Beyond the Stars (22 page)

Gaelan and I returned to our room after dinner. I still felt a lingering wave of wooziness when I moved. I thought he noticed my sway when I walked into the study. Gaelan told me that we were on course for a quick trip. We had to make one stop in the Torra Galaxy for some supplies before we went back to Kataria. He said it was on the way. He told me that he would be working an early shift tomorrow and needed to get some sleep.

“Where do you work?” I asked curiously, when he was turning away to prepare for bed.

“I am working on the flight deck tomorrow. It’s one of my favorite places. I help navigate the ship. We are constantly altering our course to take the shortest path. Today, I was essentially an electrician with little to do. I went around the ship and repaired two lights. Everything was up and running. Mundane,” he said and rolled his eyes.

“You mean you have different jobs?”

“Yes, we all rotate duties in areas of our choice. It helps to keep the boredom down, and it is safer just in case …” He cut himself off and darted his eyes to my face to see if I had caught the last part.

“In case,” I said, sounding slightly exacerbated out of fear, “
of what?
”

“Well, in the event that something would incapacitate some of the crew, we all need to know how to carry out several duties to keep things up and running.” He raised his eyebrows and winced like he wanted to avoid answering the question.

“
Did
something ever incapacitate the crew?” I shuddered at all of the numerous scenarios my imagination quickly devised.

“Actually, yes.” He paused for a moment. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully before he spoke. “We ran into a problem when some of our crew members were abducted and those who remained on board couldn’t operate the ship correctly and crashed on the landing.”

“
Abducted
, by whom?” I swallowed. I didn’t want to consider the possibility that the ship could be boarded by enemies or its crew be taken hostage.

“Dreons. They are universe bullies.
Bugs
… they have creepy black bug eyes.” His eyes narrowed. My whole body stiffened.

“Dreons? Are they really bugs?” I pictured a monstrous insect.

His eyes shot me a dark glance. “No, just as annoying, though.”

“What do they look like?”

“They’re sort of human, sort of not. Some more buglike than others. Don’t worry—we formed a truce with them years ago. They leave us alone for the most part.”

“What happened to the crew on the ship?”

“The people they took were returned home after a few weeks, once they did their experiments on them,” he hissed. “The ones who remained on board were killed on impact. None of them knew how to pilot the ship.” Gaelan stared across the room with a mortified expression across his face.

“I am starting to see that your planet’s experience of Space travel has been no bed of roses. I can’t even imagine what you’ve learned.”

“A bed of roses?” He looked at me, confused.

“I mean, it doesn’t sound fun. It sounds like you suffered some terrible tragedies. It must have been difficult to bear such a loss.”

He looked at me wistfully. “Thank you, Samantha—I mean, Sami. I can tell you feel real compassion when you speak. You’re a kind soul.” He touched my hand before he told me good night and slowly exited the room.

CHAPTER 17

FIERY

The days went by much more slowly now that I could no longer spend the day with Noah in engineering. Azil let me tag along with her when she had free time. I went to exercise with her every day. Aside from using the general exercise equipment you would find at any gym, we attended the simulated outdoor exercise classes. The indoor park had rope climbing and zip lining challenges set up every morning. It looked fun. I decided to suppress my
moderate
fear of heights and give it a try. Why not? I could be more adventurous.
At this point, I’d do anything to keep myself entertained.
Despite the size of the ship, I was getting restless. It was time to take Noah’s advice and break every rule I ever set for myself. Azil taught me how to maneuver through the course. I could see why her body was in great shape. She moved with such dexterity and flexibility. I was grateful for her enduring patience with me as she literally showed me the ropes.

Azil and I had quickly become great friends. What wasn’t to like? Her cheerfulness and feisty wit were contagious. She could land a job as a personal motivator on Earth. I really enjoyed her company. She gave off such a calming vibe. She told me stories about her children. I asked her how old she was, and she told me she couldn’t explain it in Earth terms. I guessed that she was probably my age, in her early forties, but looked amazingly young. Everyone on board was impeccably groomed and seemed to be in the prime of their life.

I looked forward to the daily exercise challenge. Unfortunately, I had to forgo the course one week later, right after I was getting good. I started experiencing spells of vertigo, headaches, and blurred vision throughout each day. It seemed to be getting worse. Sometimes, the dizziness would continue even when I was lying perfectly still. Urit assured me it was to be expected and that my vaccine would be ready soon. He gave me a daily shot for analgesia to keep the migraine headaches under control. It was only slightly effective. The throbbing behind my eyes seemed to linger regardless. I was surprised that Noah seemed totally unaffected. He had no problem waiting for his vaccine. I guessed everyone’s tolerance
was
different. Of course, Noah was always a little super-human. I remembered how Jack bragged about him after the two of them would go rock climbing. It was the one thing Jack could never talk me into. Noah happily took my place. Jack was convinced that Noah was part monkey. He was always so impressed by his natural athleticism.

