Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Are you going to introduce us to our new guests, or are we supposed to stay in the naughty corner until you let us out?”

Ari jolted and grabbed onto both Orin and Theo as Axel’s voice buzzed overhead. The coms clicked off with a squeal, then clicked on again almost immediately after, Marco’s mild voice wafting through. “I cringed at that, Captain. I vote for a fine.”

Ari slowly started to relax, losing his vise grip, but Axel returned at twice Marco’s volume.

“Treachery and lies, Captain! Marco just wants you to fine me because he’s hoping the cringe bank will fund new parts.”

Jun avoided Ari and Orin’s curious gazes, glaring instead at the camera in the corner while Marco offered his response.

“Okay, yeah, but. I still cringed, and—”

“Enough! Everyone to the bridge, we’re coming up.” Jun growled at Axel’s “oh, goody!” and stalked off in the direction of the door. He paused just before the bend in the crates, where he would disappear from sight, to find Theo over his shoulder. “Bring your friends.”

He took off, leaving Theo behind to corral his brother and newfound friend through the ship.

Theo took Ari’s hand in his, frowning at how cold it was. He chafed it gently between his palms as he led him after Jun. Mr. Stone followed so closely that Theo could feel his massive presence at his back, like a wall.

After a skeptical glance at the dented lift doors, Ari entered and held tightly to Theo as they rode up to the bridge. He whispered in his ear, “Do you trust these people?”

Theo gave his hand a squeeze and bumped their shoulders together, exactly the right height to line up perfectly. “Much to my astonishment, I absolutely do. They’re loyal, hardworking, and they care about one another. I couldn’t ask for more in a colleague or friend.”

Ari’s innate sweetness beamed through his small, sincere smile, and Theo absorbed it like a plant basking in the sun. “I’m delighted to hear that you’ve made good friends, Theo. You deserve it.”

Mr. Stone wedged himself in front of them as the door slid open, feet braced against the floor as if he were expecting an attack.

Turning to them, Jun assessed his stance with a slowly raised brow, then jerked his head toward the bridge. “Come on; might as well get this over with. Apologies in advance—they’re barely house-trained. Especially Axel.”

The Crew stood in a jagged little line in front of Jun’s console. Marco’s calm face split the difference between Axel’s open curiosity and Boom’s suspicious stare.

Axel let out a long, low whistle, examining Ari as though he were some new variety of snack that might or might not be poisonous. “Whoa, that’s creepy. You guys are, like, twin-twins. Super, crazy identical. Please don’t murder us in our beds.”

He flinched as both Jun and Mr. Stone took a menacing step toward him, both of them frowning to varying degrees. “Oh, shit! Now Park’s pissed off in stereo.” He swiftly aimed a wavering grin in the twins’ direction. “Sorry, guys. You’re totally not creepy.”

Laughing at that, Theo noticed Ari’s wounded expression and released his hand to hook their arms together. He couldn’t stop touching his brother, just to feel that he was real, and solid, and there. “Don’t mind him, Ari. Axel might be a fine pilot, but he has even less control over running his mouth than I do.”

Ari’s “That seems improbable” was overshadowed by Mr. Stone’s sudden, keen interest in Axel.

“You’re the pilot for this giant heap of metal?”

Marco dug an admonishing elbow into Axel’s side as he burst into giggles.

“Sure as shootin’, partner,” he finally got out. “Boy, that Verge accent is strong, huh? Sounds like you’ve got a mouth full of gruel.”

To Theo’s astonishment, Ari let him go to surge forward. He stood between Axel and Mr. Stone with his hands on his hips. “Mr. Stone is as eloquent as any Outlier, and displays significantly better manners.” His voice dripped icy hauteur in every word. “You will treat him with the respect he deserves.”

Boom reached around Marco to flick Axel on the stomach with one of her metallic fingers. She relaxed her rigid stance and leaned back against the console. “He’s feisty. I like him.”

