My Crazy Hot Interstellar Affair

23. Bigfoot's Girlfriend Reveals: "He's Big. And not Just His Feet!"

"What happened to ...Therling? Ith thee all right?"

"Um, ah, well, I am not sure. I think Ernest will know, maybe. You should try to eat. Maybe some truffled mashed potatoes with farm-fresh organic butter. We churned it only yesterday."

"You are trying to change the thubject, Rothalie." Something horrible must have happened for Rosalie to avoid the truth. Normally, she would do anything to please others. Andie winced as she tried and failed to compose her face into a stern accountant glare. "I will find out thooner or later. Tell me."

Rosalie clucked and repeatedly squeezed the bag of peas. "Andie, I ..."

Andie braced herself. "Pleathe?"

Rosalie plopped on the bed, jostling it so hard, Andie yelped and clutched her jaw.

"I am sorry, Andie," Rosalie leapt back, jostling the bed again. Andie's brain lurched around in her skull, her stomach heaved, and she was on the verge of blacking out. She groaned from the intense pain. Her fingertips sparked blue, and a warm, prickly energy flowed into her jaw. The pain subsided. The nausea did too. Gingerly, Andie tested her jaw, working it slowly up and down, back and forth.

Oh, my gosh! What the hell just happened? Now she had the power to heal herself?

Rosalie gasped.

Given Rosalie's look of horror, Andie realized this was absolutely not normal. Until she figured out what was going on, it was important to keep it as secret as possible. Preferably, even pretend it never happened. "It's all right. I'm fine now," Andie said, having no difficulty pronouncing the letter "s." She tried to sit, only to be impeded by the tight "leather" of her borrowed gown. She gave up. "That healing pad of yours is amazing. I feel much better."

"Andie, it was not the pad. I saw your fingers." She carefully lowered herself to the bed, sat at the edge, and pulled Andie's warm hands into her cold ones, examining each finger. The sparking had stopped. "You have the Neuronic energy. But how? Are you Amu?"

Neuronic energy. Oliver had mentioned this to her before. It was a trait of the royal family, which she was definitely not a member of. "I'm not Amu. Although I have accused my mom of being from another planet on more than one occasion. I don't know how it happened." But maybe she knew. Oliver seemed filled with the stuff. His eyes crackled with it. And when they had cosmic sex, his blue energy had surrounded and filled her. The next morning, the microchip disgorged itself.

Maybe she "caught" it like a virus. Since Amu could not have sex with humans, there would probably not be other cases to compare it to.

She had so many questions. What was Neuronic energy? How had it healed her jaw? And how could an Intergalactic Highway threading through the vastness of space be over capacity? But none of that mattered now. The only thing that was important was what had happened to Sterling. "Please tell me where Sterling is. I can handle the truth."

She hoped.

"Andie, you must understand. There is nothing you can do for your friend. It is her choice. You might not wish to know that it is, but you must be glad in knowing Sterling is happy, and you will have a life here on earth that is happy only one that does not have Sterling in it anymore."

"What?" Andie tried once again to sit, but Rosalie's powerful hand pushed her back and held her in place. "Where is Sterling?"

Rosalie let out a long breath and grew still. "She is gone, Andie."

"Where?"

"The ship," Rosalie barked and yipped like an injured dog. Andie felt terrible that she was putting the poor thing through such anxiety. She would make it up to her later. After Sterling was safe.