Starkissed

Chapter Twenty-Five

He shook his head, bemused at my words. "Now, you said you wanted to see Nauria. Last time, I shared my memories with you while you slept. Today, we will try something a little different."

Kade brought his hand up, making a symbol with his fingers, and suddenly, the picture on the screen was moving. For the first time since being brought in to their space ship, I actually felt like I was in one.  The screen above us moved at Kade's direction. We were flying through space and I hated to admit it... but it was better than any Disneyland ride I had ever been on.

"Wow," I breathed out in awe. "How are you doing this?" I watched as the screen suddenly took a sharp right, moving faster than my eyes could keep up with.

Kade gave me a sidelong glance, looking pleased with my reaction. "It's what I believe humans would call astral projection. These are my memories you're seeing of our last voyage home. In my world, it is common to travel our universe. We have been to nearly every star and planet. Coming to Earth was the farthest we have come yet. Into another galaxy all together." His eyes sparkled in the darkness from the stars that cast their light on top of us.

"Wow..." I breathed out. "How long would it take humans to get to Nauria?" I asked, somewhat scared of the answer.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Unless your government is hiding some of your technological advancements, I would say that it is not currently possible to even reach the outer corners of our solar system."

I stared at him in awe. "How have the Naurians, and..." I cringed, "the Selarians managed to achieve the level of space exploration that you have?" I watched as the screen took another sharp left.

Kade concentrated on the screen. "We are a much older civilization and we have access to different materials that you do not have on Earth. Different energy sources, metals, right now what you have available to you would never work. It's partly why your government was so willing to work with us. They want to recreate the scientific breakthroughs that we have had."

I nodded slowly.

With the flick of his hand we had turned again and were hurtling towards a looming sphere that had a blue aura that floated around it. My eyes widened as we passed through the blue fog and went further down, and as shapes began to appear as we got closer I realized that this was Nauria. It looked similar to Earth yet incomprehensibly different.

I gasped out loud as I stared wide-eyed at the planet that my mate was from. As we flew lower cities emerged. I couldn't decide what to look at as I took in the sheer difference in our planets and the inhabitants.

Little ships darted around in some sort of chaotic looking synchronization, almost like traffic back on Earth. They moved at outrageous speeds and I briefly wondered how they managed not to collide. Their insurance rates must be so high.

The buildings were not all anchored to the ground, either. Some were floating, creating several different layers of buildings and bustling life. I knew my mouth was probably hanging open in shock because I heard Kade's deep laugh behind me. He rested his hand on the small of my back and began rubbing his thumb against my skin. I shivered, hardly able to focus on what I was seeing in front of me with the heat that suddenly swept me up in an inferno of need.

I could feel his amusement at my reaction beside me, so as much as it pained me, I ignored my body's demands and continued to stare in wonder at the planet that Kade and his people were from.

There were so many of them back there, it was shocking. Kade brought us closer to the Naurians that walked freely on the lower level and my eyes scanned their faces. They were all so beautiful.