Unable to stand the quiet any longer, she said, “What’s blue space?”
He paused for long enough that she wasn’t sure he would answer. As it was, he kept working on the controls and didn’t turn to face her.
“It’s the fabric that holds our universe together. It underlies everything,” he said. “Blue space runs just beneath or above or to the side of our reality—however you wish to view it. When we enter it, we can travel enormous distances in relatively short periods of time.”
“Cool.” She wished she had something more erudite to say, but she was still stung by his sudden rejection.
“We won’t reach our destination for several hours. Perhaps you should rest.”
Wow, a rejection and a dismissal.
She didn’t bother responding. It was getting so cold in the cabin, she just wanted to wrap up in all her blankets and take a pity nap.
She hurried back to the bedroom and pulled her jacket on, then sat on the bunk as far from the door—and Serac—as she could. It was still freezing. She lifted the top blanket. Payback came with it, chittering angrily.
“Not you, too,” she said.
Payback’s pink fur—and glow—darkened to purple and then a somber blue. He ran over to her and rested three of his legs on her thigh, his antennae pointing at her as he squeaked.
“I’m sorry I disturbed you.” She sniffed, telling herself it was from the cold, and not the cold shoulder she’d just received.
She grabbed more blankets and pulled them around her, curling up on the bunk and hugging her knees. Payback climbed up to stand on them, putting him at eye level. He let out a squeak that sounded uncannily like a question.
“I’m okay,” she said.
Now she was lying to the parcel as well as herself. Payback tilted his head.
She raised her voice enough that she was sure Serac could hear her. “I know you guys are from ice planets, but could you maybe make it a little warmer in here?”
Payback turned toward the door and started chittering angrily. His fur turned bright red and let off a stronger glow.
“I can insulate the bunk room and maintain the temperature at a more comfortable level for you.” Yet again, Serac spoke from the cockpit. He didn’t even lean back so she could see him.
The door slid shut.
For a moment, her heart seemed to stop. Was he trapping her in here? Was he abducting her? Had this been part of his plot all along?
For all she knew, he was taking her to Dean. He had admitted the pair used to work together.
But no. No. She was being ridiculous.
Just because something had passed between them that had…negated the other, much more pleasant stuff that had passed between them, it didn’t mean Serac was a bad guy. She refused to believe her judgment was that far off.
She brooded in his room for what felt like a long time, her thoughts fading into a dream as she fell asleep.
Something soft and furry woke her up, wriggling against her neck. Had she fallen asleep at the office again? Except, the office didn’t have a metal ceiling.
Wait, metal ceiling?
She sat up quickly, trying to get her bearings through the just-waking-up-fog. Everything was unfamiliar. The furry thing clung to her neck with way too many legs. She peeled it off of her and held it up where she could see.
Bright pink fur. Huge eyes. Antennae.
“Squee?” it said.
She yelped and dropped it on the bed, struggling to untangle herself from the blankets and falling toward the floor. Somebody caught her right before she hit the hard surface.
“Serac?” Her mind cleared as she looked into his rich amber eyes.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
The angry chittering coming from beneath the blankets on the bunk helped bring her further back into the moment and her new reality. She was on a spaceship heading for another planet with a guy who ran volcano-hot, then glacier-cold.
And who was also a werewolf.
And she’d just offended her new pet parcel.
“I’m sorry, Payback,” she said, pushing away from Serac’s chest. She dropped to her knees by the bed so that she was on eye level with the parcel. “I’m bleary when I wake up.”
She reached into the blankets and pulled Payback out. He was flashing between bright red and yellow, his fur standing on end.
“Oh, little guy,” she said. “I really am sorry.”
As she stroked the parcel, he gradually stopped squeaking at her, his fur flattening and turning pink again. The glow subsided as well.
“Still friends?” she asked.
Payback let out a disgruntled squeak, then climbed up her arm and snuggled against her neck again.
“I guess that’s a yes.” She laughed, relieved that she’d been forgiven.
Serac had moved next to the open door and was watching her silently.
“What about us?” she asked, quietly. “Are we still friends?”
His eyebrows rose and he actually stepped back a pace. “I… I didn’t know we were.”
“Well, I don’t normally fly off into space with people I don’t like. I thought…” She shook her head. “You said you liked me, too. You certainly acted like it.”
“I did,” he said. “I do.”
He sighed, then walked into the room and sat at the foot of the bunk, resting his elbows on his knees. The space wasn’t all that big, and he took up much of it. Still, she didn’t feel threatened by his presence. Rather, she was reassured by it.
She sat next to him, giving him a little distance, but not too much. It was a balance she was used to striking—close enough to let someone know she was there for them, but not so close that they felt smothered. She waited for him to speak, forcing herself to be okay with the silence for once.
“I haven’t been as open with you as you have been with me,” he said. “There are things I should tell you—aspects of who and what I am that I need you to know.”
“Then just tell me. Anything is better than how you suddenly started ignoring me.”
“I didn’t mean to.” His spine stiffened as he reached for her. But he quickly pulled back, clenching his hands into fists and returning them to his lap. “I wish more than anything to be close to you and I don’t know how to handle that. If I caused you distress, I am truly sorry.”
She smiled. “I accept your apology. Just don’t do it again. If you have something I need to know, we can talk it out.” She gently bumped her shoulder against his. “I think you’ve figured out by now how much I love to talk.”
He nodded and even laughed softly. After a few moments of silence, he spoke again.
“I…am…Centauran.” It took effort for him to get out each word. He looked up at her, lips parted, eyes pinched, as if he was expecting something bad.
“Okay,” Kimmy said.
“Did they not tell you? Do you not know?”
“Know what?”
“The Tau Centauran Assembly. The sentients who are at war with the Coalition. My people are the driving force behind it.”
“Oh.” She remembered Len and Marvin talking about it.
But Earth was being left out of the war. At least, for the moment. And they had the Vegans—who were apparently bad-ass, super-tech-powered lizard-people—on their side.