“Hmm.” So he was emotionally sentient but not physically sentient? Did she understand that right?
“Do you still wish to touch me?” he asked.
“Yes, please, but only if you don’t mind.”
In answer, he offered his arm.
Simone rested a hand on his forearm and found the metal cold and hard with no give at all. “May I also pepper you with questions?”
“You may,” he replied genially. “I like answering questions.”
Simone grinned. “Then you’re going to love me.”
As per his habit, Janwar met his men for mid meal. The room they dined in was less a cafeteria and more of a lounge. It usually only boasted one table large enough for the six of them, but they’d added a second when Prince Taelon, Lisa, baby Abby, and their Yona guard had joined them temporarily.
A long counter divided the dining area from a sizable kitchen with an extensive pantry. When their crew had initially come together, Janwar had hired a kitchen staff to cook for them. Alas, the lure of the sizable bounty on Janwar’s head had proven too tempting. And several assassination attempts later, he’d given up on the idea. Hence, the lack of a larger crew.
Instead of using a food generator (even top-of-the-line food generators couldn’t compete with dishes prepared by living beings), they either took turns cooking the meals themselves or heated up a few taken from the hundreds of meals they paid their favorite restaurateur to prepare and freeze-dry for them. The latter usually required the male to close his restaurant to the public while he filled the large orders. But Janwar paid him well.
He and his crew loved their luxuries.
The other end of the room boasted plush seating that provided a place to relax and listen to music, watch entertainment vids, or play hologames and engage in other recreational diversions with easy access to the food stores.
“Here we are,” T announced cheerfully.
Janwar glanced toward the doorway.
Garbed in her warrior clothing, Simone stood with her arm tucked through that of a maintenance droid T sometimes inhabited as if T were escorting her to a lavish Aldebarian Alliance gala.
What an incongruous pair they made. Simone barely came up to the bot’s armpit and was all smiles and flushed with pleasure, while T appeared cold and unexpressive.
“Thank you, T.” Simone patted the bot’s arm before she released him.
“It was my pleasure,” T responded. And Janwar was pretty sure the bot would be smiling if he could.
Simone watched the robot go, then practically skipped toward them. “That was so awesome!” she exclaimed.
Janwar couldn’t help but grin as he rose but couldn’t decide if the pleasure coursing through him resulted from relief at seeing her hale and hardy once more or because she looked so adorably excited. “What was?”
“Meeting a robot,” she announced as if that should’ve been obvious. “Or android. They didn’t have any on the Kandovar, so I’ve never seen one before.”
“They don’t have robots on Earth?” he asked, surprised. He knew Earth was considered a primitive planet but hadn’t realized they were so far behind alliance nations technologically.
“Not like T,” she proclaimed.
“Well, technically, he isn’t a robot. He’s a computer program that can download into a mechanical form if needed.”
“That’s what he said. And he was very patient when I bombarded him with questions.” Clasping her hands in front of her, she continued to smile as if she’d just been given a gift she’d always wanted. “I found him to be quite charming.”
Janwar shook his head. “I’m sure he found you equally charming.”
“Indeed I did,” T said.
Simone glanced at the empty doorway, then up at the speaker from which T’s voice had emerged. Her eyebrows rose. “Has he already left the bot and uploaded to the ship? That was fast!”
Again he smiled. “No. He’s still putting the bot away. But T can inhabit both the bot and the ship at the same time. Right, T?”
“Correct,” T replied. “I can, in fact, inhabit the ship and all twelve maintenance bots simultaneously.”
“That is so cool,“ Simone whispered, practically bursting with delight.
Amused, he shook his head.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he murmured, unwilling to mention he found her adorable in front of the others. They’d already given him a hard time after Soval had caught him singing to her. But he’d been trying to lure her back to consciousness and spark a response in her.
Though not the kind of response she’d sparked in him when she’d straddled him earlier. That had been… unexpected.
Janwar cleared his throat. “I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”
“I am, too. Thank you for taking care of me.” She turned to the others, her expression earnest. “Thank all of you. Eliana is convinced I would’ve died if you hadn’t worked so hard to find that antidote. I hope you know how much I appreciate it. You saved my life. That is not a debt I take lightly.”
They stared at her.
“I like her,” T declared cheerfully.
Simone grinned and looked up at the speaker. “I like you, too, T.” Then her stomach growled.
Janwar chuckled. “Let’s get you something to eat.”
An hour later, he reclined in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest and watched Simone with amusement.
The rest of the crew had returned to work, leaving the two of them alone.
Sighing, she lowered her utensils to the table and relaxed back in her chair.
“Would you like another?” he asked. Her appetite surprised him as much as her need for blood had. She’d slowly but steadily worked her way through two full meals. Even Soval didn’t eat that much.
“No, thank you,” she said, looking somewhat abashed. “Sorry about that. I feel as though I haven’t eaten in a week.”
“No need to apologize. I understand.”
Pushing her plate away, she rested her elbows on the table and leaned toward him. “So where are we in terms of the Gathendiens?”
He’d insisted on not talking business until she finished her meal. The poor woman seemed starved. “They weren’t as forthcoming as we’d hoped.”
“Are any still alive? I’m sure I can frighten some information out of them.”
He smiled, not doubting it for a moment. “I believe they would find you quite frightening. But the problem with Gathendiens is that only a few are privy to the kind of classified information we sought. I’ve interrogated many over the years.”
“Is that how you found out Prince Taelon’s sister, Ami, had gone to Earth?”
“Yes. We intercepted a scout ship the Gathendiens sent to your planet and pried the information out of those aboard it.”
“Well done.”
The admiration in her tone inspired a desire to puff his chest out with pride, which he promptly tamped down.
“What difficulties did you run into with those we captured?”
Mimicking her posture, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “The officers were lower level. The rest were common soldiers who were expected to follow orders without knowing what sparked them.”