Barbarian Lover (Ice Planet Barbarians #3)(26)

He nods, still looking around with something akin to awe. Underneath the ice that coats the interior of the ship, there are lights and panels and instruments. This must seem very foreign to him.

Heck, it’s foreign to me but I’m starting to get used to weird things at this point.

Harlow takes a few steps forward and shrugs off her thick, furry overcoat. “You think it’s okay for us to explore?”

I gesture at the air. “Ask the computer?”

“Right.” She gives me a sheepish look. “Computer, are there any other living things inside the ship other than us?”

“Performing bio scan. Please wait.” A low hum fills the room and a red beam flashes from one side of the cavelike hold to the next, scanning us. “Four life forms detected, two modified sakh and two modified human.”

Modified human? I touch my chest, where my khui is wrapped around my heart. “You mean us, correct?”

“That is correct.”

“Cool,” Harlow says. “I want to go have a look around, if that’s okay with you guys.”

I shrug. I certainly can’t stop her. She’s her own person, and this isn’t my ship. I have my own agenda here, and if Harlow doesn’t want to talk about hers, that doesn’t bother me. It must be personal.

Aehako’s big hands tug on my icy cloak, helping me take it off. “Is it safe to build a fire?” He asks.

“I don’t know if we should. There might not be a vent for the smoke, and we might set off smoke detectors in the interior. I don’t know how the ship will respond to that.”

“Smoke…detectors?” Haeden asks, a frown on his face.

“Long story,” I say. Another chirping sequence of flight commands comes through my translator, reminding me why I’m here. I clutch it and approach one of the frozen panels. “Computer, do you have a medical bay somewhere on this ship?”

“Medical bay is located on floor two, section D.”

I look over at Aehako. “That’s where I’m going.”

He steps forward. “Not alone.”

For some reason, I appreciate that. I smile at him, feeling shy. “All right.”

Haeden moves toward the snowy portal that we entered through, now shut. Muddy, slushy footprints mar the flooring. “I’ll stay here and guard the door.”

I want to tell him that we’re probably safe, but…I don’t know that we are. For all I know, the computer can think we’re safe and the aliens can show up with some new technology that will bust the doors open. So I nod and start forward. There’s a dark hall off to one side, and Harlow disappears down it, her hand tracing along the wall as she explores. She’s fearless. I envy that.

“Computer,” I say. “Can you show me the quickest way to get to the medical bay?”

The track lighting on the edge of the floor flickers off to one side. There’s a door there, and after a quick command to open it, it rolls back and exposes a different, dimly-lit hall than the one Harlow went down. Exposed wires hang from a missing tile in the ceiling, and it leads on into darkness.

This feels…creepy.

I touch the translator in my ear. It doesn’t matter if it’s creepy or not, I need to take action.

Aehako’s hand touches the small of my back, and that small gesture bolsters my courage.

I plunge into the ship.





PART FOUR




KIRA



The ship is a lot bigger than I originally anticipated. It looked big on the outside, but moving through the empty halls makes me realize just how vast the interior is. The long hallways wind and twist, and I pass door after door, some of them rusted shut, others with flashing red lights on their panels. It’s obvious that this ship has been in a crash, and it’s also obvious that it’s been cannibalized for parts at some point. There are panels removed and loose wiring here and there, and stacks of things set into corners. Old footprints cover the floor gratings from long-dried mud. There’s a faint musty smell in the air.

Aehako’s big body is a few steps behind mine, and each movement makes the floor shake and rattle, as if a hundred metal plates are upended with every step. I cringe at each movement, worried the floor won’t hold us both.

The track lighting in the floor stops in front of a yawning archway with a seam down the middle. It looks as if it might be double doors. It looks like part of the wall, but there’s writing of some kind on one side, and a control panel on the other. A broken light flickers overhead and then goes dark.

The moment it does, the chirping sounds in my earpiece again. Report back on what you see. Are the stasis pods intact?

“Please, open up,” I say, pressing my hand to the door. “I need this thing out of me!”

The metal is warm under my hand, which surprises me. It gives a small shiver and creaks open, and I step inside.

“Kira?” Aehako asks as I enter. “Be careful.”

The time for being careful is past. I just want this thing gone. I put a hand to the translator and walk into the room, gazing at my surroundings.

I’m not going to lie, it looks a bit like a laboratory. That’s scary. There’s tables, and a few benches, and a row of space-like cots jutting from a wall in the distance. Another wall is nothing but screens and monitors. As I step inside, they fire up one by one, scrolling unintelligible words across the screens.