The brief exchange I had with the alien did little to dispel the silence between us. As the awkward silence protracted, I stole furtive glances at him. His eyes were glued to me. Every time I’d look his eyes were there. Doesn’t he have any shame? Just blatantly staring at me in front of Ruiz.
I busied myself fiddling with a stub of thick skin on the side of the nail on my thumb. Really serious work, I could be busy for the next hour or two, maybe for as long as the negotiation lasted today just trying to get it short enough to not be a bother. Maybe the alien—
“Lao’k.”
I looked up, Captain Ruiz’s head spun between us, eyes filled with suspicion and annoyance. The confusion on my face must have annoyed Ruiz more as his lip turned up in disgust. Had he and the alien—
“Lao’k.”
Ruiz stood up, his hand twitched and hoovered away from his body awkwardly before he decided on a different action. He straightened up and turned to me. “Don’t make me brig you.”
“What am I being thrown in the brig for?” My voice broke at the end.
“Not following orders.”
“I haven’t said anything to the alien!”
“Lao’k.”
He was annoying. I clicked my tongue flashing the alien a glare. His face was serene, innocent like he hadn’t been stirring things up. I snapped at him. “What’s your problem? Why do you keep repeating your name?”
This alien—
“Lao’k.”
I bared my teeth at him. Ruiz grabbed my arm drawing my attention back to him. “What orders have I broken?!” I barked.
“Telepathy with the councillor.” he squeezed my arm.
“We are not!” Ruiz had a solid grip on me, I couldn’t free my arm no matter how I wrestled to go get free. In the blink of an eye, the alien was off the stool and towering over Ruiz, murder raged in the pits of his silver eyes. “He’s just saying his name for no reason.” I said breathlessly.
Ruiz cast his own threatening glare at the alien, “Back up.”
I hope they don’t kill each other. The alien—
“Lao’k.” The alien turned to me. He had that stern look on his face a parent makes when trying to correct a defiant toddler. I looked up at him dubiously.
Alien.
“Lao’k.”
Alien.
“Lao’k.”
“Alien.”
“Lao’k.”
I gave a forced laugh slumping onto the bunk and out of Captain Ruiz’s hold. “You couldn’t use your words to say you wanted me to think of you by your name? Congratulations councillor, you almost got me thrown in the brig.” Propping my elbow on an knee I rubbed a thumb between my brows. “Okay, Lao’k.”
I could feel his smile. The last five minutes had been tumultuous, a pressure was building just over my eyes. “What do you want from me?”
“For us to know each other.”
“What do you want to know?”
“You.”
“I’m a farmer. My parents are farmers. I grew up on the farm. We grow crops for food.” I took a breath, the pressure over my eyes was getting worse. “I’m expanding our operations to Mars to grow crops for the relocating population. Right now, I have a headache.” I peered at him irritably through squinted lids.
When he didn’t respond I closed my eyes, continuing to press the point between my brows as I waited. I heard shuffling then felt fingers on my temple. The fingers worked a slow circular motion round my temples. After a minute or two the pressure had subsided. I raised my head gave a weak smile and forced out the words, “Thank you.”
“I am not here to take you away from your life Alei, only to become part of it.”
My brows furrowed at the mention of my name.
“Alei Bronwen dead at thirty-two. She was—”
“Okay! I know now.”
A smile tugged at his lips, not in the same way as before. It had a knavish curl at the very corner of his mouth.
“If you’re not taking me away to your planet, then you’re staying here?”
“Yes. It would be pointless to take you back.”
Laok went on to explain that I would not survive the trip back to their planet. While their technology was more advanced than ours, the journey from their world to Sol was longer than a human life. Their ship could travel at the speed of light, but even so, the trip would be too long.
“Where is your planet?”
“Five hundred and eighty years away.”
They’d been in space for almost six hundred years, didn’t they get tired of it? How’d their food last that long? Where did they get fuel and air from? Six hundred years with the same people, especially Klein, I’d go crazy. He really is over three thousand years old.
“What’s it called?”
“Althesia.”
I nodded knowingly. I’d never heard the name before, not that I think the names previous era scientists gave to planets would be the same that their inhabitants gave them. I couldn’t think of any planets that far away. After the twenty thirty and the Luna wars we had lost a lot of records, especially about space and what’s out there. While we were fighting almost to the point of extinction, they were on their way to look for wives. They’d have come to a dead world if the UEG hadn’t stopped the Lunarians. Lao’k pulled me into an embrace. He took several deep breaths in my hair then kissed my forehead before releasing me.
Captain Ruiz’s comm beeped, on the line was Klein his tone was both angry and panicked. He demanded to know what had happened between Lao’k and I, as the Alythes were upset and had demanded to know about the twenty thirty and Luna wars. As Ruiz began to relay our conversation Lao’k cut him off.
“Forgive us,” Lao’k said looking at Ruiz. “Alei was pitying our plight when her thoughts touched on your wars.” Lao’k raised his hand to stop Ruiz’s accusatory glare towards me. “It was not telepathy. She has the ability to communicate like your comm device, but has no control over it and when it happens, it is the equivalent of shouting across a room, only my species can hear it.”
“The common channel?” Klein inquired over the comm.
“Yes.”
I pursed my lips, pulling the bottom between my teeth. He didn’t even need to read my mind, if I was always shouting it for them to hear. Is he hearing my thoughts now? Do they hear all my thoughts? Unease rose in my chest like a weighted balloon, getting higher until it got stuck in my throat.
“I can instruct you on how to use the common channel.” Lao’k said as he raised my hand to his lips.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIKD498Gbd
and then Add to home screen.