Page 14 of Lorran
“Not cool! Not cool at all.” She rubbed her arm.
“Better?” He did not wait for her to answer. Instead, the medic asked, “Female, who is your mate?”
“Lorran Rhew,” Wyn answered. “Where is he? He’s supposed to meet me here.”
For a moment, she thought the medic looked sad. Despite the horns, the dark purple complexion, and seriousness woven into the very fiber of his being, his eyes were surprisingly expressive. Human almost.
Wow. The teleporter must have scrambled her brains.
“Where is her match?” The medic turned to the male behind the control panel.
“Lorran Rhew is currently in shuttle bay five, sir.”
Lorran. That still sounded like such a nice name. She smiled because her brains were a little scrambled from teleporting and maybe she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Was the atmosphere fit for humans? Had to be.
“Contact him immediately. I do not understand this failure,” the medic demanded.
“He is scheduled for departure to Sangrin.”
“Ah.” The medic nodded. “He goes to celebrate the holiday with his family. We should put her on the shuttle.”
“Sir, standard procedure is to escort her to Security, then Medical.”
“And the head of Security is on the same shuttle as his brother.”
“And Medical—”
Wyn ignored the two aliens discussing her like a piece of luggage. Her head felt better, if tender, and the static from the translation chip had subsided. It flawlessly interfaced and replaced the alien sound with good old English.
The medic lightly touched her shoulder, snagging her attention. “I will escort you to your mate. Are you well enough to walk?”
Wyn stood, her body exhausted, but no longer nauseated or dizzy. Food soon would be a good idea, but her stomach lurched at the idea. Okay, maybe still a little queasy.
“I’m fine,” she said.
The medic grabbed her suitcase and bag. They made their way through a series of corridors that all looked the same: well-lit, wide, and glossy white. While functional and without frill, the echoing hallways gave the impression that they were meant to impress. Or intimidate.
It must have been working because no scuffs dared mar the glossy finish; not even a speck of dust or a smear of grime interrupted the relentless monotony of the ship. The lighting hurt her eyes, or maybe the lack of design hurt her eyes. Hard to tell.
“Is this a spaceship or a station? They didn’t tell me,” Wyn said. She thought space would be more impressive. Or at least have some color.
“This isJudgment, the largest battlecruiser in the Sangrin fleet,” the medic said, sounding almost offended.
Right, right; don’t besmirch an alien’s starship. “It’s very clean,” she said.
“TheJudgmentrequires several hundred bots for basic cleanliness and maintenance,” he said, almost sounding house proud.
They passed several other alien warriors. Well, not aliens. She was an alien here. The majority were of the horned, purple-complected variety, but she saw some in other hues. The red ones looked nasty, with tusks and a scorpion-like tail. Green guys came in two varieties: with tail or without. They were all so interesting. She couldn’t wait to grab a few sketches.
The corridor branched off, growing narrow and less populated. This area looked more lived-in, with scuffed paint and wear at the corners. Black rings embedded into the walls and floors punctuated the corridor. Gates? Partitions? Wyn could envision partitions used to seal off sections for…
Okay, to be honest, she could only imagine that the reason to seal off sections of the ship had to be bad. So much could go wrong on a ship and her imagination helpfully supplied a list including catastrophic loss of atmosphere and being boarded by space pirates.
So, scary emergency partitions for safety. Check. Still, a touch of color wouldn’t be amiss.
They passed an open window. Well, not open obviously because space, but a window, nonetheless. Pinpoints of light flickered against a velvety black. Until that moment, all she had seen were rooms and corridors. She could have easily been in another facility, still on Earth.
Wyn pressed her fingers to the window, expecting to find it cold, and was surprised when it wasn’t.
