Shielder — A new Science Fiction Romance (Book 1, Shielder Series) by Catherine Spangler Page A

to her mere touch last night, the
best solution would be for her to stay in her cabin the remainder
of the trip.
    His physical reaction to Nessa bothered him.
He could probably attribute it to the fact he'd been a long time
without a woman. But he shouldn't be reacting to an obvious
innocent like Nessa, especially since she was vulnerable right now.
He needed to distance himself from her and her problems.
    Yet he kept remembering how pale she'd been
after that blasted seizure, how shaky and fragile. Guilt assailed
him. He possessed a fair amount of knowledge about her particular
seizure disorder; enough to know he shouldn't have shaken her and
yelled at her when he caught her using the computer. He knew enough
to formulate a compound that would reduce the frequency of
occurrences.
    He shook that thought away before it reached
completion. By the Spirit, he would never do research in a medical
laboratory again.
    But Nessa couldn't afford to suffer many
more episodes. She was already wound tighter than a black hole, and
much too thin. She needed to eat more. He hadn't returned her
supplies. He had more than enough food to share, and she would need
her own on the trip from Intrepid to Zirak. The bread and cheese
she'd sneaked from her plate when she thought he wasn't looking
wouldn't last long, especially if she shared it with that worthless
lanrax.
    Chase clicked on Nessa's cabin monitor,
shunning the visual screen. Everyone deserved privacy in their own
quarters, with the exception of criminals. He heard her moving
around the room and talking to the creature, so he knew she was all
right. He should leave her alone, but concern for her welfare
gnawed at him.
    He punched the com pad. "Nessa. Can you hear
me?"
    First a muffled sound, then, "Yes."
    He waited for her to speak further, but got
only silence. "Are you okay?"
    "Yes." More silence.
    He'd never have to worry about her talking
too much, Chase thought wryly. She was the quietest female he'd
ever encountered. "Good. Then you can join me for the mid meal in
five minutes."
    "I'd prefer to stay in my cabin. If you’ll
give me my supplies, I'll eat from them."
    Chase slapped his hand on the console and
spun his seat around. He'd fought this battle once. He didn't
intend to fight it the entire trip. Striding to her cabin panel, he
sounded the tone once, then twice. No answer. He pounded on the
panel. "Nessa, I'm coming in."
    He opened the panel and entered. She stood
in the center of the room. Her eyes widened with surprise, but she
said nothing as he halted inside. "Why didn't you answer the
tone?"
    Confusion replaced surprise in her eyes. "I
didn't know what that sound was. What's the tone for?" she asked,
taking a step back.
    "You ring the tone when you want to enter
someone's cabin. Then you wait until they tell you to come in."
    "Oh." She stared past him at the panel, as
if she could see how the mechanism worked. He looked her over,
noting her paleness. "What have you been doing in here all
morning?"
    "Not much." Her gaze slid to the plexishield
case, where the creature held a piece of bread in a hind paw. It
stopped eating long enough to hiss at Chase then took another bite,
glaring at him malevolently.
    Chase looked around the cabin, realizing for
the first time how bare the room was. The shelves were empty—no
holographic games or puzzles. By design, the room did not have a
computer monitor, so there were no reading disks. Nessa had been in
here for hours, with nothing to do, and without a single complaint.
But then, she was not one to complain. He glanced back at her,
noticing the wariness in her eyes.
    She was afraid of him. After last night, who
could blame her? But he preferred it that way, he reminded himself.
He didn't know anything about his unwelcome guest. He couldn't
afford to let his guard down, even for a minute. Still, he couldn't
expect her to stay in this stark atmosphere for five more days.
    Sighing in resignation, he gestured toward
the panel. "Come on.