The blue one is a different story. I swear he chuckles with glee as he kicks off from the wall.
It’s a good kick, too. He’s on an intercept course with me.
Using the drag of the air I’m diving through, I’m able to point my legs in his direction. Gee, he’s big. And he’s doing it right, riding on the air and not fighting it. He’s been weightless before.
“He’s going to hit me before I get to the door,” I narrate to Vera. “And he's huge. Three times my weight. He’ll crush me against the wall.”
7
- Mareliux-
I swear the alien woman was born in weightlessness. She moves so elegantly, it’s like a dance or an acrobatic display.
“She’s a limber one,” I comment to Bellatriz as I dive through the air. “But she’s doing exactly what I thought she would.”
“You don’t think she’ll reach that door before you?”
I straighten my body to minimize drag, using the tendrils on my head to do fine adjustments. “At least she’ll be on the ground then and you can activate the artificial gravity in here.”
“You must be the most considerate abductor in history,”the sword groans. “Making sure your quarry doesn’t fall and sprain a fingernail.”
“Hey, if she’d fallen from the ceiling, she would have broken that thin little neck.” I’m satisfied with my course. I’ll hit her perfectly.
“You think Caret’ax will fare better when the gravity comes on?”
“Make sure he’s holding onto something up there before you turn the gravity on,” I clarify. Then I yell a warning to my bodyguard. “Hang onto something, Caret’ax! Turning gravity back on!”
The woman and I are slowly converging. She went for accuracy over speed, so I did too. She’s wearing a bulky spacesuit with a helmet hanging down her back. Her face is pale and round like everyone’s face is when weightless, but I have no problem seeing the beauty there. Even her suit can’t hide her rounded shape, especially around the hips.
Hmm.This could actually get really interesting.
She’s focused, gauging the distance between us and already having pointed her feet towards me.
I focus to send a thread of Syntrix out to her, wanting to turn her around so her feet will be no threat. But I don’t think I’m concentrating enough, because nothing happens. I can’t even sense the Syntrix at all.
When we crash together, I curl up to dampen the small force of the impact. The alien kicks both legs ferociously at me. She connects, but I’m prepared for it and grab hold of one of her feet. Together we tumble towards the open door.
“Caret’ax is climbing down on the wall,”Bellatriz says. “He’ll be fine.”
“Then get ready,” I seethe, holding onto the female’s foot for all I’m worth, while she kicks and writhes and struggles to get out of my grip.
We’re tumbling in a weird bundle of arms and legs. I make sure that I’m on the bottom and that her head won’t hit the ground.
“Bellatriz,now,” I order.
Immediately the gravity is back, and I slam into the ground as if falling from a low bed.
I keep hold of the female, despite her kicking and spitting and yelling.
“She’s a wildflin,” I groan, keeping her at arm’s length while she punches and chops at my forearms. I can’t help but admire the way she fights to the last.
Her eyes are dark, but they shoot furious lightning. “Leggo omi ya manstr,”she hisses between clenched teeth.
“It’s all right,” I tell her. “Calm down—oof. We just wanted to look at you. Are you typical of your kind?Ow!Are they all thisfierce?”
“I almost hope not, for their sake,”Bellatriz says. “Imagine living in a society where they’re always fighting. But this one does have reason to fight. You’re not going to keep her, are you?”
I think about it. She’s much more attractive than I would ever expect from an alien species. She’s almost scandalously feminine, and that’s while wearing a sack of a spacesuit. Her hair is very alien and exotic, much finer and smoother than Caret’ax’s messy head.
