Beyond the Stars: INEO (4 page)

I rushed to the drink dispenser and poured myself a tall glass of cold water and gulped it down.
Something must be terribly wrong.
I wanted to call Gaelan and ask him how it was going, but I knew he would be busy and wouldn’t have time to talk. I started to walk back to the sofa, and became frozen with fear when it felt as though I had collided with an invisible force. I reached my hand out in front of me. The air was thick and resisted my hand as if I was touching a pool of water. Although I couldn’t see anything or anyone standing there, I sensed I wasn’t alone.

“Who’s there?” I called out.

Refusing to act scared, I boldly tried to take a step forward, forcing myself against the thickened air, despite the obvious resistance. It felt as though I pushing against a heavy piece of furniture. Finally, I moved ahead, causing me to gasp when I felt something hot pass through me—into me.
Ahh!
I patted down my body to check if it felt different on the outside, but there was nothing unusual. Either way, I could have sworn something had entered me.
What’s happening to me?
I became incredibly flushed and stumbled onto the nearby sofa and collapsed on my right side. I breathed heavily and closed my eyes to try and clear my sudden dizziness from landing on the cushion so clumsily.

I was burning up. I fought to keep the heat from getting the best of me, but the miserable sensation wouldn’t subside. Maybe I wasn’t the only one in pain. Perhaps we were all being cooked alive. Slowly, I opened my eyes and gazed at my hands in disbelief. They appeared to be glowing. I lifted them in front of my face, turning them back and forth. I should have been terrified, though all I could think was,
Amazing.
They looked like animated holographic hands lit from the inside. Maybe it was due to the high levels of radiation from the solar flare. Just as I started to accept this terrible fate, the heat source in the room appeared to vanish. The scalding air was becoming noticeably cooler as the air conditioning blasted through the vents. My hands returned to normal, and the window guards retracted with a series of clangs, causing me to sigh with relief. We must have cleared the hazardous eruption.

I searched for a reason to have glowing hands and came up blank. Were my eyes just playing tricks on me? The only thing I could remember reading about solar flares were how they interrupted radio signals and caused Earth’s northern lights, aurora borealis, to shine even brighter when the massive wave of charged particles collided with our planet’s magnetic poles.
Could a flare cause skin to glow as well? How strange?
I laughed at my crazy idea as my body temperature slowly returned to normal.

Gaelan returned to our room a few minutes later, only to find me a sweaty, confused mess. I was unwilling to confess to my hallucination. After all, people see mirages in the desert because of the extreme heat.

“We’re in the clear,” he said. “Oh, Sami, I’m so sorry about the heat. I got so excited, I forgot to warn you. You could have stayed in the shower under the cold water.” He retrieved my glass of water, kneeled down beside me, and gently stroked my flushed cheek with empathy as he handed me the cup.

“Now you tell me.” I sat up and wiped the perspiration from my brow with the back of my hand before taking a drink. “I think I’ll take that cold shower now.” I got up, pulled my drenched nightgown over my head, and dangled it in front of his face as I passed by him. “I was dying in here. How come you look so good?” I said, shimmying my blue panties to the floor.

He smiled sheepishly. “Well, the command deck is better protected. For obvious reasons—”

“You mean if you go down, we all go down.”

“Mm-hmm.” He gave me a playful nod with a silly smirk.

I headed into the bathroom and stepped into the shower, and Gaelan followed. I felt strange. When I walked, it seemed as though my steps were heavier, like someone was standing on my feet. I also felt stronger and accidentally lifted the shower door right off its track, nearly pulling the hinges from the wall with my hand.

“Careful, Sami.” Gaelan let out a laugh and helped me to replace the door on its hinges.

It was difficult for him to snap it back in place, as I nearly broke it.

“I’m sorry.”

“You should have seen this flare. It was gigantic,” Gaelan said, leaning his back against the sink as I stood under the cold water jets. “We had to navigate an entirely new course. The flare was enormous. I really had to work hard to clear us from its path. And all the while, struggling to try and calm down the crewmen on duty.”

“Who could blame them?” I replied.

“No. They weren’t worried about us getting incinerated. They were nervous about an old Katarian myth. A story where a man becomes possessed by an invisible being after his ship gets too close to a solar flare. The man is unable to control the beast inside him and allows the being to turn his life into a nightmare. In the end, he goes crazy. It’s complete nonsense. Parents use the story to help teach their children the importance of controlling their emotions, to encourage them to act morally sound despite worldly influences. It teaches them that they always have a choice in how they behave. Anyway, you can see my frustration when Davin and Micka were screaming like babies. They were freaking out, and acting like I was going to let a monster onboard if I got too close to the flare …
Idiots.
”

I looked at him and smiled. “We do the same thing with Santa Claus on Christmas. Pressuring kids into behaving are useful parental tactics.”

“That’s right. I know that tale. I like that story,” Gaelan said, sounding calmer. “I’m so glad you understand.”

I stepped out of the shower and gave him a reassuring nod. I looked in the mirror and ran my fingers through my silky hair to comb it from my face. It was all the styling my hair needed after the Katarian shower’s shampoo and blow dry, which seemed to leave me with a good hair day everyday. “I do, and I understand why they were scared. Something odd happened to me during the flare. The air felt thick, like gelatin,” I said as I got dressed.

“Mm-hmm,” he said, smiling as if he was more interested in looking at my body than listening.

