catch a murder suspect when we were attacked. I need to know what happened and where I am. Does my supervisor know what’s happened? And where is my partner, Cory?”
“You don’t remember what the commander told you?” Gemma slowly asked.
“Who is
the
c
ommander
?”
When the woman calling herself Gemma turned her head toward the door Laurel took a good long look at the creature that’d just entered. She automatically grabbed the sheets covering her body, jumped from her bed, and backed to the far wall. Her mouth went completely dry. Joining her and blue girl was a man with features and a build similar to that of a huge brown bear. Long brown hair fell straight back from his forehead. Larger and more muscular than any man she had ever seen, he looked as if he could cause some serious damage. Crazier still, bear man was wearing a black uniform and high, shiny riding boots. A weapon was strapped to his right side. If she’d seen this on television, she’d have laughed. But nothing about this situation was amusing.
“All right … I’ve had enough,” Laurel muttered. “I don’t know who you people are, where I am, or what you think you’re doing. I want some answers and I want ’em
now
!”
“Laurel, maybe you’d better sit down and I’ll try to tell you whatever you want to know,” Gemma gently told her.
“Maybe I’d better come back another time,” bear man suggested, as he looked apologetically at Gemma.
“No, Barst. Laurel wants answers. She should have them.” Gemma put her attention back on her patient. “Laurel, you were hurt and we had to bring you here. You would have died if we hadn’t.”
Blue girl walked to a large monitor and pushed a switch mounted on a keypad. A white barrier the size of the entire side of the wall lifted, and the black vastness of open space appeared.
Laurel gasped and felt her heart almost stop. Through the large window she saw stars, enhanced visions of planets and galaxies in the distance—just like those the telescope scenes always displayed on the internet. It felt as though she’d just walked onto the set of one of those science fiction TV shows where the wall wasn’t a wall but an open view port, through the bulkhead of a spaceship.
“Okay … okay … this is some kind of joke, right? Somebody put you up to this, didn’t they?” Laurel whispered as she dragged her gaze from the scenes of deep space and glanced from one creature to the other. Sadly, blue girl and bear man weren’t smiling.
“I can assure you, it’s no joke,” bear man solemnly told her.
“Laurel, sit down. Let us explain.” Gemma held out her hand in a gesture of comfort.
Laurel shook her head in denial. “People are looking for me. The PD will have officers crawling all over the city when I don’t show up. Whatever you’re doing, you’d
better
let me go. Holding a cop hostage can send you to the big house for the rest of your lives,” she warned in her most aggressive tone. “Depending on where you’ve taken me, you might even face the death penalty if you do anything to me. Is it worth all that?”
Bear man shook his head and looked at blue girl. “Big … house? Gemma, why isn’t my communo-chip interpreting that colloquialism—”
“Prison!” Laurel shouted. “You can go to prison for abducting me.”
Bear man simply shook his head and left the space.
Gemma sat down in a chair and sighed loudly. “Primitives are always so difficult when they’re confronted with something they don’t understand. Let me try again.”
• • •
“Commander?”
From his seated position in the officer’s bridge chair, Darius swiveled around to face Barst. “What is it? You should be getting some rest.”
“Commander, our … passenger … is awake and asking a lot of questions.”
Darius’s brows rose. He shrugged and responded in an absent fashion. “I can imagine. But I wouldn’t expect her to comprehend too much. From what our scientists have said,
“You don’t remember what the commander told you?” Gemma slowly asked.
“Who is
the
c
ommander
?”
When the woman calling herself Gemma turned her head toward the door Laurel took a good long look at the creature that’d just entered. She automatically grabbed the sheets covering her body, jumped from her bed, and backed to the far wall. Her mouth went completely dry. Joining her and blue girl was a man with features and a build similar to that of a huge brown bear. Long brown hair fell straight back from his forehead. Larger and more muscular than any man she had ever seen, he looked as if he could cause some serious damage. Crazier still, bear man was wearing a black uniform and high, shiny riding boots. A weapon was strapped to his right side. If she’d seen this on television, she’d have laughed. But nothing about this situation was amusing.
“All right … I’ve had enough,” Laurel muttered. “I don’t know who you people are, where I am, or what you think you’re doing. I want some answers and I want ’em
now
!”
“Laurel, maybe you’d better sit down and I’ll try to tell you whatever you want to know,” Gemma gently told her.
“Maybe I’d better come back another time,” bear man suggested, as he looked apologetically at Gemma.
“No, Barst. Laurel wants answers. She should have them.” Gemma put her attention back on her patient. “Laurel, you were hurt and we had to bring you here. You would have died if we hadn’t.”
Blue girl walked to a large monitor and pushed a switch mounted on a keypad. A white barrier the size of the entire side of the wall lifted, and the black vastness of open space appeared.
Laurel gasped and felt her heart almost stop. Through the large window she saw stars, enhanced visions of planets and galaxies in the distance—just like those the telescope scenes always displayed on the internet. It felt as though she’d just walked onto the set of one of those science fiction TV shows where the wall wasn’t a wall but an open view port, through the bulkhead of a spaceship.
“Okay … okay … this is some kind of joke, right? Somebody put you up to this, didn’t they?” Laurel whispered as she dragged her gaze from the scenes of deep space and glanced from one creature to the other. Sadly, blue girl and bear man weren’t smiling.
“I can assure you, it’s no joke,” bear man solemnly told her.
“Laurel, sit down. Let us explain.” Gemma held out her hand in a gesture of comfort.
Laurel shook her head in denial. “People are looking for me. The PD will have officers crawling all over the city when I don’t show up. Whatever you’re doing, you’d
better
let me go. Holding a cop hostage can send you to the big house for the rest of your lives,” she warned in her most aggressive tone. “Depending on where you’ve taken me, you might even face the death penalty if you do anything to me. Is it worth all that?”
Bear man shook his head and looked at blue girl. “Big … house? Gemma, why isn’t my communo-chip interpreting that colloquialism—”
“Prison!” Laurel shouted. “You can go to prison for abducting me.”
Bear man simply shook his head and left the space.
Gemma sat down in a chair and sighed loudly. “Primitives are always so difficult when they’re confronted with something they don’t understand. Let me try again.”
• • •
“Commander?”
From his seated position in the officer’s bridge chair, Darius swiveled around to face Barst. “What is it? You should be getting some rest.”
“Commander, our … passenger … is awake and asking a lot of questions.”
Darius’s brows rose. He shrugged and responded in an absent fashion. “I can imagine. But I wouldn’t expect her to comprehend too much. From what our scientists have said,
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