Beyond the Stars (21 page)

CHAPTER 16

FOREIGN

In the morning, I got off the sofa and found that Gaelan had already gone. I decided to ignore the picture of the green glowing eyes. It felt nice to have some alone time. I figured I would give the bizarre shower a try. Gaelan had quickly explained how to operate it last night. I carefully hung my clothes on the hook inside the shower like he had instructed. They would be laundered at the same time. I stepped into the little stall and closed the door. I remembered how he told me to stand still when I pressed each of the three buttons. Everything was foreign. I wondered how mad he’d get if I broke the ship. But how hard could it be? I nervously tapped the first button.

My body was instantly blasted with hot, high-pressured water in every direction. “
Ahh
,” I screamed. I clumsily bounced back against the wall of the tiny stall and fought to maintain my balance so I wouldn’t fall. It felt like I was hit by a tidal wave. I took a deep breath when the tsunami finally stopped. I felt the walls to search for the shower’s jets, but was unable to find where the water had sprayed from. To my surprise, I discovered I wasn’t just wet, but covered head to toe in white sudsy bubbles. I let out a laugh. My kids would have loved this when they were little. I bravely hit the second button and was instantly shot with another powerful burst of hot water. This time I held on to the sides of the stall. Okay, that must have been the rinse. I stood there dripping wet like a drowned rat. What’s left? I closed my eyes and braced myself as I hit the third button.
Oh, good
. To my relief, I was being blown dry with warm air. I had to hand it to the Katarians. They really had thought of everything. How economical—practical, and most important, what a wonderful way to eliminate laundry.

I put on the Katarian clothes and wandered out of Gaelan’s quarters in hopes of finding Noah. Noah had invited me to join him in engineering last night. I looked for familiar landmarks to guide me through the dimly lit corridors. I knocked at the closed door where he told me to meet him. No one answered. Finally, I opened the door and entered a large room that looked like the power center for the ship. It reminded me of an engine room of a cruise ship. There were metal beams that extended to the ceiling and pipes that formed a maze through the entire room. I could also hear a low humming noise as the machinery surrounding me operated. There were a couple of people walking around. No one stopped to give me a second look. I grasped the fabric of my outfit at the sides of my thighs, feeling grateful for the inconspicuous clothing.

I had to ask a young lady nearby if she had seen Noah. She looked at me and smiled. “Noah, you have
company
,” she shouted in a cutesy voice.

“Sami, you found me,” he teased as he walked out from behind a large metal pillar. “She’s just a friend, Karis,” Noah said to the young girl while he walked over to greet me.

“Aren’t they all, Noah?” she said with a smirk.

I shook my head. Ever since I knew him, Noah liked to date a lot of women but always avoided true intimacy. I imagined that the Katarian women were probably his latest targets. Clearly, being in Space hadn’t changed him. Most women found him irresistible. I had to admit, Noah was incredibly charming and good-looking. He knew it, too. He should have come with a warning label. Noah purposely ignored her and led me to the back of the room—where a group of men fiddled around with tools on some of the pipes. The pipes hissed and released steam when they released the accumulated pressure from the pipeline. Every wall was adorned with digital control panels displaying the complexity of the starship.

I spent the day listening to the crew explaining their mind-boggling technology. At first, I listened enthusiastically but soon became lost when they described their breakthroughs in interstellar travel and jet propulsion. For some unexplained reason, I was experiencing difficulty maintaining my normal level of concentration. I might as well have thrown my education right out the window. Now I understood what Jim Walker had meant when he said they were having trouble understanding them. I’d never felt so intellectually inferior. I was completely out of my league here. They had things that we never even considered inventing yet. It became all too apparent at how primitive we were by comparison. After a while, I became saturated and started to tune out. I needed a calculator, a notebook, a tutor, or maybe just a brain transplant. Mostly, I needed time to assimilate everything.

I caught myself daydreaming and watching the young girl, Karis, prance about the room. She was hard to miss. I was getting tired just watching her continuous movement. I wondered if all the Katarian women were attractive. She was openly flirting with Noah and starting to get on my nerves. If she leaned down between Noah and I one more time, I would be tempted to pull her long hair when it hit my arm. Undoubtedly, she had fallen under his spell.

“Will you stop it?” I whispered. I elbowed Noah’s arm when I saw him checking her out. Karis was petite and looked like she was about Leah’s age.

“What? Pay attention,” Noah scolded me and then smiled an ornery grin. We both returned our attention to listen to the engineer talking.

Within seconds, his eyes went back to staring at her. Lord only knew what he was thinking. “
Be good
,” I said under my breath. I studied Noah’s face. He was in his glory. He looked ecstatic to talk to the Katarians about their technology and have the attention of the beautiful blonde.

He nudged my arm, prodding me to leave him alone. “I am being good. I’m
always
good,” Noah said loud enough for Karis to hear. She smiled back at him. I took a deep breath and returned my focus to our discussion. I fought to listen intently while they explained how important it was to maintain everything in perfect running condition. The ship was a self-contained ecosystem. Everything was interconnected and could threaten another area if it was out of balance. I found comfort in their astonishing advancements. It helped me gain confidence in their ability to get me back home safely.

I hadn’t realized how quickly the day had went until Noah told me it was time to go to dinner. I stood up to leave. Without warning, my blood rushed to my head, and I became dizzy. I had to hold onto the chair to steady myself. What in the world was
that
? The room’s lights fluttered before my eyes as they morphed into floating, iridescent balls of light. I looked down at the floor to discover it also appeared to be moving in circles. Noah reached out to grab my arm to keep me from falling.

