“I guess he likes children.” Her smile felt shaky with relief.
“Apparently. He’s never been around any before.” Before she could ask any other questions, Mganak turned and led the way up the steps. She looked back at the others, but they were all watching her expectantly so with a slight shrug, she followed him.
Another door opened off the top landing into a short corridor lined with doors. Mganak opened the first one to reveal a small cabin with bunk beds on one wall.
“Crew cabin.”
“Bunk beds,” Davy yelled as he raced into the room. “I get top.”
He climbed the ladder and threw himself on the top bunk with a happy squeal. Sagat followed him, leaping easily from the floor up to the bunk before curling up next to the boy.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said. Davy looked so small next to the big animal.
“Are you going to make it get down?” Darla asked sarcastically as she scowled and entered the cabin after her brother. “I guess we’re staying in here.”
“I’m not sure—”
“They will be fine,” Mganak said gruffly as he opened the next door.
This cabin contained a single bed and a bank of white cabinets. Wanda shuddered. It was too similar to the Vedeckian ship for her liking.
“This was intended as a medical unit,” Mganak said. “I never did get around to fully fitting it out. Still, it has a bed.”
Alicia gave the blank white surroundings a disapproving look, but Kareena said softly, “I don’t mind staying here. If no one else wants it.”
“Are you sure?” Wanda asked.
“Yes, it’s fine.”
Wanda studied the other female’s face, but she didn’t look distressed. Perhaps she felt at home in the sterile environment.
“Guest cabin,” Mganak announced as he opened the next door.
Another minimalist space awaited, but this one had a larger bed. Dark green carpet covered the floor and the walls were painted a paler shade. Alicia nodded. “This will do until we reach some type of civilization.”
She walked in and shut the door firmly behind her.
Mganak frowned at the closed door.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“I had assumed that two of you would share that cabin.”
“Does that mean you’re out of rooms?” Her heart sank. As much as she hated to admit it, she had been looking forward to sleeping in an actual bed.
“No,” he said shortly. “Follow me.”
He led the way through a small but comfortable looking lounge. A counter separated what appeared to be a kitchen area from the rest of the room, which was cluttered with a table and some over-sized furniture. At the far end, another set of stairs led up to a second landing. One side of the landing opened to what was obviously the bridge of the ship, with two chairs facing an impressive bank of control panels. Both chairs were empty.
“Shouldn’t someone be flying the ship?” she asked nervously.
He barked a laugh. “Autopilot. Although at the moment we are not in transit.” Opening the door on the other side of the landing, he added, “You can stay here.”
A short passage led past a small bathroom into a cabin dominated by a huge bed. But it wasn’t the bed that caught her attention. Windows completely ringed the walls, showcasing a breathtaking view of space and the panorama of stars surrounding them.
“This is the first time I’ve really felt like I was in space,” she murmured as she walked over to the windows. Perhaps the infinite display of stars surrounding her should have made her feel small and insignificant, but instead, she felt as if she was expanding outward to become part of this vast universe. A warm weight crept across her back, and she didn’t have to look down to know that Mganak’s tail was curled around her. But it didn’t feel threatening. It felt like he was hugging her.
She didn’t know how long they stood there in silence watching the stars before she finally shook her head and smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
He wasn’t watching the stars, he was studying her face, but then he too shook his head. His tail dropped away and left her feeling unexpectedly bereft as she forced another smile. “This is a wonderful—”
Her words broke off abruptly as she took another look around the cabin and realized that the bed was in disarray and there was a small collection of personal objects lining the shelves under the windows. “Is this your room?”
He shrugged, already heading for the door. “I will be down in the training room.”
“But I don’t want to take your room.”
“Your room now.” His words floated after him as he shut the door behind him, leaving her alone for the first time in weeks.
Her knees suddenly felt shaky, and she collapsed onto the bed. From what she could calculate, she had been in space for less than three weeks and she was on her third alien ship. How had any of this happened to her?
One minute she’d been walking home from her job in the library of her small town, enjoying the warm summer evening. The only thing on her mind had been trying to decide if she wanted to use an animal theme in the nursery she was decorating or to go with fairy tales instead. The sun had just set, and the scent of honeysuckle filled the air. The few streetlights in town were in the main business district but the gathering dusk didn’t bother her. She’d walked this route almost every day for the past ten years, ever since she’d saved up enough of her modest salary to purchase the small bungalow.
Without warning, a sudden blaze of pain erupted in her shoulder. She’d had just enough time to wonder if she was having a heart attack before the world went black. The next thing she knew, she awoke on a narrow cot in a room with white metal walls.
Regarding her thoughtfully from a cot on the opposite wall was a slender, elegant older woman. Well-tailored white pants and a white linen shirt set off her rich brown complexion, and a chunky coral necklace perfectly matched her coral fingernail polish. Flecks of silver were sprinkled throughout her dark hair, neatly arranged in a short, stylish haircut. She looked so perfectly composed that Wanda automatically found herself trying to smooth back the red curls escaping from her braid and straighten out the rather rumpled dress she had chosen for story time with the preschool group.
The woman raised an eyebrow and Wanda blushed, then focused on more important matters. “What happened? Where are we?”
“As ridiculous as this may sound, I believe we have been captured by aliens,” the woman said calmly in a low, well-modulated voice with a slight Southern drawl.
“You’re kidding!”
“I’m afraid not.” The woman gestured at the front of their… cell, and for the first time, Wanda realized that the front wall was made of clear glass. “You’ll see them soon enough. They may even appear human at first, but I assure you they are not.” She gave a delicate shudder.
“How long have you been here—I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“I am Alicia Palmer Kensington. And I believe I have been here for approximately twenty-four hours. There’s no way to tell time, of course, but the lights dimmed for an extended period after I was brought on board.”
The other woman could have been discussing the weather, and Wanda tried to mimic her calm. “I’m Wanda Peabody. It’s nice to meet you.”