7. Aurelia

SEVEN

My feet poundedon the treadmill underneath me as I worked off my frustrations. The gym had large glass windows on this side, looking out into the endless adrift of space. Music blared through my in-ear speakers, the loud beats of the music matching my stride. This was my new routine, and I was growing used to life aboard the Paradise.

Well, mostly.

Over the last week, I'd grown more determined than ever to prove Sylas Kellar wrong. To show him I could do this. It didn't escape me how often he looked towards my console, a frown etched into that handsome face, or a scowl that made him look grumpier than usual.

Damn him. Sure, he'd let me resume my post, but that was the basic common decency that he should have afforded me in the first place.

My playlist moved into my cool-down music, so I slowed to a walk before finally stepping off the pad entirely.

Grabbing a towel, I wiped my face before dropping it into the laundry basket. After a quick shower, I'd report back to the bridge for my shift. And make some more small tweaks to the flight route, like I'd been doing bit by bit over the last few days.

I looked back out the windows for a moment before heading to the door.

"Oh," I squeaked, coming chest-to-chest with my captain.

My sweaty Captain. It should have been illegal, all of those rippling muscles contained underneath his black t-shirt. He'd clearly had the same idea as me, to get up early and take advantage of the empty gym. I hadn't even noticed anyone else in the space with me, though the treadmill's location in the gym made it easier to miss.

I averted my eyes. "Sorry, Captain Kellar."

I tried not to focus on his forearms, all muscular with veins running up them. Had I ever noticed a man's arms before? My mouth felt dry. His gym shorts were short, that tiny inseam showing more of his thighs than I'd ever expected to see. Was it hot in here?

"Lieutenant." He cleared his throat. "My apologies."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Nothing to apologize for."

He draped a towel around his shoulders, though Sylas didn't take a step back to put distance between us. His eyes darted down to my lips.

"Um—" I tightened my ponytail, not sure what to do with my hands. "Did you need something?"

He shook his head. Paused. Then asked, "How's the ship treating you?"

I blinked in surprise. "Good, I guess. In some ways, it's not all that different from the academy." A slight wince escaped me. I didn't enjoy reminding him I was brand new at this. It brought back memories of that first day, the one I was so desperate to move on from.

"I suppose not." Sylas tightened his grip on the towel, massaging the back of his neck with his other hand. "I should go."

"Right." I waved my hand. "Back to the bridge. Captain stuff."

A snort slipped from him. "Captain stuff. Right." He shook his head.

"So, uh, I'll see you." I gave him a mock salute before interlacing my hands behind my back.

"Wait."

I froze. "Yes?"

"Listen, we're all going to get together tomorrow night. All the officers. In the lounge." Was it my imagination, or did he seem… nervous? "You should come."

"I should?" I raised an eyebrow. Was I being invited to team building events now? "I thought I was too young and inexperienced." Seeing his face, I added a small, "Sir," on the end.

"That's not—" He frowned. "You are an officer, aren't you?"

"Right." Because I was. "Of course I am." I couldn't stop myself from nodding, though I felt a bit like a mindless robot. "I guess I'll be there, then."

"Okay."

"Okay." I gave him a weird look. How had we gone from him trying to kick me off the ship to inviting me to hang out in only a week? "Bye."

"Goodbye." He didn't smile, and I mentally berated myself as I turned around, heading out of the gym.

Stupid. So stupid. What did I expect? Him to actually be nice to me? I'd sooner expect to see pigs fly in space than that.

I turned back to say something else, but—the Captain's eyes were glued to my ass. Huh. Maybe he wasn't as grumpy and unaffected as I thought.

"Enjoying the view?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Sylas's brows drew in, and he scowled at me. "No."

"Sure."

He stomped away, leaving me speechless—and trying to figure out what just happened.

"That was odd," I muttered to myself, heading back to my room. I didn't understand Captain Sylas Kellar—and I wasn't sure I wanted to, either.

I still heldmy breath when I pressed my ID against the door sensor of the bridge every time, though I doubted he would try the same trick again. After this morning, it felt like maybe I'd made some progress with my captain, though I doubted we'd ever be friends.

At least begrudging acceptance was better than nothing. If he was inviting me to do things with the rest of the officers, I couldn't really complain. At least, not to his face.

"Good morning, Violet," I beamed at my friend as I passed her.

