Page 66 of Sunastara & the Venusian
he asked.
Chan,bless him, saved me from having to answer. “Good morning, everyone,” he said brightly. “Today is FFK day. I trust you all know your responsibilities?”
“Keeping trained killers from destroying our ship,” Rax muttered.
“Check,” Morgath replied, flicking a checkmark into the air with his finger.
The twins were armed to the teeth with nonlethals: flash grenades, chuck-cuffs, short-range jammers, paresis darts, sonic cannons. And some sort of massive laser gun thing I’d never seen before sat on the table in front of them. I didn’t even want to know what that was.
“Good morning.” The deep, commanding voice behind me snapped me out of my misery-haze, pulling me and everyone else at the table up to our full attention.
“Captain, Co-Captain,” Chan said, raising his hoverchair a few inches. “How wonderful to see you both this morning.”
“Excuse our intrusion,” Declan said. “We won’t take more than a moment of your time.” He didn’t wait for a response. “As you know, LunaCorp is sending Kravaxians to holiday with us today, and to train with some of you.”
Rax’s grumble earned a scathingare you kidding me right now?glare from Chan.
“We want you to know how important this visitation is for this ship, as well,” Declan continued, his tone level but his meaning as clear as flexGlass, “as for our employer. I have no doubt we will all treat our friends from Kravax with the professionalism and hospitality we are known throughout the KU for.” He looked directly at Rax and Morgath, and to their credit, they nodded, showing the captains the respect we all felt for them.
“We know there may be some reservations about this visit,” Isla added. “And we all have our own preconceived notions about Kravaxians. But Declan and I can assure you, there is nothing to worry about. These are not barbaric deep-space raiders. These are bright, dedicated beings who only want to move their planet into the thirty-first century. Thank you for all your hard work getting ready for this visit. I heard we were even able to secure a kurot.” With a smile, she winked at me. Likely noticing my current state of level-ten disaster, her brows pulled together when she said, “Prime work.”
And with that, the captains left as quickly as they’d arrived. But not before Isla gave me another concernedglance on her way out the door. Even though the nerves in the room seemed to settle in their wake, I was crawling out of my skin to be anywhere else.
I commed Elanie.
she asked, and if I hadn’t already been desperate to bolt, the sympathy in Elanie’s voice would have done the trick.
It was a relief, the snark I knew and loved.
Rubbing my palm into my sternum again, wondering if I should see Dr. Semson because this amount of chest pain couldn’t be good, I commed,
When Chan called an end to the meeting, I stood, turned, and tried my hardest not to race for the door.
“Wait,” Freddie said, hot on my heels. “Sunny, wait.”
Because I couldn’t just run away, I slowed, stopped, turned around. Staring at my shoes, I said, “Hello, Freddie.”
“I need to explain,” he said. “This morning. You caught me off guard. But I can?—”
I raised my eyes, and then I raised my hand to cut him off. Because if he thoughthe’dbeen caught off guard?—
“Sunny.” Elanie appeared at my side. “There’s an emergency situation at the main deck buffet that requires yourimmediate attention,” she said, repeating my request verbatim and without inflection, just like the half robot she was. I should have asked for Tig’s help instead.
Freddie’s shoulders sank. “An emergency,” he said, defeat in his voice, in his expression, knowing it was a lie, knowing I’d asked Elanie to save me from having to talk to him.
Daring to meet his eyes, I said, “I’m sorry, Freddie. I have to go.”
He reached for me, but when I took a step back, his hand fell to his side. “Can we talk later? Please, Sunny. Give me a chance.”
I nearly caved right there, nearly buckled under the weight of his sincerity. “Let’s get through the Kravaxians,” I said, because then I’d be through the anniversary too. Then I wouldn’t be so weak. “Then we can talk.”
