Page 22 of The Space Traveller's Lover
“Ah! you can see now into our infrared band!” Rothwen exclaims, his heartbeat racing in sheer expectation. All that he meticulously planned and hoped for is now only two steps away. “The towers?” he asks, appearing somewhat indifferent, “they are our robotics workshops.” Then, pointing ahead, he proudly adds, “We are going into the dome!”
Erin smiles as she looks back at Rothwen, relieved that, at last, their destination is within reach. Still, his hot-blooded yearning gaze pierces like a dagger right through her heart. The charged air sparkles as they keep staring at each other in an alluring hypnotising spell.
“Can I kiss you?” he whispers.
Her eyes glaze with uncontrolled desire as their lips are drawn to each other, fusing their bodies in a long-awaited kiss.
“I never felt like this before.” She gasps through a short pause, her pupils darting back and forth, longing for more.
“Me neither,” he admits.
“Rothwen, it feels like we’re meant to be together.”
“Every time you pass through one of our gates, Shaillah, you get closer to me,” he boasts, and then he kisses her for even longer, even more passionately.
The taste of him reminds her of her favourite cinnamon flakes; she engulfs herself in his sweetened musk, squeezing his face to make sure she is not dreaming.
A sudden jolt makes them break apart as the whole tunnel starts to vibrate with a humming sound.
“What’s that?” She asks, startled.
“Our second gate has arrived. It’s one of our scouting crafts,” he replies as Erin notices the arrowhead-shaped craft rising from the bottom of the tunnel, its orange spotlights continually flashing.
“Now, once inside our scouting-craft, you will be wholly within our environment. Then there’s one more gate to go. And we can celebrate your first successful transition.” He announces, his voice barely concealing his excitement.
The panel under their feet slides open, and they both fall into their seats. As the craft exits from the vertical tunnel and shoots towards the glistening, imposing compound, Shaillah expectantly looks ahead through the transparent deck while Rothwen keeps checking on her.
Well, it was sometimes frightening, but I’ve made it here, she thinks, feeling pleased with herself.
“You made it here because you are a Rom-Ghenshar,” Rothwen says.
Erin gives Rothwen a puzzled look, then frowns. She finds it both surprising and annoying that he knows exactly what she is thinking.
So, I am now a Rom-Ghenshar. Why did this happen?she thinks.
“It happened because I made it happen,” he boasts.
“Are you spying on my thoughts?” she protests.
“We all interconnect via our thoughts—on our fine-tuned brain network,” he explains to an increasingly frustrated Erin. “We can control their frequency and intensity, even choosing when to turn them off and on.”
“So that’s how you’re controlling me, is it?” she grumbles as she wriggles on her seat.
But Rothwen holds her arms down, keeping her firmly in her place. “It is how it is,” he bluntly replies, his eyes flashing in a warning glare. “You’ll get to know how it works … very soon. Don’t move.”
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” she resignedly tilts her head back.
Suddenly, she hears a constant buzzing inside her head, getting louder and louder. Her forehead throbs with an intense quickening pulse; she closes her eyes tightly, feeling her head spinning in a dizzying whirl. She presses her hands firmly over her ears as they pop and feel as if about to burst with a high-pitched whistling sound.
Rothwen keeps a close impatient watch on her. He knows this passage will be swift, but it’s the most dangerous yet. Any second now, he will know whether the third and final step has succeeded, and with its success will come Shaillah’s first transition into his world.
As the intense humming finally disappears, an uncanny sense of tranquillity runs through her entire body. She feels as if she’s in a completely different state of mind, calmed and self-assured. She slowly looks back at Rothwen, and their eyes lock in flares of relief, triumph, and joy.
That was the third gate, Shaillah. She hears Rothwen’s voice clearly inside her head, but she is sure Rothwen did not open his mouth.You’ve joined our brain network. Your brain has successfully tuned into our high frequencies. Only we, Rom-Ghenshars, can connect to this network.
As Erin realises that she can clearly understand what he’s thinking, she feels overjoyed by her new powers.
I can read your thoughts. She relishes her newly found ability, her face glowing with a satisfied smile.
