STARFISH chapter 8 excerpt
Wherein Nina has an uncomfortable epiphany about her alien boss...
Nina smiled, and unless she was mistaken the spark in his eyes brightened. You know, maybe I do like this. “Yeah, well, I have an apology to make as well.”
Both of his eyebrows raised. “What for?”
She gave him a wry look. “I fell over again.”
Doctor Ardus did something then that both startled her and stirred something unexpected and strange – he laughed. It seemed to surprise him as much as it did Nina, the quick smirk that flashed across his dark face before his lips pulled back and he loosed a deep, resonant chuckle that Nina felt in her chest. Oh! At first he dipped his chin towards his chest as though he was trying to hide the smile that was slowly spreading across his face. When he looked back up, Nina felt her stomach drop into a free-fall. Oh...oh no... From his blue eyes to the handsome grin that wrinkled the flat bridge of his nose and softened the severe set of his jaw the stoic, quiet, cold Doctor Ardus transformed in an instant. Nina felt her reaction like a punch in the stomach – her chest clamped down on her lungs, her stomach knotted, and her skin pinked and heated. No, no, no!
Doctor Ardus shook his head, still chuckling slightly. “Doctor, what am I going to do with you?” He smiled again, and Nina felt the strength leave her body in a warm rush, replaced by light-headed euphoria. Her brain felt thick and stupid. Bad! This is bad! This is so bad! She gripped the infirmary bench cover with white knuckles, her head pounding. Why him? Nina realized she was clenching her teeth so hard she could hear them grinding. Why not literally anyone else? He was saying something, and Nina bit the inside of her lip to try to distract herself from the tightness in her lungs. “I'm sorry, what?”
Only a flicker in his eyes told her he noticed her lapse. “I was saying, I hope you can bring this good humor with you when we start our first project.”
“Oh? What will we be doing?”
“Nothing extraordinary, just a visit to a spot I have been watching for some time. It is a key migration stop for several air- and sea-dwelling species, and there is a specific strain of kelp Meem's worms would like. Some camera traps that need their memory cards replaced, and a coral reef that has been a source of interest for several years. Routine data collection and sampling, mostly.”
Nina forced her hands to relax, but when she said “It sounds wonderful,” she spoke through clenched teeth. When he talked about work some of the starchy academia returned and his face lost that relaxed quality and brought back a slight lowering of the brows which squeezed his eyes half shut. It was the closed, austere face she remembered, but a ghost of the warmth that had struck her off-balance hid in the set of his chin, the upward tilt of an eyebrow.The forearms folded over his chest were thicker around than her own calves. Stop it. Stop staring at his arms. His upper arms, usually shapeless in the roomy cut of a dark-colored tunic, were the size of her thighs. I can't, they're so big! Oh Omi, why are they so big?
Doctor Ardus went on, apparently oblivious to her crisis. “Athe mentioned you said you have not had much of a chance to explore. That is also my fault.” He unfolded an arm and scratched at his chin, and Nina stared as the hand tucked itself back between his arm and his chest. His thumb stayed out, its black claw shining like a chip of polished, glassy obsidian.
“H-how so?” Nina suspected she was keeping him talking not to distract him from her distress, but to keep hearing his voice. He rumbled like pounding surf, and Nina listened with growing, troubling relish.
“I have fallen into a habit of near-constant work over the years – you could call it an occupational hazard. I aim to correct that. Therefore, you should expect more outings in the future.”
That brought her around. “I...I'll get to work for you in the field?”
“With me,” he corrected. “As such, whatever data we recover will have your name attached to it as well as mine. Consider it a gesture of goodwill, one that hopefully our respective people can share.”
This is my original work, I own the rights to it. Try me.
