Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Once I’m done dressing her like a toddler, she’s, well, she’s covered at least. My shirt hangs off her like a tent, but at least she’s no longer naked. I’d say I’m glad she’s warm, but I don’t think cold has been a problem for her, period.
Her hand touches my arm, her fingers stroking my skin. “Chahm-pee?” She wiggles her nose and then mimes galloping with her hands.
“Is that your pet? Come on. I’ll take you to him.” I clasp her hand in mine, and she squeezes my fingers. Hate that she feels so keffing right with her little fingers tucked against mine.
I lead her to med bay, and she sucks in a breath at the sight of her animal laid out. Niri’s put away her diagnostic machine and has a screen in front of her face, directing the surgery manually. “You blew a hole right through his keffing guts, dumbass,” Niri tells me as I return. “Lucky for you I could remove the part of the liver that you blew up without him going toxic, though it’s tricky given that he’s an animal and our machines aren’t prepped to—” Her words trail off as she sees the girl with me. “Who the kef is that?”
“I don’t know,” I say bluntly. “She came up to me outside.”
Niri studies her, then sets the machine on automatic as it works at stitching up the wound in the unconscious hairball of a creature. “She’s wearing your shirt. She naked under that?”
“Loincloth.”
“In this snow? Is she crazy?”
“I…think she lives here.” Something tells me she’s not crazy, just…wild. “Didn’t Trakan say this place was uninhabited?”
“According to planetary surveys, yeah. You think she’s a shipwreck survivor? She looks like us. Clearly mesakkah.”
“Sa-khui,” the girl chimes in, misinterpreting Niri’s words. She taps her chest. “Sa-khui.”
“Is that your name, sweetie?” Niri asks, pulling the girl away from me and moving her to a seat. She takes out her hand scanner and begins to run it over her.
“Sa-khui,” the girl repeats again, and taps her chest. Then she pats Niri’s arm. “Sa-khui.” She gestures toward me. “Sa-khui?”
“I think she’s saying she’s like us,” I tell Niri, leaning against the wall and crossing my arms over my chest. Smart thing. I can’t deny that I’m attracted to her like mad, but wouldn’t any man in my situation? Long time celibate, naked, attractive girl…but there’s something more to her. Maybe it’s her sweet, innocent expression, her wide-eyed wonder as she looks around her. Makes me want to protect her from anything that might harm her…even me. Or Niri. The captain. Trakan.
Not that I think they would… It’s just that she’s mine.
“Well, she’s definitely descended from mesakkah stock,” Niri says, interrupting my possessive thoughts. “The scan reads that her DNA matches up perfectly with ours. But she’s not speaking any tongue that I know of.”
“She stranded here, then?”
“I don’t know. I think she was born on this planet.” Niri moves the scanner over her. “I don’t see any signs of tech implants anywhere. No surgical scars, no dental modifications, nothing. She doesn’t have a single vaccine, and she’s got parasites. Isn’t that grand?”
“But she’s healthy?”
“Oh, she’s stunningly healthy,” Niri says, putting her scanner away with a click. “Other than the parasites, of course. I can remove them once we’re done with her pet here.”
“And the eyes?”
She shrugs, putting her equipment away and checking on the herbivore. “Possibly a chemical reaction to something she ate? I don’t know. Like I said, everything registers as healthy.”
“Sa-khui?” the girl says again, looking over at me. “Vo?”
She wants answers, and I don’t blame her. I tap my chest. “Mesakkah. That’s my people. I’m from Ubeduc VII, Cap City.” I point at Niri. “She’s mesakkah, too, but she’s from the homeworld, Kes. And that’s probably way more than you needed to know.”
“Cap see-tee?” she replies, tilting her head. She gestures at me. “Cap see-tee?”
“I think she thinks it’s your name,” Niri murmurs, amused. “I need to work on her furry little friend here. You want to take her to your station and see if you can get a language scan to match?”
It’s a brilliant idea, and I’m annoyed I didn’t think of it. I’ve been scrambled ever since the girl ran right into my arms, buck naked. “Will do. Come on,” I say to the strange woman, and offer her my hand.
She looks at her pet, worried. “Chahm-pee?”
“He’s going to be fine,” I tell her, keeping my tone reassuring. It must work, because she puts her hand in mine, and I lead her out of the room and onto the bridge. Luckily, the captain and Trakan both must be in their quarters, because it’s deserted. I move to my seat and turn on my work station. I fire up a translator and make her sit down in my seat, then crouch next to her. “Need you to talk.”