“Sami—are you okay?” he said urgently.

“I just got a little dizzy. Maybe I’m just hungry.”

“The EMFs are probably too much for her,” informed Karis arrogantly. I knew all to well what she had meant. Electromagnetic fields, or radiation, are caused by electrical currents, which are either man-made or from natural sources. At high doses, they’re believed to have disruptive side-effects. “Your body isn’t able to spend that much time in here,” she said, flashing a big smile. It seemed as though this pleased her. Noah looked disappointed.

“Let’s get you out of here and go eat.” Noah escorted me out of the room after he gave Karis a second headto-toe look. “Sami, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sick. I just couldn’t wait to show you how everything on the ship works. I knew you’d appreciate it more than anyone,” he explained.

“Thanks, Noah. I’ll be fine, but I don’t think I want to come back again tomorrow. I’ve had enough after today.” I developed a terrible headache radiating from behind my eyes.

“No problem. You’re new to the ship. It would be safer if you waited until you had the full vaccine in you,” he agreed.

“What about you? Don’t you feel funny?” I asked suspiciously since Noah appeared to be unaffected.

“I’m fine. I think it’s because I’ve had a lot more time to adjust to Outer Space living,” he pointed out. I nodded in agreement.

“Noah,” I said, once outside the door, “what’s with you and Karis? You may look young, but she could be your daughter, you know?”

“At the very least,” he muttered in a barely audible voice.

“What?”

“Sami, the way I look at it, age means nothing. You’re either here or you’re not. Anyway, she’s hot and you know it. She’s probably flexible, too.
Oh
, I bet I know just what she’d like. Yep, I would bend her and then I would … oh yeah,” he said rubbing his mouth as he thought.

I plugged my ears. “Please, I don’t want to know.”

He smirked. “What about
you
? How was your night bunking with Gaelan?” he asked with an ornery grin.

“No-ah, as if.” I acted insulted.

He laid his hand on my back and frowned. “Oh, darn, you could use some action.”

“Well, unlike you, I have morals,” I snapped back.

“Yeah, you do. What
a
shame.”

“Hey, don’t turn this on me. We were talking about you and Karis.”

“You know I don’t torture myself with all your crazy rules. If she’s open, I’m willing. I’m not afraid to live and enjoy what life has to offer. You should try it sometime. Stop being so strict with yourself and have some fun.”

I just bit my lip. I couldn’t even respond. He was right. I liked seeing myself as being open for almost anything, but in truth, I was not. I had strong boundaries set for myself—made-up rules of what I could and couldn’t do. I tended to be overly cautious and would live a mundane existence if it weren’t for the persuasive influence of others around me. Remarkably, I had always managed to surround myself with such people. However, I think I buried all of my spontaneity two years ago, along with Jack. I turned and starting walking through the hall with Noah.

“Noah, have you noticed anything strange about the Katarians?” I asked, keeping my tone casual. I didn’t want to tell him about the photo of the green eyes. I wanted to have more proof before I drew any wrong conclusions. I hated embarrassing myself in front of him. He’d never let me live it down.

“No, Sami.” He laughed. “You know they’re from another planet, so there are bound to be some differences. I am actually quite amazed at how much they are just like us.” He seemed amused by my concern but revealed none of his own.

“Yeah, I know, you’re right. I think I’m just a little freaked out about being here.” The image of being on a Katarian Spaceship sailing across the universe flooded into my mind. The ship must look like a torpedo shooting across the dark sky. My imagination was spinning out of control. My leaving Earth was one thing, but this was just plain absurd. I didn’t even know for sure that it was possible to travel such a mind-boggling distance. Not in my lifetime, anyway. Moreover, I had never planned on trying it. “Noah, why did I agree to go into Space in the first place? Why is my family so thirsty for adventure? Maybe I should have married a boring man. Leah and Jackson are just like Jack. I wish I would have just waited for them at home. I’m not brave enough for this.” I grabbed Noah’s arm for support.

“Sami, don’t ever say that. I have never met anyone more determined than you. You
are
strong and braver than you realize. You can do anything. I think you’re doing remarkably well, considering where we are right now,” he assured me. Perhaps he was right. It almost seemed as though I’d been preparing for something like this all my life. My life with Jack had groomed me to survive such an adventure.

“Sure. And where
exactly
is that, anyway? Lost doesn’t even begin to explain it.”

“Trust the Katarians. They know what they’re doing. We’re going to be fine.”

“Huh,” I sighed, “like that’s so easy. How do you stay so calm?” I studied his composed expression with disbelief.

“Sami, I think being aboard this ship is the coolest thing ever. I love it.”

“You would.” I almost forgot who I was talking to.

Noah and I walked to the café while I compensated for my extreme dizziness. I felt like I was drunk and trying to hide my intoxication. When we got there, we saw Gaelan and Azil already sitting at a table. Azil’s husband, Zaric, also joined us. Zaric was an attractive man and looked like a nice match for Azil. They would finish each other’s sentences and seemed deeply connected. I remembered how wonderful it was to have such closeness when I was married to Jack. I was happy to see them enjoying each other. Their joy was contagious. You could tell that they truly loved one another.

As the evening went on, I noticed subtle changes in the way the Katarians spoke to me. The more time I spent with them, the more they seemed like they were from Earth. They seemed to be adjusting their mannerisms and speech patterns to match mine. How did they possess the ability to adapt to their surroundings so effortlessly? Was this something they learned from traveling the universe? It was both comforting and disturbing.