Page 94 of Malliko
I laughed. “Yes. Exactly like a team. That would be more than I could have ever imagined.”
“If we can make that happen, it would be a miracle,” he said, turning a bit more serious. “But I still think we should apply and see what happens.”
“Me too.” I showed him my crossed fingers and planted a hard kiss on his lips. “I’ll have to be able to visit my boys and keep in touch with my family.”
“Understood. I feel the same way about my family.”
We just stared at each other for a long moment, I then I breathed in wonder, “Are we really doing this? Choosing to be a couple?”
Malliko blinked his eyes. “It sounds strange when you say it like that because I’ve never been in a relationship like the ones you have here. But the alternative of going on living without you seems a million times scarier.”
I felt emotional as I nodded and held a hand to my chest. “Right now, I feel so much love for you.”
“You do?” He looked to my chest as if my love was visible somehow. “Are you saying that you love me?”
I nodded. “Right now, it feels like my love for you is bigger than anything I’ve ever experienced romantically, but it might just be infatuation. We won’t know until we’ve been together longer.”
“How does it feel?” he asked.
“Like I can’t get enough of you. Like I’m the luckiest person in the Universe to be with you. Just looking at you makes me feel all gooey and soft inside.”
Malliko couldn’t stop smiling when he rolled me to my back with him on top of me. “I can help with that. I have something hard that can stiffen your soft insides.”
We laughed and kissed before making love for the umpteenth time.
CHAPTER 29
Into Space
Malliko
Ten days ago, I had submitted an official request to be with Clara. Today, we had been summoned for an interview with representatives from the Cultural Committee. I knew few details except that I was to bring Clara with me to the research ship. Tania stood outside the shuttle, next to her car, looking like a worried sister with deep frown lines on her face. On the drive here, she had warned Clara that flying into space wasn’t like commercial flights on Earth.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Clara as I strapped her into the space shuttle.
She looked pale and frightened but nodded with determination on her face.
Strapping myself in, I gave Cacala a nod that we were ready. The machine roared to life as she prepared the shuttle to embark on our journey out in space. I held Clara’s hand and gave her a comforting smile, understanding that to her this was scary, overwhelming, and exciting at the same time.
Cacala gave me a look of concern when she saw the way Clara closed her eyes and squeezed my hand when we took off at high speed. It didn’t take long before Clara’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she passed out.
“Clara,” I touched her face, terrified that she wasn’t breathing.
“It happens often with humans. She’ll wake up soon. Just be ready with the bag because this type of flying makes them sick,” Cacala advised me.
Sure enough Clara came back around and with her face pale and her eyes revealing how miserable she felt, she opened her mouth and emptied her stomach into the bag I held to her mouth.
“See, I told you,” Cacala said. “I learned it the hard way and now I always have bags for my human passengers.”
“Have you had many human passengers?”
She smiled. “I’ve had two and both were military personal of high rank. I can’t tell you how excited I am to meet a real human female.” Turning to face Clara, Cacala grinned wide. “I’ve got a million questions and so does everyone back at the ship. There was a real buzz of excitement when we heard that Malliko was bringing a woman.”
Reaching for the bag, Cacala disposed of it and handed Clara a new one. “Are you feeling better?”
Holding her hand, I could tell it was clammy and that she still wasn’t feeling great, but Clara nodded. “Yes. A little.”
“We’ve all heard stories about humans that sound too extreme to be true.” As the shuttle barreled through the atmosphere, Cacala's mind was clearly filled with questions about Clara and what it was like to be human.
