Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
My heart breaks. “Oh, sweetling, that would be perfect. Yes.”
She takes my hand and examines it. “Look, the cuts are healed. Mine too.” She wipes her eyes. “Maybe now that we live here they’ll stay this way.” She wiggles her fingers up in front of her face.
I laugh. “Maybe we’ll decorate our fingernails with that shiny star powder that seems to be so popular here.”
Somehow, we’re all relaxed now. It’s like the second all three of us stood side by side, the puzzle pieces turned and locked into place, the right place. I used to be the replacement mom, and I did the best I could. Now that Enya’s with her real mother, all three of us are free to be who we were meant to be.
“Okay then.” Bayla reaches out her arms, and Enya hesitates, then nestles into them. After a second, she gestures to me, so I join the embrace, and we share a three-way hug.
“So maybe…” I remember the cafe where humans eat. “We can all three try that orange slice thing tomorrow? After you two talk?”
“Okay.” Enya smiles at me. “Then I’ll tell you everything.” She turns to her mom, her voice suddenly shy. “But I want to tell you the thing Zina mentioned. How we escaped. It was really amazing.”
“I want to hear all about it.” Bayla’s face is so full of love and happiness that I almost want to cry.
As Tarek and I depart and the two of them walk away, I don’t feel any sense of jealousy. For the first time since I came to this planet, I’m at peace with what I came to think of as the “Enya Situation.”
Chapter 12
Tarek
“Arrg!” I grunt and pant, forcing myself to finish the tenth set of one hundred one-armed pushups. “Got it.”
I flop over on the mat and pant, letting the sweat roll into my eyes as my muscles quiver with aftershocks. This nav training dome is my home, and I feel more at peace here than in my formal domicile, an austere dorm fit only for sleeping and dressing.
“You work harder than any of the warriors.”
Captain Drayk enters the dome. I sense his three-dimensional shape approach and hear his footfalls.
“Strong body helps with a strong mind.” I leap to my feet and wipe my forehead with an absorbent cloth. “Keeps me focused.”
“On that matter, we’ve got a critical mission—if you give the approval.”
“Oh?” I turn to face him out of respect, even though I can hear him perfectly well. “Since when am I the deciding factor?”
“The build team has completed SpySAT1 and we want to drop it in Sector Alpha9.”
“Veck, the spysat is ready?” I toss the cloth down on the mat and step forward. “This is incredible. This would be a game-changer. Get us secret Ocretion communication.” My pulse quickens with excitement.
He nods. “Our team perfected the masking technology, but it will only work if we can put it close enough into Ocretion airspace near their capital planet Ock7. It will be a risky trip.”
I nod, calculating in my mind. “Just getting into their airspace will be difficult now that they’ve perfected their anti-masking drones. Heard that the Midraioans lost two top starships even though their masking is as good as ours.”
“It’s dangerous. Need you to plan out our insertion point and how to get there. If we can get there without risking the craft.”
I close my eyes to focus. Sighted or not, there’s something about shut lids that seals me into myself. “Give me a few hours and I’ll give you my honest assessment.” I link into my e-display and begin running simulations in my brain.
“Got it. Let me know.” He turns.
I hear him walk away, but stop tracking his movements, as I’m already fully immersed inside my mind. Numbers spin and tumble, manipulated by my neurons. This is my domain, where I’m master and creator, a place where my lack of vision doesn’t matter. Even my confusion about Zina disappears.
Zina
“You know, I’d really like a chance to try out some nav stuff on a real ship.”
“If I let you near a real ship, you might destroy it,” Tarek snorts. This planet rotation he smells peppery, and a bit like cinnamon. I don’t know if it’s his normal scent, but I like it.
I step closer and feel the heat of his body. Immediately the tingles start.
“But remember, I improved twenty-seven points last time,” I remind him.
“But remember,” he mimics me, “You started at an unprecedented low level. So… while the increase is laudatory, it’s too incremental a change to allow you the chance to test on a ship.”
“How about the training simulator? I know you have one.”
It’s hot this planet rotation, and the wind is dry and unforgiving. Coupled with the burning sun, I started to sweat just walking to the nav dome. I wipe my forehead and then brush my hand across my gauzy gown.