Page 11 of Written in the Stars

I found a little more peace in stroking her hair and listening to the sound of her breathing, but soon my worries closed in and poisoned the peace we shared. Regretfully, I sat up, cradling my human against me.

“We must make a plan,” I said. Megan groaned and muttered something under her breath. It didn’t sound kind.

“I am serious. If those criminals are demanding protection from this entire level, they are a greater threat than I thought. If we do nothing, they will eventually get you.”

“Did you have to spoil our cuddles with this? I was enjoying not thinking about how fucked we are.” Megan pulled away and sat against a shelf of instruction manuals, looking at me. Her legs pressed against mine, preserving the intimate feeling of our coupling, and I drank in her beauty.

“There will be more time for cuddles, much more, if we make certain we survive the next few days.”

Megan pouted. “You, Captain Drask, areno fun at all.”

Her expression was so exaggerated that I couldn’t help laughing, and she joined me a second later. Perhaps it wasn’t funny enough to deserve that, but we made the most of the shared moment of mirth.

“Fine, we can talk about the stupid future if you want,” she continued, grabbing my pants and throwing them at me. “But for god’s sake, cover up, or I won’t be able to focus on anything apart from your sexy chest.”

“You do not have the high ground there.” Watching her naked body move awakened my passions again, and I felt myself stirring. I snatched up the remains of her blouse and passed it to her. “You would distract a cyber-monk from his devotions.”

She grinned, pulling the blouse on. It did little to help—without the buttons I’d impatiently popped off the garment, it hung open and left a tantalizing amount of Megan on display. “I’m going to take that as a compliment, even if I don’t know what a cyber-monk is.”

Gathering the remains of our clothes, we retreated to the shop’s back room. Chaotic piles of unsorted books almost filled it, with what remained given over to a tiny living area. A cot, a cabinet for clothes, and space just about big enough for the two of us to stand in.

No wonder Megan hadn’t invited me back here. The cot was small just for her and would never have held the two of us. Not without breaking under the weight, anyway.

The bathroom was even smaller, and while I lamented the fact that we couldn’t share it, it made for faster washing. Soon, showered and dressed, we were ready to face the future.

Megan served me an Earth drink called ‘coffee’ which had a delightfully bitter taste and chased the last cobwebs from my mind.

Damp haired and bedraggled, Megan was still the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. The delight she took in her coffee would have irritated me from anyone else, but from her it was charming. I would have watched her all day if we hadn’t more important work to do.

“I cannot afford to fix my ship, so we must find another way to keep you safe.” I followed my training, starting with a direct statement of the problem and hoping that answers would come to me. No inspiration struck, so I continued. “We can barricade your shop.”

Megan laughed, pointing out the obvious flaws. “Okay, but if we’re sealed in, we’ll seal my customers out. Without customers, I can’t make enough to buy food.”

I nodded regretfully. “And locking ourselves in a known place makes us easy targets. No. Next plan.”

Megan looked around, her forehead crinkling delightfully as she thought. “We could borrow the money for the repairs? If I use Written in the Stars as collateral, I’d probably get enough.”

“But we’d not be able to pay it back. You would lose the shop and everything in it.”

“We’d be alive.”

“No.” I glowered at her. “You have lost enough already. I will not be the reason you lose your book collection, too.”

A blush spread over her cheeks, and she looked away. “Okay, but that leaves us back at square one. How about we harness Nebula to your ship and let her tow us to another star system?”

I laughed. “Wonderful plan, with only a few minor drawbacks to iron out. Such as Nebula’s inability to fly in a vacuum, or to survive in one.”

“We don’t know that. I haven’t tried putting her in space—”

“Even if she can, she doesn’t fly fast enough. We’d be adrift for a thousand years.”

Megan’s mischievous expression was unrepentant. “But that’s perfect! I’ve always wanted to be one of those mysterious artifacts explorers stumble on.”

I tried to keep a straight face, but it was impossible. Burying my face in my hands, I asked the Void for strength.

“We’ll call that Plan Z, shall we? We can try it if everything else has failed. For now, though, we need a Plan A.”

Megan nodded, her expression sobering. “Or at least a Plan C.”

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