“Why? Because you’ll shock me?”
“I’m not used to it. I may react badly.”
He walked out of the room.
Kat gaped as he disappeared around the corner. His looming presence was missed immediately and for some reason his words made her pity him.
He makes a better door than this stupid metal panel. At least I could get through him if I tried hard enough.And with that thought, she quickly stepped out of her room. The door zipped closed behind her. She looked back at it and then around at the empty, dark passageway of the ship. She had no idea where to go. The Cyborg was gone.
She brushed her tingling palm against her pants and started walking down the direction he had gone.
Why is it so damn dark?The shadows thickened around her, only lifting away every several yards by a dim red light.
Kat called out, “Hello?”
She turned the corner and ran right into him. He wasn’t a door this time but a wall. Once again, she found herself jerking back, her heart pounding.
“Follow me,” he said roughly.
Kat nodded and stayed on his heels. He led her down a short path until they faced a ladder that went up into a closed hatch. They hadn’t walked far.
The Cyborg continued, “This level houses the living areas of the operations crew and if you turn around and go back the way you entered, you’ll find where we keep the specimens. This ladder and everything above is off-limits. If I catch you on one of the upper levels, you’ll be thrown in one of the habitats until we reach the next planet. And, Katalina, most of these planets you don’t want to be stranded on.”
“What’s up there?” she asked. He turned to face her. Darkness cloaked his naked chest from her view. The glint of black eyes appeared wider and more hollow in the darkness; like the pits of a human skull, the sockets wide and empty.
“The bridge and the living quarters of the main crew.”
“So you have a crew?” She scooted to the side as he walked by. She didn’t want them to touch again, his warning still clear as day in her head. But the heat that he gave off was an invisible beacon to her within the cold confines of the ship.
“I have androids.”
“And me.” Kat had to add for good measure. She was met with silence.
He led her back past her room and into an empty lavatory station with multiple shower pods. The Cyborg didn’t say anything as he led her through the short, dark hallways, past many doors that she assumed were more living units until they reached the end of their short trek. The area opened up abruptly and she recognized it as the entryway the android from earlier had led her through.
The thick metal slipped silently into the walls as multiple laser shields deactivated. Kat cringed away from the sudden light.
It glowed ruby red before it turned green. Just beyond was another laser barrier and beyond that was the menagerie. She could see the giant glass enclosures through the lights.
When the Cyborg stepped up to the second blockade, it too went green and vanished.
Kat followed him into the giant, multi-level facility. It was as bright as the ship was dark.
Her companion walked further into the cavernous space to an open door. He grunted, “Are you coming?”
She tried to catch a glimpse of the fluffy dragon-like creatures from earlier. One of the androids was next to its enclosure, working at a projected console.
Kat scurried across the space and into the open room. It was filled with computers and holographic screens, wires and buttons, and blinking lights. Some of the screens were turned on to show empty glass cages. Some had creatures on it while others were blacked out.
The Cyborg held out a chair for her. “Sit,” he demanded.
She sat.
A blush crept up her neck, over her beating pulse, until it flooded her cheeks. Kat was embarrassed by how easily his commands worked on her, even his unspoken ones. Her hands twitched against her thighs, unsure on what to do, as he leaned over her and typed something onto the screen. The heat of his bare chest made it hard for her to breathe.
I won’t look. I won’t look. I really want to look.His solid, glorious, white-as-a-spirit chest was directly behind her. His arm was over her shoulder. The Cyborg jailed her between him and the desk. The smell of metal and heat filled her senses as he continued to type, unaffected.
The heat coming off of his body was enough to make her sweat. His long blue-black hair fell over his arm and tickled her cheek.
