“I’m fine.” She launched into his arms, kissed his mouth and said, “I won’t let you get into trouble over what I did.”
“What did you do?” Nova asked. The eager look in her wide eyes said louder than the words that she couldn’t wait to get a taste of possible gossip.
“Nothing,” Axel and Cam said. As Ria had come to expect, they punched each other and said, “Jinx!” The punching was likely their favorite part.
“I tried to escape an arranged marriage,” Ria said over their brotherly scuffle.
Nova frowned. “Gracious me, who hasn’t? I thought you were going to say something interesting.” She marched away, mumbling something about a withering grapevine in the greater township of Alienn.
Cam hugged Ria, sending her attention to his troubled face.
“Did it turn out to be crust-fish fever?” she asked.
“No.”
“That’s good, right?”
Axel shook his head. “Unfortunately, it’s worse. Now they think it’s a mutation. They aren’t quite sure because no one has ever seen anything like it before.”
Cam seemed lost in thought. Axel nudged him with an elbow. “What should we do? Give me a direction and I’ll go.”
“I might have an idea,” Cam said. “I’ve been working on a device that can detect certain dangerous substances. It’s a prototype, but I’ve tested it on a dozen or so common things. It might not tell us exactly what this is, but could identify whether something was toxic to Alphas.”
“Brilliant!”
Cam began walking, arm around Ria. His brother started to follow, but Cam turned abruptly. “Axel, go fetch Jack. We’ll send him in.”
“Jack,” Ria asked. “Who’s Jack?”
Axel said, “Jack is our up-for-anything brother. He’s the youngest of us, and we used to torture him the most. That’s probably why now he just volunteers for everything.”
“Suit him up,” Cam said.
Axel flipped off a casual salute. “Will do. Meet you in your lab, yes?”
“Yes. I need to make a few adjustments on the device, but it shouldn’t take long.”
Axel jogged away. Cam took Ria’s hand and led her to a door with another code box. He punched in the same number he’d used at the cabin. She tried not to look, but couldn’t help herself. If he didn’t want her to know, he should have hidden it better.
The door buzzed and popped open. She followed him into a large room with several tables covered in all manner of mechanical and technical-looking devices. All four walls were lined floor to ceiling with shelves holding a variety of books and supplies any alien mad scientist would be delighted to own. The overhead lights were as bright as daylight.
Ria stared around with interest. “I’ve been dying to see your lab, Cam.”
“Have you?” He sounded distracted as he searched the first table. None of the several small devices on it appeared to be what he was looking for. He moved to another table that held even more gadgets, eventually picking up a gray rectangular item about the size of a shoebox. It had a screen, two dials and several buttons. A silver antenna sprouted out the top.
He carried the device to a third table. This one looked more like a workspace, as room had been kept clear for a desktop computer, papers and tools. Cam took the cover off the box. Inside, lots of little working parts, lights, diodes, circuit boards and wires went in every which direction.
“What is that again?” Ria watched him use a tiny straight tool to twist and poke around his invention’s innards.
“Hmmm? Oh. An Alpha poison detector for both physical and gaseous substances.”
He didn’t stop what he was doing and barely seemed aware of her presence. He was definitely in his element. All he needed was a lab coat and a clipboard and he’d look like every scientist she’d ever seen, real or on broadcast videos. He was focused. He was talented. He was perfect.
Ria wanted a life with him so much, tears threatened to spill over her lids. She had to think of something else.
Since he was absorbed in his work, Ria left him to look around his laboratory, surreptitiously swiping at her eyes so he wouldn’t think she was a big crybaby.
She’d been impressed to find out Cam was the inventor everyone on Alpha-Prime was talking about, thanks to the Defender technology. The controlled chaos of his lab proved the Defender wasn’t his only brilliant idea. He had a busy, inquiring, fascinating mind.
