“Captain,” Griiek said. “Director Rowe was recording her interaction with the distortion. While the monitors did not detect anything on the viewport or in the room, when she touched the screen, there was a moment…”
Ellix glanced at his datpad, watching the replay. When her fingertip brushed the plasteel, a shimmer of light appeared. “Static discharge?”
“Not sure. Chief Engineer Adrakh is reviewing the data as well.” The young Monbrakkan let out a gulping noise. “Captain, the isolation. Is that really necessary?”
Ellix looked down at the sprawled female. “Get me some answers and I’ll let you know.” He punched at his datpad. “Delphine, if anything happens—anything else—you’re next in the chain of command.”
“Captain—”
“Get back to me so we can finish this cruise.” He cut his comm. There, a touch of proper worry would sharpen their edge.
Straightening to his full height, he turned his attention to the bright shadow on the wall and slowly stalked toward it. Was it his imagination or did it recoil slightly?
“You can shock an innocent Earther,” he growled. “You think you can shock me?”
Aye, definitely a twitch. And then the bright shadow faded entirely, leaving just the endless black of space, framed by the Earther fairy lights.
“Ellix?”
Felicity’s trembling voice brought him around, and he hastened back to her side. Dropping to his knees beside the bench, he touched her shoulder. “I’m here.”
She blinked at him rapidly, as if struggling to focus though the blue of her irises was clear. “What happened?”
“You disobeyed my direct order and tried to touch the anomaly.”
Her lips trembled. “Is that why you are snarling?”
“Aye. Because you frightened me.”
“I? Frightened you?”
“You fell unconscious. I thought you were dying.”
“Oh.” Then her eyes flared wide. “Oh!” She sat abruptly, slamming her head into his chin. “Ow.”
He tightened his grip on her shoulder when she wavered. “Take a breath. How do you feel?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t think I’m impregnated.”
“What!?”
“I…” She shook her head. “I think I was quantumly entangled with the anomaly.”
He rumbled under his breath. “That… Is that how impregnation works for Earthers?”
“Not exactly, but for a second, I could feel it.” Her head swiveled toward the empty viewport. “It’s gone? But I almost made a connection. Maybe if I try again—”
“Nay.” He boosted himself onto the bench beside her, taking hold of her hand in case she tried to disobey orders again. “We don’t know what happened to you.”
“We don’t know what’s happening to us,” she corrected. “Which is why I was trying to find out.”
All his muscles tightened, although he made sure not to crush her hand. “We are not an exploratory vessel.”
“Aren’t we though? We’re out here looking for love.” As if challenging his restraint, her fingers tightened on his. “The light went into me, like it wanted to touch me back.”
“We have other ways to communicate, if that is its intent.”
“But what if it can’t? If we could all just reach for the connections we wanted, there would be no Intergalactic Dating Agency.”
