Supreme Leader of Anstractor: A Sci-Fantasy Space Adventure (The New Phase Book 3) by Greg Dragon Page B

duties. The former air of friendliness despite professionalism had dissipated, and now everyone’s concern was not to further upset Cilas ‘Rend’ MEC.
    The commander got up from his seat and walked past Connie without looking at her. She stared at him the entire time, begging him mentally to meet her sorrowful eyes. If he could pick up on her telepathy, he didn’t show it, but as he passed her he paused and said, “Miss ITO, the bridge is yours until my return.” He was gone by the time she recovered in time to acknowledge his command.
    When Rend was gone from the bridge, Connie motioned Phimanila over and then walked her into the main elevator shaft and locked the door. The room was soundproof, and since it was really only used for emergencies—when the captain needed to get to engineering in a hurry—Connie knew that they would be left alone. What she had to say was brief, but she didn’t know how Phimanila would react to it.
    “Do you think I’m blind or stupid, Phimanila Dawn?” she asked as soon as the slender brunette had crossed the threshold and the door had slammed shut.
    Phimanila didn’t answer immediately, but looked at the woman with a bit of pity and a lot of disgust. Constance ITO was a robot by all senses of the word. She only played things by the book, and she had no imagination or answer whenever things didn’t go the way they were ‘supposed to.’ She was also a huge bore, a fact that had become the subject of gossip all over the bridge.
    Physically, she got a lot of attention for her looks. She was tan, her eyes were large and dark, and the officer-styled bob that she kept her black hair in complemented her handsome features. Men and women wanted to know more about the mysterious XO, but she was so focused on her ambition—and being the best robot follower of Cilas MEC that she could be—that she avoided her social life, and it was evident, at least to Phimanila. She wondered what she would do if she leaned forward and planted one on her lips. She’d probably swing at her, or fall down in shock and embarrassment. Either way it would be worth it but Phimanila kept her mischief to herself.
    “No, Connie, not at all. You’re Commander MEC’s executive officer, and I have the utmost respect for you,” she lied.
    “Then why do you take full advantage of every chance you get to embarrass me?” Connie pressed, and Phimanila wondered if the crack in her voice was due to her being truly upset over this, or if it was just the way she sounded when she was angry.
    “Are we off the record here, Connie?” she asked, her caramel-colored pupils taking on an intensity that Connie had never seen before.
    “If we weren’t I would have asked you out there, Phim,” she replied, switching her tone to one of informality in order to solidify the point that they were off the record.
    “Okay then, I’ll just say it. You questioned the Commander’s orders right in front of all of us, and you knew you messed up and tried to correct it. For some reason, you assume that correcting your hiccups should always involve throwing me into the thrusters of a revved up fighter. I don’t appreciate it. You outrank me and have a direct line to Commander Cilas, yet you have always felt that we’re in a competition. What the hell is your problem?” Phimanila said, confused as to why her voice cracked similarly even though she felt calm on the inside.
    “We’re supposed to be friends, Phimanila. We lived together for ten years as cadets, yet you don’t ever talk to me. You join in on the jokes behind my—”
    “No, I don’t!” Phimanila interrupted.
    “Yes, Phimanila, yes, you do,” her voice was a hoarse whisper now, and her large black eyes were fighting back tears. “Don’t think that I don’t know, you backstabbing little cruta . If you hate me so much, why come in here and pretend that you are so innocent in all of this? Just tell me I suck, tell me that I’m a schtill XO, and that Rend should