Page 43 of Across The Stars
“I suppose if you really want to surpass any prologued processes, you could just tell your sister we’re coming in with the woman you surged with. I’m sure she could—”
“No.”
Solukh let out a grunt and flipped back around. “Well, since we’re both up here, might as well pull up a view of the infirmary so our strays don’t get into trouble.”
Sly bastard.
He swiped a small section of the digital screen up into the middle of the room, displaying footage of the med bay right in front of me. I couldn’t help but look. I saw Innifer on the floor with her nauseous friend, favoring her injured leg. Evenwith what could have been a severe wound, she was caring for someone else. It was an admirable trait that I had found many humans possessed, even if they had to sacrifice their own needs.
It wasn’t very logical, but it was one of the few things about humans that intrigued me. They could be selfish, and many of them were, but some seemed so stupidly generous at times.
I liked it.
I watched her stroke the small one’s hair and pat her back and soon found myself enamored by the sight of her. Her hair had come loose partway from the band that kept it up and she had sweat glistening on her brow, but she was still beautiful.
Beautiful. It was strange to think of her as beautiful, but I couldn’t help thinking it.
When I realized how long I was looking, I diverted my gaze.
Staring out into the rippling blackness ahead, I still couldn’t stop thinking about her. I remembered details about her body that I shouldn’t have after only a few brief encounters. Her body was long and slender. Her skin fair and her legs strong. And her eyes were a rich honey brown with green around the edges and pale-yellow flecks in the center, which was a rare color among my species. I enjoyed the subtle curves of her mouth and the slight upturn of her nose. Actually, I was upset that I liked the sight of her at all. Unfortunately, my body was quite excited to know I couldn’t get her out of my head and that was going to make things complicated.
Glancing back at the infirmary footage, I noticed that the jump was making the girls react. Valerian jumps were different than what the humans installed in their ships and they’d both been through a lot already. Being sick and wounded made for a bad combination. I watched Innifer stand up and grip the counter. Stupid idea. Then, she toppled over onto the ground, unconscious. I was out of my chair before I could even think.
“Sjak,” I hissed.
20: Innifer
I limped carefully over to Sam and knelt by her side. She was shivering. I was cold myself—now that Vahko had left the room—but I knew losing blood could do that. Perhaps the ship was cold, too, but I couldn’t be sure. I touched Sam’s shoulder and spoke softly.
“Sam?” I said.
She moaned, rolling over and letting her limbs fall like noodles around her.
“I feel like shit,” she groaned. “Are we there yet?”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. Anywhere. Where are we?”
She looked like she’d been out drinking all night. Her face glistened with a thin layer of sweat and she was chalky in color. Maybe I was, too. I wasn’t feeling too hot.
“Jesus,” I said. “You never told me you got so motion sick.”
“I forgot. I went on one ride when I was thirteen in one of those simulated pods and I puked all over my boyfriend. This is an awesome reminder that my stomach does not like to stay where it belongs. Also, I never thought I’d been jumping to lightspeed any time in my life. It sort of slipped my mind when we came to space.”
I scooted toward her, helping her into a sitting position with my injured leg outstretched so I didn’t strain it.
“So,” I said. “In case you can’t tell, we’re on a valerian ship.”
“What? You’re shitting me.”
“No. They saved us from those other aliens, except Quinn is gone and I almost bled to death.”
“What the fuck, Innifer!” Sam shout-whispered. “How did this happen?
I shook my head, rubbing my temples. “We’re in so much trouble.”
“So what are the valerian’s going to do with us?”
