Chapter 8 #2
His face was still alien, but having seen these humans for a day or so now, I was beginning to acclimate to their appearance, and if I had to pick which was the most attractive, it would easily be him.
Not that I needed to, of course.
The ship lurched, probably as it hit a patch of phased debris, pitching me down the corridor towards him.
His arms were full of blankets, and despite a valiant effort, quickly grabbing onto the turb-handle, he staggered. He’d have stayed upright if a large kri’ith female hadn’t landed on him—except in the narrow corridor, I fell right into him, driving us both to the deck.
The Dorimisa heaved again, bringing our bodies apart and together. I braced myself over him so as not to crush him under my bulk, warmth suffusing my body where we touched.
Another lurch meant I narrowly missed slamming my forehead into his, and I turned at the last minute so my face was pressed into his neck.
What was the harm in breathing in?
Gods. His smell was peculiar but pleasant. Pungent, in a heady way, but also fresh, like hillside air.
What am I doing?
The turbulence seemed to have stopped, so there was no reason not to get up, no reason to remain on top of him.
I should move. I should.
“It’s okay, you won’t squash me.” His voice was lower, grittier than I’d heard it before. “Are you hurt?”
I shouldn’t have looked into his eyes. I shouldn’t have—but I did, and as soon as I did, I couldn’t tear mine away.
His gaze was steady, his large, black pupils surrounded by a slim circle of rich brown.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Are you?”
“Probably just some bruises tomorrow,” he said, but his breathing sounded laboured, and perhaps I needed to get him to the medbay just in case. Muzati was the medic, not me, but she was probably busy with things that came loose in the turbulence, so I shouldn’t bother her.
You waste time with unimportant things, Shohari. My father’s voice rose unbidden in my mind, and I snarled it away. Except, of course, my face was right next to Garrison’s, and he shrank back, or as much as he could with a kri’ith on top of him.
Skyk. What am I doing?
I scrabbled off the human, and after a heartbeat’s delay, offered him a hand up. His grip was firm in mine, warm, and acceptably strong.
A familiar heat twisted through my core. He would put up a pleasing fight in the sheets.
I tamped it down. He was cargo in my care, not a warm body at a stopover cantina.
“We should get you to medbay,” I said, pulling on my usual brusque tone.
Garrison didn’t smile at me this time, and his husky voice echoed in the metallic corridor.
“I’m okay, Captain. I’d better check on the others, check they aren’t hurt.
I’ll clear these up in a few minutes.” He gestured to the mess of things strewn across the floor from the storage compartment before giving a curt nod and striding away.
Muzati’s voice came through my comm. “You okay, Captain?”
“Aye. Any problems?”
“Nothing too serious. Couple of panels fell loose, but nothing’s broken. It shouldn’t take too long to fix.”
I had no doubt my engineer could sort it on her own, but two pairs of hands were always better for this kind of repair. “Stand by, I’ll join you. Want me to bring a tea down?”
“You’re the best, Cap, wouldn’t say no.”
She was sitting on the floor when I got there, a couple of tools twisted into her headspines, her face screwed up in concentration. “Bit of a problem, but nothing a tea break can’t fix.”
“Oh?”
“Okay, I lied. It’s the ship, Cap. She’s beautiful, but she’s old.
Every time I have to fix something, I find something else broken before I can get the first bit sorted.
” She pulled a twist driver from her headspines and rolled it between her fingers.
“I can do it. Of course I can, and it keeps me busy, but I worry about how long she’ll last before she needs major repairs. ”
Kheh. I’d been putting this off. Mother and Father would not be pleased, and it would be my fault even though I was neither the god of time nor rust. “We need to limp her along as long as we can.”
“It’s not cost effective, Cap. I can keep her going for years, but it will cost so much more. Better to book her into Lietan or Xyrgrla and do all the modernisation she needs.”
“That will cut into the profits too much.” I’d have dearly loved to do what Muzati suggested but it wasn’t an option.
“Fine. It’s your credits. Humans are kind of cute, don’t you think?”
I snorted. “They’re small and soft.”
“Not all of them. That big one’s wider than me.”
“You’re svelte, though.”
Muzati laughed. “Whatever. I’ve seen you looking at him.”
“Kheh, fine. His form is pleasant to look at.”
“Is that all you’ve got to say? Kri’s spines, Sho, you can do better than that. Think he’d let me slap that tight arse of his?”
I growled, my reaction firing from that instinctive place deep in my gut. “You leave the cargo alone! That’s an order.”
She just smirked. “Aye, Cap. Now grab a crosswrench and help me with this.”