Krystal
What had just happened? Krystal stared at the empty doorway that T’arq had filled only moments before. She had been so happy to see him—to see that he was unharmed—and then… what exactly had that been all about?
Krystal ran their conversation through her head, trying to figure out what she had done to send him away. She shook her head.
Amelia appeared in the doorway holding a tray, Oren right behind her. “You’re awake, I see.” At her bright voice, Krystal gave a small smile.
“T’arq…” she trailed off.
Amelia moved into the room to put the tray on a table beside the bed. She smiled and patted Krystal’s hand. “Ah, yes. I saw him head off down the hall.” She shared a look with Oren. “Don’t worry. They can be a little… strange about protecting their women.”
Krystal’s eyebrows shot up so fast they were in danger of joining her hair. “What?”
Oren grumbled something and scowled before leaving the room, heading after T’arq.
Krystal struggled to sit up in bed. “What is going on?”
Amelia reached to help her adjust the bed so she could sit. “Why don’t you tell me what you remember, hmm?” Her blue eyes were warm as she smiled at Krystal and went some way to calming her racing heart.
“We were testing the cloak, just the two of us,” she started. “Things went to shit and the last I knew I was about to asphyxiate, T’arq had knocked himself out and was attached to an alien ship, and I had just risked my life on a wish and a prayer for rescue.”
Amelia laughed, and pulling the chair closer to the bed, sat down. She handed Krystal a cup of water. “Sounds like one hell of a date.”
Krystal had barely taken a sip before she spat the water out, coughing. “What?”
Amelia handed her a napkin. “That man doesn’t get worked up over anyone or anything, Krystal.”
“Oh.” She twisted the napkin in her hands, not sure what to do with that piece of information. A change of subject seemed the best bet. “How did you find us?”
“A bit of luck and a lot of skill on Oren’s part.” Amelia settled back in her chair.
Krystal’s eyes widened.
“Oren and I were on a… humanitarian mission, I suppose you would call it.”
“That’s fortunate for us.” Krystal figured that, much like speaking with Laila, it would do no good trying to get more details from Amelia. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you would do.” Amelia grinned. “You’re lucky Oren and I were close enough to pick up your distress beacon. There was a lot of interference going on around that asteroid field.”
She had come so close to dying. She shuddered. “It was really that close?”
“Mmm.” The doctor tilted her head to one side. “Another few minutes and you would have suffocated, going by the amount of oxygen left in those tanks.”
“And T’arq?”
“Sub-Commander Qu’Ress?” Amelia smirked at the blush that spread across Krystal’s cheeks. “Oh, I’m sure he’s been in stickier situations than this.”
“What?”
The doctor leaned back in the chair; head tilted to one side as she considered Krystal. “How much do you know about what he does?”
Krystal frowned. “He’s a pilot.”
Amelia raised an eyebrow, and Krystal ran over all that she knew about T’arq. Yes, he was a pilot, but how many would take direct orders from a starship captain? And he was always with Zac and Laila, and never socialized with the other pilots. In fact, she had only ever seen him in the all ranks bar. Maybe all that snooping had done her some good, after all.
“There’s more than that, isn’t there?” Krystal pushed herself upright, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Amelia was immediately at her side, steadying her with a hand at her elbow.
“Easy. You might feel light-headed. Take some big breaths for me.”
