The tension in the common room, which had been a low simmer, quickly boiled over.
"Pulled it off?" Reia repeated, not looking up from her datapad. Her voice was dangerously calm. "She's a fugitive hiding on our ship. If that's your definition of 'pulling it off', it explains a lot about your previous career choices."
Marc's smirk vanished. "She exposed a multi-system corporation with nothing but her wits. What were you doing at her age? Polishing your collection of tactical graphs?"
"Building the foundation that allows me to not get caught," she shot back, her eyes flashing up to meet his. "There's a difference between a clever stunt and sustainable strategy. One gets you a moment of glory. The other keeps you alive."
"Glory? She's trying to get justice for her dead parents!"
"And emotional motivation is a liability in a tactical scenario. It clouds judgment."
"Maybe clear judgment is overrated when people are getting killed!"
