couple of men with lasers ran in on the same path I came out on.
I gasped for air. “What?”
“The flower that eats people alive.”
“No.” I shook my head and swallowed. Might as well come clean. “An alien!”
Protests filled the air around me.
I stared at a member of the science team. “Check your life-form locator. Scan the surrounding perimeter ten meters into the jungle.”
The man’s fingers flicked over the keys. He shook his head. “Nothing…nothing but plants and insects.”
Mom checked my forehead for a fever. “Are you sure you didn’t mistake a flower? Or a shadow?”
Annoyed, I raised my voice. “It was humanoid. I’m sure of it.”
Both men emerged from the jungle, shrugging and shaking their heads. Mom gave me a sympathetic look that only irritated me more. “You’ve had too many stimuli today. You need to rest.” She turned to the nearest lifers. “Let’s get her to the medical deck.”
As they carried me to the ship, I checked the jungle line over my shoulder, expecting the alien to emerge and attack the colonists taking samples. Vines and blossoms stretched as far as my eye could see with no speck of otherworldly light. Maybe they were right. I did have pollen in my eyes, and all of the stress of the landing and seeing Sirius with Nova may have caused me to hallucinate.
But even when I closed my eyes, the creature’s pale face stared at me, beckoning.
Chapter Eight
Specimens
I woke up in the same hospital bed Grandpapa had lain in. Sirius’s face hung over me.
“Annie, are you okay?”
For a blissful moment I forgot about the alien, the tests, and the life assignments. Sirius and I were together again. I gazed into his silky brown eyes and lost myself.
“Annie?”
“I’m glad you’re here.” I reached up to brush his cheek with my index finger and he drew his face away, settling back in his seat beside my bed.
“I heard something happened in the jungle and I came to check on you.”
It all came rushing back. Like it or not, my world had changed and there was no revisiting the past. I wanted to hide my head under my pillow and forget about it.
“They said you saw a creature.”
The image of the pale alien face flashed in my memory and I winced. In the bright light of the emergency bay, the encounter seemed more and more hallucinatory. In any case, I wasn’t ready to talk about it so I confronted him about something else. “How did you get into my room? Only family can—”
Sirius put up a hand to silence me. “Annie, they all knew that we—”
“That we what?” Were friends? Were going to be matched up except for my stupid test scores? Although I knew a number of reasons, I still threw it back in his face with a glare.
His jaw tightened and he looked away. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I just had to make sure you were all right.”
I wanted to grab his arm and make him stay, but I’d ruined the moment. There was nothing else to say. “Goodbye, Sirius.”
He stormed off without another word, and guilt surged up because I’d sent him away.
Luckily, I had no time to dwell on it. The nurse came in and detached the tubes from my arms. She scanned a regenerator over the puncture holes and my flesh closed up with no scars. “Your father is here. You can go home.”
“Great.” I didn’t sound very excited as I smoothed my fingers over the newly grown skin.
Dad waited by the portal to my medical cell. I cringed inside with embarrassment.
“Sorry, Dad.”
His usually serious face broke into a small smile. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. Your mom and I are just glad you’re all right.”
“I embarrassed you both.”
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Nonsense. You’ve had too much going on, that’s all. We all have, and it makes us see crazy things.” He dismissed my apology as though he wanted the incident behind us as soon as possible, so I let my doubts go and followed him to our family unit on Deck Fourteen in
I gasped for air. “What?”
“The flower that eats people alive.”
“No.” I shook my head and swallowed. Might as well come clean. “An alien!”
Protests filled the air around me.
I stared at a member of the science team. “Check your life-form locator. Scan the surrounding perimeter ten meters into the jungle.”
The man’s fingers flicked over the keys. He shook his head. “Nothing…nothing but plants and insects.”
Mom checked my forehead for a fever. “Are you sure you didn’t mistake a flower? Or a shadow?”
Annoyed, I raised my voice. “It was humanoid. I’m sure of it.”
Both men emerged from the jungle, shrugging and shaking their heads. Mom gave me a sympathetic look that only irritated me more. “You’ve had too many stimuli today. You need to rest.” She turned to the nearest lifers. “Let’s get her to the medical deck.”
As they carried me to the ship, I checked the jungle line over my shoulder, expecting the alien to emerge and attack the colonists taking samples. Vines and blossoms stretched as far as my eye could see with no speck of otherworldly light. Maybe they were right. I did have pollen in my eyes, and all of the stress of the landing and seeing Sirius with Nova may have caused me to hallucinate.
But even when I closed my eyes, the creature’s pale face stared at me, beckoning.
Chapter Eight
Specimens
I woke up in the same hospital bed Grandpapa had lain in. Sirius’s face hung over me.
“Annie, are you okay?”
For a blissful moment I forgot about the alien, the tests, and the life assignments. Sirius and I were together again. I gazed into his silky brown eyes and lost myself.
“Annie?”
“I’m glad you’re here.” I reached up to brush his cheek with my index finger and he drew his face away, settling back in his seat beside my bed.
“I heard something happened in the jungle and I came to check on you.”
It all came rushing back. Like it or not, my world had changed and there was no revisiting the past. I wanted to hide my head under my pillow and forget about it.
“They said you saw a creature.”
The image of the pale alien face flashed in my memory and I winced. In the bright light of the emergency bay, the encounter seemed more and more hallucinatory. In any case, I wasn’t ready to talk about it so I confronted him about something else. “How did you get into my room? Only family can—”
Sirius put up a hand to silence me. “Annie, they all knew that we—”
“That we what?” Were friends? Were going to be matched up except for my stupid test scores? Although I knew a number of reasons, I still threw it back in his face with a glare.
His jaw tightened and he looked away. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I just had to make sure you were all right.”
I wanted to grab his arm and make him stay, but I’d ruined the moment. There was nothing else to say. “Goodbye, Sirius.”
He stormed off without another word, and guilt surged up because I’d sent him away.
Luckily, I had no time to dwell on it. The nurse came in and detached the tubes from my arms. She scanned a regenerator over the puncture holes and my flesh closed up with no scars. “Your father is here. You can go home.”
“Great.” I didn’t sound very excited as I smoothed my fingers over the newly grown skin.
Dad waited by the portal to my medical cell. I cringed inside with embarrassment.
“Sorry, Dad.”
His usually serious face broke into a small smile. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. Your mom and I are just glad you’re all right.”
“I embarrassed you both.”
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Nonsense. You’ve had too much going on, that’s all. We all have, and it makes us see crazy things.” He dismissed my apology as though he wanted the incident behind us as soon as possible, so I let my doubts go and followed him to our family unit on Deck Fourteen in
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