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“I want the report on those nanobots in her system,” he said to Leaf. Since Alana wasn’t implanted with a neuracom, it was a little too difficult to see what was going on inside of her without the help of a bioscanner.
Leaf jumped in action. She activated the scanner and quickly identified the problems. “The bots put her in suspended animation to ease off the stress, sir. I can give her a third dose to maintain her consciousness. But that won’t last very long.”
Ice thought of it for a moment. ?
??No. We won’t put unnecessary strains on her. I don’t want to endanger her health.”
“But I thought you’d like to conduct more interviews with her, sir?” asked Rain.
“I do. But it can wait.”
But Alana kept sleeping as they travelled in superluminal and Ice felt it was best that he kept her like that. The more he spent time with her, the harder it would be to let her go. His new attachment to her made it harder to approach this mission from a scientific angle.
Suddenly, it was time for her to go into the cryogenic chamber. Ice wrote down his report and put in everything he needed to ask her. When the pod was released just before Campania completely ran out of fuel, he felt as if a big part of him also died out. The crew strapped themselves into individual sleeping chambers and put themselves into suspended animation to conserve energy. The oxygen in the chamber would last about three weeks before they would suffocate to death, but they wouldn’t feel anything in that state. If his calculation was right they would be rescued before then.
As Ice injected the drug into his vein that rendered him into a coma-like state, he thought of Alana. He hoped he’d get to see her again.
He hoped.
Chapter Six
Alana woke, in a bed this time, in a dim room she didn’t recognize. It wasn’t the place she’d woken the first time, strapped down and being “modified,” but it looked similar nevertheless. The walls were coated with white and silver material that seemed to emanate a soft hue of light. There was no furniture in sight except for the bed she was in, unless she missed what these aliens considered “furniture.” She blinked, adjusting herself to the light. With a groan, she hauled herself into a sitting position.
A wave of vertigo swept over her but it abruptly vanished. Weird. Alana flexed her hand. Somehow, she felt…stronger. Relaxed and refreshed. Was it because of the body modification they’d done to her? She narrowed her eyes, staring at the wall. A tiny row of hieroglyphic writing caught her attention. She didn’t know what it meant but she wondered why all of a sudden, she was able to read from this distance. She was nearsighted but too stubborn to wear her glasses at all times; only when she was driving and watching TV. And when Ice took her, her glasses were left forgotten on her desk.
Holy fuck. Ice!
Where is that handsome bastard?
She pushed the blanket aside and found herself dressed in a light two-piece suit of silvery material, similar to the ones Ice and the rest wore. Alana wondered if Rain or Leaf had changed her clothes. She hoped it was one of them. Granted, they were aliens, but at least they were female.
She stood, and the lights in the room came on.
“Hello?” she said softly.
There didn’t appear to be anything like a telephone or an intercom anywhere in sight.
“Hellooo!” Alana tried again. “Captain Kirk to Command Center, is anyone there?” Her throat felt as if she’d used her voice for a while. How long have I been sleeping? she wondered. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Yoohoo? Beam me up, Scotty. Anytime now.”
There was a soft hum and the wall on the opposite side split open. From it a man and woman entered. Or rather, guy alien and chick alien. They didn’t seem familiar to her. Nope. She didn’t know either of them.
“Greetings,” said the male. He was tall and slender and wore his hair unbound. There was a black armband on him with more hieroglyphic symbols. Maybe it signified his rank or something. “How do you feel, Alana Watson?” the man asked, a neutral expression on his face. The woman’s expression was more welcoming, though she didn’t smile.
Alana felt dumpy in front of this ethereal being. She straightened herself and crossed her arms to make herself look formidable. “I feel fine. I must have passed out from all the excitement. Being kidnapped will do that to a person, I guess. Where am I? Where’s Ice?”
The two aliens looked at each other, their eyebrows drawn up in confusion. Then the female stepped forward. “I am Dew Frostmelt, and this is Fire Redwater. We’ve come to help you get ready for the royal banquet. Our public press services are eager to get a first glimpse of a real human. The whole population waits to see what you look and sound like, Alana Watson.”
“Please, just call me Alana.” Press? A royal banquet? “Wait a minute, what do you mean, banquet? Are you saying I’m not on the ship anymore?”
“No. You’re on our home planet. The border patrol rescued your pod three weeks ago and they transferred you here.”
Oh my God, I’m on Crimea. She felt like she’d only been out for moments, but hadn’t Ice said it was a three-month journey? Other things he said came rushing back to her, how she’d be safe even if their ship ran out of fuel. But they couldn’t all be dead. Not all of them.
Not Ice.
“You rescued me?” Her voice shook.
Fire stepped forward, still looking confused. “The border cruiser found your pod and went to search for Campania. They found her and towed her home. The Campania docked with our space station a few hours ago, and you were brought here to wake up in your own time.”
