With the trip plans done, we all turned and looked at Luxea.

“I guess that's my cue to speak.” Luxea said with a chuckle. “I could have saved this until we arrived; but, everything has to be removed from the ships and then packed in a specific order in the shipping containers to maintain both easy access and clear removal lanes for the things around them.”

“The shipping containers are huge and attaching them like you did was brilliant.” Beatrice said. “We shouldn't have any problems if we load them from each end, rather than trying to carry everything through the main hatches.”

“That's a good point.” I said and brought up the holographic display of the shipping containers in question. “We just have to decide what we want to move first and where to put it, so we won't have to go rooting around for things.”

“We could leave the biggest things for last.” Kalina said and pointed to one of the end containers. “If they are all the same or similar size, like the power coils for shipboard weapons, we can have them in one area and it will leave us a lot of spare room for everything else.”

Luxea typed up a few things on her datapad and added the data for the coils we currently had on board and added their representations to the shipping container display.

“Actually, that could work.” Luxea said. “We'll have to line them parallel to the walls, which will leave more than enough room in the middle of the container to remove them.”

“We're going to need more small racks in the main container.” I pointed to the one I meant. “Most of the stuff on this ship is from the low priority wrecks.” I said and then smiled. “By the way, if you didn't get the updated files yet, we did them all.”

“You did all of them?” Rhubin, Luxea, Beatrice, and Deborah asked at the same time, quite surprised.

“With a great combat pilot and someone to help, we blew through the wrecks in record time.” I said. “I initially thought the Udelis was going to have three cargo drop-offs before we did one with this ship, especially when I had to do it alone without a shuttle for help.”

No one commented about how that came about.

“With the use of a shuttle, my estimate was two trips with Udelis, until we took some of the salvage to fill the Udelis' capacity and that delayed me again. When I got a shuttle and another person to help, especially with Hailey keeping us motivated, we finished loading this ship and the external racks before you came back from the first drop-off trip and not the second. We're so far ahead that I wasn't worried about delaying a couple of weeks to load the Udelis again.”

“So, that's why.” Luxea said. “I thought you were just delaying because you wanted your pilots back.”

I chuckled. “I did, but my main concern was Hailey. I wanted her to have her birthday here, with the people she grew up around, and not in space where it wouldn't have as much meaning because then it would be just us.”

Everyone looked at me with wide eyes.

“Hey, I may be an asshole sometimes and an insensitive jerk other times; but, that doesn't mean I don't care about the people around me.” I said and saw two disbelieving looks. “You know it's true.” I said to Rhubin and Luxea. “Things might not seem that way from your perspective and I understand that. I still have to do what I think is right, though.”

“Hunter, that really sounds self-serving.” Simone said.

I laughed. “Of course it does, because it is.” I said. “I want to be happy.” I looked at all of their faces. “A couple of you know what I went through, and when I'm comfortable enough around the rest of you, I'll tell you some of it, too.”

“Only some?” Gleas asked and then she closed her mouth. “Sorry.”

I chuckled. “The most you'll get is a general rundown, because I usually save the details for those closest to me.”

Everyone's eyes went to Luxea and she couldn't help but blush at the scrutiny.

“Sometimes things just don't work out like I had hoped they would, mainly because we didn't talk about how things should be beforehand.” I continued and saw Luxea relax as she confirmed that she wasn't the sole bearer of blame for what happened. “Most times, it takes a while for someone to work their way into my heart.” I reached out slightly and rubbed Hailey's fuzzy head. “I've had a few exceptions so far.”

Hailey beamed a smile up and me.

“Out of all of you, there's only two of you that I'll refrain from opening up to.” I said, looking back at the others around the table, then both Kalina and Jelly sighed. “Yeah, it's not hard to guess which two.” I said with a smile. “Both of you will be leaving at the end of the salvage contract, which by my new calculations, will be about a month after we get back from this cargo run.”

“Th-that soon?” Kalina asked, her shock apparent.

“I'm tempted to stay for the full time; but, it won't be necessary.” I said. “Once the ships are fully loaded again, I'll be turning the wrecks over to the military for reclamation and both SAR and flight training.”

“But... what about...”

“Don't worry, your contract specifically states that you get the full three month salary for participating in the physical salvage operation no matter what, plus any extra time that might have accumulated.”

“So... if I had gone...”

“It would have extended your salvage time past travel time to and from the cargo drop-off.” I said. “Oh, and any unforeseen circumstances, like injury or absences and whatnot.”

“That's... are you insane?” Kalina asked, and I laughed.

“I told you before. Happy workers make work fun and easy.” I looked around. “So, who wants to spend the trip on the Udelis and who wants to stay here?”

“I had my trip on the luxury ship.” Deborah said. “Even though it was a bunk, it was almost sinful how comfortable it was.” She chuckled. “I didn't have anything to do, though. I vote here.”

“Same here.” Beatrice said. “Relaxing was nice; but, I like working as well. I'm staying here.”

“I go where she goes.” Sandy said.

