Page 43 of A Mate For Matrix
He hadn’t… considered that. At all.
Reproducing. With Jana.
She could be… already… breeding. Right now.
Matrix groaned and ran a hand down his face. “I need to talk to her.”
“You think?” K-Nine muttered.
A sharp chime interrupted them as the navigation panel pulsed red. Matrix turned, grateful for the distraction—and mildly alarmed.
“We’re approaching the jump point,” K-Nine reported. “The gate is activating.”
Matrix tapped the internal comms. “Jana, we’re about to make the jump. I need you on the bridge.”
“On my way!” came her cheerful reply.
She appeared a minute later, a vision of cozy domestic chaos. Honey was draped over her shoulder like a purring stole while Butter chased Biscuit in wild figure-eights around her boots. Her cheeks were flushed from exertion—or laughter.
“You rang, Captain?” she asked, smiling.
Matrix’s heart thudded.
K-Nine released a low growl. The two trailing kittens skidded to a stop, then dashed behind Jana’s legs like soldiers retreating to safety.
“You’re terrifying,” Jana scolded playfully.
“Good,” K-Nine replied. “Fear inspires obedience.”
Matrix bit back another smile and turned his attention to the console as the gate’s energy signature pulsed across the viewscreen.
“Sit, strap in, and hold on,” he murmured. Once she’d done so and gathered the kittens into the special carriers they’d designed for this, he said, “Engaging in three… two… one…”
The ship shuddered.
The lights dimmed, as they always did during a jump. Space seemed to bend, folding in on itself like origami. The stars vanished, swallowed by the spiraling ribbon of energy ahead.
But something was off.
The hum deepened. Shifted.
An alarm shrieked to life.
“Disruption in the gate’s energy signature,” K-Nine barked, his head snapping up. “It’s… fluctuating!”
Matrix’s hands flew over the controls. “Attempting to compensate. Rerouting power. No response!”
“Matrix?” Jana asked, her voice tight.
He didn’t answer. Couldn’t.
The console flickered, systems cascading offline one after the other. A blinding burst of white surged across the view screen like a solar flare from the void.
“Brace for impact!” K-Nine roared.
There was a sound—high-pitched and unnatural, like a scream torn from the universe itself?—
And then:
