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“I’m denying myself nothing. We’re here to work, not make unions with females.”

“If I found someone I wished to mate with, I would not let my work prevent me.”

“You would abandon our project?”

“No. But you would let me take a couple of months off to go courting.” Hoan grinned at him.

“I would not. I need you.”

“Love finds a way.”

“Have you been watching those romantic movies again?” Loka asked. “They are bad for you. They give you strange human notions.”

“They are enjoyable and funny. There are three thousand five hundred and eighty-six romantic movies to watch. I intend to view every single one. It is helping me learn about humans. When it is my time to join My Single Alien, I shall be fully equipped to find myself a delightful female and court her in the most appropriate way.”

Loka grimaced. He would not endure thousands of movies to show him what he needed to do to win Heather over. Was there a way he could make this work? Perhaps she would agree to be put into stasis. He could continue his work and wake her up in a few years’ time, when he was able to fully commit to her.

Hoan shook his head. “Whatever you’re thinking about, stop it. I don’t like that look in your eye.”

“I’m not thinking about anything.” The stasis idea was ridiculous. Loka could not expect his female to go into a deep sleep and wait for him while he toiled. There had to be another way.

Heather glanced over her shoulder as she reached the end of the corridor. “This way.” She turned a corner, weaved through a series of pipes, and arrived by a door. “This is the back entrance into engineering.”

The door slid open. The sound of clattering metallic limbs on metal bounced around the room as several bots fled out of the door opposite them.

Loka pulled Heather back against his chest as he surveyed the scene of devastation in front of them.

Heather’s breath came out shaky as she looked around. “Engineering is so screwed.”

Chapter 7

Heather was glad to have Loka and Hoan at her back as they walked into the main engineering room. Panels had been ripped off, and wires were torn from their holdings. Most of the controls had either been smashed or blasted with what looked worryingly like lasers.

She was relieved to see the magma core that powered the space station was stable. No chance of blowing up just yet.

“Hoan, check there are no more bots in the area,” Loka said.

Hoan nodded and hurried away.

“The bots have been destroying this place.” Heather’s hand hovered over a panel to see if it would activate. Nothing happened.

“No bots.” Hoan returned from his swift survey of the room. “They’ve gone through a hole in the door. They have done an excellent job of ensuring engineering is in chaos.” He walked from panel to panel.

“Where is everybody?” Heather asked.

“If they are sensible, they’ve abandoned this area.” Loka also looked at the mess surrounding him. “If the bots were anything like the ones that attacked you, they would have been in fear of their lives.”

Hoan hummed under his breath. “If the bots tear this place apart, it will bring the whole station out of orbit, taking them with it.”

“Perhaps they just want to make the station impossible to live on.” Loka stood in front of the magma core. “They haven’t touched the main power source.”

Heather swallowed, trying to get some moisture in her dry mouth. If the main power was cut, it would be game over. There would be no breathable air. No heat. No lights. Gravity would take over, and Prodigy would take a nosedive. It would fall apart as it hit Earth’s atmosphere, killing everybody inside.

“Check communications,” Loka instructed Hoan. “See if we can find out where everybody is.”

Hoan hurried to the comm panel. He slid his hand across it several times, but it didn’t respond.

Heather looked down at her wrist comm. It normally had a reassuring green glow to it. It also looked dead. She tried it anyway. “Heather to Vegas. Are you there?”