“I'd like to try at least one jump on the Udelis.” Gleas said. “I'll want to switch back after that.”

“So, a vote for mostly here.” I said and she chuckled.

“I'd like that, too.” Kalina said and looked at Rhubin. “You say the first jump coordinates are a week away?”

Rhubin nodded wordlessly.

“Would you mind if Gleas and I went with you for the first jump?”

Rhubin shook his head.

“Then we will pack for a week of travelling and meet you on the ship in the morning.”

Rhubin nodded again and still didn't say anything.

“Luxea?” I said she flinched a little. “What about you?”

“I have a choice?” Luxea asked.

“We all have a choice.” I said and didn't elaborate.

“I'll stay on the Udelis.” Luxea said in a slightly defeated tone.

Simone gave her a sharp look and then looked at me. I shrugged slightly, because I didn't have to read Luxea's mind to know that she didn't have the courage to stay in the same ship with me. That confirmed she did go and have fun while in the Dixahl System and didn't want it to come up in conversation. So, I brought it up for her.

“I should make something clear.” I said and everyone looked at me. “My 'no employees having sex with each other' only applies while they work for me. What you go and do with other people not on the ship is none of my concern, nor do I have any right to have a say in those matters.”

Luxea took in a sharp breath.

“My only concern is workplace safety and the detrimental effects that dating a coworker, or having sex with a coworker, in the same environment causes.” I looked at Luxea. “Look at what happened to us as an example.”

“Hunter...”

“I can't even step close to you without you reacting negatively.” I said. “All I can do is give you as much space as I can and hope that you'll eventually relax enough to stop hating me.”

“I don't hate you...” Luxea started to say.

I nodded my head when the Presence wavered and she sighed.

“All right. I hate what happened between us...”

“...and I was the cause of it all.” I said and she didn't have to nod to show that she agreed.

“I also hate that you still would have released that footage, even if you knew beforehand how I felt.” Luxea said, finally getting to the heart of the matter.

“There we go.” I said and tried not to smile. “You finally admitted it. You hate me.”

“I...” Luxea glanced at everyone's faces, saw the truth there, and sighed. “Yes, I do.”

“So, do you feel any better after telling the truth?” I asked and she shook her head. “You should.”

“Wh-what?” Luxea looked back at me.

“Now that you admitted something we all know, you don't have to worry about hiding it.” I said and waved at everyone. “You don't have to worry about saying the wrong thing, or giving yourself away anymore. You can relax, now that we all know where you stand.”

“Are you going to admit that you hate me back?” Luxea asked.

I chuckled. “Luxea, you don't need any more justification.”

“You just said I should relax and speak my mind without worry. So I want you to tell me you hate me.”

“I can't, because I love you.” I said and she shook her head. “Let me finish before you think I'm lying.”

Luxea looked me in the eyes.

“I was glad that you wanted time alone to deal with your emotions at the time, and I was really sad that you didn't want to share my bed at night, because I needed someone to hold and I thought you wanted me for that, too.” I said, then my anger rose. “I hated... I absolutely hated... that the first thing you did when we had a fight, was invite another man into your bed.”

Simone and Hailey caught their breath at the strength of my anger and their hands reached out and took mine. I felt their calming Presence try to soothe mine, so I closed my eyes for a moment and thanked them mentally.

“When I found out, I wanted to rip his arms and legs off and then give him back to you, so that you could always have him when you needed him.” I said and looked back at Luxea. “That way, whenever you needed relief, you could take him out and use him as much as you wanted.”

“H-Hunter...” Luxea had tears in her eyes and a few of the others gasped.

“I was so blinded by...” I stopped and used a calming technique myself to add to Simone's and Hailey's efforts. “I knew then that what we had wasn't going to work, and so did you.”

“That's not true.” Luxea said.

“You knew as soon as you slept with him the first time that you broke whatever we had between us.” I said and she looked down at the table, guilt clear on her face. “You knew how I would react, because of how I felt about you and what I thought we had together.”

Luxea couldn't respond, because she didn't want to lie.

“You couldn't even tell me yourself and I had to find out from him.” I said. “Do you know how embarrassing it is to have someone right in front of you and find out that they had been sleeping with the person you love, right under your nose?”

Luxea didn't lift her head and her tears dropped from her face to land on the table edge.

“I honestly thought we would be fine. It was only our first fight and I thought, quite wrongly, that we would be back together after a few days.” I said. “It never crossed my mind that you didn't want us to get back together.”

“I did! I wanted us to...” Luxea stopped talking and looked up at me. “I love you.”

“If I walked around this table right now and took you in my arms...” I tried to say.

Luxea's face showed surprise and she flinched a little.

“Just the thought of me being near you scares you, doesn't it?” I asked and she didn't respond. “How in the world do you expect to be together with me if you can't even...” I shook my head. “No, I won't bring this up again.” I said. “As far as I'm concerned, it's over between us and we are never getting back together.”

Luxea looked like I had slapped her. “H-Hunter...”

