Page 30 of When Eden Falls

After attempting to radio Rooke to no avail, I found Zamya in the main room. She was in the middle of a workout.

“Don’t stop on my account,” I said, smiling.

Her face was flushed and sweaty. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and said, “I’m glad you’re up. I’ve been awake for hours.”

“Didn’t sleep well?”

“On the contrary. I slept like a baby. That bed was ridiculously comfortable. Best night’s sleep I’ve had in months.”

“Not a bad prison then, huh?”

“Give it time.” She walked to the chair and picked up a Solarfleet towel. Wiping her face, she said, “At least we didn’t have to endure listening to the endless gnawing of those horror beetles last night.”

“Very true.”

“This place is absurd.” Zamya shook her head. “I can’t work out if these Akquarians are a new human species or an evolved one.”

“I had the same thought. The latter may explain how they know our language so well.”

Zamya narrowed her eyes towards the door. “I’m not so sure. If they are an evolved species of our ancestors, then why aren’t they living in towns. Earth was full of them, far larger than what we have on Allura.”

“Maybe the horror beetles, what did the Akquarian call them…Igknamai? Maybe they made it too difficult to remain in such places. A lot of time has passed.”

Zamya groaned in frustration. “There’s so much I want to know.”

Yuska and the other attendants arrived an hour later with trays of food. Cora and Zamya impatiently dug in as soon as it was laid out on the table, but I stood in the balcony archway, staring at the radio in my hand.

“Eden,” Cora called, “come eat.”

I approached the table, still frowning at the handheld contraption.

“Is Rooke still not answering?” Zamya asked.

“No. I know he likes his sleep, but wouldn’t Kobe answer instead? I’m sure he said they hadn’t been separated.” I placed the radio on the table and Cora began to fill my plate with an array of colourful foods. I stared down at the strange concoction. I didn’t feel like eating. “What if something’s happened to them? What if they’ve…” I glanced at Yuska near the door. She was watching me. Even though her genteel persona was welcoming, could I trust her? Could we trust any of them?

What if Rooke and Kobe were being interrogated or worse, tortured? Was Oz being treated with the correct care we’d been promised, or was he beingstudiedinappropriately?

I picked the radio up again. “Rooke, it’s Eden. Are you there? Rooke,pleasepick up…Rooke?”

Nothing.

I cursed, slamming the radio against the tabletop. Burying my head in my hands, I flinched as cold fingers touched my shoulder. Yuska was now standing beside me. She gave me a small smile. “Your male crewmates are well. They have been taken to the springs to bathe.”

“Bathe?” Zamya chirped. “When do we get to go?”

Yuska chuckled, flashing her small, yet sharp canines. “The springs are allocated to the males in the morning and evening. I shall take you this afternoon.”

She walked away and I chuckled at myself. Rooke always referred to me asMiss Pessimistic, and in that moment, I could understand why.

I checked my watch. Thanks to the time reconfiguration Kobe had conducted before we left the Parvos, our watches displayed the Earth time zone, as well as the Alluran space time. On Earth, it was currently 13:52, and I’d still had no communication from Rooke. If Yuska had been truthful about where they had been this morning, then where were they now?

“How long does it take two men to have a bath?” I said impatiently.

“They did smell,” chuckled Cora, lounging in the chair opposite me.

I groaned and stood up, glancing at the sparkling horizon of sea through the balcony archway. “I can’t cope with this.” And I couldn’t. Not knowing if Rooke was safe was starting to eat away at my sanity. Rooke was my family, my world, and even though I felt an overwhelming concern for Kobe and Oz’s wellbeing, my heart pained thinking something awful could be happening to the man I adored; just like my recurring dream had suggested. If anything happened to him, I wouldn’t be able to…

A short, yet distinctive electromagnetic hiss caught my attention and I glanced at the table. Another hiss, then a crackle, and a hint of muffled words trickled through the radio speaker. I leapt towards the table, and it came again, “Groundcrew, this is The Orka. Please respond.”