Rubbing his belly with an exaggerated pout, Axel turned to Jun. “You know, Captain, we can’t help but notice an emerging trend. Every time you leave the ship on your own, you come back with a red-headed Doll. This one even brought along a giant cowboy accessory. We want to put it out there that you don’t have to keep every one of them. Maybe we could implement some kind of a catch-and-release program.”

“Shut up, Axel.”

Theo raised his eyebrows at Jun as they spoke quickly and simultaneously.

Mr. Stone tugged Ari back against him with a gentle hand on his hip. The fact that Ari allowed such public physical familiarity was almost as mind-boggling as the naked adoration on Ari’s face when Mr. Stone spoke. “Thanks, sugar. You’re my knight in shining armor.”

Lifting one of Mr. Stone’s scarred hands to his lips, Ari gave him a gallant kiss. After a kiss of his own, Orin ambled over to Axel’s console and sat in his chair with an ominous creaking of overtaxed metal. With a yelp, Axel hurried over to complain, which Mr. Stone proceeded to ignore, working the controls with a grin.

Ari focused his attention back on Theo. “You requested our help?”

Also turning from the bickering pilots, Jun chose to address Ari’s inquiry. “What do you know about holozite?”

There was a subtle and distinct change in Ari’s carriage when he spoke on his favorite topics, an authority that entered his voice and never failed to capture the attention of his audience. It was how he captivated entire lecture halls of students he would have stammered his way through a private conversation with. “It’s as geochemically complex as it is scarce. And, much like tantalum, it’s illegal to transport within the Core, due to its volatile technical capabilities. I’ve only had the opportunity to work with it in a heavily monitored university setting.”

Ignoring the heat of Jun’s frown, Marco leaned in to interrupt. “You’re a materials scientist?”

Ari drew himself up to his full height with a tug of his waistcoat, fatigue melting away at the mere mention of rocks. Stars, but Theo loved his brother. “I’m primarily a geologist, with some experience in cosmochemistry.”

Irritated with Ari’s lack of confidence and perpetual modesty, Theo scoffed. His brother was a genius, and he should show it. “When he says ‘some experience,’ he means he has achieved multiple degrees in the subject and introduced groundbreaking research.”

Marco looked a little starstruck, taking in Ari with newfound appreciation while Ari blustered and blushed.

“Well, yes,” he said, “but I’ve only earned doctorates in geology.”

“Two doctorates. He’s brilliant,” Theo cut in, chest puffed with pride while Ari sent him embarrassed, pleading glances.

Marco’s leg locked with a click when he leaned his weight back on it, shaking his head in obvious relief. “Oh man, that’s awesome because I’ve been fiddling with this new ratio in my fuel booster, and it’d be great if you could help me confirm that it’s not going to blow up the ship. I’ve just been crossing my fingers that my equations are solid.”

Boom groaned his name as she covered her face as Jun treated Marco to the full force of his scowl.

“Were you ever planning to mention that concern to, say, your captain?”

He didn’t even pretend to feel bad about it, shaking his head blithely this time. “Nope. Figured you’d yell at me. I’d rather get blown up.”

Ari rushed to intercept whatever Jun’s scathing response might have been. “I would be happy to assist you, Mr.…” He trailed off with a pointed look at Theo.

Theo slapped himself on the forehead, blaming his forgetfulness on the butterflies still fluttering through his bloodstream at the relief of having Ari with him once more. “Forgive me; I’ve abandoned my manners entirely. Crew, this is Dr. Aristotle Campbell and his companion, Mr. Stone. Ari, this is the Crew. Axel’s the pilot, and you can just ignore everything he says—”

“Hey!”

“—This is Marco, ship engineer, and apparently, your latest admirer. And this is Boom, formidable security expert and Marco’s sister. I think we should all get along famously, don’t you agree?”

Boom appeared skeptical, but poor Marco might as well have had angels and hearts floating around his head.

Extending one of his awkward little bows in the general direction of the Crew, Ari said, “Charmed to make your acquaintance.”

Marco rushed to leave the bridge, tripping on his organic leg as he skirted around Jun. “I’ll go get you a sample, and we can check it out, okay?”

Ari didn’t have time to answer before Marco was gone, humming jauntily as he hurried to the lift.