Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
It’s pretty. It’s really pretty. My mind is still awash in fun chemicals and things, so I’m not worried. I’m appreciating this all, like art.
“Harvesters?” Boss asks the question in a short, sharp tone.
“Harvesters,” Sharp confirms.
“Harvesters!” Boss roars and somehow manages to be even more aggressive with the weapons fire. I watch as they light the attacking ships up with what have to be high-powered energy rounds.
They fight the attackers off while I start to doze. The pill is beginning to wear off. The half-life of these things is pretty bad, designed to last a few songs and then require another purchase. I feel sleepy now, but I know I’m going to feel absolutely rancid in the next twelve hours or so. I’d never take one of these pills unless I thought I was going to be dead before the hangover kicked in. My best hope is to go to sleep long enough to get the worst of it over and done before I open my eyes again.
“Wake up.”
Kronos is standing over me with a stern expression on his very, very handsome face. I have not slept through the worst of it. I can tell that because the worst of it engulfs me immediately.
“Did we win? Or are we dead?”
“We won. And now we are going to deal with you.”
“Can you not? I have a headache. And my mouth is dry. And my eyeballs hurt for some reason? And I think I’m getting my period. And my toes are like, tingly?”
“You are going to explain yourself, and…”
“I’m going to be sick,” I tell him.
“You are going to…”
I am sick.
My stomach is so upset at me. The stomach also has a lot of the same kind of chemistry going on in it as the brain, but unlike the brain, which is stuck in the skull, the stomach can do all sorts of gross things.
Boss picks me up. “I’m going to make her some soup,” he says. “That will make her feel better. We can debrief later.”
“I suppose we will clean this up,” Sharp sighs.
CHAPTER 4
“They’re mad at me,” I say to Boss as he sits me down in the galley. It’s funny to me how even in an alien ship, the kitchen still manages to be the heart of everything. The universe loves a good kitchen.
“Yes,” he says.
“But you’re not?”
“I just got to kill dozens of my greatest enemies. That puts me in a good mood. Also, I understand your actions in a way Sharp and Kronos do not. Sharp comes from a place of almost pure logic. Kronos is oriented toward the good and the bloody. Neither of those perspectives have any room for taking psychedelics while under fire.”
“You’re really smart,” I say.
“Yes,” he agrees. “To a human, I am.”
“What does that mean, ‘to a human’?”
“Humans are quite close to us in many ways. Both species evolved in grassland environments. We both have herd tendencies, enjoy rituals, and explore consciousness.”
“What’s your species called? Did I ever ask? I feel rude. Sorry.”
“I am a Bovix,” he says. “And Sharp is a Draik, and Kronos is a Peladian.”
“How did you all meet?” I sip a little of my soup, which tastes like meaty flowers. Hard to explain it any other way, but it’s the right combination of sustenance and comfort.
Boss shrugs. “Circumstance. I fled after destroying the Harvesters. Sharp was looking for hands on his ship. Kronos… was not always our friend.”
“Oh, really?” My ears prick up at that.
“I do not want to tell his story for him,” Boss says. “Eat something. They’re going to come for you soon enough, and when they do, there’s no argument that will save you.”
“Don’t say that. That’s too ominous.”
He slides a glass over to me, filled with a fizzing red liquid. “Electrolytes, minerals, and vitamins,” he says. “Should be enough to settle your stomach and give you some energy for what is to come.”
“I specifically asked you not to be ominous,” I complain.
He just gives me a look and falls silent as I sip the drink. It tastes okay, and it does make me feel a little better. I wonder if I can talk my way out of this somehow.
I don’t know how long it is before Sharp comes for me. Maybe it’s an hour. Maybe it’s ten minutes that feel like an hour. What I do know is that when he steps into the galley and picks me up like I weigh nothing to him, I feel the oddest sense of relief at it almost being over, and fear at what is to come.
He carries me out of the galley and to his room, which is a severe space. These aliens don’t have a sense of home, I think. My room is the only one that feels like anywhere or anything.
He sets me down on my feet.