Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Chapter 564 - 564 A Deal with a Witch

Avery blinked rapidly several times as his mind tried to process what Delia had just asked.It was not that he did not hear her correctly, it was just that what she wanted seemed incomprehensible.

She had just hinted at knowing Avery's identity. Yet instead of trying to blackmail him, or offering him some sort of deal, she instead wanted to see his ship.

To Avery, this just made no sense.

Right now, she was in a place of power.

The outpost had its own guards and security systems that she could wield to protect herself.

Avery was confident that he, Ezra, Olivia, and Kaiden could handle themselves if it did come down to a fight, but there would still be dangers and difficulties to overcome should they become hostile to Delia.

On the other hand, the moment that she was on the Intrepid, Delia would be entirely at Avery's mercy.

No one onboard his vessel was going to help her, and he did not see anyway she could beat a single combatant, let alone several hundreds that Avery could command at a moment's notice.

'This is far outside of my expectations. It's like she doesn't have any sense of self-preservation at all. What's even her angle in all of this?'

Avery tried very hard to think of some way in which her coming aboard the Intrepid would not benefit him.

And the only thing that he could come up with was that she was some powerful person's family member and she was going to try feigning being kidnapped to get Avery in trouble.

Otherwise, outside of such a specific and unlikely scenario, he did not see a way in which she could harm him or anyone else onboard the Intrepid.

She was clearly no fighter, and he would not let her out of sight to try and hack into his carrier ship's system. Not that she likely could, considering how strong the security programs were.

'Maybe she doesn't care about her life and is planning to suicide bomb us?' Avery thought, though he did not really believe that to be her motivation either.

She would be scanned once she got on the shuttle anyway, so even if she did have an inactive bomb inside of her, it would be detected before they reached the Intrepid.

Logically, Avery could not figure out a way for Delia to be any threat once she came abord the Intrepid.

Except, something in his gut told him that she was far more dangerous than he was giving her credit for.

Avery did not know why he felt this way. He just did.

Still, logic won out in the in, so after having thought it over for nearly a minute, he smiled and invited Delia to join him back to his ship.

"Perfect. I'm ready to go now. So, let us be on our way. I am a busy woman and have a mountain of other things I need to do."

At Delia's instance, Avery led the way back to the hangar where the shuttle was waiting to take them back.

Along the way, he remained vigilante for any ambushes, or perhaps some sort of advanced drone using high-end cloaking technology that would be able to slip past the shuttle's sensors and sneak its way onboard.

Again, nothing happened.

Which for some reason, Avery found stranger than if a legion of soldiers suddenly apparated out of thin air and started attacking them. He was just that used to trouble finding him that he was always expecting something to go wrong.

Soon they were back out in open space and headed towards the Intrepid.

Since they had Delia with them, they did not return tot eh hangar and instead entered the cargo bay which was outfitted with their smuggling setup.

It really was not meant for vessels to be landing in it, but the shuttles was small enough and a space had been cleared for it.

Once they touched down and were clear to exit, Avery led the way and began showing Delia their operation.

He still did not know what she wanted, but he figured it would not hurt to show off how they had been smuggling Paradise across the border. That should have been something the Odium Syndicate executive was interested in.

But even as Avery did his best to enthusiastically explain things, she hardly looked interested and only occasionally nodded her head or gave one-word responses.

"This is all very well done, but it's not what I came here for. I'd like to see your bridge instead. Surely it must be impressive." Delia said, her lips turning up into a knowing grin.

Avery had to stop himself from frowning at this request.

While over a call using the viewscreen it was easy enough to fake the layout of the bridge, that was not something he would be able to do in person.

And while the Intrepid may have been using the hull of an Ontembaar model cargo ship, the equipment throughout most of the craft was vastly different from a standard model.

The bridge was especially noticeable because its design was obviously for a warship.

There were several stations that a cargo vessel would not have, and he highly doubted that Delia was so ignorant as to not recognize the difference.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. I respect your position within the Odium Syndicate, but I can't go bringing strangers onto my ship's bridge. Surely you understand why that is?"

"Of course. Still, I figured that I might as well ask. I thought that might charms could maybe help me out." Delia said, stepping closer to Avery tilting her head to try and make herself look cuter.

"But, if the bridge is out of the question, how about the main reactor? Or perhaps your sickbay? I've rarely been on a vessel of this size and would like to see how its facilities differ from the other ships I've been on."

Again, Avery had to refuse.

Both the main reactor and sick bay were far too special to let someone associated with the Odium Syndicate see them. Avery was never going to let Delia near either of them.

He was starting to pick up on her game though and was about ready to put an end to this charade.

Yet, Delia must have picked up on his intentions, because she beat him to it.

"Perhaps I could see your quarters then? We could have some fun together. You already have three lovers, don't you? So, a fourth should not be too big of a deal. Right, Avery?"

The moment she said Avery's name, several weapons were trained on her.

It had become apparent that she knew something a little while ago, but now that she had revealed it herself, they could not hold off on acting.

"I suppose that we've been found out. I won't need this anymore." Avery said, disengaging his face mask and pulling it off.

With his identity already exposed, he saw no reason to keep the thing on any longer.

"Yes, your real face looks a lot better than that mask. So how about it? My offer still stands."

Delia batted her eyes and gave Avery a sweet and suggestive smile.

Naturally, he knew what she was trying to do.

This was all just an act to try and get under his skin and make him feel uncomfortable.

What he did not know though was if she was doing it to just mess with him, or if there was some greater purpose to her actions.

"I'm going to have to refuse. I already have three wives, and I think that's my limit. Plus, you're not really my type. I don't go for drug lords that are trying to poison and mutate people."

Avery circled around Delia so that he was standing to the side of her. The entire time, he kept his laser pistol fixed on her and all of his senses on high alert.

"You said that you wanted to inspect my ship, so I'll give you the full tour of the brig. You'll even get to spend a few days there to get the full experience."

Ezra walked in front of Delia to both lead the way to the brig and keep her from trying to run off.

With his gun, Avery motioned for her to get moving, but she stayed rooted in place.

"You can walk on your own two feet, or you can be dragged. Either way, you're going into a cell. I don't know what you thought was going to happen, but your must be a brazen fool to have come here by yourself and purposefully reveal that you know who we are." Avery said bitingly.

"Oh, I'm no fool. I figured this would be your response. But at least allow me a moment to explain myself. I did not come here to be your enemy. If that was the case, I would have brought troops with me."

"No, I'd like us to work together. Though I am part of the Odium Syndicate, I have no love or loyalty for the organization. Honestly, I want to see it fall to ruin. Which is why I came to you, Avery Asteria. I propose that we work together, to achieve our mutual goals."