Page 59 of Loka
“You sound as if you’re looking for a mate.”
“Not yet. When I do, I will look for a human. They are beautiful, entertaining, and they smell like Taxian honey.”
Loka nodded as he scratched a horn. Heather always smelt great, a mix of cinnamon and sugar. And she did giggle, usually when he’d said something that didn’t translate well. She was also smart. He had witnessed that when they’d discussed his work in the lab.
“My inexpert dating advice about Heather is that you need to get out of your own way.”
“Get out of my way?”
Hoan smiled. “It’s another human saying. People don’t achieve what they want because they’re blocking themselves. You’re coming up with reasons why you shouldn’t be with Heather. What you need to do is come up with reasons why you should.”
“I cannot protect her.”
“You can. If we’d been better prepared for this attack on the station, you could have taken her somewhere safe before it even occurred. Or, if you’d spent more time looking at the code, you could have fixed the problem.”
“We are so different.”
“Different is good. Different is a challenge. We all like a challenge.”
“She has her work. I have mine. We are not in the right place in our lives to be together.”
“So, you have to save for longer to get what you want. Perhaps you won’t get to spend as much time together to begin with, but that will change.”
“It’s not that. I want to provide for her. Heather has big ambitions for owning her own home in space. She is working hard toward that.”
“Work on that dream together. Once we’ve successfully mapped this galaxy, we’ll be in high demand. Everybody will want our services, which means we choose where we work and when. You can work from your home with Heather.”
Loka grunted. It was something he’d considered. It had seemed like a throwaway thought. A dream. Not something that could actually happen.
“What if she rejects me?”
“Then at least you will know,” Hoan said. “Tell her how you feel. Tell her that you want to be with her.”
Loka looked around the cell. All the aliens who were conscious were listening in to their conversation. Several of them nodded at him.
Resting his head against the wall, he closed his eyes. Hope fluttered in his stomach. He needed to change his thinking. He could be good enough for Heather. Loka wanted their life together in space. He longed to have her by his side as he did his research and she ran her matchmaking service.
“So, what’s it going to be?” Hoan asked.
Loka looked around the cell at the other aliens. “We need to get out of here and save Heather.”
Chapter 16
“Watch your elbow.” The cell Heather was in was so crowded it was standing room only. So much for the Banti taking care of their prized possessions. That’s what they’d called Heather as they’d grabbed her and dragged her into this cell after the unsuccessful fight with Loka.
Heather’s heart thudded in her chest. What had been done to him? She’d seen that cyborg knock him out and drag him away from her. She needed to make sure he was okay. He’d been injured helping her. She rubbed the ache in her chest. It got worse every time she thought about Loka.
“Don’t mind the elbows.” Her colleague Ivy leaned against her. “It’s the smell of unwashed feet that’s turning my stomach. Someone in here needs to get to the podiatrist.”
Heather sighed. “Any idea when they’re taking us out of here?”
“I’m hoping they don’t,” Ivy said. “They might forget about us. We’ve been in here ages. If we don’t get bathroom breaks soon, things will get messy.”
“I have a bad feeling they won’t forget about us. The Banti consider us assets. They won’t forget about such a valuable resource.” Heather had discussed her theories with Ivy as they’d struggled to stay awake during the night. Poison Ivy had surprised her by becoming less spiky the more they talked. She’d been glad of the company.
“When I was grabbed, the alien who held me licked me,” Ivy said. “I can still feel his gross slobber on my arm.” She sniffed her arm and scowled at the offending skin.
“Sampling the goods,” Heather said with a shudder. “They’re going to trade us.”
