Page 70 of Loka

“In the bathroom. The cabinet under the sink.”

“Back in a minute.” Ivy hurried out of the room, pushing aside damaged furniture as she did so.

Heather closed her eyes for a second. This was all such a mess. Right now, the space station didn’t seem so important. Finding Loka did. Her eyes opened, and she looked at the picture of her dream space pad sitting next to the couch. If she wanted Loka, she needed to let that go. It had been a lovely dream, the thought of owning her own home in space. If she focused on that, it would mean excluding Loka from her life.

The thought made her heart ache worse than her thigh. She couldn’t lose him. No matter what it took, she’d persuade him they needed to be together. His work was important to him, but Heather wouldn’t stop him from doing that. Even if they had to wait a few years, she was willing to do that.

For so long, all Heather had wanted was her dream home. Now, all she could think about was Loka and his cute gifts of coal and those amazing horns that jutted proudly from his head. She loved the way he would stroke them when he was puzzling through something. And his rough awkwardness, and how he got tongue-tied when she got too close to him.

Heather loved everything about Loka. She loved the fact he wasn’t a smooth-talking, laser-blasting warrior. But he was her warrior. He was passionate and smart and stunning. She could think of nothing else she wanted more.

Heather had just struggled back to her feet, intent on finding Loka, when Ivy returned.

“Hold it right there.” She pushed Heather back onto the couch. “You’re going nowhere.”

“I need to find Loka.”

“You’ll be able to find him with both legs working. Pants off. Let’s see the damage.”

Gritting her teeth, Heather unzipped her jumpsuit and slid her pant leg down. A fist-shaped mark glowed on her flesh.

“That’s got to smart.” Ivy’s bottom lip jutted out. “It whacked you good.”

“I know that now. I didn’t realize how hard the cyborg had hit me.”

“You’re lucky he didn’t break a bone.” Ivy peeled open numbing gel and wiped it over the inflamed flesh.

It took a few seconds to activate, but suddenly, Heather’s leg went cold before the throbbing eased. “That feels better.”

“It’s a temporary fix,” Ivy said. “You need to rest.”

“I can’t rest.”

Ivy shook her head. “I know. You have a gorgeous alien to go and claim.”

Heather let out a long, slow breath. She needed to be rational. As much as she wanted to find Loka, there was a huge problem she’d ignored. “I do. But I’ll be able to do that better by fixing the station. Without comms, we’re isolated.”

“What’s the plan?”

“We need to dig out the alien code that’s messing with the station. Until we do that, everything else will be just like my numb thigh, a temporary fix.”

“That does sound like a plan,” Ivy said. “I’m worried. You said the word we. You want me involved?”

“I need all the help I can get.”

“Can you handle this code?”

Heather wasn’t sure, but she was willing to give it a go. “If we delete the code, it might be enough to stop the attack.”

“There you go. Score two for being a nerd. Only nerds love to code.”

“Fine. I’m a nerd. I’m sure it’s intelligent coding.” Heather sat up in her seat. “It mutates just like a virus.”

“Score three for nerd alert.”

“Ivy!”

Ivy raised her hands. “I’m proving a point. How do you get rid of intelligent coding?”