“I got blasted with heat and could have sworn
something
got into me. I can’t explain it. It felt as though an invisible force passed through my body.”

“You’re serious?” Gaelan gave me a concerned look.

“Yeah, but I feel fine now. The shower helped. The heat must have affected my judgment.”

“No doubt. Unless you
really
are possessed,” he teased, pinching my side.

“Oh no,”
I said, giving him a shocked expression, trying to joke.

He took hold of my hand and led me to bed. “Sleep well,” Gaelan said wearily as he lay on his back.

“Goodnight,” I replied.

Not even a kiss tonight. We both seemed too tired to move. Gaelan’s breathing took on a restful rhythm as he fell fast asleep. It killed me to play down the night’s weird experiences, although I didn’t have the guts to tell Gaelan how real I thought it was, not now, or maybe ever. He wouldn’t understand. Even I wasn’t sure what to believe. Thinking about it now, it all seemed irrational. I let myself drift off. It had already been a long night, and we both needed rest. We were scheduled to arrive at Annabay in the morning.

CHAPTER 3

ANNABAY

We landed on the planet Annabay, home of the infamous trading post. Annabay was open to a large intergalactic community of travelers and was home to a giant marketplace of supplies and services. Although I could have remained on board, I made Gaelan let me join him on the off-ship excursion because I was getting restless. He knew I needed a change in scenery. The ship had every creature comfort imaginable, everything except for one thing—the freedom to come and go as you please.
Dear Lord,
how I missed that. Its incarceration caused me to lapse into moments of extreme claustrophobia. I felt like a caged animal with nowhere to run.

Gaelan was reluctant, but finally conceded, after he and his sister Azil, instructed me
in detail,
on how to walk, talk, and act like a Katarian prior to me leaving the ship.
Who could blame their overprotectiveness?
The last time I left the ship during our travels was on Decca. It was what started this whole quandary with the Dreons. I must have done something out of ordinary to have sparked their interest.

The Katarians were masters when it came to adapting to their surroundings. Exploring the galaxy had taught them how to interact with other planets with amazing diplomacy. I still found it remarkable how well they managed to integrate themselves into Earth’s society, blending in like one of us for over twenty-five years while remaining undetected.

Prior to leaving the ship, we were required to change into the appropriate dress code for the planet. We entered the landing, the ship’s loading dock and garage, and found Azil. She was the ship’s clothing designer and was busy laying out our ensembles across a long table. She had prepared for us pairs of black knee-high boots, beige thigh-length jackets with multiple pockets, and stretchy black pants that looked shiny and waterproof. The outfits weren’t identical, though we would definitely match, just like the way I dressed my twins when they were little. Gaelan and I got in line behind Zaric, Urit, and Tyden as she handed us each a set.

Wearing the clothes herself, I couldn’t help thinking that she resembled a Ralph Lauren model. She had the looks with her bright blue eyes, perfect figure, and long brown hair pulled into a sleek ponytail. She was always so put together. I wondered how long it took her to get ready in the morning. I still thought she resembled Gaelan despite learning she was adopted. Gaelan’s parents took her in at the age of twelve after her parents had been killed in a tragic Space mishap.

“I heard you’re going, too, Sami. Please be careful,” said Noah, my best friend, as he came up behind me.

I recently learned of Noah Peterson’s true identity as a Katarian. He hid it so well that it came as a shock. We’d worked together at the Space Island Group (SIG) for over twenty years. He considered Earth home. He was close friends with my late husband, Jack, and had become family to me. Noah split his time between the physics department, working with me in designing our Space resort and solar satellites, and SIG’s engineering department. Lately, he’d been working aboard our orbiting Space resort, helping aid in its completion since it was scheduled to open to the public early next year. I was disappointed when he didn’t grab a pile of clothes.

“Noah, aren’t you coming?” I turned to ask him.

“No, it’s better if I pass. I don’t want to run into anybody I know.”

“Okay,” I said, raising my eyebrows.

I wondered who he was afraid of bumping into. Knowing him, it was probably some heartbroken woman. Although Noah possessed great skill when it came to attracting women by way of his good looks and playful wit, he never managed to make a relationship last. I think he was fearful of commitment. I accepted his excuse since I didn’t have time to ask him to explain. I noticed everyone else was almost fully dressed and knew I’d better get a move on it or I’d be left onboard. Katarians had one speed—
fast.
I hurriedly kicked off my shoes and pulled the pants overtop of what I was wearing.

Noah watched me closely before leaning his face into my ear. “You’ve got a real glow about you this morning. You look fresh. Did you have a
good
night?” he inferred with a grin.

“Yes. I did. It’s called sleep.” I buckled my pants.

Now that he mentioned it, I did feel chipper this morning. I was full of energy and felt great today.

“Huh, I can’t say I got much of that, although, it wasn’t my fault. Something was keeping me up.”

“And that would be?” I asked hesitantly.

“Lanie.”

“Who’s she?” I pulled on my jacket. It was so light, a windbreaker.

Noah smiled widely, bringing out the dimples in his cheeks. I couldn’t help notice how charming he looked when he was excited about something. No wonder he could attract women the way he did.

“Sami, I have to introduce you. She is smoking hot with long hair, darker than yours; actually, it’s black not light brown, and she has a tight body like yours. You’d think she’s all demure when you first meet her, but she’s a vixen in the bedroom. Think naughty librarian. Last night, she wore this red string thing. I don’t know what you call it …”