Page 6 of Shadows of Stardust

The second guard joins in his laughter, and a brief list of all the ways I could make it so neither of them would ever laugh again flits through my mind.

But they’re not worth it.

None of this is worth it.

There’s nothing on this beach, nothing on this entire planet, worth the energy of caring enough to react. Instead, I turn myattention back to the contestants, back to the human and her nervous gaze.

Only… not so nervous this time.

The human’s brow is lowered, her eyes focused, her lips set into a slight frown. I track her gaze, watching it move from the guard nearest the foot of the stage, to the assembled crew, and then to the line of the high metal fence ringing the space.

No panic in that gaze, no nerves. Nothing but a slow, careful, methodical study of her surroundings.

Until her study leads her to me.

A stutter, in all of that focus. A widening of her eyes and a parting of her lips as she looks me up and down.

When she averts her gaze to contemplate her own feet, there are little patches of color on her pale skin. Even from as far away as I’m standing, I can see the rise and fall of her shoulders grow more rapid with increased respiration.

Fear?

I add another line item to my growing list. Tonight, when my shift ends, I’ll comb the comms networks for any available research on her species. Perhaps there might be some information on the biologic tells of human emotion.

Bounding up onto the stage, Mate Match’s esteemed host—Geeno—begins his opening monologue about the cast, the beach, the quest for finding a mate.

Geeno’s a tall, distinguished Jurvian in his later years. His faintly iridescent skin is tanned to a deep golden color, and he has silver threaded through his thick black hair. A showman through and through, I do my best to shut out his grandstanding and dramatics as I turn my focus back to the human.

She’s got her own stare squarely fixed on Geeno, and I almost write off her earlier behavior as simple disorientation at being in a new environment, when she looks at me again.

She flinches to find me staring right back.

I still don’t know how to read her soft, rounded features, but if I was a betting male, I would wager it’s guilt I see there. Guilt and discomfort over being caught doing something she shouldn’t, for whatever reason compels her to make a study of the show’s crew and defenses.

The file expands.

More notes, more questions, the undeniable prick of excitement at having a mystery to unravel, and the simultaneous hesitation of knowing I’m likely inventing a problem where there isn’t one.

The two halves of my psyche battle one another.

The more reasonable half would have me drop this, abandon whatever madness kicked up at the sight of this little human soldier and her wide, nervous eyes.

The deeper, darker half knows there’s something here. Something my instincts won’t let me ignore. Something that’s already filling all those mental ledger lines with observances and theories.

And I know which half is going to win.

A compulsion, this need to investigate, to compile and analyze, to assess and act, and yet I can’t stop myself.

This human is a mystery to unravel, a puzzle to solve, and I intend to be the one to learn all her secrets.

Geeno finishes his speech, and the crew starts to move. Our morning briefing noted the contestants are slated to go from the opening scene staging to their accommodations on the beach.

I start moving as well.

The cast has to access the beach through a small break in the jungle surrounding the landing strip, and I position myself right at the mouth of that gap.

Standing sentry, arms folded, looking for all the world that I’m doing no more than what I’m being paid for, I wait.

Already, contestants are pairing off. Flirtatious sidelong glances turn into introductions and murmured conversations as the group heads to their bungalows.

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