Page 3 of ReBOrB
Tabby swallowed. “I am almost afraid to tell you in case I missed a nuance. But you named me for the color of my skin. I searched for an animal that had dark brown hair. The suggestion was mink.”
Shaking her head, Cas said. “No. that doesn’t work. What else?”
He turned away from her and hit a small indentation on the wall. Using the palm of his hand, a door opened. He walked through it. “The kitchen is in here. The other is a type of dog. Dalmatian for your spots? That doesn’t sound right either.”
Rolling her eyes at his back, she shook her head. “No. The spots are called freckles and Casey is good. Or close family calls me Cas. My teammates called me Legs. And my employees called me Chef.”
Walking into the kitchen, she felt a strong… coming home sensation.
It was small and beautiful. Taking a guess, she pulled on a handle and swung open what turned out to be a refrigerator. Stuffed full of alien-looking fruits and vegetables. “Who is the cook?” she wanted to know.
Tabby sighed. “No one. Not really. Each of us will make something now and again. But we’d rather eat the dehydrated…”
Casey spun on him. “No. It can’t be that much different from what it is at home. All the studies on nutrition are clear. Our bodies need fresh food. Dehydration is good if you don’t have a choice, but it isn’t meant to be all you eat. On Earth, I owned a restaurant. Two actually. I would love to be in charge of cooking. I’ll need help. Someone to make sure I don’t combine herbs and come up with a deadly poison—that kind of help. I’ll learn to identify proteins from fruit and veg.”
Tab pulled out a box from a cupboard. There were green, knobby tomato-looking things stacked inside. “This is yama. It is ripe when soft. My translator tells me it should taste like a banana. Why Legs?”
She leaned in and started poking, hoping to find a soft one. Taking it out of the box, she frowned. “Because I used to run. Professionally. I competed and won worldwide championships. Do I peel it? Or just wash and eat?” She really wanted this to taste like a banana. It was one of her favorite fruits.
Tabby opened a drawer filled with odd-looking silverware and small tools. He handed her what she figured was a paring knife. It had a unique curlicue at the top. She cut the fruit in half, surprised to find the flesh inside was even greener than the outside. Then she scraped the skin off a section and took a tentative bite.
The flavor burst in her mouth. Casey giggled and did a happy dance around Tabby. “This… is amazing. It doesn’t just taste like a banana… although I understand why they compare it. One bite of this and I feel like I’m eating an entire fruit salad. I taste kiwi, strawberry, and even some citrus essence. I absolutely love this.”
Before she could take another bite, there was a red flashing light and Casey felt the ship vibrate under her feet. She steadied herself with a hand on the large metal table in the center of the room. She looked at Tabby and frowned. “What is happening?”
“We have to leave this docking station.”
Casey’s eyes widened. “We can’t do that! My sister…” before she could finish her thought, BrOdByc strode through the door.
He pulled her into his arms. “We aren’t leaving for good. Your sister is safe. But the Andaran who purchased you visited your sister’s room at the medical center. Reb has been hiding in her room the entire time. He stays with your sister, day and night. One of the Siloth men was with the Andaran. Reb discovered that a tiny, poisonous spider on the Siloth’s spaceship bit her. The hospital is treating her. But the Andaran has ordered the Siloth ship and anything near it… fumigated. He also wants all the ships in this station boarded and searched—for you.”
Casey hugged him tightly. “You promise we’ll come back for her?”
Brode wrapped his arms around her. “Yes. We promise, my love. Probably not to the docking station. We’ll figure out a less… visible location to pick up your sister and the rest of my brothers. Reb has two of the brothers with him, the Captain and two additional brothers will remain on Viant to finish their investigation and to help Reb and your sister if needed. But for now, we need to leave. We’re fumigating the ship, just in case any spiders crawled over here.” He looked shocked when she squealed and scrambled onto the table.
“I hate spiders! Exactly how big and how venomous are the creepy crawlies?” Casey demanded.
Chapter Three
Cameron
She allowed the sky-blue man—he said his name was Reb—to help her sit up. He efficiently turned off the machines that were connected to her, unhooked her heart monitor and what she assumed was an IV. Although it differed from any IV she’d ever seen.
Cammy enjoyed watching him move. The muscles in his body were well-developed, and he was all strength and fluid motion.
Looking away from him, she took a deep breath. The air had a medicinal smell—something she was familiar with. In an odd way, it was comforting. She frowned at the dark curtains on the wall. They were out of place.
“I hid in those curtains and under your bed the entire time you’ve been here.” Reb kept up a brief dialogue while he moved around her. “You’ve been in this medical facility for four days now and I’ve been in the room with you for all but a few moments of that time. I don’t know if you remember being captured by the Siloth, the furry red aliens?”
She grimaced, thinking about having someone watch her sleep. That thought wasn’t as bad as the memory of running into those horrible red things. Cammy nodded. Whispered, “I got up in the middle of the night. There were several of those red apes in my sister’s apartment.”
He turned and met her eyes. “I overheard the doctor assigned to treat you. He said they healed the worst of the bleeding in your brain. Evidently, that was from a Siloth beating. Do you remember being hit?” he asked gently.
Cammy frowned. He was being careful with her. Did she need that? Had they hurt her bad enough that he had to be so careful? Reaching up, she rubbed her cheekbone. It was no longer sore. Then she lifted her hand to her head... and felt slick flesh. With a bandage covering what had to be surgical scars. They shaved off all her hair! She must have made a sound of distress because the blue man stepped closer.
“It’s okay. They shaved off your hair because the head injury required surgery. They said you need to avoid stress, and not get hit or fall for several weeks... hopefully never again... but for the most part, you are healed.”
Closing her eyes, she dropped her hand into her lap. She kept her voice low. “One of them hit me when I screamed for Casey. He struck my cheek, and I fell back and whacked my head on the rock fireplace. That’s the last thing I remember.”