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  Nova waved it off. “It’s okay. It comes with the territory, and I’ve been wanting this my whole life. He can say all he wants, but he can’t take it away from me.”

  The woman behind me shifted and sniffed impatiently. The boy on her arm complained. “Are we going to stand here all day?”

  My time was almost up. I swallowed. It wasn’t easy to thank someone for saving your life. “Hey, I wanted to thank you for taking that spire in the gut for me.”

  Nova’s face grew soft and a sheer vulnerability watered her eyes, something I hadn’t seen before. She wasn’t the same person that had wrinkled her nose in disapproval of my strawberry perfume before walking onto the corsair. “Thank you, Lyra. It means a lot you suffered in this line to tell me.”

  Relief brought heat to my cheeks. I didn’t think it would be this easy. “I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner. I was preoccupied.”

  “Preoccupied is right.” A sparkle danced in her eyes, teasing me. Nova leaned in. “How is he?”

  “He sleeps.” I shot a glance over to where Tauren had been speaking with his father. The alcove was empty. He’d find me soon. “I’d like to get back to the med bay, but I’m afraid stone-chest won’t let me out of his sight.”

  Nova scanned the crowd. “Here he comes now. Hide behind me and slip through the left exit.”

  The hairs on my neck tingled. I resisted the urge to turn around. “He’ll just follow me.”

  She whirled me around toward the exit. “Not if I can help it. Go!”

  Adrenaline shot through my legs as I ducked behind a group of biologists still wearing their white lab coats. Ignoring me, they whispered excitedly about all the different specimens from the arachnids’ ship.

  Nova raised her voice behind me. “Tauren, just the man I needed to speak with. I have a message for your father.”

  I had no idea what she’d concocted to entertain him. Guilt zapped through me and my hand hovered over the exit panel. Someday I’d have to face him. I couldn’t hide forever.

  Esoteria plagen droll.

  The tattooed face of the alien flashed behind my eyes. He needed me. Nova was the brightest student in our class. She could think of something.

  I pressed the panel and the particles dematerialized along with my problems. Med bay, here I come. The voices of the congregation drifted away as I jogged through the empty corridor.

  I entered the med bay with my mouth full of excuses to go back into the alien’s room. Dim lights cast the empty examination tables in an ethereal glow. A screensaver cube bounced around on the front desk’s computer monitor, and a few lab coats were strewn over chairs. I remembered all of the biologists standing between Nova and the exit and breathed with relief. If they attended the after party, they’d be occupied for the next two or three hours at least. I’d have the ward to myself.

  Slipping on a white lab coat, I rushed to his room.

  The biologists had transferred some of the specimens to the biodome, but they monitored most of the refugees found on the arachnids’ ship in the rooms adjoining the med bay. I passed a furry hide rising and falling under a sheet, a tentacle swaying from the side of a bed, and two twitching antennae protruding from underneath a pillow. So many lost souls. Anger rose as I thought of the arachnids stealing all these poor creatures from their homes.

  I could have been one of them if it wasn’t for Nova. We all could have.

  Pushing away that scary thought, I reached Mr. Gorgeous’ room. My hot fingers left halos on the glass as I peered in. My stomach dropped to my knees.

  Holy mother of a black hole.

  The bed was empty.

  Chapter Two

  Priavenus

  I breathed in to calm my racing heart before it exploded. Had the doctors moved him?

  Impossible. Tauren and I had been almost the last ones out. They wouldn’t have had time. Besides, there was no reason to move a patient unless he woke up.

  I considered going back to the main computer and checking the records when a shadow flickered in the back corner of his room. The cord to the heart monitor tugged, and the screen crashed to the floor. Sparks flew and sizzled out, casting the room in greater darkness.

  By the Guide. He was still in there, and he was awake.

  My hand flew to my wrist locator. I should contact the authorities. This was the most important scientific discovery of our time, and I wasn’t even a linguist, a biologist, or even a scientist of anything. Heck, I couldn’t even remember how to say hello in French.

