Starfish

Fifteen

"Reports from Dreenai yesterday confirmed that a suspicious package intercepted at the Port of Dreenai was in fact a mislabeled container of industrial fertilizer. Authorities assure the public that nothing else was found and that both citizens of Dreenai and Earth have nothing further to be concerned about, but Port security will be increased for the time being until-"

Ardus closed the media window, sighing. It was good that the lockdown had been a false alarm after all, but it added an unnecessary strain to his daily routine. While he was caught up with his work, he had other, more pleasant things to think about. His mood buoyant as the air-filled sacs of a screamer's swim bladder, he looked to the door frequently between taps on the typing pad on his desk. He'd come in early, having slept incredibly well, feeling more rested than he had in over a month and even a few years younger. Athe hovered around the edges of his vision, finding excuses to enter Ardus's office. "This is the fourth time you have been in here, what do you want?"

"Pardon? Oh, nothing," the brown Dreen smiled, shaking his head. "Just doing my job."

"Is your job to annoy me by constantly going in and out? You are distracting me."

"Sorry, Doctor." Athe made for the door, then stopped. "By the way, did you get lunch yesterday?"

Ardus eyed him hard. "Why?"

"No reason, except the commissary was closed yesterday after the lockdown let out."

"So?"

Athe shrugged. "So, you couldn't have had lunch here, you would've had to go somewhere else."

Ardus squinted at him, his excellent mood beginning to dissipate. "What is it to you?"

"Nothing, just making sure you and Doctor Nina are getting along."

Ardus bristled. "Well if you must know, we had lunch, then I went home. Satisfied?" He glared as Athe grinned. "Sea gods drown you," he growled.

"I'm not the one watching the door." Athe rearranged some hard-drives on a shelf. "It's a good ten minutes before she's even supposed to be here."

"Perhaps you could go make sure the conference room is ready, or something equally not in my office?"

"Oh, of course, excuse me." Athe gave him one of his smart looks, and Ardus contemplated his aim with his tablet or one of the heavy pieces of fossilized bone on his desk he sometimes used as paperweights. He stared Athe out of the room and went back to typing. Meem's latest report alerted him to what looked to be a minor illness among her worms, something likely caused by the environmental change of moving mature worms from one tank to another. She would be busy for some time figuring out how to treat the creatures, keeping them quarantined from the healthy worms. He entered his recommendation for duration and treatment, forwarding her report to Nia with a request to assist. As he finished, he heard his office door open. Sitting up straight and fixing his tunic, he greeted Nina as she came in. "Good morning, Doctor," he made his face pleasant.

Nina paused in the doorway, dressed in a familiar saffron-yellow tunic and emerald trousers. "Good morning, Doctor Ardus." Her cheeks slowly pinked, the flush spreading down her neck. "You, um, you disappeared after lunch yesterday."

That brought forth a surge of heat to his face, and Ardus was glad his people didn't blush and that his pores had gone dark, or else he would have burst into color. He remembered in excruciating detail what he'd done, and now that she stood in his office just a few feet from him the guilt rolled back in. You have done nothing wrong. "Er, yes, I had something I needed to do."

"Mm," Nina lifted her chin. "Well, um, so did I."

She is blushing, what is that about? "I trust it went well?"