Her Alien Protector: A Sci-fi Romance

Part 11

The next step should be reducing Ava's anxiety, which means... I had wanted to have my conversation with Tarak first, but we're out of time. It's time to share the plan with everyone.

I carefully turn her face toward Rigel. "Rigel is a good guy, too. He will sit next to you during our entire trip and won't let anything happen to you."

Ava's darting eyes go from me to Rigel. "Rigel will go with us?"

Tarak bellows. "No birds!"

Darn it! Had I not indulged myself earlier with Tarak, we would have already had this conversation.

"I have work to do, Kayla. I can't go," says Rigel.

Between Rigel and Tarak and the wall translator, it's like ten voices at once. I need to work fast.

"Shh, don't scare Ava," I say to the two aliens, grabbing my bag and guiding Ava deeper into the helm to the furthest spot from where Tarak usually sits. I buckle her in. She is quiet, her eyes still on Tarak.

"Can you do me a favor?" I ask Ava.

Her eyes don't leave Tarak, but she nods.

I grab my partially open backpack. "Glow Ball," I say into the bag. "If you are in there, please say hello."

Out pops the head of the little rahoni, the one I first met in the pet park. It gazes at Ava with its big, adorable eyes, stretching wings and front limbs toward her, and peeps.

Ava's hand tenderly cups the back of the rahonis head. Her eyes stay on the little creature.

"Glow Ball is a young rahoni. Can you take care of him?" I ask, wondering if she even hears me anymore.

I step back, smacking my forehead on Rigel's belly.

Rigel's feathers stand on end and point in different directions, making his wings look larger than they are. "Kayla, I can't ...I've got work and need to leave."

Based on the number of hours Rigel has logged at work, I know he's dealing with something. Right now, though, Ava needs Rigel, and since it's her life on the line...

"Come with me," I say, walking to the ship's hallway.

Rigel follows me and we stand together in the hallway that leads to the rest of the ship. From that location, I can see Ava, hugging the little rahoni. The most important thing, though, is that I can't hear the helm's wall unit, which means she should not be able to hear us.

"Did you even tell her she was coming here today?" I ask, unable to keep anger from seeping into my voice.

Rigel's blue eyes flick to the hallway's wall unit translating my words. He says nothing, but he frowns, and his feathers rustle.

I take a long look at his fluttering wingtips. "You didn't ask her, did you?"

He still doesn't speak, but this time when he looks at me, pale and with wide eyes, I cannot help picturing a young boy and my anger melts.

"We discussed this. She needs to learn to deal with her fear, or Hydra will..." I swallow, not finishing that sentence. We both know what is likely to happen, but I don't want to say it aloud, not when Ava is nearby. "You're a behaviorist, Rigel, and the only one Ava has. Give her the tools to help her adapt."

Tarak's tail bangs on the ship's floor as he enters the hallway. "We don't have space for all these extra creatures!"

Tarak says creatures, but he walked through the helm, past Ava and Glow Ball, and his sharp glare is only on Rigel.