18. Life Signs
18
Life Signs
I stormed down the corridor after leaving Nova in her quarters, my scales rippling with a turbulent mix of purple and red. The organic walls of the Nebula Stryker pulsed in response to my agitation, their bioluminescence flickering erratically. My tentacles lashed at my sides, barely contained within their pouches.
What in the seven hells of Krax was I going to do about this mate bond? I'd led countless missions, faced down the most fearsome creatures in the galaxy, and never once lost my cool. But this... this soft, pale alien with her mesmerizing blue eyes and intoxicating scent had me completely off-kilter. All I wanted to do was sink into her body and taste every bit of her pale, soft skin but I couldn't. How was I going to tell her about the bond?
I growled low in my throat, the sound reverberating through the empty corridor. I needed to get a grip. I would tell her in time. She had a lot to process. I wouldn't add to her confusion with a foreign prophecy before she even had her space legs under her.
And yet...
The memory of her warm skin under my fingers, the way her cheeks had flushed that captivating shade of pink, the spark of intelligence in her eyes as she examined the artifacts in the procurement room – it all haunted me, refusing to be dismissed.
I shook my head violently, my crest rising in frustration. Zalira had said Nova would bring us riches, but how would I convince my crew that some nebulous bond between their captain and an alien captive would fulfill an ancient prophecy likely none of them had ever heard of. That we couldn't sell the little alien because she belonged to me. And I still hadn't told Nova about the bond. What if she rejected me?
As I made my way to the bridge, my mind raced. What had Jorixx found? Could it be something that would shed light on Nova's mysterious origins? And why did that thought fill me with such a mix of excitement and dread?
I stepped onto the bridge, the organic consoles pulsing with data streams as my crew went about their duties. Jorixx stood at his station, his three eyes blinking in sequence as he manipulated a series of glowing symbols.
"Report," I commanded, pushing thoughts of Nova aside. Or trying to, at least.
Jorixx's lower arms continued their work while his upper arms gestured towards the main viewscreen. "We've detected a spread of the same anomaly near the fourth moon of this system, Captain. Well, it's almost the same, but...different somehow."
The viewscreen flickered to life, displaying a swirling vortex of energy hovering above the cratered surface of a dark red moon. My ridges pulsed with excitement and a hint of fear. "Different how?"
"It's more stable," Jorixx explained, his gravelly voice tinged with awe. "And there's more. We've detected a debris field on the moon's surface, similar to the one where we found Nova. But that's not all." He paused, his three eyes blinking rapidly. "We're picking up two life signs among the debris."
My hearts skipped a beat. "Life signs? Are you certain?"
Jorixx nodded, his thick hide rippling. "Positive, Captain. They're faint, but they're there. And..." he hesitated, "they match Nova's biosignature."
The bridge fell silent as the implications of this discovery sank in. More of Nova's people? Here? My mind raced with possibilities - and potential problems.
"How far are we from the moon?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
"About two cycles at our current speed," Lyra chimed in from her station. She shot me a meaningful look, her eyes shifting from her normal green and blue to an excited gold. "Shall I set a course, Captain?"
I hesitated, torn between curiosity and caution. If there were more of Nova's kind out there, possibly injured or in danger, could we really just leave them? But bringing more unknown aliens aboard could complicate things even further.
But... the thought of Nova's face if we could reunite her with some of her people...and could this be another part of the ancient prophecy?
"Set a course," I decided, my ridges pulsing with determination. "But approach with caution. We don't know what we're dealing with here."
"Grixxa, I want you to stay on board. Watch over Nova. Keep her in her quarters. I don't want her to overhear about this. We don't know what we'll find once we get there."
"Aye, Captain." Grixxa's ridges pulsed pink with excitement.
As the crew sprang into action, preparing for our new heading, I couldn't help but wonder what we might find on this moon. And how it might change everything - for Nova, for my crew, and for me. I hoped it was something that would help and not hurt—any of us.
Vexxing hells, I was in even more trouble than I thought.