Dammit. “No, I wasn’t.”
She raised an eyebrow.
My cheeks heated even more. “Okay. I was.”
When I looked back, the vine was hanging down lower and Janssen ducked under it, his long hair falling over his broad shoulder.
“You like him,” she said.
The jungle suddenly seemed a lot warmer. She didn’t know the half of it. “I… Uh… maybe. I don’t know.”
I couldn’t tell her the truth.
“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to find out since you’ll be working together.”
And that was the problem I was trying to ignore. Janssen and I would be studying the flora of this planet together while I tried to pretend I didn’t have feelings for him.
How was I going to do that?
Getting to know him had been a mistake. I wasn’t supposed to get close to anyone out here. Relationships led to heartbreak. I needed to keep away from him.
Somehow.
After checking our surroundings for any movement in the jungle, I watched him pack his sampling gear away and crouch down to look at a lavender flower. “Is he unattached, do you know?”
Why did I ask that? What is wrong with me?
Of course, I knew the answer to that question only too well.
“It has taken you two weeks to even ask that?” Her mouth hung open and she quickly closed it. “I heard him telling Mosuti he doesn’t have a girl. Or boy.”
I sighed and tried to look relieved and she chuckled.
I wasn’t sure why I didn’t want anyone to know how well Janssen and I knew each other. Maybe because I was ashamed at how easily I’d broken my own no-relationship rule. We’d met in the ship’s hydroponics garden every night after everyone else was asleep where we talked about life in general and our interest in plants. And then last night things changed. He’d kissed me. And I’d kissed him back.
And then I’d run out on him.
Mosuti approached us, sweat from the humidity causing his dark curls to stick to his forehead. “Hey, girls.”
“Hey,” we answered in unison.
Mosuti’s head reached my shoulder and Zhenna’s only came to halfway up my upper arm. I was still trying to get used to the fact that most people I’d met since leaving Shakira were so short.
Mosuti smiled. “Found your specimens yet?”
We both said “no” at the same time and laughed. He was the one with the gift of telepathy and Zhenna and I were sounding like we were able to read each other’s minds.
I glanced around the area and into the jungle again.
Zhenna looked toward the shuttle and I followed her gaze. Kami’s stocky frame filled the doorway again. She kept her eyes on him as she whispered, “Mosuti. Kami doesn’t like you, does he?”
Mosuti frowned. “I’m afraid not, Zhenna. Says he doesn’t like my ‘kind.’”
She glared at Kami. “Don’t let it worry you. He’s a douchebag.”
Mosuti remained calm. “He doesn’t worry me.”
Kami called out again in his whiny voice. “Zhenna, dear, why are you talking to him?”
She shifted her feet in the leaf litter. “Uh, because he’s my friend.”
“His kind can’t be trusted. He’s probably reading our minds right now.”
Mosuti squared his shoulders. “I would never do that. It is against the Talents’ Code of Conduct to read a being’s mind without consent.”
The Code of Conduct was put in place to protect people from telepathic intrusion and to protect the rights of the Talents themselves. It was a well-known fact. One that Kami would have knowledge of. He was just being difficult.
Why did he have to continually stir up trouble? He was such a bigot. He’d taken every opportunity over the last two weeks to argue with everyone and complain about the food and the conditions aboard the ship. He was disrespectful and self-absorbed.
I stepped toward him, fists clenched at my sides. “You’re a jerk! What would you know about Talents? You’re so narrow-minded!”
He dismissed me with a wave of his hand. “They are nothing but freaks. Mutated beings that taint our genetics.”
Zhenna took a deep breath. “What do you suggest we do with these ‘mutants’?”
He didn’t waver. “We need to keep them under control. They shouldn’t be allowed to wander free where they can manipulate our minds and wreak havoc across the universe.”
“So, we should enslave them?”
“I… wouldn’t use that exact term… but what else can we do? They’re freaks of nature and they are a danger to us all.”
This man had no honour. Someone needed to put him in his place. I looked to Mosuti, who seemed unaffected. He was probably used to such ignorance.
Mosuti’s voice floated into my mind. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
I gave him a nod and thought, As you wish.
On the trip out here, he’d shown me how to hold a telepathic conversation with him without possessing any Talent so I knew that he was able to read my response from my mind.
As long as he was okay, I would try to ignore this insult, not only to Mosuti, but to all Talents throughout the Known Universe.
Zhenna clenched her fists. She wasn’t willing to let it go. “I’m glad I won’t be working with you when we get to Jannali. You’re such an arrogant, narrow-minded, backwards hick!”
I stifled a laugh.
Kami didn’t get the chance to respond before laser fire burst through the jungle. I ducked my head instinctively, confused as to where it could be coming from.
“What was that?” Zhenna squeaked as she looked around wildly.
Mosuti threw us to the ground by way of an answer. “Stay down!” he ordered.
There was more laser fire and screaming. Guilt sliced through me when I realised I hadn’t kept an eye on the jungle.
“Laser fire,” I heard Mosuti whisper between shots. He’d landed facing Zhenna so I couldn’t see their faces.
Another scream. Zhenna popped her head up, but quickly ducked back down, no doubt realising how foolish that move was.
I couldn’t see much from my position, but movement caught my eye. Someone ran through the trees toward the shuttle. I didn’t know who it was, but he didn’t have long blonde hair. Pain sliced through my chest. What if Janssen was hit? What if he—
No. I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t lose another person I cared about. Not so soon after losing Gran.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I would not cry. I would not give in to my emotions right now. That would not help me. I needed to think. Who would be using laser weapons in the middle of a prehistoric jungle out on the edge of the Known Universe? Surely these primitives wouldn’t have enemies who possessed advanced technology. That could only mean we were the target.
Who would want to attack us? We were just a group of scientists. It didn’t make sense. Maybe it was another company that wanted to study these natives or take the planet’s resources for themselves.
Surely they would go about it another way.
Or maybe they were a group of space pirates out for spoils. We had nothing of value besides the ship itself — a small shuttle used to ferry us from the Acronis to the surface. There was nothing on board worth the risks they were taking.
My attention was drawn to my hand, where a large beetle was making its way along my finger. I resisted the urge to flick it away. I needed to stay still.
My eyes darted around. The leaf litter teemed with life. A few more beetles and some ants crawled on me and there was something on Mosuti’s arm. There were more crawling things on my legs and something on my shoulder. They didn’t worry me too much; I’d been working in gardens since I was seven. I tried not to think about them crawling on me. As long as I kept still, I probably wouldn’t get bitten. Maybe.
Another scream.
I tried to calm my breathing, but hearing more shots being fired all around us made it difficult.
All went quiet, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. I waited for their next move.
The others lay with me on the ground, waiting, listening. Footsteps came closer and stopped. “These ones are good...”
I sucked in a breath. Slowly. Quietly. Good for what?
“Don’t damage them,” said another.
My blood ran cold thinking about what that could mean. My body tensed, waiting for a blow or the burn of a laser pistol. After all my efforts to avoid joining the armed forces back home, it seemed I was about to die at the hands of a gun anyway. How pathetically ironic.
Pain ripped through me and my body convulsed. The world faded to black.
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVvNWThbYE
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Author's Note: What do you think will happen next?
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtg18wn2Hyn
