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“You are not disturbing me.” His eyes opened, revealing deep, soul-seeing eyes. They were darker than his skin but were the same warm brown base color. They reminded me of chocolate, a treat I only had on rare occasions. They held mine in what almost felt like a physical grasp, and a shiver went down my spine, but it wasn’t from fear; it was from awareness.
I licked my lips. I tried to snap out of it. He was just a man. An attractive man, yes, but still just a man. And more than that, he was a man I didn’t know, a man who had me on his ship for some unknown reason.
He saved your life, Julia. Give him the benefit of the doubt.
Agreeing with that voice, I broke eye contact and looked down. I wrinkled my nose at my ruined clothes.If I don’t get cleaned up soon, I’m going to go crazy.I’m filthy and I need a shower. But first, I need answers.
“Thank you. For helping me.”
“You’re welcome.”
When he didn’t say more, I chanced another glance at him. He was still looking at me, his expression unchanged.Guess I need to get the conversation moving. “What was that rain?” I don’t know why it was the first question I asked, but it popped out immediately.
A hint of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Acid rain.”
That answer surprised me. “I didn’t think acid rain was that dangerous.”
“Normally, no, but Cadium is home to a host of toxic chemicals. The land is full of them. They mix with the water, and when the water evaporates it combines with the chemicals in the atmosphere. When mixed, the liquid becomes highly acidic, to the point it can eat through almost anything when it falls.”
I swallowed, hard. “Well. That sounds awful.”
The smile bloomed fully, making him even more attractive. “Yes. A large storm occurs in this area biannually, which consists of acid rain, fire whirls, dust storms, and lightning. It can last for days.”
“Days?” I frowned. “Is it still raining?”
“Yes. Though, by my estimation, the rain will only last for a few more hours. It still won’t be safe outside, but it will be better.”
Shuddering, I rubbed my injured arm. “Then why are you here? Were you caught in the storm?”
“No.” He unfolded his limbs and languidly stepped over to his desk. “I’m here to study the storm. I work for a company that collects data from planets about their typical weather patterns and how it affects the topography of the land. They, in turn, sell it to cartography companies. I am studying the changes the storm makes to the surrounding geography.”
I blinked. “You study the weather?”
“Yes. And I gather data as to how it affects the surrounding landscape.”
“So, you’re like a…meteorologist?” I didn’t mean to sound skeptical, but I’d never heard of anyone having a job like his, and I had no idea how to label it.
He laughed and placed a hand against his stomach. “Kind of, but not quite. I’m a climatologist. I do have a degree in meteorology, though.”
There were worse things, I supposed.He could be out here trying to dispose of a body like my captors.“That’s why they brought me here, then. So the storm would hide them.”
He gave me a long, assessing look. “Who are they?”
I pressed my lips together. There was no way around telling him at least some of the story. “I’m Agent Julia Carter of the IPF. I was investigating a case that took me to Viridis. My team recovered evidence that is vital to our investigation. My partner and I were transporting it back to the field office to have it looked at when our vehicle was attacked. They took the evidence and kidnapped me. My partner was injured.” Grief welled up inside me, but I pushed it away. He was alive. I wouldn’t believe Jordan was dead until I saw a body. “Whoever these guys are, they don’t want that evidence to get back into police hands, and they don’t want me to survive.”
Silence stretched between us as he mulled that over. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t believe me, or if he was just thinking about what my words meant. Then, finally, he nodded. “If they escaped the storm or found shelter, then they’ll be searching for you as soon as they are physically able. With my sensors set up, it won’t be hard for them to find us.”
Not the news I was hoping for. I took a deep breath and pressed my hand to my forehead. “You don’t have subspace communications operational right now, do you?”
“No. We won’t have any off-planet communications working until the storm passes. The electromagnetic force is too strong, even more so than what you’d typically run into in this kind of weather.”
“I figured as much. Can we leave the planet?”
He sighed. “Unfortunately, no. Not safely. The storm carries with it a type of charged particle that will destroy the ship if we fly through it. The storm is massive, blanketing a large portion of the planet. The shields would protect us a little, but the particles would rapidly deplete them and then they’d drain the power from the other systems, effectively crippling us.”
Great. We can’t leave and we can’t call for help.“That’s not ideal.”
“No. How many men are we looking at?”
