reading him.
“There was one. Star Expedition. I found it quite entertaining.”
“Star Expedition, don’t think I know that one.” A pause. “Do you mean Star Trek?”
“Star Expedition. Star Trek. My translator says those names are the same.”
“Ah.” She cracked a smile and his eyes glued on to it. Why was she smiling? Did he inadvertently tell her a joke?
“I like Star Trek too.” She sighed and her delicate shoulders rose and fell. “I envy you.”
He was about to tell her he was the last person in the world she should envy when she continued speaking. “I wish I could at least read the language spoken here. It would be nice to at least be able to read on the datapad that came with my apartment.”
The corners of her mouth drooped a little and that same look that had moved into her eyes before came back again.
Sadness.
She was sad.
And he didn’t think it was only the fact that she couldn’t read books that was causing her sadness.
It was a look of sadness stemming from deep, deep down. The type that seeped into your gaze when you weren’t aware of it.
The type that people saw but didn’t mention.
“There are many languages spoken here. And many written ones,” he offered.
“Really?” She paused. “Of course. I don’t know why I assumed that everyone spoke the same thing.” She paused again. “Then how do people read here? Do they have to learn all the written languages? Or is there a common language or something?”
“I can update your translator for you, or arrange to have it changed, depending on the model. It would then connect with your ocular nerves to translate words you see into a language you understand.”
He spoke before he even considered what he was saying.
To update her translator, he’d have to most likely visit her private quarters.
“Could you really?”
How could he say no when she was looking up at him with such hope?
“Yes. I could visit your quarters tomorrow with the update.”
The corner of his eye twitched.
He shouldn’t be doing this.
But he did want to spend more time around her.
She was interesting, and not like the other human women. She was interesting in a different sort of way.
Maybe it was the fact that he saw more going on behind her eyes...something behind her gaze caught his attention.
Or maybe it was just the sadness he saw lurking there.
Whatever it was, he would take the opportunity to study her. She would be his new project.
And it would help him pass the time while he waited for his brothers to come off their “break.”
He’d help her and she’d unwittingly help him.
It was a win-win situation, as her kind would put it.
That is, if she decided to say yes to his offer.
Visiting her private quarters to update her translator. He was pushing it.
Waiting with bated breath, he finally exhaled when he heard her reply.
“I would really like that.”
She was going to get to read!
With the cloth in tow and books to read, she’d have more than enough things to do to fill her time.
Smiling, she glanced up at Kyro and found him watching her.
“You know, you’re a bit different from the other guys in your unit. Reku5 they call your team?”
She saw the skin on his forehead move as if he was raising his eyebrows.
“Yes.” He paused. “You think I am different?” Even with the noise of the market around them, she was sure she heard a note of caution in his voice.
“I don’t know. Were you always a member of the Restitution?”
He raised his gaze then, looking out into the crowd of shoppers with a look as if he was seeing something far, far away behind his eyes where she couldn’t see.
“No. I spent some time at the Intergalactic Hub, working with the research unit there.”
Evren blinked, a sliver of excitement growing within her.
What luck. She’d been meaning to find someone to talk to about the port city.
“Really? What’s it like there?”
“Busy,” Kyro said then paused, his eyes still with that faraway look. “Free.”
Sounded like her paradise.
“I have a secret,” she whispered, loud enough for him to hear, but not loud enough for the aliens around them to catch her words.
They were in the street leading back to her apartment now and though it wasn’t as crowded as in the market itself, there were still several aliens moving about.
“A secret?” His gaze focused and zeroed in on her suddenly, his pupils contracting.
“Yea.” Evren swallowed. She hadn’t told any of the other women about her thoughts of possibly