with her? She had never suffered from motion sickness before.
“Selina, that’s enough,” Haley said sharply, but it was as if her sister hadn’t heard.
Locked in a battle with some unseen foe, Selina slapped away Haley’s hands and kicked out at nothing. “Stop it,” Selina shrieked. “Stop! Please, no more.”
Haley looked at Nikki and threw up her hands. “What should I do?”
Nikki wasn’t sure. If this was simply a reaction to the situation, Selina would likely calm down on her own. If it was PTSD or a psychotic episode, she would need behavior therapy and medication. “Keep talking to her. As long as she’s strapped in, she can’t hurt herself.” Or anyone else. A few bruises and scrapes were better than the dangers possible if she got loose.
Selina’s screams gradually turned to moans and heartrending whimpers, but her defensive motions continued. Nikki wasn’t sure why spinning out of control had triggered her reaction. Even so, it was hard not to conclude that Selina’s emotional volatility was a side effect of the Cretzians’ latest experiment. Selina had been the mature, even-tempered one before this nightmare began.
The door to the cockpit opened. Ayran and Jaron emerged carrying Velmar. They took him to the crew’s cabin and placed him on one of the bunks. Ayran remained inside with Velmar, while Jaron returned to the front of the ship.
“Is he okay?” Nikki asked as Jaron walked passed.
“Unsure,” Jaron told her without slowing down. “Ayran is giving him energy.”
Then Velmar was still alive. She exhaled, trying not to feel too guilty about her relief. Yes, she had a selfish reason for wanting Velmar to live, but she didn’t wish him harm.
The door remained open as Jaron slipped onto the pilot’s seat. Nikki stood, waited for the wooziness to pass, then moved closer to the partition. She didn’t feel comfortable entering the cockpit, but she desperately wanted to know what was going on. “Is energy all Velmar needs to recover or is it more serious? How much trouble are we in?”
“Unfortunately, Velmar is the best person to answer that question.” Jaron looked over his shoulder then activated the holo-control grid. “I scanned him and it seems like he simply ran out of energy before we reached our destination. But I’m not much of a healer and Velmar’s physiology is unique. We’ll know more once he has absorbed some energy.”
She nodded as he turned back around, so she wasn’t sure if he saw the gesture or not. Rather than ask, she moved on to the next issue. “Are we in your dimension?” The main display was blank. In fact, many of the controls didn’t appear to be working properly.
“We’re somewhere in subspace.” Pushing his hands into the holo-grid, Jaron navigated from one system to another.
Nikki couldn’t read Sarronti, yet half the status indicators only displayed static. That couldn’t be good.
“I believe we’re significantly closer to my dimension but I haven’t been able to determine how close.” He glanced back at her, forehead creased with concern. “I heard screaming. Was someone hurt or just frightened?”
“Selina freaked out. I’m not sure why. Well, I mean we’re all completely stressed and exhausted, but I don’t know why this particular thing caused such an extreme reaction.”
His gaze searched hers for a moment then he motioned her into the cockpit. “Let the divider close. I want to speak with you.”
Nikki looked at Haley then Selina. Selina seemed calmer now. She was staring off into the distance blankly, but the agitated motions had stopped. Haley waved Nikki onward then turned back to her sister.
As soon as Nikki stepped into the cockpit, Jaron triggered the door. Her heart flipped over in her chest as it had each time they’d been alone together. She moved to the seat beside Jaron and sat down, careful not to touch any of the controls.
“You told me you don’t remember what happened when the Cretzians took you out of the cell.” He pulled his hands out of the holo-grid and swiveled around to face her.
Her physical reaction to him confused her. He was undeniably good-looking, but so was Ayran. And her bones didn’t melt every time Ayran looked at her. There was something different about Jaron. She sensed a visceral connection to him that she’d never felt before.
“Do you remember anything?” His tone was patient yet firm.
She was so distracted by her rapid pulse and the ache between her thighs that she almost forgot what he was asking about. Oh yeah, the Cretzian experiments. She swallowed with difficulty. She had