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Seline looked down and realized he was right—the two of them were clasping hands as though their lives depended on it. She let go of Nox’s hand and saw something else that was strange—she had the Far Box out of its case and it was sitting in her lap. Not only that, but it was no longer just a half-cube—it was whole.
“Hey, look!” she exclaimed to Nox. “The Far Box—we have the whole thing now—not just half.”
“What?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “But that is impossible. We had only half a moment ago—we were going to Beselex Station to bargain with Mistress Lendrex for the other half of the box.”
When he said the name, “Mistress Lendrex” Seline got a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach, though she couldn’t have said why.
“Well, I guess we don’t have to go now,” she said awkwardly. “I mean, since we seem to have the complete Far Box, here.”
She picked up the black and white Rubix cube-looking artifact and showed it to him.
Nox shrugged.
“I suppose you are right.” He took the Far Box from her and frowned at it thoughtfully.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Seline asked him anxiously. She had a very uneasy feeling for some reason and from the look on Nox’s face, he did too. Then she shook herself—what was she thinking? Her Protector couldn’t feel uneasy—he couldn’t feel anything because he had no emotions.
“Nothing is wrong—this is just very strange,” Nox murmured. “Still, I suppose we’d better bring the Far Box to Commander Sylvania.”
“Commander who?” Seline asked. “Do you mean Commander Sylvan?”
“Oh yes—of course.” Nox shook his head. “I do not know why I misspoke.”
“Never mind.” Seline shrugged. Though to be honest, the name “Sylvania” had seemed strangely familiar to her for a moment. “I guess we’d better get back to the Mother Ship—this mission is over before it even started.”
Which seemed strange—but everything seemed strange to her suddenly. And why did she feel so empty inside? She didn’t know, but she thought it was probably a good thing the mission had been canceled.
She wasn’t feeling like herself at all.
FORTY-NINE
NOX
“So…the two of you flew through the fold and then came back to where you started and when you did, you had the complete Far Box in your lap?” Commander Sylvan steepled his fingers thoughtfully as he studied the completed artifact in the middle of his desk.
Seline shrugged.
“Yeah—that’s about it. Strange, isn’t it?”
“Exceedingly,” Sylvan agreed, nodding. He frowned. “Could you have performed the mission and somehow lost your memory of it?”
“I considered that possibility, but it does not seem feasible,” Nox said. “Considering that the chronometer in my ship read only two standard minutes later than when we first entered the fold. So unless we were somehow able to get to Beselex Station, bargain for the Far Box, and get back, having lost all memory of our trip in only two minutes…”
“Yes, I see.” Commander Sylvan nodded thoughtfully. “Well…we have the complete Far Box now, so I suppose I’ll just say good job on completing your mission.”
“But how did we complete it?” Seline sounded troubled. “I keep feeling like I’ve forgotten something,” she said. “Something important.”
As a matter of fact, Nox had the same feeling—a tightness in his midsection that might almost be called anxiety. But Dark Kindred did not feel anxiety, because they had no emotions, he reminded himself. He must be imagining the strange sensation.
But was he imagining the other strange feelings inside him? Such as the fact that he suddenly didn’t want to be parted from Seline? In the past, they had always gone their separate ways after they finished a mission—now he wished to stay with her.
An image flashed in his mind—a picture of him holding Seline in his arms and stroking her hair as she cuddled close to him. He saw himself leaning down to taste her sweet lips as she put her arms around his neck to pull him closer…
Nox frowned and shook his head, trying to get rid of the odd mental image. What was wrong with him, imagining such things? And why did he feel such strange sensations in his body when he did? What was this odd protective possessiveness he felt? Why did he wish to sweep Seline up in his arms and never let her go?
Something isn’t right with me, he thought, feeling uneasy. Something feels wrong…
And that was when it hit him—he was feeling—actually having emotions.
Nox had a moment of what felt like panic—it was a tight feeling in his chest and lungs accompanied by a rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath. This was terrible! He needed to go get the emotion damper that Yipper had promised him implanted, now. Otherwise this wrongness he felt inside was only going to get worse—he was sure of it.
Well, he would go as soon as this meeting was over, he promised himself, taking a deep breath to try and calm his racing heart. Everything would be all right as soon as he eradicated these troubling emotions. With an effort, he tried to bring his mind back to the meeting.
