Page 45 of Right on Time

“Sorry, Chloe, but that’s so romantic! There’s no stronger confession of feelings for a Gaenthian. The Subcommander is clearly head over feathers about you. He wants to sweep you up and fly toward the sunset with you and–Aaah, it’s the perfect plot for a romance novel!”

Chloe shook her head. “This is no book, Trixie. This is real life, where one rarely gets what they want.”

“Oh, shush.” Trixie waved her hand dismissively. “This may be real life, but it’s real life with aliens. You want something, they can make it happen. Look where you’re standing – this is Millie’s princess fantasies-turned-reality! For a second week in a row! She simply had to ask nicely and thank her himbo just as nicely after.” Trixie tilted her chin in the direction of the dance floor.

Millie, a 43-year-old German, was locked in a PG-18 kiss with her six-horned orange guy, the dance forgotten. The others were dancing around them as if they were a column, and not a couple halfway into tearing each other’s clothes off right then and there.

“You know what, honey?” Trixie rubbed her hands together. “I have just the thing to make the uptight Subcommander forget all about his duties.”

CHAPTER 22

Boo Bear, We Have a Problem

Chloe was a ball of nerves by the time she and Trixie made it to the medical bay. How would the conversation with Nitiel go? Would she have the guts to put Trixie’s mischievous plan to action, when Chloe had never done such a thing before? Her personal plan was to do it only as a last resort, in case Nitiel didn’t leave her a choice, but even then could she pull it off?

There was one way to find out.

Trixie stopped in front of the door to the medical bay and gave Chloe a pat on the dress-clad thigh. “Don’t worry, girl, I’ll leave once I have handed you over to your stud muffin. I won’t stay and watch, though I want to.” She winked. “The look on his face when he sees what you’ve got for him would be priceless.”

“Let’s go.” Chloe could take no more suspense. Everything happened for a reason and all that, but she felt as if fate was toying with her. Enough of that.

She stepped into the medical bay the second the door whooshed open… and crashed into a solid chest. A dazed look up revealed the orange face of a scowling Dr. Multi-horn.

“My lady, what are you doing here?” he asked politely, in contrast with his resting bitch face and intimidating crown of horns. “Is there an emergency?”

“Ummm, no. I’m here to check on Subcommander Nitiel.”

The young doctor’s scowl deepened. “He is not here. I cleared him for home recovery an hour ago.”

An hour ago? Chloe might as well have been hit with a wet mop in the face. Nitiel had barely waited for her to leave to move out of the medical bay, when he had told her he would be sleeping! Had he broken his code and lied just so he could get rid of her?

But no, that made no sense. There would be no getting rid of her in his cabin, since they were still sharing it. He must have wanted to be back in his space instead of the sterile environment of the medical bay. She was reading too much into the situation.

“Then the Subcommander’s cabin is where we’re going next,” Trixie announced. As soon as the door to the medical bay closed, separating them from the doctor, she added, “That’s even better for the plan, Chloe. More privacy, a bigger bed – perfect.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. She did not care about that right now; she just wanted to talk to Nitiel. To tell him she wanted a relationship with him, the ASI’s matchmaking be damned. And she would walk all around the station in search of him, if necessary.

It turned out she might have to, because when she and Trixie entered the cabin, Nitiel was nowhere to be found.

Chloe stood in the middle of the empty bedroom, stupefied. “Where is he? He has a hole in his chest, for goodness’ sake! He is supposed to be resting!”

“Don’t worry, honey, we’ll find him.” Trixie had a determined look on her face as she activated the communicator attached to her dress’ puff sleeve. “Boo bear, come in. We have a problem.”

“My bean?” Vrixiel’s worried voice came through the small metal disk. “What is it? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, but Chloe here isn’t. Your friend is missing.”

“Nitiel? How so?”

Chloe felt like biting her nails while Trixie was acquainting her mate with the situation. Where could Nitiel have gone? He couldn’t be running errands in his state! What if the Commander had ordered him to leave for Earth because an urgent need of his representative had arisen?

Chloe was about to check the hidden wardrobe for his clothes when Vrixiel said, “I’m here with Commander Siriniel, and he has not ordered Subcommander Nitiel out of bed. Wherever the Subcommander has gone is by his own decision.”

“Check his location, please. We must know he is alright.”

“Of course. I’ll call in a moment, bean.”

Panic clawed at Chloe’s throat. “Trixie, you think something has happened to him?”

---