She was thinner than she’d expected.So, that was a plus.
The room came into view.Above a central table, 3D holographic images of space were projected and spinning.
She glanced at the bright-orange elongated fingers touching her temple.“What is this, Aehort?What did you do?”she asked, awe hoarsening her voice.
“You are seeing through my eyes.”
She gasped then gaped at her wide-eyed white eyes, drawing his attention to them.Gone were her green irises she’d once thought her prettiest feature.“How is this possible?”
“Ivoyans have many abilities.This is one of them.”
Sadness hit her hard.From sight to blind to sight but with supernatural assistance was like offering a man dying of thirst a mirage with not a drop of water… “I suppose, once you stop touching me, I’ll be back to normal?”
“For now.”Aehort shifted back, and darkness descended.
“Thank you,” she managed through the tears, wishing she’d thought to call Nenn.To ‘see’ him would be a gift from the heavens.Still, her face… She hadn’t seen herself in so long.On instinct, she wrapped her arms around Aehort’s mid-section.
“Nenn is searching for you.”He patted her shoulder, his tone fatherly.
“Tiny?”Nenn’s voice came through her neck thingy a second later, proving Aehort’s abilities went beyond his demonstration.
She broke away to cup her neck.“I’m with Aehort.We’re done, right?”She angled her head in his direction.
“Indeed,” he said.
“Please fetch me, Nenn.”She swept her hand at the table she could no longer see.“All this?”she asked Aehort.
“The command room.This is how we located Earth.”
She chewed on her lip, then blurted out what had been niggling her.“Do you think the Ivoyans will blame me for the bombs?”
“Some might.I do not.”Warmth saturated his voice.“You have one ally.”
“She has many,” Nenn said from the doorway.When he placed his hand at her lower back, she shivered.
“Aehort showed me a vision.”She flashed a smile at her orange friend.“Thank you, again.”
“My pleasure, Tinika.”
She let Nenn usher her away.
When they were alone, he paused, drawing her to a halt.“Tinika?”
She liked how he said it: Tin-ikka instead of Tineeka.“That is my name.”
“It rolls off the tongue like birdsong.”
She dipped her chin, hoping to hide her flaming cheeks.
“Hungry?”
She grinned.“I could nibble.Tulsig cakes and russmar tisane?”
“If you like,” he said and led her to the table in the galley.“Vaen says he found you with Ulvus.Was that male bothering you?”
“Not at all.He isn’t as bad as I used to think,” she said before biting into the hot cake Nenn placed into her hand.The salt hit her tongue like an explosion of fireworks.She shut her eyes on a hum and chewed in utter bliss.
Nenn growled, “I do not trust him.”
