Spaced Out

Hand Over The Stones

The captain hadn't said a word to Lily since he'd found her with Gen post-nuzzle. The silent treatment got under her skin. Already, she missed Gen's irreverence. A concealed wave had been she and the medic's goodbye. Now, she trudged behind Vortrand, toting the Atarsen behind her.

Most species Lily encountered were bi-pedal except for the Arkin. Despite some extra limbs or strange skin or eye colors, they possessed features recognizable to her human-centric brain. The Atarsen baffled her. They didn't have features or limbs. They were a cylinder, a three dimensional shape hovering six inches off the ground, big and smooth and black and solid. A metal collar with an attached lead banded its middle. She pulled it along behind her like a little red wagon, striving to keep up with Vortrand as he plowed over Riklim's undulating terrain.

"Wait up." Lily broke into a jog.

Vortrand increased his pace. Unless Lily sprinted she wouldn't catch up. She stopped.

"I was worried about you, you know." She shouted at his back.

Vortrand whipped around. "Were you? Because you looked quite comfortable to me. Very at home."

Throwing down the Atarsen's leash, Lily said, "After Gen let me see you in the negotiation room which was after I tried to shoot him."

Some of the fight went out of Vortrand. "Tried?"

"He took my liquis cartridges. But I still got my way."

"I'm not surprised when the perks of your favor are so easily attained."

"I don't come with perks."

"You were in his lap."

"It wasn't like that."

"Oh? Do enlighten me."

And now, Lily was stuck. Fessing up what Gen taught her meant tipping her secret card. She scrunched her mouth.

"You're the one who made me a space whore. I did what I thought he'd expect from an ulari."

"And you did it exceptionally well. Consider the profession."

"I couldn't sleep with everyone who wanted me."

"But you'll throw yourself at anything with a dangle between their legs."

"I've never thrown myself at anyone." Derek dumped Lily before she had the chance. "You're the one who couldn't keep his hands off me."

"Because a certain someone was waltzing around the first tier in nothing but one of my shirts while I was laced with utori," Vortrand spat the word, "fluids."