Page 51 of Collision!
Hearing the arrogance in the complaint, he stopped himself.
But obviously she heard the rest.Slowly, she reached out to touch his taut forearm.The bristling quill-scales at his elbow brushed her inner wrist, but she seemed oblivious to the vulnerability.
“I’m glad you’re still here,” she said.“Whether by fate or by fabrication.And everyone who signed that card is especially glad you saved our ship despite your fear.”
He didn’t respond, because how could he?Was he supposed to yield to chaos?Even the atomic fusion of his mighty engines had to be controlled—unless they wanted the shortest speed-dating cruise ever.
When he stood unmoving, she gave him a long, searching look.With a last gentle squeeze of his arm, she released him.
His skin tingled where her fingers had rested.
She turned back to the kit to grab the curative salve and a smaller med-mesh, which she applied precisely.“There.Now leave it alone.”
When she stepped back, he traced the edges of the bandage.She was so deft; she’d covered the wound without touching him skin to skin again.“I thought I was alone.But your name was in my notes.Why?”
Her lips pursed in a way he didn’t quite understand, but he watched closely, as close as he’d track the oscillations of the plasma injectors.
“I helped you,” she said.“Maybe you’ll remember that eventually.”
Her tone was not accusing, but still, he bristled.“I want to remember now.Tell me about this missing time.”
She looked away.“What’s important will come back to you.”
“Mariah…”
But he had nothing except her name.
At a screech behind them, they both swung around.Perched on top of the capacitorus, Lub dropped the lighted ball.
There wasn’t much left, just a glimmering strand that unraveled down the faceted surface of the containment unit and stopped before touching the ground.The opalescent filament looped over one of the goblhob’s fangs, twisted back between its horns, and spooled out into the shadows of the room.
Mariah let out a little laugh.“Who needs a sweater anyway, right, Lub?”
Before Suvan could offer to gather up the ball, she was gone.
In her absence, the engines sounded too loud.Though he made another circuit of the monitors, all systems were nominal.
Except his own.
His chest ached where she hadn’t touched him.He checked under the bandage she’d told him to leave alone, but the wound wasn’t bleeding.
Restless and annoyed with it, he drank the restorative tonic.When he tossed the empty back in the smiling moon bag, it clanked against the other flask.
To unwind his thoughts, the physician had said.
Suvan drank that too.
Then, with one goblhob very much not helping, he began to rewind the shining thread.It took too long, and since Lub obviously believed this was the chance to play the unraveling game again, he had to lock away the misshapen ball.
With nothing else to do, a strange lassitude crept over him, and he stumbled back to his bed in the corner.Lub curled at his feet as he tugged the pretend larf pelt over them both.
And he dreamed of a sweater.
Chapter 15
The Starlit Salon was packed for brunch—and the voices were all pitched with an odd fervor.
As Mariah beelined for the coffee bar, she caught snippets of conversations:
