Chapter 13 Rotten
I’m glad I told Elana I love her. It’s totally fine that she didn’t say anything to me except that we could talk about it later. I’m cool with it. Really. At least she’s talking to me. More precisely, she’s shouting my name as I rub her clit. I’m still hard inside her even though I just came.
I want a round two. Hell, I want a round three, four, five, and so on, to infinity.
But I also want to get her back to my ship before she changes her mind.
When the last waves of her climax subside, I slowly lower her legs to the ground, continuing to hold her against me for balance.
I smooth down the back of her dress and kiss her on the forehead.
This is my person and I’m going to take care of her.
Her eyes look glassy with lust, her lips wet and parted. I feel her desire for me, and how it’s laid the foundation for a lasting bond between us. I need to tell her that what’s happening could be permanent. But I don’t want to scare her off. Like she said, we can talk about it some other time.
I wrap my arms around her. She melts into me like her bones have liquified, but she manages to slide her arms around my waist and lay her head against my chest. Warmth, affection, love, and more things I can’t even name surge through me at this soft moment between us.
And I can definitely sense the fibers of our bond being woven together.
I’ve heard humans can sense it too, but it’s less obvious to them. I wonder what it feels like for Elana, whether she has the same bone-deep urge to possess and protect me as I do for her.
“We should go,” I say as I release our embrace. I can’t quite let go of her. I grasp her hand, and she squeezes it back.
She looks up at me, her expression more complicated than before, like she’s having mixed feelings about something.
“I should tell the others I’m going,” she says and looks away.
“There’s no time.” This isn’t technically true but getting her back feels urgent to me.
“I thought you said you’re leaving in 48 hours?”
“Well yeah. There are still some things that I need to finish up here. But it’ll be better if you’re safely on board the ship as soon as possible. We can leave soon. When I told you that earlier, I wanted to give you the time you needed.”
“And now you want to get me onto your ship before I think better of it,” she says sardonically.
“No! I mean, the idea had occurred to me, but also, I’m guessing we need some sort of plan, don’t you think?”
I rub her back gently, hoping to calm her nerves. She sighs.
“I thought you didn’t like plans.”
“I don’t, but the planet-eating ship seems like a problem that needs a little planning to solve.”
“I agree. Alright, let’s get going.”
She nods and lets me pull her towards the street where I parked my rental transport.
“I’ll just send Kyla and Koreen a message to let them know where I’ve gone.”
“Certainly. Now let’s go.”
Before she can slow down, I hustle her into the transport.
I must look especially triumphant as I lead Elana back through the ship. When we pass Wyn near the freight deck, he raises his eyebrows when he sees my face.
“Ahh, I see the happy couple has returned,” he drawls, and I shoot him a quelling look.
I glance over at Elana, and she seems unfazed. Wyn better hold his tongue. I don’t want his wisecracks to make Elana rethink coming back.
“Yes, we’re here,” I say with more confidence than I feel.
Elana turns to me, her face serious.
“Is there somewhere where I can connect my biocomm to the ship’s computer? I want to run some large-scale calculations on the space dust trajectory I observed near Orocopa 1.”
“Sure, I can have the equipment sent to your quarters. But what does space dust have to do with the planet-swallowing ship? I thought we were going to chase it down. Maybe blow it up or something if we can capture the crew first.”
I can almost feel Wyn rolling his eyes behind me, but I don’t turn to see it.
“Even with its enormous cargo, that ship has had plenty of time to escape. I believe it was built with technology that let it invade our galaxy undetected. That means it can probably leave undetected as well.”
“But where’s it from? And where’s it taking the planet?”
“That’s the big question, isn’t it?” She takes a breath, as if steadying herself. “To be honest, this doesn’t feel like something any Xanxian or human nation could do. There must be another lifeform out there with its own agenda.”
“That’s impossible.” For the first time today, I feel a tingle of fear. Another life form? Really? This is big. Huge.
“Thirty years ago, humans didn’t know Xanxians existed. Lots of things are possible. We just need to start looking,” Elana says. She doesn’t look afraid. She looks determined.
“If the ship’s undetectable, where do we start?” I ask.
“I don’t know. I’m thinking the better option might be to investigate Orocopa 1 first.”
“But where’s the fun in that?” Despite the danger, I had my mind set on chasing the mystery ship.
“Rotten, this isn’t about fun. It’s about identifying a threat. A pretty significant threat, if my theory is correct.”
“Hmmm.” I’m feeling a little lost. I wish I had even a fraction of Elana’s big brain energy.
“If we catch it in time, we could be saving the whole galaxy.”
She’s right. This could be the start of something amazing. Heroic and grand in a way that I never dreamed.
“Well, that sounds pretty cool, too.” An excited smile breaks across my face.
“Yes, saving the galaxy is cool,” she cracks, then smiles back at me.
“And you never know, maybe we’ll have to blow something up along the way.” I raise my eyebrows.
She giggles.
“I think it’s quite possible we’ll have to blow something up.”
My smile widens. There’s definitely going to be more to this operation that tracking dust particles. I hope.