Page 67 of Guardian's Soul

I copied her move and saw that she was right. Besides some small differences, hers and mine seemed identical. "Do you know if they mean anything?"

"From what we learned, they're supposed to tell a story, but we haven't been able to figure it out yet." Nova filled me in.

I took my queue. "We?"

"There is Zoe and Raasla, Luph and Noodar and Vraax."

"Are Zoe and Luph… uhm… human too?"

"Zoe is." Nova nodded. "Luph is… Luph. Don't stare too much when you meet her, 'kay?"

Her accent was heavy, but it helped that I had an aunt in Alexandria whom we had visited frequently while I was growing up.

"Where are you from?" I asked, not wanting to talk about Luph too much. Her warning was already turning my stomach with anticipation.

"Louisiana," Nova replied.

"My aunt lived in Alexandria," I explained my curiosity, feeling a bit foolish but also antsy just at the thought of having something in common with her.

Her eyes flickered for just a moment. "I lived in Shreveport for a while. Before that, I grew up by Krotz Springs."

"Wow," I nearly squeaked. "What a small w—" I stumbled over the word.

"Universe, right?" Nova nodded.

"Are you ladies ready to see the others?" Zaarek asked.

"Uhm," all confidence I had gained in the last few minutes seemed to evaporate.

"Come on, you'll fit right in," Nova assured me, giving me agentle push. "Remember, just don't stare," she whispered in my ear.

Oh shit, great advice. It's right up there with don't push the red button.

This ship definitely seemed bigger than Thrax's. The walls were a different color, lighter, and the floor didn't seem as hard. "Luph just bought this ship. We needed a bigger one to accommodate all of us," Nova explained.

Thrax and Zaarek walked a few paces behind us in deep discussion. As much as I wanted to touch him to reassure myself, it would have been too obvious.

"It's… nice," I retorted.

We walked up a flight of stairs that could have been housed inside any fancy commercial building. Silver rails shimmered lightly, giving me the impression that they would probably illuminate at night. As a result of a nervous habit of mine, I counted fifteen steps on the way up, where the hallway split to the left, right, and straight ahead.

"Our quarters are this way." Nova pointed down to the right. "And our common break room is this way." She led me straight ahead.

I heard voices from farther down, and my edginess grew.Easy, Hannah, you've got this, I told myself. But it didn't work. These were most likely some of the most important people I would ever meet in my life, and I was nervous as hell. We were all going to work together for the foreseeable future, and it wasn't the kind of work you could simply quit. I wanted to like these people, and I wanted them to like me, too.

"Well, here they are." Nova pointed from one to the other. "Zoe, Luph, Noodar, Raasla, and Vraax."

Someone cleared their throat, and we turned toward a small alien, whom I instantly recognized as Nock.

"And Nock," Zaarek added dryly.

"Pleasure." Nock nodded with a wide grin.

"You are a genius," I blurted out. "You are the reason we found the others."

"Hah!" Nock threw a triumphant glare at Zaarek, who looked heavenward as if praying for strength.

All right, I took a deep breath to look back at the women.Don't stare, don't stare, don't stare. I plastered a smile on my face, ready to shake hands with them when first Zoe and then Luph enveloped me into a big bear hug.

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