The large horned alien seemed to relax a little, but his furious gaze was still directed at the woman who’d voiced the opinion first.
Kerena took a deep breath, her eyes moving over the group.
This wasn’t a time to throw accusations around, especially when none of them knew what the hell had happened to get them to this place or how to navigate this unknown world.
They all needed more information.
“I think we should all take a few breaths and calm down.” Her gaze moved from one woman to the other. “We don’t know anything yet and it’s best we all try to learn as much as we can before we start making assumptions.”
A few of the women nodded.
“She’s right,” the curly-haired woman said as she ran her hand through her hair. “But they are right too.” She motioned to the two suspicious women. “So let’s just calm down. No need to get hysterical until we know for sure what the hell we’re dealing with here.”
There were a few more nods, and Kerena smiled slightly at the curly-haired woman.
“Elfre er erneighborix,” the minty-teal alien above her said, and Kerena glanced his way.
She wished she could understand his words.
“What now? Is there no way to go home?” someone asked.
All eyes went back to Athena.
“Unfortunately not,” the woman confirmed, raising her voice before the protests began. “For that reason, we give you two choices.”
“Choices?” Kerena pulled her gaze away from the alien beside her. She hadn’t realized she’d even been staring at him.
Athena sighed and the redhead standing beside her took over.
“You can try to make the most of this new life the Tasqals have thrust us into, or you can choose to go back into cryogenic sleep until they find a way to return to Earth in the future.” The redhead was straight to the point.
Kerena appreciated that.
“I want to go back to sleep. Wake me up when we get out of this nightmare!” someone said, to which some others agreed.
The prospect sounded like a good one. But Kerena was a scientist. She knew it wasn’t that simple.
It never was.
“And how long will that take? Worst case?” she asked.
V’Alen’s eyes flashed. Literally.
“Worst case?” he asked then continued without stopping. “I calculate the worst case would be that you return to your planet after twenty million of your Earth years have passed.”
She knew her eyes bugged out, but she couldn’t help it. Someone began crying once more.
“What would be the point of that?” Kerena finally asked.
“Fooda,” the minty-teal alien said, and despite herself, Kerena smiled inwardly.
She didn’t need a translator for that. It sounded as if he agreed with her completely.
“He said, ‘Exactly.’” The robot spoke up.
The room became loud once more with protests and cries and Kerena bit on the tip of her finger as she thought about this predicament she’d found herself in.
Twenty million Earth years meant humans might not even exist when, if, they made it back to Earth. Everything she knew would be gone. Everyone she knew would have long ceased to exist.
Her mom, her dad…Cindy Clawford!
Her heart suddenly ached for her beloved pet.
Images of the little furball meowing by her bedroom door almost crushed her, and she sagged a little.
Strong arms were quick to support her, but she didn’t even need to look up to see who it was.
She knew it was the tall alien.
Her chest heaved with the pain of withheld emotion.
Her poor cat.
She felt like the worst mother, not having thought about Cindy sooner.
She could only hope that her lovely elderly neighbor stopped by to bring her some stew and saw that Cindy was alone. The woman had a key and could get into the apartment without trouble—something her mother had forced her to do should there be an emergency. She wasn’t more grateful for that advice than now.
Easing off the huge alien, Kerena swallowed hard.
“Thank you,” she murmured to him, and she wasn’t sure he even heard her from the noise and cries of the other women around them.
Kerena took a deep breath as she considered the situation.
This wasn’t a desirable experience; it was certainly not one she’d ever considered would happen to her, and because of that, she had no backup plan.
BUT, and that was a big but, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
She could approach this in two ways.
She could cower and be afraid, wishing that she could turn back the hands of time and return to her life on Earth.
Or, she could grab this opportunity and make the most of it.
Out of seven billion humans, she was one that had the chance to interact with and possibly even study alien life.
What would the scientists at NASA give to switch spots with her?
“I want the chip,” Kerena finally said, talking over the din. “The translator chip. I want it.”
Her words brought an instant hush across the group.
“What the hell did she just ask for?” someone murmured.
“I don’t know, but I’m not letting them inject me with anything,” someone else whispered.
Athena’s eyebrows moved up a little before she smiled and nodded. “I was just about to bring that up.” The woman turned her gaze to everyone else. “We have translator chips for those who do not wish to go back into cryogenic sleep. The chip is a small device that goes behind your ear. V’Alen here has volunteered to install them, as he is the most capable of doing so.”
The robot tilted his head slightly before stepping forward.
“Are you sure?” One of the women touched Kerena’s leg before cowering back. Glancing behind her, Kerena realized why. The impossibly tall alien was still there, his eyes now on the woman. He was looking at the woman as if he would slice her hand off for touching her.
Kerena’s brows furrowed.
She must be reading that wrong.
Alien emotions. Different facial muscles.
Confused, Kerena pulled her gaze away to answer the cowering woman. “I’m sure.”
