cowardly to confess his arrogant promise to marry the girl who could beat him on the spot, as he entered the cargo lock between the station and the ship.

--

Lief regarded Brendan impassively as his younger brother surveyed him with shock.

"You should be in a medical pod," Brendan suggested after a moment of surveying the bruises that were forming on Lief's face.

"Not yet, is the girl coming with us?" the elder Aldrich asked.

"Does she need to?" the younger asked worriedly. "I mean, I can ask, but I'm not sure she trusts me yet."

"She trusts you," Lief informed him with amusement. "But no, if she'll actually stay in her ship that's probably best."

"I asked her not to wander around alone, but what makes you think she trusts me?" Brendan asked as he walked towards the monitor.

Lief raised an eyebrow, but replied questioningly, "She has been following you around since before the race ended and you told her who you are hasn't she?"

Brendan blinked but then smiled wryly as he pointed out, "I followed her in the end." He looked at the monitoring system and stated firmly, "Our new princess has my trust too."

"Your," Lief corrected mildly.

"I'm what?" Brendan asked blankly.

"She's not ours, she's yours," Lief explained.

Brendan's eyes slid back to the monitor inputs as they both strode past, and he shook his head. "She's Eks Corp's, not just mine. Everyone who thinks that they are supporting Eks Corp should be supporting her too."