  My fingers froze, unable to punch in the emergency code. If security came rushing in, along with all those doctors, they’d kick me out immediately. I wouldn’t get a chance to meet him. They’d probably bring lasers. Who knew what the alien would do if he saw weapons?

  I dug in the pocket of the lab coat.

  Bingo. I pulled out the ID key tag for Yaric Fuller, a senior biologist with hair as red as a carrot, curling beyond the parameters of the rectangular picture. Locator hadn’t been updated with the new clearance information since the arachnids landed, making all of the scientists use outdated technology until the mainframe caught up. Good thing for me. The plastic cut into my palm as I held it against me, weighing my options. Or more like lack of options.

  Sorry, Yaric.

  I inserted the card and a green light flashed above the handle. I pressed the lever down awkwardly. All of the portals I was used to dissolved and re-materialized without such primitive measures. But this room was high security.

  The door opened a crack and I stuck my head in. “Hello?”

  Silence. I hoped he hadn’t hurt himself or knocked himself out. The arachnid’s serum was potent. Who knew how long those bug monsters had pumped it through his veins to keep him in stasis?

  I slipped in, squinting as my eyes adjusted to the light. “I’m not going to hurt you. Are you okay?”

  A clicking rhythm behind me made me jump into the center of the room. The door sealed tightly with the sound of sucking air. I breathed with relief just as a shadowy shape lunged at me, hurtling me backward. I hit the wall hard and blinked, looking into the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. Gold like Old Earth’s sun and flecked with embers of crimson and blue.

  He held my waist in place with one hand while the other wrapped around my neck. “Tulugen komus prine?”

  Maybe stealing the ID card was a bad idea. This was definitely not how I imagined our first meeting.

  At least I’d die before I had to tell Tauren I didn’t want him.

  “Os tera?” His fingers tightened around my neck. He had teeth just like us and full, perfect, kissable lips, reminding me of the lead singer of the teen boy band, True Colors, from Old Earth. I had an image of the poster on my wallscreen.

  I struggled for breath and my heart rammed against my chest. The place where the spire hit me burned. Come on. Deep down I know he’s kindhearted. My hunches were never wrong. I stared into his eyes and drew in a tight breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

  He moved me into a rectangle of light reflecting from the corridor through the sight panel. His eyes changed from golden to indigo and his angular face softened. He released his hold on my waist and drew his fingers gently across my bare cheek. “Lavisha?”

  “Who?” Adrenaline and excitement rushed through me. Danger surrounded me, and yet I relished it. I was such a baddie sometimes. This took the cake.

  He trailed a finger along my chin, as if I was the most precious person in the world. Heat radiated from my face and neck. No male had ever touched me with such tenderness. He brought his face close to mine, our lips a breath apart.

  Then, somehow, iridescent emerald and sapphire-crested waters sparkled in a pale, golden sun. Was this Old Earth? He rode a thin, angular surfboard in an athletic dance over the sea. Wearing only thin shorts, his hard-ripped body glowed golden in the sunlight. Ridged-back creatures, that reminded me of small dragons, dove through the waves at his feet, following him in a playful chase. No, this definitely
wasn’t Old Earth. Bringing back his arm, he whipped a pole through the crystal clear, sunny air. A thin strand extended over the waves and a silver lure dropped into the frothy iridescence.

  I blinked and I was back in the room, his lips almost touching mine. Had I seen his home world? If I had, it was almost as beautiful as he was.

  “Ma tulon lavisha.” His voice softened, almost defeated. He released me gently, and my feet touched the floor. His eyes drifted to a distant place, as if remembering something sad.

  I raised my hand and touched his shoulder. How could I tell him he was safe with me?

  His skin radiated warmth underneath the cotton shirt.

  My touch must have affected him, because a profound sadness and remorse flashed in his eyes and he turned away, muttering more nonsense. I didn’t know what the arachnids had done to him, but I could tell they’d wounded his soul. Saving people was my forte, and my body almost burst with the need to reach out and heal him.

  I had to get through to him before the others came, or there’d be a scene. If he attacked them like he’d attacked me, Commander Crophaven would shoot him dead on the spot.

