Page 21 of Love Galaxy

“I’ll go first,” Briar says, stepping away from her chair and closer to John Smith, trying to draw his attention from the other Females.

“No.” He does not look at her this time. Instead, he selects options in his datapad, evidently rearranging his schedule. “Harlee, then Lydia, Roan and Killan. You, Briar, will wait untiltomorrow morning. And so will you, Sorin. After that we’ll start making headway on the footage for episode 2. I’ll issue a task that I expect everybody to participate in. Filming?—”

“We have work.” That is Killan. His voice has taken on that deadly calm quality it only gets when he is so angry he is beyond yelling. I understand this. Had the decision been purely mine, John Smith would not be still standing in our kitchen. But Killan, like myself, is more concerned with the welfare of the Females than his own desires to vent his temper.

Now, I think, he argues with John Smith merely for resistance's sake, to feed that part of himself that wants to wrap his hands around John Smith’s throat and squeeze.

“Only if you complete tomorrow’s filming,” says John Smith.

If Killan answers, I do not hear. Briar is taking advantage of the commotion to sidle around the outside of the table, squeezing behind the occupied chairs, toward me.

“Hey.” She speaks softly.

“We can keep fighting.” I bow my head and lower my voice quiet so that nobody but Briar can hear. “John Smith is only one Male. We can force him to do as you wish.”

“Thank you.” She touches one of my upper arms, and tingles chase each other over my scales. I blink, surprised. I had not realized how sensitive to touch I could be.

“I hate admitting that I’m scared, but I am.” She winces, looking up at me. “I’m scared that if we keep fighting too loudly and too forcefully this whole situation will flare up into something bigger than we can control.”

“What do you meanwhat tasks?” John Smith snaps at Killan. “Haven’t you seen LOVE GALAXY before?”

“No.”

John Smith’s mouth opens, but for a second no sound comes out, as if he cannot process the idea of somebody not having watched his broadcast.

“How sure are you that Lydia, Harlee and I will be able to return home?” Briar asks, presenting the kitchen with her shoulder, her body angled toward me so that the closest cameras cannot easily see her face. “If Mr. Smith refuses to take us, that is.”

I wish I could tell Briar what she wants to hear. “It is not the availability of a ship which worries me. The coordinates may be harder to come by than the transport,” I confess. “Is Earth a member of the Interplanetary Guild?”

“What’s that? Like law enforcement?”

That is the answer I suspected. I hunch my shoulders, trying to remain inconspicuous. “Interplanetary law forbids anyone from making contact with planets where none of the species has developed complex space travel.”

“So Mr. Smith broke the law when he abducted Harlee, Lydia and me?” She does not sound surprised.

“Yes. In an attempt to stop such abductions, the Guild has ordered that the location of all barbarian planets not be displayed on Common star maps.”

There is a pause, as she processes everything I have said.

Yesterday, when she had been physically injured, I had known how to care for her wound. Here, faced with the very real possibility Briar may be wishing for something I cannot give her, a heaviness settles on my shoulders, and it feels suddenly as if I am trying to keep the whole world lifted.

“If that’s the case, then how did Mr. Smith even find Earth?” she asks.

“An accident is the most likely scenario,” I suggest. “Or—” I frown as a new thought occurs to me.

“Or?” Briar stands on her toes, raising her height a few inches. “What?”

“Or the data was leaked.” She is so much shorter than me, I could tuck her under my lower arms. A perfect fit.

“That can happen? Fuck!” At her exclamation, she claps a hand to her mouth, casting a glance over her shoulder, but nobody is paying us attention. Except for Roan, who is watching me with narrowed eyes, probably still angry that I did not tell him about my accidental first meeting with Briar yesterday.

“Who’d have such a grudge against Earth?” she asks, whispering again. “We haven’t even managed to leave our own solar system. I didn’t realize we’d pissed anyone off. Yet,” she adds, seemingly as an afterthought.

“I am speculating only.” I attempt what I hope is a reassuring tone.

Chair legs scrape against the flagstones and those remaining seated, stand.

“Harlee, Lydia,” John Smith is calling, wanting to be heard over the commotion of many people moving. “Come with me back to the ship. Killan and Roan, I expect to see you in one hour. Try, I beg of you, to think of intelligent answers to give.” He moves toward the staircase, Chloe and the other two Females following.

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