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He nods, but in a very un-Theron like fashion, doesn’t say anything.
All in all, the trip to the Facility has gotten off to a memorable start.
Maybe the rest will go more smoothly if I can remember to keep out of his pants.
I sleep deeply, despite my troubled thoughts and tossing and turning. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well. I can only hope the remainder of the voyage isn’t so thoroughly dramatic.
Once I’m dressed in one of those odd fabric suits the morts wear, though mine is a little misshapen considering it was fashioned for a man the size of Theron, I peer out of my rooms and find the hallway empty. Good. Maybe Theron overslept and I’ll have some time to get my thoughts together. God knows I could use it before we have to have another awkward encounter.
They don’t have coffee, but there is some sort of flavored water that’s just disgusting enough that it perks up my brain cells. I grab a bottle of it from the kitchen area and bring it with me along with a bowl of reheated mash that Theron finds so disgusting. I don’t really care what it tastes like as long as it’s food. I don’t really see what a big badass guy like him finds so gross about it, but whatever.
As I eat and drink the flavored water, I try to familiarize myself with the control panel and the communications system. Hadrian had given me a once-over of the basics, but I like to make sure I know what I’m doing and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for a comm from my mother.
It’s so strange to think I’ll be meeting her in a few short days.
If I’m being honest with myself, I never thought I’d see her again. Searching for her was always just a way to keep myself from going crazy, from feeling like I had no direction in a world of madness all alone. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m hopeful when we meet that maybe she’ll still love me like she did when I was young. I’m not the same girl I once was, but maybe she won’t care about the things I had to do to find her.
There are no messages, and the ship is still on the correct route thanks to the autopilot. I don’t know why Theron thinks he’s such an excellent captain when the dang thing basically flies itself. It must be the inflated ego.
I relax into the co-captain’s chair and finish off my breakfast. The whole time, I’m trying to keep my mind from wandering back to the previous day’s events. I’m unsuccessful.
The dashboard on the control panel begins to beep and I check the comms, but find no messages. The navigation system is still on course, so I know it’s not the auto-pilot.
As I’m about to call for Theron, he appears, bare chested and groggy from sleep.
“What is it?” I ask. “Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know,” he answers, taking his seat. “But it can’t be good.”
4
Theron
I study the screen and take in the small, dark blip that blinks each time a wave hits it. We have company. For so long, we were the only beings we had contact with. When I’d found the passenger vessel and took the five females, it had been chance. But, now that I know what I know about Earth II and the prison, I’m aware of the fact there are more beings everywhere. And I’m learning, some of which might be on this planet. We’re not as alone as we thought we were.
“What is it?” Willow asks, tapping her blunt nail to the screen.
“Small ship. About the size of this one.” I frown and skim my gaze over to the wall where several zonnoblasters are fastened. “For now, we’ll watch it, but I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it either,” she says, her voice tight with nerves. “Do you think it’s someone from Earth II?”
Unease settles in my gut.
When I took the females, I never expected anyone to come looking for them. I should have known better. The females are the best thing that ever happened to us lonely morts. Surely the humans miss them, too. Could that be it? Are the Earth II humans seeking what they lost?
But they were headed to the prison.
Which has been out of communication with Earth II for many micro-revolutions because of Lyric and Willow and Zoe overthrowing the ones who ran it.
Rekk.
“I need to make contact with Breccan and Hadrian.”
“What? How come? Are they a danger?”
I reach over and pat the back of her hand. She stiffens for a moment, but doesn’t shove my hand away. With a sigh, I release her and run my fingers through my black hair, messing it up.