“You can't possibly think we could, not after everything that happened and how you react.” I said and could see on her face that she did. “Luxea, the most we can ever be is friends.”

“But...”

“Casual sex isn't happening, either.” I said and we all saw her reaction to that.

“Wow, you really thought...” Simone stopped talking before she gave anything else away.

“I can't deny who I am and be who you want me to be, Luxea.” I said. “I just don't have it in me.”

“Then... you don't love me.” Luxea said.

“The problem is that I do. Ask Simone or Hailey if the Presence wavered at all as I've spoken.”

“We all know they would lie for you if you asked.” Luxea said without actually accusing them of lying. “If you really loved me, you are supposed to be who I need, Hunter.”

“That's not how love is supposed to work.” Sandy interrupted, and we all looked at her. “Believe me, if you can't love someone and accept them for who they are, it will never work out.”

Beatrice put her arm around Sandy and hugged her.

“You can make certain sacrifices and that's okay, because you know it's worth it to be with them.” Sandy said. “What you can't do is expect them to change who they are. If you do that, then they aren't the person you fell in love with anymore.”

“That's why she never asked me to quit being a pilot, even though it separated us for weeks at a time.” Beatrice said. “She loved me enough to support me and my dream. It took us a while, and here we are.” She leaned in and kissed Sandy on the lips. “I've got a great job, a nice place to live, and I get to spend as much of my spare time as I want with the woman I love.”

“We've never been happier.” Sandy said, and then chuckled. “Before you think it's all sunshine and smiles, we have fights.”

“Epic fights.” Beatrice said. “Remember when my brother came over unexpectedly...”

“...that ass wanted to stay with us, for free, while he partied all day and night.” Sandy said. “I almost wrung his neck when he ate the anniversary dinner I cooked for us.”

“We almost broke up that time.” Beatrice said, her voice sad.

Sandy touched her cheek. “Then we talked about it, worked it out, made up, and stayed together.”

“What happened to the brother?”

“I beat the hell out of the little bastard and kicked him out.” Sandy said. “That's what caused the fight between Beatrice and myself.”

Everyone was quiet for several moments, then a clear voice spoke.

“You were both smart enough to see that it wasn't worth losing each other over something like that.” Hailey said. “I'm glad you stayed together, because now you're here and really happy.”

Beatrice and Sandy smiled and they both nodded.

“I think that clears things up enough to make things a little more awkward around here than they already were.” I said and saw a few smiles. “For a little while, anyway.”

“So, that's it? The meetings are over?” Hailey asked.

“I'd say so.” I said.

“Lunchtime!” Hailey said with enthusiasm and I chuckled.

“Do you want me to cook, or would you like another meal from our favorite restaurant?” I asked.

“As long as I can sit on your lap, it doesn't matter.” Hailey said, dismissively.

That made a few of the others laugh.

“Well, she knows what she wants.” Gleas said. “If it's up for a vote, I'd say prepared meals are quicker.”

Hailey looked at her with a question on her face.

“More lap time.” Gleas clarified for her and Hailey grinned.

“That one!” Hailey said and pointed at Gleas.

“You heard the boss.” Simone said as she let my hand go and poked my shoulder. “Get going!”

“I'm not supposed to be the main cook, you know.” I said and picked Hailey up.

“But, you're so good at it.” Deborah said and everyone else nodded.

I sighed exaggeratedly and Hailey giggled. “Give me a few minutes to get everything ready and we'll meet you in the dining room.”

I prepared everything and used Presence Hands to carry everyone's meals into the dining room, then we all enjoyed the restaurant's best food. After that, we relaxed in the large living room, minus Rhubin and Luxea. Even after getting it all out in the open, she still couldn't handle being around everyone. I shrugged it off, because I had said my piece and had made the situation clear for everyone.

I was surprised that I felt genuine regret from both Kalina and Jelly about their jobs coming to an end soon. I reached out and poked their shoulders with my fingertip and both women turned to me.

“We've got six weeks of travelling to the Dizahl System and then six weeks back.” I said. “After that, then we've got a month, maybe a month and a half, before the salvage contract is done.”

Both women looked at me with wide eyes, then they smiled. The evening was quite pleasant after that, then the next morning, Gleas and Kalina transferred over to the Udelis for the first hyperspace jump. The two ships unhooked and then moved towards the closest Lagrange point in the system. Once there, the computers took over and we jumped into hyperspace.

That first week went by before we knew it and when we came out into the large empty space, we docked the ships back together and we all met near the main hatches. Gleas was quite happy to see us all and to get back to staying in her own room. Kalina on the other hand, handed me a datapad.

“What's this?” I asked, because she was intentionally muddling her thoughts.

“I quit three days ago.” Kalina said and then Rhubin stepped close to her and put an arm around her.

“Son of a bitch.” I whispered and everyone felt my Presence and my anger.

“We didn't break your policy...” Rhubin started to say.

I made a fist, which crushed the datapad, and I punched him right in the face.