Ethereal Lives: A Romantic Sci-Fi Novel

Chapter 18

Ax tried to concentrate on the star charts before him, but he couldn't stop thinking of the wonderful thing Ariane had done with her mouth earlier. Every day she introduced him to something new.

All the crew had started discovering new things about Earth that they liked. Praid had developed a great fondness for Eighties Earth Music. Jas had been able to find a huge database of Earth films, which they all watched in the evening, and Trel seemed to be speaking a whole new language, as he constantly came out with Earth phrases that Ariane taught him during their training sessions. It really did seem a shame such an unusual planet had been destroyed.

Her training sessions weighed heavily on his mind. Trel insisted she was doing well in them, but he couldn't imagine it. She was a weak human. How could she possibly defend herself against the lowlifes that roamed the galaxy?

Trel had invited him to watch the lessons but he couldn't. He knew he'd lose his temper if he watched Trel attacking her. Yes, it would be pretend, but he wouldn't be able to stop himself from intervening. So he stayed away, hoping at least some of what Trel taught her sank in.

"Ax, Melodious is up ahead."

Ax snapped out of his musings and faced Praid. "What was that?"

"I said Melodious is up ahead."

"And?"

A hint of pink appeared on Praid's cheeks. "I just thought, maybe Ariane would like to see it."

"You know we're short on fuel, we need to get to the Sixth Galaxy." The worry over their future plans made his tone sharper than intended.

Sek stepped between him and Praid. "Ax, are you sure you want to go ahead with the plan to sell her? We can find another way."

"Have we changed course?"

"No."

"Have we made any other plans for the future?"

Sek avoided his eyes then looked at the floor while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, no, but-"

"But, nothing." He stood and stared at his men. "How could you think I would put a human above you all?"

"Ax, calm down, we didn't mean it like that."

"No, I won't calm down, I'm in charge of this ship, and I always put its needs first. We took her to sell, and that's what we'll do. The coin we get from the sale will last months, you all know that. I would never put a human above your wellbeing."

A gasp from the door made him spin around in shock. The look of hurt on Ariane's face caused him to groan. "Ariane."

She masked her expression and held up a hand to stop him. "It's fine."

"No, it's not, that didn't sound right." He took a step towards her.

"Ax its fine," she repeated gently. "I know the chance we're taking, and I know why we're taking it. Excuse me." She turned and strolled from the room, her head held high.

"Well done," Sek said sarcastically.

Ax sat back into his seat and ran his hands through his hair. It was beginning to feel like every time he opened his mouth he said the wrong thing. Would it really hurt to show Ariane a nice place before her sale? He couldn't deny a part of him really wanted to spend more time with her. If things didn't go as planned at least he would have another memory to treasure. He pushed the depressing thought away with a shake of his head. "Damn it. How far are we from Melodious?"

Praid checked his monitor. "About a day away."

Ax sighed. "Set a course there, we might as well show it to Ariane. A couple of days added onto the journey won't make much difference in the long run. We'll make the fuel stretch."