Page 78 of Across The Stars
My words were growing heated, but I was scared out of my mind. Saying the word “breeding” out loud really put everything in perspective, too. Was that really why we’d surged? Did I want that? Did Vahko? And now I was even more upset about Sam. She didn’t tell me she’d been attacked. She was probably terrified and to know I was off somewhere fucking an alien was awful. I felt like the worst friend in the world. Combing my fingers through my hair, I began to pace.
“This is a lot,” I said under my breath.
“Innifer…”
“No, I can’t deal with this. I’m nobody. I have no skills useful to space people. No desirable qualities. How the hell did I get here?”
“Innifer,” he said louder, grabbing my arm and turning me to face him. “Look at me. I won’t let them touch you or Sam. Andyouare the desirable quality. You.”
“What, because I’m good breeding material?” I rolled my eyes.
“No. If that was all it was, I would not want to be around you for any other reason than to breed.”
Slowly, I let his tone douse the fire in me. “You… you want to be around me for other reasons?” I said shyly.
“Strangely, I do.”
I wanted to slap him for saying “strangely,” but his words were too sweet to raise a hand.
“Ok,” I said, taking a deep, soothing breath. “So, what now? How can I help? What do we do?”
He had that look again like he thought his next words would upset me.
“I’m heading to the labs to let them do some tests. Being the first valerian to surge in a long time, I’m volunteering for studies. They’d like you to come, too.”
I nodded. “Right. Ok. Yeah.”
“Are you feeling up to it?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Not really…
I hated needles and doctors and anything of the sort, but I had nothing else to do and part of me was anxious to find answers, too.
As I suspected, Sam wasn’t talking to me. I hated it. The next day, Vahko took me to get some food before subjecting me to tests. He was good at reading what I needed, for the most part. He was more attentive than I was, that was for sure.
The laboratories weren’t just a walk away, either, so I had some time to be overly anxious. He led me to a transport station near the commons where he typed something onto a small, glass panel standing on its own at the edge of the walkway. Shortly after, some kind of hover craft slid up and parked in front of us. There were about six seats, but only the two of us boarded. From another glass panel inside the craft, Vahko swiped through a menu of options and chose one that I assumed was the labs. The craft started moving at a steady pace along what I gathered was a magnetic track and as we moved, I started to get a better idea of my surroundings. I hadn’t seen most of Sikai since I arrived andsuddenly reality was slapping me on the chin again. The place was big. Like, an entire city kind of big and I realized I had been staying in just one city block of it.
Tall buildings came into view when we exited the block. They were narrow and reflective, reaching toward the low-hanging clouds. More hover crafts zoomed by us as we traveled, all filled with one to six passengers. I noticed a couple of buildings were under repair and wondered if that was from the attack or from something else.
Then, as a further reminder that I was not on Earth, giant, winged creatures were flying in the distance. I couldn’t quite make out the details from where we were, but they were definitely some kind of animal. Since no one seemed worried about them, I didn’t want to worry either, but I couldn’t believe I was seeing alien creatures.
Jesus, nothing was ever going to be the same again. Even if I returned to Earth and was stuffed in a prison cell, nothing would be the same. I will have seen another planet. I will have survived multiple alien attacks. And now I’d seen not one, but two alien races. It was so overwhelming to think and, glancing at Vahko, I wondered if I would be able to leave and live out the rest of my days in prison after all I’d seen and done. Life would be so dull. Duller than when I was a stripper with nothing to my name because now I’d seen how colorful the world truly was.
When we arrived at a sleek, domed building with silver walls, the craft stopped and Vahko hopped off. I stepped down on the other side and joined him to headed inside. Nervousness made palms sweat. I folded my arms over myself when we stepped into the cool interior of the building through the sliding doors.
The lobby was all slick silver and black metal with no sofas like in a doctor’s office from Earth. Of course, we weren’t in a doctor’s office. We were in a lab. Vahko led me through the big foyer to a narrow hallway and then to another sliding door wherea pair of women in white dresses turned to greet us. They were beautiful in their alien way. One was a pale green, her silver hair piled in three tight buns down the middle of her head. The other was a bluish-white with darker tips on her graceful crown, but her color paled when we entered. I had noticed that some valerians’ crowns stood taller while others, like Vahko’s, swept back along the scalp. Both were oddly beautiful, but I wondered if it had something to do with age. Or maybe it was no more significant than the shape of someone’s ears.
The two women exchanged words with Vahko in their language and Vahko translated, instructing me to sit on a metal chair in the middle of the room. It didn’t exactly look inviting, but I did it. Mostly because there was another chair beside me where Vahko sat down to get tested as well. Then, the two women went to work.
They took a piece of my hair. A swab of spit. Then, my least favorite, a sample of blood. The woman tending to me was quick to deliver the jab, finding my vein with unusual ease. She didn’t even warn me, but that was fine. If she had, I might have been more anxious. Looking over at Vahko, he was getting his blood taken, too, staring up at the ceiling like he had a lot on his mind. Of course, he did. I did, too, but the biggest thing on my mind was him.
“What are you thinking?” I whispered to Vahko.
His eyes shifted toward me. “It’s hard to settle long enough on one thing to give you a clear answer.”
I knew that feeling. I took some meditative breaths and shifted a little in the chair, trying to get comfortable.
