Rhubin and Luxea agreed to change schedules to match our ship. It meant they got two days off this week, so they weren't too unhappy about that, especially since the ship was nearly filled to capacity and they would be leaving soon. We all worked for the rest of the week and then at the end of the last shift before our shared day off, we docked the two ships together.

I immediately hit the ship's intercom and asked everyone to meet me at the main hatch. Barely two minutes later, I had five slightly anxious women behind me and I waited for the others in the Udelis to show up. I was a little surprised when only Rhubin and Simone showed up and I looked through the Udelis and found Luxea in her room. I held in my sigh and hit the button to open the main hatch and stepped into the large airlock. Rhubin opened the Udelis and I walked forward and held a hand out.

“Hey, Rhubin. Long time no see.” I said and shook his hand.

Rhubin laughed. “We talk practically every night to coordinate the salvage.”

“It's not the same.” I said and turned to Simone. I could hear her thoughts and she wasn't sure if she wanted me to share anything with her. “Has my breakup with Luxea really changed your opinion of me that much?”

Simone had a surprised look on her face for a moment, then she sighed. “Hunter, I...”

“You've spent too much time with Luxea and you've accepted her way of dealing with things.” I said and lifted my hand to touch her, then let it drop. “I suppose you'll want to leave when the contract is up, too.”

“Wh-what?” Simone gasped. “No! No, I... you can't just assume...”

“I'm sorry I haven't been around to share my thoughts with you.” I said. “I won't use the busy excuse, because you know we could easily have floated over to here each night.”

Simone opened her mouth to say that, and she sighed again. “You weren't ready to face her and have it out with her.”

“Just like she isn't ready to face me now.”

“She was fine, right up until the ships were preparing to dock together.” Rhubin said. “Then she panicked and ran to her room.”

“I'll go and see her, right after the formal introductions.” I said and introduced the women behind me to Rhubin and Simone, then introduced them back.

Simone was surprised by some of the thoughts she gleaned from them and looked at me. “Hunter?”

“That's what you want to talk about and not the new flight suits?” I asked and motioned to myself. “I thought they would be the first thing you would complain about.”

Simone looked me up and down, then turned her head and looked at Kalina and Beatrice, who wore their flight suits as well. “You rushed right over and didn't get changed first?”

“I was eager to...” I stopped talking and didn't finish that sentence.

Simone took in a sharp breath as she read my surface thoughts. “You... you wanted to...”

“I did... or I should say, I used to.” I said and she winced. “Yeah, being rejected before even asking hurts; but, I'm a grown man. I can deal with it.”

“Hunter, I... if you really...” Simone tried to probe deeper into my mind.

“Simone.” I said in a stern voice and cut her off from even my surface thoughts, and she winced again.

“I'm sorry.” Simone said, and she really was.

“So am I.” I said. “One of the main reasons you came with me was to do that, and your first reaction when you saw me was to reject me.”

“I didn't mean to.” Simone said and it was my turn to wince as the Presence wavered a lot.

I sighed and shook my head. “I'm sorry. Apparently teaming you up with Luxea was a mistake and it's had unforeseen consequences. She needed your help and I didn't consider what that could do to you.”

“That's not... no, I... it didn't happen that way.” Simone said. “I've been berating her for what she did to you.”

“At first, sure.” I said and she didn't say anything. “Now you believe it was my fault for not accepting her for who she is.”

Simone opened her mouth to deny it, then she didn't know what to say.

“It was actually both of our faults.” I said as I saw Luxea come towards the main hatch and I spoke loud enough for her to hear. “I was wrong to assume that we were in a committed relationship, despite the flirting we did with other people, and she was wrong in assuming that I would accept her decision to take someone else to her bed without even talking to me about it.”

“Is that what you think?” Luxea asked as she came around the corner. “That I did it to spite you?”

“Yes.” I said and looked at her. “Our first fight... a legitimate argument over my mistake... and the first thing you did was sleep with another man.” I said. “If I take your history into account, which I should have from the beginning like I was warned to, you did it barely a few hours later and right under everyone's noses.”

Luxea's face turned bright red from embarrassment and she didn't deny it.

“When you moved to the other ship after that and stayed there, I thought you just needed some alone time to think about things. It never occurred to me that you weren't thinking about me at all.”

“Are you reading my mind?” Luxea asked, angrily.

“No, Luxea. You asked me not to.” I said. “I'm just making assumptions and using empirical data.”

“How can you be such an asshole?” Simone asked and then she gasped.

“You see?” I asked and chuckled. “For someone who came on board to be with me and me alone, you're so firmly planted on her side that it's actually funny.”

“So you did bring her here to have sex with her.” Luxea said. “I always suspected it.”

“Get over yourself and stop trying to justify your mistakes!” I spat at her and she flinched. “If... IF... I was going to sleep with her, I would have told you about it. I would have discussed it. I would have explained that when I shared all of my mental faculties with her that I would need to be with her physically, too! It would increase the bond we share a hundredfold!”

