Page 2 of Adrift!
Although she’d never gotten them for herself either.
Now the cheerfully lush blooms seemed like a lie, and she might never smell another rose if thissituationwent more sideways. But all the rest of her clothes were back on the space station from where the Love Boat I had departed since they were only supposed to be gone for the evening.
As if Felicity had read her thoughts, the cruise director paused at another corridor junction to look at them. “The staterooms are identical,” she said, gesturing both ways down the hall, “so choose whichever you like, near whoever you like. While we monitor our situation, the in-room fabricators will be somewhat limited, and I’m asking that you use those resources thoughtfully.”
Remy raised one hand. “Clean socks at least?”
“And other personal clothing, of course, as necessary.” A hint of color brightened Felicity’s cheeks, rose gold glinting in her button. “The ship’s filtration systems are operational so the bathing amenities are fully accessible.”
As if a hot bath would distract from the drifting problem.
“Chef Styr will have the evening buffet ready soon, so if you like, you can return to the Starlit Salon after you get settled and freshen up.” Felicity flapped her hands gently to get everyone moving toward the rooms, like she was herding goldfish. “I’ll leave my comm open if you need to contact me about anything. Here, Mariah, you take this room. Just put your hand on this pad to key the lock…”
As the small, dark-haired Earther in homemade knitwear followed the cruise director through the pocket door, the otherpassengers dispersed down the hall. A few of them chose the same doors. Lucky them for the pleasurable distraction.
Remy lingered in the empty corridor, feeling…abandoned. Which was silly. She didn’t know anyone here well enough to feel that way. Probably they just wanted to quickly 3D print some fresh undies before supplies ran out.
“Is there a problem?”
The low baritone voice startled a squeak out of her, and she whipped around, wobbling on her heels. A strong hand wrapped around her elbow to steady her.
She hadn’t realized the bartender had accompanied their group. Eoyen Ikaryo had been serving fun drinks and chatting them all up while the suns set…until the energy monster attacked. Then he’d waited with them in the lifepod, deftly managing their nervousness and keeping them updates with reports from the captain and crew. All things considered, though, she couldn’t appreciate his nonchalant charm.
She straightened, twitching her arm out of his grasp. “Problem? Other than being adrift in space?”
Her traitorous heels gave her enough inches that they were the same height. Which left her staring into his electric silver eyes.
Of course she’d noticed his biomech augments. Metallic components flashed across his arm when he’d poured their drinks or checked the buckles on their jump seats, and half his face was obscured by the tech. An implant cupped his jaw on one side with circuitry routing up into his short dark hair. Yet somehow the pewter intricacy only emphasized the flex of his forearm and the chiseled contour of his cheekbone.
She also hadn’t missed that where his well-fitted uniform revealed any of his organic skin, he was heavily inked with tattoos enough for a backing band and several buff roadies.
Did alien tattoos use ink? Whatever the pigmented substance, the partly obscured figures and symbols weren’t anything she could decipher.
Although she mighta tried, if only to pass those boring, uncertain hours.
But she had not looked closely into his eyes until now. White sparks circled the icy gray half-moons of his irises like restless lightning bolts. The alien robotics contrasted with his easy smile—something he must’ve practiced to use on Earthers because he wasn’t from Earth himself.
Oh, he might look “compatible”, as the IDA handbooks liked to use the term. He had two arms and two legs and two eyes in one face—even if some of those parts were augmented—but her skin tingled with some deep, primitive awareness that he was not human.
At least she hoped that was why she was tingling. That or radiation poisoning or something, because she’d already decided the cosmic connection promised by the Intergalactic Dating Agency was not for her.
Especially not the enhanced charm of the ship’s bartender.
The silence had gone on several heartbeats too long. Were his cybernetics glitching? Behind his bar, he’d been quick with the quips and friendly questions. But now he was staring at her as ifshewas the weird alien.
Which she sort of felt like, actually.
She crossed her arms. “Sorry. Do I have energy monster stuck in my teeth or something?”
“Monster?” His eyes whirled faster. “Do you have reason to believe the anomaly is edible?”
“What? No. I was just wondering why you were looking… Never mind. It’s a joke on Earth.”
“It sounded more like a deflection.”
Rude. She pursed her lips to one side. “Speaking of deflection, I noticed you didn’t answer my question about being adrift.”
“As you heard in the update from Captain Nehivar, yes, the engines are offline. And yes, that is a problem, but the captain and crew are working hard to return us to our course.”