  Think. I’d saved things before. I’d lured a chick to me by crushing a soywafer into crumbs. The boy had come out when I assured him I wouldn’t tell the authorities he’d stolen the last pack of Old Earth’s gum. My brother always came back after I sang. But this strange alien? How could I work my way into his heart? How would he ever trust me?

  “Listen.” My tone grew authoritative, and he turned around with skepticism lighting his eyes green.

  “Lyra.” I punched my fist to my chest. “I’m Lyra.”

  He stood unmoving, watching me, his eyes changing color like a chameleon. I nudged my chin in his direction and gave him a meaningful stare. “You?”

  He dropped his hands to his sides and sighed. “Asteran.”

  His answer left me breathless. It was the most beautiful name I’d ever heard. “Asteran.”

  He tilted his head, his cobalt hair falling in front of the side of his face with the tattoo. He cocked an eyebrow. For a moment, he almost looked human. “Lyra.”

  “Yes!” My heart melted into sludge. I clapped my hands. “You got it.”

  Asteran slumped onto the bed and held his hands up in the air. “Esoteria plagen droll.”

  The phrase could mean anything: the name of his lover, the name of his world, a question, a plea, a threat. Anything. I had no idea where to start.

  “Look.” I sat on the other end of the bed and made a spider shape with my hand. With my other hand I pointed to him and made a figure standing tall. The spider crawled along the sheets and attacked the figure. I glanced into his eyes and raised my eyebrows in question.

  He nodded. “Talken dire.”

  I raised one hand to the air and moved it back and forth like a ship. Then, I landed it back on the bed. He regarded me with interest. Was he assessing my intelligence? I hoped he didn’t think I was a nitwit, like everyone else in my graduating class. Too bad Lieutenant Crophaven had the opposite opinion.

  “We’re on Paradise 21. We came from a planet called Earth. Well, I guess we call it Old Earth now since all the wars shot it to hell.” I pointed to the ceiling. “Where are you from?”

  Asteran took my hand, quickening my pulse. He pointed my finger to the right corner of the room. “Priavenus.”

  I followed where he pointed, trying to imagine the star system in that part of the galaxy. The only one I could think of was Alpha Centauri, but that was parsecs away.

  He slumped forward and buried his face in his hands. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be so far away from everyone you loved with no way to get back. I raised my hand then hesitated. He could attack me like before.

  Heck with it, I wanted to touch him. I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. “I’ll do everything I can to get you back, okay?” I had no idea what that would take, and I wasn’t about to design my own intergalactic spaceship, but what else could I say? Suck it up and live in this cell?

  He raised his head and smiled. “Ulteris, Lyra.”

  My name was magic on his tongue. I leaned forward. Our faces drew so close I could have kissed him.

  He raised his finger and touched the skin just below my neck, where the sunburst scar from the arachnid spire stretched up. His face softened, growing concerned then sad.

  Um, having a gorgeous guy trace his fingers along my chest was kinda awkward, even if it did charge me with tingly energy. I had no idea how to respond. “Yeah, they got me too.”

  Air wheezed behind us as the door opened and Yaric Fuller stumbled in holding someone else’s lab coat, along with their ID tag. It couldn’t have been his, because I’d stolen it. “You’re in so much trouble, young lady.”

  I winced even though meeting Asteran was totally worth it.

  Yaric’s eyes widened and he took in Asteran sitting beside me. Yaric shot me an accusatory stare. “He’s awake?”

  I shrugged off his lab coat and badge, disappointment heaving inside me. “I was just going to tell you.” I threw Yaric’s coat at him.

  He caught the coat in midair. “Stealing a senior biologist’s ID tag is serious business. This isn’t a game. Tests have to be run. Who knows how dangerous this alien is?”

  I shrugged, blocking the first incident from my mind, in case Yaric could read my thoughts. “Doesn’t seem dangerous to me. And he’s not just some—” My fingers made quotes in the air. “Alien.” I put my hands on my hips. “His name is Asteran.”