Everyone fell silent at my words and I clenched my fists and used a mental technique to calm down.

“Now, Simone is so corrupted by your thoughts that she's triggered every time I say something bad about you.” I said and waved to her. “How the hell am I supposed to give her the mental support she needs, or get the mental support that I need, if she's thinking about the wrongs I did to you all the time?”

Luxea just stared at me and didn't say anything.

“I had no objections to Simone being brought on board because I wanted her to be my retreat. She was going to become the one person that I could open myself up to completely.” I said. “My mind has been starving by not having someone to share my thoughts with! When I met her, she was the same as me! She needed someone to be with her mentally and I was more that happy to be that person for her!”

“Hunter...” Simone started to say.

“She knew we weren't going to have sex, because she knew I thought... that I believed... that you were the woman I was with and that was all the room I had in my bed.” I had to use my calming technique again to stop myself from ranting. “If I had had any inkling at the time that you weren't as committed to me as I was to you...” I stopped that train of thought. “Actually, it doesn't matter.” I said. “We broke up almost a month ago because of this. I don't know why I was so worried about seeing you again or why I was putting it off for so long.”

Luxea blinked her eyes at me and didn't respond.

“You don't know how sorry I am that it didn't work out between us, Luxea. I really and truly regret causing it to happen.” I said. “I sincerely hope you can put our personal differences aside and keep working for the company.”

Luxea squinted her eyes. “Is that what this is about?” She asked. “You're just trying to get me to stay?”

“No, I'm trying to force you to quit and destroy the company.” I said sarcastically. “Of course I want you to stay!” I exclaimed. “I've told you over and over how important you are to me!”

Everyone looked at me with various looks of surprise and shock.

“I meant to the company.” I corrected and then sighed. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Luxea said.

“I can't take it that you don't love me enough to not sleep with other people.” I said.

“Who is the one off dating and kissing other women?” Luxea asked.

“Me, obviously.” I said and she raised her eyebrows. “We had already broken up then, though.”

“No, we were still...” Luxea stopped arguing and closed her eyes. “You're right. It was after I had...”

“Yeah.” I said. “I didn't really think you could hold me to the same standard. Even though it was long after you had sex with Hector, you were still jealous when you found me in bed with Simone.”

There were three gasps behind me and I turned to face them.

“I was a little drunk at the time and Simone came into the shower. We washed each other and then went to bed... to sleep... and we didn't even cuddle.” I said and glanced at Simone. “All we did was hold hands and share thoughts.”

Simone looked into my eyes and I let her feel my regret that it had only happened that once. “Hunter...”

“Yeah, I regret that we won't be sharing thoughts like that for a while.” I said. “Your thoughts are too filled with anger for me. I can't get the comfort and acceptance that I need from you, which means I can't give you the same thing, even though you need it just as much as I do.”

Simone's eyes started to tear up. “I... I regret it, too.”

Everyone stood there and no one said anything for several moments.

“I think we should go back to our rooms for the night and meet up again in the morning.” Rhubin said. “We can handle the business side of things then.”

“Good idea.” I said. “We'll see you in the large meeting room on the new ship after breakfast.”

Everyone nodded and I turned around and walked back through the main hatches. The five women that had followed me over, followed me back. I successfully ignored Luxea's and Simone's reactions to seeing my backside in the skin tight flight suit and I made a note of Rhubin's acute reaction to seeing Kalina in hers.

I'll private message him about it later. I thought and closed the hatches of both ships. “So, does anyone want to head to the planet for their day off tomorrow?” I asked and turned to face the women behind me. A chorus of 'no' came from them, so I stepped close and looked at each of them in the eyes. “Thank you for choosing to go through this with me.”

“You couldn't send us away if you tried!” Sandy said and laughed. “It's like we're living in a drama.”

“It's not that bad, is it?” I asked with a smile.

“Are you kidding?” Sandy hugged Beatrice. “Give him a rundown!”

“A jilted and recent ex-lover, a friend that was supposed to be on your side and took hers, money troubles, an urgent job, and conflicting interests when you finally meet.” Beatrice said and smiled. “You've got all the ingredients of a great drama.”

“Or a tragedy.” Gleas said. “With all the things you've gone through...”

“It could be a romantic comedy, too.” Deborah chimed in and looked at the others. “If you include all of us as antagonists...”

“That's right! We're the ensemble cast.” Kalina said. “We could make the perfect movie!”

“I don't know if I should be flattered or scared.” I said and they all laughed.

“It's okay. There's nothing on tonight.” Sandy said with a grin. “Tomorrow might be an interesting show, though!”

I chuckled. “Okay, kids! It's past curfew!” I said and pointed down the curved hallway. “Get your asses to your rooms on the double!”

“What are you going to do if we don't?” Sandy asked, playfully. “Spank us?”

I let a wicked grin spread across my face, pretended to spit on my hand, then clapped my hands once and rubbed them together. “What a wonderful idea!”

