AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She doesn’t trust me. Seeher rested all four hands on her hips and surveyed the empty cabin. An antenna-eye zeroed in on the bloodstained wall; another focused on the shattered comm screen. A used pillow rested on the bed atop a messy coverlet.
I found myself holding my breath when Seeher strode to the cleansing unit and peeked inside then flipped up the bedcover dusting the floor and peered underneath. Nothing to see here. I attributed my sigh of relief to the niggling doubts caused by my memory lapse.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“Just checking you hadn’t missed an item that could be traced back to us.”
“Like what?” I’d brought nothing aboard. Neither had the human.
“A handheld, perhaps,” she said.
“She didn’t have one,” I replied with certainty. Why could I recall that and not remember killing the human? Or how the wall got smeared with blood? Blasting her wouldn’t have drawn blood.
“No. You handled your assignment appropriately. Let’s get that meal.” Seeher pivoted and left the cabin.
I surveyed the vacant room, analyzing it the way Seeher might have. The shattered comm screen and camera told its own story. The blood suggested violence. The messy coverlet revealed the ovwet had been lying on the bed at one point. My gaze shifted to the bare bedside table. What had happened to the food I’d brought her?
I strode out of the room.
Chapter Fourteen
Kat
The door snicked shut, indicating Seeher and Lomax had left. I didn’t dare move from the air duct in case they came back. Seeher had acted very suspicious. Peering through the slats of the grate, I’d watched as she’d searched the cleansing unit and under the bed.
Don’t look up. Don’t look up, I’d prayed, fearing she might spot me. However, she stood in a well-lit room, while it was dim inside the duct, only faint traces of light seeping in through the ceiling grate.
She flipped him again. His tone had become flat, his movements stiff instead of graceful.
We had figured she would trigger him, and if he returned to my cabin, he might not be himself, so he’d boosted me into the air duct to hide.
We hadn’t counted on Seeher herself coming to investigate. I wished I could have understood what they were talking about. Did she doubt he’d killed me? The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated. I raked a shaky hand through my short, choppy hair. He’d sawed off my shoulder-length hair with his claws and glued it to a pillow, creating a dummy to help fake my death. Could the pillow have floated out of the rolled-up blanket?
Or was Seeher naturally suspicious? Hopefully, the empty cabin had convinced her of my death.
The duct wasn’t tall enough for me to sit up. I had to lie down. Trying to be quiet in case sound carried, I lifted up on an elbow and took a swig from the water jug then bit into a chort, forcing it down with another big gulp of water. Too nervous to be hungry, I still had to keep up my strength to face who-knew-what.
Besides, better to eat the food than let it spoil or attract alien rats. Did spaceships have alien rats? I shuddered.
Until Lomax became himself again, there wouldn’t be any more food or water. And maybe not even then. Getting supplies was risky. How would he explain delivering food to an empty cabin? He’d promised to visit when he could. To signal he was himself, he would call me Katherine Anne, my full given name. If I didn’t get the secret code, I would yell out “ghadt” to flip him.
We’d agreed I should stay hidden until we landed. I could be here awhile.
Under better circumstances, the chort might have been more appetizing, but it tasted like cardboard. I forced down the last mouthful with some water and froze. How am I going to use the bathroom?
I could remove the vent, jump down—hopefully not breaking any bones—and use the facility in the cleansing unit, but I’d never get back into the air shaft without help.
The air duct suddenly plunged into total darkness. Without movement in the cabin below, the lights had gone out. Fumbling to set the nearly full jug on the tray, I knocked over the pitcher. I heard a splash as water poured through the vent and hit the floor.
Don’t need to worry about drinking too much and needing to pee now.
Chapter Fifteen
Lomax
The galley food replicator produced an unappetizing gelatinous grayish blob dotted with fatty yellow spots, but Seeher seemed pleased with it. I opted for a safe choice, a sampler plate of chorts, mystery proteins sandwiched between two grain-based flat biscuits. Not the tastiest meal in the galaxy, but—I glanced at Seeher’s plate—not that, either.
Considering how anti-alien and xenophobic the LOP was, the variety of meal options surprised me. Why would they care if people got their own kind of food?
