Page 78 of Seeded By Two

Aslas looked at me with triumph on his face. “What did I say? Huh? I told you we should have chased her! And now she’s got cold feet and run off again!”

“No,” I snapped. “Waiting was the right decision last time. This time… I don’t know. It feels different somehow. We need to find her. Now.”

“There’s only one place she might have gone,” Aslas said.

And I knew it without him even having to say it but, being the Prince, he did so anyway:

“The dock!”

* * *

We raced down the hallways, this time not needing to guess which direction she might have gone.

Even if we were proven wrong and she hadn’t headed for the dock, it was still the place that possessed the greatest threat.

Her leaving.

Ships departed from the Facility every few hours, and Beth could jump on any one of them and return to the depot, and then on to her home planet.

If we turned out to be wrong and she had actually gone to a different part of the Facility, then all the better.

But we needed to check the dock first and ensure she wasn’t waiting — or worse, already departed — before we could even think about searching the rest of the building.

We reached the dock in what must have been record time.

Aslas’s clothes were still damp but his scales were already blasted dry from the wind that pressed against him as we sprinted down the infinite hallways.

I was already beginning to perspire from the exertion.

We skidded to a halt and peered at the females waiting at the next platform.

They were organized in small groups — no doubt from each Claiming.

Many wore the same distant expression; a small distracted smile on their lips, thinking over the past few days’ memories, their hands perched on their bellies, knowing (some alien species impregnated the females almost instantly) or at least confident they had been Seeded and would come down with child.

But among them, I did not spot Beth.

We raced along the platform and saw a single ship at the far end, its cooling jets firing in preparation to launch.

It was a standard chunky transporter, bold and round in design, sleek and relatively new.

We ran towards it and bolted down the fairway and onto the ship.

“Stay in the dock!” I yelled at Aslas. “One of us should stay behind in case she’s not on board the ship!”

“To hell with that!” Aslas snapped. “If someone should stay behind, it’s you!”

The hood covering the Prince’s face was dark with shadow but I could have read his expression as clearly as if it were open to the elements.

He would wear that stubborn, irritating expression, the one I had known since we were young boys, where he refused to quit or give up on the decision he had already made.

Trying to change his mind would be like swimming through space without a suit.

Impossible.

I growled as I turned and hurried onto the ship. “Fine!” I snapped. “But make yourself useful and check another aisle. Shout her name and don’t stop until we find her.”

The ship was surprisingly full.

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