“You can’t.”
“Let me go,” I yelled, my voice turning higher pitched than I liked. I slapped the glowing panel next to the door, but nothing happened.
Kalvoxrencol stepped closer, and I jerked away. “I cannot,” he said. “The light you touched during our bonding, remember?”
“Of course.”
“It forged a genetic link between us. We cannot separate. You could wander your planet if my ship remained in orbit, which we cannot do, but I could go no further without hurting both of us. You and I are bound together until we reach my home planet, (untranslated word).” I didn’t catch the word, but it seemed far too long to be a name. He continued before I could remark, “The Crystal tied us together, and it is the only thing that can separate us.”
“What?”
“The Crystal powered the light we touched. When we get home, we can reaffirm our bond, continuing the genetic link, or you can choose to leave me, and I will take you home.”
My breath started to speed up. “How long will that take?”
“Six months, one way.”
“Six—” I could not even finish. Mr. Kidnapper thought I could be away from my life and job for six months. Yeah. He was crazy. “That doesn’t work for me. I have a life I need to get back to.”
“This,” he motioned between us, “is not how it usually works.”
“So you don’t abduct people?”
“Normally, the Crystal reveals our intended, and we court them. But you're in a,” his words broke off into a garble.
“I don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Blackout. Do you understand that?”
“The word, not the context.”
He paused again before saying, “Primitive.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re from a primitive planet. Pre-space travel. The Coalition of Planets doesn’t allow contact with planets such as yours. People, plants, or soil samples can be taken for research, but no contact. I can take you as my mate, but I cannot set foot on your planet.”
“So you’re allowed to abduct me, but you can’t come to my planet?”
“We’re not allowed to issue contact. I could not court you previously. Normally, we would spend time together, and when you accepted me, we would bond and make the journey home. I didn’t have that luxury.”
“Luxury,” I repeated. Before he could respond, I asked, “How can we understand each other?”
Kalvoxrencol gestured to monitor. “Our computer. It downloaded all of your world’s history and is learning your language. The more you speak, the more it learns.”
“I want to go home.”
“It’s not possible.”
“Make it possible.”
“I cannot. We’ll be leaving soon.”
I was going somewhere new. Completely new. And I had no choice.Lucy, I thought. I would be gone for a year. Once I was reported missing, however long that took, she would go to a shelter.
“Please. Lucy needs me.”
“Lucy?” he asked, tail whipping.
