Page 49 of Solar Bound
Solar's hand found hers, his touch warm and reassuring. "I will not allow that to happen."
Something in his voice made her believe him. She watched him as he studied her skeleton. Despite everything, despite the absurdity of their situation and the danger they still faced, Dani felt safe with him. Which was ridiculous. They'd known each other for what? Less than a week? And yet there was something between them that transcended time. A connection that felt both terrifying and inevitable.
The healing beam completed its cycle and retracted into the ceiling. Dani sat up cautiously, testing her ankle. The pain was gone, replaced by a mild stiffness.
"Better?" Solar asked.
"Much." She flexed her foot, marveling at the technology that had healed in minutes what would have taken weeks on Earth. "So what now? We just hang out here until they fix their pod?"
Solar's expression turned grim. “That pod is not safe. During our Earth safety training, we had discussed plans to use dimensional fold technology. The extraction devices placed on the planet’s surface would create a temporary bridge between spatial coordinates. I believe the best Earth word is wormhole. Though these bridges are temporary and not as stable.”
"Attention passengers,” Gary's voice echoed through an intercom. “We're preparing for a hyperspace jump in approximately three minutes. Please secure all loose items, bodily appendages, and dimensional anomalies."
Solar helped Dani off the table just as the lights flickered. One of the walls began to flash, revealing a swirling vortex of colors that hurt her eyes to look at directly.
"What the hell is that?" she gasped as Solar pulled her toward the door.
"Interdimensional breach," he explained tersely. "Not lethal, but extremely disorienting if you're caught in it."
The door to the corridor slid open, and Solar practically pushed Dani through it. The medical bay behind them began to warp, the equipment stretching and contracting in impossible ways.
"Minor technical difficulties in the auxiliary medical unit," Bob announced as Solar sealed the door behind them. "Nothing to worry about unless you’re still in there."
"Nothing to worry about?" Dani echoed incredulously. "That room literally folded in on itself!"
Their alien hosts were nowhere to be seen. She might as well have been shouting into a vortex.
“Hold on to me,” Solar ordered. He pressed his body against hers like a shield and forced her back against the wall as he grabbed hold of a rail.
“What’s happening?” She wrapped her arms around his waist. The air felt charged with electricity, and a loud buzzing noise filled her ears.
"This is the safest position," he said, his voice low. "My energy can stabilize against spatial distortion."
Under different circumstances, Dani might have made a joke about his safest position comment, but the increasing vibrations throughout the ship kept her focused on more immediate concerns.
"Hyperjump in ten," Gary’s voice announced excitedly. "Nine. Eight…"
"Is this going to hurt?" Dani whispered, pressing closer to Solar's warmth.
"Seven. Six."
"Not if it's executed correctly," Solar answered honestly.
"Five. Four."
"And what are the odds of that?" She clutched Solar's tighter, bracing herself.
"Three."
Solar hesitated. "With Bob and Gary piloting?—"
The universe exploded.
At least that’s the only way Dani could think to describe what happened. One moment she was braced against a wall in a rickety spaceship, and the next she was everywhere and nowhere all at once. Brilliant colors rushed past her vision. Her body seemed to stretch infinitely while simultaneously compressing to the size of an atom. She tried to scream, but the sound had no meaning in this place.
The only constant was Solar's warmth surrounding her, his energy creating a protective cocoon against the impossible forces tearing at her consciousness. She clung to that sensation, focusing on it with everything she had.
Then, as suddenly as it began, it ended. Reality snapped back into place with brutal force. Dani gasped, drawing in air that tasted metallic and strange. Her heart beat so hard and fast she thought it might choke her.
