“Thanks again, Olin,” she said and marched off, heading for the common.There, over another coffee, she’d consider what she could do to stay entertained.She was tempted to ask Qaff to knock her out in the med-E.D.Time flew by when she slept like she’d done on the Yithian ship.
Ignoring Cylo trailing her, she veered toward the med bay.“Tell me, is there a way to make me sleep?”
Qaff snapped his head up.“I beg your pardon, milady?”
“I hate boredom, Qaff.What am I going to do for eight days?”
He chuckled, his eyes wide in disbelief.“So, you want me to sedate you?”
“Is it possible?”she asked, gripping the edge of the bed at the center of the med bay.
“No.”Cylo glowered.“That is not acceptable.”
“Find something to do,” Qaff said, glancing between Cylo and her then at his tablet.
She threw her hands into the air.“What?Eat?Drink?”She gripped her hips and mumbled, “Have you seen the size of my ass?”No way could she eat her way through this.
They blinked at her.Confusion rolled off Qaff, but anger flowed from Cylo.She glanced between them.They couldn’t have heard her, right?
“We have gathered all of what Earth finds entertaining.”Cylo gestured to the display vid.
“You have music, movies?”She beamed.“Why didn’t you say so?”
Cylo pursed his lips, his nostrils flaring.“What did you do before the Yithians stole you?”
“I tended my bonsai, read novels, made jewelry.”She laughed.“Tormented Pierce with space jumps that ended up getting me kidnapped.”
“Bonsai,” both men repeated, followed by flickering eyelids.
Qaff smiled.“Ah, those we cannot replicate since they are living plants.”
She threw out her hands.“What just happened?Why did your eyelashes flutter?”
“That occurs when the O.D.I.instructs us on the meaning of a new word or subject we are unfamiliar with,” Cylo said.
“It can do that?”She waved her forearm.“What else does it do?”
“It carries language protocols and synchronizes your Earthian comms to the ship.It also serves as a locator beacon and a communicator.”Qaff offered his back while he moved from screen to screen.“A few Dar Eths have relocated their…tokens?”
‘Wow,’ she mouthed.“Mine already has that, but the language protocols intrigue me.Please…just in case, load Yithian and Maloidian.”
Cylo scowled.“You believe we cannot protect you?”
“Of course not,” she said, squeezing his upper arm then releasing him when his muscles twitched beneath her touch.She barely resisted shaking her tingling fingers.“I’ve seen you in action, remember.But it’s better to be prepared than to be taken by surprise.”
He cupped her cheek, his touch sending a frisson of heat through her.“You speak the truth.”Sliding his hand down her neck, along her collarbone to her forearm, he activated her O.D.I.and shuffled through the options.
Despite her blood buzzing from his caress, she gaped; her focus zeroed in on what he chose.Why hadn’t she stumbled upon these hidden functions?In honesty, she hadn’t thought the device held more functionality than the bare minimum.And the E.A.F.considered her dangerous?Shit, had he said locator?She stiffened.Had Pierce known about this?Was that his around-the-clock Turner duty?And did that mean E.A.F.could find her?
“Can you disable the locator?”she asked, her voice husky.
“Why?”Cylo snapped his gaze up but didn’t release her forearm.
“What if E.A.F.track me to Issneen?”She closed her eyes to draw in calming breaths, then glanced at Qaff.“I…don’t want to go to prison, but I don’t want to cause an incident either.What if I’m the catalyst for a war?”She scoffed.“Never mind, I’m not Helen of Troy.Still, how many will be inconvenienced when E.A.F.’s battleships are orbiting Etteria?”
“You do not grasp how important you are to our people.”Qaff flicked through charts, his voice low as if he was lost in thought.“Our king would deny E.A.F.permission to land, even if it starts a war, all on the chance you become a Dar Ethand save a male.”
“Oh,” she said, her mind reeling.Male or female, Cylo had said.Etteria wasthatdesperate?She hadn’t realized that when she’d read the digi-mags articles on Etterians and their agenda.
