Several orgasms later, Jove paused and considered exactly why his mother had come to check up on him in his room. As he'd pointed out to her, she'd all but escorted him there no more than half an hour earlier.
There should have been no need to confirm where he was within the station. That is, unless she was about to do something that she really didn't want him to see.
Jove felt his arousal immediately stirring again. His first impulse was to flip through the station's cameras. There weren't any showing the bedrooms, for obvious reasons, but there was one that showed the director's office. It had a view of the open door of her bedroom, but Kira was neither in bed nor doing anything sexy and compromising.
He flipped through a few more camera streams and finally caught sight of her. She was in her winter wear and opening the outer door of the entrance chamber, but that wasn't what captured his attention.
She had the pistol in her hand. She was heading for Andromeda.
Jove leapt out of bed and hurriedly pulled on some clothing. He put the tape to the test and was relieved when his door swung open without complaint. Pausing, he considered if it was worth it to wake Eve and Aster, but he doubted either of them would be on his side if it came to a confrontation with his mother over Andromeda's fate.
He rushed through pulling on his winter outerwear, forgoing snow pants entirely. It was darker outside than it generally was during the day, closer to sunset back home, still weeks out from the months long Antarctic night as they were.
He saw his mother stepping into the shed and broke into an outright sprint. Chunks of ice and snow bit at the sliver of exposed skin between his ankle and pant leg, a jolt of pain with each step.
"Stop!" He leapt through the doorway, arriving just as Andromeda was rising from her balled up posture.
"Jove…" Kira let out a sigh. "This is exactly why I checked on you before slipping outside. I knew you had some way of getting that door open."
"This is going too far," he said, eyeing the gun. "Even if Andromeda can't be trusted, that doesn't mean you have to destroy her."
"I respect Director Faremont's decisions in all things," said Andromeda, voice eerily calm. "If she's determined this is the safest course of action, I won't object."
"I, however, will." Jove placed himself in between his mother and the ice drone. "This is insane. You're letting your paranoia force you into making bad decisions."
His mother's eyes narrowed with irritation. "You have no idea what I came out here to do, Jovian. Get out of the way."
"No," he said.
"As well intentioned as your actions are, Jovian, I believe you should defer to Director Faremont's judgment," said Andromeda.
"She's going to shoot you," said Jove.
"Would you please stop acting like you're in a movie and I'm the antagonist?" suggested Kira.
She grabbed him by the front of his jacket with her free hand, which didn't much help her point, and tried to pull him out of the way.
"You won't shoot me," said Jove.
"I'm not going to be shooting anybody!" snapped Kira. "That's not what the gun is for. There's a reason why I chose to come out here alone. The gun… is for Andromeda."
He shook his head, still refusing to move. She yanked on his jacket again and Jove reluctantly took a step aside. Turning the gun around to hold the barrel, Kira presented it to the ice drone.
"I'm unsure of what you intend, Director Faremont," said Andromeda.
"Take it," she said. "Go on."
The ice drone stayed eerily still for a moment before finally reaching out with its manipulator hand, long metallic fingers closing around the gun's grip. Andromeda lowered her arm to her side, holding the pistol with perfect trigger etiquette.
"Do you intend for me to use this in defense of the station?" asked Andromeda.
Kira shook her head slowly. She turned around and closed her eyes. Jove gritted his teeth and once more placed himself in the path of a bullet.
"You're testing her," he said. "Is that really necessary? With her drill arm, it's not as though she couldn't easily kill us if she wanted to."
"Maybe, but the odds of failure would have been far higher," said Kira. "I needed to know for sure. I still need to know."
She reached out, coaxing the ice drone's arm up until the gun was pointed directly at her head.
"Are you out of your mind?" Jove yanked her out of the way by the arm, a bit surprised at how light and easy to move she was.
"No, Jovian, not in the slightest." She pulled her arm free, expression stern. "We do need Andromeda's help. We need it more than I think you realize. But giving her access to the station's systems again is no different than letting her point a gun at all of our heads."
"Even if that's true…" he started to say.
"It is true." Kira stepped back into the line of fire and waited another moment before slowly reaching out to take the gun back, doubts assuaged. "Andromeda. Will you help us if I allow you back into Termina Station?"
"Of course, Director Faremont," said Andromeda. "I also understand your reasoning in sequestering me off out here and proceeding with caution. It's entirely your prerogative to determine the correct course of action."
"Good." Kira nodded, glancing at Jove. "Let's all head inside."
The three of them exited the shed. Jove leaned in close to his mother as she closed the door, making sure Andromeda was out of earshot.
"You didn't put any bullets in it, did you?" he guessed.
She passed him the pistol. "Check for yourself."
He did, though it took a second, his inexperience with firearms showing. There were, in fact, bullets in the gun.
"There was a chance that she could have known it was empty simply from feeling the weight," said his mother.
"She also could have actually shot you."
"That's why I came out here alone and why I wanted you in your room." She set her hands on her hips. "By the way… How exactly did you get your door open?"
"Your tone is making me think I should maybe hold onto this for my own safety."
She stared at him as though her gaze held the intensity to melt ice.
"I'm kidding," he said, handing it back.
"You are such a pain." She shifted the gun to her left hand and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.