Chapter seven
The color drained from the woman’s face, alarming him.
Was she hurt? Ill? She looked ill.
He did not know how to fix an anomaly if they became ill.
Perhaps The Four had sent the wrong person for this job.
Instinctively, he reached with his mind, past the storm that continually rumbled around them, searching for those who would know better than him, who knew human anatomy and had medical expertise.
His mind swept outward, farther and farther, then encountered… nothing.
Alone.
He kept forgetting how alone he was.
A sickening sensation invaded his chest and stomach. He did not like that his was the loudestvoice in his head.
It had started soon after leaving Sector Ten, a yawning discomfort, an endless silence when constant chatter filled most of his life.
An off-balance prickling developed over his skin. He did not like that either.
“No, you didn’t,” the woman, Doctor Wynn Lambdin, whispered.
He reeled his mind and thoughts back into himself as a wave ofsomethingcrashed over him.
He could not name it, but it had been bombarding him ever since he had arrived.
All he knew was that it came from her, and it repelled and drew him at the same time.
He studied her from head to toe. Her clothes hugged her curves, a white shirt that covered her arms, and tan slacks that fell straight.
But her feet were bare, and his gaze focused there for a moment.
Had he ever noticed someone’s feet before? He could not recall.
Lifting his gaze to her face, he examined her features: her pink lips, her flushed cheeks, and how her eyes, so different from his own, flashed with fire.
What created that fire? He wanted to learn.
Then he realized her quiet words were in response to his statement.
Her denial did not change his purpose, so he repeated, “I have come to collect you.”
The words physically hurt his vocal cords as they strained with disuse.
He tried to recall the last time he spoke aloud, but a muddle of images and unwanted sensations cascaded through his body, followed by an unfamiliar ache in his stomach.
He abandoned the task before the images and sensations could dominate his mind.
Another wash ofsomethingsurged toward him and crashed over his head and body while the woman’s visible distress grew. Her hands clenched and released at her sides.
He often searched for words, but out here he was alone.So alone.The ones who had been human longer that him did not supply him with ready answers. His own internal voice was now the loudest.
But he needed to help her somehow. He took a step forward. Thatsomethingcontinued to grow, more potent now. She screeched, jumping backward.
“Stay away!” she shouted, the sound assaulting his eardrums.
