"You've only got each other..."
Commander Michael Priboj's words echoed through her mind over and over as she laid there restlessly, trying to fall asleep.
She and Raphael had been inseperable since the incident inside of St Alms, though not by choice. It was an order, one that they were taking very seriously since the discovery of a dead body inside of her apartment a few days prior.
They had dropped by the space station on Tuomuta where she kept a small set of rooms, hoping to be in and out within a few minutes, always cautious that they were being followed.
As soon as they stepped into the apartment she could tell something wasn't right. The stench of death permeated the air. A gallente reporter, Tharn Blash, was unceremoniously laid out across her bed, drapped in stark white Amarrian robes stained with dried blood.
She winced at the memory of it, of her and Raphael having to stuff the body in a crate from her hangar to dispose of it. Unable to sleep, she started to pace the small room and activated the recording drone.
"For a week now I've been living with Raphael. We are constantly on the move, dividing our time between the war zone and exploration, trying to make it appear that everything is normal to the outside world. To explain our being together out of pod, we have to pretend we are a couple though I hardly think we are doing a good job of that."
"Last night we went to the Pax Amarria to relax and ended up arguing. As always. I frustrated him I think to the point he tells me if I think I can make it out on my own, then leave. I start for the door, he grabs my arm. I'm yelling at him and he is demanding an answer to something I wont tell him and bam, in walks Captain Newell."
"We both kind of froze, though he wouldn't let my arm go, wouldn't let me walk out of there without telling him. Captain Newell gave us that I-know-you're-up-to-something look. She starts questioning us, asks if we are involved, to which we have to lie and then she has the nerve to tell me she is going to go to the Admirality about it."
"That was all I needed. My career jeopardised over a fake relationship."
"I lost my temper. However, Raph managed to convince the Captain to let us deal with our problems...so maybe she will stay out of it. Doubtful, but hopefully anyhow."
"Theres just so much going on right now and I don't know who to trust or where to turn. Michael says trust no one other than Raphael...but why should I put my fate into the hands of an Ensign? Why Raphael? Merely because he walked into the Cathedral and overheard a conversation that he shouldn't have?"
She sighed as she walked over to a window and perched down on the bench that stretched out beneath it. Starring out into the blackness of space, she fell silent for a few moments, thinking. "I guess that really that isn't a fair thing to say. He has went out of his way to keep me safe when I'm sure he'd rather just be done with the whole thing."
Leaning her head against the cool glass, her expression betrayed her worry. "Zenton has probably heard of this lie by now and no doubt he hates me for it. I've not had the chance to explain it to him. The one chance I did have in the Garden of Babylon, I lost because I was just so angry with him, we ended up fighting over something else. I should have told him then. I should have just been honest with him despite what Michael says."
"I'm pretty sure I've lost him ...though it is probably for the best. They have already proven they will stop at nothing to keep this quiet. If they will murder a reporter, I'm sure they will have no conscience over killing a capsuleer."
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