Though it didn't really feel like morning when we were surrounded by eternal darkness. On board, we operated under Earth Standard Time, a twenty-four-hour clock based on Greenwich Median Time, just to keep us on a routine. It was strange, given that there were obviously no signs of day or night in space, to even consider a period morning versus night. But it felt a little like working the night shift had during college. You slept when you slept, and life went on.

Thank goodness for the artificial sunlight in the gardens that simulated the eco-systems of earth, and the sun lamp in my bedroom, otherwise I wasn't sure I'd have any concept of time.

"Morning," Violet said from the comm's station, flashing me a small smile back.

Sylas wasn't in his chair after our gym run-in this morning, which was perfectly fine with me. I much preferred his sister to him anyway. At least she didn't seem to harbor any grudges against me for being here. Plus she didn't scowl as much.

I settled in at my station, next to Orion, who was having a quiet conversation with one of the crew members who served on the bridge.

Ignoring them, I pulled up the star maps of our intended system where we were headed. We still had a few more weeks of travel, given that we were heading beyond the reaches of explored space. Which meant that my intended destination—where my dad's ship had last been seen—was much closer.

But it also meant I needed to get to work a lot sooner, and I hadn't exactly figured out how I was going to manage that when the bridge was always full of officers and crew during the day. Everyone—save Captain Kellar—was friendly and loved to talk.

The good thing about working on an incredibly high-tech spaceship was that we didn't need to do much to run it. Besides jumping through key points in space—which required all hands on deck—we mostly were just there as backup. Or in case we ran into any hostile ships.

The United Galactic Space Federation had been formed when we had first modernized space travel on Earth, when every country was fighting for the right to explore the galaxy and look for signs of life in space. After a war almost broke out, truces were signed, and the UGSF was the result.

That didn't mean that there weren't still civilian crafts out there, though. But the only ones that could compare to government crafts were ones with ample funding, which meant it was only the top zero-point-one percent who ever actually saw space flight.

Still, things were different now. We'd colonized Mars. Taking a shuttle to one of the space stations in our solar system was a daily occurrence, and thousands of people worked on them.

But who knew what was out there? Space pirates, disgruntled ex-federation workers, aliens… I was really hoping for aliens. Which was crazy. I'd seen the movies, starting back in the twentieth century. If they were right, aliens were no laughing matter.

But what if they were like us? What if somewhere, at the very ends of the galaxy from us, there was another race of beings who could communicate? Who also felt alone in this vast universe? A shiver ran through me. The prospect was more exciting than I could properly express.

My dad and I used to talk about what it would be like to find another civilization before his disappearance. Maybe part of me still hoped that if that happened one day, I'd feel like I was sharing it with him.

Sitting back, I left the star map of our current system open on my terminal as I looked out at the stars.

"What are you thinking?" Orion's thick British accent intruded my thoughts. His dark hair was cropped close to his scalp, and even though he was gorgeous, with his warm, dark skin, there was no spark of attraction. My heart didn't race when I looked at him. Not like earlier at the gym.

Why couldn't any man other than my grumpy captain be the one that I felt this irresistible pull to?

I shook my head, laughing. "Oh, it's stupid." I waved him off. Even if plenty of people on Earth shared my views, I didn't feel like sharing that part of me with anyone else. Not yet.

Not when I was still finding my place within the crew and figuring out my place on this ship.

"If you ever need someone to lend you an ear," Orion said, giving me a small nod. "Just know that I am here."

"Thank you." I didn't need to hide my genuine smile. I was happy to be here, happy performing my role. Just being a pilot set my heart alight, and it was easy to get lost in it. Being in my element made the day fly by, and I'd often look up from my terminal to find that hours had passed instead of mere minutes.

It helped that I was getting comfortable around everyone, too. Astrid and the girls always invited me to sit with them during meals, which I appreciated. Without them, I probably would have eaten alone in my room most days. Even though I considered myself to be pretty extroverted—bubbly and outgoing and just happy to be around other people—I withdrew into myself when I was in a situation where I didn't know anyone else.

But Astrid, Violet and Finley hadn't given me that chance. They'd practically wrapped me in their arms the first day, welcoming me into a little girl group I'd so desperately needed and craved.

Even my first officer, Kayle, gave me a warm smile and reassuring words.

It was only the Captain where I was struggling to find my footing. But we didn't need to be friends. We couldn't be.