“Oh, shit! Run!” Sandy almost yelled and dragged a laughing Beatrice behind her. “I was joking!”

The others laughed and walked down the hallway behind the two fleeing women. I chuckled again and walked in the other direction and went to my room, stripped off and got a shower, then dried off and slipped on a pair of underwear. I used the console to send Rhubin a private message about his reaction to Kalina and to tell him she was taken and reminded him that she was off limits as long as they were on the ship.

I turned off the console and climbed into bed, then stopped myself from looking at the Udelis to see what Luxea and Simone were doing. At least I tried to. It worked for a few minutes, then my curiosity got the better of me and I had to look. Luxea was in her bed, in her own room, and she stared up at the ceiling. Her hand was beside her and she kept making a grabbing motion, as if she needed something to be there to hold.

Simone wasn't in her room and I looked through the ship to see her curled up in a ball on my bed. She had the covers in a bundle and hugged them tightly as she cried silent tears. I could hear her surface thoughts and she kept blaming herself for losing me so quickly. Her despair was deep and she wallowed in her depression, and there was nothing she could do to change it. She didn't fault me for what I said or for cutting her off, because I had been right. She really did have hatred for me in her mind and in her heart, because she suspected that if it had been her and not Luxea, I would have treated her the same way.

She was wrong about that, though. Because she wouldn't have acted that way. We would have been sharing mentally the whole time and she would have known how I felt and what I expected. In fact, she had known that this time and she had taken Luxea's side. I wasn't sure how Luxea had convinced her that it was me that overreacted; but, it didn't matter much anymore. Simone and I both knew that it would take her a while to get over her prejudice against me and I refused to share my thoughts with her until then.

I knew that was cruel, especially for a telepath; but, she knew that it was her fault and that was why she was so depressed. She had let herself be drawn into Luxea's point of view so that they could work together as an efficient team. It was just unfortunate that it affected her opinion of me as well. She hadn't realized it until I pointed it out to her, though. Now she was suffering because she had lost something she hadn't realized she had lost.

I let her wallow for a few minutes before I took pity on her. I'm not gone, Simone.

Simone snapped out of her downward emotional spiral and looked around. “H-Hunter? Is that you?”

I'll be waiting for you. I thought to her and she turned her head and looked right at me.

“I... I thought... we had to be touching to...” Simone whispered.

As long as you're within my detection range, I can 'talk' to you. I thought.

“Hunter, I'm sorry that...” Simone started to say and the Presence wavered.

Stop lying! I thought loudly at her and she winced. I can hear your thoughts and detect lies! Do you really think you can deceive me?

Simone didn't respond and I sighed mentally.

If you don't stop this idiocy, I'll change my mind and I won't bother waiting for you to get some sense into your head. I thought to her. You've already made me regret our time in the shower, even though I enjoyed it immensely.

Simone started crying again, because it was Luxea that had made her regret it.

Don't make me start to think that you're not worth the trouble. I thought and let my perception of her fade. I saw her try to say something else before I stopped concentrating on her. I didn't make out what she said and didn't bother to ask what it was. I turned away from her and rested on my side, then I took a deep breath and went right to sleep.

*

Hailey had taken every single test that the medical technicians could think of since Hunter had visited. She wasn't surprised that he had been right and that they would give her so many. None of the tests actually worked and found anything, because there was nothing wrong with her. Her mother was completely overjoyed at the news that her daughter was cured and had her released from the hospital, against the wishes of the staff and administration.

Of course, once word of a deathly ill and chronically sick child being released from the hospital hit the news, the ward had been swarmed by news reporters... only to discover that all of the sick children had been miraculously healed. Things that took multiple surgeries and years to correct, were gone as if they didn't exist. All of their families had been happy about it, and it only took one person's offhand comment about Hunter's visit the week before to cause an uproar of speculation.

None of the ward's staff said anything, because they were sworn to secrecy or they would lose their jobs if they did. The children that used to be in the ward, and their parents, didn't have that restriction. It didn't take much to track them down and nearly every single one talked about Hunter visiting and the kids feeling better right afterwards. It didn't take long for the story to reach the news.

“If the medical association has any kind of head on their shoulders, they should request that Hunter visit all of their hospitals and see what kind of miracles will come of it.” The news anchor said. “We have obtained exclusive footage that we've had to alter, to protect the identities of all the underage participants and the staff, mainly because it had been recorded without their knowledge.”

The man paused for a moment and then smiled.

“You're asking yourself why we would show it anyway... and when you see it, you'll know why.” He said and pointed to a spot off-camera. “Run it.”

Everyone's eyes were glued to their screens as Hunter took a young girl's hand and floated her to the middle of the room, then he floated up with her. Eerie music played and he danced with her in the air and they glowed. The girl's face was blurred to hide her identity and she and Hunter twirled and waltzed for a couple of minutes. They could see Hunter's happy expression and he kept his eyes on the girl the entire time.

“Nothing more needs to be said.” The news anchor said with a smile when it cut back to him. “Goodnight, and may the goddess watch over you.”