My impatience with being on board the ship grew worse with each passing day. I think I was suffering from cabin fever. I missed work and felt useless—trapped. I had always been terrible at sitting still. I couldn’t tag along with Noah because my symptoms worsened any time I even got close to the engineering department. Normally, this would bother me more. Right now, I didn’t care. My concentration was gone. I couldn’t focus on what the Katarians were saying, anyway. I just had to get through the day. I couldn’t stop thinking about home. It was amazing how many things I’d taken for granted. I realized that my life at home had been a virtual playground. I had an endless supply of choices of how I could spend my time. I felt so grateful for the charmed existence I had been living. It was irrelevant now. I wanted off the ship—
badly
. The neverending confinement and inability to leave at will had become too much to bear. How could such a large ship make me feel so encaged? I wondered if anybody would mind if I slid down the emergency slides for fun.

I looked forward to Gaelan completing his shift each day. We stayed up late every evening talking—comparing stories about our different worlds. We both seemed interested in finding out everything we could about one another. It was great getting to know him better. At times, our conversation drifted into such a serious discussion that it seemed as though we were collecting data for a scientific research study. Although Gaelan was extremely hospitable, physically, he maintained his distance from me. Feeling as bad as I did, I didn’t really mind. I was just happy to have his company. Looking at his gorgeous face would have to be enough. I imagined what it would be like to kiss his perfect lips. I loved how the corners of his eyes turned up when he smiled. Was he even aware of how I studied his every inch and hung on his every word?

I always sat at one end of the study’s sofa, while he sat on the opposite. His body tensed up if I would accidently get too close to him, so I tried not to touch him. I found it odd that he actually never moved away—yet seemed relieved if I did. His signals were confusing, and his face gave away nothing. He acted desperate to spend time with me but appeared to maintain his distance at the same time. I couldn’t tell if my being there made him uncomfortable or if he only wanted to be friends. Maybe he was starting to regret bringing me aboard. I hoped I hadn’t said something that offended him. I tried my best not to be a burden.

Gaelan took me to watch a movie in their theater. When the film started, it was spectacular. The visual and auditory effects were flawless. It felt like you were actually on location with the holographic characters. Unfortunately, the realism became overwhelming. I became nauseated and had to leave in a hurry. I hadn’t been that sick since I was pregnant with the twins. The cinema was now considered completely off limits.

Gaelan seemed to feel guilty for my failing health. His mood would darken instantly if I would so much as let out a whimper. My disastrous display of projectile vomiting after the cinema left him brooding for hours. I tried to appease his worry by not complaining. Urit graciously added anti-nausea medication to my daily regimen. Stopping in to see him became one of the highlights of my day as I grew undeniably bored. I had to find other entertainment. If only I had kept my computer in my handbag instead of leaving it in my room at the Space resort. That way, I would’ve had plenty to entertain myself with. I desperately wanted something to read. The language translator Urit implanted only worked on spoken words. The only words I recognized were the names on the signs I passed throughout the ship. I had to accept the fact that I was on foreign ground. I think this was probably the first time in my life I had no choice but to relinquish all control. Despite it, I maintained my belief that I was in capable hands and my torment would be short-lived.

Gaelan noticed my growing restlessness and arranged for me to volunteer in the café. It was much harder than I expected. Aside from beans, rice, and flour, I didn’t recognize most of the ingredients. The cooks moved at great speed and timed everything with absolute precision. I couldn’t read the recipes. I tried my hardest to keep up with the orders from the head chef. I could tell he was growing impatient with my need to have everything repeated. I licked the seasonings with my finger when no one was looking in hopes of identifying them so I could refrain from asking so many stupid questions. All that I could identify was cinnamon—
extremely
hot pepper flakes—possibly sugar—salt, maybe salt, could be salt—lemon and
grass?

Hayden, a kind, sweet woman, was my only friend in the café. She also worked with Urit from time to time in the ship’s hospital. She was a trained surgeon and usually had very little to do, so she spent her time cooking in the café. She moved at the same inhuman speed as Urit. I had never seen anyone so quick with a knife. Her moves rendered me speechless. Her ability to multi-task corrected all of my blunders. She would zip in out of nowhere and take something right out of my hand before I had the chance to destroy the food. The shifts were only four hours. Although this was a relief, it left me without anything to do but wallow in my symptoms as they worsened.

I hadn’t realized how sick I had become until the gravity of my illness struck me several days later. The day started out bad. I awoke with a grating headache and felt exhausted and weak. My hair seemed to be shedding at an alarming rate, as well. Thank goodness I had a lot to spare. I crawled back in bed only to be awakened by Noah pounding on the door telling me it was time to go to lunch. I was trying to be a good sport so I got up and got ready. While I walked to cafe with Noah, I suddenly lost my balance when something popped like a firecracker in my head. It was followed by a loud, roaring sound that echoed as if a plane was taking off overhead. A terribly sharp, stabbing pain surged out through both of my ears. The lights went black and I faded ….

“Sami.
Damn it, Sami
… come back to me.” I heard Noah’s faint voice calling out my name through my wavering consciousness as I lay helplessly on the floor. I tried but couldn’t answer him.

I awoke to find myself lying in one of the windowed cubicle beds stationed in the medic’s office. Noah was on the other side of the glass, talking to Urit. He looked like a concerned parent in an emergency room. They looked over at me when they noticed I was awake and came to my bedside.

“Sami, you scared me back there. Jeez, I thought you checked
out.
” Noah frowned.

Urit glared at him, showing his disapproval in Noah’s choice of words. “Samantha, how do you feel?” he asked in a calm, professional voice.

“I’m okay. My head feels better, thanks.” I rubbed my forehead.