Page 24 of Adrift!
Or maybe the new way of seeing was simply awareness.
But now, through the honeycombed crystal, the fractals of waning light translated into wavelengths like music that almost made sense.
But the song was fading.
“Ikaryo?” Remy’s voice was even softer than her hand when she reached out to tangle her fingers through his.
Just as he touched the capacitorus with his augmented hand.
The facets beneath his fingertips brightened, and his cybernetic components sparked too. In time with his heartbeat, a feedback loop of rainbow light cycled through him, just as it had in the salon when he’d kissed Remy.
Whatever the resonark really was, it responded.
And despite the intervening barriers, it was reaching out to them.
The realization startled him, and when the surprise zinged across his skin, Remy let out a little noise of shock as the rainbows arced to her.
Her breathy sound hung in the chilly air like a miniature nebula that ignited in the glow of more facets as the captive anomaly reflected their presence.
“It’s beautiful.” Remy’s hold on his hand tightened, and when he looked at her, he saw his own wonder reflected in her green eyes. “And lonely. Do you feel it?”
Echoing the tremble of emotion in her voice, the glow shimmered.
“Yes, Remy,” Evens murmured. “Call to it in your own way.”
Her green eyes widened, pupils expanding to fill with the resonark’s light. She took in a breath, her breasts rising with a singer’s deep capacity.
But the way her fingers spasmed in his…
Ikaryo pulled back from the torus, breaking contact with Remy too. “Stop. We don’t know what will happen if—if we let it make contact.”
She blinked a few times rapidly, the stars fading from her eyes as the resonark fell quiescent again.
“You’re right,” Nehivar said. “The anomaly hijacked the ship when it was loose. I’m not going to let it take control of any of you.”
When Evens made an abbreviated sound of dissent, the captain rounded on him. “You hired me to captain this ship. I’ll make the decisions—unless you’re relieving me of command.”
Still partly in shadow, Suvan growled. “Do that and you’ll be flying the ship yourself too.”
Felicity gave a stiff nod, her jaw set. “Also, you should be prepared to assume all passenger oversight responsibilities, including evening entertainment, safety and sustainability communications, meal planning with Chef, housekeeping with Griiek, and handling complaints, which are entirely understandable considering we are adrift due to—”
Evens thumped his cane on the deck. “All right, enough. Points taken.” His mouth twisted in a reluctant grin. “I chose my crew well. Maybe too well.”
Of all the shipmates he’d had across the lightyears, Ikaryo had never been prouder to stand alongside these.
“Wait.” Shouldering past him, Remy stepped forward. “I want to try.”
They all pivoted to stare at her.
But she avoided their gazes, including his. “How long are we going to be stuck out here? If you had other ideas for saving us, wouldn’t we be back in port by now?” She squared off to Evens. “If you think there’s a chance that music will reach the monster, or whatever, I’ll sing.”
“No,” Ikaryo said, dread sharpening his tone. He’d felt the pulsing strangeness locked in the crystal. It was too risky. “You can’t take the chance.”
Even if it wasn’t dangerous, if they found a way to just turn the ship around, back to what they’d left behind, as if none of this had even happened…
Remy rounded on him, green eyes blazing. “You think I can’t do it?”
He stiffened. He knew how her aspirations had died, and how deeply those wounds had festered, but that hadn’t been what he meant, at all. “Remy—”
