Standing up on one foot, she stretched. “I guess we get to spend a lazy day hanging out. Personally, I’m excited about using the bathing room.”
“Please don’t do that,” he begged, rushing to her side to gently pick her up and set her back on the bed. “Your ankle is still healing.”
She made a huffing sound but still gave him a small smile. “I’d lecture you about grabbing me before asking, but you probably don’t realize how well I can balance on one foot.”
“I don’t feel like tempting fate,” he muttered.
She laughed and wiggled her injured ankle. “I need to change the wrap. Can you pass me a new one?”
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, kneeling next to her feet. It didn’t take long to unwrap the treatment bandage and reveal the discolored skin underneath.
“Hey, that doesn’t look too bad,” she said.
He disagreed, it looked horrible! Her skin was mottled with bruising, but at least it wasn’t nearly as swollen as before.
“Does it hurt?” he asked.
“Only a little,” she said with a shrug. She tried to run her fingers through her hair and winced when they snagged on tangles. “I’m way more concerned with how dirty I feel.”
He had the new bandage in his hand but hesitated to open it. “These can get wet, but they probably wouldn't like being soaked. Maybe we should wait until after you’ve bathed before applying the second wrap.”
“Probably a good idea,” she agreed, then gestured at the bathing area. “Do you want to use it first? If we’re not doing anything today but waiting, I’d like to take my time.”
An idea of how to spoil Nova popped into his head.
“Wait here,” he said and strode into the bathroom.
Chapter 8
Nova
Watching Miran disappear into the bathing room made Nova laugh softly. It was probably good that he’d taken her threat seriously. She wanted to wash her hair, and that always took forever.
Looking around, she spotted her bag on the floor not far from the bed. Stretching a leg out, she slipped her toes through the strap and dragged it to her. She did a quick inventory to make sure she hadn’t lost anything, including the items in the hidden pocket at the bottom.
Relieved to find everything where it was supposed to be, she pulled out a smaller bag full of her bathing items and closed the bag back up. She tucked the bigger bag out of the way. It wasn’t that he didn’t know she had it, but she’d rather he didn’t get curious and start going through it.
Finished with that small task, she looked around the room, taking in the details she couldn’t see when they’d first arrived. When she saw the small data pad on a decorative table next to the bed, she was quick to grab it.
The thing was old and battered, but it worked. When it lit up at her touch, the screen was covered in Fielden script, but it didn’t take long to find the language preference and switch to Space Standard.
Now that she had access, she started poking around the Fielden civic system. There were maps, roller timetables, weather predictions, announcements, advertisements, and even a few requests for population migration by a company called Blessed Sand Systems.
Delight was still circling the planet, receiving visitors from the two ports able to operate despite the storm. When she looked up where the ports were, she realized they were all the way on the other side of the planet. This storm was affecting almost the entire planet!
It didn’t matter anyway. Even if she could get to those ports, she didn’t want to return to the Delight. Eventually, she needed to find a different pleasure ship in need of performers. The credits she had wouldn’t extend to transport, so she’d have to earn some money here before moving on from Fielden.
It would be harder to keep the guys from finding her if she had to stay on the planet, but she could spend the first few days hiding in the sand. As she read, she found a lot of articles on how the Fielden ancestors survived on the planet before modern technology, so she was confident she could do it. It would only require a few purchases, and she’d be able to survive in the desert for at least a week.
Current Fielden culture was encouraging young adults to experience life like “the ancestors.” That was going to make it all that much easier for her to disappear!
After some time, Miran and his two friends should give up on finding her. They couldn’t have paid so much for her that they’d waste more than a week looking for her, especially if she leftsome “evidence” that she’d been swallowed by a sand spider or something.
The plan unfolded in her head, so by the time Miran emerged from the bathing room, she had a framework to implement once the storm subsided.
“It’s ready,” he said, walking up to stand over her. “Can I pick you up?”
She beamed up at him for asking before touching her. She gave him a regal wave of her hand. “You may carry me.”
