Page 83 of Across The Stars
“Issue? What, like I was a car accident and you don’t have insurance?” He furrowed his brows at me. “Never mind. My point is, I didn’t think this would happen, either. But I’m human and humans can’t disconnect like you clearly can. We slept together.Twice. We were blinded by whatever this surge thing is and neither of us thought about what could happen because of it. And I’m not even talking about babies. I’m talking about emotions. You’re messing with mine and I can’t take it. Am I really just a short little phase you had to get past so you could get back on your ship? You just needed to get me out of your system? Is that it?”
“If you’re not pregnant, you can return to the Nexus and whatever life you wanted when you left Earth. You’d be in control. You stay here and my people are liable to try and negotiate a way to keep you for observation. We’d own you and it would be for no other reason than for research. And you are more than that, Innifer. I know you are and I know you want to be.”
That sounded like a violation, but alien laws were different. How could I even begin to think I had rights on a different planet? And at that point, the Nexus would have no reason to want to take me back. I was just a criminal. A waste of space.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” was all I could say, dismissing everything else.
“You should be with your people. If things get ugly, they might evacuate the Nexus anyways. We’ve seen what the gek can do.”
“What would I even do on the Nexus? Pilot? I can’t do that. Stripper, remember?” I pointed at myself. “You think I had a plan when I left Earth? I didn’t have a plan.”
“So make one. You can do anything, Innifer.”
I wanted him to hold onto me. To fight to keep me, but all my hopes were dashed in that moment. Listening to him do his best to convince me to leave broke my heart.
“Just…” I stopped myself, pinching the bridge of my nose with my fingers. “Take me back. Take me back and leave me alone.”
I didn’t mean that. I really didn’t want him to leave me alone. I didn’t want him to ever leave me, but things were so twisted now. Imagining having babies with him because of some chemical reaction was making my head explode and then to hear him tell me he wouldn’t raise it and I wouldn’t have to either… shit, it made me so upset and I didn’t know why. And human experiments? Every alien horror movie I’d ever seen came to mind.
Vahko didn’t look pleased about what I said. His jaw muscles twitched before he raised his chin and nodded, his hands balled into fists at his sides. But if he was unhappy with his decision, I wanted him to say so. Instead, he just turned and headed back to the car. I wanted to stay out a little longer to collect myself, but the wind was brutal. I couldn’t hear my own thoughts. So, after a few deep breaths, I walked back and joined him, quietly sitting as we headed back to the outpost.
38: Innifer
When I arrived back at my room, I closed the door behind me before Vahko could enter and then collapsed on the bed like a teenager who’d just gone through her first breakup. I hadn’t cried the whole way back but once I was alone, tears just started flowing. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t stand. All the panic and confusion from the past week flooded through me and came pouring out in an embarrassing display of emotions that didn’t stop for a good hour.
When I’d finally stopped crying, I sat in bed, legs folded under me as I stared up at the ceiling. I heard my door hiss open and looked over to see Sam walking in, a sour attitude across her face until she saw my puffy, raw eyes. Her entire demeanor changed at that and she crawled onto the bed beside me.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, wrapping an arm around me. And that just made the tears return. I bent my head onto her shoulder and started crying again as she combed her fingers through my hair. “You crying over Vahko?”
“It’s everything,” I sobbed. “Our situation. Vahko. The freighter. Almost being kidnapped by gek. And now the Nexus is going to come and take us back.”
“Yeah, finally. I can’t wait to get off this planet and away from Solukh. And judging by your tears, I’m guessing you want to get away from Vahko, too.”
Wrong…
I raised my head, wiping my tears off my already stinging cheeks. “Two weeks,” I said. “They’re coming to get us in two weeks.”
“Two weeks? Why two weeks? Why not now?”
“Because,” I sniveled. “Vahko wants me to stay for a while to know whether or not I’m pregnant.”
“Preg… are you serious? Youactuallyslept together!?”
“Twice,” I blurted, burying my face in my hands.
“Are you… well… how was it?”
“Sam!”
“Sorry. Jeez, Innifer. An alien? Is it the surge thing?”
“You know about that?”
“Solukh talks a lot.”
“Well, it’s making us crazy, but clearly it’s just hormones because Vahko can’t wait to send me away.”
“And if you’re pregnant?”
