She rolled her eyes, finally dragging them away from him and focusing over his left shoulder. “You just reminded me of something, that’s all.”
That’s the best he can do?
Her chest squeezed, and she swallowed past the hurt. It was probably a good thing she hadn’t asked him how he felt about her last night. It seemed pretty obvious that he hadn’t changed. A one night kind of guy, and then pretend everything was fine the next day? She blinked hard.
Don’t cry. Not here. Not now. Not where he can see.
“Hmm, and what do I remind you of?”
Krystal felt the blush flood her face. Shit. She shot a glance at Laila, who was watching them with narrowed eyes.
“Yes, Krystal. What did he remind you of?” Laila lifted an eyebrow, which Krystal ignored.
“He said it was predictable what the Xakul would do.”
T’arq dropped his hands. “What’s that got to do with the cloak?”
Krystal nodded to herself. It had seemed all too simple when she had figured it out. “The algorithm was too predictable. It was projecting a cloaked image, but it wasn’t irregular.”
Talk about work. I can do that.
“Why would that be a problem?” Laila asked.
Krystal fiddled with the sleeve of her uniform. “Do you remember that old movie with the sandworms?”
“Dune?” Laila’s face lit up. It was one of her favorite movies.
“That’s the one! Why do they walk that weird way over the sands?”
Laila nodded. “Because they don’t want to attract the worm.”
“Exactly.”
“So the cloak needs to be less predictable to not attract the Xakul’s attention?” Laila mused.
Krystal nodded.
“Pre-flight checks all clear?” Zac asked T’arq, drawing Krystal’s attention away from her sister.
“All clear. We are good to go.”
“We’re just waiting on Domik and CJ, and then we’ll get going.”
Zac and Laila shouldered packs of gear and headed up the ramp and into the cargo hold of the shuttle, leaving T’arq and Krystal alone. Krystal took a step to one side to get around T’arq and onto the ramp, but he mimicked her, blocking her path.
“I’ve decided you aren’t a little mouse,” T’arq’s voice was like water, rolling over her. Completely different to how he spoke to anyone else, she mused in a distant part of her brain that was still functioning.
“Hello!” She jerked as if scalded, turning to see CJ jog toward them, the blonde medic carrying a large satchel with a red cross on it. “I didn’t know you were joining us, Krystal.”
“She’s not,” T’arq replied.
“Yes, she is.” Domik dropped that bomb as he strode past the small group and into the hold of the shuttle, CJ following him up the ramp.
“Krys?” T’arq swung to address her, hands on his hips. “You said nothing.”
Krystal scoffed. It wasn’t as if they had talked much. It wasn’t as if she meant anything to him for him to be concerned for her. Right?
“You need me for this mission. What if something goes wrong with the cloak? How are you going to fix it?”
