He shook his head. “E-grenades operate on a timer and are not triggered by contact.”
“Is the time allotted always the same?”
“Yes. But sometimes the thrower will hold the e-grenade a moment before hurling it to reduce the time soldiers have to flee.”
“Good to know.” Before he could respond, her face lit with another smile. Holding up the bag in her hand, she pointed at it. “Have you tried these? They are freaking delicious.”
How did she make him smile so easily? “Jarumi nuggets? Yes, I’ve tried them.”
“They taste like nacho-cheese-flavored corn chips with a hint of whatever makes vestuna so spicy. This is my second bag.”
He laughed.
Brohko stared at her. “You eat vestuna?”
Nodding, she handed the bag to Dagon. “Would you hold this for a minute please?” Once both hands were free, Eliana motioned to Brohko’s weapon. “May I?”
Brohko looked at Quoba. After receiving a nod of permission, he handed over the osdulium rifle.
Eliana nudged her way between the men and stared at the frozen image. “Dagon, would you start it up again please?”
“Resume simulation,” he commanded.
Smoke billowed from the hallway on the left. Boots clomped against the floor in the distance.
Eliana looked toward the hallway on the right, raised the O-rifle, and waited.
The footsteps sped up into a run as they grew closer.
Quoba and Tarok raised their weapons.
Then Eliana fired.
A bright ball of energy struck the wall and burned a hole through it.
She fired again. And again.
Cries of pain erupted. Several thuds sounded just before an Akseli soldier stumbled into view and fell to his knees, a scorched hole in the center of his chest.
“Okay,” Eliana said with a smile. “I’m done.”
“Pause simulation,” Dagon ordered.
Staring down at the weapon in her hands, she turned it first to one side, then the other. “Hm.” She handed it back to Brohko and reclaimed her snack bag. “Just checking.” Delving into the bag, she drew out a dusty yellow nugget and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes closed as she chewed. “Oh man. These are sooooo good.” When she opened her eyes, they sparkled with mirth as she looked up at him. “Seriously, you’re going to have to hide these from me, or I’ll end up eating every bag on the ship.”
Shaking his head with a smile, he motioned to the door. “Shall we?”
She nodded and tossed the men a dusty wave. “Thanks for letting me sit in, guys.”
All three nodded, the older two watching her with bemusement while Brohko stared at her with poorly disguised adoration.
Dagon shook his head as they left the simulation room. Brohko wasn’t the only one to do so. Dagon had seen the same look on other faces.
Srul, he’d had to fight to keep from donning it himself a time or two. Eliana fascinated him.
And amused him.
Astonished him.
And aroused him.
She was just so drekking appealing. He had not discovered a single thing about her that he didn’t like.
After devouring what must have been the last nugget, she tilted her head back and poured the crumbs at the bottom into her mouth. When she caught him watching, she covered her mouth and laughed. “Sorry about that. I burn a lot of calories.” Again she wiped her hand on her pants, adding to the yellow dust that already decorated her thigh, then folded the empty bag and tucked it in one of her pants pockets. “So.”
He arched a brow. “So?”
She patted the wall beside her, careful to use her clean hand. “What material are these made out of?”
“The walls?”
She nodded. “Most walls on Earth are made of gypsum plastered between two sheets of stiff paper. So they’re easily damaged.”
He nodded in the direction of the simulation room. “Is that what you were doing? Determining how hard it is to pierce a wall?”
“Yes. Back home, firearms you would probably consider primitive can easily propel projectiles through walls. Even brick walls.”
He knew little of what warfare was like on her planet. “To answer your question…” He clasped his hands behind his back so he wouldn’t be tempted to rest one on the base of her spine. Or lower. “The walls are made of metal.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.” He motioned to his left. “The closer to the exterior of the ship you get, the thicker those walls become.”
“In case weapons fire should breach the outer surface?”
“Yes. The nearer the center…”
“The thinner the walls.”
“Correct.”
“Would you—?” She patted her pants pockets, then frowned. “Hang on a sec.” Spinning around, she jogged back the way they had come.
Dagon tried but failed to keep his eyes from straying to her bottom.
Sooooo incredibly tempting in her tight pants.
Halting before Simulation Room 1, she poked her head in. “Sorry to interrupt, guys.” She slipped inside as Quoba paused the simulation.
“Is this another lesson?” Brohko asked.
“No. I forgot my tablet.” A moment later, she stepped back out into the hallway. “See ya later!” Breaking into a jog, she swiftly returned and halted before Dagon. “Would you please bring up a diagram of the ship for me so I’ll know where I am with regard to the exterior at all times?” She handed him the data pad.
Dagon complied and handed the tablet back to her.
“Thank you.” As she studied the screen, her face grew somber. “I should have done this on the Kandovar. But I was so caught up in the whole traveling through outer space for the first time thing. And the Lasarans made it seem as commonplace as taking a bus or something, so I just focused on the areas I liked the most and didn’t think to…” Shrugging, she lowered the data pad and stared, unseeing, down the corridor. “I don’t know. Maybe if I’d bothered to learn stuff like this on the Kandovar, I could’ve guided Ganix to a safer area and…” She looked down, swallowed hard, and shrugged again. “I don’t know. Maybe he would’ve survived instead of dying while trying to save me.”
Dagon rested a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You don’t know that’s how he died,” he said softly.
Tilting her head back, she met his gaze. Hers reflected both certainty and guilt. “It’s how he died, Dagon.”
So she was spending her days on the Ranasura “learning” in the hope that she might prevent such tragedies in the future. Eliana had saved dozens of lives when the Kandovar was attacked and yet flayed herself with guilt over one she had not.
Applying pressure to her shoulder, he drew her toward him and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m sorry you lost your friend.”
Sighing, she leaned into him and looped her arms around his waist. “What if I lost all my friends?” she asked in a small voice.
“Prince Taelon and his lifemate survived,” he reminded her, trying not to notice how right her body felt pressed against his. “We’re still searching for the others.”
“But time is running out, isn’t it?” Straightening, she backed away. “I mean, those escape pods can only support life for two months.”