pivoter in a havoc cruiser.
I brushed my teeth and then stepped into the shower, scrubbing my body and hair with the sweet smelling soap that dispensed out of a panel in the shower wall when I pressed the first of the two green buttons.
It felt amazing to be clean and I couldn’t remember the last time I had a proper shower. Despite the fact that I was coughing again and my back was aching, I washed my hair and body a second time until my pale skin was pink from being scrubbed.
I shut the water off and studied the panel on the wall before pressing the second green button experimentally. I shrieked and then laughed when hot air blew from small holes in the glass of the shower. It was like being inside a giant blow dryer and I pressed the button twice more before getting out of the shower and wrapping the towel around me.
I finger combed my hair as best I could, wincing at the tangles in my long locks. I coughed and tightened the towel around my body before opening the door to the bathroom.
“Hey, Sigan? Do you have a hospital gown or something I can wear until my clothes are…”
My voice died in my throat and I stared at the copper eyed Draax standing in front of me.
Chapter Four
Galan
“Krey, where are you off to?” I left the garden and followed him down the hallway. Like Quill, Krey and I had known each other since we were children, and I didn’t need to see the short hard flicks of Krey’s tail to know he was annoyed.
“I thought I was going to the dining hall to finally get some food in my belly followed by my own bed for a nap,” Krey grumbled. He slowed down, allowing me to catch up to him. “What are you doing?”
“Walking in the garden,” I said.
Krey scrubbed a hand through his hair and I could see the weariness etched into his face. “Krono, are you not tired, Galan?”
I shrugged. I was tired but while the gallberry juice I’d drank took away the space sickness, my stomach still felt as twisted up as the trunk of a darsinian tree. I couldn’t have slept even if I’d tried.
After leaving the infirmary, I’d gone straight to Quill’s private quarters. Angry with Sigan for allowing the little human to suffer, I could barely keep my voice measured when I asked Quill for permission to give the human more serum as well as translators.
He had agreed quickly enough, although I knew the agitation in my voice had left him curious. After he called Sigan, I had made an excuse and left. He would ask me why I was so annoyed, and I didn’t want to have to explain. Feeling so strongly for a human who I had just met and would probably break if I even tried to bed her, left me perplexed.
Now you want to mate with her?
I flushed, my tail snapping back and forth behind me as I walked with Krey. No, I didn’t. I just felt sorry for her. She would be returned to Earth within a day or two where she would die a painful and miserable death while being locked away. No one deserved that fate, not even a thief. If I could make it a little easier for her while she was here, maybe even buy her some extra time with the healing juice of the gallberry plant, I would.
“Galan?”
I glanced at Krey. “Sorry, what?”
“I asked why you were walking in the garden and not relaxing, like I want to be.”
“Too wound up to sleep, I suppose,” I said. “Where are you going?”
“Quill asked me to bring the thief to the council room. He and Teo wish to speak with her.”
My steps slowed and I hurried to catch up with Krey when he turned the corner. “You are taking her to meet them now?”
“Yes.”
“She needs to rest.”
Krey shrugged. “Our king demands it.”
I clapped him on the back. “Go to the dining hall and eat, my friend. I will take the human to the council room.”
Krey stopped and studied me for a moment. “That is kind of you, Galan.”
I didn’t reply and Krey squeezed my shoulder, the look on his face uncharacteristically solemn. “Your attraction to the human is not wise. Not only is she too small for you to bed, but she will be imprisoned for at least forty years. You know how the humans are about gallberry juice being stolen.”
“Technically