“As you like.”
* * *
Veta almost didn’t makeit to the caves.
And at least twice, she considered asking Wrathin to carry her.
She didn’t.
Sheer stubbornness got her through. Fortunately, his silver suit kept him easy to see in the dusk. What light was around, his suit must have amplified.
Or maybe she was hallucinating that part. It could be because she was hot as hell and ready to cool off.
When she saw the wall of caves, carved into the side of the steep mountain, though, she felt some relief and found the energy to get to them. He led her past several entrances, taking her higher still onto the mountain.
He didn’t say why they couldn’t use those first ones, instead, taking her in the one with the smallest opening. She had to hunch over to get inside and wondered why he’d picked this one over the others because he almost had to crawl into it, he stooped over so much.
But once she’d made it in, the space was vast, cavernous, with a luminescent rock on the walls that gave the place a soft, blue glow. It wasn’t bright, by any stretch, but it was enough, once her eyes got used to it, to see where she was going.
And cool.
The heat from outside did not permeate the cave walls.
“Ahh,” she said as the fresh air washed over her.
He glanced at her with his eyebrow raised. The green-looking skin shifted before her eyes to something bluish-silver like the cave walls.
“It’s not so hot in here,” she said.
“Sol-4 is warmer than other moons.”
She smiled. “Next time, I’ll crash on a more temperate planet.”
“That would be Sol-5.”
She snapped her fingers. “Missed it by a planet.”
He looked away. “These are moons, not planets.”
She blinked. “I know.”
He glanced at her again, like he wasn’t sure he believed her, then looked away again.
Huh.
Maybe he didn’t get sarcasm.
She inhaled another breath of the less-hot air. The soft light soothed her, and in the dark, in the cool, she felt better already. She couldn’t wait to dig out her bed and take a nap. Not the smartest thing to do, what with her being with her Empire’s enemy and all, but they were trying to bring peace.
Fortunately, though, Veta slept usually with one eye open.
He led her deeper into the cave.
The sound of moving water was all around them, at least it seemed that way to Veta.
“Where’s the water?” she asked, unable to see the source of the sound.
“Much of it is underground. There is a pool not far from here.” He looked at her—like really looked at her for a moment.
