Page 101 of Tempted by Celestial Bodies

“Captain Drae and unidentified passenger,” the ’bot said, in the same tone I imagined it used for everything, including apparently to announce miracles. “We have reached Ymar II.”

Was I alive? Was I dreaming? And most importantly, did Gen still live? I almost feared looking at her—but when I did, her red-rimmed eyes blinked blearily up at me. The slow beating of her heart and her raspy breathing were the sweetest sounds I’d ever heard.

I took her face in my hands and kissed her. What the Ymarians thought of me and the sparkling dust that had spread to every surface in the cabin, I had no idea, and I did not care.

“Captain Drae,” the ’bot repeated. Was I imagining it, or did it sound impatient? “The commanding officer of the Ymarian rescue team requests a report.”

“Mechabot.” Gen’s weak voice still carried the undercurrent of deadly danger that made my hearts race. “If you don’t give us a damn minute to celebrate the fact we’re alive, so help me I will sell you for scrap.”

“Understood, Captain.” The robot retreated hastily, along with the Ymarian medics. Even if they hadn’t understood her words, her tone needed no translation.

Gen and I stared at each other.

“What you said—” she began.

“Nothing has changed,” I told her. “I meant what I said. Wherever you go, I go, if you will have me. Maybe we can seek the answers together.”

“Okay.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “My ship isn’t salvageable, is she?”

“I don’t think so.” I rested my forehead on hers. “I’m sorry. But we are alive.”

“One out of two ain’t bad.” Gen looked up at me with defiance and tears shining in her beautiful blue eyes. “I am going to get emotional about this for exactly forty-five seconds. And if you ever tellanyone, especially that damn robot, I will?—”

“I know.” I kissed her again and sucked gently at her lower lip, which trembled. “My bloody, twitching corpse goes straight out the nearest airlock.”

“One hundred percent,” she said.

Before the Ymarian medics and Mechabot returned, she’d already let me kiss her tears away.

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