The small shuttle took off the moment Shayla inserted the trajectory vector. E00 positioned a hand over the interior hull and leaned in. His energy extended around the vessel, giving it a steady forcefield. “I am ready to absorb anything that comes our way,” he said, sensing Shayla’s readiness as well.

“Here goes nothing,” she replied when the ships of the Universal Consensus came into visual range.

Tejeda limped to the chair and sat on the chair next to Shayla, studying her dress. “Who am I?”

"Ugh, I don't have time for this," she grumbled as she tossed the spoon onto his lap, her gaze fixed on the screen. "Take Carmen and deal with your own shambles as usual."

The Nubilae took the spoon and, out of habit, searched for his shirt to polish it. Nevertheless, he hadn't had any since he was naked. Tejeda leaned down and used the hem of Shayla’s dress to make Carmen shine.

With a glimmer of delight in his eyes, he smirked when he saw Kalden Deltak’s reflection inside the spoon’s concavity. On his face flashed lights of different colors coming from various weapons. The Universal Consensus threw at the shuttle everything they got.

The green light came from their plasma cannons, red and yellow from their pulse phasers and laser beams. All those shades flickered on Kalden Deltak’s face as he addressed Carmen. “I have walked this journey with you for a long time, perhaps since the beginning, and will continue to do so as long as my eyes are still able to see what you show me.”

Shayla changed the angle of their flight to avoid kinetic mines, then launched a new set of coordinates. E00's energy field would not have absorbed that. Shayla couldn't stop gnashing her teeth and staring at Tejeda. "We are close to dying here. Is this what you are focusing on?"

“Dye?” He furrowed his brows in disbelief. “Who is going to be dyed? Not me! I don’t have hair.”

Shayla barely avoided another kinetic mine. “E00, how are you holding up?”

A loud moan on a very high wavelength rattled the deep of the robot's sternum.

“I don’t think he can hold up much longer. What should we do, Tejeda?” Shayla asked. “Come on, damn it! Snap out of it! Come up with a stupid plan as always!”

“Oh, there is no need, my dear Shayla,” Tejeda smirked, seeming to regain his grip over his mind. “E00 is absorbing all the incoming energy weapons. Just look at his eyes!”

She turned for a brief moment to watch the robot’s glowing eyes sparkling with a pure purple delight. The metal body trembled as his head tilted back. If she didn’t know better, Shayla could swear that E00 was…

“He is having an orgasm,” Tejeda burst into laughter, throwing his head back as well.

“Great,” Shayla turned to the controls. “Am I the only one here who actually works to keep us alive?”

Her attention was captured by the comm, which released a tone beep. "Someone is hailing on every frequency. Tejeda, are you able to pick that up? I am a little busy here."

He looked over the communication console and pressed the glittering button. On the screen appeared a familiar face. “I am Captain Terry North of the Assault Unit’s vessel A31. All ships cease fire and power down your weapons.”

Multiple dots flashed on the shuttle's sensors, indicating that other spacecraft had dropped out of hyperspace and surrounded their opponents.

"I am Major Tejeda Hajar from the Interplanetary Police, Supervising Unit. Prepare a docking space for our shuttle in one of your hangar bays. We are coming in an SCF vessel, so don’t shoot." Tejeda’s brows raised as if he remembered something important. "Oh, I almost forgot. I want a vintage car and two men to drive it."

The Nubilae closed the screen and continued. “Shayla, head for the nearest Interplanetary Police vessel.”

As she inserted the new destination into her console, the woman asked, “But how? How did they get here?”

“Well, I may have sent Uthion’s coordinates before leaving SCF1. The Interplanetary Police kept the area under surveillance from a safe distance. I was expecting that things might go for the worse but not like this. But never mind that! Everything is fine when it ends well, isn’t it?”

The smile covering Kalden Deltak’s face didn’t diffuse Shayla’s anger. "You could have told me this. If I knew what to expect, I might have been able to help more. I am not a toy to mess around with. Or a spoon, as a matter of fact."

A thump thundered within the shuttle before Tejeda could respond. They both turned to find E00 on the floor, convulsing from energy aftershocks. Shayla groaned as the Nubilae grinned. They both knew the robot would be ok, so neither of them went to check on him.

The shuttle was fast approaching an assault vessel belonging to the Interplanetary Police. Shayla shivered in dismay. “What will happen now? All the members of SCF1 are outcasts. We will all end up in prison or worse.”

"Don't be concerned! I have a plan." Tejeda grinned, and Kalden Deltak's visage reverted to that of a terrifying mass murderer.

“For all our sakes, I hope this plan of yours will work better than the previous ones.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, unclasping the chain tied at her nape. The Nubilae hung Carmen at his neck before continuing. “When did one of my plans fail?”

Shayla shook her head. She didn't have someone with common sense next to her with whom she could fight over anything.

The shuttle landed in a hangar bay and Tejeda left his chair. Shayla remained in the pilot’s seat, watching the naked body of Kalden Deltak go to settle things with the Interplanetary Police. She would wait there to be arrested and saved by the most unreliable person she had ever met.