"This isn't what I expected, you know."

The navigator looked back over at me. "What isn't?"

"The crew. All the officers being so close." I shrugged. While I'd observed some of my professors in college who developed deep bonds, but it was nothing like the friendships that this crew seemed to share. "I guess I didn't expect it to feel like this so quickly."

"Oh, yes, well." He cleared his throat. "Sylas did his best to keep us together. It's nice to have a captain who was willing to fight for us." A frown covered Orion's handsome face. "It's probably why he was so disappointed when he learned about Vitto's replacement. They were buddies, too."

It had been obvious watching the guys interact that they were all friends. Which made me feel even shittier, because I was the only one who he acted like this to.

"That doesn't mean I deserved how he treated me," I said, feeling defensive.

"No." He chuckled. "But I hope it's an insight into our Captain. He cares about his people. Sylas Kellar fights for those that he loves."

"Huh." I couldn't imagine him loving anyone. Sure, it was clear he cared for his sister. But that was different. She was his own flesh and blood. Plus, he didn't scowl at her.

He'd never so much as smiled at me.

"Don't look now," Orion whispered.

"Why?" I turned, but then thought better of it.

He winked, but didn't explain further.

"He's standing right behind me, isn't he?" I whispered. I could feel his presence at my back, the warmth radiating from his body.

Orion just nodded. "Afraid so."

Shit. Had he overheard us gossiping about him? I hoped not. I needed a win, not for him to think I was just gossiping instead of doing my job.

"Lieutenant Callisto."

"Yes?" I asked, blinking up innocently from my station.

"Status report."

Groaning internally, I went through my updates with him, hoping no one else would notice the blush on my cheeks, and how affected I was by the close proximity of his body.

Not when I was still thinking about the way he looked this morning, dripping in sweat with all of his muscles on display. Damn.

"Aurelia!"Astrid's face split into a grin as she waved at me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Sylas wasn't here yet, which felt like a godsend.

"Hi," I said, brushing my hands onto my pants. Attire was casual, which meant I had to dig through the very few personal effects I'd brought with me to wear my own clothes, which I'd hardly done since I arrived. It was strange how seeing everyone outside of their designated uniforms made them all seem that much more human. Like they were real people, and not just their jobs.

Huh. Maybe that was the whole point of this.

Astrid was wearing a cropped graphic shirt and had twisted her bright blue hair into another double bun updo, but instead of looking young, she looked gorgeous. I wished I could pull that off.

For once, I'd left my hair down, running my fingers through the waves and hoping I looked acceptable enough for this get-together. We'd done events like this during college and my time in the academy, but I'd been too busy studying to ever party for very long.

Now, though, everything had changed. There would be no escaping, no excuse of homework that I could give. Not even the nagging thought in my mind of what I needed to work on was going to pull me out of here.

I had to prove I was a team player to Captain Kellar. That I wasn't some baby-faced, fresh-out-of-school pilot who would leave when she got uncomfortable.

Thankfully, I had the girls.

"You look amazing," Astrid commented, inspecting my outfit. I'd thrown on my favorite pair of black pants and the blue top from my closet that everyone always told me made my eyes pop, even if they were two different colors. With my heterochromia, I always felt like people noticed I was different, so those kinds of compliments always made me feel good.

"Thank you," I tried to hide my blush, before gesturing to her outfit. "I love this. One day you'll have to show me how you do your hair."

"Oooh, let me do yours sometime," she begged. "It's so gorgeous. I could do something fun. Next time you come down to MedBay, I'll fix you right up."

"Deal."

I'd have to go by soon for my monthly fertility blocker shot, anyway.

All the unmarried crew were on it, which was probably smart. Unplanned pregnancies and a starship didn't seem like the best idea. And it wasn't like they could prohibit people from having sex, either. I'd already heard rumors of plenty of crew members hooking up. Though celibacy was working just fine for me at the moment. I'd gone this long without having sex… what was a few more years?

The energy in the room changed, and when I looked up, I realized the reason why.

His large frame filled the doorframe, a presence that was impossible to ignore. Not with his broody glare or those captivating, ocean blue eyes. I'd seen them up close today, and wow. Nothing did them justice.

It was like he'd sucked all of the oxygen out of the room. Or maybe just from my lungs.

Sylas Kellar was here.