Maybe that was why she picked a guard in the first place.
To be with someone who protected her from her father?
That was a psychological discussion for another time, for certain.
"What is the plan?" she asked. "Where to next?"
"I have a place in mind." He zoomed through the atmosphere. So far, no one was following them. Whether the fighters had regrouped, or if the Rhimodians had just contained things, she didn't know. He said only that the stars were clear. They flew around the planet to the dark side, opposite the gas giant. Not that she could see anything, other than it just got dark and seemed to stay dark.
Looking at his chest was pretty much all she had. Some telemetry was visible if she twisted, but even that was hard to make out. Instead, she relied on what she felt.
Like the ship descending, it started going down slowly, then took a sharp pitch.
"We are going underground," he said moments before the engine noise shifted.
The ambient light diminished even more. The glow from the controls seemed to be the only light around them. More light came on around them, but it was different. It was inside light.
They traveled for a few minutes, at least it seemed that way-- wherever they were going, they were heading deep into it. She could not tell if he'd sped up or slowed down. She liked to think he'd slowed, since they were supposed to be underground, but the engine did not reveal much.
He touched the ship down gently, and as the fighter's engines went into rest mode, he opened the cockpit to let her out.
She rose up and was surprised by the first thing she smelled--clean air. She didn't realize she had been missing it on the Charro vessel until she was climbing out of Jedriek's ship and all that she couldnotsmell.
They were in a loading bay, similar in size to the one on the Charro ship, but this one was far nicer and cleaner. Good ambient light--not too bright, not too dim, and everything looked much cleaner here. Used, but cleaner. No other ships were parked, but storage containers lined the edges of the room.
She started to climb out. A loud thud made her twist around. Two heavy blast doors had sealed behind them, echoing through the chamber. The sound bounced off the wall, a finality to it.
A good kind of finality. Heavy blast doors meant that no strangers could get into the room without making a lot of noise.
The place seemed empty. Noise echoed off the walls, and it seemed a little cold. Not frozen, but cold like abandoned.
She pushed herself off him, careful not to press on any intimate parts, before climbing out of the ship. He helped her up and out so she could slide down the side.
She took a few steps away as he got out, her footfalls echoing on the floor, though her attention remained on Jedriek and his stoic manner. She appreciated that she did not feel any male arousal while flying--though really, how would she know? Even in his normal state, he looked massive.
And yes, she could make out every detail of his body. She could probably count body hairs if she wanted to. That's how tight the suit was that he wore. He sat up and pulled off his helmet, and it gave her a chance to really look at him.
He indeed was a handsome figure. Giant-like but handsome. In any other situation, she would have admired his form, for certain. This was not the time for such outlying thoughts.
Probably why she felt them so strongly.
Especially since it seemed he was intrigued by her as well. He kept staring. A strange sort of look on his face. She couldn't be sure if it was attraction or revulsion.
Enough people looked at her both ways; she couldn't always be sure whether it was one or the other.
"Those doors are very sturdy. We should be safe here for quite some time." He turned away, and oddly enough, she missed the way he looked at her.
She truly must be tired. Or hungry. Or have trauma.
Trauma was likely.
Though she'd had enough of it in her life, just that she could remember, she should be able to recognize it when it happened.
"Maybe I need a medical scan," she muttered.
His attention snapped back at her. "Do you need medical attention?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I was muttering to myself. "
