“What? That’s impossible.” Morgan turned to him, keeping her mouth covered. “The Ozevroc may be cannibals, but if one of them went against Welozz, he’d just blast him into dust. They’d never leave one of them like this.”
Ari’s stomach sank. He could see him and Morgan getting blamed for this. And it didn’t take a genius with full memories intact to know their captors wouldn’t believe them when they claimed their innocence. “So, what do you say we throw it into the incinerator and forget the whole thing?”
What a day. Morgan couldn’t remember the last time her emotions scrambled all over the place. Which annoyed her even more. The only thing she craved was sleep and not thinking about the crazy chain of events she’d just lived through. Getting settled in her nest of discarded blankets and rags, she did her best to clear her mind to let slumber take over.
But the last few hours were hard to forget.
She and Ari had wrapped Xalgrim’s dead body in a flammable, raggedy blanket and tossed it into the incinerator. Keeping her lunch down was a struggle by the time they were done. Ari must have felt the same way since claimed he was done with trash and demanded something more important to do.
Knowing a hard wall when she saw one, she relented and led him toElemi. Coming to the side of the ship, still open, she patted the sleek machine. “Since the Ozevroc don’t care what happens to this ship now, if you screw anything up, they won’t be any wiser.” Turning to him, she narrowed her eyes. “But don’t make things worse. While I believe she’s self-repairing, I’m sure she could use some help. Just tinker around and see what you can do.”
His answering grunt was all she got before he disappeared into the dim interior. Morgan blew out a breath. Maybe now she could concentrate on the little spider-bot in peace.
“Hey, Morgan—“
No such luck.
Ari stuck his head out of the entryway. ”—I don’t know what I’m doing here. It’s not exactly my area of expertise.”
She swore only a few moments had passed. How could he be bugging her so soon? “How do you know? Ari, you need to give it some time before you give up.” Aha! She finally got the small panel on the bot’s belly to open. Now all she had to do was…
“How am I going to fix this ship if I don’t know what I’m doing?” The frustration was obvious in his strangled tone.
Morgan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I get it, but like I said, you’ve got to give it some time. Maybe your memory will come back if you don’t try to push yourself so hard. Go back inside and wander around. If something makes you pause, sit down and study it. Let your subconscious absorb what the ship is trying to tell you.”
“What, you think I’m a psychic or something?” Ari groused.
Morgan grinned. If only. She opened her eyes and peered at him standing in the doorway of the still ship. Once again, his handsomeness took her aback. She’d never been attracted to blond men before, but there was something compelling about Ari’s overt masculinity. And she was a sucker for tall men. “Wait, hang on, Ari. Let me get you something that might help.”
When she first repaired the replicron, she made a copy of her multicorder. While the thing wouldn’t work as well as the original from Aethralis, it had its uses. She’d almost lost her precious device more often than she cared to admit since being kidnapped. Thank the goddess, the thing flattened into a compact, paper-thin mode easy enough for her to shove under one of her breasts to hide it when she had to.
Morgan marched to him with the copied unit in hand. “Here, this might help. You can use it to scan specific areas to see what might be wrong. It should even give you advice on how to fix that area.” She held it out to him. “Want to try it?”
“I guess.” He shrugged his massive shoulders.
Morgan bit back a groan as his muscular chest rippled under his tight shirt.
“Show me what to do.”
Handing him the device, she pointed out the various functions and capabilities, activating the verbal response for him. When her hand brushed against his, an unexpected jolt shot through her. She glanced at him.
He didn’t look at her, his attention absorbed in the handheld.
Pursing her lips, she swallowed her disappointment. She’d never been insecure around men, but for some reason, this one had her second-guessing herself at the oddest times.
The tense lines on his face relaxed as he studied the device, turning it over and back again. “Okay, this I can handle.” He went back inside.
The rest of the day proved uneventful. But various images of Ari doing normal stuff wouldn’t leave her mind. Even watching the man eat made her warm.
She snarled and turned over, punching the pocket of rags she’d made into a pillow to make it conform better. She plopped onto her back and stared at the darkened shadows in the dim light overhead. What was going on with her? She should keep in mind the man suffered from amnesia. If nothing else, she should be looking for a way to cure him, not obsess over the way he looked. Who knew what kind of man he was under all that confusion? For all she knew, he lied about everything. She laced her hands behind her head. Ha, she doubted anyone would go through the painful process he’d endured just to come aboard theNebula Viper. If the Ozevroc had anything he wanted, all he’d have to do was to negotiate with them.
And that ship. If the Ozevroc had any idea how rare and valuable that organic shipElemiwas, they’d have already sold it on the black market. Even as stripped as it was, the ship would still command a high price. The proceeds would set them up for a whole galactic year. Maybe it’d be better to concentrate on the ship and not Ari. Especially since the only thing he accomplished was making himself angry over his lack of progress. When he came out of the ship, he’d tossed the faux multicorder onto her workstation and announced he was done for the night. He grabbed a pile of blankets and stomped to the other alcove.
Dang man sure was hard on himself. She watched him tug off his boots and lie down, his back facing her. It didn’t take long for his breathing to even out and let her know he fell asleep.
Dang, if only she was so lucky. Sleep was the last thing…
“Human! Today you die!”
