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Cyburn solemnly shook his head. “No, I’m not bluffing with her, that's not what I mean. What I mean is that I’m not going to use her as a mechanic or an engineer. She no longer has a job… or a place… aboard theBladewith us.”
I gawked at Cyburn, trying to wager whether he actually meant the words he was saying.
“Cyburn…”
“What’s done is done,” Cyburn said stoically. His handsome jawline tightened into a line of pride.
“It’s not doneyet,” I said.
Cyburn held my gaze. “It will be soon.”
“How will you get her to leave?” I asked, my mind boggled and trying to comprehend how a plan this diabolical against the chief engineer was actually going to be pulled off.
“We’ll be dropping Amada off at the next port,” Cyburn said defiantly as if there was no room for debate.
Not that I would be the one to argue with him. I was all for it. I couldn’t wait for this ship to finally be rid of Amada’s toxic energy.
“What if she tries to fight or protest against it?” I asked, feeling a plague of nervous energy starting to settle into the pit of my stomach.
“We are already expecting her to push against my authority,” Cyburn mentioned. “It will be taken care of at the time of the port drop off.”
“How?” I blinked at him, studying him. “Sorry, I just want to know all the details so I can be prepared, too.”
“I know,” Cyburn said. The ‘boyfriend and lover’ aspect of his personality seemed to have gone dormant, suppressed during the course of our conversation. “I don’t mind you asking questions. I will have my best security guards escorting her off the ship. She will be overpowered if she tries anything stupid.”
“Okay. I'm glad you've thought about it and prepared for it.” I gave him a warm smile to let him know I felt relief about the plan and wanted to wholeheartedly support him, but Cyburn barely returned it with one of his own.
There was an air of professionality about him that made me feel like he might be upset with me.
I tried to remind myself that it probably had more to do with the fact that he was going to have to boot his unpredictable and edgy ex-lover off the ship without her compliance or awareness in advance.
“After Amada’s drop off, I will have my crew start working immediately to change all the access codes throughout the ship. I’ll also make sure they cover all the other relevant vulnerabilities that Amada might try to get her hands on after the fact,” Cyburn said.
“That sounds like a good idea,” I said, grateful that Cyburn had clearly taken the time to think this plan through to make sure it was pulled off without any extra complications.
“Amada will undoubtedly be out for revenge,” Cyburn said. “I know how her mind works. I was with her for a decade, as you know, and also as you know I hate admitting that fact. However, it wasn’tallfor nothing. I feel like I know her better than anyone else, and Ihopethat means I’ll be able to predict her reactions better than anyone, too.”
“You’ll see them coming a mile away,” I said, aiming to compliment his efforts. “It sounds like you already do. You’re ahead of the game.”
Cyburn sighed, but his eyebrows knitted worriedly. “Amada will be both devastated and furious. I cantryto predict what she’ll do, but I won’t know for sure, unfortunately, until it happens.”
“Maybe nothing will happen.” I shrugged.
“We can’t get our hopes up on that,” Cyburn said. “We need to be prepared. Which is why we need to protect this ship and all the intelligence information, the computers, the programs, the robots — everything from Amada once she is gone. She could try to use anything she can as evidence against me to bring me down. She might stop at nothing to exploit us if she happens to befriend space raiders along the way.”
“Do youreallythink she would switch teams like that?” I asked, feeling a wavy sensation rolling in my stomach. “Could she go to the enemy side?”
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” Cyburn said, his features sad and exhausted. “She could really go for my jugular and befriend the Belics to get back at me for all I know.”
I felt so sorry for him. What an enormous amount of pressure he was under. I just wanted to hold him and make him feel like everything he was doing would end up all being worth it in the end, but unfortunately, I didn’t have a crystal ball to predict the future any more than he or anyone else could.
“Are yousurethis is the only way?” I asked.
Cyburn’s eyes glistened with dread. “I have exhausted every other opportunity to get through to Amada. Nothing is working. This might have disastrous consequences, but like I said, a lesson needs to be taught here.”
I frowned, not sure that puttingourlives in jeopardy was the best way to teach a lesson to Amada. She wasn’t exactly the type who bowed down to authority, anyway. The more resistance she received, the more combative she seemed to get.
However, I didn’t argue with Cyburn. If he had already made up his mind, I trusted him and I wasn’t going to try and make him second guess his decisions. Not now.
