she returned? Except he had a strange idea that it might not be so easy to let her go.
He had no intention of staying on this shithole of a planet longer than necessary. Kinross was bad enough, but add in the church and this was no place he wanted to be. And as Destiny’s “duty” seemed to be tied to Trakis Four in some way, it was clear they were not destined to be close. Not even on the same planet.
He was probably just suffering from some sort of withdrawal symptoms due to five hundred years in cryo. Rico had said it could have some funny side effects; he just hadn’t gone into details.
Maybe it would be better if Destiny had returned to her cell, then he could get back to concentrating on the job he was here to do. Find out what Luther Kinross was up to and whether he had the means to exert any influence over Trakis Two.
When he emerged from the trees, she was sitting cross-legged in front of the tunnel entrance as though waiting for him. She leaped to her feet, a huge, beaming smile on her face.
Someone was pleased to see him at least. And that caused a mixture of happiness and guilt. He was guessing Destiny didn’t have many friends, only Dr. Yang, and he had a suspicion that the scientist did not have Destiny’s ultimate well-being on her agenda.
Just what was Destiny’s mysterious destiny?
She ran toward him and halted. A flicker of uncertainty crossed her face, then she shook her head and reached out, grabbing his hand. “Come. Come with me. There’s something you have to see.”
“Hey, slow down.” But her enthusiasm was infectious, and he allowed her to pull him along. She dragged him to the cave entrance and then inside. What had she found?
The light disappeared as they hurried down the tunnel and she switched on the flashlight and played it across the walls. As they came to the first junction, she took the opposite tunnel from the one they had come along last night, then another. She turned off the flashlight and drew him the last feet in utter darkness, then the light flashed on again.
“Holy shit,” he muttered.
It was a spaceship.
And not one of theirs.
He tugged free of Destiny’s hand and walked around the sleek black and silver vessel. She was like something out of a science-fiction movie. He came back to stand beside her. “There’s nobody here?”
“No.”
“They could be inside.” Were they watching them, even now? Fucking aliens. Jesus.
“No.” She took his hand again, slid her fingers into his, and tugged him forward. When they reached the ship, she placed her free hand on a panel at the side. A moment later a door appeared, then a ramp, and the door slid open.
What the hell?
How long had it been here? Where had it come from?
Even though they’d been in space five hundred years and were God knows how many miles from Earth, he’d never actually expected to encounter aliens. “Should we go in?” Hell, of course they should.
“I’ve been inside,” Destiny said. “There’s no one there.”
He felt a stab of disappointment at that, mixed with a smidgen of jealousy. She’d already been inside. Was that bravery or stupidity to head into the unknown all alone without backup? Maybe a little of both.
She dropped his hand and headed up the ramp, and he hurried to catch up. The doorway was a little bigger than he would expect. The aliens had maybe been larger than humans.
The inside appeared to be in darkness, but as Destiny stepped through the doorway, lights flickered on. They were in some sort of hold, a little like the docking bay on the Trakis ships but much smaller. Probably to store stuff, but the space was empty now except for a vehicle parked against the far wall. His fingers itched with the urge to go see what it did, whether he could turn it on. But Destiny was already heading in the opposite direction. She walked up a ramp and stopped at a door at the top and raised her hand.
“Can I?” he said.
She turned to him with a smile. “Of course.”
She moved aside and he pressed his palm to the panel. The door slid open with a quiet whoosh.
So how did it work? Would they open to any pressure? Was it heat? Touch? Shape?
He could feel a grin tugging at his mouth. This was really fucking cool.