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“Yes.” Kiara shook her head. Why had her eyes gone so wide all of a sudden? And why was everyone staring at Darcy?Again? “Let’s.”
The two of them left, disappearing behind the door with the golden letters. Wait–
“Was that–was thattheNazyn A'Cryth?” Darcy mumbled. But–but where was the scientist lab coat? The glasses? The–
Walter turned to Darcy with a horrified expression. “What did you do?”
“WhatdidI do?” Apart from meeting one of the greatest minds in the universe and saying all of eight words to him? Damn it, Kiara had been right. He was hot–hot enough to fry Darcy’s synapses, apparently. But their introduction hadn’t gone awful. They were both polite and–
“Younevertouch a Deruzian. Theyhateit,” Walter hissed.
Oh, shit. Oh, no. No, no, no–
For the second time in half an hour, Darcy felt her heart drop. Could this day get any weirder? Maybe The Asshole had been right.
You won’t make it anywhere without me, his slithery voice hissed in her mind.
Darcy shook her head. She had enough problems without painful memories bubbling to the surface.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Should I go apologize?” she said in a defeated voice. Damn, and she had been feeling so good about herself for solving the device riddle only a few minutes ago.
“You stay there and be quiet until they leave the lab,” Walter said. “If you’re lucky, Nazyn will forget all about this.”
“And if I’m super unlucky?”
Walter narrowed his eyes. “I’ve seen people fired for less.”
Darcy instantly deflated. She couldn’t get fired from her dream job, the one she so desperately needed, on the first day, not after she passed all the interviews and Walter’s stupid test…could she?
4
NAZYN
So that was Darcy Taylor.
Nazyn remembered looking over her file when he’d decided to hire her. He left the interviews to the HR department, humans had a much better intuition than Deruzians could ever hope to evolve.
Darcy Taylor had a curious past. Went to a civilian college on too manyscholar-shipsto count, even one for low income families. Nazyn didn’t know how a ship could be a scholar, but the concept sounded interesting.
She’d graduated top of her class and had been courted by some of the best tech firms in the country. Instead of accepting their offers, she spent almost three years at Archam Tech, in anintern-ship. What was it with humans and naming things after ships?
Nazyn had done his research before coming to Earth.
Archam Tech’s achievements were admirable, even if Nazyn didn’t agree with their methods; at least the ones he’d discovered, he was sure the more devious ones were kept secret. Archam was also Alien Inc.’s biggest rival in the tech sector.
Darcy Taylor had been an asset for her skills and her experience. She’d aced Alien Inc.’s interviews. She’d even proven her skills now, in front of Walter.
But none of those facts explained why Nazyn was suddenly so interested in finding out more about her.
He flexed the arm she’d touched; his skin felt electrified.
“I checked with the Forum venue, like you asked. Though Walter called them a dozen times already,” Kiara said, bringing him back to reality.
“Yes, he has.” And reminded Nazyn of it every single opportunity. But Walter was…strange. Kiara was not. And Nazyn didn’t need any strange surprises with this event.
“They made it absolutely, one hundred percent clear that the presentation will take place in the main auditorium,” Kiara said. “Inside.”
Good–for now. “Duration?”
