Page 23 of Protected By the Alien Commander

The girls didn’t take their eyes of Doshax, so I shrugged and walked into the cruise ship. They’d get over seeing a real, live alien soon.

It felt weird to be back on the cruise ship, which now seemed cramped and light years behind the other ship’s technology. Probably because it was. Ha ha ha. Oh, my stars I’m so lame.

I stepped up the chair pod steps and walked down the hall to the break room with the medpod. Emma still looked the same. How badly had she been injured that she was still out of it? I touched the lid and hoped we could get her to help quickly. Doshax knew where to go, so I wasn’t worried about that. Just about what the hospital would think of four people of a species they hadn’t seen before suddenly showing up. Would they even help Emma? Or would we end up in some jail? Or worse, experimented on. I grimaced, then reminded myself that Doshax would not let that happen.

I heard heavy footsteps and turned to see Doshax walking up the short hallway. “My friend is in here.” I pointed to the medpod. “This is Emma. She’s been unconscious since we crashed.”

He nodded, then moved closer to look at the medpod. After studying it for several seconds, he pushed the button to open the lid.

At the sound of movement in the lounge, I looked out into the hallway as Ava and Miranda walked up the chair pod steps. Ava stopped a few feet away from the break room. “Do you know where we are? And why no one has rescued us yet?”

“Well, it’s a funny story.” I brushed hair off my face. “Apparently, that green cloud thing sucked us into this solar system called Delta System. We’re on a planet named Yazell. And it seems like it’s abandoned.” Both my friends looked ready to pass out. Maybe I should have parceled out the shocking info instead of all at once. “The good news is that we found a working ship and can leave in just a few minutes.” I fiddled with my dress while they stared at me, speechless. “Uh, did you ever hear from the pilot?"

“What do you mean another solar system? Abandoned planet? What the hell?” Ava was now standing with her hands on her hips.

I looked back at Doshax in the break room, who by now had Emma in his arms, ready to carry over to the other ship.

“Could we talk about this later? We need to get our stuff into the ship and leave. Emma has waited long enough for medical help.” Ava flattened her lips. I knew she didn’t like the brush off, but seriously, we could discuss this while in flight to wherever. “I’m going to open the doors for Doshax while he carries Emma to the ship. There’s a medpod there too, right?” I looked back at Doshax, who nodded.

“It is more advanced than the medpod on this ship.”

Ava clenched her hands and looked at Doshax. I could see the whites of her knuckles. “Uh, um, would it be able to heal her? Do you think?” Ava asked. “We don’t even know what’s wrong with her.”

“I am not sure. Your species is not one I have seen before. It may not be able to diagnose or heal her.”

I looked down and bit my bottom lip. This just sucked. Poor Emma.

“But we are not far from several IGS bases and satellite stations. She will be in a hospital within two hours at the most.”

I looked up and beamed at my friends, who were smiling as well. I felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off my body. To Doshax I said, “Let me get my bag out of my room and then I’ll help you with the doors.”

I walked down the hall to the room I shared with Ava. I grabbed my suitcase, which I still hadn’t unpacked yet. How crazy these last two days had been. We had had no time to unpack before we’d been sucked into this place. I turned to go out the door then stopped. How were we going to get back home to Earth?

I must have been so worried about finding my friends that I had never thought about what would happen next. Could we even get back to Earth? Was it too far away? I wiped my eyes at the thought of not seeing my family again. But honestly, they probably wouldn’t even realize I was gone until I didn’t come home for Christmas. My parents had quit paying attention to me when my younger sister excelled in every way that mattered to them.

And if we were able to get back home, what about Doshax? I had only known him a short time, but he was the best man I had ever met. And the best in bed. I felt worse at the thought of not seeing him again than not seeing my family.

I rubbed my face. I’d worry about getting home later. Right now, I needed to get to the other ship so Emma could get in the more advanced medpod.

I rolled my suitcase into the hallway, where Doshax stood with Emma in his arms. My friends were still several feet away from him. It didn’t look like they had moved.

“Let me go first so I can open the door for you.” I squeezed by him in the narrow hallway and rushed through the lounge to the exit door. After opening it, I held it as Doshax ducked through the door carefully so Emma’s head was not bumped. He’d be a perfect father.

What?Where had that come from? I wasn’t thinking of having children until I was married, years and years from now. Come on, brain.

I walked fast to the other ship to beat Doshax’s long stride. Hopefully, the ship still worked and the door would open without a problem. I placed my hand on the vidscreen, and after a few tense seconds the door swooshed open. Whew. I released the breath I had been holding. Now, if only the ship would take off and fly again. If that had been a one-time thing, I was going to scream.

After I climbed into the ship, I put my suitcase in the captain’s room. Since Doshax and I had found the ship and were together, by rights we should have the biggest room.

Were we together? How did Doshax’s species handle girlfriends? I chewed my bottom lip. Maybe I should have thought of that before getting too attached. Well, it was too late now.

I quickly walked through the ship and passed Ava and Miranda in the first corridor. “The rooms with beds are down there. Turn to the right at the end. I’m going to the room with the medpod to see if it can treat Emma.”

I raced past them and continued down the other corridor. I found them in a room much larger than the medical/break room on the cruise ship. The medpod looked way more advanced, too. My hopes rose that it could heal Emma.

Doshax finished setting the controls, then stepped back as a wave of light scanned Emma.

“How long do you think it will take to diagnose her?”

He turned to face me. “It is an older model, but it should be able to determine your species’ internal systems. We will have to wait and see.” He rubbed a finger down the side of my cheek. His finger was a gliding whisper on my skin. The contact brought a wave of heat. “We need to go back to your ship and strip it of anything useful.”

“Why would we need to do that? We're going to leave the planet and be somewhere in a few hours.”

He hesitated before answering, and I didn’t like what that might mean.

“I like to be prepared. Considering what has happened already, I would like to grab any useful supplies.”

Yeah, that didn’t make me feel any better.