“I don’t know what an epocshta is, but I think I’m offended,” I said before gagging back another wave of nausea and vomiting.
Cy brushed back the strands of my hair that fell into my face. “Don’t worry about that now.”
“What is that? That language?” I said, my voice sounding like tires over gravel.
Cy looked at me, his eyebrows pulled together. He was scared. “Ahnktesh.”
“Ahnktesh,” I said. “It’s beautiful.”
“Don’t talk, Rory. Save your strength.”
I vomited again.
“She didn’t mean to,” Cy said, a begging tone in his voice. “None of us could know it would have this effect. Please be okay,” he said before kissing the crown of my head.
If I felt better, I might have appreciated Cy caring for me, even in Apolonia’s presence. Being near death was probably the only time she would allow it.
At some point, Benji came back with water, wet paper towels, and gas station food—Cheetos, spicy pork rinds, soda, candy bars, and Slim Jims. If it all didn’t make me want to puke again, I would have thanked him. The only thing that could have made that lineup any better was ramen noodles.
Benji sat beside me and pulled my head onto his lap, pouring the water into my mouth. The water came right back up for the first ten minutes, but after that, I felt better with each swallow. Two bottles of water later, I felt nearly back to normal.
Cy and the professor helped me move my things to the other side of the room. The mess I’d made on my bed left us looking for more things to keep us warm. Apolonia rinsed off my clothes by pouring a bottle of water over my head. The alien clothes dried within seconds. My hair didn’t. At least it wasn’t as long as it used to be, or it would have never dried.
The cat ran away when Apolonia gave me the improvised shower, but it returned when it realized Benji had food. Apparently, cats liked pork rinds and Slim Jims.
With a new tarp beneath us and four extra-large C-Mart sweatshirts that Benji had bought from the gas station to use as a blanket, Benji, Snuggles, and I were huddled together again.
“Be sure the lights are off, Cyrus, and then let’s try the power,” Dr. Z said from the DJ booth.
Cy did as he was told, and Tsavi went outside to switch on the power.
“Testing,” Dr. Z said into the microphone. He pushed the earphone closer to his right ear. “Agh,” he growled, pulling off the earphones and letting them fall to the control panel. “We’re not there yet.”
“Not yet,” Cy said. “But we will be.”
A spotlight shone through the front window, and everyone who was standing ducked down. Apolonia, crouched and silent, walked across the room to look out.
Her body relaxed. “They are gone, but they might be back. We should stay hidden.”
“Should we find something to drape over the windows?”
Cy shook his head. “We can’t take the chance of them noticing. They’ll stop to take a closer look.” He looked around the room. “Maybe we should all get some rest and try again in a few hours.”
Apolonia took a step toward him. She’d taken down her hair, and the black waves cascaded down past her shoulders, settling at her elbows. “I am not sure we have a few hours. I have been out of contact with Hamech for most of the day. If he tracks the Nayara to her last communication and sees that she is down…if he does not find me inside the ship…the bodies…”
“Agreed. But we have to rest. Just a few hours. We can’t continue like this.”
Apolonia nodded, still unsure. She and Tsavi made a pallet on the other side of the room. Cy made his a few feet away from the DJ booth and Dr. Z.
The room soon grew nearly silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the professor’s snoring and Benji’s deep breaths.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better. I can admit now that I was afraid,” Cy whispered.
“That I was going to die or that Apolonia had tried to kill me?” I whispered back.
“The former. She wouldn’t hurt you. I know she’s—”
“Cold? Unfriendly? Hostile?”
He chuckled quietly. “I was going to say intimidating.”
“Are you in a lovers’ quarrel?”
“What’s that?”
“Why is she sleeping across the room from you?”
He glanced over to where Tsavi and Apolonia were sleeping. “We have very old, very different traditions. It is out of respect that we don’t lie together before the wedding night.”
“Oh. So, you haven’t, uh…” I trailed off, watching as his eyes lit up, and then his face displayed utter disbelief at my conclusion.
“No, I mean, yes. Not that it’s appropriate at all to be discussing. We just don’t feel it’s suitable to lie together amid strangers.”
“Strangers?” I said, raising an eyebrow.
“Anyone. I wouldn’t lie with her unless we were alone. Even after marriage, upon visiting family, a couple doesn’t sleep in the same bed.”
I let my chin rest on my fist. “How long have you been together?”
“Seven years, your time. Betrothed for one. I always knew of her, of course. She is Hamech’s daughter. It never occurred to me to try to win her affection. She seemed so out of reach. One day, her unit was assigned as security to an exploratory mission, my first as a senior science officer. She saved my life. We were friends first, and then she—by some miracle—fell in love with me. I know she seems cold, but she was raised without any margin for error. She doesn’t tolerate weakness”—he laughed once—“well…except for me. We are to be married when I return. Hopefully, after this debacle, Hamech will still allow it. Hopefully, she’ll still allow it.”
“Why wouldn’t she?”
“My friendship with you…unsettles her.”
“Should it?”
Cy looked down to the floor. “No.”
I smiled. “It’s okay. I can see that you love her.”
“If I’ve…if I’ve seemed confused about the nature of our friendship, please accept my apologies. Being here, so far from home, and spending so much time with you…you make it very easy to forget.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should.”
I settled back onto my side, listening to the awkward silence we’d left in the air, until I heard a ruffle coming from Cy’s direction.