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The first thing she became aware
of was the silence. But it wasn’t an absolute silence. There was
an almost inaudible hum surrounding her. Low and soothing. It
made her feel… Feel.
It was a beautiful revelation to
realize she didn’t feel anything. The pain was gone. Her thirst
was gone. Her head was clear, her mind focused. And
then she remembered. Paya
opened her eyes to semi-darkness. Pale lights shone in the
distance, hazy and out of focus. She reached out to them only to
encounter something solid. Clear. Transparent. As
soon as she touched it, a soft glow emanated around her,
surrounding her until she could see the dome-like lid arching
above her. That’s when she knew it was the lid that belonged to
the box the Terrans called a med bed. Which meant she was inside
their ship, their flying building. How
she’d gotten here remained somewhat fuzzy. But she hadn’t
dreamed it or fantasized it. Her prayers had been answered. Paya pressed her palm to the
lid. It was warm and vibrated slightly. It was real. She was
here. She was away from the temple, and she was alive. Ivan. She banged her fist against the
lid. “Ivan?” There was a click, and the lid
began to rise. A dark form appeared almost directly above her,
out of eyesight range unless she tilted her head back, but she
didn’t need to. She wasn’t afraid. These were friends. They
wouldn’t harm her. They’d saved her, and that thought alone
eased her mind. Before the lid was all the way
up, Ivan moved around to look down at her. A big smile lit up
his face. “Hello. How do you feel?” “There is no pain.” He nodded. “Wayd has your pain
receptors dampened.” He held up a hand. “That means you won’t
feel any while your body heals. Now, I need to ask you a couple
of questions. Do you feel like answering them?” “I will tell you anything you
want to hear. I owe you my life, and I don’t think I’ll ever be
able to repay you for that.” “You’re welcome. Now, while you
were unconscious, we had a brief skirmish with the Ya. As you
can see, we won. We were also able to save the town the Ya had
targeted. Ray and Zane are getting ready to go back down to the
village and ask the residents who are still there about getting
some food for you. I need the names of some of those foods so we
can bring it up to the ship where we can replicate it.” “You can prepare my kind of
food?” “We can try. Wayd is a genius
when it comes to that sort of thing. You see, he breaks it down
to its basic molecular structure and…” Ivan chuckled. “I’ve
confused you again. Let’s just say he’ll do his best. In the
meantime, the guys hope they can bring back enough to sustain
you until we can recreate our own.” “Can
I try some of
your
food?” He nodded. “We can give you
little tastes, but it can’t be much. We’ll have to watch you to
see if you have any sort of reaction to it before we give you
more. We know you must be very hungry.” She was and she admitted it.
“But I’m not as hungry as I was earlier.” “That’s because we put a drip in
you.” “A…what?” “You were dehydrated.” “I was thirsty.” “Yes.” “So
when you dripped in me…” “It
helped to assuage your hunger a little. Not completely, but
enough to allow you to heal faster.” Paya looked behind him. “Are we
alone?” “Yes. For now. Why? Do I need to
get Wayd?” “I would like to sit up.” He reached for her, drawing his
arms around her and lifting her to where she could sit with her
knees bent on the med bed. The position was awkward as she
couldn’t spread her wings. Ivan seemed to understand her dilemma
and put his hands on her again. “Here. Let’s turn you around.
There. Better?” He had her swivel until her legs
dangled over the side. This new position enabled her to spread
her wings. She was surprised when Ivan ran a hand down one of
them. His touch was like a caress. “They’re as soft and velvety as
they look,” he commented. She already missed the feel of
his arms around her, and the revelation shook her to the core.
Normally, she abhorred a male’s touch. Now more than ever. Yet,
Ivan’s touch was different. It didn’t bother her when his hand
stroked her. Or when his arms held her. She fought to admit it, but she
wanted more from him, but… Holding me is all he can do.
It’s all I can allow him to do. I cannot let him be any more
familiar with me. It wouldn’t be right or fair to him. “Let me know if you start to
feel woozy.” “Woozy?” He tapped the side of his head.
“Like you’re going to pass out.” Paya slowly shook her head. “I’m
fine…for now. Ivan, did you really defeat the Ya?” He briefly explained what
happened, his pride and excitement making her smile back. “Then the Ya are gone?” His face fell. “No, damn it. We
scanned that entire area, plus several kilometers beyond it, but
there’s no sign of the ship we struck. We’re figuring it
survived our attack and left.” “Do you believe it’ll come
back?” “Either it will, or another Ya
ship will take its place.”
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