Page 18 of Scars & Starlight
What’s causing her discomfort?
MISMATCH IN PERCEPTUAL TELEMETRY. BIOCHEMICAL PURGE RESPONSE INITIATED.
There is no biochemical threat. Abort the process. Log the conditions. Suppress response in future instances.
COGNITIVE-SENSORY DESYNCHRONIZATION NEUTRALIZED.
Tara slowly lifts her head, her brown tresses parting to show wide-eyed awe on her beautiful face.
“Oh my god,” she breathes. “I’m less nauseous by the second.” She faces me with a wide grin. “I could kiss you!”
Her face turns scarlet, and if we didn’t have a similar response to embarrassment, I’d be worried all over again. Knowing the cause, though, I smirk, resting my eyes on her plush-looking lips.
“You could?” I ask, pitching my voice low. “Why don’t you–”
The Talon’s artificial intelligence speaks over me: “Landing system activated.”
I’m setting fire to this ship as soon as we land.
Tara watches as her camp grows larger, a sad expression on her face.
“What’s the matter, Princess?” I ask her, thoughts about kissing forgotten for the moment.
She waves me off. “I’m just being silly.”
When the Talon touches down on Earth’s soil, I reach out to place a hand on her shoulder. “Then be silly with me,” I prompt, smiling at her when our eyes meet. Her cheeks color again, this time less violently.
“I was just thinking… what if they think I’m dead? That I fell off the cliff like Stacy almost did. What if they held a funeral for me along with Micah’s?” When I don’t immediately respond, her flush deepens, and she looks at her lap. “I’m just stupid.”
I gently tip her chin up with my fingers. “From what I’ve seen, you’re far from stupid,” I tell her when she gives me her soft-brown eyes again. “I want to hear all your thoughts, no matter how silly you fear them to be. They’re what makes you who you are.”
Her mouth opens slightly, and she visibly hesitates. Seemingly coming to a decision, she swallows hard. “Are you this nice to every alien female you meet on Ghorvek-infested planets?” she asks quietly.
I smile, seeing an opportunity to divulge my interest in her specifically. That’s when one of the humans’ bullets hitsthe Talon’s armored exterior with a soft plinking sound. I sigh and give her shoulder one last squeeze before turning to the console. With an internal command, I bring up displays of the Talon’s surroundings, then hit a button and tip my head in Tara’s direction. “Your voice will carry outside now. Tell them to stand down.”
She blinks a few times, looking at the humans pointing their weapons at us, and probably trying to come to grips with the ever-changing circumstances she finds herself in.
“Um...” she stutters. “It’s me, guys, Tara. Don’t shoot.” She nods to herself, then her eyes open wide. “Oh, and I’m not a zombie, but there’s going to be an alien with me.”
Though the humans exchange perplexed looks, they eventually lower their guns slightly, obviously still prepared to fire at us at a moment’s notice. I grit my teeth – I hate putting Tara into danger. Even though I saw she’s clearly capable of taking care of herself, she doesn’t have a nano-exoskeleton with deflecting shields. I need to convince her to allow her nanites to self-replicate and install the ports on her neck. Thinking of her in the skin-tight armor makes my pants feel tight around the crotch, and I shift in my seat. I’m not sure how I’m going to survive working closely with her once she’s actually equipped with the suit.
“Are you ready?” I ask softly, mindful of her fears over her comrades’ reactions.
Tara takes a deep breath before nodding in one sharp movement. She stands up and brushes her hands against the pants of her overalls, then turns to the exit.
“I’m going first,” she says.
“Absolutely not,” I retort, shaking my head. If some scared human’s shaky trigger finger unleashes projectiles in our direction, they’ll hit me, not my vulnerable match.
She rolls her eyes at me and puts her hands on her hips. “What do you think will happen if you go out first? They’re going to think you faked my voice to get them to drop their guard and shoot at you!”
“Then they’ll shoot at me,” I say, shrugging. “Your handheld weapons can’t hurt us.” I turn the nano shield around me opaque for a moment so it catches the light from the Talon’s consoles. Tara’s lips part into a small circle of surprise, and I’m back to thinking about kissing her. I’m locked in her orbit, and I don’t care to ever escape.
She doesn’t reply, and I take it to mean that the matter is settled. I release Kiko from the AU compartment, and he rolls out, instantly going to Tara’s side. The two quickly became inseparable. As we reach the exit, I open a small-weapons compartment to take out a neural interference gun. It can be set to induce paralysis or, if need be, neutralize a target by essentially cooking their brain from a distance. I attach it to my utility belt – it wouldn’t do to come out pointing it at the humans. As I said, they can’t hurt me, and I won’t allow them to hurt my princess.
The Talon opens with a hiss of hydraulics as I carefully step in front of a pale Tara. She must be really nervous about how her people will react to seeing me with her. Well, they’ll have to get used to it. I’m never leaving her side.
“Halt,” a clear, male voice says. The word carries without him having to shout – this is someone used to giving orders and having them heard. I raise my hands to show they’re empty. Tara taps my shoulder, but I refuse to move aside and expose her.