  Yaric ignored me like I was some lab rat. “Ms. Bryan, step away. I’m calling Commander Crophaven.” His fingers flew over his locator.

  “Great.” I glanced back at Asteran. I had seconds at most. “Listen to me. Be nice to these people.” I shook my head and banged my fists together. “Don’t fight them.”

  Yaric wiped his ID card on his pants as if I’d diseased it. “If the commander knows you broke in here...”

  “I’m leaving already. Sheesh.”

  I touched my finger to my chest then pointed to Asteran. “I’ll be back for you.”

  Chapter Three

  Aria

  I stumbled into the corridor in a haze. Asteran was everything I’d dreamed him to be and more. We’d connected on so many levels, even if I had no idea what he was saying. He’d looked at me as if he knew me, adding more to the mystery of who he was. I longed to learn more about him, but my chances of sneaking back in were zero to nil.

  Gavin. I had to speak with Gavin. He was the only linguist on the remnants of our obsolete ship, and they’d ask him to establish contact first. He was on the main viewing deck along with Tauren. Could I risk going back in there?

  My locator beeped and I glanced down.

  I’ve lost him again flashed on the screen.

  My stomach dropped. Mom wouldn’t contact me if this wasn’t serious. Leo must have fallen back into his alternate reality. Only I could drag him out of it.

  Why the heck now?

  Guilt tormented me as I contemplated finding Gavin instead, pretending I hadn’t seen the message. Too bad the damn locator was embedded in my arm. Only someone in a coma wouldn’t hear the piercing message alert beep. Besides, I couldn’t leave Mom with Leo in that crazy state. I had no other choice. I had to go back to my family cell. Asteran would have to wait. I only hoped they didn’t kill him before I could figure out how to communicate with him.

  Changing direction, I pressed the elevator for floor thirty-seven, the family units. Soon we’d all live in real buildings on Paradise 21, but until the construction team finished them, we had to make do with our crashed spaceship, a spaceship that could never fly again.

  Engineers had designed the New Dawn to land once and only once on its colonization planet. In the descent, we shed our outer layers to enable landing. Thinking about this only reminded me getting Asteran back to his home was impossible.

  Maybe he could live here with us.

  Selfish guil
t spread through me. Of course I wanted that. If the tables were turned, though, would I really want to live with another civilization on an alien planet?

  Maybe if someone like Asteran was there.

  Stop it! I shook my head. My raging hormones were another story. Those I could not control. I hadn’t even broken up with Tauren yet, and here I was crushing on another guy—an alien, at that. An alien I couldn’t even talk to. What if he was a jerk just like Tauren?

  No. The way Asteran expressed concern for my safety, when I was the alleged captor, showed his compassion ran far deeper than let’s say Tauren’s, who never asked how I felt or if my wound had healed. Tauren looked away as if the scar had tainted me for life and he could hardly bear to see it.

  I reached my family cell and pressed my palm on the portal panel. The chrome dematerialized in thousands of silvery, winking particles. I stepped in, not knowing what kind of craziness to expect.

  Mom stood at the sink, both hands resting on the countertop. Her head sank between her thin shoulder blades, like she’d given up already. Leo sat at the kitchen table, his fingers drumming the plastic linoleum. His eyes were closed, and a pained expression contorted his face, a face that looked just like mine except with a larger nose. Thank the Guide I hadn’t gotten that. Fuzzy, dark hair covered his chin, even though he was two years younger than me. His black curls stuck up everywhere, like untended weeds.

  Mom didn’t even turn around. “He’s been like this for over an hour. I tried to get him to eat dinner, but he won’t stop.”

  Leo pushed one finger against the table and held it there. His head tilted as if he listened to a high-pitched sound neither Mom nor I could hear. He gently lifted his finger and rose from the table. A pleasurable smile grew as he stared at the fridge and acknowledged the audience of word magnets I’d spread over the front for inspiration for my lyrics.

  A sharp pain struck my gut. I’d never seen him that happy.

  Leo bowed with a grand, flourishing wave of his arm then strutted to his room.